We at Teeth of the Divine have had our ears full of tons of new releases for 2024.  There was a lot going on in music as well as the world in general last year….

Well, we have seen some major bands not touring overseas due to the rising fuel costs, especially in Europe where the Diesel prices are astronomical, and …well you’ve read all the band members left As I Lay Dying again as the singer tries to put the band back together again.  The memes and GIF’s have been pretty funny to say the least.

Let’s not forget that legendary Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain has officially retired from touring.  Their 2024 North American tour was incredible and he played amazing live.  With a new touring drummer in place, Simon Dawson, as they say, “The Show Must Go On”!!  Indeed it certainly does, with nary a breath of Kerry King announcing his new band and debut album, his main bread and butter the almighty Slayer, then coming out of retirement and announcing, festival dates, not only that have been played for 2024, but going forward into 2025.  What else is next, Metallica announcing they are going to do full tour sets of their first four and best albums??? Never say never, as we are seeing an all time high number amount of bands either reforming and or electing to do sets of their classic albums!!  It’s actually what the fans truly want, when it’s all said and done.

As far as the future, plenty to look forward to with 2025 just getting started with new metal releases and killer tours and fests.

All of us writers want to thank each and every one of you for visiting this page, and checking out our Facebook page and we hope we have turned you all on to some new and exciting bands.  That is always our goal – to spread the word of metal.  We thank you all for keeping up with our rants, in our reviews and we all wish you and yours a terrific 2025.  With that being said, let’s get into our exciting year-end lists….

 

ERIK T

 

1. Assemble the Chariots – Unyielding Night. (Self-Released). I flipped-flopped between this and the more emotional A Wake In Providence album, ultimately, fun and bombast won out.
2. A Wake in Providence – I Write to You My Darling Decay. (Unique Leader Records). An absolute tour de force of emotive symphonic deathcore.
3. Worm Shepherd – Hunger. (Unique Leader Records). A really solid third album from these consistent guys. Eager to hear more as they are a studio project only now after vocalist drama
4. Lamentari – Ex Umbra in Lucem. (Self-Released). Brilliantly chaotic symphonic black metal record.
5. Ensom – Poimandres. (Self-Released). Another killer release from these classically inspired black metal Spaniards.
6. Druparia – The River Above. (Self-Released). A stunning debut of Darkest Hour/ Light This City worshipping melodeath.
7. Fleshgod Apocalypse – Opera. (Nuclear Blast Records). These Italians can do no wrong, having perfected symphonic death metal for several albums now.
8. Exuvial – The Hive Mind Chronicles Part I – Parasitica (Silent Pendulum Records). A late, out of nowhere addition to the list that’s a brilliant tech death album reminiscent of Allegaeon.
9. Ensiferum – Winter Storm (Metal Blade). Another winning, wintery album from these epic Fins.
10. Spiritual Deception – Semitae Mentis (Amputated Vein). A superb example of symphonic, brutal death metal.
11. Eden Adversary – Kingdom Ov Heresy (Interlude Records). What happens if you lock a bunch of Indonesians in a room and make them listen to Lorna Shore’s Immortal and AIRTN EP and Mental Cruelty’s A Hill to Die Upon non-stop.
12. Moisson Livide- Sent Empèri Gascon (Antiq Records). Funky, punky, folky, revolutionary black metal from the Biosson  Divine Dude.
13. Darkness Everywhere– To Conquer Eternal Damnation, (Creator Destructor). Another tightly wound, killer Light This City clone- but with Light This City members.
14. Arkona – Stella Pandora (Debemur Morti). Pitch-perfect black metal from the ‘other’ Arkona.
15. Job For a Cowboy – Moon Healer (Metal Blade). The band’s transformation from SpongeBob deathcore to top-notch tech death is stunning.
16. The Mist From the Mountains – Portal – The Gathering of Storms (Primitive Reaction). A second album of even more rangy, epic Finnish black metal.
17. Xenotheory -Blissful Death (Self-Released). Bludgeoning Alien-themed deathcore/slam. The perfect orgasm indeed.
18. Unhallowed Deliverance – Of Specters and Strife (Self-Released). A beefy mix of tech death, deathcore, and slam from out of nowhere.
19. The Last Ten Seconds of Life—No Name Graves (Unique Leader Records). The more serious tone and delivery make for a lean, mean, downtempo deathcore record.
20. Vomit the Soul – Massive Incineration (Unique Leader Records). The best pure death metal album of the year that no one talked about.
21. Stilverlight—Dead Souls (Self-Released). The ten-year wait was worth it for these earworm-delivering power metal/Melo death Russian hybrids.
22. Asarhaddon – Era – (Self Released). Hypnotically repetitive but alluring atmospheric black metal from this underrated German Duo.
23. Dodsrit –Nocturnal Will (Wolves of Hades). A near-perfect record of atmospheric but despondent and melodic black metal.
24. Acathexis – Immense (Amor Fati/Extraconscious Records). See above.
25. Opus Irae – Into the Endless Night (Endtime Productions). A fantastic Symphonic black metal album, and yes it’s Christian.

