Here we are once more... at the end of another year scratching out collective heads trying to remember what we liked best, desperate not to forget anything...
Each year I promise myself I will keep a running tally but somehow I never do.
That said and with only a little bit more of an ado here are some caveats:
Only two Wizards handed in their end of year lists in time (tsk tsk)... and both of us did a top 16 & 17 for no reason whatsoever. Sometimes we have omitted multiple releases by the same band even though they were equally good, sometimes we've added more than one.
In general we only include physical releases, even if the digital came out last year... but it is becoming more common for some incredibly prolific artists to put out dozens of releases a year digitally (at least at first) and I didn't want to leave these folk out.
There are plenty of things I have missed and will get to in the new year, there are plenty of non-metal releases that I have not included.
Truly it is hard to enjoy anything as much as the incredible records we have worked on and released this past year, but it feels unfair to included them in mine... (Russell doesn't care and has added some to his).
Therefore if I wasn't so incredibly humble my list would simply be this -
Bastard Mycosis - The Perpetual Harvest
Blood Tower - Our Earth Would Be A Nightmare
Dipygus Album - III
Drelnoch - Anthropocene
Gloomy Reflections - Oath of the Paladins
Hail Conjurer - Satanic Phenomenology
Hellish Torment - Demo
Necro Soft - Don't Test The Unmaker's Patience
Riders of Rohan - With Hope or Without...
Ryg din sidste bøn - Rehearsal for the Regicide
Sacral Kingdom - Perditions Gate
Thank you to all the incredible artists who trusted us with their incurable releases.
NOW here are our lists:
Charlie
Nogbold's Palace - The Odour Of Destiny & S/T (reissues) (IXIOL)
Flickers from the Fen - Stoned in Gielinor II (Dungeons Deep Records)
Fórnea - Obscura Primal (Demo) (Rasga)
Sunset - Sunset (IXIOL)
Veins Like Vines - Bloom And Rot Share The Same Colors (Into Endless Chaos)
Dëgénéréscence – Moon Alchemist Academia (Phantom Lure)
Opium Warlords - Strength! (Svart)
Conifère - L’impôt Du Sang (Phantom Lure)
Keys To The Astral Gates And Mystic Doors – The Endless Black And Melancholy Triumphant (Obscurant Visions)
Lila Ehjä - Clivota (Croux)
Fleckentarn - Les Mains Pâles Du Chagrin (Croux)
Spife - Creek Moss, Herald of Hvrall (Self release)
Green Mist – Incomplete Anthology
Aluk Todolo - LUX (Norma Evangelium Diaboli / The Ajna Offensive)
Kaikkivaltias - Astu (IXIOL)
Baazlvaat - Ridiculed By The Common Soldiery (Goatowarex)
Demon Head - Through Holes Shine The Stars (Svart)
Sophie
In no particular order...
Electric Wizard - Black Magic Rituals and Perversions Vol.1 (Spinefarm)
Massive Retaliation - Arms Of The War God (Ixiol)
Amethyst - Rock Knights (Jawbreaker)
Black Curse - Burning In Celestial Poison (Sepulchral Voice)
Stenched - Purulence Gushing From The Coffin (Me Saco Un Ojo)
Gloomy Reflections - Oath Of The Paladins (Crypt of the Wizard)
Dipygus - Dipygus (Crypt of the Wizard)
Bastard Mycosis - The Perpetual Harvest (Crypt of the Wizard)
Nächtlich - Exaltation Of Evil (Deathful Lust)
Spectral Voice - Sparagmos (Dark Descent)
Stress Angel - Punished By Nemesis (Dying Victims)
Russell
Ardulph Ardebahr Wald 3LP (IXIOL)
Bastard Mycosis – The Perpetual Harvest CD (COTW)
Bloodlust - Styleez Tradegia LP ( IXIOL)
Degenerescenced - Moon Alchemist Academy MC (Phantom Lure)
Fluids – Reduced Capabilities LP (Hell’s Headbangers)
Forlorn Aspect – Benthic Orations LP ( IXIOL)
Furze - Cosmic Stimulation of Dark Fantasies LP (Devoted Art Propaganda)
Furze – Caw Entrance LP (Devoted Art Propaganda)
Gutless – High Impact Violence LP (Me Saco Un Ojo)
Huangquang Records reissues!! (Pyphomgertum, Organic Infest, Horror of Horrors, Electrocution etc)
Massive Retaliation – Arms of the War God LP ( IXIOL)
Mortal Wound – The Anus of the World LP (Me Saco Un Ojo)
Nogbold’s Palace – S/T LP ( IXIOL) (And the other one!!)
Runeboy – 2024 Releases - They hate you…But You’re Free, We’ve Already Won, Oi From the B-Roads, Plough The Fields (A.S.K.E.)
Ryg Din Sidste Bøn LP – Rehersal for the Regicide LP (Crypt of the Wizard)
Stenched – Purulence Gushing From The Coffin LP (Me Saco Un Ojo)