January 2024, In Review
My favorite albums of the year thus far
It’s been a busy year so far. Counting only full-length albums, EPs, and splits, I’ve tracked 416 metal releases for the month of January, with 161 of them being within the realm of black metal.
Currently, the United States is the largest exporter of metal music. This includes black metal. However, the USBM scene has maintained a preference for blackened death (and outside of the blackened realm, death metal overall). The US also loses some points for being the largest exporter of metalcore.
For shame, USA, for shame.
So what of everyone else? Here’s the Top 10:
Looks like Russia’s been busy with more than just violating other nations’ sovereignty. The others - namely Germany, the UK, Finland, France, Portugal, Italy, and Spain - have held their positions as some the largest exporters of black metal for a few years now. The odd one out is Australia, who has been trending upwards lately in their black metal releases. Much to my amusement, the Scandinavians are largely absent this month, which is humorous when you consider how up their own ass many of them are about their currently-very-bland black metal scene. Turns out, you can’t just ride the success of thirty-year old bands.
So out of the mess of albums from January ‘24, which are actually worth your time?
Here are my top five, in no particular order.
Inquisition - Veneration of Medieval Mysticism and Cosmological Violence
Dagon the Diddler1 and Incubus are back with yet another guilty pleasure for those of us who can’t help but to like their masterfully crafted brand of black metal. “More of the same” is exactly what I want from Inquisition, and they’ve delivered on that. Dagon’s guitarwork is as impressive as ever, and Incubus still plays drums with intense precision.
Olhava - Sacrifice
Serene and meditative, Olhava’s Sacrifice is an extremely listenable album. It plays best in the background, like much of atmospheric black metal, but the themes of nature carry here better than most albums in the same genre. This release would make for a wonderful soundtrack to a hike through the woods.
Hauntologist - Hollow
The Krakow scene is no stranger to post-black metal. You can almost guarantee any new Polish acts are going to come steeped in the atmospheric riffing characteristic of the genre. Where Hauntologist breaks away from the norm is in all the other “post-” sounds they invoke. Some post-rock, some post-punk, a little neofolk, and a tinge of experimentalism are all carefully woven throughout. None of these elements ever feel “in your face" (like Furia’s 30-minute closer track on their latest full-length), which allows it all to meld together into a distinctly enjoyable album.
Baazlvaat - Ridiculed by the Common Soldiery
The lo-fi black metal act heralding from Flint, Michigan have returned. Sporting humorously plucky synthesizer interwoven with fun rock’n’roll guitar solos and spastic drums, their latest release continues the tradition of tongue-in-cheek musicianship that still excellently asserts the underpinning talent behind it all. I’ve been listening to Baazlvaat regularly since their album “The Higher Power”, and I have yet to be disappointed.
Markiisi - Markiisi
The second debut album on this list, this release is decidedly different from the aforementioned Hauntologist album. Markiisi is a fun act that pulls sounds from various places. The songs are very punky in their structure, with only one of the fourteen tracks clocking longer than three minutes. There’s plenty of the smooth tremolo-picked riffs that Finnish metal is known for, with lots of energetic vocal embellishments and groovy heavy metal riffing. It’s a sound that black metal purists can get behind, in bite-sized enough chunks for those looking to test the waters of harsher forms of black metal.
Well, there you have it. There’s my favorite albums of the past month. Get to listening. See you next month for my favorite albums of February ‘24.
Stay Evil, Savannah.
All the weak-minded censors - oops… I mean “journalists” - who refuse to cover Inquisition’s releases have only made it easier for the controversy around the band to go unnoticed by many. Anecdotally, I know far more people who know of Inquisition’s music than those who know of the conviction against Dagon. Turns out, when you blackout a band, you blackout the bad stuff too. My own MO is to tell it all. I trust my readers’ own judgement about the quality of the music and the quality of artists’ character, and ultimately, those two matters have nothing to do with each other.