Lambgoat's Favorite Albums of Q1 2024

This year is zooming by - as do most years - but we wanted to take time out to celebrate the albums that have gotten us through the first three months of this 2024. As you would expect, this is a wildly varied list and we hope that there's something here for everyone. Enjoy!

Judas Priest - Invincible Shield

Pete Carparts

In response to my last review some of you told me I knew nothing of metal history or how to be in a metal band. With this in mind, I went back and looked to one of the most revered bands in metal Judas Priest to get a lesson on what it means to be metal. Invincible Shield is unbelievably excellent effort from the GOAT in heavy metal. The songwriting is solid, Rob Halford’s voice sounds amazing on the record, the production is top notch, and the songs are catchy as hell. 

PS, I’m sure you’ll dunk on me for this pick as well, do your worst keyboard warriors!

Vemod - The Deepening

Jake

This year has been a weird one in a variety of ways. One thing has remained however: Vemod's The Deepening is an album that I have returned to over and over again for its rich, textured approach to longform black metal. With plenty of space within the compositions, instrumentation, and production, The Deepening is expressive, emotional, brooding, and beautiful and while it's no sunny-day-with-the-windows-down kind of record, it's certainly one that has stuck with me since the very first month of this year. I'm glad their back. 

Frail Body - Artificial Bouquet

Lurk

Even though this album just dropped, Frail Body's latest, Artificial Bouquet, blends screamo and black metal influences without descending into unlistenable chaos. The trio, consisting of Lowell Shaffer on vocals, Nic Kuczynski on bass, and legit crazy man Nic Clemenson on drums, generates a cacophony that's as compelling as it is intense. Shaffer's chaotic vocals dance over boisterous guitar riffs, creative bass lines, and some of the most insane drum fills showcasing the band's evolution on their sophomore release. Artificial Bouquet promises to propel Frail Body to new heights, transforming suffering into something captivating.

Boundaries - Death is Little More

Chris V

I'm a mark for nostalgia in metalcore/hardcore and Boundaries sound feels like it could be dropped in the early 2000's with the best of them. Over the course of their discography, the Connecticut quintet has shown the influences of bands like Martyr A.D., Remembering Never and Poison The Well, while also remaining fresh in the current scene. Death is Little More is a brutal, heavy record (both in sound and thematically) with the addition of perfectly placed melodic parts . The record is also all killer, no filler with a tight runtime of 33 minutes. Boundaries aren't here to change the game, but they prove once again why they deserve a seat at the table with the best in current metalcore.

convulsing - perdurance

D. Rodriguez

Two things are immediately of note with convulsing’s newest album: that it came out of nowhere with little lead-up, and that it’s somehow better than Grievous was. perdurance is profoundly magnificent, doubling down on the angular, wicked heaviness of previous projects more deftly, but illuminating that darkness with masterclass atmosphere that smartly counters the dense metal. It’s an emotive, relatable journey about not giving up, told not through platitudes and clichés, but digging deep into the psychology of depression, the will to live, and finding reasons to continue on past pain, or maybe in spite of it. Just as it personifies the human spirit through its themes, it also acts as a watershed moment for death metal. This will likely be one of the best albums of the decade.

Eyez Wide Shut - Depths Of Despair 

Eliot

After an excellent demo in 2023, Eyez Wide Shut have stepped up considerably on their excellent new EP Depths Of Despair, a perfect display of vicious heavy hardcore running just over 8 minutes. With more beatdown/metal leaning hardcore bands than ever nowadays, you really have to slam to stand out and this EP does exactly that, with killer riffage and insane mosh throughout and some of the hardest vocals I've heard in the genre in quite some time. It's a great indicator of what the band has coming up next which will surely take them to the next level.

Darkest Hour - Perpetual | Terminal

Dylan Tarre

Darkest Hour's latest album reinforces the band's chokehold on modern metal. Once again, on they showcase the virtuoso harmonized guitar work that made them a staple in the genre, and on their 10th outing play with an energy that shows they have yet to fall from the top of their game. Darkest Hour consistently deliver, and I must admit that the album's final track, "Goddess of War, Give Me Something to Die For," now stands out as one of my all-time favorites from the band.