A Year In Metal - 2024: Highlights Through The Eyes Of The MS Staff, Elites, And Official Contributors
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Written by: | ScreamingSteelUS |
Published: | January 25, 2025 |
Almost a month in, 2025 officially begins with the announcement of Metal Storm’s favorite (and least favorite) junk. Stay tuned for the 2024 Metal Storm Awards, and tide yourselves over with a little gander at the ways your MS staff spent their last twelvemonth.
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Staff ![](/images/smilies/banger2.gif)
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Abattoir Favorite Album: Sergeant Thunderhoof - The Ghost Of Badon Hill Best Home-Country Album: Neurotech - Memory Eternal Most-Played Song: Svdestada – “Candela” Most Promising Band: Nothing special to be honest, maybe the Icelanders Múr. Best Concert: Uada, Satan Biggest Disappointment: Missing a couple of shows I was supposed to attend – Chelsea Wolfe, Kalandra, etc. Metal Moment of 2023: Taking a photo (me and my kid) with the Satan vocalist Brian Ross after their awesome show. And 2025?: As always, trying to attend as much concerts as I can and reduce the level of psychological stress to a minimum. | ![]() |
![]() | Baz Anderson Favorite Album: Judas Priest - Invincible Shield Best Home-Country Album: Judas Priest - Invincible Shield Most Played Song: Devin Townsend - PowerNerd Best Concert: Emperor - Glasgow, March 2024 Biggest Disappointment: Ensiferum - Winter Storm Metal Moment Of 2024: Seeing three of my all-time favourite bands (Judas Priest, Emperor and Blind Guardian) within the space of a month. And 2025?: Potentially eyeing up Brutal Assault, if it becomes a possibility - what a line-up! |
BitterCOld Favorite Album: (warning! not metal) - The Cure - Songs of a Lost World, On the \m/ Front? Officium Triste - Hortus Venenum Best Home-Country Album: Thou - Umbilical Most Played Song: Gerry Rafferty - "Baker Street" (not at all metal, 70's AOR with most awesome use of Sax and pew noises), Loudness - "Crazy Nights", (When in 日本... ) New? Maybe "Into The Depths" by Young Acid. Spun a good chunk of new stuff, but my listening time was mostly dominated by COldy Oldies Most Promising Band: Hagane Best Concert: String Quartet playing Mozart, Vivaldi and Dvorak in a church in Vienna. Missed Alcest in Vilnius, so maybe more metal next year. Biggest Disappointment: High On Fire - was a decent release in general, but given their fantastic string of albums, it's basically the Dark Souls II of their discog. Metal Moment Of 2024: After a 2023 that included meeting up and knocking back barley sodas with (takes a deep breath),Milena, Ivor, X-Ray Rod, RaduP & Nefarious, none this year. No concerts, missed Ag Fox in Hong Kong by a day or so. Not Metal, but Most Punk Moment was taking that "Holiday In Cambodia", it was tough, kid, but it's life. Took a "Holiday In Cambodia", and was sure to pack my wife. And 2025?: Hopefully some metal. There will defo be beer, maybe with some MSers, if I'm lucky. Or they're unlucky. | ![]() |
![]() | corrupt Favorite Album: …By The Shadows…, Absolute Elsewhere, Die Berge, and Your Perfect Hands And My Repeated Words after a recommendation by Boxcar Willy. Best Home- Most Promising Band: If Iotunn continue doing what they have done last year, I'm absolutely down for it. Best Concert: Suzi Quatro at Wacken Open Air. Biggest Disappointment: Opeth, but I'm more sad than disappointed. There was no reason to expect anything more. And there was this one festival that ended up being a pretty big bummer. Metal Moment Of 2024: Hanging out with nikarg in Athens for a week, spending two days with ScreamingSteelUS and Starvynth in one of the weirdest places of Germany I've even been to. And 2025?: Trying to remain optimistic about the Nevermore |
Ivor Favorite Album: Surprisingly I'm very drawn to Bent Knee's Twenty Pills Without Water. After their previous one I didn't think it would work for me but somehow they nailed it. Thy Catafalque's XII: A Gyönyörű Álmok Ezután Jönnek is just excellent all around, too good even and paradoxically also predictably so. And Tribulation's Sub Rosa In Æternum hit the sweet spot, it's been a long while since I liked something that much from gothic metal. Most Played Song: Can I just stuff Devin's whole PowerNerd album here? Once I listen to it all of it stuck in my head for quite a while down to the last track "Ruby Quaker." And I don't even like the smell of coffee. Have to tell you, though, reminds me of this from 15 years ago. Best Concert: Attended less gigs than would've liked but quite many were excellent. Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Chelsea Wolfe go without saying. I think real surprises were probably Gangar and Maruja. Oh yeah, and Dødheimsgard's crazy antics at Be Prog! My Friend. Biggest Disappointment: Sad that Night of the Prog wrapped it up. I was there twice and wish I could've attended it more often. Metal Moment Of 2024: If Night of the Prog called it quits, it's nice that Be Prog! My Friend in Barcelona was resurrected. And 2025?: I think the biggest news for me broke before Christmas last year: The 3rd And The Mortal are reuniting with their original singer, doing the early material live with the hope of something new to come. Here's me hoping that I can witness one of their upcoming performances (and they do promise more than a single event). | ![]() |
![]() | musclassia Favorite Album: There wasn't an obvious standout, but Blighted Eye - Agony's Bespoke probably grabbed my attention more strongly than any other release. Best Home-Country Album: Dvne - Voidkind. Most Played Song: There wasn't really any new song this year that racked up a lot of listens; by virtue of me using the same 5km running playlist every time, the answer here is most likely Coheed & Cambria - "The Dark Sentencer". Most Promising Band: Aside from Blighted Eye, I very much enjoyed debuts/early-career albums from Cave Sermon, Urzah, Caelestra, Vitriol and Lowen. Best Concert: Meshuggah at ArcTanGent were unsurprisingly spectacular; other honorable mentions include Wyatt E. at the same festival, LLNN (3 times), Torpor (also 3 times), and Primordial and Wolvennest at Celestial Darkness Festival. Biggest Disappointment: Sticking to metal, I was rather underwhelmed by Kurokuma's second album, and Ad Infinitum's final capitulation to boring, bland songwriting. Metal Moment Of 2024: Finally getting Seat Of The Fire released. And 2025?: Hoping to make more progress on the Chullachaqui album and new Vulgaris material. Also excited to see who unexpected pops up with a new release; there's already an Obscure Sphinx album for the first time in nearly a decade this January. |
nikarg Favorite Album: Invincible Shield by Judas Priest, only a hair above Echoes Of Light by Chapel Of Disease. Non-metal: Songs Of A Lost World by The Cure. Full list of metal favourites here. Best Home-Country Album: Fossil Gardens by Hail Spirit Noir. Most Played Song: Judas Priest - “Crown Of Thorns”. Most Promising Band: Ponte Del Diavolo. Best Concert: Green Lung. Went largely out of curiosity, left as a fan with a band t-shirt. Biggest Disappointment: I was gutted for missing Dødsferd opening for Dødheimsgard because I initially went to the wrong venue (stupid, I know). When I arrived at the right place, they were finishing the last song. At least Dødheimsgard were amazing and made the pill taste less bitter. Metal Moment Of 2024: Driving on snow and ice in the north of Iceland, listening to Absolute Elsewhere on the day of its release. And 2025?: New Mgła; the anticipation is real. | ![]() |
![]() | RaduP Favorite Album: Magdalena Bay - Imaginal Disk; Papangu's Lampião Rei for more metal stuff. Best Home-Country Album: Sur Austru - Datura Străhiarelor. Most Played Song: Charli XCX - "Von Dutch", Magdalena Bay - "Image", Marika Hackman - "Slime", Adrienne Lenker - "Sadness As A Gift", Joey Valence & Brae - "John Cena", Kendrick Lamar - "Not Like Us"; can't think of any metal song I listened to on repeat. Most Promising Band: Múr, Papangu, and Vuur & Zijde deserve a mention. Best Concert: Slowdive in London, followed by David Gilmour in Rome, followed by Clipping. and Lankum at Roadburn. Biggest Disappointment: Musically - Darkspace sounding absolutely cacophonous live this year even though they sounded completely entrancing when I saw them nearly ten years ago. Personally - the shit show with Romania's elections and the continued anxiety that still stems from it. Metal Moment Of 2024: Road tripping through Romania with X-Ray Rod and having the chance to showcase some albums in specific contexts, like OM while driving through the Transfagarasan, and F♯ A♯ ∞ while returning home during a storm after nightfall. And 2025?: At this point, survive. |
