How will I look back on 2024 as we continue our march forward? I don’t often use the turning of the calendar as a reason to reflect, but this past year felt important and deserves a bit of a pause now. I won’t ramble forever, but I would like to touch on a couple of quick things.
Let’s start with this. This wonderful little project we call Nine Circles. 2024 meant a decade of Nine Circles. (Fine, not technically. There may have been some rebranding along the way.) Regardless, this endeavor persisting for this long is something I never could have predicted. And it just so happened that 2024 was also our best year ever. That wasn’t by accident, and it wasn’t easy. There was change. To our process, to our team, to our mindset. That change took energy and it took dedication. Well, this team happens to be pretty fucking awesome. I’m endlessly proud of the product we put out there, in our small corner of the internet, and that pride has never been louder. I’m also grateful for those I share this space with. It’s a community unlike any other. It’s a labor of love, sure, but love – for the people, the music, and everything in between – still drives this project without fail. Ten years. Nine Circles. Pride, and gratitude.
Elsewhere, well, it was complicated. 2024 felt like a reset. A bit of a rediscovery of self, and allowing that to lead where it may. There was more time spent connected to nature. Perhaps more time than any year before. It was a year spent looking up, seeing the stars streak across the sky at just the right moments, and, in a way, ultimately choosing to chase them. And, of course, there was music. There is always music. There were Songs of the Day. Albums of the Month. There were concerts. And photographs of concerts. This music served as a soundtrack to all the work that was done in 2024, and there was a lot of work done in a number of different directions. So with all of that said, allow me to offer up my favorite albums of 2024 and give you a glimpse into the year that was. For me at least. Enjoy.
The Best
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1. Ulcerate – Cutting the Throat of God
In a word, what makes Cutting the Throat of God so impressive is simply “contrast”. For all the ways it is uncomfortable in its dissonance, it is also… beautiful. Captivating. It pulls you into the intensity of its discontent effortlessly. Each passage is dense and complex. Ulcerate wears you and everything around you down with undeniable intent. There is no respite across this album. The purpose is clear. And yet, I find it impossible to escape its hold. For as destructive as it is, there is a sense of order within the chaos. Some of the sounds may collide abrasively – suffocating yet airy, melodic yet piercing and heavy – but the structure that contains them somehow makes sense. The patterns feel familiar. It carries us without hesitation, guiding us from one critical moment of destruction to another. What Ulcerate have been doing is unlike anything else I have heard. I was convinced in June this would be my favorite album of 2024. As the year went on, that claim only solidified.
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When Coma was first announced I was undecided if I was ready for, or needed, another Gaerea album. They’ve consistently released a new full-length every other year going back to 2018, and frankly I was still pretty stuck on 2022’s Mirage. Well, go figure, Coma is without a doubt the one I’ve connected to the most. It happened immediately and has not faded after dozens of listens now. The Portuguese (post-) black metal outfit somehow continue to realize their distinct sound – solidifying it while simultaneously allowing it to creep further away from their origins. The agony and anguish on Coma feels more direct. These passages are absolutely vicious. And yet, the overall atmosphere feels elevated, more expansive than ever. It’s a mesmerizing experience.
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3. Schammasch – The Maldoror Chants: Old Ocean
Schammasch continue to push themselves with deliberation, stretching the limits of their already expansive sound. This latest installment, the second under the The Maldoror Chants label, might be their most impressive yet. The attitude is curiously somber as they meticulously peel back new layers, revealing something abstract yet introspective in both concept and sound. It’s powerful, without question, but it also offers enough pensive moments to allow the impact of Old Ocean to really resonate. I don’t know how, but Schammasch continue to let their avant-garde style wander where it may without restraint, and once again they deliver emphatically.
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With Nadir, Bavarian outfit Groza align their bleak form of black metal with a range of post-metal and blackgaze concepts, and the end result is brilliant. The atmospheres they create are undeniably captivating, and appropriately emotive as they rise and fall in both mood and energy. Overall, however, there is a distinct upward trajectory on Nadir, resolving with “Daffodils” in a way that is both fulfilling and optimistic. It makes you want to repeat this journey over and over again.
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5. Blood Incantation – Absolute Elsewhere
There hasn’t been a Blood Incantation release I haven’t enjoyed, but at the same time I also never really aligned with the hype. And that’s not to say what they’ve done hasn’t deserved it – because it absolutely has – it’s just been a project that has fallen a little outside of where my recent listening preferences have taken me. Well, Absolute Elsewhere sure did suck me in. This album is nothing short of remarkable. If their cosmic technical death metal (which is already second to none) is what you’re after, you won’t be left wanting. But the emphasis on the progressive and ambient, clean vocals included, and the effortless transitions between all the different concepts at work here, make Absolute Elsewhere a mind melting endeavor.