EPs

1. Synestia/Disembodied Tyrant  – The Poetic Edda (Self-Released). The best collaboration of the year, and melds classic music. Brilliant.
2. Enemies Everywhere – Endless Discord. (Self-Released). Literally a note-for-note rendition of Lorna Shore’s  AIRTN EP and Pain Remains album. And I love it of course.
3. Heteromorphic Zoo –.New World. (Self-Released). Deathcore + a Violin = magic
4. Atavistia – Inane Ducam. (Self-Released). A revamped, darker, meaner Atavistia, and I like it.
5. House of Atreus – Orations. (Iron Bonehead Productions). After 5 years away, Greek-themed Melo death act returns triumphantly.

Biggest Surprises

1. Daath – The Deceivers. Who would have thought a fairly average groove metal band from the early/mid-00s that I didn’t give a rip about would drop a killer album 14 years later?
2. Oceano – Living Chaos. Once at the top of the deathcore heap, a 6 year layoff made this a superb, album of controlled, downtempo chaos. Of course, people of the internet ruined it and the band is no more.
3. Henry Kane – Circle of Pain. Jonny Petterson took a hard turn away from death grind into keyboard-drenched atmospheric blacker metal. “A Swarm of Idiots” was the most fitting song title for 2024 as well.

Biggest non-surprise.

Immortal Disfigurement – KING (Self-Released). CJ McCreery gets booted from Lorna Shore after Immortal, and releases….. Immortal pt 2. But it hit my sweet spot regardless.

Album Cover

Keres – Homo Homini Lupus

Disappointment

Massacre – Necrolution. A lazy, lethargic album after a solid album in Resurgence. Inhuman Condition is clearly the better version of Massacre right now.

Best Label:

“Self-Released”. The number of top-notch self-released EPs and albums, that were either digital (Bandcamp, etc) only or physical was astounding.

 

FRANK RINI

2024 was yet another great year for metal releases and excellent to see us get the hell out of COVID.  Tours ramped up in full swing.  Highlights for me were the Iron Maiden tour and the Desolus album release show.  I had a guest spot on the Crushuman debut album and already tapped for a few guest spots in 2025.  My top 25 is in order of what I felt were the best releases for 2024 and fun sub-categories.  Please enjoy my list and all the other great writers’ lists here.  For 2025 look out for releases from:  Anthrax, Gorguts, AngelMaker, King Diamond, Internal Bleeding and Sanguisugabogg to name a few.  Enjoy the new year.  Be Safe.  Be Smart. \m/

 

