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#songsofbloodandmire

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Angry Metal Guy<p><a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/dolphin-whisperers-and-feroxs-top-tenish-of-2024/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Dolphin Whisperer’s and Ferox’s Top Ten(ish) of 2024</a></p><p><i>By Dolphin Whisperer</i></p><p></p> <p><strong><span><strong>Dolphin Whisperer</strong></span></strong></p><p>Every year, its end becomes more shocking and swift. Once, some guy told me, simply, “<em>it only gets worse</em>.” Not life though—attributing a better or worse or any sort of constant determination of our passage leaves a lot of room for falling into a void of enjoyment—life is, after all, a constant until its not. But time, or our sense of being in its too ever-present stream, flows at a rate that changes in ways to which we never quite catch up.</p><p>As such, there’s a comfort in knowing how much time an album, particularly one you enjoy will take. For the ten-to-twenty minutes it takes for grindcore proper to slap me silly or the forty-to-eighty minutes that it takes for my deepest progressive loves to wring out a moaning confession, I know where my attention lies, even if it’s only half there and half on a task at hand. Time and tasks, day to night, play to stop, music makes my world a better place. And entering my now third year at Angry Metal Guy, an institution that has been a fixture of my musical journey for even longer, I continue to hold a profound gratitude and excitement for another year of discovery.</p><p>2024 has had its challenges professionally and personally. 2025 will be no doubt the same, even if some trials we can see forming in the distance. But you want to know about the music, right? On that end, 2024 has yielded a heaping trove of great albums. Heck, even a <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/amgs-unsigned-band-rodeo-save-this-utility-%e4%ba%a1%e5%a4%b1-deprivation/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Rodeö pick</a> scratched at the rungs of an honorable mention. The below list barely scratches the surface of the breadth that the year has offered. Further down you will see <span><strong>Ferox</strong></span>‘s list, which captures a different collection equally rooted in joy. He might be more right than I am. But that matters little. Celebrate with us, your favorite collective of writers on the world wide web! Come hang with some of us on <a href="https://discord.gg/ZvDvua9" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Discord</a> too if you’d like. Most of the people there are certified flea-free. And don’t be too upset if 2025 doesn’t hit you the same at first. It’s just another year, and it’ll be over before you know it.</p> <p>#ish. <b>Kalandra</b> // <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/kalandra-a-frame-of-mind-things-you-might-have-missed-2024/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>A Frame of Mind</em></a> – At my core, I consider myself a Norwegian sad girl. Usually, this manifests in some sort of weepy, melancholy prog, the likes of <b>Age of Silence</b> or <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/madder-mortem-old-eyes-new-heart-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><b>Madder Mortem</b></a>.<a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/dolphin-whisperers-and-feroxs-top-tenish-of-2024/#fn-208005-1" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">1</a> But <b>Kalandra</b>’s enfolkened an impassioned take on an artsy, progressive collection of empowering tunes hit me square in my aching heart from the moment I heard it. Most importantly, though, <b>Kalandra</b> knows that suffering is just a step on the path of growth and happiness, which is a message that inspires me every day.</p><p>#10. <strong>Dawnwalker</strong><b> </b>// <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/dawnwalker-the-unknowing-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>The Unknowing</em></a> – The power to dream and envision a world driven by mysticism has an allure that’s hard to ignore. And while we know that more determinable laws guide the happenings of our daily lives, a glimpse of the unknown will always find its way into sequence. <b>Dawnwalker</b> putting this esoteric but ever-present concept into an atmospheric, genre-warped, playfully progressive package hardly surprises me, though. The British troupe has had my number since their unsung classic <a href="https://ampwall.com/a/dawnwalker/album/in-rooms" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>In Rooms</em></a>,<a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/dolphin-whisperers-and-feroxs-top-tenish-of-2024/#fn-208005-2" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">2</a> so I’m doing my last in continuing to love them despite <span><strong>Twelve</strong></span>‘s best efforts to underrate them.<a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/dolphin-whisperers-and-feroxs-top-tenish-of-2024/#fn-208005-3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">3</a></p><p>#9. <b>Lizzard </b>// <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/lizzard-mesh-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>Mesh</em></a> – <b>Lizzard</b>’s 2021 opus <a href="https://lizzardband.bandcamp.com/album/eroded" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>Eroded</em></a> is my favorite album of this decade so far. The French trio’s ability to warp deep, rhythm-tricky layers into driving and emotional rock songs his me at the core of my musical desire for cathartic hope expressed in an unassuming and lush framework. <em>Mesh</em> doesn’t present any differently in that regard. But its wrinkles on <b>Lizzard</b>’s timeless yet ’90s alternative-rooted oeuvre fuel <em>Mesh</em>’s inherent melancholy with a hope that’s jubilant, like a cracked smile on an overcast day.