The 50 metal albums you need to hear in 2024

Metal heroes
(Image credit: Bruce: John McMurtrie / Courtney: Jonathan Weiner / Cristina: Arianna Carotta /)

Thought 2023 was a great year for metal? Have we got exciting news for you: this year might actually be even better. As 2024 officially kicks into gear, we've amassed the 50 metal albums you need to know about that will be dropping across the next twelve months. From Kerry King and Korn to Kittie and Killswitch Engage, we've got it all covered.

Metal Hammer line break

Alcest - TBC

No word yet on when Alcest’s seventh album might arrive, but we know it’s in the pipeline. Frontman Neige finished writing the music back in May 2022. A few months later the band posted: “We just finished writing the drums for the new album and progressed on our pre-productions, surrounded by ethereal, inspiring landscapes. It’s gonna take some time still but we can’t wait to show you our new songs.”


All That Remains - TBC

Six years after their last album, the metalcore warhorses are finally back in the studio. Frontman Phil Labonte posted footage of himself at work, confirming the band were recording their first album since the death of guitarist Oli Herbert in 2018. Phil confirmed that they plan to release the as-yet-untitled record in 2024.


Amaranthe - The Catalyst 

Swedish metallers Amaranthe promise their most grandiose album to date in 2024, with themes of transformation and revelation. “The Catalyst is more theatrical than ever,” says guitarist/ keyboardist Olof Mörck. “We’ve never really been symphonic or orchestral before, but this time we just thought, ‘Why not?’ Because we can! The key to this album is that we let go of the boundaries and decided to do something even more adventurous.”


The Black Dahlia Murder - TBC

It’s a big ask to replace the late, great Trevor Strnad, but guitarist Brian Eschbach has stepped up to the plate. TBDM spent the end of 2023 working on the follow-up to 2020’s Verminous with producer Mark Lewis. “Very proud of what we’ve written and it is some of my favourite stuff we’ve done so far,” wrote drummer Alan Cassidy on Instagram. “I wish Trev could hear it because I think he’d be just as proud and excited if not more so.”


Blind Channel - Exit Emotions

Finnish nu metallers and former Eurovision contestants Blind Channel will release the follow-up to 2022’s Lifestyles Of The Sick & Dangerous in March. Speaking to Ramzine, vocalist Joel Hokka said of the new album: “It’s gonna be heavier than the previous ones and we’re gonna go full into the metal... We don’t want to be too shy anymore, we want to go with the full five-finger death punch in the face!”


Body Count - Merciless

Ice-T confirmed back in May that he had finished the final vocal recordings for Body Count’s new album, Merciless. “Now the album just has to be mixed... Stay Tuned... Coming soon!” he continued. Of Will Putney producing again, Ice said: “I call him the Dr. Dre of metal, because he has the ability to produce different groups but make them sound like themselves, but just better.”


Bring Me The Horizon - Post Human: Nex Gen

The next in BMTH’s planned series of four EPs/mini-albums is due to hit soon. Frontman Oli Sykes spoke to NME about the sound of Post Human: NeX Gen, saying: “Linkin Park were the first band that I got into, but when I found Glassjaw is when I became obsessed with music and knew I wanted to be a singer, so the album pays homage to that.”


Corrosion Of Conformity - TBC

A “brutal” new COC album? Yes, please. The band confirmed they have been working on their first new album since the death of original drummer Reed Mullin. “I think you’ll hear some new ideas, but I think you’ll hear a little bit of the In The Arms Of God vibe because that’s where we’re picking up with,” bassist Mike Dean told Eonmusic. “It’s pretty brutal-sounding,” added guitarist Woody Weatherman.


Cradle Of Filth - TBC

The Brit extreme metal veterans have been once again working with producer Scott Atkins at Grindstone Studio. Frontman Dani Filth has predicted the new album would be out in April 2024. “Musically, it plays across Dusk... and Midian, but lyrically, and the vibe of it, it has a Dusk... And Her Embrace feel to it,” he told Blabbermouth. I don’t know why. History repeats itself.”


