I'm the kind of guy who likes to listen to an album as a whole, instead of just random mixes of songs. But seeing that for the past few years I found it harder and harder to be fascinated by albums, I'm starting to think that just releasing singles is the best way to go for most bands, especially ones that are already established.
This goes hand in hand with the feeling I've been having that music is kind of dead, in the sense that it has reached a kind of evolutionary end and it has nowhere else to go. Almost everything that could have been said has already been said. In metal, the trend was about going to more and more extreme sounds, and the end of the line was reached in the '90s. Then bands started blending genres, and it seems that by now they've mixed them in everyway possible. The new trend, it seems to me, is gimmicks. Bands like Gloryhammer, Alestorm, Powerwolf, Ghost, Nanowar of Steel, where the focus is on the costumes or theme of the band, more than just the music. (The music is also good, don't get me wrong.)
The problem with gimmicks is that, after a couple of albums, it's already grown old. Sure, the band is still fun to see live, but the music they put out is just more or less the same, with the occasional hit. here and there. That's how I feel about relative new-comers Brothers of Metal, who like to dress up in loin cloths and take a more light-hearted approach to viking metal. Fimbulvinter is their third album and it took quite a while since the previous one, seeing that they had already released two songs in 2022. The album, while fun, doesn't reach up to the anticipation created by those releases, nor to the greatness of its predecessor.
Coming up with new interesting things has always been a problem with veteran bands. Like say, Judas Priest. While they've tried different styles along the way, at this age it seems they settled into just creating the kind of music that made them famous. I listened to Invincible Shield when it came out early this year and thought it sounded really good. A few months later I had already forgotten about it and only remembered that I liked it, so I gave it a few more listens. It shouldn't be a surprise that, as I write this, I have very little recollection of most of the songs on the album. The only one that really stuck was Crown of Horns. I saw that it's even nominated for a Grammy. I find that funny, because my impression was that this was a fun little ballad that they came up with on the whim. As if a teenage fan saw Halford in a pub, went up to him and enthusiastically hailed him "Rob, Rob! Tell me a story!" and then Halford replied "Alright then, get this old man a pen and a napkin and I'll see what I can do in 5 minutes." And that was it.
Another group of old geezers, Deep Purple, have also released their twenty-somethingth album, which they called =1. I really loved the previous one, Whoosh! about which I wrote that it's like well-aged cognac. While this one is great, I don't like it as much. The pre-released singles were quite fun, especially Portable Door, with its hilarious lyrics that reminded me of Knocking at Your Back Door. I think the story with this album was something like this. Guitarist Steve Morse said he's getting too old for this (he was the youngest member), so he retired. So on comes new blood Simon McBride, in his mid-40s, full of energy. One day, Gillan comes to rehearsals and tells the others: "Oi! You know what? Why are we all cooped up in here? Let's hit the pub. And tell that McBridey fella to grab his guitar." So, that's what they did. They went to the pub to have fun playing some music off each other and out came a list of bangers.
To end with this category of old people, Bruce Dickinson has released a much-awaited solo album. Unfortunately, he waited too long. His voice simply doesn't sound as good and it often feels like he's not adapting to reality. The Mandrake Project is a good listen, but just like the others, I don't remember much about the actual songs.
The only band that I think is truly innovative these days, is Black Midi. Having put out several albums, I found out in the second part of 2024, that they are on a sort of indefinite hiatus. What can I say? Weird kids that make quirky music, not much of a surprise. Turns out that the frontman, Geordie Greep, had been having some fun with some other musicians in the meantime, and short after a non-announcement of the band's situation, he put out a fully complete one-hour long album, called The New Sound. It's an ambitious title, but the music is not really as ambitious as Black Midi's, with less experimentation, and more Brazilian influences. That said, the main single Holy, Holy is amazing, telling the story of the most narcissistic guy on Earth who enumerates to a call girl every minute detail of how he wants their date to go in order for him to feel very good about himself.
Zeal & Ardor could be seen as both on the gimmick and mixing genres bandwagon, but I think that for their latest releases they've been trying to move away from the afro-black metal sound that defines them. Indeed, Greif is more experimental, especially since it is their first album that is the output of the whole band, rather than just of the project's founder, Manuel Gagneux. I like it, but just like the other stuff I mentioned here, it's not that memorable, it's less cohesive, and their previous studio album is much better.
For the next two mentions I'm going to go back in time to when I started to really get into music, the good old turn-of-the-millennium. One is obvious, the other much less so. Alien Ant Farm are most famous for their excellent cover of Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal. And most probably, just for that, although I fondly remember a couple more videos, like the excellent Movies. Coming back to 2024, the year since their first release in quite a while, entitled ~mAntras~. I thought I'd give it a listen to remember the old times, and give this band the attention it deserved. Turns out they are quite a fun bunch, the kind that enjoys making a bit of a ruckus, but remain decent fellows. The album is nothing outstanding when you look at music history, but I enjoyed it, and it's probably the one I listened to the most. It has some fun tunes, and while they show off that no-fucks-given laid-back Californian attitude, some of the songs are quite serious, but with a hint of optimism and those quirky inflexions that make the singer so easily distinguishable. And on top of that, they've another really great cover, this time of Everything She Wants by Wham!.