ScreamingSteelUS Favorite Album: Judas Priest - Invincible Shield, but honorable mention to Melt-Banana - 3+5 Best Home-Country Album: Blood Incantation - Absolute Elsewhere Most Played Song: The SLoT - "S.M.G.O."; Wolves Of Glendale - "The Gym"; Avantasia - "Creepshow"; Maximum The Hormone feat. Atarashii Gakko - "Shimi"; Kimi no Iro soundtrack - "水金地火木土天アーメン" Most Promising Band: Lord Goblin Best Concert: Judas Priest with Sabaton Biggest Disappointment: myself Metal Moment Of 2024: Going to the North American premiere of Kimi no Iro with Naoko Yamada in attendance, and then demonstrating to her and the entire audience that I know who Jan Švankmajer is. Getting to meet corrupt and Starvynth on their home turf (or rather some approximation of turf that's close to their home relative to our usual distance). Finally getting to see Judas Priest for the first time on my fourth try. And 2025?: New Bloodywood | ![]() |
![]() | Starvynth Favorite Album: After The Storm and Hollow Best Home-Country Album: I usually find it difficult to pick a truly outstanding German album from the sheer number of releases, but in 2024, something created in my hometown easily made it into my Top 3 of the year: Echoes Of Light. Most Played Song: Volkra - "Anansi" Most Promising Band: Volkra and Blighted Eye Best Concert: Experiencing Khirki up close in a small corner pub was by far the best concert of the last few years. Biggest Disappointment: Finding the ticket for the Kalandra concert randomly under my laptop, a day after it had taken place, ruined my entire September. Metal Moment Of 2024: If I ever have grandchildren someday, I will definitely tell them about the weekend with SSUS and corrupt at a very surreal place. And 2025?: It's rather unlikely that any of my old favorite bands will release a truly great album in 2025, and waiting for it would just be a waste of time. Instead, I look forward to undiscovered, exciting music from new bands that can still genuinely surprise me. |
X-Ray Rod Favorite Album: For metal? Mitochondrion - Vitriseptome without a doubt. Non-metal? A bit more difficult. I'd say it's a tie between Geneviève Beaulieu - Augury and Beth Gibbons - Lives Outgrown Best Home-Country Album: A tie between Unaussprechlichen Kulten - Häxan Sabaoth and Mayhemic - Toba. But I must say that Chile has had one of its best and most productive years in a while when it comes to incredible extreme metal. Most Played Song: Zbrucz - "Dežujem". Hell yeah for depressive songs that get stuck in my head forever. Most Promising Band: Zbrucz again. I just can't wait to see how this young band can grow. Best Concert: Seeing Khanate twice in a week (first at Roadburn's main stage then in a small basement). Mayhem's 40th anniversary tour. Getting demolished at the Cavalera brothers' concert. Best thrash metal concert I've ever experienced. Biggest Disappointment: Nothing music-wise to be honest. But humanity keeps disappointing me. Also, heartache was a real bitch this year. Metal Moment Of 2024: That's easy! The 12-day road trip through Romania (and also visiting Serbia, Hungary, Austria and Slovakia) with Radu. Some of those memories will have a permanent place in my heart. Second place goes to me getting so destroyed and drunk by the thrash metal of the Cavalera brothers that I missed my last train and ended up sleeping outside under the small roof of a buss stop in the middle of nowhere. And 2025?: Let's hope for more concerts and new meetings that will enrich my life. But please, go easy on the "life lessons". I'm sick of those. | ![]() |
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Elites ![](/images/smilies/banger2.gif)
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![]() | Thryce Favorite Album: Enjoyed very different things ranging from The Nothing That Is, all the way to Children Of The Moon, to Death Is Little More, and back to Those We Knew. Best Home-Country Album: Feeding The Machine, with Abomination coming in a close second. Most Played Song: For 2024 tracks, "Don't Look Away" by The Plot In You seems to take the crown. The most played song of the previous year overall appears to be "The Hundred Days Offensive" by 1914. Though the standalone single "Iwontletyoudie" by Signs Of The Swarm has also seen heavy playtime since its late September release. Most Promising Band: Well, Turin's sophomore release, The Unforgiving Reality In Nothing, felt like a big step up for the band. As a Buster Odeholm-fanboy, I also found Thrown's debut pretty enjoyable. But THE debut album that blew all others out of the water last year was, without a single doubt, the bone-crushing Devoured By The Mouth Of Hell. So the answer is Heriot. Best Concert: Caught some great bands at Slaughter The Giant's Abomination album release show, like Nether and Mordkaul. Biggest Disappointment: With mixed feelings, I'd have to say Starfire. While delightfully schizophrenic in nature and featuring several highlights, it’s perhaps a bit too eclectic this time, and more often than not fails to resonate with me. Still an awesome band though! Metal Moment Of 2024: Returning to the And 2025?: More concerts, more Graspop. That new Poison The Well album should be interesting too. Also, new Despised Icon album when? Their guest appearance on "The G Code" by PeelingFlesh wasn’t enough to quell the hunger. |