</p><p>#8. <b>Dissimulator </b>// <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/dissimulator-lower-form-resistance-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>Lower Form Resistance</em></a> – [INCOMING TRANSMISSION.] <em>“My name is <span><strong>Clyde</strong></span>, and I arrive from beyond with wonderful news. My good friend <span><strong>Ferox</strong></span> has survived this timeline after all, having learned to navigate the Lower Form Resistance assault of fast-twitch rhythms and slow-twitch death metal punctuation. His head, fully intact, sways wildly in its hairless glory—big dives for big skanking breaks, snappy rolls for whiplash accelerations. He may not be as rhythmically gifted in pit-galloping cadence as the virtuoso drum and bass duo that provides life to <strong>Dissimulator</strong>’s effortless strides, but <span><strong>Ferox</strong></span> is my everything nonetheless.” </em>[END TRANSMISSION.]</p><p>#7. <b>Mamaleek </b>// <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/mamaleek-vida-blue-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>Vida Blue</em></a> – I couldn’t begin to tell you what has never landed about <strong>Mamaleek</strong>’s works before with a weird precision. As an act dedicated to sounding only like <strong>Mamaleek</strong>, their singular expression of tortured black(ish) metal warped by jazzy and slogging attitudes has manifested quite the take-it-or-leave-it musical experience. And while you, dear reader, may assume this is firmly up my alley, it has not been. At least not until <em>Vida Blue</em> served a bottom of the ninth heart-shaker as an ode to a departed friend.<a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/dolphin-whisperers-and-feroxs-top-tenish-of-2024/#fn-208005-4" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">4</a> With a soulful swing, a tortured connection, and an exit velocity powered by equal parts loss and love, <strong>Mamaleek</strong> has clinched a campaign for my attention.</p><p>#6. <b>Defeated Sanity </b>// <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/defeated-sanity-chronicles-of-lunacy-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>Chronicles of Lunacy</em></a> – As an apex predator in the brutal death metal world, <strong>Defeated Sanity</strong>’s appearance arouses not questions of competency but rather calculations of the carnage wrought. <em>Chronicles of Lunacy</em> does not mark a turning point or novel twist in the <strong>Defeated Sanity</strong> timeline—its finely tuned lashings hit as inescapable all the same. When neither a beast’s reach, nor mass, nor attack speed goes contested, an exhibition of its might will flash with morbid glee. As such, <strong>Defeated Sanity</strong> need not surprise to strike mortal wound. <em>Chronicles</em>’ fangs glisten with an aged-imbrued tarnish, tearing at my flesh in every way I would expect. And I want more.</p><p>#5. <b>Orgone </b>// <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/orgone-pleroma-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>Pleroma</em></a> – Meticulous and constructed as a master-work, <em>Pleroma</em>’s opening notes signal a trance. Acoustic twang and chamber instrument-fueled swoon build an atmosphere of wonder against a fervent and languished march of post-genre swells and death-fueled crescendos. Cycling through its many shades feels less like a fever dream and more of a trial-filled journey. Wielding a demure grandeur, <em>Pleroma</em>’s effortless realization of <strong>Orgone</strong>’s peerless vision never feels like the epic journey its runtime suggests. Were my time truly infinite, <em>Pleroma</em> would be even harder to rip away from the queue.</p><p>#4. <b>Julie Christmas </b>// <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/julie-christmas-ridiculous-and-full-of-blood-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>Ridiculous and Full of Blood</em></a> – A lady screaming bloody murder shouldn’t go down this smooth, but that’s always been the promise and success of <strong>Julie Christmas</strong>. Few vocalists leave me slack-jawed and ear-shaken in the wake of piercing cries, raw-throated shrieks, and impassioned lyrical slather. Yet, <em>Ridiculous and Full of Blood</em> cuts track after track out of sonic patterns that do exactly that, all while empowering a full band expression of alternative-laced grooves, post-informed climbs, and punk-tied sneer. The <strong>Christmas</strong> season sums a flurry of inspired performances under the banner of a madwoman. And I stand at the ready to fray my vocal cords in attempt to crack with the same battle-tested precision that Ms. <strong>Christmas</strong> has earned from a life hard-worn.</p><p>#3. <b>Ingurgitating Oblivion </b>// <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/ingurgitating-oblivion-ontology-of-nought-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>Ontology of Nought</em></a> – Though born of minds unrelated, <em>Ontology of Nought</em> exists as an esoteric companion to the <em>Pleroma</em> embodiment. <strong>Orgone</strong> is the twin that went to conservatory, graduated with honors, and holds an honorable performing chair, all while remembering its young love for death metal. <strong>Ingurgitating Oblivion</strong>, on the other hand, dropped out, spiraled into entheogenic dissociation, earns a living gigging at jazz clubs—also maintains its youthful lust for the clamoring riff and hammering blast. Maximalism oozes a frothing wonder in the hiss of distorted chatter and rhythmic mastery. An imperfect and breathing construction rises and falls in ethereal inhales and vision-spinning mantras. <em>Ontology of Nought</em> deserves each of its over-budget minutes. Invest time in the freedom that it promises… “<em>and cease to be</em>.”