Favorite Metal Albums

Blood Incantation

Absolute Elsewhere

The Colorado psychedelic death metal quartet brilliantly incorporate non-metal influences such as prog, space rock, and Krautrock.

Bring Me the Horizon

Post Human: NeX Gen

The thrilling second installment of the band's dystopian concept series delivers a wild blend of heavy themes and genres.

Chat Pile

Cool World

The second album from these Oklahoma City sludge rockers is a more clearly defined look at their tormented perspectives on humanity.

Darkthrone

It Beckons Us All

The black metal pioneers maintain their signature rawness and intensity on their 20th studio album.

Gatecreeper

Dark Superstition

The third album from Arizona death metal band is a no-frills, tightly structured collection of classically minded metal power.

Ghost

Rite Here Rite Now [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

Ghost's first concert album is an unholy horn of plenty that delivers on both performance and spectacle.

Hand of Juno

Psychotic Banana

The Italian group's debut set is a corrosive collection that combines industrial crunch, electronic flourish, and epic scope.

Infant Island

Obsidian Wreath

The third album from this apocalyptic metal band brings together screamo anguish and a chaotic brand of prog metal.

Judas Priest

Invincible Shield

The heavy metal elder statesmen are operating at full power on their thrashing, exhilarating 19th studio album.

Kittie

Fire

Triumphant comeback album from the pioneering Canadian metal outfit.

Knocked Loose

You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To

The third album from this intense Louisville, Kentucky metalcore/hardcore band includes cameo appearances from Poppy and Chris Motionless.

Opeth

The Last Will and Testament

Returning from a five-year recording break, the Scandinavian metallers wed a decade-long exploration of prog with their death metal heritage.

P.O.D.

Veritas

Strong collection of underdog anthems featuring their recognizable blend of metal, rap, reggae, and anthemic pop.

Sumac

The Healer

Genre-defying, patience-requiring post-metal expressing dystopian destruction and rebirth.

The Body

The Crying Out of Things

The boundary-pushing duo return to the maximalism of their 2010s work, incorporating horns, strings, and breakbeats into noisy doomscapes.

The Warning

Keep Me Fed

Riff-tastic and bone-crunching album that showcases the band's resonant, clean vocals and streetwise yet spiritual lyrics.

Thou

Umbilical

The sludge metal heavyweights clarify both their production and the presence of their '90s influences on their most engaging work yet.

Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats

Nell' Ora Blu

The band blow up their proto-metal template to create an imaginary soundtrack that pays tribute to Italian cinema of the '70s.

Zeal & Ardor

GREIF

The Swiss metallers continue to shape new weaponry on the heavy metal anvil, adding new elements to their inverted gospel-blues hymns and blackened field hollers.

The AllMusic 2024

Year InReview

The finest and heaviest releases in the metal world this year included albums from well-established acts like Opeth, Ghost, and Judas Priest alongside relatively new artists Hand of Juno, Gatecreeper, and Chat Pile.

Year In
Review