For the Japanese Edition → Click me ←
You can also find the rules there.
Adding some slight guidelines here too.
Anything can go in here, Metal, Rock, Pop, whatever is in your Top of this year.
You can include any release from 2024. It doesn’t matter if single, album, compilation or mini-album, the only condition is that it was released in 2024.
Please include the name of the release and artist (and add the country of origin if you want), a sentence or two on why you like it so much, is very appreciated, and maybe a music video or a song. I will turn the suggestions in here into playlists too.
If you have a album or mini-album in your top 5 please highlight one or two songs that stuck out to you.
Feel free to make a “Worst 5” release list too.
Its absolutely fine to make several top 5’s, like Album Top 5 and Single Top 5.
5: Fabiana Palladino - Fabiana Palladino
What a debut. Deeply emotional, 80s inspired yet very modern, incredibly produced. Well worth waiting for.
4: Znous - Znousland 4
Znous are a hardcore/metal band from Tunisia who get better with every release. They’re uncompromising, political, aggressive, and the way they incorporate North African instruments and themes into their music absolutely rules.
3: Sophie Hunter - WAIL!
Sophie Hunter is one of my favourite artists who I’ve properly gotten into this year. She’s so smart and funny, her lyrics and delivery are so exciting and I eat up everything she puts out
2: Charli XCX - Brat
What a project – its placement on this list is taking into account the main album, the deluxe, and the remix album. Such an exciting and ambitious era, the interplay between Brat and its remix album is just beautiful.
1: Allie X - Girl With No Face
This album has had me in an absolute choke hold since it came out in February. The album is so playful, so dark, such absolute pop perfection. The production on the entire album is masterful. I’ve always liked a lot of Allie X’s stuff but found her inconsistent, but man this album has not a single wasted second. Genuinely think it is a perfect album.
Some other albums I have loved this year:
Doechii - Alligator Bites Never Heal
James - Yummy
MINHO - CALL BACK
Normani - DOPAMINE
TAEMIN - ETERNAL
Telenova Time Is A Flower
Tinashe - Quantum Baby
Shygirl - Club Shy
Sleater-Kinney - Little Rope
Yseult - MENTAL
5: PIG - Red Room: The Lord of Lard himself Raymond Watts (who you may know as the co-conspirator from BUCK-TICK adjacent projects Schwein and Schaft and also of KMFDM fame) returns with his usual fare of catchy industrial rock evoking simpler times. This time I feel like there are more catchy tunes than the previous album, so bonus points for that! If you enjoy deliciously cheesy '90s edgy eletro-rock this one’s for you. Also idk how this man is already over 60 years old yet seemingly doesn’t age, damn.
4: SeeYouSpaceCowboy… - Coup de Grâce: This band just keeps being one of the most exciting things I’ve heard throughout the 'core scenes in recent years, once again evolving their sound with many more quirky melodies and emo tendencies, but also retaining their signature chaotic unpredictability and raw heaviness when needed. Not gonna lie, their completely unhinged old stuff hits more instantenously for me, but the style they crafted on this album is very loveable and good material for repeated listens.
3: 200 Stab Wounds - Manual Manic Procedures: Honestly not much to say here, other than these guys have been consistently delivering a sharp and potent strain of old-school death metal ever since their inception, culminating in their latest full-length. It expands their sound with juuust as much melodicity to still remain faithful and true to the genre but bring the catchiness on another level next to the expected crushing atmosphere. Probably the only really satisfying extreme metal release of the year for me.
2: Kali Uchis - Orquídeas: My girl Kali does it once again, beautiful vibes, gorgeous production, impeccable vocals. I lack the musical vocabulary for this type of music, so just gonna say it’s my favorite pop (or R’n’B?) album recently, by a mile.
1: The Cure - Songs of a Lost World: Robert Smith & co may release new music at a glacial pace, but if that’s what it takes to birth such epic results then I’ll gladly wait another decade or so for the followup (it’s coming, right? right???). I can’t even properly describe why this resonates with me as much as it does. It’s just super comfy hearing these vocals and this type of music, makes me feel like time is just an illusion, everything is transitory, yet everything is connected and in its proper place and all will be fine, even if you sometimes feel sad along the way.