</p><p>#2. <b>OU </b>// <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/ou-%e8%98%87%e9%86%92-ii-frailty-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>蘇醒 II: Frailty</em></a> – The casualness of <strong>OU</strong>’s inception belies its profound leap into my necessary rotation. No incumbent love ever has a defined position in the halls of end-of-year accolades,<a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/dolphin-whisperers-and-feroxs-top-tenish-of-2024/#fn-208005-5" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">5</a> and even more so when the act’s very presence rang suspicious in its finely-tuned invasion to my critical wiles. But, as I noted when I first blew my love for <em>蘇醒 II: Frailty</em> over the pages of Angry Metal Guy, it’s <strong>OU</strong>’s “idiosyncratic atmosphere” that pulls from a “polyrhythmic hypnosis” and masterful “energetic flow” that continues to chart them deservedly high in the annals of ’20s progressive music. And while this collision of classically-minded, <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/vvon-dogma-i-the-kvlt-of-glitch-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">synth-addicted</a> madness slowly expands its universe one <strong>OU </strong>release at a time, I’m content to sit here and yell their praises at anyone who will listen.</p><p>#1. <b>Pyrrhon </b>// <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/pyrrhon-exhaust-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>Exhaust</em></a> – You know you’re getting old when an album about modern burnout and the pains of traffic resonates with you all the way from frozen shoulder to radiating lower back to cold-groaning knee. But when <strong>Pyrrhon</strong> stealth-bombed my aging metalhead mind with a tech-dial riff barrage of noisy and shouting proportions, I had no choice but to surrender. <em>Exhaust</em> demands attention from its initial irony-laced lift-off to its closing brutalist clock-out, swinging skronk-enabled splatters and ache-addled vituperation around every faded line and pothole in its death metal architecture. Though <strong>Pyrrhon</strong> uses simpler blocks, their construction here defies convention at every step. One fine commenter summed up <em>Exhaust</em> in the most succinct manner in that regard: “<em><del>Death Metal, Hardcore, Noise Rock, Technical Death Metal</del>. It’s just mathcore.</em>” Except they took away the wrong message from that distillation. The verdict, in fact, is <em>fuck you</em>.</p><p></p><p><strong>Honorable Mentions:</strong></p><ul><li><ul><li><strong>Inner Strength</strong> // <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/inner-strength-daydreaming-in-moonlight-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><i>Daydreaming in Moonlight</i></a> – Another way you know you’re getting old is that you love an album that sounds like it should have released in 1995. Alas, here we are.</li><li><strong>Dysrhythmia</strong> // <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/dysrhythmia-coffin-of-conviction-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><i>Coffin of Conviction</i></a> – Instrumental progressive music should be as exciting as <strong>Dysrhythmia</strong>. Comes for the <strong>Martyr</strong> riffs. Stay for the <strong>Metheny</strong> floating.</li><li><strong>Beaten to Death</strong> // <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/beaten-to-death-sunrise-over-rigor-mortis-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><i>Sunrise Over Rigor Mortis</i></a> – <strong>Beaten to Death</strong> is still the best grindcore band on the planet. They probably won’t ever release a better album than <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/beaten-to-death-dodsfest-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>D​ø​dsfest!</em></a>, but that’s OK. Their discography is now about two hours total. Go listen to it if you haven’t.</li><li><strong>Stygian Crown</strong> // <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/stygian-crown-funeral-for-a-king-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><i>Funeral for a King</i></a> – Doom should always have a guitar tone that feels equally powered by swords and beer alongside vocals that feel soft like bar-stained leather stools.</li><li><strong>Kollapse</strong> // <a href="https://kollapse.bandcamp.com/album/ar" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><i>AR</i></a> – I didn’t know <strong>KEN mode</strong> had a Danish doppelgänger with a frightening, large pink face. But they do, and boy does <strong>Kollapse</strong> know how to yell and riff.</li><li><strong>Sleepytime Gorilla Museum</strong> // <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/sleepytime-gorilla-museum-of-the-last-human-being-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><i>of the Last Human Being</i></a> – Had I infinitely more listening time, I may have been able to parse better this deeply cinematic and wacky slab of no wave emboldened prog. Most don’t actually earn the avant-garde tag the way <strong>SGT </strong>does.</li><li><strong>Defying</strong> // <a href="https://defying.bandcamp.com/album/wadera" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><i>Wadera</i></a> – Hour-long albums based on old Polish werewolf stories and horror movies shouldn’t be this easy to repeat, but I find myself often falling into <em>Wadera</em>’s unbreakable spell.</li><li><strong>Arthouse Fatso</strong> // <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/arthouse-fatso-sycophantic-seizures-a-double-feature-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><i>Sycophantic Seizures: A Double Feature</i></a> – I didn’t have radically-minded industrial deathgrind about the frustrated escapades of a fictional Orson Welles life on my 2024 bingo, but here I am telling you to listen to it anyway.