10 Best Metal Albums of February 2024

Welcome to our second article in the Best Metal Albums by Month series. Progressive metal dominates the February 2024 list, and there are many varieties to pick from, ranging from more extreme to Dream Theater-inspired. But regardless of your taste in metal, you will inevitably find something you like on this list, be it black, death, doom, or heavy.

Check out the other articles in the series, spotlighting the monthly best metal albums for January, March and April 2024. Or check out the complete 2024 metal albums chart for more amazing albums.

"Moon Healer," Job for a Cowboy's fifth studio album and first release after a decade-long hiatus, takes first place. After starting out as a deathcore band, transitioning to technical death metal, and adding prog elements to their previous album, 2014's "Sun Eater," the new release represents a continuation of the band's sound, with more prog and even some psychedelic elements thrown in the mix. As their names imply, "Moon Healer" and "Sun Eater" are simultaneously conceptual companions and opposites. Thanks to the outstanding creativity that the band displays on all instruments, Job for a Cowboy is a sure bet to top many year-end lists.

With Ihsahn, you're never quite sure what you're gonna get on a new album; well, you're gonna get some excellent extreme progressive metal, that's for sure, but of what flavor? On Ihsahn's eighth album of his solo project, which gets second place on this list, the self-titled "Ihsahn," we go full circle to the beginning of his musical career with Emperor and to symphonic black metal. The flavor added to this album is actually of an orchestral nature, to be more precise, but those are just nuances. In addition to adding orchestral flourishes to this release, we receive a full orchestral version of the album. So, as you can tell, this is a massive undertaking, one befitting a self-titled album. But this is not all; this vast body of work extends into the visual realm, with two trilogies of videos being released to promote the album, each featuring a video for both the metal and the orchestral versions of three songs. He has given us much to dig into with this release, but the reward for the time invested is worth it.

Norwegian metal band Borknagar released their twelfth album, "Fall," following up on their 2019 release, "True North." The album has a dynamic sound, filled with beauty, emotion, and sincere expression. By this stage in the band's existence, there's no room for anything except mastery of their epic progressive viking metal sound. The album's unpredictable nature and psychedelic rock influences contribute to the band's exceptional musical output. As usual, the vocal duo of Vortex and Nedland are a highlight, but that's to be expected when you have a pair of such exceptional vocalists; you have to do them justice and let them shine.

If you're in for some cavernous death/doom metal that dips its toes into funeral doom, look no further than Spectral Voice, a Denver-based band that released their second album, "Sparagmos," on February 9th, 2024. Featuring band members from Blood Incantation and Black Curse, Spectral Voice is known for creating bleak atmospheres, proficient instrumental delivery, and vocal performances. "Sparagmos" will probably appear on many year-end lists due to its well-crafted songs with catchy riffs and intense drumming.

In the fifth place on this list, we find French black/death metal band Necrowretch with their fifth album, "Swords of Dajjal." The album features dark, mystical lyrics about the Dajjal, an evil figure in Islamic religion who will manifest as the antichrist. Influenced by Swedish black/death metal legends like Necrophobic and Dissection, the album contains eight tracks featuring intense vocals from band founder Vlad, relentless drums with furious blast beats, and tasteful tremolo-picked riffs. The album showcases the band's mastery of modern-day black/death metal, representing a powerful portrayal of the genre.

Eternal Storm, a progressive melodeath band from Madrid, has released their second album, "A Giant Bound to Fall." The album, released almost five years after their debut, showcases the band's signature melancholic and progressive sensibilities. With nine tracks and a 70-minute runtime, the album's balance of intense riffs, airy moments, and intricate song arrangements has earned it a spot on this list.

German band Chapel of Disease has released their fourth album, "Echoes of Light," more than five years after their highly praised third album, "...and As We Have Seen the Storm, We Have Embraced the Eye." After transitioning from 100% death metal on their debut album to a combination of death metal, heavy metal, and progressive rock on their third album, Chapel of Disease is moving even further away from death metal on "Echoes of Light." But not to worry, the quality is still there, so if you're in the mood for a combination of prog metal with 70's hard rock and some harsh vocals sprinkled on top, give "Echoes of Light" a listen.

Triton Project, the brainchild of Tanpawat Suttipong from Thailand, is next on the list with "Messenger's Quest," their debut album. The 77-minute mammoth of a progressive metal album, complex and technical, with a heavy accent on keyboards, is recommended to Dream Theater fans.

Finnish death doom band Counting Hours has released their second album, "The Wishing Tomb." Dripping with melancholy and featuring beautiful clean vocals from Ilpo Paasela, the band sits stylistically somewhere in between Shape of Despair and Rapture (two other bands guitarists Tomi Ullgrén and Jarno Salomaa have collaborated on). More doom than Rapture, but not going into funeral doom territory like Shape of Despair, and adding some gothic atmosphere to the mix, the album showcases an easily recognizable Finnish sound.

The Canadian speedy heavy metallers from Traveler return with their third studio album, Prequel to Madness. Following their formation in 2018 and the swift release of their first two albums in 2019 and 2020, Traveler dedicated four years to developing their third album, an investment that has resulted in a more mature sound for the band. Vocalist Jean-Pierre Abboud does an excellent job, sounding somewhere between Rob Halford and King Diamond. When you combine this with the band's blistering speed and incredible riffing and soloing, the result is not just one of the year's best heavy metal albums but also a band set to rise to the top of the genre.

Thank you for checking out the Best 10 Metal Albums of February 2024 list! See you soon on HornsOrThorns.com for more thrilling best-of lists, and in the meantime, enjoy these albums.