December will be magic again: 15 Highlights for the End of 2024

Over the past years, we got to know Vulkan‘s guitarist Christian Fredriksson as an incredible versatile musician and composer, being involved in countless bands ranging from brutal death metal to beautiful prog rock. With his solo project Solum, he shows an absolutely mesmerizing side of his work, and now released his second album, called “Avlägsenheten“. Like for the previous one, there are not many words to find about it, but the music speaks for itself, inviting us to dream along. Again dense in their atmosphere, the songs sound a bit heavier than on “Encountering Murk”, yet the overall mood remains mystical, with a certain, wonderful playfulness. The main instrumentation consists again of guitar, drums, bass, and various key arrangements. Talking about the songs, there are “only” 5, but with the closing track “Luminance” coming as a marvelous 20 min opus! Looking for some music to chillax over the holidays? There you go… Katha

Just two weeks after the launch of his brand new heavy prog rock project Bakelit with the excellent debut “Asleep or Insane”, Swedish synth-master Carl Westholm (Carptree, Jupiter Society, ex-Avatarium/Candlemass) is back with “Trail”, the sophomore effort of his Hollingshead project. Evergrey Bass-Guru Johan Niemann filled the 9 tracks of “Trail” to the brim with the nastiest, grittiest bass sounds and grooves you’ve heard all year and, together with his rhythm-section partner Fredrik Haake (drums), turned this into an exhilarating, adrenaline fueled ride bordering on metal often-times, without a single guitar needed. Glued together by Westholm’s massive synth swathes and a passionate vocal performance from new singer Tony Naima, “Trail” delivers a dark, unexpected blow to the chin, slap in the face, punch in the gut, you name it. And I mean that in the best, most endearing way possible. Dario

After a Swedish double attack, it’s time to hop over the big pond to the Americas. Riverside-y (Riverside-esque? Riverside-ish) atmospheric prog rock from the twin cities of Ciudad Juaréz (Mexico) and El Paso (Texas)? Deep Limbic System present their first full length album, “Katharsi”, 10 years after the release of their debut EP “The Embryo”, and with it an accomplished and soulful sound, diving deep into your, well, Deep Limbic System for that extra push of melancholia induced endorphins or something like that. Beautiful stuff that really shouldn’t be overlooked at the tail-end of this year where a lot of music fans seem to have made up their minds already with their best of year-lists. Dario

You know what’s still missing in this very eclectic selection of December highlights? Correct, a full on progressive rock album. Luckily Italian keyboardist Alex Carpani covers that part expertly with his newest album “The Good Man”. Composed of just two longtracks who both clock in at exactly the same time (28:42) and are both divided into nine parts, Carpani’s style is equally eclectic, cinematic, innovative and ultimately compelling despite the song length and meandering, proggy song structure. Or rather because he’s keeping things varied and interesting? Well, I’d say that’s up to you, “The Good Man” is an album not to be missed by any progressive rock aficionado in any case! Dario

I knew that jumping ahead to posting my yearly list before December would be a mistake (which is why I didn’t), and this month proved itself to be one of the best months across such an incredible year. I came across this project the day “Bastion” came out, thanks to Kardashev for sharing! Progressive post-black metal project Caelestra from the UK takes the cake for my favourite album from this month, and easily amongst my top list for 2024. This album is like Devin Townsend tried writing a blackgaze record with An Abstract Illusion, and if that sounds intriguing, let me tell you that this should hit the spot. Front to back, this release is loaded with quality songwriting, beautiful atmospheres, and even chunky riffs at points. “Bastion” is one heck of a journey, and I highly recommend giving this a spin before finalizing your 2024 list. Colin

Just when I thought there might not be anymore standouts, I get another recommendation for a ridiculous sophomore album from Singapore blackened death metal band, Choir. “Smithe Thee Smoldering Providence” goes beyond what was delivered on their debut effort, which says a lot considering how pummeling it already was. The evil sounding black metal expression with intense dissonant chords, layering over borderline brutal death metal vocals. It is quite the experience, pulling me in throughout both 20-minute tracks with lots of moments making me wonder how they are making it sound so heavy. It’s not far off from how the new Gigan album is, because that was another intense release from this year. It’s insane how good the extreme side of music has been this year, and I’m here for seeing how much more this will pull new fans into the genre; Choir are definitely no exception to this rule. Colin

I have been a fan of Dola for some time now. This might be the first time I actually highlight a band twice here, since talking about their previous effort “Czasy” in 2021! To compare to that album, “Tabernakulum” is slightly less post-metal and much more experimental, upbeat and heavy. Think if bands like Thy Catafalque were more dissonant, or Defacement wanted to include horns. This album can’t be compared to a single other effort, as it stands out as a unique work of art. The production is kind of raw, but also sounds grandiose for what it is. It’s a very nice balance that works, and I think more bands need to take note on this approach, because you can really feel the performances being expressed here, while it doesn’t take long to grab you from the get-go. Dola are an underrated act of creative force, and if you liked anything else they have done before, be prepared for what will unfold here. Colin