</li><li><strong>Concrete Winds</strong> // <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/concrete-winds-concrete-winds-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><i>Concrete Winds</i></a> – <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If7f6wO20yY" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Just this</a>. And shitloads of riffs.</li></ul></li></ul><p><strong>Disappointments o’ the Year:</strong></p><ul><li><b>Myrath </b>// <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/myrath-karma-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>Karma</em></a> – I love <em>Shehili</em> so much. My love for power metal isn’t what it used to be, but <strong>Myrath</strong>’s exuberance while staying rooted in both the trickier waters of prog and the anthemic cries of power metal gave me hope both that I’d continue to latch on to the kind of playful love it can offer. But the arrangements on <em>Karma</em>, despite <strong>Myrath</strong>’s still life-affirming messages, do absolutely nothing to bolster that same joy for me. <em>Karma</em> sinks my listening brain. And that hurts.</li><li><b>Pallbearer </b>// <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/pallbearer-mind-burns-alive-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>Mind Burns Alive</em></a> – The continued non-success of <strong>Pallbearer</strong> and their sleepy-toned take on creaky prog rock hurts the <span><strong>Dolph</strong></span> who fell in love with their weepy doom classic (and still controversial to true doomsters) <em>Heartless</em>. And yet the general blogging population seems to praise them for trying to reinvent sadboi roots rock with worse lyrics. And, for my money, <strong>Pallbearer</strong> is sounding increasingly thin live. If a return to glory is in store for <strong>Pallbearer</strong>, it will begin with them finally playing a riff again.</li><li><strong>Polterguts</strong> // <em>Nobody Likes You</em> – Okay, this EP actually rips because <a href="https://polterguts.bandcamp.com/album/gods-over-broken-people" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><strong>Polterguts</strong></a> rips. Hard. But, <strong>Polterguts</strong>, if you’re reading this, <em>please put it on Bandcamp so I can link the shit out of it and give you money</em>. I am disappointed that I have no way to contribute currency to your cause. “Ricky Has a Knife2” is worth the price of admission alone.</li></ul><p><strong>Songs o’ the Year:</strong></p> <p>Why give you one when I can give you twenty-seven? Why twenty-seven? That’s my secret. Now, I’ve talked enough, go out there and enjoy some music, friends. And enjoy this photo of my dogs.</p> <p></p><p>Coconut (left), Kiwi (right) in a stylish Adidog sweater.</p> <p></p> <p><strong><span><strong>Ferox</strong></span></strong></p><p>I worked way too much in 2024. I can’t complain; it was meaningful work that I chose to take on, and it got me that much closer to not having to work at all if I don’t want to. Still, that’s what I’ll think of when I think of 2024: lots and lots of work. That had a knock-on effect, especially when it comes to hobbies like lifting, getting out to national parks, and writing here. I did very little of any of that. I kept up with metal as best I could, and embarked on a big end-of-year listening push to have an accurate picture of what came out in 2024. I’m grateful that I got to do a list at all this year, so I took the responsibility seriously… but I’d be lying if I said I was buried in the scene all year.</p><p>One of the highlights of my 2024 was meeting a whole slew of staffers in person. I traveled a bunch this year, both for work and for my daughter’s ballet pursuits, and with that came the chance to hang with some of the people who make this place go. My body count of staffers met this year: <span><strong>Steel Druhm</strong></span>, <span><strong>Madam X</strong></span>, <span><strong>Cherd</strong></span>, <span><strong>Twelve</strong></span>, <span><strong>Dr. Wyrm</strong></span>, <span><strong>Thus Spoke</strong></span>, <span><strong>El Cuervo</strong></span>, <span><strong>Doom et al</strong></span>, and <span><strong>Holdeneye</strong></span>. It was a veritable orgy of almost entirely chaste fellowship, and only one (1) bad hang among the lot!<a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/dolphin-whisperers-and-feroxs-top-tenish-of-2024/#fn-208005-6" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">6</a></p><p>I’m grateful to <span><strong>Steel Druhm </strong></span><span>and <span><strong>Angry Metal Guy</strong></span></span> for indulging my schedule, and for the real leadership they provide at my fake job. I found this unique community because it had the best music writing on the internet, and that remains true today thanks to the talented people who contribute their time and enthusiasm to keeping the machinery humming. I’m lucky to be a small part of it, and hopeful that 2025 will give me more time to spend in the Hall.</p> <p></p><p>#ish. <strong>Mother of Graves</strong> // <em><a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/mother-of-graves-the-periapt-of-absence-things-you-might-have-missed-2024/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">The Periapt of Absence</a> – </em> My “-ish” spot typically goes to an album that might have listed if I just had more time with it. That holds true of the sophomore effort from Indianapolis’s <strong>Mother of Graves</strong>, which landed on my radar by way of <span><strong>Carcharadon</strong></span>‘s excellent TYHMHM piece. This slab of classic sadboi death doom transcends any tribcore concerns through sheer quality of execution. From opener “Gallows” through final track “Like Darkness to a Dying Flame,” <em>The Periapt of Absence</em> guides the listener through the stages of grief with varied compositions that maintain a consistent mood throughout. Classic death doom is alive and well.