Adam D/Howard Jones - TBC

Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz and former vocalist Howard Jones have been working on an as-yet-unnamed project together. In August they had at least four full songs completed but scheduling issues pushed the process back. “I think the entire record’s gonna take a little bit longer than expected,” Adam D told TotalRock. “Because now I have to do double duty and record Killswitch at the same time.”


Bruce Dickinson - The Mandrake Project

Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson releases his seventh studio album, The Mandrake Project, in March. Except it’s more than just an album – it’s also an epic psychedelic-occult story set to be released as a 12-part comic book. “Well, it started out as an album,” Bruce tells Hammer. “But I began thinking about the story of this guy, Dr Necropolis, and this epic but dark journey he’s on to find his own identity, and it became this whole other thing.” Bruce began working on The Mandrake Project with guitarist/producer/longtime solo collaborator Roy Z in earnest in 2014, nine years after his last solo album, Tyranny Of Souls. A decade (plus two Maiden albums, a cancer diagnosis and recovery, and a pandemic) later and it’s done.

The first single, Afterglow Of Ragnarok, encapsulates the album’s epic but punchy approach. But Bruce is clear to point out that The Mandrake Project isn’t a concept album, nor does it tie in precisely with the story that unfolds across the comic books. “One or two of the songs are obviously linked,” says Bruce. “Afterglow Of Ragnarok and Resurrection Men are strongly linked. Eternity Has Failed, I rejigged to fit it. But the album doesn’t tell the story of the comic or vice versa.”

Maiden fans will recognise Eternity Has Failed – it originally appeared on Maiden’s 2015 album, The Book Of Souls, under the slightly less pessimistic title If Eternity Should Fail. “I played the demo for Steve [Harris, Iron Maiden bassist], and he said, ‘We’ll have that, but it’s a bit short’, so I stuck an extra verse on it. He wanted to keep the spoken-word ending – ‘I am Necropolis’ and all that – which probably made no sense to anyone at the time.” The album comes out at the beginning of March, and the comic will unfold over 12 issues. A prelude-cum-teaser to the latter was given away with the Afterglow Of Ragnarok single, and the first issue lands mid-January, but beyond that Bruce isn’t giving away any spoilers. “Let’s just say that it gets intense”, he says.


Dragonforce - Warp Speed Warriors

]Thought Dragonforce couldn’t possibly get any more OTT? Apparently they can. Guitarist Herman Li says: “After four years of creative incubation, we are beyond excited to release what we believe to be our most ambitious and grandiose record yet. We invite metal aficionados from every corner of the genre to discover something captivating within its layers... it’s going to be EPIC!”


Exodus - TBC

Exodus frontman Steve ‘Zetro’ Souza confirmed on his YouTube channel that the thrash legends are working on the follow-up to 2021’s Persona Non Grata, adding that they plan to enter the studio in March or April, with the album coming out by September. Speaking during a Q&A, guitarist Gary Holt said of the band’s switch from long-term home Nuclear Blast to Napalm: “I’m 59 years old, so I wanted to make sure it was right. I hope so. They’re all 100% behind this band.”


Fear Factory - TBC

Fans are still waiting to hear new Fear Factory vocalist Milo Silvestro in action on an album, but one is in the pipeline. Speaking on the Everblack podcast, linchpin guitarist Dino Cazares revealed that the band have been victims of their own recent successes: “The thing is, what’s been preventing us from finishing it, is that we keep getting tour offers, and I’m not turning them down. I’m like, ‘Let’s go.’ People want to see it.” Dino added that he was hoping to have something out by the time the band hit Australia in March.


Gojira - TBC

Gojira aren’t known for working quickly. “Some bands just pump out new music with lightning speed, and from what I’ve seen with a few bands, it’s not a good vibe,” Joe Duplantier told Overdrive, while confirming the French band had been working on material for the follow-up to 2021’s Fortitude at his home recording studio, Silver Cord. Drummer (and Joe’s brother) Mario Duplantier told El Expreso Del Rock in October that it was still too early to talk release dates but said of the music: “It’s different. It’s a bit early to say, but I have a feeling it’s going to be heavier.”


