#TeamINSYM End Of Year Pt2 Matt's Top METAL MUSIC of 2024! FIRST SECTION
Come see what moments, songs, videos, and albums are the most notable for MATT in 2024 - includes his top VIDEO and ALBUM! #WhatAreWeConsuming #EndOfYear #2024 (FIRST SECTION)
The waning days of 2024 are upon us, so it’s time for #TeamINSYM’s BLOG OF DESTINY to share our thoughts on the previous twelve month’s consumption! We’ve already shared PART 1: STEPH’S TOP AUDIO BOOKS she listened to this year, now its time for PART 2: MATT’S MOST NOTABLE METAL MOMENTS, SONGS, VIDEOS and ALBUMS OF 2024!
NOTE: Because of space limitations on Substack articles, I’ve had to split this up into two sections - THE FIRST SECTION has the most memorable metal MOMENT of 2024, along with some assorted SONGS (not associated with the top albums) that impacted me. The SECOND SECTION will have my TOP VIDEO and TOP ALBUMS of the year!
Every year I try to take note of the music that has impacted me across the year that can broadly be placed under the umbrella of ‘METAL’. If you’ve seen my previous lists, the net is cast broad and wide. Sometimes its been ‘tech metal’ focused, in others there’s been a heavy FOLK lean, and sometimes orchestral music (that barely fits into the list) is what dominates.
This year the overriding factor was this: despite lyrical content, musical proficiency/deficiency, what songs / video / albums / moments did I find myself reverting back to over and over across the year? All it had to do was find a way to FORCE itself into my daily routine for whatever reason to be considered. Another thing you’ll notice is that region of the world / country / language doesn’t matter to me. This FIRST SECTION has bands from FINLAND, PORTUGAL, AUSTRIA, SPAIN, NEW ZEALAND, FRANCE, JAPAN, and yes, even ONE entry from the USA.
I’m going to start with the easiest recognition:
TOP METAL MOMENT OF THE YEAR: GOJIRA BLOWING THE LID OFF THE OLYMPIC OPENING CEREMONIES
There is unity in the metal community, but there’s also division. Which subgenre is best, what’s tr00 and kvlt, what is ACTUALLY metal, etc…, but one thing is for certain: across the globe every single metalhead jumped off their couch and pumped their fist when the first notes of GOJIRA’S MEA CULPA played… at the OLYMPICS! Distorted guitars and double bass smashing through what is normally a sanitized production?! In the immortal words of Stone Cold Steve Austin - can somebody gimme a hell yeah! Reports are that over a BILLION people worldwide saw this performance live or through streaming services, and every metalhead among them was saying to themselves ‘IT’S ABOUT TIME!’
This moment transcended the song itself, and even the band. It was more so about the WORLD being exposed to the best and most enduring form of musical expression that there is!
But that’s a WORLDWIDE event, now I’ll get into the music that impacted ME over the course of the past 12 months, that was released in 2024.
SONGS THAT I FOUND NOTABLE
To be recognized in this section, a single song had burrow it’s way into my cranium. This doesn’t mean that their whole release doesn’t (potentially) rock, but for me it was this composition that had the speakers thumping. In this section I tried to recognize bands that aren’t on the full ALBUMS list.
VERIKALPA - Sammalsynti
Old School folk metal with that deep huumpa (Finnish polka) infused sound. Hearkens back to the original Finntroll releases. Make sure you stick around to the end of their video for a fun outtake.
LISTEN TO VERIKALPA - Sammalsynti (Official Video)
HARAKIRI FOR THE SKY - With Autumn I'll Surrender
I’ve never been as conflicted about liking a band (and their songs) than HARAKIRI FOR THE SKY. Even as someone who has been around the block in the metal world and seen countless styles, subgenres, and vocal styles come to the forefront, the vocal style used by this Austrian outfit just is not for me. That being said, despite my aversion to the vocal choice, I found myself revolving back to their songs over and over, because their music is so utterly catchy and heartfelt. There are song across their discography that are some of my top-listened songs of the past few months, and that should say something. It doesn’t hurt that every video they do is at mini-movie quality (which is a rarity in this day and age). We’ll talk more about this aspect later on.
WITH AUTUMN I’LL SURRENDER is a perfect example of their style and the emotion they put into their writing (the interlude at 2:30 is buttery smooth). Hopefully you can get to the point I have, where you can listen past the vocals to hear the mastery of their compositions.