</p><p>#10. <strong>Wormed</strong> // <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wormed-omegon-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>Omegon</em></a> – <span><strong>Maddog</strong></span>‘s compelling rave for <em>Omegon</em> is my personal Review o’ the Year; fortunately, the prose was well spent on this efficient and brutal riff delivery system. <em>Wormed</em> has been creating slam-adjacent otherworldly death metal for a good while now, and <em>Omegon</em> is a distillation of everything the band has learned over the past two decades. 2024 is the year I realized I’ve been a brutal death metal guy all along. With songs like “Pareidolia Robotica” and “Virtual Teratogenesis,” <strong>Wormed </strong>took me by the hand and guided me through this journey of self-discovery… all while the people in the offices around me called in noise complaints.</p><p>#9. <strong>Ripped to Shreds</strong> // <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/ripped-to-shreds-sanshi-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>Sanshi</em></a> – The already impressive <strong>Ripped to Shreds</strong> leveled up with <em>Sanshi</em>, a blast of aggressive but technically adept death metal that never left my rotation after its release. The guitar hero shredding plays like a release valve to the vicious and punky energy that Andrew Lee injects into his compositions. This cycle of tension and release makes for an addictive listen that feels like it ends mere moments after you hit play. The thrash elements of the <strong>R2S</strong> sounds are more prevalent on <em>Sanshi</em>, meaning the band now scratches the same itch for me that <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/horrendous-ontological-mysterium-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><strong>Horrendous</strong></a> did with their last killer slab.</p><p>#8. <strong>Scumbag</strong> // <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/scumbag-homicide-cult-things-you-might-have-missed-2024/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>Homicide Cult</em></a> – <strong>Scumbag! </strong>SCUUUMMMMBAGGGG. This nasty bit of business, with its deathgrind touches and morbid sense of humor (“Pure Adrenaline Hard-On,” “The Meating”), was tailor-made for the <span><strong>Ferox </strong></span>sensibility. Herein lie twenty-eight minutes of death metal that never slams but still walks the same line that <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wormhole-almost-human-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><strong>Wormhole</strong></a> managed to last year: brutal but somehow cheerful, and stoopid without being remotely dumb. Dylan Cruz, of this band and <strong>Noxis</strong>, came out of nowhere to occupy a huge chunk of my limited listening time this year.</p><p>#7. <strong>Black Curse</strong> // <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/black-curse-burning-in-celestial-poison-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>Burning in Celestial Poison</em></a> – With <em>Burning in Celestial Poison</em>, <strong>Black Curse </strong>stages a forty-five-minute takeover of your central nervous system. <span><strong>Eldritch Elitist </strong></span>captured the elemental power of these five compositions better than I ever could, but this album gave me exactly what I needed in a 2024 that was characterized by an extreme lack of work-life balance. Metal can provide a safe outlet for less-than-savory feelings, and <strong>Black Curse</strong> expressed a lot of things for me that I couldn’t express myself and stay employed. Lose yourself in these five tracks and emerge scoured but smarter.</p><p>#6. <strong>Spectral Wound</strong> // <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/black-curse-burning-in-celestial-poison-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>Songs of Blood and Mire</em></a> – The hot streak continues; <em>Songs of Blood and Mire,</em> <strong>Spectral Wound</strong>’s fourth album, is their best effort yet. <span><strong>Carcharadon</strong></span> capably cataloged crisp new cross-currents in the band’s sound, but the song quality remains the same. Tracks like “At Wine-Dark Midnight in the Mouldering Halls” and Song o’ the Year “Aristocratic Suicidal Black Metal” showcase the band’s gift for coupling aggression with sweeping melody. In this way, <strong>Spectral Wound </strong>recalls <strong>Watain</strong> without so much distracting ooga-booga. <em>Songs of Blood and Mire</em> finds them continuing to refine their sound and grow in confidence.</p><p>#5. <strong>Endonomos</strong> // <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/endonomos-endonomos-ii-enlightenment-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>Endonomos II – Enlightenment</em></a> – <strong>Endonomos</strong> carried the torch for doom in 2024. <em>Enlightenment</em> is a stately procession, its six long tracks blending influences from all across the doom spectrum. This is music that soars as it plods. <span><strong>Steel Druhm</strong></span> noted similarities to both <strong>Khemmis</strong> and <strong>Fvneral Fvkk</strong>. Those comps are perfect; not since <em>Carnal Confessions</em> has a doom album so effectively cut through the clutter of genre tropes to evoke genuine emotion.