Halestorm - TBC

Halestorm have teamed up with Grammy-winning Nashville producer Dave Cobb and been hard at work writing songs for the follow-up to 2022’s Back From The Dead. “We went in with nothing,” frontwoman Lzzy Hale told Portugal’s Metal Global. “We had no songs, no ideas... We finished 12 songs in three weeks.” Added guitarist Joe Hottinger: “A lot of them got, like, really weirdly heavy in a cool way”, though he didn’t say whether they’d actually make the finished album.


High On Fire - TBC

After celebrating their 25th anniversary in 2023, High On Fire will release their first new album since 2018’s Electric Messiah. Speaking on the Full Metal Jackie radio show, frontman Matt Pike revealed that the band’s gnarled, stoner-adjacent metal would feature some new twists, including an interest in Turkish music via bassist Jeff Matz. “It’s been real good just figuring that out and still keeping some of the same Black Sabbath mid-tempo blues riffs,”he said.


The Halo Effect - TBC

The Swedish melodeath standard- bearers consisting of current and former alumni of Dark Tranquility and In Flames are striking while the iron is hot by following up their acclaimed 2022 debut album, Days Of The Lost, with relative speed. “The album is very focused,” frontman Mikael Stanne told Chaoszine of the new record. “There’s some cool experimentation on it, but some of the songs are just like straight-up, easy, and to the point.” A brand new song, The Defiant One, dropped at the end of 2023, promising great things for the untitled record.


Ihsahn - Ihsahn

Ihsahn’s new release is a record of two parts: a core metal album and a standalone symphonic version featuring orchestral takes on the same songs. “At the heart
of what I do is black metal, extreme distorted guitars and screaming, but since the earliest Emperor recordings you’ll hear the keyboard parts influenced by classic soundtracks”, he explains. “So, I approached the writing with the intent to present the material in its full-blown metal expression, but also to arrange the orchestral parts in such a way that they would work independently.”


Lacuna Coil - TBC

It’s been a long time since Lacuna Coil released their last collection of all-new material, but co-vocalist Andrea Ferro assures fans that they’re busy working on their 10th album. “We felt a little bit empty right after Covid so it took us a while to find that motivation, that sparkle to kickstart the process”, he explains. “Now we’re focused on finding a direction for the record. We don’t do classic concept albums
but we always have a common theme for the lyrics and the graphics that might accompany the music. We have some material, some music, some ideas and now we’re ready to approach the full songwriting for a new album."

The plan, he says, is to enter the studio in the summer with a release tentatively planned before the end of the year. The band are likely to go light on live appearances, including summer festivals, as they concentrate on the album. As for the music, it’s too early to divulge details, but two recent-ish projects – as Comalies XX and 2023’s standalone single Never Dawn - might just provide some clues.  “The musical style will probably continue to develop from Delirium and Black Anima, but in
revisiting Comalies we did immerse ourselves in the the atmosphere and vibe we had back then. That might carry forward to the new album,” Andrea explains. As for Never Dawn, it might make the cut if it fits with the rest  of the new material. 

“That was for a board game called Zombicide: White Death. Marco [Coti Zelati, bass] is a big fan, so he immediately said yes and  people seemed to like it. If it doesn’t make the album, it will remain as a standalone.”


Job For A Cowboy - Moon Healer

It’s been almost a decade since Job For A Cowboy’s last album, Sun Eater, but the death metallers return with what sounds like a trip of a concept album. “On Moon Healer, we explore a concept centred around a close friend who embarked on a relentless quest for profound enlightenment through the incessant abuse of hallucinogenic drugs, leading to a severe disconnection from reality due to the toll it took on their mental health,” explains frontman Jonny Davy.


Judas Priest - Invincible Shield

The Metal Gods officially announced new album Invincible Shield onstage at the Power Trip festival in October. Guitarist Richie Faulkner had previously told BraveWords: “It’s the same band, so it’s the same DNA. But it doesn’t sound like the last record – it sounds like its own album, as they should. It’s exciting. It’s got a few more twists and turns musically than the last record [2018’s Firepower] had. It’s by no means a Rush record, but it’s got a few more twists and turns and musical journeys.”


