Albums of 2024
2024 was, without a doubt, a bumper year for music, making the creation of SonicAbuse’s top 30 albums a bit of a nightmare. Not only did the year find a number of newcomers making exceptionally strong debuts, including The Baby Seals, Shooting Daggers, and Kerry King’s new solo band, but it also marked the return of a number of much-missed acts, with The Cure, Lodestar, and Job for A Cowboy all hauling themselves out of stasis to unleash some truly wonderful music along the way. As is so often the case, choosing just 30 albums was a nigh-on impossible task, with this list marked as much by those bands that failed to make the cut (Nick Cave, Offspring, Pearl Jam), as those that did. Nevertheless, we managed to whittle out a list of those albums that remained glued to our stereo across the year.
The list is in alphabetical order, as we simply couldn’t bring ourselves to further add to our torment by attempting to rank the diverse material found here and we hope that, as you make your way through it, you find the odd surprise that you perhaps missed on your journey through the year.
Studio Albums of the Year
Aborted – Vault of Horrors
It’s kind of surprising that this hasn’t been done before, but on Vault of Horrors, an inspired concept drives Aborted’s machine-tooled death-grind to new heights. The album finds Aborted raiding their grimy VHS (remember those?!) chest of horrors, with each track themed around a specific release – with the likes of The Thing and Texas Chainsaw Massacre ensuring the atmosphere remains tense and grim throughout. With ten guest vocalists adding to the mix, the result is arguably the band’s most varied and devastating release to date. Throw in the awesome (glow in the dark) album art, and you have a record that is essentially dream fodder to anyone who ever grew up worshipping at the altar of the video nasty.
The Baby Seals – Chaos
Chaos by name, chaos by nature. Like Shooting Daggers, The Baby Seals emerged with a ferocious debut in 2024 to give the punk scene a damn good kicking. Eschewing tired cliches and identikit outrage to directly address the misogyny that remains at the heart of the entertainment industry, The Baby Seals are by turns outrageous, shocking, often deeply funny, and always articulate. From the blistering opening of Yawn Porn to the garage punk of Mild Misogynist, the band never fail to hit their targets. However, where Chaos really excels is when The Baby Seals flex their musical muscles, with the title track in particular showcasing an outfit as ambitious as they are intelligent. A quite stunning debut, with wit and devil-may-care attitude, The Baby Seals effortlessly sauntered onto this list.
Blood Incantation – Absolute Elsewhere
A sweeping record, divided into two three-part mini-epics, Absolute Elsewhere found American death metallers Blood Incantation teaming up with members of Tangerine Dream, Sijjin, and Hallas to create a death-prog album fit to rival Opeth’s greatest works. Ambitious, but strangely accessible, Absolute Elsewhere is arguably the pinnacle of Blood Incantation’s not inconsiderable achievements to date, from the awe-inspiring cover art to Arthur Rizk’s pitch-perfect production, and it has unsurprisingly received plaudits across the board. If you somehow missed the furore the album has stirred up, waste no more time and track down your own copy – it’ll still be burning up your stereo in twelve months’ time, we guarantee it.
Borknagar – Fall
Enigmatic, inspired, and deeply artistic, Fall is a blackened masterpiece that blurs the lines between Emperor and Pink Floyd to deliver a tumultuous, mesmerising outpouring that evokes the rugged landscapes of the band’s native Norway. With ICS Vortex providing the soaring cleans that Oystein’s stunning compositions demand, juxtaposed against some fearsome death growls, this is an album in which to lose yourself over and over again – and it has remained glued to our player since its release. One of those albums that is particularly worth picking up on vinyl, not least for the gorgeous cover art (a perfect depiction of the wonders within), Fall is a very special album indeed.