</p><p>#4. <strong>Pyrrhon</strong> // <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/pyrrhon-exhaust-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>Exhaust</em></a> – I hate it when the promotional push for an album ties a record too strongly to the narrative of its creation. It’s like the record company is trying to force a reaction that the album itself might or might not evoke. So when <em>Exhaust</em> arrived with heavy-handed descriptions of process and what <strong>Pyrrhon</strong> went through trying to make the album happen, I bristled and stopped reading. Fortunately, the music on <em>Exhaust</em> speaks for itself. This is a bitter and blistering record that finds the band raging against their rage’s inability to change even a single thing. I’ve always appreciated <strong>Pyrrhon</strong>, but I’ve never connected with their music as immediately as I did on <em>Exhaust</em>.</p><p>#3. <strong>Defeated Sanity</strong> // <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/defeated-sanity-chronicles-of-lunacy-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>Chronicles of Lunacy</em></a> – <strong>Defeated Sanity </strong>has had quite the <strong>AMG </strong>journey. They’ve gone from being <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/defeated-sanity-passages-into-deformity-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">brushed aside</a> by a n00b named <span><strong><strong>Potato Jim</strong></strong></span> to being on the receiving end of a <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/defeated-sanity-chronicles-of-lunacy-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">double-4.0 fellating</a> from the tenured likes of <span><strong>Dolphin Whisperer</strong></span> and <span><strong>Maddog</strong></span>. <em>Chronicles of Lunacy</em> finds <strong>Defeated Sanity </strong>extending the Colin Marston-enabled peak that they hit on 2020’s <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/defeated-sanity-the-sanguinary-impetus-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>The Sanguinary Impetus</em></a>. It takes extreme skill to weaponize the base and the stoopid this effectively. <strong>Defeated Sanity</strong> is more than up for the job.</p><p>#2. <strong>Inter Arma</strong> // <em><a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/inter-arma-new-heaven-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">New Heaven</a> – </em>Here’s another band that could be wrestling with The Law of Diminishing Recordings by now, but instead persists with quality release after quality release. <strong>Inter Arma </strong>never repeats themselves, but each of their albums could only come from them. Hot take: <em>Sky Funeral</em> has remained my favorite <strong>Inter Arma </strong>album even as they’ve racked up an epic run of excellence. <em>New Heaven</em> makes a run at unseating it. This is a slab that rewards the many repeated listens I gave it in 2024; it sat in my top slot for much of the year until a late-breaking favorite pushed it aside.</p><p>#1. <strong>Noxis</strong> // <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/noxis-violence-inherent-in-the-system-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>Violence Inherent in the System</em></a> – This is my third time publishing a list at <strong>AMG</strong>; each previous year, I had clear Album o’the Year winners in <strong>Immolation</strong>’s <em>Acts of God</em> and <strong>Afterbirth</strong>’s <em>In But Not Of</em>. 2024 marked the first Listurnalia that began with an opening for my top slot. But as I weeded through my favorite music of the year, I realized: <strong>Noxis</strong> drew me in with the bass flourish at the beginning of album opener “Skullcrushing Defilement,” and they still haven’t let go. The Pittsburgher in me hates to credit anything from Cleveland, but <strong>Noxis</strong> weeded out that deeply rooted prejudice with their inventive and fresh take on death metal. Every track on <em>Violence Inherent in the System</em> is a wild ride that alternately crushes, challenges, and tickles. The only break from the madcap pace comes on mid-album interlude “Excursion,” but that just prepares you for the utter barking lunacy of “Horns Echo Over Chorazim.” That song incorporates strange arrangements that include various woodwind instruments, and somehow they do it with zero pretension and abundant commitment to brutality. Listurnalia may have begun with a blank space atop my list, but it ended with <strong>Noxis </strong>firmly entrenched as the winner of 2024.</p><p></p><p><strong>Honorable Mentions:</strong></p><ul><li><ul><li><ul><li><strong>Stenched</strong> // <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/stenched-purulence-gushing-from-the-coffin-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>Purulence Gushing from the Coffin</em></a> – This one-man outfit captured that elusive filthy magic and spewed out the annum’s premiere filthy wallow.</li><li><strong>Aborted</strong> //<em> <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/aborted-vault-of-horrors-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Vault of Horrors</a></em> – These Belgian veterans, long under-appreciated in the Hall, finally found their champion in <span><strong>Grier</strong></span>. They hooked themselves up to the juvenation machine by leaning into the melodeath that has been creeping into their sound, and cranked out their best set in years.</li><li><strong>Vitriol</strong> // <em><a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/vitriol-suffer-become-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Suffer and Become</a></em> – Here’s a mean and heavy slab that seemed to fade from the general consciousness as the year wore on, but remains worthy of note.</li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><p><strong>Disappointment o’the Year:</strong></p><p><span><strong>Ferox</strong></span>! I just didn’t have time to make a meaningful contribution here this year. It has been a pleasure to watch other members of my n00b class like <span><strong>Dolph</strong></span> and <span><strong>Maddog</strong></span> and <span><strong>Thus</strong></span> become <strong>AMG </strong>institutions, even as I mostly watch from the sidelines and come out to play when I can.