Top Ten Of 2024: Martin Williams

As has been the case the last half dozen years, I’ve blinked my eyes and arrived near the end of yet another year. The way I’ve experienced the movement of time over that period, it’s both no surprise and yet completely jaw-dropping that I’ve had the opportunity to be somehow writing my fourth top ten for The Sleeping Shaman. My 2024 has been, at minimum, as challenging both professionally and personally as last year, in fact, an argument could be made that it was the most challenging, and difficult year of my life.

Martin Williams - 2024

With that being said, the turmoil has allowed me the opportunity to appreciate what I do have, and to find gratitude by repeatedly telling myself that things can always be worse. I guess this is the part in my arc where an aging, rock and roll tattooer starts finding just a bit of enlightenment in life.

Musically, as has been mostly the case post-Covid, there were mountains of killer releases this year, so much so that some of the releases my friends, peers and fellow Shaman writers were excited about and hyping, remained stranded on my never-ending ‘list’ or in my online queue. Being the music-obsessive that I am, makes me anxious as I’m compiling this year-end list, because I always feel like I’m going to miss out on an amazing album that I’ll regret not including. Nonetheless, we work with what we have, and what I have here, is a list of my favorite albums that I was lucky enough to experience in 2024, so here we go.

10. Blue Heron ‘Everything Fades’

Blue Heron 'Everything Fades' Artwork

Albuquerque’s own Blue Heron return with their sophomore release, Everything Fades, wherein the band really come into their own. Because of vocalist Jadd Shickler’s past with MeteorCity, I’ve had a tendency to instantly draw sonic comparisons with his musical projects to bands like Dozer and Lowrider. Understandable since he put out those bands’ early records, but here, Blue Heron have unleashed a truly colossal, mountain-moving, expansive, heavy-as-fuck stoner/desert rock album of the highest order that is unique unto them.

Everything Fades boasts all the massive, fuzzy riffs, wicked tones and earth-shaking, next-level, rhythmic rumbling that any fan of this genre could want. The title track is as crushingly heavy as any song I encountered all year, while the sequencing of the, also huge, rumbling Dinosaur, into the spaced-out build of instrumental Trepidation is pretty much perfect. Add in Shickler’s diverse vocal stylings, you have far and away one of the best heavy rock releases of the year.

Label: Blues Funeral Recordings

9. Per Wiberg ‘The Serpent’s Here’

Per Wiberg 'The Serpent's Here' Artwork

Prolific, Swedish, keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist Per Wiberg , he of multiple bands, most notably Opeth and Spiritual Beggars, as well as his many appearances as a guest musician on seemingly countless other albums across the entire sphere of underground heavy music, returns with his second, solo, full-length.

The Serpent’s Here is an eclectic, diverse rock and roll album featuring all sorts of sounds, including prog rock, the alt-rock of the title track, heavy riffing, psychedelic passages, spoken-word weirdness, improv-like, jazz-esque moments, and all-around, free-flowing, trippy-ness like Blackguards Stand Silent throughout. Additionally, the album includes the all-instrumental versions of the songs, which makes for a cool soundtrack-type listening experience. The Serpent’s Here was certainly one of the more sonically diverse, unique recordings I heard this year, and definitely one of the best.

Label: Despotz Records

8. Duel ‘Breakfast With Death’

Duel 'Breakfast With Death' Artwork

Austin, Texas’s favorite melodic, stoner metal band Duel return, in relatively quick fashion, following 2021’s In Carne Persona and 2023’s Live At Hellfest, with the awesomely titled Breakfast With Death, which features arguably one of the best covers I’ve seen this year. However, there’s more to it than just cool covers and titles, as the rock veterans continue to hone their Thin Lizzy-esque, punky, stoner-metal to a razor-sharp attack.

The album is teeming with heavy, chugging riffing, dueling, melodic leads, swinging rhythms, catchy, soaring vocals, and rock and roll swagger in abundance, from the first note of the galloping Ancient Moonlight to the dying embers of Burn the Earth. Duel have unequivocally unleashed upon this wretched world one of the most raucous, satisfying, and fun heavy rock albums of 2024.

Label: Heavy Psych Sounds

7. Pissed Jeans ‘Half Divorced’

Pissed Jeans ‘Half Divorced’ Artwork

Have you ever wondered what a mash-up of vintage Black Flag and early ‘90s The Jesus Lizard might sound like? Well, if so, look no farther than the unruly, blistering, noise-punk of Pennsylvania’s Pissed Jeans. These guys had been floating around my periphery for quite a while, and I finally dove in with Half Divorced, their fifth release for Seattle’s legendary Sub Pop Records, and sixth overall.

It’s a clinic in contemporary, hardcore punk rock and roll, dripping with garage and noise rock energy that feels like the soundtrack for the every-man punker in the capitalist dystopia that is the US-of-A in 2024. The whole album is a face melter, but standouts for me were the blazing Cling To A Poisoned Dream, the hilarious, and totally accurate Everywhere Is Bad and the five-plus minute, seething, mid-tempo, punk rock of Junktime. Half Divorced is not just one of the best punk rock albums of this year, I’d place it among the best punk rock albums of the last half dozen years.