Mike Shinoda - TBC

Following the November release of driving pop-metal single Already Over, which he described as “a bridge from the past to a blurry but exciting future”, Mike Shinoda assures us that he will definitely be releasing new music in 2024. But as to the form, or direction, this music may take? That’s where things get “blurry”. “I’m making things but I’m not trying to make an album”, the 46-year-old musician tells Hammer, while rebuffing the suggestion that he may share one-off tracks/EPs. “I’m not a TikTok influencer, I’m an artist: when I make a song I’m not thinking, ‘How does it fit into current trends or release structures?’” He’s cagey about what any new music will actually sound like, ditto the people he may or may not be working with. But he does reveal that he’s booked studio time in London with UK musicians, whose names he cannot divulge yet. “I love the idea of getting different people together and playing a couple of songs and it being a total crapshoot,” he says with a smile. “It could be a complete failure, but we’re gonna do it anyway.”


Heriot - TBC

It’s been a whirlwind 18 months since the release of Heriot’s debut EP, Profound Morality, culminating in a deal with Century Media and the release of scathing standalone single Soul Chasm. But according to guitarist/ vocalist Debbie Gough, the UK metallers are just getting started. “Soul Chasm was really referencing the death metal we love and putting our own take on it,” Debbie tells Hammer. “But we are experimenting a lot more with our atmospheric side, which only appears in flashes at the moment.”

She says that their upcoming debut album will showcase a “bolder and more ambitious version” of Heriot, with the band delving into new ways of writing and new sounds as much as preserving the furious, industrialised metalcore they’re beloved for. She’s keen, too, to expand their lyrical palette. “We want to come from a more personal narrative. Any big change makes you think differently and change your character, and we want to channel that into our music. We’re mindful of our own identity in heavy music. We’re going more confident, and with less chains around ourselves to stay within any boundaries.”


Killswitch Engage - TBC

Frontman Jesse Leach spoke of new Killswitch material in mid-2022, saying: “We want that raw, fresh feeling, so a lot of these demos I’m trying to [get] through quickly just to get the energy and then we’ll sort of dissect them as we get into the studio.” Guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz later confirmed a 2024 release: “We’d like to have the record done by the end of [2023]. But it might take a bit longer than that, so I would assume new music next year, for sure.”


Korn - TBC

Korn were working on more new material even before last album Requiem dropped
know that the band have been recording in February 2022. Speaking on The Joe
Kingdom Perspective podcast in September 2023, guitarist Brian ‘Head’ Welch confirmed a new album was incoming: “Yeah, [there will be] new music coming out [in 2024]. We’re just kind of in hiding right now, just doing our own thing.” He added that there will probably be “a celebration” of the 30th anniversary of the band’s debut album, too.


Ministry - Hopiumforthemasses

Ministry’s 16th studio album will feature a number of special guests including COC’s Pepper Keenan, Gogol Bordello’s Eugene Hutz and former Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra. The album also sees Al Jourgensen raging against the state of the world once more. “Instead of staying sedentary and singing about broken relationships, inner turmoil, or whatever is hurting this week, I comment on what’s going on from the perspective of a fellow passenger,” he said.


Motley Crue - TBC

It’s not clear exactly when a full-length Mötley Crüe album will emerge but we do
know that the band have been recording  material with producer Bob Rock – their first featuring new guitarist John 5, who replaced founder member Mick Mars. Speaking to The Music Universe Podcast in July, Vince Neil confirmed that they had recorded three new tracks – including a cover of the Beastie Boys’ (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!) and an original called Dogs Of War.


New Years Day - Half Black Heart

For their fifth album, New Years Day have reunited with their original line-up,  which singer Ash Costello says allowed them to evolve “the sound that initially defined New Years Day”. Of the album title, she added: “It represents the duality that has always been a part of us - half red, half black; half heavy, half poppy; half dark, half fun; half metal and half  rock. With this album, we truly harnessed the fearlessness that New Years Day embodies.”