Jerry Cantrell – I Want Blood
The Alice in Chains guitarist shows himself to be on fine form with I Want Blood, his fourth solo effort, and the follow up to 2021’s Brighten. Rather heavier than that countrified outing, I Want Blood makes good on the promise of its title to deliver a spiritual sequel to the devastatingly oppressive Degradation Trip, with both Mike Bordin and Rob Trujillo from that album guesting alongside Gil Sharone, Vincent Jones, Duff McKagen, and Greg Puciato. However, while there’s much that is familiar, the album finds Jerry pushing the boundaries, adding in post-punk elements to the title track, and dark country to the woozy Echoes of Laughter. An album that gleams in the darkness, slowly find its way to your psyche over repeated listens, I Want Blood is a challenging yet cathartic release.
The Cure – Songs of A Lost World
The return of Robert Smith and the first Cure album in sixteen years, Songs of A Lost World is every bit as enigmatic as its title implies. The first album to feature Reeves Gabrels (David Bowie), who joined the band in 2012, it finds Robert Smith’s emotionally charged songwriting given a subtle industrial boost by Gabrel’s inventive guitar work, at times recalling the stunning Burn (from The Crow OST), at others Wrong Number – recorded for Galore and the only recording to feature Reeves to this point. With each track taking its time to bed in before the vocals emerge from the haze, comparisons have been drawn to the band’s undisputed masterwork, Disintegration, and with good reason. Astonishingly, for a work so dark, it shot to number one in the charts, marking a triumphant return for this very special band.
Darkthrone – It Beckons Us All
Returning with unseemly haste in the wake of 2022’s impressive Astral Fortress outing, Darkthrone once again showcase their disdain for any form of trend, offering up an album that traverses a grimy landscape encompassing heavy metal, doom, psychedelic and black metal, sometimes all within the same track. Highlights include the gloriously schizophrenic The Bird People of Nordland, the doom-laden Howling Primitive Colonies, and the epic finale – The Lone Pines of The Lost Planet – which finds the band exercising their eclectic tastes over the course of ten dizzying minutes. Unencumbered by notions of compromise, Darkthrone remain unique, and It Beckons Us All is another strong entry in a near flawless canon.
Deicide – Banished by Sin
Forget about the is-it-isn’t-it AI album art controversy that Glen seemed to enjoy stirring up (the image appears to actually be an AI-enhanced image of a medallion created for the cover), and focus instead on the fact that Banished by Sin is a masterclass in brutality delivered by one of the genre’s most single-minded bands. A dynamic and relentlessly focused thrill ride, Deicide turn in an impressive album that neatly ticks all the death metal boxes across its twelve tracks. From the gleefully horrific Sever the Tongue, which sees Glen delivering a rhythmic bark over a suitably churning backdrop; to closing number The Light Defeated, Banished by Sin may just be one of Deicide’s best albums in years. All hail the darkness.
EMF – The Beauty and The Chaos
Were you to distil the sense of joy that permeates this album into a single moment, it would surely be via recently released single Reach for The Lasers, which demonstrates more clearly than any words EMF’s unique ability to capture the vibe of an entire night within a single line. When the band returned, after a lengthy hiatus, with the quite excellent Go Go Sapiens, they captured lightning in a bottle. No one could reasonably expect the band to do it twice, and yet here we are with The Beauty and the Chaos, a near-perfect dance-pop-rock-punk hybrid that refuses to be anything other than itself. As a result, it stands head and shoulders above so much of what dares call itself popular music, providing a thrilling soundtrack to an imagined evening out.
Folk Implosion – Walk Thru Me
One of the most emotional returns of 2024, few could have anticipated that Lou Barlow and John Davis would simply pick up where they left off with 1999’s One Part Lullaby, unveiling their first album in 25 years, and even finding time in a hectic schedule to tour. Walk Thru Me finds the duo nursing the knocks they’ve taken over a quarter of a century, the most potent examples being My Little Lamb (which finds Lou grappling with parenthood), and The Day You Died (wherein John seeks catharsis in the wake of his father’s death). Yet, where the lyrics explore some of life’s darker corners, the music remains remarkably breezy, Lou and John still mining the rich seam that connects lo-fi indie with underground hip hop. The result is a lovely, slow-burning record that works its way quietly under the skin the more you listen.
