And I thought last year was the year that kept on giving.  2024 had SO MANY albums to choose from that for the first time, limiting myself to The Brand of nine albums (plus one EP, as always) was a herculean effort.  This was seriously the hardest time I’ve ever had narrowing down picks, as evidenced by all the albums I adore that you /won’t/ see below the cut (sorry Thy Catafalque, Tzompantli, The Black Dahlia Murder, Nile, Gouge Away, et al).  I think this year was also the hardest it’s ever been to keep up with new releases, considering how fast and heavy they came for me.  If there was a secret bonus month of the year that had no releases in it, where I could maybe spend more time processing everything, I bet this list would look a lot different.  Still, there have to be winners, and these certainly are them for me.  Enjoy the cream of the crop for this year, because 2025 is already here and it’s already going strong.

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Inter Arma – New Heaven

New Heaven is an album that fate itself seemed to almost work against, and yet, in spite of it all, not only do we get new Inter Arma, it is the tightest and most focused they’ve ever sounded.  Not that Inter Arma had any fat to cut, but narrowing down their song and album lengths and dialing up the sonic contrasts inherent in their music serves them VERY well here.  New Heaven is an album with a singular purpose, and it doesn’t stray far from that purpose, even if there are some new tricks on display here.  The crushing, suffocating atmosphere that Inter Arma are masters of is still on full display across the board, but there is a much larger focus on opening the space up and letting the ideas breathe.  Childers and co. even get to go a little folksy on the closing track, and the Burton-esque bass solo that is “Endless Gray” is a welcome addition to their bag of tricks.

Much more to say about this one, and it turns out I’m your guy!  Check out the review I wrote about New Heaven if you missed it.  Or if you didn’t, read it again and validate me.

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Gaerea – Coma

Slowly but surely, Gaerea have become more and more impressive as the years go by, which should be evident because their more recent releases have been working their way higher and higher up my, and my cohorts’, year end lists.  I’ll die on record that I actually liked their debut Unsettling Whispers, but I recognize I am in the strong minority there.  There should be no debate, though, about the leaps and bounds improvement shown on Coma.  If Mirage was a head-turner of an album, Coma is a bold slap in the face, an album that is impossible to ignore.  The songwriting has never been stronger or the production tighter (which is exactly what I said about Mirage) and the hooks have never sunk deeper into my brain.  This is exactly the kind of black metal that I get endlessly addicted to, and Coma is the perfect culmination of all the hard work that the Portuguese outfit have been putting in all these years.

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Ingurgitating Oblivion – Ontology of Naught

“Challenging” is a word I would use to describe Ontology of Naught as well.  “Monolithic” works too, “mind-bending” perhaps, and some might even say “incomprehensible.”  One thing is for certain though: however you choose to describe Ontology of Naught, it leaves a lasting impression on you, and for me, that impression was so strong I was compelled to go back and listen over and over to pick it apart and make sense of it.  God knows I love a challenge, but when the music is this interesting, it’s easy to want to go back over and over and take this thing head on.  Say what you want about any other part of this album, the fretless guitar solos absolutely rule, and are a genius choice to push the technical and progressive elements to the next level.  Really, every instrument and performance shines here, and I for one am loving how much forward thinking is on display with the songwriting.  Ingurgitating Oblivion shot for the moon on this one, and they stuck the landing in spades.

Colin is the last person I would have thought would want to review an album like this, but he not only did, he did it with aplomb!  Check it out here.

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Vitriol – Suffer and Become

Unmitigated brutality is the name of the game on this, the Portland outfit’s stellar sophomore full-length.  But if you know Vitriol, you know that’s just what’s on the menu.  2019’s To Bathe From the Throat of Cowardice was a high water mark for modern death metal simply because of how intense it was, and all of those qualities have been staggeringly improved on Suffer and Become.  But underneath all that nigh-overwhelming, stupefying savagery is a jaw-dropping amount of technicality and guitar wizardry that perks my ears up as I’m being flattened into a two-dimensional object.  Kyle Rassmussen is one of the unsung guitar heroes of our time, and this album is a clinic for what he can do with an axe in his hand.  It’s a shame that at this point, the future of Vitriol is…nebulous, because this album shows them upping a game they have already been upping for as long as they have been making music.

Our first Album of the Month chat of this year covered Suffer and Become!  Listen right here.

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Blood Incantation – Absolute Elsewhere

You knew this album would have to be on here somewhere.  There’s no way it couldn’t be.  It’s just too good, and if you’re upset that Absolute Elsewhere is getting hyped to death, you just haven’t listened to it yet.  It’s getting hype and praise from everyone, and I do mean everyone, because it is that deserving.  To call it a triumph doesn’t even seem like enough.  One had to wonder, listening to Timewave Zero and what a departure it was for Blood Incantation, what would follow, but I think this is the Blood Incantation album that they always were going to make.  It just took some time to get there, but holy shit did they ever get there.  Absolutely everything about Absolute Elsewhere showcases a band who are solidly in the driver’s seat of where death metal is going in the future, and I think that they are boldly going where few other death metal bands dare to follow.  Their loss.  Become the stargate, cowards.