</p><p><strong>Song o’the Year:</strong></p><p>Imagine being asked to name your favorite song of the year, and responding with a twenty-seven song playlist!<a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/dolphin-whisperers-and-feroxs-top-tenish-of-2024/#fn-208005-7" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">7</a></p><p></p><p><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/2024/" target="_blank">#2024</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/a-frame-of-mind/" target="_blank">#AFrameOfMind</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" 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Angry Metal Guy<p><strong><a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/spectral-wound-songs-of-blood-and-mire-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Spectral Wound – Songs of Blood and Mire Review</a></strong></p><p><i>By Carcharodon</i></p><p>2021 seems a long time ago. So long, in fact, that I had utterly forgotten half of my year-end List. Imagine my surprise then, to discover, while checking for previous references on our auguste site, that I had <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/thekenwords-and-carcharodons-top-tenish-of-2021/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">listed</a> <strong>Spectral Wound</strong>’s last outing, <em>A Diabolic Thirst</em>. That was as nothing, however, compared to my shock when I discovered that, not only had <strong>Deafheaven</strong>-groupie <strong><span>Doom_et_Al</span></strong> <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/doom_et_als-and-dear-hollows-top-tenish-of-2021/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">awarded</a> it a list spot, so <a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/gardenstales-and-ferrous-beullers-top-tenish-of-2021/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">had</a> avowed BM skeptic <span><strong>Ferrous Beuller</strong></span>. Perhaps this spread says something about what <strong>Spectral Wound</strong> achieved with its third record, its brand of vicious, semi-raw black metal appealing to both the ravening death metal machine <strong><span>Ferrous</span></strong> and <i>Sunbather-</i>apologist <span><strong>Doom</strong></span>, as well as yours truly, normally to be found luxuriating at the atmo-end of the BMverse. Can this Canadian five-piece achieve the same lightning-in-a-bottle effect with fourth record, <em>Songs of Blood and Mire</em>?</p><p>Pressing play the first time, I was briefly non-plussed, as I appeared to have unwittingly put on a sludge record, the first distorted notes of opener “Fevers and Suffering,” drowning in feedback, recalling nothing more than <strong>Charger</strong>. This effect lasts only moments but is, nevertheless, disarming. Then <strong>Spectral Wound</strong> rips you a new one with an altogether more familiar sound. Searing tremolos shed hoar frost in their frozen wake, as Illusory’s artillery-like percussion slams into the listener again and again. As ever, Jonah’s rasping shrieks cut like shards of glass blown upon an arctic gale, slicing into your flesh and your mind. So far, so <strong>Spectral Wound</strong>. However, there is a subtle, but marked, maturing to the band’s sound on <em>Songs of Blood and Mire</em>. Without losing any of the furious, visceral dark magic that tainted their previous outings, <strong>Spectral Wound</strong> now weave in, by turns, a really nasty groove, reminiscent of early <strong>Bathory</strong> (“Aristocratic Suicidal Black Metal”), as well as a Scandinavian epicness, a la <strong>Windir</strong> (“Twelve Moons in Hell”).</p><p></p><p>In some ways, <em>Songs of Blood of Mire</em> reminds me of what <strong>Miasmata</strong> captured on their debut, <em>Unlight: Songs of Earth and Atrophy</em>, as it serves up unflinchingly harsh, yet strangely melodic, black metal, channeling the likes of <strong>Dissection</strong> and <strong>Watain</strong>, as much as it does <strong>Windir</strong> and others. Raw and brutal in places, <strong>Spectral Wound</strong> are only too happy to kick down your front door, before setting fire to the splintered remnants and pissing on your doormat for good measure (“At Wine-Dark Midnight in the Mouldering Halls”). But that tells only half the story. Once inside, the band stalks your house, shambling from room to room, experimenting with different ways of smashing up your stuff. Debauched, seething, and frenetic, sometimes it feels like <strong>Spectral Wound</strong> are content to take their time, the groove of Sam’s bass giving the rest of the band space to lay leisurely waste to everything (“Less and Less Human, O Savage Spirit” and the back end of “A Coin Upon the Tongue”). At others, the band is a raging tempest, blasting through walls without hesitation, no shits given (“Fevers and Suffering” and “The Horn Marauding”).</p><p></p><p>Across its tight, 43-minute run, <em>Songs of Blood and Mire</em> is every bit the equal of <strong>Spectral Wound</strong>’s previous efforts. At its absolute best (“Aristocratic Suicidal Black Metal” and closer, “Twelve Moons in Hell”), it’s probably the strongest material the band has put out to date. Slightly less raw than previous efforts, there is something here of the transition made by <strong>Lamp of Murmuur</strong> between its debut and third outing, 2023’s <em>Saturnian Bloodstorm</em>. Whether it’s that deep seam of groove that’s now woven more firmly into <strong>Spectral Wound</strong>’s sound or little adornments, like the super fun solo dropped (either by Patrick or A.A.) around the halfway mark of “A Coin upon the Tongue,” this feels like a band confident in its songwriting, comfortable with its sound. The excellent production, which retains an organic rawness but emphasizes the details, like the keening, melodic edge to the guitars, hurts not at all.