David Gilmour – Luck and Strange
The return of David Gilmour, with both an album and a tour, was one of 2024’s highlights. Hardly the most prolific of writers, nine years had passed since Rattle That Lock and, with Gilmour rather less than fond of the limelight, little was known about when – or if – he would return in the wake of the globe-straddling tour that followed. Of course, when it comes to renowned artists, anticipation can be an album killer, yet the low-key Luck and Strange calmy exceeds all expectations. From the stunning cover of Between Two Points (with talented daughter Romany on lead vocals) to the multi-tiered single, The Piper’s Call, David offers up a wondrous album that may yet prove to be one of the best, if not the best, solo albums from a Floyd member. Heartfelt, and with a genuine sense that Gilmour was excited to be back in the studio (to the extent that he’s already teasing a follow up), Luck and Strange is nothing short of a masterpiece.
Green Day – Saviors
Reunited with Rob Carvallo and in the same year that landmark album American Idiot celebrated its twentieth anniversary, Green Day returned after a four-year gap with Saviors – arguably their finest album since that opus dropped. Offering a varied set of addictive songs, the band pull no punches on The American Dream Is Killing Me, channel Weezer on Bobby Sox, and even nod towards their Dookie years with Look Ma, No Brains. As a result, the album keeps you hooked across its fifteen-track run time.
Kim Gordon – The Collective
Kim Gordon has been at the forefront of counterculture for so long, she’s incapable of crafting something that isn’t skewed through her own unique lens. As such, where The Collective takes hip-hop as its starting point, it’s a hip-hop infused with experimental touches and crusted over with punk flair. Whether unleashing an excoriating takedown of the patriarchy via I’m A Man or transforming a shopping list into a consumerist critique on Bye Bye, The Collective is nothing short of a masterpiece, and it’s aided no end by a stunning production that keeps the beats front and centre. For over four decades, Kim Gordon has provided a gloriously skewed soundtrack to the world and, with The Collective, she once again demonstrated a unique knack for bending a number of musical forms to her will.
Ihsahn – Ihsahn
The eighth album to be released under Ihsahn’s own name, this self-titled effort is a stunning work that combines neo-classical splendour with the rage of earthen black metal. Arguably Ihsahn’s most compelling solo album to date, it plays like the soundtrack to some imaginary film, drawing the listener into a world entirely of Ihsahn’s making. At times reminiscent of Emperor’s magnificent swansong, Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire and Demise, Ihsahn is a dense work that requires time and patience to fully unravel, but the rewards are certainly worth the effort.
Job For a Cowboy – Moon Healer
JFAC may have been one of the strongest bands to emerge from the metalcore scene, but they soon recognised the limitations of the genre, expanding their sonic palette with Sun Eater before going on hiatus for nearly a decade. When they returned with Moon Healer, it was to offer up a stunningly dynamic set that takes everything that was brilliant about the band and expands it in all sorts of exciting new directions. From the awe-inspiring basslines of Nick Schendzielos to Jonny Davy’s blistering vocal performance, Moon Healer is a genuinely progressive effort from a band who just seem to keep getting better. Where they go next is anyone’s guess, but from the art to the production, this is a near perfect endeavour and the band’s finest album to date.
Kerry King – From Hell I Rise
For those who continue to lament the demise of Slayer, Kerry King has the answer. Picking up where his alma mater left off, Kerry recruited a veritable who’s who of metal – Paul Bostaph (ex-Slayer), Kyle Sanders (Hell Yeah), Phil Demmel (ex-Machine Head), and Mark Osegueda (Death Angel) – and headed into the studio to lay down the punishing From Hell I Rise. Sure, there are few surprises here and, inevitably, it sounds like Slayer – but since when was that a bad thing? Kerry knows his sound and delivers the goods in unpretentious style – the album throwing up a number of bruising anthems along the way.
