DESERT PSYCHLIST'S BEST OF 2024

 

Another year goes flying by and here we are again with another best of list. Once again we are publishing a list of  the 30 albums/EP's that kept us at Desert Psychlist relatively sane and grounded. As we say every year these are our picks and may differ greatly from your own but then you probably realise that already, we also need to tell you that the text accompanying our choices are a mix of snippets of reviews posted on Desert Psychlist's pages and blurbs we have posted on the various artists Bandcamp pages. Right fasten those seatbelts here we go again......

30.  HUANASTONE ~ SON OF JUNO

Huanastone raised the bar high with their previous studio album "Third Stone From the Sun" with "Son of Juno" they have thrown that bar into the stratosphere, the album is everything that the last album was and much more, it is an album that will be demanding your attention not just over the next few months but over many years.

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29.  HEKATE ~  HOUSE OF SOLOMON

A seriously impressive album that if there is any justice in this world ought to be figuring on all those best of lists at the end of the year.. not just this one

28:  HELL IS A CITY ~ NARROW SEAS

For Hell Is A City the blues are the block on which all their songs are built, every song on "Narrow Seas" has its roots in the genre, this is not a doom album with elements of the blues, this is a blues album with elements of doom.

27:  ORANGE GOBLIN ~ SCIENCE, NOT FICTION

Orange Goblin's return to the studio was a much heralded one but sadly with anticipation often comes disappointment, not in this case though.  

26.  LUCIFER GIANT ~ LUCIFER GIANT

A delightfully dynamic blending of prog, doom and heavy psych with strong clean vocals that sit nicely in that middle of the mix pocket. An absolute monster of an album.

25.  TEMPORAL DRIVER ~ A TREATISE OF SORCERY: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO MYSTICISM IN MAGIC

A powerful dark and dank assemblage of songs tinted with elements of doom, desert rock, psych and British goth, an album that any lover of good melodic heavy music would want gracing their collection.

 

24.  HEAVY TEMPLE ~ GARDEN OF HEATHENS

It's still kind of hard to believe that "Garden of Heathens" is only Heavy Temple's second full length album, especially given how long they have been around, but the best things are always worth waiting for and Heavy Temple have with their new album delivered one of the best things you'll hear this year.

 

23:  DEAD RUNES ~ RAIDHO

A headbanging blend of heavy rock and doom decorated in well delivered clean and powerful vocals, an intelligent and varied mix of prog- like complexity, lysergic languidity and swaggering heaviness.

22:  SANTA PLANTA ~ FROM THE TRAILS OF DESIRE

A scintillating mish mash of low'n'slow stoner doom and spacious acidic psych, a truly impressive listen from start to finish. 

21:  CURSE THE SON ~ DELIRIUM

Do not go dismissing Curse the Son as another of those Sabbath worshipping bands as they are far from being that, yes they do work in a similar field of music but their sound, when not spiralling off into hazy and lysergic territories, is much more an American take on doom, a sound inspired more by Wino than it is Iommi.

20:  RED MESA ~ PARTIAL DISTORTIONS

There were hints on the bands previous album, "The Path To The Deathless", that the band were heading in a heavier direction but nobody would have predicted they would get this damn heavy,

19.  CHEDDAR ~ PSYCHE

Elements of prog, alt-rock, occult rock and even hints of symphonic metal can be found nestled among these eight songs, a stunning mix of crunching riffage and vocal ethereality.

18.  SONIC WOLVES ~ III

Sonic Wolves "III" is an outstanding release that ticks all the boxes any discerning rock music fan could ever want ticking, it's aggressive in places soothing and spacious in others, it is an album that will appeal to those brought up on the classic, garage and hard rock of the 70's, those who cut their teeth on 80's metal and those with an investment in the stoner rock, psych and doom that has graced record collections from the 90's to the present day.

17.  MALSTEN ~ THE HAUNTING OF SILVAKRA MILL-RITES OF PASSAGE

Malsten's Silvakra saga continued into a second album, a combination of storytelling and groove that'll send shivers down the spine.

16.  INCHE KAI CHE ~ TRANSMUTACIÓN

If Inche Kai Che's "Transmutaci​ó​n" was a jewel it would be a radiant cut diamond, bright and shining with many facets, if it were a food it would be Ambrosia, divine and spiritually uplifting. It is however merely a collection of songs on an album....but what a magnificent collection of songs and what a stunning album it is. 

15.  SUNDRIFTER ~ AN EARLIER TIME

Sundrifter's "An Earlier Time", is one of those albums with the potential to live on much longer than the band that made it actually exists, a game changing album much like Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" was back in its day, Radiohead's "OK Computer" is today and how Elder's "Lore" will no doubt be perceived in the future, a bold statement you might say but this album really is that GOOD!

14. SAUTRAS ~ LAZARUS DILEMMA

No two Sautrus albums are alike, each is its own separate journey with its own unique twists and turns and this album may well be the finest journey they have taken us on so far.