1. Judas Priest – Invincible Shield (Sony Music)
2. Deicide – Banished by Sin (Reigning Phoenix Music)
3. Ripped To Shreds – 三屍 (Sanshi) (Relapse Records)
4. Nile – The Underworld Awaits Us All (Napalm Records)
5. Blood Incantation – Absolute Elsewhere (Century Media Records)
6. Arka’n Asrafokor– Dzikkuh (Reigning Phoenix Music)
7. Drown In Sulfur– Dark Secrets of the Soul (Scarlet Records)
8. The Dread Crew of Oddwood– Rust & Glory (Self-Released)
9. Eminem – The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope Records)
10. Exhorder – Defectum Omnium (Nuclear Blast Records)
11. PeelingFlesh – The G Code (Unique Leader Records)
12. Hail Spirit Noir – Fossil Gardens (Agonia Records)
13. Lord Goblin – Lord Goblin (Self-Released)
14. Ensiferum– Winter Storm (Metal Blade Records)
15. Assemble The Chariots – Unyielding Light (Seek & Strike)
16. Midnight – Hellish Expectations (Metal Blade Records)
17. Unleash The Archers – Phantoma (Napalm Records)
18. Morta Skuld – Creation Undone (Peaceville Records)
19. Totengott – Beyond the Veil (Hammerheart Records)
20. Kanonenfieber – Die Urkatastrophe (Century Media Records)
21. Mad Hatter– Oneironautics (Art Gates Records)
22. Skeletal Remains– Fragments of the Ageless (Century Media Records)
23. Extermination Dismemberment – Butcher Basement (Revamp) (Unique Leader Records)
24. Mutilation Barbecue– Amalgamations of Gore (Maggot Stomp)
25. Brodequin – Harbinger of Woe (Season of Mist Underground Activists)

 

Comeback Album of the Year: Atrophy – Asylum (Massacre Records)

Sleeper Hit Album: Neon Nightmare– Faded Dream (20 Buck Spin)

Best Debut Album: Theurgy– Emanations of Unconscious Luminescence (New Standard Elite)

Best Stoner/Doom Album:  WyndRider – Revival (Electric Valley Records)

Heaviest Release: Rabid – Rabid Demo (Self-Released)

Best Reissue/Re-recording: Cavalera – Schizophrenia (Nuclear Blast Records)

Best Hardcore Album: Speed – Only One Mode (Last Ride Records)

Best EP: Disentomb – Nothing Above (Unique Leader Records)

Most Underrated Active Band:  Deceased

Best New Band: Desolus

Best Record Label:  Maggot Stomp

 

STEVE K

It’s possible that many of you, our dedicated readers, may have noticed my involvement here at Teeth of the Divine took a dramatic hit this year. Or maybe you didn’t, because… I mean lets be real, I have no significant role one way or another in your lives. And that’s fine! And while none of you are asking or really care to know (again, totally rational and fine), I at least owe it to my colleagues here at this excellent site to explain my decrease in productivity. Long story short, 2024 was the year I’ve officially hit my midlife crisis. I owe this to a myriad of circumstances in my personal life that I won’t get into, but lets just say it caused me to both spiral a little bit, but also take a good hard look at my life and evaluate what needed more attention, what was really important, and what things I really needed to just let go of in order to be happy and move forward in a way that gave my life more meaningful purpose.

But don’t get it twisted, my dedication to the music and artists I love is not taking a back seat. It just took me a beat to get some things reorganized so that I can hit 2025 with better focus and energy. And here’s the thing that has always been true – music was a gigantic part of helping me get through a lot of the lows, and made me appreciate just how much the bands i care about really mean to me. So to that end, I hope to get back to dumping more of my nonsense on you guys in 2025, and hopefully do a better job of spreading the word about the music we all love and need in our lives.

So I’ll keep this list short and sweet, and just say that the following 10 releases, in no particular order, are the ones that really meant something to me at various points in my journey through 2024. Plus a couple extras that I feel like maybe could add value to your lives as well. Are they objectively the best albums of 2024? I don’t know. I don’t really fucking care. These are just my favorites. Keep an open mind.