Lodestar – Zonen
In a year of unexpected returns, Lodestar’s return must surely rate as one of the most unexpected. Having released a single album in the late 90s – which resulted in their sharing stages with the likes of tool – they quietly went on hiatus, seemingly never to be seen again. As such, the emergence of the excellent Zonen felt like a gift, with the band picking up where their self-titled debut left off, to weave a wonderful web of doom, psychedelic, post-grunge, and metal over the course of eleven mesmerising tracks. With highlights including Flame and the gloriously deranged Bring Me the Head (the latter backed by a brilliant, Hammer-influenced video clip), Lodestar not only returned, but crafted one of the albums of the year along the way – who’d have thought it?
My Dying Bride – A Mortal Binding
Who knows quite what’s happening with My Dying Bride, the band having recently announced a number of live dates with Swallow the Sun frontman Mikko Kotamäki in place of Aaron Stainthorpe – the latter on hiatus since the album’s release. Whatever the internal chaos that caused such a seismic lineup shift, you could argue it fed into an exceptionally strong outing from the band. Produced by Mark Mynett, who successfully combined a touch of 21st century gloss with the band’s Havisham-esque sonics, A Mortal Binding starts strong with Her Dominion and remains captivating across its 55-minute runtime. While you might argue, and with merit, that My Dying Bride are singularly incapable of producing a bad album, A Mortal Binding is nonetheless a particularly strong outing in their already impressive canon.
New Model Army – Unbroken
Released early in the year, Unbroken was the band’s first studio release in five years, providing the voiceless with a voice as Justin Sullivan tackles a range of subjects that veer from the deeply personal to the societal in nature. As ever, the skill behind Justin’s lyrics is to take a uniquely British scandal such as the Horizon scandal and find the universal problem at its root – the weight of vested interests against the individual – ensuring that the album is intrinsically inclusive. A truly stunning album, from the haunting, cinematic wonder of First Summer After, via the ferocious I Did Nothing Wrong, to the eerily beautiful Idumea, Unbroken sees New Model Army continue to rail against injustice – and make a hell of a beautiful noise as they do.
Nile – The Underworld Awaits Us All
By now, Nile’s Eastern-tinged death metal is a familiar to most extreme metal fans, the band having plied their trade since their formation in 1993. Nevertheless, with The Underworld Awaits Us All, the band’s tenth album and their first in five years, Nile sound on such ferociously good form, that it feels like you’re hearing them for the first time all over again. There’s simply a power and precision to the eleven tracks on offer here that has you mesmerised and, unlike some of the band’s efforts over the years, their stunning musicianship is now so firmly embedded in the music that it has become invisible, now yoked entirely in service to the song in question, with the result that the album will have you banging your head first and pondering its mysteries only after the initial adrenaline has worn off.
Opeth – The Last Will and Testament
Despite the endless columns dedicated to the band’s latest album, arguably the least interesting thing about Opeth’s stunning The Last Will and Testament is the return of death growls to the mix, not least because of how seamlessly Mikael Akerfeldt integrates them into the wider progressive palette of the album. Far more worthy of comment is the way in which Opeth have crafted an album that flows from track to track, with a sense of dynamic that keeps you hooked throughout. Beautifully recorded – but then you’d expect no less from Opeth – The Last Will… neatly summarises the band’s career from Blackwater Park to In Cauda Venenum, synthesising the best of the progressive era, whilst allowing a certain heaviness to creep back in. The results, which feel natural to the band’s continuing sonic evolution, are spellbinding.
Orange Goblin – Science, Not Fiction
Returning to unleash a heavy metal monster, Orange Goblin hit the jackpot with Science, Not Fiction. The album opens with the absolutely explosive The Fire At The Centre Of The Earth Is Mine and only gets better from there – with blazing single Cemetery Rats arguably the album’s demented highlight. With Ben Ward on ferocious form and the band matching him every step of the way, Science, Not Fiction is a ruthlessly concise 9-track beast of an album, and it should be considered mandatory listening for anyone who considers themselves a fan of metal.
