Top 5 On Friday – 5 Albums That Should Have Been On My Top 20 List (2024)…but I heard them too late!
The year 2024 was a spectacular year for heavy riff rock music. It was nearly impossible to realistically choose 20 albums and rank them in order of favorites. I did my best at that time but things are constantly changing for me with music and discovering stuff that I didn’t hear until later. I reviewed over seventy albums that were released in 2024 and almost any one of them could have been on the top list. The Jam Yeti Music Blog only reviews stuff that I really like, so in my mind there are no sub par albums listed. Musical taste is so personal and my favorites do shift and change positions, sometimes regularly. I listen to so much music, usually continuously at least five hours a day or more. That’s no exaggeration because I am allowed to listen to music all day while working. It’s a blessing and a wonderful thing indeed! So I compiled a list of releases that I heard around the deadline or afterwards that I felt deserved to be recognized. I narrowed it down to NOT include stuff from My Favorite Heavy Rock Record Labels (Blues Funeral, Heavy Psych Sounds, Magnetic Eye, Ripple Music, and Small Stone) releases. I wanted to promote albums that were self released or on smaller labels. I also excluded bands that I already discussed on my 4 Excellent Bands I Found from Blogging posts (part 1, 2, & 3). Some of these five bands have been around for quite awhile but they were brand new to me. I listed them in alphabetical order. I hope you enjoy this post and thank you for reading!
GNOME – VESTIGES OF VERUMEX VISIDOME
I discovered Gnome right at the very end of the year. I posted my review of Vestiges Of Verumex Visidome on December 29th (check it out here). I am really a huge fan of the Belgium three piece since that late in the year discovery. They have a fantastic sound of heavy and groove laden fuzz that really appeals to me. I really dig their first two albums, Father Of Time and King, a lot also. The first album was all instrumental except for one song and it reminds me of a progressive and groovy Karma To Burn, with their own brand of heavy riff rock. King had a mix of vocal songs and instrumentals and is a banger of a record also. The more I listen to Gnome, the more I love this band! Vestiges Of Verumex Visidome (released on Polderrecords) is an absolutely fantastic album and features vocals on all of the songs. Without a doubt, this album should be in my top twenty and I am still currently listening to it, quite frequently. I will definitely be following this band and will not miss any opportunity to hear what comes out next from them. One of my current favorites, for sure!
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HEAVY TRIP- LIQUID PLANET
Heavy Trip from Vancouver, BC, Canada totally blew me away with Liquid Planet (review here). The instrumental juggernaut power trio really impressed me with their music and sound. I found out about the band from a post from Stoner Johnny on Facebook ranking his top 100 albums of 2024. I always like to check out these year end reviews to see what bands I have been missing. The list was very extensive and he had a lot of great bands that I was familiar with, but his number one pick was Heavy Trip. I decided to seek them out and I was extremely enthralled! I posted the review for Liquid Planet on January 13th. The album was self released on November 28th but I didn’t hear it until early January. The four song recording has a heavy psychedelic twist with crushing riffs and scorching guitar leads. The songs are very interesting and sound improvised with structure (if that even makes sense). Their Self Titled debut is also great but Liquid Planet is on a whole other level, in my opinion. This album would have found its way on my list if I had discovered it sooner.
https://heavytripdudes.bandcamp.com/album/liquid-planet-2
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MOOCH – VISIONS
Montreal, Canada’s MOOCH was another great find. I first heard their music on a Doomed And Stoned podcast and was really impressed. Visions (review here) was released on May 3rd and I only discovered it in late December. The three piece band are exceptionally talented and the music is a hybrid of heavy rock, psychedelic, blues, grunge, and folk. The band has two other full lengths and an acoustic style EP called Cabins. Visions is my favorite from MOOCH but the other releases are great too. I am surprised that they are not more popular within the genre. I believe they worked with Brant Bjork, who recorded them on one of their earlier albums. The first two tracks on Visions really hit the mark, “Hangtime” and “Morning Prayer”. The rest of the album is fantastic too and the band has great melodies that work excellent with the hard rocking grooves.
https://moochmusicofficial.bandcamp.com/music
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STONEKIND – HOLLOW GROUND
I was pretty surprised by Stonekind and their Hollow Ground album (review here). I actually wasn’t expecting it to totally kill as much as it does. Hollow Ground is fantastic! The duo from North Carolina are the real deal when it comes to songwriting and executing some of the finest stoner rock music available today. The band has all the perfect elements for making exceptional riff rock music. Great heavy doom riffs, psychedelic melodies, excellent vocals, and first rate song crafting that has exemplified classic rock vibes with modern heaviness. I can’t say enough great things about this band and album. They have also released a debut Stonekind EP, and Spirit Of The Void full length. Both of these releases are also fantastic. After listening to Hollow Ground a good number of times, I would have definitely found a spot on my top twenty list for this album. I wanted to keep listening to it again and again, which I ultimately did. I posted my review of this on January 20th and really wished that I had heard it back in June, when it was released.
https://stonekindband.bandcamp.com/album/hollow-ground
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WHORES. – WAR.
Whores. are a high energy and riff rocking extravaganza! The Atlanta, Georgia three piece pummeled my ear drums with their latest album War., which came out back in April. I didn’t hear the record until January, where I saw it on a few year end lists. This prompted me to check the band out and to my delight, they kick ass! I have heard their name for a little while now because the band has been around since 2010. For whatever reason, I never checked them out until this year. War. (review here) is a lean album with ten tracks in about thirty three minutes. The songs are great with viscous riffs and hardcore energy throughout. I love the noise rocking elements within their sound and the songs can be quite catchy too. I especially love the heavy sound quality and production on War.. It really suits the style of this music and makes for a great listening experience.