Nile - TBC

In October, Nile shared a video from the studio, along with the message: “We are diligently working every day on vocals for the upcoming album, it’s going to be brutal.” Describing George Kollias’s drumming on the album, frontman Karl Sanders told Headbangers Latinoamérica: “When people hear this, they are not going to believe that it’s a real live human doing all this stuff... he’s done probably the best album of his career with this new record. Now it’s our turn playing guitars.”


Vended - TBC

Three years on from 2021’s debut EP, What Is It//Kill It, the band featuring Griffin Taylor and Simon Crahan (sons of Slipknot’s Corey Taylor and Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan respectively) have big plans for their upcoming debut album. “It’s a new face we’ve steadily been showing over this year, but next year will go fucking crazy,” Griff tells Hammer, adding that the music they’re working on is “a lot heavier, and a lot more in tune with the music that we enjoy on the side... it’s a lot of trying to figure out, ‘Where am I coming from, what is this creature we’re creating?’”

2023’s standalone single Am I The Only One wore its debt to nu metal on its sleeve, but Griff also reels off other, less-obvious inspirations, including metalcore heavyweights Polaris, deathcore bruisers Slaughter To Prevail, old King 810 and, perhaps more surprisingly, piano-bashing singer Amanda Palmer and folk troubadour Ani DiFranco. “It’s all about us growing up,” he says. “We’re letting our nuts hang, and we’re gonna punch you in the face saying, ‘Hey motherfucker, we’re not kids anymore!’”


The Obsessed - Gilded Sorry

Doom legends The Obsessed will release their second album since fully reforming in 2016 and frontman Scott ‘Wino’ Weinrich believes Gilded Sorrow is the best thing he’s ever done. He told TotalRock's Hobo On The Radio: "I think it's the heaviest thing I've ever done. I mean, heavy in a sense as not just sludge heavy, but I think it's well-rounded. I would say I think it's the best thing I've done.”


Kerry King - From Hell I Rise

The ex-Slayer guitarist recently revealed that his solo band will feature former Slayer bandmate Paul Bostaph on drums, ex-Machine Head man Phil Demmel on guitar, Hellyeah bassist Kyle Sanders and Death Angel frontman Mark Osegueda behind the mic, and that their debut album, From Hell I Rise, will arrive on May 17. "I think it’s an extension of Slayer, and I think a lot of people will think it might have been the next record," he told Metal Hammer. "I guess maybe 80% of it would have been, maybe it would have been exactly what I’m putting on this one. In my eyes, I think it’s a definite extension, a follow-up to [Slayer’s 2015 final album] Repentless for sure.”


Opeth - TBC

Michael Akerfeldt is “seven or eight” songs into the follow-up to the Swedish prog-metal kingpins’ 2019 album In Cauda Venenum, with plans to write a couple more before heading into Rockfield Studios in Wales. He says he’s been listening to a lot of late 50s/early 60s jazz recently, though he denies it’ll Opeth’s own jazz odyssey. “It’s very atmospheric, but very in your face too,” he says. “I get the shivers when I listen to it.”


Kittie - TBC

Having returned to live action at the end of 2022 after a lengthy hiatus, Kittie vocalist/guitarist Morgan Lander confirms that 2024 will also see the Canadian band release their first new album since 2011’s I Failed You.

“Things are progressing after a very eventful last couple of years,” Morgan tells Hammer. “We're actually working on new stuff right now,” she says.

While it’s too early to reveal specific details, oone song that will probably make it onto the album is the commendably heavy and groove-packed Vultures, which they debuted at 2023’s Sick New World Festival in Las Vegas. “I wouldn't say every song on the album is going to sound like that but it's indicative of where we're at now,” says Morgan. It was a little nerve wracking putting a new song out to the world but I think it went over really well and it's helped get people excited for what is to come.”

