The 15 Best Releases of 2024 (so far)
Plus, my Stereogum debut
Happy Friday!
It’s been a real whirlwind this week here in the Lamniforum. Some good gusts, some very bad ones. Under normal conditions I’d solider on and give you a standard issue newsletter, but considering that it’s also a national holiday in the states I’m going to take it easy and skip the intro essay. Don’t worry. Because I plan my newsletters as far in advance as Substack will allow (roughly three months) this letter still features five Micro Reviews, five rad tracks from my Listening Diary, and some exciting links highlighting my work elsewhere.
In lieu of a full letter, I’m going to take the opportunity afforded to me by the midway point of the year to engage in an old music blogger tradition: the best of the year so far list. Without further delay, here are my favorite releases of 2024 thus far, presented in the order in which I heard them:
Dreamfear/Boy Sent From Above by Burial
Burial returns to the club after spending the last decade out in the rain. The drums are back, and so is the feeling. BACK FROM THE DEAD/FUCKED UP IN THE HEAD!
Paramainomeni by Hoplites
Absolutely bonkers extreme metal orchestrated by a mysterious Chinese musician with a whole lot of anger in his heart and plenty of riffs in his hands.
Plastic Death by Glass Beach
The most exciting new progressive rock band in America, in part because they’re clearly an indie rock band who’ve come to prog on their own idiosyncratic terms.
Deep Sage by Gouge Away
The best post-COVID post-hardcore album on the market. Harsh and tuneful in equal measure.
Echoes of Light by Chapel of Disease
Neo-traditional heavy metal by way of death metal. Heroic guitar leads and a pervasive melancholy.
My Father Took Me Hunting in the Snow by Sunrise Patriot Motion
Esoteric rock music from the nether-realms. You’ve never heard anything like this, I promise.
Woledto by Elyanna
Middle-Eastern/Latin pop with impeccable production. Zips by at 23 minutes.
Living Is Easy by Agriculture
Black metal as American as a hamburger chain, presented this time in slider size.
You Could Do It Tonight by Couch Slut
Like being trapped in a conversation with a stranger on the Greyhound bus to hell.
Elvis, He Was Schlager by Church Chords
Eclectic music for musicians who don’t like music for musicians.
Dark Superstitions by Gatecreeper
Arena death metal that puts songwriting above all and sick riffs at a strong second place.
Lives Outgrown by Beth Gibbons
We have outgrown the need for Portishead if this is what Gibbons is capable of solo.
The Stygian Rose by Crypt Sermon
Perfectly calibrated doom metal where the only bells and church bells and the only whistles come while passing a graveyard.
Les Chants de l’Aurore by Alcest
The blackgaze OGs return with the best balance of their metal and indie influences to date.
We Don’t Trust You by Future & Metro Boomin
The first salvo in the Great Drake War of 2024, backed by Metro Boomin’s reliably brilliant production and Future’s perennial dirtbag appeal.
Wow, I uh, did not expect that to come out to a nice pleasing number like 15. How convenient!
# # # # # The Self Promo Zone # # # # #
Some of you will already know this since it led you here to begin with (welcome!), but I was asked to contribute to a roundtable conversation on Stereogum about Big Emotions in heavy metal alongside members of Convulsing, Wretched Blessings, and YouTube’s own Calder Hannan. As the least extreme musician on the panel I viewed myself as devil’s (angel’s?) advocate, arguing against metal’s emotional capacity. I found the whole conversation thought-provoking and cathartic in its own way. Big thanks to Wolf Rambitz for inviting me!
In exactly one month I’ll be on tour with Bellows for a quick run across the east coast opening for Terror Pigeon. You can grab tickets for our Boston and New York shows now, and we’ll have more info on the rest of the shows soon.
Finally, as long as we’re talking about the best albums of 2024, I can’t let you go without telling you about The Lonely Atom, my latest and best album yet. Featuring a star-studded cast of musicians from New York & Chicago, the album addresses the disconcerting feeling that the internet has turned the world into a hall of mirrors. Do you feel like a distorted reflection of yourself? Do you wish you could truly Go Outside of all of this? Do you have fond memories of nu-metal and early 00s indie rock? Then head on over to the Lamniformes Bandcamp and crank that shit!!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Listening Diary ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Here are five songs that I enjoyed listening to recently! You can find a Spotify playlist with all of this year’s tracks here.
“ripple through” by tune (Object Permanence, 2024)
Big ups to the homie Alex Van Dorp and Altamira Records for sending me a promo copy of this. A lovely EP overall, this track gets the nod because it takes the heady themes from the rest of the material and makes a real groover out of them. The syncopation in the lead line is so crisp. Drums go bonkers at the end. The final gesture of finishing the melody on piano is the “point” of the EP in miniature.