P.O.D.- Veritas
Following on from the excellent Circles, Veritas captures P.O.D. at their most electrifying. From blistering opening number Drop (featuring Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe) through more melodic fare, including an excellent guest spot from Jinjer’s Tatiana Shmayluk on Not Afraid to Die, P.O.D. rarely put a foot wrong, and the result is a genre-hopping album that keeps you hooked. More diverse and harder edged than gazillion-selling Satellite, Veritas harks back to the band’s roots – roots which the down-to-earth band members have never forgotten – and it’s impossible not to be charmed by the sheer delight with which the band race through the songs.
Philip Sayce – The Wolves Are Coming
Anyone who caught Philip Sayce on his recent tour with slide-guitarist Troy Redfern knows just how explosive he can be on stage. However, with The Wolves Are Coming, Philip was able to translate some of that energy to record, delivering a varied, eleven-track album that incorporates myriad influences from Robert Cray and Eric Clapton to Jimi Hendrix, Soundgarden, and Royal Blood. Funky and soulful, hard rocking and playful, it’s a masterclass in modern blues and, when Philip takes it into his head to rock out, few can stand in his way.
Shooting Daggers – Love and Rage
Amidst all the heavily processed albums and identikit sound palettes, a number of gems emerged in 2024 that prized authenticity above all else. Among these, Love & Rage from London-based queercore artists Shooting Daggers stands tall. A powerful, articulate scream that tackles the seemingly endless inequalities baked into the modern world, it finds the band drawing upon a heady mix that includes Sex pistols, Ramones, L7, Bikini Kill, Hole, Idles, and more to create their own unique take on punk rock. A short, sharp album of addictive music with a message, play it loud and play it proud – Shooting Daggers nailed it with Love & Rage.
Soft Play – Heavy Jelly
Frenetic punk, a healthy sense of humour and [checks notes] Robbie Williams – Heavy Jelly is a splenetic yet fun album that exists in a similar realm to the likes of Idles, while carving out its own space in the grimy underbelly of punk rock. The fourth album from the duo that used to be known as Slaves, and the first under the gloriously daft Soft Play moniker, Heavy Jelly is a riot from start to finish and, if you don’t fall for the charms of Punk’s Dead (which draws its lyrics from the online abuse the band received upon their name change), then you may be a terminal case.
Devin Townsend – PowerNerd
Since Devin dropped the “Project” moniker, he’s been happily paying the cost to be the boss, offering up a wildly varied selection of albums that kicked off with Empath in 2019. However, in the absence of a filter, Empath ended up somewhat inchoate – the flashes of brilliance often lost amidst the wildly shifting sonic landscape – and it would not be until Lightwork that Devin would return to a more song-oriented structure. It is PowerNerd, however, that really brings together his post-project work. With just eleven tracks on offer, none of which exceed the six-minute mark, it is Devin’s most concise work in some time, echoing the sugar-fuelled rush of Addicted and eliciting joy in all who hear it. With songs like the title track and Knuckledragger, PowerNerd is simply the sound of Devin having a blast in the studio, and it is guaranteed to bring a smile to the face of all who hear it.
Trifecta – The New Normal
There’s little that is normal about The New Normal, but the album is an absolute joy from start to finish, making it a welcome addition to our albums of the year list. Following on from the equally excellent Fragments, The New Normal finds Nick Beggs, Craig Blundell, and Adam Holzman giving their imagination free reign over the course of 18 songs, ranging from bizarre, semi-spoken word pieces such as Stroboscopic Fennel and Sibling Rivalry to the jazz of Daddy Long Legs and the hummable pop of, um, Stupid Pop Song. Eclectic and with a wonderful sense of fun permeating the mix that has long been absent from a scene that seems to have been getting increasingly po-faced in the absence of Genesis, The New Normal is an absolute gem.
