The Fallen - 2024 Roundup

It's late October and thoughts are already turning to Xmas and  year's end which, for Metal Academy, means year-end best of lists. For various reasons I haven't been across the new releases this year as much as in previous years, so this will also serve as a state of play reminder of what I have listened to and a checklist so I can make an effort to cover a few more before we all sing Auld Lang Syne.

Anyway, here's my top 15 Fallen picks of 2024 so far:

1. Darkthrone - It Beckons Us All

2. Scald - Ancient Doom Metal

3. Mourning Dawn - The Foam of Despair

4. The Flight of Sleipnir, - Nature's Cadence

5. High on Fire - Cometh the Storm

6. Spectral Voice - Sparagmos

7. Altar of Betelgeuze - Echoes

8. Civerous - Maze Envy

9. Coffins - Sinister Oath

10. Arð - Untouched by Fire

11. Saturnalia Temple - Paradigm Call

12. Hamferð - Men guðs hond er sterk

13. Grey Skies Fallen - Molded by Broken Hands

14. The Obsessed - Gilded Sorrow

15. Acid Mammoth - Supersonic Megafauna Collision

Let's see what mine end up being so far, I don't think I've had too many Fallen albums that have caught my fancy this year. 

1. Cave Sermon - Divine Laughter
2. Crypt Sermon - The Stygian Rose
3. Spectral Voice - Sparagmos
4. Bongripper - Empty
5. Thou - Umbilical 
6. High On Fire - Cometh The Storm
7. Civerous - Maze Envy
8. Coffins - Sinister Oath
9. Ard - Untouched By Fire
10. Inter Arma - New Heaven
11. Slimelord - Chytridiomycosis Relinquished

Hmm, a lot of these ended up being Fallen by subcategory, not main category for sure. I still have a few from your list to go through Sonny, very interested in the Scald record after giving their profile a peek. The Stygian Rose is the massive winner for Doom Metal for me this year without a doubt.

Yeah, both of the ...Sermon bands are still on my "to listen to" list, Xephyr, and I have quite high hopes  for them, so it's good to see them at the top of your list. Inter Arma are another I have enjoyed in the past, so hopefully that's a good one too. I listened to  the Thou album a bit ago and enjoyed it, as I always do, but haven't worked up a review yet, hence it's missing from my list.

Listened to Ponte del Diavolo today and that's going to go into #5 spot on my list. I would recommend it if you haven't heard it.

Even though I would very much describe myself as a doom metal newbie (at least when compared to the other extreme subgenres), I have found myself thoroughly immersed in this year's The Fallen releases - no less than a few of which I have truly fallen in love with and expect to revisit regularly in the future. I have to admit that aside from The Horde, the other clans have been giving me a decidedly more difficult time to discover albums of such high quality. Is 2024 a really good year for The Fallen, or is it just my heart increasingly calling me to walk this barren, desolate path?

My favourites so far:

1. Scald - Ancient Doom Metal

2. Dionysiaque - Diogonos

3. Capilla Ardiente - Where Gods Live and Men Die

4. Slimelord - Chytridiomycosis Relinquished

5. Avernus - Grievances

6. Void Witch - Horripilating Presence

7. Sanctuarium - Melted and Decomposed

8. Funeral Leech - The Illusion of Time

9. Altar of Oblivion - In the Cesspit of Divine Decay

10. Void Moon - Dreams Inside the Sun

11. Stygian Crown - Funeral for a King

Even though I would very much describe myself as a doom metal newbie (at least when compared to the other extreme subgenres), I have found myself thoroughly immersed in this year's The Fallen releases - no less than a few of which I have truly fallen in love with and expect to revisit regularly in the future. I have to admit that aside from The Horde, the other clans have been giving me a decidedly more difficult time to discover albums of such high quality. Is 2024 a really good year for The Fallen, or is it just my heart increasingly calling me to walk this barren, desolate path?

In all honesty, Karl, I wouldn't say that 2024 is an exceptional year for The Fallen releases. I admit I am biased because The Fallen is my clan of choice, but I genuinely believe that every year since 1990 has turned out reams of excellent doom, sludge, stoner, drone and even gothic metal albums. It seems like there is no sign of the quality dropping off in The Fallen just yet. In my dedicated lists for the last seven or eight years I usually have between 60 and 120 albums I would rate as pretty good (7/10) or better.