• Dodsrit – Nocturnal Will (Wolves of Hades): The Swedish one-man-wrecking-crew-turned-full-band continues to fly under the radar with yet another stellar, beautiful and forceful release that sees some of the crustier, D-Beat leanings of the project’s earliest work, give way to increased melody, atmosphere and, dare I say, vibes. This band’s journey continues to surprise and impress.
• Demiser – Slave to the Scythe (Metal Blade): Still no frills, still no fuss, the southern sons of Blackened Thrash and Speed continue to be amongst the most metal fucking bands on the planet. Don’t think to hard about it, just enjoy what it is.
• Winterfylleth – The Imperious Horizon (Candlelight): Majestic, flowing, another album greater than the sum of it’s parts. Winterfylleth albums rarely blow you away with one or two individual tracks, but instead demand a look at the full picture, and the one laid out here is nothing short of stunning.
• Gaerea – Coma (Season of Mist): While Gaerea has already been widely revered around the world, this latest opus showcases the band’s most focused and, in many ways, accessible material. This is far from a bad thing. Instead, Coma puts the band’s brand of cathartic, emotional chaos center stage for a greater audience to bear witness.
• Midnight – Hellish Expectations (Metal Blade): It’s Midnight. Doing Midnight things. Obviously it rules. It’s also perhaps the band’s biggest celebration of Metal music to date, and that’s something we can, and should, all get around.
• Wristmeetsrazor – Degeneration (Prosthetic Records): No one was more surprised by this one as me. This was a fucking awesome, nostalgic look back at Metalcore’s heyday mixed with the best part of Nu Metal to make for a thoroughly interesting, and simply just goddamn fun record.
• Unleash the Archers – Phantoma (Napalm Records): To be honest, it took me a minute to really get into this one, which was surprising given that they are, unquestionably, my favorite band of the last decade. But over time, the brilliance of the band’s evolution and dedication to the themes present on Phantoma really shined through.
• Kublai Khan TX – Exhibition of Prowess (Rise Records): Look, no one is gonna sit here and try to tell you this is some kind of brilliant work of art or game-changer. But perhaps no record was more self-aware in 2024. You want heavy? This shit’s got heavy on lockdown. It’s dumb and knuckle-dragging and goddamn I adore it.
• Sovereign – Altered Realities (Dark Descent Records): An old school slab of Sepultura and Pestilence worshipping Death Metal pulled off in a way that sounds far more sincere and authentic than many of their throwback-thumping counterparts. One of my favorite early records of the year stood the test of time.
• Mega Colossus – Showdown (Cruz del Sur Music): Another early entry, Showdown is still the year’s most fun Heavy Metal record in my mind. What more do I really need to say? It rules.

Remember when I said “Keep an open mind?” Ok well, here’s 5 non-metal records that left just as big an impact on me this year as any of our heavier-hitting brethren. Give ’em a shot.

• Kacey Musgraves – Deeper Well (UMG Recordings): Keep in mind my earlier rant about going through midlife crisis if you decide to take a listen to this one. You won’t find a better-written record this year or, indeed, many others.
• Sierra Ferrell – Trail of Flowers (Rounder Records): A beautiful collection of vintage Americana, Folk and Country tunes, including my personal song of the year candidate “American Dreaming,” Trail of Flowers is as beautiful and compelling as it is raw and distinct.
• Goldie Boutilier – The Actress EP (Goldie M&E Enterprises): A fantastic storyteller, Boutilier weaves another compelling tale of vintage vibes that’s altogether sultry, melancholic and gorgeous. Another stellar release in an increasingly impressive catalogue.
• Orville Peck – Stampede (Warner Records): Country music’s premier gay cowboy returns with a voice that would make Roy Orbison blush, but this time combining it with talent ranging from the legendary Willie Nelson and Elton John, Noah Cyrus, Margo Price, Kylie Minogue and so many more. At times a campy thrill ride, other times heartbreaking and sincere, Stampede is a hugely entertaining record.
• Hozier – Unreal Unearth: Unending (Island Records): A sprawling, incredibly complex work based loosely on Homer’s The Odyssey, Hozier brings his work to an entirely new level to create his most ambitious release yet.

 

 

J MAYS

I adopted my new best friend, Judith Priest. I went to Maryland Death Fest by myself and outpaced kids half my age. I lost my mom in June, my grandma in November, and my only remaining grandparent has dementia. Somehow, I’m managing my depression better than ever. I really need a great 2025, though. Get fucked, 2024.