While Morgan says that it’s important to get new music flowing, but she certainly has no problem giving the fans what they want. “There's a lot of people who resonate with our music, especially the first album [1999’s Spit]. It's very close to a lot of people's hearts but closing in on 25 years after the fact, it's important to honour those things still feel like you're moving forward as an artist.” 

She says that “in her age and newfound wisdom” she has come to embrace the nu metal tag that Kittie spent a lot of years kicking against. “For a long time in the nu metal hangover era, it was a bit of a bad word and we didn't feel it fit us at the time. While I still don't think we are a nu metal band now, being associated with that genre wasn't such a bad thing.”

Kittie are already lined up for a repeat appearance at 2024’s Sick New World, and Morgan says there will be a few more major festival appearances. Beyond that she would love to tour more extensively, although work and family commitments are likely to have a bearing on what they can commit to. “We're not at a place in our lives where we can take nine months out of the year but it's super important for us to go back to some of these amazing places that have loved Kittie for so long. The UK has always been incredible to us so I would love to be ablet to work out some headline stuff after an album announcement. It's definitely not outside the realms of possibility.”

Another possibility for 2024 is re-recording Spit to mark the album’s 25th anniversary. Morgan has floated the idea before and, while she laughingly says she can “neither confirm nor deny” that it will definitely happen, it’s something she would still love to pursue. She is also set to release a new album with Karkaos, the Montreal-based melodic death metal act she now fronts and which, she says, may well bleed into Kittie to some extent. “Joining another established band, I felt I had to find a new voice. In that process of finding new ranges and new vocal techniques, it also helped me find new things and apply them to Kittie and this forthcoming album,” she explains.

So with more shows under their belt and a new album on the way, does it feel like Kittie are properly back?

“I like to think we're the undead - we're alive but also not! It's a weird thing because we’re balancing two lives but 2024 is going to be Kittie’s year.”


Orange Goblin - TBC

UK stoner metal icons Orange Goblin wrapped up recording their 10th album in mid-December, with a potential release in May. “That main influence of Black Sabbath and Motörhead will always be there but we have never been afraid to try different things and attempt to stand out a little bit,” says frontman Ben Ward.


Oransi Pazuzu - TBC

The mind-bending psychedelic black metal explorers wouldn’t use something as prosaic as an announcement to herald their upcoming 6th album but they have shared a series of colour-washed pics and one clip of vocalist Jun-His screeching in Finland’s Astral Studio. Expect to find a new album whenever they can pluck it from the dimension in which it currently resides and drag it kicking and screaming into this one.


Paradise Lost - TBC

Paradise Lost put out their last album of new material, Obsidian, in 2020, and there’s a chance that we might see a brand new album in 2024. Speaking to Metal Global in November, frontman Nick Holmes said that they would “hopefully write an album next year, anyway. Whether it's gonna be recorded next year, I don't know, but hopefully at least written."


P.O.D. - Veritas

P.O.D. have already shared singles from Veritas featuring Lamb Of God’s Randy Blythe and Jinjer’s Tatiana Shmayluk. “It’s the old Latin dialect,” guitarist Marcos Curiel told V100 of the title. “You know, the old one that the priests are laying down when people are demonly possessed. It stands for truth. Individually and collectively, it’s our truth as a band.”


Powerwolf - TBC

In a press release announcing their huge European stadium tour Wolfsnächte 2024, Powerwolf confirmed that the follow up to 2021’s Call Of The Wild would appear in 2024. There are no further details right now but it’s a reasonable bet that it will coincide with the October tour, which they promise will feature “a massive production and some surprises you haven't seen from us before”.


Satyricon - TBC

Following 2022’s project in celebration of artist Edward Munch, Satyricon confirmed they would be returning to stages for the first time in five years in the summer of 2024, with an album scheduled for May. "We have been working on all these new things behind closed doors for almost a year. We're delighted to soon share it,” they said, enigmatically.


Slash - TBC

Having focused on Guns N’ Roses recently, Slash is set to release a bluesy solo album in 2024. Speaking to Yahoo! Entertainment the guitarist said the album is "sort of similar to my first solo record" with "a bunch of different singers." The one so far confirmed is Demi Lovato, who the guitarist worked with on Sorry Not Sorry.