Ugly Mac Beer – Broken Ill
The founder of Beatsqueeze Records, Ugly Mac Beer emerged from the French breakbeat scene as a musical visionary. With Broken Ill, Ugly Mac Beer has gifted us a truly unique offering in a year replete with fantastic releases – a synth-punk album that harks back to the endlessly inventive hip hop tracked by Martin Bisi across the New York Underground. With guests in tow and influences ranging from Beastie Boys and Aphex Twin to NIN, Gary Numan, and the Sex Pistols, Broken Ill sounds like nothing else out there, and deserves to be feted far and wide.
Vola – Friend of A Phantom
The much-anticipated follow-up to the astonishing Witness, Friend of A Phantom deserves to be the album that finally pushes Vola over the top. A magnificent band which has been on an upward curve ever since the release of their excellent Inmazes debut, Vola mix djent, industrial, progressive, and metal to create something that is entirely their own. Highlights abound on this, their fourth album, including lead single Paper Wolf, Break My Lying Tongue, and the awesome Cannibal (featuring a powerful guest spot from In Flames’ Anders Friden).
EP of the Year
Light Of Eternity – Edge Of Fate
Started in 2023 as a side project, Light of Eternity (LOE) finds Paul Williams (Chaos 8), Fred Schreck (The Ancients, Satellite Paradiso, Crush), and Big Paul Ferguson (Killing Joke, Murder Inc., Crush) working together on a project that is easily as good as anything their respective outfits crafted over the years. Initially released digitally via Bandcamp, a limited- edition vinyl run emerged towards the year’s end to remind us that this self-titled effort is nothing short of a masterpiece. With just four tracks on offer, the trio opted for the “all killer no filler approach”, successfully honing each track to a razor point. Dark influences abound, from Dead Kennedys and Ministry to Killing Joke and PIG, with LOE carving out their own unique niche along the way. The EP ends with the six-minute mini-epic Tipping Point, which neatly encapsulates the diversity and depth of their sound. Do yourself a favour – if this passed you by, rectify the situation immediately. You may thank us later.
Live Album of the Year
Joe Bonamassa – Live at The Hollywood Bowl
It’ll be a sad year when a Joe Bonamassa release doesn’t grace our albums of the year listings but, fortunately, 2024 isn’t that year. While Bonamassa may rival The Rolling Stones in terms of live releases, the secret to his continued success is that each tour is an event in its own right, often offering something that has not previously been heard. In this case, Joe teamed up with a 40-piece orchestra for a stunning show at Hollywood Bowl, and the resultant album offers eleven tracks drawn from across Joe’s catalogue, reworked to account for the additional opulence an orchestra brings to proceedings. It was an inspired move, and tracks like When One Door Opens, which already sounded like the best James Bond theme John Barry never wrote, really benefit from the approach. From there, we get the heartfelt rush of Self-Inflicted Wounds through to the Led Zeppelin pulse of The Ballad of John Henry, all eliciting gasps from an audience unprepared for the depth and skill of the arrangements. Finishing with a showstopping Sloe Gin, Live at The Hollywood Bowl once again fins the exceptionally talented Bonamassa at the head of the blues pack.
Reissue of the Year
Headswim – Despite Yourself
All reissues should be made thus – with love, care, and attention to detail. Marking the very first outing for Despite Yourself on vinyl (the original album having been released just at the point of the format’s decline), not only do you get the album beautifully remastered for the format, but you also get liner notes from former bassist Clovis, a clutch of bonus tracks (including one unreleased piece), a gorgeous gatefold sleeve, and a top-quality pressing. Trapped Animals, who also gave us one of the albums of the year in the form of Baby Seals, mark themselves out as a label of incredible merit and, for fans of the band, the emotional impact of seeing their catalogue being treated with such care cannot be understated.