1. Unleash The Archers – Phantoma (Napalm Records)
2. Kittie – Fire (Sumerian Records)
3. Neon Nightmare – Faded Dream (20 Buck Spin)
4. Cemetery Skyline – Nordic Gothic (Nuclear Blast Records)
5. Darkest Hour – Perpetual Terminal (MNRK Heavy)
6. Blood Incantation – Absolute Elsewhere (Century Media Records)
7. Valletta – Summer (Self-Released)
8. Mourning Dawn – The Foam of Despair (Aesthetic Death)
9. Better Lovers – Highly Irresponsible (SharpTone Records)
10. Gaerea – Coma (Season of Mist)
11. Dead Icarus – Zealot (MNRK Heavy)
12. Witnesses – Joy (Self-Released)
13. Mother of Graves – The Periapt of Absence (Profound Lore)
14. Molder – Catastrophic Reconfiguration (Prosthetic Records)
15. Judas Priest – Invincible Shield (Epic Records)
16. Replicant – Infinite Mortality (Transcending Obscurity Records)
17. Hell is Other People – Moirae (Transcending Obscurity Records)
18. Opeth – The Last Will and Testament (Reigning Phoenix)
19. Intranced – Muerte y Metal (High Roller Records)
20. Vexing Hex – Solve Et Coagula (Wiseblood Records)

Best Songs: My number 1 album.

Best Label: Transcending Obscurity

Best Live Bands:

1. Agalloch
2. Powerwolf
3. Dismember
4. Unleash The Archers

 

JEREMY BECK

Goddamn you 2024. This was another glorious year for the Metal community. So many killer albums were released that it was a bitch to cover ALL of them, but cover I tried and on this list are the cream of the crop. There are some change ups from last year; nothing crazy just a few surprises. This is definitely not the Rolling fucking Stone list by any shape or form. So without further ado here it is!

Album of the year: Flotsam and Jetsam (AFM Records) – I am the Weapon. Here’s why, no album got me through the blistering hell scape that was this summer… and fall… I couldn’t get the chorus out of my head. That’s what makes it my AOTY and they’ve also claimed the Top Thrash album spot! Huzzah!

Best of categories: These bands stood out from other bands in their respective genres.

Best Black Metal: Mork (Peaceville Records)- Syv. This was a toughie, but in the moment of listening and continuing to get my mind in shall we say; a ritual frame of mind, plus this album just fucking kills. Easy pick.

Best Death Metal: Mother of Graves (Profound Lore Records)- The Periapt Of Absence. Fuck me running this was hard as hell; mainly because there were SO many killer albums released. But when I think about the album that touched me the most in terms of brutality and staggering emotions, Mother of Graves have killed it with The Periapt Of Absence.

Best Grindcore: CrusHuman (HPGD PRODUCTIONS) -S/T. CrusHuman meld a few different genres into their arsenal but at the heart of this malignant beast is Grindcore. So it’s only fitting that they get this spot.

Best Original Concept Album: VHS (Crucial Blast/Grand Vomit Productions)- For a Few Riffs More. Ok, so a few people didn’t dig it; or should I say they didn’t get it. For a Few Riffs More is an album that puts these nutty Canadians squarely in this list.

Best Power Metal Album: Mad Hatter (Art Gates Records) – Oneironautics. I was looking for a certain vibe this summer so I asked my fellow scribes and they pointed me to to these guys. Oneironautics is a fucking solid Power Metal album that needs your attention.

Best Folk Metal Album: Thy Catafalque (Season of Mist) – XII: A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek. There were a few bands that put out uplifting, deeply emotional records but this album is so good that it knocked out the rest. Highly recommended!

Best Instrumental Album- Zombi (Relapse Records) – Direct Inject. 2024 may have been filled with speed and malice, but one album would turn into the soundtrack for my year and Direct Inject was that album. Mesmerizing and sensual, hardcore and subtle.

The rest of the list:

These are bands that I can’t go without mentioning, here’s some top albums in various categories:

Top Thrash –

1. Flotsam and Jetsam (AFM Records) – I am the Weapon.
2. Atrophy (Massacre Records) – Asylum
3. Nasty Savage (FHM Records) – Jeopardy Room