Label: Sub Pop Records

6. Necrot ‘Lifeless Birth’

Necrot ‘Lifeless Birth’ Artwork

Any fan of the original, first wave of death metal, should be all over Necrot. The Oakland trio have captured the sound, spirit, presentation and energy of bands like Death, Entombed and Morbid Angel like few before them or since. Guitarist Sonny Reinhardt’s tone, riffs and shred are among the very best in metal, regardless of genre, and he’s deftly complimented by the absolutely, crushing, pummeling rhythm section of vocalist/bassist Luca Indrio and drummer Chad Gailey.

Every song is a clinic in brutal, old school death metal and if you don’t believe me, just give tracks like Drill The Skull Cut The Cord and the title track a spin. If you’re an OG death metal fan and aren’t head-banging whilst clutching invisible oranges, there is something wrong with your ears.

Label: Tankcrimes

5. 1000mods ‘Cheat Death’

1000mods 'Cheat Death' Artwork

I found myself holding off on completing my year-end list until almost the deadline as I had a feeling that 1000mods latest album, Cheat Death, just released in November, and their first since 2020’s Youth Of Dissent, would crack my top ten, and man, was I right. It shows the continuing musical evolution of the Greek heavy rock stalwarts, showing again that they are not content to settle on a specific style or formula. It is a fantastic heavy rock album from start to finish as it’s stuffed with fuzzy, punky, riffage that feels slightly more ‘metal’ than the stoner rock of their early material, and certainly from the outright grungy tones found on the aforementioned Youth Of Dissent while the rhythm section, as always, is both rock solid and oozing with groove.

All the while, the band continue to showcase their keen songwriting prowess, while constantly pushing their sound forward. There are some awesome, mellower, palette-cleansing tracks as well, and you won’t hear any better this year than Love, a song that I’ve found myself hitting ‘repeat’ on constantly, as well as closer Grey, Green Blues. This album could’ve easily been higher on my list, if I had a bit more time with it, as it’s as good of a heavy rock album that I’ve heard the last few years.

Label: Ouga Booga And The Mighty Oug Recordings | Ripple Music

4. The Jesus Lizard ‘Rack’

The Jesus Lizard 'Rack' Artwork

Here, is the reunion I certainly thought that I’d never see, ‘90s underground, noise-rock icons The Jesus Lizard return with their first album in twenty-six years, and what an album Rack turned out to be. Sounding like the band had been stuck on pause they pick up right where they left off. Led by guitarist Duane Dennison’s trademark, jagged, angular, menacing guitar sound that tends to run parallel with the band’s signature, rhythmic pummel and the howling, one-of-a-kind vocals, of loose-cannon frontman David Yow

Rack is exactly what you’d want The Jesus Lizard album released in 2024 to sound like. Songs like Grind, with its pummeling charge, What If? with its slow-burn, rhythmic creepy-crawl and the weird, yet strangely catchy, oddball Alexis Feels Sick, show that even after all these years, they remain a singular act in underground rock and roll.

Label: Ipecac Recordings

3. Zig Zags ‘Strange Masters’

Zig Zags 'Strange Masters' Artwork

When I reviewed LA’s Zig Zags latest release, Strange Masters, a collection of re-recorded older tracks presented as a ‘fake live record’ back in July, I wrote ‘I’m not going to go so far as to declare them my new favorite band’. Well, I am now. There wasn’t a band I listened to more this year then Zig Zags. I became totally addicted to their sound, an utterly infectious blast of ripping, crunchy-ass, thrash metal riffing, punk rock attitude and SoCal skate punk energy.

To my ears, they captured the lightning-in-a-bottle sonics of No Life ‘Til Leather and Kill ‘Em All-era Metallica, with swagger to spare. Just listen to the vicious riffing of Fallout, the mission statement of Punk Fucking Metal, or the trippy, psychedelic thrash of Voices Of The Paranoid. I can’t think of another current thrash band with this much wicked energy, and I consumed their entire discography, while thirsting for more. Strange Masters was blasted out at Osees mastermind John Dwyer’s studio in LA as they worked on material for their new album, which I simply can’t wait for at this point. They had been on my radar for a few years, and man am I glad I finally got on board, as I slept on these guys for far too long. Better late than never.

Label: RidingEasy Records

2. High On Fire ‘Cometh The Storm’

High On Fire 'Cometh The Storm' Artwork

2024 saw the return of quite a few stoner rock, and doom metal legends, and there really wasn’t one that I looked forward to more than High On Fire. First of all, they are among my top twenty bands of all time. Secondly, they had not released an album since 2018’s Electric Messiah, and finally, one of my favorite drummers on earth, Coady Willis, the pummeling, hard-hitting, octopus armed skin basher of The Murder City Devils, (the) Melvins, and Big Business, joined guitarist, vocalist and living legend Matt Pike, and bassist Jeff Matz, replacing the esteemed Des Kensel. Willis, for me, really was not only the perfect choice, he was also the only choice, and this is at once clear on the absolutely crushing Cometh The Storm.