Anthrax - TBC

Work on Anthrax’s twelfth album is well underway, with the band working once again with producer Jay Ruston. “Joey [Belladonna] has sung about six songs, he’s got another eight to do,” drummer Charlie Benante tells Hammer.  Sonically, he says it won’t stray too far from the template Anthrax have always followed, but they are mixing it up a little. “I don’t think we’re gonna start barking and stuff like that, or singing all screamo. There’s some beautiful moments on the album, there’s some brutal moments, there are some very fast things, some slow, groovy types of things.” Charlie isn’t saying whether Dave Grohl – who was photographed in the studio with the band – appears on the untitled record, or they were just hanging out, but he promises fans won’t be disappointed when the album does emerge later in 2024.  “There’s elements of everything and at the end of the day it sounds like us. It sounds like Anthrax, and that’s probably the biggest achievement for us as a band - to continue to sound the way you do.” 


Slaughter To Prevail - TBC

After starting the year with an extensive European tour including a string of UK dates in January, Slaughter To Prevail will also release their third studio album in 2024. The Russian deathcore outfit, now based in Florida, shared a couple of posts from the studio back in August – one showing Evgeny Novikov tracking drums and another showing a bit of general knob-twiddling. No further word yet on when the album might drop but you can probably expect to hear some new tracks early in 2024.


Spiritbox - TBC

One of the buzz bands of the past few years have kept fans happy since the release of 2021’s acclaimed debut album Eternal Blue with a pair of EPs, 2022’s Rotoscope and last year’s six-track The Fear Of Fear. No official confirmation that they’re working on a new album, but their tour diary is empty for most of the first half of 2024 before they return to Europe for festivals, suggesting that they could be using that time in the studio. 


Static X - Project Regeneration: Vol. 2

The second Project Regeneration album features the final vocal performances and musical compositions of founding Static-X vocalist Wayne Static, with production from the band’s current vocalist/guitarist Xer0. Bassist Tony Campos told Australia's Metal-Roos: "It's the continuation of the work that we started on 'Vol. 1'. So it's gonna be a lot of Wayne vocals, Wayne's riffs that we all worked [on] and brought to life as completed songs."


Throne - TBC

Cult black metal legends Thorns are finally set to release a follow-up to their 2001 eponymous debut. Avant garde noisemongers Slagmaur, who have collaborated with Thorns mainman Snorre Ruch, on the album shared a message: “Finally, the long-desired second Thorns album, the infinite and absolute apex of the metal legend's total singularity is about to consume your pity planet!” Satyricon’s Satyr, among others, is set to guest.


While She Sleeps - Self Hell

While She Sleeps’ sixth album will continue the sense of experimentation that started with 2019’s So What? Speaking to Hammer, vocalist Loz Taylor told us: “We never like to conform to one sound; we want to push ourselves, maybe to the point we feel a bit scared and uncomfortable.” Guitarist Sean Long added: “We keep listening back to it and going ‘How the fuck did this happen?’… If people don’t like it, tough shit!”


Rob Zombie

The last time Rob Zombie spoke about the follow-up to his seventh solo album, 2021’s The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy was back in May. At that point, he told the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast, he was still a long way from finished, with tentative hopes of finishing recording by the summer of 2024. “It’s a long process,” he said. "I like making records over a long period of time, so that I can live with it.” 


Chelsea Wolfe - She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She

Recorded with regular collaborators Ben Chisholm, Jess Gowrie and Bryan Tulao and produced by TV On The Radio’s Dave Sitek, the follow up to 2019’s Birth of Violence in February promises to be a deep and engrossing experience. “It’s a record about the past self reaching out to the present self reaching out to the future self to summon change, growth, and guidance,” Wolfe says. “It’s an invitation to step into your authenticity.”

Paul Travers has spent the best part of three decades writing about punk rock, heavy metal, and every associated sub-genre for the UK's biggest rock magazines, including Kerrang! and Metal Hammer

With contributions from