Top Death Metal –

1. Mercyless (Osmose Productions) – Those Who Reign Below
2. Loudblast (Listenable Records)- Altering Fates and Destinies
3. Fluids (Hells Headbangers) – Reduced Capabilities
4. Replacire (Season of Mist) – The Center That Cannot Hold
5. Sedimentum (Me Saco Un Ojo / Dark Descent)- Derrière les Portes d’une Arcane Transcendante
6. Black Dahlia Murder (Metal Blade Records) – Servitude
7. Severe Torture (Season of Mist)- Torn From the Jaws of Death
8. Vincent Crowley (Hammerheart Records) – Anthology of Horror
9. Dripping Decay (Satanik Royalty Records) – Ripping Remains EP
10. Trocar (Selfmadegod Records) – Extremities

Top Black Metal-

1. Rotting Christ (Season of Mist)- Pro Xristoy
2. Avmakt (Peaceville Records)- Satanic Inversion Of…
3. 1349 (SeasonofMist) – The Wolf and the King
4. Horna (W.T.C.Productions)- Nyx (Hymnejä yölle)
5. Arkona (Debemur Morti Productions) – Stella Pandora
6. Trelldom (Prophecy Productions) – … By the Shadows…
7. Mutiilation (Osmose Productions) – Black Metal Cult
8. Funeral Winds (Osmose Productions)- 333
9. Hammerfilosofi (ATMF)– Solus
10. Furze (Devoted Art Propaganda / Polytriad Fingerprints)- Cosmic Stimulation of Dark Fantasies

Top Power Metal-

1. Hammerfall (Nuclear Blast) – Avenge the Fallen
2. Krilloan (Scarlet Records) – Return Of The Heralds
3. Shadows of Steel (Metallic Blue Records) – Twilight II

Top Instrumental-

1. Kólga (Otitis Media Records) – Black Tides
2. Shadow Knell (Relapse Records) – Shadow Knell
3. Gotho (Supernatural Cat) – Gothron Vs Fartark

Best Live Album-

Helloween (Reigning Phoenix Music) – Live At Budokhan

Worst Live Album-

Amorphis (Reigning Phoenix Music)- Tales From The Thousand Lakes (Live At Tavastia)

The best of the rest, the iceberg of Metal from 2024:

1. Sur Austru (Avantgarde Music) – Datura Străhiarelor
2. Totengott (Hammerheart Records) – Beyond the Veil
3. Gravenoire (Season of Mist: Underground)- Devant la porte des étoiles
4. Moss Upon the Skull (I, Voidhanger Records)- Quest for the Secret Fire
5. Panzerchrist (Emanzipation Productions) – Maleficium Part I
6. Ritual Fog (Transcending Obscurity Records)- But Merely Flesh
7. Chained to the Dead (HPGD PRODUCTIONS)- Only Hunger Remains
8. A La Carte (Self Release) – Born to Entertain
9. Aussichtslos (Purity Through Fire) – Schicksalstotschlag
10. Todesstoss (I, Voidhanger Records) – Das Liebweh-Dekret
11. Kildonan (CaligariRecords) – Embers
12. Feed the Corpses to the Pigs (HPGD PRODUCTIONS) – Anthology
13. Downcross (Cavum Atrum Rex) – White Tower
14. Bloodcross (Personal Records) – Gravebound
15. Wolves of Perdition (Folter Records)- Ultraviolence
16. Satanic North (Reaper Entertainment) – Satanic North
17. Kawir (Soulseller Records) – Kydoimos
18. Hacavitz (Moribund Records)- Muerte
19. Aklash (Self Release) – Reincarnation
20. Kommandant (ATMF) – Exhibition of Conquest
21. Unleashed (Napalm Records)- Before the Creation of Time
22. Kratti (Signal Rex) – Matka Kohti Kosmista
23. Mudshow (HPGD PRODUCTIONS) – Destiny
24. Lvme (Noevdia)- Of Sinful Nature
25. Whispering Void (-Prophecy Productions)- At the Sound of the Heart

Best Non-Metal album: The Cure (Fiction, Lost Music, Universal, Polydor and Capitol Records) – Songs of a Lost World

Best Live Experience:

I went to a bunch of shows this year and I could just make a list based on all the ones I went to, but I’m just going to pick one and it is (of course); King Diamond/ Overkill/ Night Demon. It eclipsed even Devastation on the Nation which was tough to do.

There it is, my 2024 list! Thank you, constant reader! Happy New Year!