The other mention is, of course, Linkin Park, the band that made history with those early albums, especially Hybrid Theory, by picking up the rap-metal baton from Limp Bizkit and hoisting the flag for the angsty teenagers of the new millennium. I've not followed them since, and they never really became a huge band, despite having a loyal following. Now they're back in the spotlight having returned from a 7-year break caused by Chester Bennington's suicide. I think they've done everything right about this comeback. To me it doesn't seem like it was PR-driven, but it managed to bring in the attention of the media and the whole world. It honestly does feel like an organic reunion, one that's not made just because they had to, but because they really felt like the band has the reason and the energy to continue in a new form. And I really love Emily Armstrong. I like her amazing range and how easily she can glide from a powerful melodic voice to scorching screams, even if she lacks in Chester's rawness. I like her grunge/punk look, I like that she looks like she's somehow lost on stage, as if she's in her own world. That said, From Zero is not a history-making album. It couldn't have been, given all I've said in the beginning of this post. The lyrics and Shinoda's performance are sometimes a bit childish, but it's definitely a good listen. The Emptiness Machine is an amazing track, especially due to Emily's stellar performance, and I also like Over Each Other very much, probably for the same reason. Everything else is fine, but not very memorable.
Twenty One Pilots are one of the bands that are always creative and have something interesting to say. Clancy is one of my favourite albums of the year. It's a continuation of Trench, a sort of conceptual work, that continues the imagined world and characters that the guys have created over their discography. I like that in a world where the relevance of music videos is mostly gone, they've made one for each track of the album. And no, they're not lyric videos or those kind of videos where it's mostly animation or live footage and are relatively cheaper to do. These are actual live-action music videos. And that drum pattern of Overcompensate is really dope!
Next to it, there's one other album that I really liked as a whole, "XII: A gyönyörü álmok ezután jönnek", coming from Thy Catafalque, a band I've mentioned in last year's review as well, being the single Hungarian band that I find worthwhile. I like this album more than its predecessor. It's quite diverse, ranging from energetic, uplifting songs to moody or angry ones, alternating clean singing with growls, complementing great female voices with rougher male ones, while keeping a mystical and profound atmosphere throughout. I especially like the title track (which translates as "The beautiful dreams are yet to come") and "Piros kocsi, fekete éj" (meaning "red carriage, black night"). The animation video for the last one gives a good representation about what the song is about, a metaphor for one's journey through life.
Crossing the border, I've only listened to two Romanian albums, and it should be no surprise which ones those are. Methadone Skies have returned with Spectres at Dawn, which is quite a nice listen. I like that they're back to the more playful attitude of the first albums, but still not at the level of Colosseus.
And finally, Trooper have shown for the third and hopefully final time that it's really hard to make a historical album. Mihai Viteazul: Poemele Românilor completes their trilogy about the most important medieval Romanian leaders. It starts out decently enough, with songs that try to convey something on top of the historical theme, but a third of the way in, and the album turns into a boring history lesson, where the quality music that Trooper is so skilled at producing by now is just background for the most awful lyrics you can imagine, that go something like this: "King whatever proposed this, Mihai accepted" or "Thousands gathered on the hill, many died". There's no sense of atmosphere, of recreating emotions, of setting perspective, basically no poetry, no artistic vision, just a bland recounting of facts.
You might say I'm getting old and nothing seems to thrill me anymore. Except it does. There are three things that have impressed me profoundly in 2024. The first one comes from an unexpected source, from the Agatha All Along series. Yes... one of the most interesting pieces of music of 2024 came from a run-of-the-mill Marvel spin-off. When seeing The Ballad of the Witches' Road my jaw dropped and I haven't been this awed since seeing the first trailer for The Hobbit, the one where the dwarves sing Misty Mountains. No gimmicks, no extravagant arrangements, it delivers a raw and powerful energy with such effectiveness and subtlety that you actually get the feeling that there really must be something mystical about those notes.
The other two moments revolve around the same name: Victor Le Masne. If the name sounds vaguely familiar, it's because he was the Music Director of the whole Olympic Games, basically the guy responsible for all the music associated with the event.
For metal fans, the highlight was definitely Gojira's performance during the opening ceremony. I've written in great detail elsewhere why I consider this to be one of the greatest artistic moments of our times. Here, I'll just point out that it blends several art forms to portray the energy and emotions behind a certain historic event and mindset, while also doing it in the context of Olympism and its values of respect and unity.
Secondly, I was deeply impressed with the anthem of the Paris Olympics, composed by Le Masne himself, entitled Parade. The theme etched into my brain as it was played during montages of the sporting events or before medal ceremonies. The whole piece is a brilliant embodiment of several moods and emotions. It is astounding how the very same theme is so versatile that it can be played in several styles and tempos to convey different meanings. It starts out as a classical piece, evoking grandeur, nostalgia of a more romantic past, then builds up in energy to expressing the spirit of competition, conquest of one's abilities, discipline, the idea of putting effort to be the best. Then it switches to a modern upbeat and rich tune, inspired by electronic music, fit for the pace of modern times, evoking optimism for the future. If nothing else, it will remain in our memories as the emblematic jingle of the event.
My guess is that from now on, music will be interesting only if it somehow resonates with the listener in an intimate way (which doesn't really depend on the music itself), or it escapes its boundaries, either connecting with other artforms or with other means of raising emotions, meanings, that it can't do on its own. Or maybe I'm just getting old.
