The Top 10 Albums of 2024

Before we look back over the decade so far, it’s time to celebrate this year. Here are Vinyl Fantasy Reviews’ Top 10 Albums of 2024. All albums must have been released from 1/1/24 onwards, and only one entry per artist is permitted.

10. Mud Whale – Humans Pretending to be Human

RATING: 85/100 – Mostly Excellent

Kicking off this list is Ohio’s Mud Whale, and their second record, ‘Humans Pretending to be Human’. Already having appeared on our Song of the Year with their brilliantly jazzy number ‘Little Place’, the album is far more than just a one hit wonder.

Whilst ‘Little Place’ saw them bring the jazz, much of the rest of this record is composed of chunky emo anthems that are delivered with an electrifying, thumping energy. ‘Smoke Signals’ offers an infectious, gritty groove, ‘Checking In’ brings a bittersweet emo whimsy, and ‘Fluorescent’ is a gently ethereal number; despite all of this variety, the album feels brilliantly cohesive and flows wonderfully from one number to the next. The closing track, ‘Part of Me’, brings the album to blood-pumping and surprisingly emotive conclusion, wrapping the experience up perfectly… before you inevitably hit that repeat button.

And trust me, you really will be hitting that button multiple times.

9. Void Of Vision – What I’ll Leave Behind

RATING: 85/100 – Mostly Excellent

Whether Void Of Vision knew that their fourth record would be their last is unknown, but as far as closing statements to a band go, it is hard to think of one more fitting than ‘What I’ll Leave Behind’.

Centred around vocalist Jack Bergin’s ongoing experience of living with an AVM, and the close encounters with death he has experienced as a result, this album truly is the chaotic sound of a man staring his own mortality in the face. Gritty metalcore is fused with pummelling dance beats, whilst Bergin’s vocals alternate between searing screams and impassioned melodies, as the band reconcile with the ultimate fact that everything must end, and every plan thought up can come undone by the whims of fate.

This is what Void Of Vision leave behind.

8. El Moono – The Waking Sun

RATING: 86/100 – Mostly Excellent

El Moono already had quite the hype surrounding them following their debut EP, but that has been magnified tenfold following their debut LP, ‘The Waking Sun’. An extensive touring schedule has taken them to nearly every corner of England, and no doubt before long, this record will take them even further afield.

This progressive-tinged alternative metal beast of a record explores the darker sides of the human psyche through the lens of cosmic. From infectious groove-laden anthems such as ‘Screw Loose’ and ‘Haunting’, to explosive progressive monoliths such as ‘The Waking Sun’ and ‘The First Man on Mars’, their sound is consistently marked with an inhuman ferocity, channeled through chunky riffs, swaggering rhythms, and searing vocal performances.

Keep a close eye on this band as 2025 rolls around; the solar system is theirs to claim.

7. Yard Act – Where’s My Utopia?

RATING: 86/100 – Mostly Excellent

Yard Act have always proved to be a divisive act. A fad band, riding on the post-punk trend espousing popular woke rhetoric to some. A genuinely entertaining on a saturated genre, providing human and humorous commentary on modern life to others. Love them or hate them, they aren’t going anywhere soon, especially after their incredible and incredibly weird second record, ‘Where’s My Utopia?’.

Certainly, the sociopolitical commentary is still there, but it’s far less pronounced than on their debut. Instead, this is Yard Act looking inwards, taking in their mildly successful lives, and wondering what any of it fucking means anyway. Addressing themes of fatherhood, integrity, the rat race, and the darker parts of the psyche we try to avoid, the band bring house and dance sensibilities to their post-punk roots, and conjure up a brilliantly energetic record that manages to be all at once genuine fun, uncomfortably vulnerable, and surprisingly emotive.

Maybe the real utopia really was the friends we made along the way.

6. Knocked Loose – You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To

RATING: 91/100 – Excellent

If you keep up with end of year lists at all, especially in the heavy scene, then this probably isn’t the first time you’ve seen this record make an appearance, and nor will it probably be the last. It is quite simply just that good.

Knocked Loose have managed to do the unthinkable for a band with hardcore roots, and that is breakthrough to the mainstream consciousness. Between their appearances not only at Coachella, but also on Jimmy Kimmel, the five-piece cemented their status as legends without compromising their sound in the slightest. ‘You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To’ could easily have seen them watering down their sound to appeal to a newfound sense of popularity, but instead the band pushed themselves into heavier, weirder, and darker territories than ever before. Between the apocalyptic lead single ‘Blinding Faith’, the killer guest appearance of Poppy on ‘Suffocate’, and the disconcerting moments of quiet on ‘Take Me Home’ and ‘Sit & Mourn‘, this record marks a huge moment not just for the band, but for the heavy scene in general.

Their headline EU/UK tour next year even gives people a good reason to attend the O2 Victoria Warehouse. Truly, a miracle in action.

5. Lure In – We Are All Going To Hell

RATING: 92/100 – Excellent

Lure In aren’t here to pander to expectations or trends. In a world of algorithms, sound bites, and TikTok highlights, where heavy music trends towards shoegaze and nu-metalcore, Lure In elected to release just over 18 minutes of nigh incomprehensible sonic aggression that takes as much influence from hyperpop as it does hardcore. The result is bloody brilliant.