The six year wait was well worth it’s among the very best of High On Fire’s iconic discography. The entire album is a highlight, but personal favorites included the charging, sonic pummel of Lambsbread, the mid-tempo stomp of Burning Down, the Turkish/Middle Eastern tinged psychedelic instrumental of Karanlık Yol and the heavier-than-hell, closing mind-fuck of Darker Fleece. Cometh The Storm could’ve easily been my album of the year, and frankly, it came down to ‘F’ coming before ‘H’ in the alphabet in deciding the top slot.

Label: MNRK Heavy

1. Fu Manchu ‘The Return Of Tomorrow’

Fu Manchu 'The Return Of Tomorrow' Artwork

Thus, we arrive at number one. I struggled with this selection, as I decided after the long-awaited release of The Return Of Tomorrow in June, that my number one was coming down to Fu Manchu or High On Fire, and I half-jokingly justified the selection by saying ‘F’ came before ‘H’ as I loved both of these albums so much. In the end though, when I broke it down, I simply listened to The Return Of Tomorrow more than Cometh The Storm, finding the San Clemente, fuzz-wielding, overlords completely at the top of their game.

This album, billed as Fu Manchu’s first double album, with the first half being heavier, while side two presents as ‘mellower’ (less fuzz, chiller vibes) is overflowing with everything we’ve come to love about Fu Manchu; massive, fuzzed-up, Sabbath-meets-80’s SoCal, hardcore riffing for days, deftly anchored by the earth-shaking rumble from that monster rhythm section, and catchy as hell vocals. Tracks like Loch Ness Wrecking Machine and Hands Of The Zodiac are destined to become live staples for years to come, while songs Solar Baptized and What I Need are prime examples of the long-form, spaced-out, desert rock they have always excelled it, with the latter being as good as any song in their legendary discography. The Return of Tomorrow will go on to sit right next to all-timeiconic releases like The Action Is Go or King of the Road, it is simply that good.

Label: At The Dojo Records

Honourable Mentions

In no particular order…

Amyl And The Sniffers ‘Cartoon Darkness’
Another band I’m late to the party with, but my goodness have I become addicted to these Australian, ‘70s punk throwbacks, who happen to be led by one of the most captivating vocalists in rock and roll currently with Amy Taylor. And while one could argue that Cartoon Darkness is slightly more commercially accessible to the brain-dead masses than their older material, this band deserves all the flowers coming their way.

Greenleaf ‘The Head & The Habit’
Seems guitarist Tommi Holappa has a habit of appearing on my top ten lists as he’s on three of my four Shaman top ten’s, not surprising considering his bands are among my favorites with Dozer’s return last year capturing the top spot. Here, after that band’s reunion, he rejoins his Greenleaf bandmates along with vocalist Arvid Hällagård, who’s other band, Young Acid also released the amazing Murder At Maple Mountains, as they took the next step in their continued heavy, expansive, musical evolution.

Jerry Cantrell ‘I Want Blood’
The legendary guitarist, singer and songwriter of Alice In Chains, and the architect of their sound, returns in relatively quick fashion from 2021’s Brighten with his fourth solo album I Want Blood, giving us grunge survivors all of the patented heavy riffs, haunting vocal harmonies, driving rock and roll, and grungy, soulful ballads to satisfy even the most finicky of aging Gen-Xers.

Orange Goblin ‘Science Not Fiction’
One of the UK’s finest, and original, first wave stoner metal bands, the mighty Orange Goblin, returned after a six-year hiatus with another blast of their distinctive, punked-up, Motörhead-drenched, raucous stoner metal. Tracks like (Not) Rocket Science were as killer as they were timely in this age of ignorance and misinformation. As has been the case for, over two decades, a new Orange Goblin release was warmly welcomed on my stereo.

Slower / Sun & Sail Club
Fu Manchu’s criminally underrated and jaw-droopingly prolific lead guitarist Bob Balch not only performed on my number one album of the year, he dropped not one, but TWO Slower albums – his Slayer-but-played-doom metal style project with Esben Willems of Monolord and Amy Barrysmith of Year Of The Cobra – with the self-titled debut followed later in the year with Rage And Ruin. He also released Shipwrecked, the new release from Sun & Sail Club who feature not one, but two Scott Reeder’s (Fu Manchu and Kyuss respectively) and Tony Adolescent. Not surprisingly, it was a blazing, album, think ‘80s SoCal hardcore punk with Fu Manchu tones.

X ‘Smoke & Fiction’
I also want to give a special shout-out to X, the iconic, 1970s Los Angeles first-wave punk band. Not only are all four original members STILL touring into their late ‘60s and early ‘70s, they released their farewell album Smoke & Fiction. It’s fantastic, vibrant, unique, and rockin’, as one could imagine, and it sits as a nice bookend to their legendary debut, Los Angeles.

Special thanks to The Sleeping Shaman for continuing to give me the opportunity to write about music. Here’s to another year above ground, another year of learning and evolving and I’m excited and anxious to see what 2025 brings. Cheers.

Scribed by: Martin Williams