If you don’t read Chris’ “The Month that Was” columns, you might think we missed reviewing this record.  You’d be wrong!  Check his thoughts on Absolute Elsewhere, and a lot of other familiar faces, out right here.

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Pallbearer – Mind Burns Alive

Pallbearer are so back.  Pallbearer also never left.  Paradoxical as it may be, I think that speaks volumes to how great of an album Mind Burns Alive is.  It’s Heartless good, from a band that has no bad releases in their system.  This album is Pallbearer firing on all cylinders, though, and the way that they ever so subtly push themselves into new territory hearkens back to what makes them the talk of the town in the doom metal world.  Mind Burns Alive is a deeply emotional album, and Brett’s vocals soar and stir in a way that gets me every single time.  Listen to “Signals” and see what I mean.  And how could I talk about this album without mentioning the saxophone?  If hearing it recorded wasn’t enough, seeing them live in Chicago with Angela and getting to hear that solo played on stage, courtesy of Spencer Ouellette of REZN, sold me on how incredible the songwriting on Mind Burns Alive is.

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Ulcerate – Cutting the Throat of God

Where does one even begin trying to talk about Cutting the Throat of God?  Stare into Death and Be Still was the absolute pinnacle of death metal for most of the world in 2020, us included.  How are we expecting anyone to top that?  The only people who could would be Ulcerate themselves, and while I don’t think Cutting the Throat of God tops Stare into Death, it’s at least as good, which is pretty fucking good all things considered.  Cutting the Throat of God has all the suffocating atmosphere and unrelenting misery that you would expect, all of the unconventional and cutting edge songwriting you know Ulcerate are capable of, and it’s all held down by incredible performances from each member, but none more so than drummer Jamie Saint Merat.  Holy hell, is there a better drummer doing it today?  The guy makes the most technical, insane music seem practically boring, and Michael Hoggard’s guitar work is nothing short of revolutionary.

Who else but Vince would be the one to review an album such as this?  Check out the fine words right here.

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Job for a Cowboy – Moon Healer

If you would have told 15 year old high school me that twenty years after the release of the Doom EP Job for a Cowboy would still be releasing insanely good music, he would have said “uh, yeah, that definitely tracks, now leave me alone.”  Still, the intervening years have been filled with turmoil and reinvention, but one thing is for certain: even if it only bears a passing resemblance to the deathcore that JFAC effectively pioneered, they are still making music that whips, bangs, slaps and fucks.  Moon Healer has been a long time coming, but the payoff is worth it in spades.  The musical performances are lights-out stellar (especially from friend-of-the-site Nick Schendzielos), Jon Davy sounds just as menacing and foreboding as ever, and the genius progressive elements that made 2014’s Sun Eater such a standout release have been amplified and intensified to perfection.  

Not only did I get to write a review of this beast of an album, my one and only interview credit with the site is getting to gush out about bass playing with none other than Nick himself!

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Alcest – Les Chants de l’Aurore

No band other than Alcest could create an album that feels as much like a warm hug..  No other band could create an album that is so ethereally magical in nature, so pure and good and touching and emotive.  Les Chants is all the best parts of Souvenirs and Shelter and Kodama and everything else that they have done, rolled into one.  It’s an album that ventures back into the Otherworld that inspired the project in the first place, and it takes you with it.  No album that I can remember in recent memory evokes such a strong feeling of fernweh, yearning or otherworldly, spellbinding beauty.  Les Chants is the best album of the year for me simply because of how it takes me away from everything and wraps me up in the kind of soft, golden glow evoked by its stunning cover.  Alcest is a band that never releases music that is anything less than inspired, but Les Chants is tapping into a creative vein that always makes for some of the best music from them, and from every other band as well.

If you want more of my thoughts on Alcest and Les Chants de l’Aurore, check out the full review here.

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Agriculture – Living is Easy

I think I’ve finally transitioned from “begrudgingly appreciating” Agriculture to “ecstatically espousing” Agriculture.  I had my issues with their self titled release of last year, but despite the spots where it vexed me, I couldn’t put it down, and it ended up on my best of list.  With Living is Easy though, the effect was immediate.  This little EP finally made me get Agriculture, and now I’m in, hook line and sinker.  Part poetry, part black metal, part shitty indie rock interludes, all love and grace and fun and joy.  It may be short on runtime, but it is long on replayability, and every member of the band seems to get a moment for their signature touch.  It serves as a wonderful followup to their proper debut, and with the momentum they currently have, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was more in the pipeline ready to emerge very soon.  I love the spiritual sound of ecstatic black metal by the band Agriculture, and you should too.

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As you can see, you don’t even need to wait for the new music of 2025 to roll in.  I’ve already got at least one review published by the time you read this, and there ain’t no stopping the train now.  As always, a humongous thanks to the editors and contributors here, all of whom are either literally or figuratively my family.  It’s been an honor to be counted among these hallowed halls for one more year, and 2025 is already shaping up to be a stellar year for us and for the metal world at large.  And, similarly, thanks to you, whoever you are, for reading this and trusting us to give you our best week in and week out.  We couldn’t do it without you, and we wouldn’t want to even if we could.  Now let’s get back into the meat of things, shall we?

—– Ian