The sound of the coming apocalypse, heralded by preachers on street corners and the very heavens cracking open, is manifested through this indescribably ferocious record. Through your speakers, Lure In are positioned directly in front of you, bludgeoning your senses with tracks such as the shockingly catchy ‘Your Own Worth’ and the crushing ‘God Saves’, with one track flowing effortlessly into the next almost as if the album is merely a single song. What is perhaps most exciting is the sense that Lure In haven’t even reached their full potential yet; this revolutionary album may well be the foundational moment that turns Lure In into true titans.

This is chaospop, and this may well be the sound of heavy music to come.

4. Strelitzia – Winter

RATING: 94/100 – Excellent

Six years in the making, Strelitzia’s debut LP became the last item of music we reviewed this year, and it’s a good job we did; this genre-defying epic of a record is one of the most spectacular, emotional, and memorable listens of the year.

Even though it only consists of eight tracks, every moment of ‘Winter’ is crammed with sparkling musical ideas and electrifying, gripping emotional weight. Math rock, jazz fusion, shoegaze, and many more genres collide as the band take you on a journey of endings, dealing with grief, loss, and heartbreak as they weigh up the cost of love. Moments of pensive musical cinema, such as ‘Sara’ and ‘Epilogue’, are contrasted with moments of genuine surprising fun, such as ‘Sben’ and ‘This Bed Ain’t Big Enough Fer The Both Of Us’, yet none of the emotional weight is ever lost. It’s a painful listen at times, but one that is good for the soul.

If Strelitzia’s second record takes another six years, then that is a wait worth enduring for such glorious music.

3. A Place For Owls – how we dig in the earth

RATING: 97/100 – Mostly Perfect

This year sees the bronze medal go to Denver’s A Place For Owls, and their indie rock masterpiece of a second album, ‘how we dig in the earth’.

Even through the depths of grief, life and love will always find a way to persist, and this record serves as the ultimate testament to that as it progresses from a moment of loss to a moment of acceptance; things might not be okay, and that’s okay. Catchy, folk-tinged moments such as ‘broken open seed’ and ‘a tattoo of a candle‘ are contrasted with moments of pensive cinematic beauty, such as ‘huston lake’ and the truly beautiful closing statement ‘help me let the right ones in’. This is far from a record that you can throw on shuffle and be done with; ‘how we dig in the earth’ is a record that demands to be enjoyed thoroughly and completely, from the start to its dying moments.

To be human is to hurt and heal, and A Place For Owls truly embrace all of the beauty and ugliness in living on this must-listen experience.

2. State Faults – Children Of The Moon

RATING: 100/100 – Perfect

In a year of superb releases, it is perhaps unsurprising that for the first time in six years, two albums have been released in the same year that have achieved 100/100. The second to achieve it this year came in the form of State Faults’ monolithic third record, ‘Children Of The Moon’.

Screamo and post-hardcore have never sounded so cinematic and immense, as State Faults weave a fantastical narrative that spirals down into the depths of despair. Layer by layer, in a majestic display of thunderous yet intelligent aggression, hope is stripped away in a gripping and uncomfortable manner. From the monstrous ‘Leviathan’, with its incredible percussive work, to the progressive behemoth that is ‘No Gospel’, with its truly magical lyrics work, State Faults take screamo and evolve it into a legendary form that few bands have the ambition, let alone the talent, to execute. By the dying moments of the sweeping ballad ‘Bodega Head’, you as a listener have been changed irreversibly.

You can’t quite believe what you’re hearing on ‘Children Of The Moon’, and even now, I still can’t shake that feeling. This is heavy music at its most magical.

1. Topiary Creatures – The Metaphysical Tech Support Hotline

RATING: 100/100 – Perfect

Making the sweep of both the Vinyl Fantasy Reviews Song of the Year and Vinyl Fantasy Reviews Album of the Year, Topiary Creatures truly have been the soundtrack of 2024 here.

A beautiful, exciting, and sparklingly inventive record, ‘The Metaphysical Tech Support Hotline’ grapples with existing as a human during an era of constant consumption, instant gratification, and oppressive anxiety. The album twinkles emotion, as shimmering instrumental performances, laced with samples, are layered with stunning vocal performances that range from tender introspection to panicked nihilistic aggression. There’s the unbelievably catchy ‘Snakes in the Walls’, the crushing ‘Home to Any Possibility’, and the sweeping ‘Michelangelo, ECD’, the latter of which features a brilliant guest verse from The Low Blow.

In a single paragraph, this record is impossible to sum. No review can do justice to the experience that this life-affirming album provides. But there is one more thing that can be said that can help provide a shadow of a glimpse of just how outstanding this record truly is:

The Vinyl Fantasy Reviews Album of the Year 2024 is ‘The Metaphysical Tech Support Hotline’, by Topiary Creatures.

VINYL FANTASY REVIEWS ALBUM OF THE YEAR

2021: Adjy – The Idyll Opus (I-VI)

2022: Birds in Row – Gris Klein

2023: Sleep Token – Take Me Back To Eden

2024: Topiary Creatures – The Metaphysical Tech Support Hotline

I hope each and every one of you has a safe and happy holiday season, with good food and good friends, no matter whether you celebrate or not! Take care, and I’ll be seeing you on the run up to the New Year as we take a look back at this decade so far!