There was so many heavy, extreme, and beautiful experimental metal albums created from every region of the world this past year, ranging from Ukraine and China t0 Poland and Croatia. To bring closure to 2024, our readers voted for their favorite experimental metal album.
While there was much back and forth between who would take the throne, our top three winners included some noteworthy bands from Costa Rica and Greece to Hungary.
Enjoy the most-voted for experimental metal albums of 2024…
Experimental Metal Album of the Year – 2024 (Bronze Tier)
Thy Catafalque
XII: A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek
Released via Season of Mist
Hungary
Harnessing musicians across Hungary, the UK, Romania, Ukraine, Italy, Spain, Greece, North Macedonia, Israel, the US, Colombia, and Brazil, Thy Catafalque‘s twelfth record perfectly embodies what Metal Has No Borders is all about – a meeting of creative minds and metal musicians all over the world. Led by Tamás Kátai, XII: A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek amalgamates over twenty collaborators for a breathtaking mesh of avant-garde, folk, synth-infused, black metal. Tamás never ceases to awe; please listen to this mind-melting opus.
FFO: Ihsahn, Sigur Ros, Sigh
Experimental Metal Album of the Year – 2024 (Silver Tier)
Spineless
Dysphonia
Released via Submersion Records
Greece
Vocalist-keyboardist Chrysa Tsaltampasi walks down the post-metal path in her Spineless project – mixing experimental pop and industrial soundscapes on Dysphonia. The tracklisting shines with dense atmospheres, cathartic shoegaze, and unnerving melodies. All in all, the tasteful minimalism and heaviness makes for a perfect evening bender.
FFO: Lingua Ignota, Chelsea Wolfe, Trent Reznor
Experimental Metal Album of the Year – 2024 (Gold Tier)
Dusk
Industrie
Self-released
Costa Rica
Dark and desolate, the blackened industrial project Dusk is uncomfortably gristly and alluring on their latest – INDUSTRIE. Rooted in raw black metal, yet also lurking in rusted cyberpunk aesthetics, there is an attractive side to the dystopian future created through heaps of dissonance and downtrodden synth layers here.
FFO: Quake soundtrack, Author & Punisher, Godflesh