“Scrying Orb” by Crypt Sermon (The Stygian Rose, 2024)
After I listened to this album for the first time I immediately put on Dio, which is a high endorsement. The simple joy of singing about magical objects. I’ve said this before, but Crypt Sermon suggest an alt history where Chester Bennington joined a doom metal band. Put your feelings about Linkin Park aside and you’ll know that this is an huge endorsement of Brooks Wilson’s fiery rasp and bell-like clarity. Is this song about the smartphones? Maybe! Chorus doesn’t come in until half way through, lol heavy metal rules.
“Flamme Jumelle” by Alcest (Les Chants de l’Aurore, 2024)
They still got it. This is the most excited I’ve been about an Alcest record since Kodama. Winterhalter has really stepped his game up on this one. Big contrast from the song I covered a few years back, here we have clear structure that highlights their melodies and doesn’t just burn them in a linear progression to the finish line. The repetition of the chorus line at the end feels meaningful because we’ve already heard it before.
For more on Alcest check out Drumming Upstream #16:
“Cutting the Throat of God” by Ulcerate (Cutting the Throat of God, 2024)
It’s funny how what attracts you to a band changes with time. I got into Ulcerate through their drumming, but these days its all about their guitars for me. Their particular approach to writing riffs, their comfort working in the upper and middle range of the guitar, is what makes them special. Great phrasing between the two guitars too, not relying on a lot of overdubs. Since this is the last song on the record it has a massive climax. Ulcerate’s propensity for these kinds of payoffs is probably the strongest evidence for the claim that these guys are a post-metal band running on a tech death motor.
“Hailing Drums” by Re-TROS (Before The Applause, 2017)
No idea how this Chinese band ended up on my recommended pile, but I’m glad they did. Live drum grooves, massive juicy synths, psych rock guitar solos, and vocals that you don’t really need to pay attention to. Great music to have on in the background while writing or walking around your local metropolitan area.
\ \ \ \ \ Micro Reviews / / / / /
Here are five micro reviews from my high school and college CD collection. Long time Lamniformes Instagram followers will recognize these from my stories back in late 2020, however they’ve been re-edited and spruced up with links so that you can actually hear the music instead of just taking my word for it.
Rust In Peace by Megadeth (1990) - Thrash Metal
While I firmly believe that Metallica were the better band throughout the 80s, for one album Dave Mustaine looked like he had them beat. This is that album. Mustaine finally found his advantage by surrounding himself with an absolutely killer backing band. The longer songs are the best Megadeth tunes ever written, and even the shorter ones have some mind blowing playing. These tracks are barely about the vocals, the appeal is hearing these dudes lock in and play the shit out of great riffs. Megadeth’s finest achievement.
Meal of Steel by Paper Mice (2009) - Math Rock
Paper Mice’s singer & guitarist Dave Reminick was my Intro To Music Theory teacher in college. Very chaotic math rock where each song is based on an absurd, real life news story. These songs would all show up on the Paint In Pink full length. This is a lot of fun. The lyrics themselves are often very funny but the music is also full of playful punchlines and surprising twists. Recommended!
[Editor’s Note: After this review I reconnected with Dave and interviewed him about the latest Paper Mice album for Lamniformes Radio]
Krallice by Krallice (2009) - Black Metal
The first Krallice record, recommended to me by Lamniformes producer Jack Greenleaf after he saw them opening for Lightning Bolt. I liked the music immediately even before I learned that it was written by two of the biggest names in NYC experimental rock at the time. These songs almost sound straightforward these days compared to the devilishly complicated direction they took their style a few albums later. But complexity isn’t what makes this good. These songs are filled with HUGE payoffs that justify every twist and turn they take. Very good stuff!
Remains of the Gods by Light This City (2005) - Death Metal
I heard a track from this on a Prosthetic Records sample CD and picked up the full length at the first chance I got. I also had a crush on their singer as a teen, lol. Despite what gatekeepers will tell you, this is a straight up melodic death metal album a la At The Gates. Not sure why this band got lumped into the metalcore scene. Not groundbreaking but very well written and executed. Also, it was pretty eye-opening for me as a youth to hear a woman’s perspective over this type of music. This band should have been way bigger!
Miss Machine by The Dillinger Escape Plan (2004) - Metalcore
The first “real” by The Dillinger Escape Plan, in the sense that their debut was the product of a very different band. Here they started really integrating electronics and alt rock hooks without cutting down on the technical madness of their early stuff. Huge record at the time. There are a ton of great tracks, the singles in particular along with the fan favorite “Sunshine the Werewolf”. Adding Greg Puciato to the band launched them into a whole other stratosphere of heavy music. Real star power.