Travelling way down south on the east coast of the American contintent, we find ourselves enveloped by a brutal, modern prog metal sound, forged “At The Shadow Of The Andes” by Chilean quartet All Tomorrows. Transcending extreme djent to something more… chaotic, dangerous and diverse? Slightly reminiscent of the unhingedness of a Devin Townsend back when he still used to make extreme music, yet with a clear focus and vision despite the immense versatility on display. Actually having a hard time pinpointing to any clear influences or sound-alikes (Katatonia is that you in the epic ‘Eschaton’ outro?), so I guess I’d rather let the music do the talking and highly recommend all extreme prog nerds to listen to “At The Shadow Of The Andes” right away! Dario

When you don’t know how to begin a review, why not just start with the conclusion? So, without further ado, I’m telling you: Dimmu Borgir, SepticFleshgod Apocalypse, Nightwish and Adagio have one thing in common. They all wish their orchestrations were as good as those on “Dark Wing Gospel”, the sophomore full length from Black yet Full of Stars, the solo project by Italian-born, Amsterdam based composer Carlo M. Dini. And main lead clean vocalist Davide Penna (Mirrormaze) sure knows how to channel his inner Kelly Sundown Carpenter. Epic. Dario

The full instrumental sludge/post doom treatment comes from France this December with “Vepr”, the third album by Nantes-based duo Dragunov. The riffs are slow and relentless, and an excellent surprise guest vocal performance by Psychonaut & Hippotraktor’s Stefan de Graef in ‘The Great Hour’ is just the icing on the cake of a monumentally heavy album. Dario

Probably the ‘mellowest’ release of all in this Releases of the Week edition, Ifall is actually the second album out of those 14 releases here that I solely discovered through a promo e-mail from the artist directly. Ifall is the solo project of Brazilian-born, UK-based composer and multi-instrumentalist Caio Duarte and “Stillness and Trust” is his third full length under the Ifall moniker. After an initial Leprous/Einar Solberg-worthy a capella part, the sound shifts slightly towards a mellower Caligula’s Horse vibe. Oh wait, that is Arcane actually in their late semi-acoustic phase. A sound that is sorely missed by many, and I’m glad Ifall is picking it up where “Known/Learned” left off almost 10 years ago. Add a few Akewstag vibes (‘Sol Ipsis’), et voilá: “Stillness and Trust” is a wonderful accomplishment, full of astonishing, delicate beauty through and through. Dario

To counterbalance the overwhelming brutality of all the extreme prog highlights we’ve been featuring lately (and this edition is no exception), we sure could use some more melodic stuff, right? Luckily, Spanish melodic prog metal force After Lapse deliver exactly that on their sophomore album “Pathways”: hooks for days and just enough progginess to keep things interesting. Dario

A “concoction of extremity”, “some sort of perpetually shapeshifting Frankensteinian monstrosity”: big words our reviewer Andrei Dan used in his in depth review for “Motherwort”, the new EP from Baltimore, Maryland (US) prog death juggernaut five-piece Greylotus. All unmistakably true, I’m sure you’ll agree once you dared to take a ride on this “rollercoaster of unpredictable madness”. Dario

Tethra have been around since 2008 and released three full-length albums until now. Shame on me for missing those, but now I get a new chance with the new album “Withered Heart Standing“. During the opening track, I prepared myself for quite a heavy doom/death experience, but the album is actually quite dynamic and diverse. In fact, this is more of a gothic metal affair, with a strong emphasis on clean and gloomy male vocals, enhanced by growls and some occasional female vocals for extra atmosphere.

Obviously, this is nothing new, but Tethra does the job really well and the melancholy on “Withered Heart Standing” sounds very sincere. I also love that the album gets better and better as it proceeds, making it an experience to be consumed as a whole, rather than a loose collection of songs. While I initially wasn’t super impressed, the album grew on me and now I am considering it for my top-10 of 2024. A very nice surprise and generally a great album for connaisseurs of melancholic metal. Lykle

In the early 2000s, The Old Dead Tree was one of my favourite bands. The French band released three great albums, performed impressive live shows and suddenly ceased to exist. In 2019, plans were made for a reunion, but those got frustrated by the covid pandemic, ending up in a single show in Paris. However, that show re-ignited the spark and now, after 17 years, there is another album.

The new album is called “Second Thoughts” and follows the style of progressive metal that The Old Dead Tree has developed in the first phase of its career. Therefore you can expect a mix of introspection and agression, balancing progressive elements with melancholy in a way that is unique to this band. Manuel Muñoz still impresses in both clean vocals and growls, while the musicianship is excellent as usual. The songs are a mixed bag though: there are some true highlights here, but not everything is as memorable and the weird song ‘OK’ could’ve been omitted.

Nevertheless, it’s a solid return from a talented band that should be of interest for fans of Katatonia, Disillusion or even Vola. Welcome back! Lykle