</p><p>Clearly written by the same band that conjured <em>Infernal Decadence</em> and <em>A Diabolic Thirst</em>, <em>Songs of Blood and Mire</em> has just a few more tricks up its ragged sleeve. Although it’s <strong>Spectral Wound</strong>’s longest outing yet (edging <em>A Diabolic Thirst</em> by a couple of minutes), there’s zero filler or bloat here, and the whole thing feels vital and packed with barely contained energy. My favorite <strong>Spectral Wound</strong> to date, I’m afraid that score counter is in trouble. Again.</p> <p><strong>Rating:</strong> 4.0/5.0<br><strong>DR:</strong> 6 | <strong>Format Reviewed:</strong> 320 kb/s mp3<br><strong>Label:</strong> <a href="https://profoundlorerecords.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Profound Lore</a><br><strong>Websites:</strong> <a href="http://spectralwound.bandcamp.com" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">spectralwound.bandcamp.com</a> | <a href="http://facebook.com/spectralwoundcontramundi" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">facebook.com/spectralwoundcontramundi</a><br><strong>Releases Worldwide:</strong> August 23rd, 2024</p><p><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/2024/" target="_blank">#2024</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/40/" target="_blank">#40</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/aug24/" target="_blank">#Aug24</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/bathory/" target="_blank">#Bathory</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/black-metal/" target="_blank">#BlackMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/canadian-metal/" target="_blank">#CanadianMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/dissection/" target="_blank">#Dissection</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/lamp-of-murmuur/" target="_blank">#LampOfMurmuur</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/melodic-black-metal/" target="_blank">#MelodicBlackMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/miasmata/" target="_blank">#Miasmata</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/profound-lore/" target="_blank">#ProfoundLore</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/raw-black-metal/" target="_blank">#RawBlackMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/review/" target="_blank">#Review</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/reviews/" target="_blank">#Reviews</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/songs-of-blood-and-mire/" target="_blank">#SongsOfBloodAndMire</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/spectral-wound/" target="_blank">#SpectralWound</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/watain/" target="_blank">#Watain</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/windir/" target="_blank">#Windir</a></p>
🤘 The Metal Dog 🤘<p><a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/TheMetalDogArticleList" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>TheMetalDogArticleList</span></a><br><a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/MetalInjection" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>MetalInjection</span></a><br>SPECTRAL WOUND Stays Ferocious On New Single "The Horn Marauding"<br>From their upcoming album Songs Of Blood And Mire.</p><p><a href="https://metalinjection.net/new-music/spectral-wound-stays-ferocious-on-new-single-the-horn-marauding" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">metalinjection.net/new-music/s</span><span class="invisible">pectral-wound-stays-ferocious-on-new-single-the-horn-marauding</span></a></p><p><a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/SpectralWound" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>SpectralWound</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/TheHornMarauding" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>TheHornMarauding</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/SongsOfBloodAndMire" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>SongsOfBloodAndMire</span></a></p>
🤘 The Metal Dog 🤘<p><a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/TheMetalDogArticleList" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>TheMetalDogArticleList</span></a><br><a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/MetalSucks" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>MetalSucks</span></a><br>Spectral Wound Announce ‘Songs Of Blood and Mire’, Drop “Aristocratic Suicidal Black Metal”</p><p><a href="https://www.metalsucks.net/2024/06/24/spectral-wound-announce-songs-of-blood-and-mire-drop-aristocratic-suicidal-black-metal/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">metalsucks.net/2024/06/24/spec</span><span class="invisible">tral-wound-announce-songs-of-blood-and-mire-drop-aristocratic-suicidal-black-metal/</span></a></p><p><a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/SpectralWound" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>SpectralWound</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/SongsOfBloodAndMire" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>SongsOfBloodAndMire</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/AristocraticSuicidalBlackMetal" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>AristocraticSuicidalBlackMetal</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/ProfoundLoreRecords" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ProfoundLoreRecords</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/BlackMetal" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>BlackMetal</span></a></p>