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6. Gatecreeper – Dark Superstition
With Dark Superstition, Gatecreeper finally clicked for me, and clicked in a really big way. The Sonoran outfit have found a way to create something suffocatingly heavy, and entirely deliberate in its impact. And yet, I can’t help but have… fun (I think it’s fun!) with the melodic and catchy moments that drive tracks like “The Black Curtain” and “A Chilling Aura”. Dusty, gritty, and groovy as hell, this is desert-infused death metal exactly as I would hope it to be.
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7. Turin – The Unforgiving Reality In Nothing
Every year there is one artist that comes out of nowhere and makes it onto this list. This time it was Turin. The melodic deathcore presented on The Unforgiving Reality is stunning. While punishing in its bitterness, packed with one pummeling passage after another, there’s a certain ambiance that lingers in the background. These details and layers become more pronounced at all the right moments, resulting in an elevated sound that fills space unapologetically.
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After 14 years of dormancy, 2024 marked the return of progressive death metal collective Dååth. And from the opening passages of “No Rest No End” it was clear that they’ve returned with a vengeance. The Deceivers takes all of those defining intricacies of the Dååth sound, staying true to what they have always done well, and builds upon them effectively in all directions. This is Dååth more refined and more cohesive, while still displaying as much technical prowess and intensity as ever.
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9. Inherits The Void – Scars Of Yesteryears
Somehow, the melodic/atmospheric black metal presented through Inherits The Void is both comfortably familiar and still entirely refreshing. Each of these tracks feels like a journey – each one a little different but still connected to the same place and time. Layers of folk and symphonic-forward elements lie behind the blistering riffs and enticing leads to create the perfect atmosphere for the stories told on Scars Of Yesteryears.
The Honorable Mentions
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Oh Hiroshima – All Things Shining
This was the one post-rock/metal album I found myself getting lost in time and time again last year. It’s an expansive, blissful sound with regularly shifting weight and pace to keep it interesting front to back. Each track is distinct, but it all ties together naturally.
Kvaen – The Formless Fires
This absolutely blistering display of black metal has no weak moments. It’s catchy and melodic enough to bark along with, but the sheer intensity and speed of these passages leaves you spent by the time it’s all said and done.
Sundrifter – An Earlier Time
An Earlier Time is a wonderful display of space/stoner rock that seems to expose itself a little more with each passing track, as it wanders further and further. It’s a collection that you can’t help but drift away to, and I have done exactly that many times since its release.
Horn – Daudswiärk
I’ve been a fan of Horn’s take on black metal for a long time, but Daudswiärk might be my favorite yet. It maintains everything that defines the Horn sound and executes as well as ever, but structurally within each track, and across them, it finds a way to stand apart.
Vale Of Pnath – Between The Worlds Of Life And Death
2024 was the year I finally came around to Vale Of Pnath. There is some serious juxtaposition within these passages, but it works. And it works really, really well. At the highest level this is dark, incredibly technical, and offers a welcomed orchestral undertone to tie everything together.
Mountaineer – Dawn and All That Follows
Dawn and All That Follows is a strong shoegaze/post-metal album, no doubt about that. But it’s the overall balance between the ethereal and the intense that stands out to me. There’s a lot to unpack in its structural and emotional complexity, with those heavier moments really resonating.
Anomalie – Riverchild
Clearly this was a strong year for black metal, and Riverchild is yet another example. Barely because of the “black metal”, however. Here, it’s the introspective quality to the fluctuations that I connect with. The moments of calm, near stillness, allow these themes to really embed themselves.
Iotunn – Kinship
Kinship is massive. It’s beautiful. And it’s fun. What is it? I don’t know nor care. Somewhere in the intersection of power metal and melodic death metal. It absolutely soars from one passage to the next, and the hooks will stick in your brain for a long, long time.
Rotting Christ – Pro Xristou
Rotting Christ keeps marching on, always reliable, so it’s somewhat understandable this one flew under my radar in an absolutely stacked year of releases. But as time went on, Pro Xristou emerged more and more, becoming one of my favorite Rotting Christ albums in recent memory.
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And that, my friends. Officially closes the book on 2024 for me. Thank you, all of you, for reading along and being connected to what we’re doing here. It’s always been about the music for us, and having the opportunity to share what we love is something we will never take for granted. Hopefully there’s something in here you recognize and love already. But better yet? Maybe there isn’t! Maybe it’ll lead you to take a chance on something new. Or inspire you to share something you love back for the same reason. That’s what this is all about. So, again, thank you.
2024 was quite the ride. And 2025 is already off to a hell of a start. So let’s go.
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“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb
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