Honorable mentions:
Blood Incantation - Absolute Elsewhere
Marilyn Manson - One Assassination Under God - Chapter 1
Night Verses - Every Sound Has a Color in the Valley of Night
Nuclear Winter is a cold and atmospheric track with a heavy, emotional chorus that blends alternative rock and EDM. I found out about this artist last year through Insomniac Music Group’s EDC Las Vegas 2023 album and she’s been putting out some great stuff that’s definitely worth a listen if you enjoy electronic rock.
4: Lady Gaga - Disease
This song has me excited for Gaga’s upcoming album given my opinion that Chromatica was just okay. This track is reminiscent of Nine Inch Nail’s ‘Closer’ with its wobbly synth bass and snappy percussion and although the sound is a bit derivative, this feels like a refreshed direction for Gaga and I’m looking forward to whatever is next from Mother Monster.
3: Doma Dolla, Tove Lo - CAVE (with Tove Lo)
Another good year for Tove with the release of her wet and dirty dance EP ‘HEAT’ where I almost picked a song off of that record until I heard this collaboration with house music producer Dom Dolla. Tove does some magical things with her collaborations in the EDM world and hearing her on this chill drum and bass track was a treat. Keep on slaying my bisexual queen.
2: TAEMIN - Deja Vu
TAEMIN consistently delivers when it comes to serving us sultry R&B ballads and now he’s doing it again so it must be deja vu. For me, Deja Vu was the standout track from his latest album, ‘Eternal’ and I’m not sure I’ll ever get tired of his signature sound. The choreo for the live performances of this track is also beautiful and really brings this song to life.
1: Takanashi Kiara - MIRAGE
First, I’ll address why I put a song from someone with a Japanese name on the global thread before I sing its praises to high heavens. Takanashi Kiara is an austrian vtuber with Hololive Production’s first English generation ‘Holomyth’. Her music tends to have more kpop and westerm pop influences not to mention this song’s lyrics are in English so I’ll consider it a global production.
Now onto the song itself. This song features dark, hummy synth and orchestration that very much reminds me of the production on some of the moodier tracks off Tove Lo’s Ladywood and Blue Lips albums. I live for dark pop and the vocal melody is extremely catchy so this song has me in a chokehold from the jump. Mirage’s lyrical themes are also very honest and compelling given Kiara’s background as an underground idol in Japan and newfound success as a virtual youtuber. In Kiara’s words, the song is about “self-idolatry vs self-loathing in the pursuit of self acceptance, all while in the public eye.” For me, Mirage is the type of song that makes you feel disappointed when it ends and in a year where I listened to a lot of music but didn’t put very much on repeat, I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of it. This track will probably be my favorite for a long while.
5 - Ὁπλίτης: Συμμαινόμεναι Διονύσῳ Ἐλευθέριῳ
A solo dissonant black metal band from “checks note” China! If you like this style than you might like this.
4 - Blood Incantation: Absolute Elsewhere
This is like death metal mixed with Pink Floyd. And I am a big fan of both.
Highlights: The Stargate [Tablet I], The Message [Tablet I]
3 - Oranssi Pazuzu: Muuntautuja
Harsh psychedelic black metal. Their sound it truly unique but this one has a harsh noisy vibe to it that made me hooked in comparison to their other albums which are still good.
Highlights: Bioalkemisti, Valotus
2 - BLADEE: Cold Visions
Sad white boy rap. This is very good but I had to stop listening to it because it was negatively effecting my mood. Doesn’t change how good it is though.
1 - Ulcerate: Cutting the Throat of God
This band never ceases to be amazing. The technical ability, intensity, and songwriting are perhaps the best in the world when it comes to metal.
Highlights: The Dawn is Hollow, To See Death Just Once
Crack the Skye was already a dense, thick, and magnificent album, and Mastodon took a great album and made it even better. I’m hearing layers and instruments that were much more subdued before. What really stands out to me is how percussive some of the effects can be. It’s very immersive. And of course, it’s Mastodon so the riffs and vocals still slap.
Monochromatic Black - Predacious
This band is insane. Led by a very charismatic female vocalist, they’ve only gotten heavier, more technical, and more progressive with each release. I like how the heavy vocals have a very visual flair to them even though this band doesn’t sound very visual - the variety on display is killer and makes you think there’s two people at least! Hail the Queen was on heavy rotation this year for sure.
