Tuonela Magazine’s Annual Staff Picks 2024: Editor-in-chief’s Edition

December 27, 2024

Now that 2024 is coming to a close, we at Tuonela Magazine want to share the releases that we have most enjoyed. Each of our staff members will share their own list, so here is the list of our editor-in-chief, Laureline Tilkin.

I won’t lie and say 2024 was all sunshine and rainbows for me—mostly because halfway through, I lost one of the most important people in my life: my grandfather.

Much of the year was spent processing that loss, and for a while, I was basically a sad human-shaped paperweight. I couldn’t even listen to new music because it felt like too much. For a little while, the only album that could match my emotional wreckage was THE ETERNAL’s “Skinwalker”—it’s like someone turned my existential dread into soundwaves and said, “Here, cry to this.”

But then, finally, little by little, music started to sound good again. And not just good—great. 2024 turned out to be a phenomenal year for rock and metal. So phenomenal, in fact, that I felt like I was drowning in riffs and breakdowns, and I had to leave out a ton of excellent albums. I even struggled to compile my usual lists because there was just too much metal (and honestly, that’s a pretty metal problem to have).

2024 wasn’t just a year of a personal emotional rollercoaster, but also one of miracles I didn’t see coming. Jari Mäenpää actually finished “Time II”—a sentence I never thought I’d write without a wink and a sarcastic “sure, buddy.” Despite the controversy, LINKIN PARK reunited with Emily Armstrong, whose powerhouse vocals made it feel like a natural evolution for the band. SONATA ARCTICA remembered they’re a power metal band, and Mikael Åkerfeldt of OPETH decided to let out some proper growls again.

It was also a fantastic year for music from my home country, Belgium, with standout releases from WANHEDA, DOODSESKADER, HIPPOTRAKTOR, and GNOME proving that we Belgians do more than just fries, beer, chocolate, and waffles—we kick ass. Finland didn’t disappoint either, though. The biggest surprise for me was stumbling across GARDENHEAD, a band I didn’t know I needed but now can’t stop spinning. I also took deeper dives into the motivational music of MOON SHOT, the symphonic deathcore act ASSEMBLE THE CHARIOTS, and ORANSSI PAZUZU, because nothing says “emotional healing” like post-apocalyptic soundscapes.

Internationally, 2024 delivered some real gems as well. As a lifelong YES fan, I was thrilled to hear Jon Anderson & the Band Geeks release a record that truly—pun unintended—captured the spirit and sound of the classic prog era—those familiar, soaring melodies I didn’t realize I’d been starving for. It felt like discovering an unreleased ‘70s album tucked away in a time capsule. Another album that deserves a shoutout, even though it didn’t quite make my Top 10, is FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE’s “Opera.” I’ll fully admit, I ugly-cried my way through “Bloodclock”—a song so raw and cathartic, it feels like it reaches out and grabs you by the soul. If you’ve ever faced a life-threatening situation, that track hits like a full-blown emotional freight train.

I believe I mentioned in 2023 that putting together my year-end list was the Sophie’s Choice of rankings, but I digress—2024 was way worse. It felt less like carefully curating my favorites and more like playing darts blindfolded, hoping my brain would at least land somewhere near the target for what deserved to be number one. So, if you’re looking for logic or precision in the order… don’t. Just know that every album here hit me in some way, and the rankings are more “vibes-based science” than any kind of objective truth, and if you ask me tomorrow, the rankings may have changed.

On a personal level, 2024 might not have been my shining moment, but professionally, I managed to cross off quite a few items on my bucket list. That’s the thing about doing what you love—sometimes it’s the work itself that drags you through the tough spots. And knowing you, the readers, stuck with us for another year? That’s always the best kind of motivation. Even during those moments when getting through the day felt like pushing a boulder uphill, your continued support was the gentle shove I needed to just keep moving forward.

And while this year gave me plenty of curveballs, it also reminded me why I do this in the first place. Music—metal especially—has that unmatched power to help you process, heal, or sometimes just scream along until you feel human again. I’m only sharing all of this because, if by chance, you are going through a difficult time, I want you to know that music heals. It will hold you up when everything else feels heavy, and it will help you through even the darkest moments. You’re not alone—there’s always another song, another riff, another album that’ll remind you why you’re still here and fighting.

So here’s to all the riffs, blast beats, growls, and harmonies that carried me (and maybe you) through 2024. If nothing else, the music this year proved that no matter what life throws at us, there’s always another album waiting to pick us back up. And that, at the end of the day, is something worth celebrating.

Top 10 International albums

10. Alcest – Les Chants de l’Aurore

9. The Eternal – Skinwalker

8. Simone Simons ft. Ayreon – Vermillion

7. Leprous – Melodies of Atonement

6. Evergrey – Theories of Emptiness

5. Opeth – The Last Will and Testament

4. Jon Anderson & the Band Geeks – True

3. Charlotte Wessels – The Obsession

2. Zeal & Ardor – Greif

1. VOLA – Friend of a Phantom

Honorable mentions: Fleshgod Apocalypse – Opera, Blood Incantation – Absolute Elsewhere, Tribulation – Sub Rosa In Æternum, Múr – Múr, Doodseskader – Year 2, Hippotraktor – Stasis, Cobra the Impaler – Karma Collision