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Official Contributors ![](/images/smilies/banger2.gif)
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AndyMetalFreak Favorite Album: Panzerfaust - The Suns Of Perdition - Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion. Best Home-Country Album: Lord Goblin - Lord Goblin Most Played Song: Probably between Kanonenfieber - "Lviv Zu Lemberg" and Lord Goblin "Northern Skyline". Most Promising Band: A lot of promising acts emerged in 2024 but I'd say the two UK band's Cistvaen and Lord Goblin both released exceptional debuts. Biggest Disappointment: Aside from not attending any concerts hardly any disappointments regarding metal for me this year. Metal Moment Of 2024: It still amazes me how many releases I managed to get through with the limited time available, and also managing to review a handful of them was an achievement In itself. And 2025?: Hoping to discover as many hidden treasures this year as I did last whilst being able to contribute to MS in the best way I can. | ![]() |
![]() | F3ynman Favorite Album: Defilers Of The Light by Darkened Best Home-Country Album: Die Urkatastrophe by Kanonenfieber Most Played Song: For 2024 releases? “First Crush” by Toadliquor. Overall? “Der Angriff Startet” by Japanische Kampfhörspiele. Most Promising Band: Labyrinthus Stellarum are paving a promising cosmic meloblack path for themselves. Also, I'm glad I discovered O Zorn! this year… looking forward to more of their output as well! Biggest Disappointment: Within metal? The thrash output was a bit lacking this year, compared to the excellent offerings of 2023. Outside of metal? Current government and mainstream media. Metal Moment Of 2024: This year, I created and released my very own metal music on Bandcamp for the first time! The project name is Nameless Infinity. And 2025?: Hoping for enjoyable metal, world peace, and a Master of Science degree. |
tominator Favorite Album: Grand Delusion – The Unspoken, kind of an odd one, because it didn’t really grab me at first. I felt like the production could have been better, and the vocals didn’t convince me at first. But when I returned to it a couple of weeks later, it clicked. The melodramatic sounding vocals fit the music. And the production, while maybe not the cleanest, has a unique characteristic and atmosphere to it. Best Home-Country Album: Hippotraktor - Stasis Most Played Song: A couple spring to mind: Grand Delusion – “Road To Ruin”, Bruce Dickinson – “Shadow Of The Gods”, Dance With The Dead – “Whispers End”, Judas Priest – “Escape From Reality”, Hippotraktor – “The Reckoning” Most Promising Band: For some reason, I managed to dodge most bands who released their debut album in 2024. From the limited amount of albums I’ve listened to this year, nothing really stood out. Best Concert: Blind Guardian’s concert at 013 Poppodium in Tilburg. Probably the best concert I’ve seen so far. Everything was on point: the band, the atmosphere, sound quality, perfect set list. Awesome experience. Biggest Disappointment: Personally: 2024 was kind of a sh*tshow of a year in general. On the music side of things, I guess that Stone Fang EP was way worse than I imagined it could be. Which is why it ended up in last place on my end of the year list. Metal Moment Of 2024: Seeing Unprocessed in the Botanique in Brussels. A very small venue made out of an old orangery with a moshpit area that couldn’t be larger than about 25 people due to the size of the room. Experiencing such a small concert was kind of a surreal experience. Especially, since I think these guys will soon be playing for way larger audiences. And 2025: On a personal level, hopefully a better year than 2024, though hopefully with as many great concert visits. From the music side of things, let’s hope for some great new releases. And I’m looking forward to finally getting back into reviewing some new stuff that will come out in 2025. | ![]() |
![]() | Written on 25.01.2025 by I'm the reviewer, and that means my opinion is correct. |
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