Wintersun - Time
I’ve been waiting over a decade for this album. For context, when Time I came out, I was still in college, Monochrome Heaven was in it’s second to third year of existence, and I lived over 500 miles away from where I currently am. So much has changed between the release of Time I and Time II, and there was a big risk that Time II would not resemble it’s counterpart, but these albums are very cohesive together. Also, Jari released a lot of other material besides Time, and I have to work my way through all of it, but I can say that the boys have definitely been busy. My preferred experience is the -2db adjusted dynamic version, which sounds less loud and overly aggressive and let’s the hundreds of layers shine.
Charli XCX - Brat (and all it’s incarnations)
Yeah, I didn’t expect to enjoy brat as much as I did. This album slaps all crazy. von dutch lives in my head rent free. Charli XCX deserves “brat summer” - album is perfect for those “let’s party” moments. But reducing her album to just fun hyperpop does a disservice to those moments where she pulls the energy back and gets vulnerable. Those tracks are just as good! And then there’s the remix album where every song gets an additional feature and a Dir en grey-esque reinterpretation. It’s all good stuff.
Knocked Loose - You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To
An encapsulation of anger and aggression in 28 minutes, Knocked Loose really made waves with this album. “Suffocate” with Poppy has been literally everywhere in alt-metal circles, Slaughterhouse 2 features Chris Motionless from MIW, and they even got featured on Jimmy Kimmel, giving rise to the freshest meme in JUNT. Still undecided if it’s one song for ten. Spongecore is real!
And even though this is my own topic I’m going to break the rules and slide in another album.
Kendrick Lamar - GNX
I have to put this album here. 2024 has been Kendrick’s year. If I thought that “Suffocate” was inescapable, Sabrina Carpenter’s “espresso” lives in the layer between that and “Not Like Us”. You could not escape that song if you tried. And then Kendrick runs the victory lap by dropping another project six months and sixteen days after the knockout punch, asserting his place at the top of hip hop once more. This is the first Kendrick album I’ve actually liked from day one - I think I like laid back, street Kendrick more than introspective, philosophical Kendrick!
I’m back with one more!
Greylotus - Motherwort
An absolute banger of technical deathcore. I knew I’d like this from the first half of the opener “Ravine”. My friend saw them live by accident and said they put on an amazing show! This EP is well worth the listen for anyone into this style of music - just be aware that there may not be too much singing.
I don’t consciously follow any music scene outside of Japan, so my list is mostly just some random bands or releases I discovered and some specific bands that I’ve been following.
Mysterain - 一霎千尘 A Thousand Dusts
One of the first Chinese bands I started listening to, and still one of my favorites, they finally released another full album this year, and even started using their Youtube channel, it seems. Highlight: 暮云舞
Voodoo Kungfu - Blackened Lovecraftian Metal
A Chinese led extreme metal project. This release is somewhat different than the previous ones, as it has more electro elements, but still pretty brutal. Highlight: Guangxi 1968, Pt. 1
the Naraka - 哀歌 ～Elegy～
A Chinese VK band, and they’re pretty good IMO. They released a bunch of stuff this year, and I liked all of it, just picked this single because it has an MV. Bonus points for the album art of their other single V’s Kabuki-Cho, I thought that was cool. Highlight: 哀歌 ～Elegy～
The RedMoths - FORBIDDEN
Another cool weebkei band, this time from France. They released this and another mini album called Malus this year. On the whole I probably prefer Malus, but FORBIDDEN has stronger highlights and a killer MV song. Highlight: Whore
Muma - 没有声音的房间 (2024) (A room without sound)
Discovered this Chinese rock band this year and fell in love with the vibes. This single was the first one I heard from them and it ended up completely stuck in my head.
Ulver - Liminal Animals
One of those bands that I’ve been following since ages ago, though when I got to know them, they were already pretty experimental. Of their recent “dark pop” releases, I like this one more than the previous one, but my favorite is still the Julius Caesar album. Highlight: Locusts
My Dying Bride - A Mortal Binding
Another band I’ve been following since I was young, and they’ve never disappointed me. They are a bit on autopilot these last few releases, but I don’t mind, they’re still good IMO. Highlight: The Apocalyptist