WATCH Harakiri For The Sky - With Autumn I'll Surrender (Official Music Video)
SILHOUETTE: Catalepsie & Dialecte Onirique
On the flipside from above, France’s SILHOUETTE have some of the most angst-filled and disturbing black metal infused vocals I’ve heard in recent years. The pain and passion in the performance helps transport you into the composition itself. The beauty of the atmospheric female vocals that offset the harsh male vocals are reminiscent of ANATHEMA Serenades, one of the landmark releases in doom metal history.
Yes, I’ve listed two songs off this album, Catalepsie & Dialecte Onirique, because I couldn’t pick just one to showcase. Luckily they’re back to back on their album Les Dires de l'Âme.
LISTEN TO SILHOUETTE - CATALEPSIE
LISTEN TO SILHOUETTE - DIALECTE ONIRIQUE
GAEREA: Hope Shatters
There are many bands that conceal their identity, but PORTUGAL’S GAEREA are the most ‘visible’ of the extreme metal bunch. All members wear the same simple black outfit and symbol-emblazoned mask, and even black out their arms, so that all five members are as identical as possible. They do such a good job at it that it took me until this year to realize there were both MEN and WOMEN in the group (granted, there were some slight changes to their presentation in the WORLD’S ABLAZE video that make this obvious!)
Anyhow, the music. I could’ve picked any number of songs off this release, but HOPE SHATTERS just rose to the top for me.
WATCH GAEREA - HOPE SHATTERS (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
SHEPHERDS REIGN: Ala Mai
Auckland, New Zealand’s Polynesian powerhouse, SHEPHERD’S REIGN, have one of the most unique images. As a wrestling fan, this band looks like it’s straight out of ‘The Bloodline’, evoking images of the historic WILD SAMOANS, with JACOB FATU on bass. That being said, I think the WWE is missing out greatly on the opportunity to have these guys play the theme music for some wrestlers and then have a live performance to top it off!
LISTEN TO / WATCH SHEHERD'S REIGN - Ala Mai
HANABIE: OTAKU Lovely Densetsu
Ah yes, JAPAN’S HANABIE. The previous year saw them completely explode on the world scene. That being said, I’m happy to say I’ve been a fan since the very beginning with their first single ‘I LIKE SWEETS’, and watching their growth has been an incredible journey. Over the last couple years, their sound and presentation has matured a bit, and the video for OTAKU Lovely Densetsu feels like the perfect combination of festival metal, an anime convention, and FUN. You can’t listen to this band without cracking a smile!
WATCH HANABIE: OTAKU Lovely Densetsu
LASTLY… ENTHEOS - An End to Everything
It’s hard to surprise me nowadays. While Santa Cruz, California’s ENTHEOS plays some catchy, pit-inducing, breakdown laden metal, the most encouraging aspect of this band is their vocalist, CHANEY CRABB. If ENTHEOS played randomly on your Spotify shuffle, there’s absolutely no way you’d equate the baritone, pissed-off-grizzly-bear-esque vocals to her. The fun here is that she has multiple ‘vocal performance’ videos online where you can see her mastery at work. She also is an encouraging and positive force in the metal community, which I appreciate! I expect big things from ENTHEOS in 2025!
WATCH ENTHEOS An End To Everything here!
WATCH one of CHANEY CRABB’s ONE TAKE Vocal performance videos here!
Alright - that’s all we have ROOM for in this section, we’ll be back soon with the top ALBUMS and VIDEOS of 2024, with artists from France, Italy, Finland, Germany, Venezuela, and the USA!
We’d be remiss to not mention that we released TWO songs this year (one orchestral and one metal) that go along with our COMIC / GRAPHIC NOVEL titles that we produce. We hope you’ll check them out here:
HEIRS OF ISILDUR: Supernatural Sabbatical
I AM QIDO: Spiral Into Madness (Orchestral Version)
And lastly, we have a KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN for our next COMIC / GRAPHIC NOVEL release happening on January 14th 2025, for HEIRS OF ISILDUR: The Perilous Prospects #’s 1-4. We hope you’ll check out the promo page for it here!
We’ll be back soon!
Matt & Steph
#TeamINSYM
www.linktree.com/insymmetrycreations