13.  DVNE ~ VOIDKIND

Many may have thought that DVNE had reached their peak with "Etemen Ænka" that there was no possible way they could ever top such a hugely impactful release but those "many" underestimated how much more these guys had (and still have) in their locker, what they had in that locker was "Voidkind" probably the best black edged progressive metal album to come out of the British Isles in an age.

12.  MAMMOTH VOLUME ~ RAISED UP BY WITCHES

Big debates are raging over the effects of AI on the arts but until the powers that be can invent a programme that can reproduce music as eclectic, off-centred and deliciously diverse as that which Mammoth Volume deliver with "Raised Up By Witches" then we can all lay in our beds safe in the knowledge that real music played by real musicians is still something worth celebrating.

11.  DAEVAR ~ AMBER EYES

Daevar have with "Amber Eyes" made the album we all hoped they would make , an album that doesn't stray too far away from the blueprint the band drew up with the excellent "Delirious Rites" but is at the same time a progression in both its ideas, its arrangements and its musicality.

10.  BOVEDA DEL SOL ~ COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUSNESS

Unbelievably impressive collection of tunes tinted with elements of sludge, prog, space and doom and decorated in a variety of vocal tones.

09.  SUNNATA ~ CHASING SHADOWS

Everything you have loved about the bands previous work, the broad soundscapes the heaviness and the feeling of shamanic spirituality are all here but so much broader, heavier and more spiritual. 

 

08.  ROBOT GOD ~ SUBCONSCIOUS AWAKENING

Epic length songs of engrossing space rock and heavy psych shot through with all the elements of stoner rock and doom we've fast become accustomed to hearing from these Australians.

07.  SPACESLUG ~ OUT OF WATER

Polish underground bands are known world wide for delivering off the scale levels of intensity, complexity and heaviness and Spaceslug are no shrinking violets in those departments, however the complexity, intensity and heaviness Spaceslug bring to the table with "Out Of Water" is of the measured variety, there is a deftness of touch to the heaviness on this album that does not so much pin you to the wall as invite you to stand against that wall and allow the music to flow over you.

06.  BIRDS OF VALE ~ LIMBO

These Athenians have nailed it with this their debut, an absolute peach of an album that draws from the wells of stoner rock, grunge, the blues and southern rock.

05.  FREE RIDE ~ ACIDO Y PUTO

Free Ride cut their teeth playing generator parties on the open plateau's outside of their Madrid home so it will come as no surprise that the sound the band bring to the table with "Acido y Puto" is one not too far removed from that which once echoed across the open deserts of California when bands like Kyuss, Nebula and Fu Manchu were first finding their feet in this world. Basically if you like your stoner "old school" and served up with with a little lysergic haziness and a pinch of Mediterranean spiciness then this is the album you will want to be spinning.

04.  REZN ~ BURDEN

Not much you can say about this album other than it is absolutely magical from start to finish, these guys are not just musicians they are spellcasters.

03.  ANCIIENTS ~ BEYOND THE REACH OF THE SUN

Anciients "Beyond the Reach of the Sun" is the sound of a band at the very top of their game, the musicianship is off the scale impressive, the vocals are a delicious mix of melodic and growly and the lyrics are poetically cryptic and thought provoking. For those of you out there who love their music crushingly complex instrumentally intricate and unbelievably powerful it really doesn't get better than this. 

02.  HUNTSMEN ~ THE DRY LAND

Elements of Americana, folk and prog framed in blackened doom and sludge, an outstanding follow up to their mind-blowing second album "Mandala of Fear" and its following EP "The Dying Pines", 

01.  SERGEANT THUNDERHOOF ~ THE GHOST OF BADON HILL

Musically stunning and lyrically intelligent Sergeant Thunderhoof's "The Ghost of Badon Hill" is everything you could ever want from a modern era rock album, it is a release that rocks and dooms in equal measure while also incorporating into its make-up elements of complex prog and textured psych. Add to this genre crossing tapestry a concept that actually works, and doesn't leave you scratching your head in confusion, and what you are left with is an absolute modern day rock masterpiece.

Well, that's 2024 over and out folks so before the ice caps melt, nuclear war breaks out and AI decides humanity is more bother than its worth lets get some shout outs done.....
Michele for her love, hard work and support, Vikki, Billy, Sian, Ethan, Austin, Rowan and Amber for just being life affirming, Steve Howe (of Outlaws Of The Sun) and Reek of Stoom (of Howls From The Hollows podcast) for their continued support and late night banter , Joop Konraad (of Stoner Hive) for all his support and regular shout-outs, the ever-growing list of contributors to  Retro Rockets (Facebook page) for reminding me that there is still a ton of music from the past still to be heard , the wonderful Leanne Ridgeway (of Riff Relevant) for just being Leanne Ridgway, all the contributors at The Doom Charts who refuse to let a new release pass them by, all the record labels and PR companies for the promos and updates, all the musicians and artists who constantly amaze us with their music, and of course you the readers because without you this site just would not exist.

© 2024 Frazer Jones