Written: 29th December 2024
2024 continued to provide some great music from new bands, established artists and those that fall somewhere in between. It also marks the first full calendar year that I have been writing this website and I have been fortunate enough to receive a lot of music to review and also to interview some fascinating musicians, including some I have been following for many years. Thank you to all the artists, PR companies and managers that I have had such great communication with. I look forward to this continuing next year.
Having reviewed close to one hundred albums plus several EPs, singles and concerts, it certainly has been a year filled with music. Thank you also to anyone who has read even a single article or post; it truly is most appreciated. Here then, is my brief rundown of the year!
Veterans and Rising Stars
My Top 40 Album of 2024 (read my lengthy write up here) reflected a good a balance of my overall listening and while there is a wealth of new music released every week, some of my favourite albums of the year were released by stalwarts of their respective genres. Metal icons Judas Priest followed up the amazing Firepower with Invincible Shield, an album that continued to cement their legacy. Stryper continued their excellent run of form with When We Were Kings and Jon Anderson (along with the Band Geeks) produced one of the best progressive rock albums of the year. Opeth, Steve Hackett, Blaze Bayley, Borknagar, Saxon and metal genius Ihsahn all released material that showed that the metal scene is still a force to be reckoned with.
I also discovered several new (to me at least) bands that completely captured my interest including Hideous Divinity, Belore, Anciients, Suldusk and Tribulation.
Dynamic metalcore band This Dying Hour returned with a new-lineup and shared their new single, Blood Eagle. Other up and coming or lesser known bands I would recommend investigating include melodic rockers Attic Theory, metalcore quartet Far From Refuge, sludge metallers Ten Ton Slug, progressive death metal band Kraik, 80s inspired melodic rocker Sam Millar and friends of this website, the post-grunge influenced Sever Red.
Several bands also returned from long hiatuses, making a significant impact with new albums including the incredible earthtone9, Job For A Cowboy and Nine Stones Close (who released both Diurnal and Adventures in Anhedonia during 2024).
Concerts
In the live arena, Stonedead was once again, the best organised, friendliest and special festival I attended. Saxon headlined with Biff Byford still defying the years and a crowd pleasing set that included tracks from their newest album Hell, Fire and Damnation. My tickets are already booked for 2025, which will be headlined by The Almighty.
Eclectic was truly the word for the concerts I attended this year, which ranged from Pet Shop Boys to Cattle Decapitation (read my review here) with Infected Rain, Bruce Dickinson, Blaze Bayley, Public Service Broadcasting, Sepultura and Sleep Token amongst those I also reviewed. Eivør produced another mesmerising performance (at the Electric Ballroom in Camden, London) playing the whole of her new album Enn during the course of the evening. I also finally managed to see In Flames (a band I have followed for many years but never managed to watch live), Frozen Soul, ZZ Top, Rival Sons, Those Damn Crows and Clannad (playing their final ever concert).
Interviews
During this year, I was lucky enough to interview several talented musicians including the legendary Steve Hackett (read it here), which was a particular highlight as I have been a fan of his for close to forty years. It was inspiring to hear him talk with such passion about his latest album (The Circus and the Nightwhale), his approach to songwriting and his time in Genesis. Each person I interviewed was generous and forthcoming with their responses to my questions and each one of them was genuinely grateful for the interest in their music. I look forward to completing more interviews in 2025.
In Memoriam
Every year, we say goodbye to some amazing musicians and I have no doubt that during 2024, this included artists that meant something to you. For me, this included the loss of John Mayall, Paul Di’Anno, Del Palmer, Richard Tandy, Herbie Flowers and Peter Sinfield. However, the loss that hit me most personally was the death of Magnum guitarist Tony Clarkin. A band I have followed for close to forty years, Magnum and Tony Clarkin have been a huge part of my musical journey. I was lucky enough to listen to their new album Here Comes The Rain before Tony passed away and here you can read my tribute to his wonderful songwriting.
Songs
It is impossible to calculate how many different songs I have heard this year but on each album or EP I listen to, there is often one or two that increasingly stand out over time. Here then (in alphabetical order of artist) is a list of fifty outstanding songs from 2024, deliberately designed to cover the range of rock and metal genres I enjoy.
While some tracks are replicated from those mentioned as my favourite from albums in my Top 40 Albums / Top 10 EPs list, in some cases - for more variety - I have chosen a different song than the one named in my album rundown. There are singles, tracks from albums that did not make my final forty and tracks from albums that I have not fully investigated but that gained my attention. I have also limited myself to one track from any one artist.
At the end of the list is a link to a Spotify playlist of these tracks. However, I heartily recommend visiting the band’s own websites or bandcamp pages to buy any music you enjoy.
200 Stab Wounds – Hands of Eternity
Anciients – Forbidden Sanctuary
Jon Anderson and the Band Geeks – Counties and Countries
Attic Theory – Violent Delight
Belore – Sons of the Sun
Big Big Train – Light Left In the Day
Blaze Bayley – The Path of the Righteous Man
Blood Incantation – The Stargate (Tablet II)
Borknagar – Nordic Anthem
Dark Tranquillity – One Of Us Is Gone
Disconnected Souls – Endless Winter
earthtone9 – Black Swan Roulette
Eclipse – Apocalypse Blues
Eivør – Ein Klóta
Evergrey – One Heart
Far From Refuge – Ghost Of Eros
FM – Black Water
Marty Friedman – Illumination
God Is An Astronaut – Hourglass
Gost - Prophecy
Grand – When We Were Young
Steve Hackett – Ghost Moon and Living Love
Hideous Divinity – The Numinous One
Ihsahn – At The Heart Of All Things Broken
Infected Rain – Because I Let You
Jordan Rudess – Shadow of the Moon
Judas Priest – As God Is My Witness
Kraik – Displacement
Kvaen – The Ancient Gods
Leprous – Silently Walking Alone
Magnum – Run Into The Shadows
Sam Millar – Déjà vu
Nine Stones Close – Walk Towards The Sun
Opeth - §5
Public Service Broadcasting – The South Atlantic
Puppet Cell – These Pills
The Radicant – Wide Steppe
Sever Red – Thief
Silveroller – Turn To Gold
Stryper – Trinity
Suldusk – Crowns of Esper
Ten Ton Slug – Mindless and Blind
This Dying Hour – Blood Eagle
Tribulation – Saturn Coming Down
Týr - Torkils Døtur
Vanden Plas – My Icarian Flight
Vitriol – Survival’s Careening Inertia
Wheel – The Freeze
Within The Ruins – Chaos Reigns
Chelsea Wolfe – Dusk
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