A Chaotic Collection of Data: 2024 Reflections

No matter what kind of music you vibe with most, we simply cannot deny the fact that 2024 was a major year all throughout; especially in music. We had major releases all throughout the year, some of them being potentially monumental to the progression of their respective genres. Although some parts of this year may have been less than grand, at least we can say that music has our back every time. 

Let’s be real for a moment. Around this time articles are being published with their opinions on what the number one song or album of the year is. However, we have to remember that these lists are just that; opinions. When we hold our own opinions, a top 10 list made by some person behind a screen can seem wrong. This is why I strive to make my own lists with the intention of suggesting my own favorites insteading of deeming one particular entity to be the best around. What is beautiful about making our own lists is that you can include whatever parameters you want. Do you want your list to be all-inclusive or exclusively death metal? Do they have to be radio hits? Are canceled artists included? That’s all up to you when you make your own list. 

For this year’s top choices list I have requested the opinions of my colleagues and left it open to include as much or little as they want. I initially requested five of each category, which is simply “albums” and “songs”, but some of us struggled to figure out up to five whereas others had double that. In the end, it is simply an unbalanced list of suggestions for this year’s releases. Even before getting everyone’s responses, I knew the results were going to be all over the place, and not just from me alone. I don’t know a lot of these artists or their respective songs, and I bet everyone else who participated in this list doesn’t know a lot of the ones I have on my own list. Honestly, I find that to be a beautiful part of putting the information together. In a way, we’re a melting pot of musical interests, and sharing our favorites from the past year can help us understand each other more, as well as find a part of ourselves we can learn to appreciate. With all that said, here’s the team’s input for the best of 2024!

Chaos Representative	Albums/EPs	Songs
Alec Halstead	From Zero - Linkin Park, Be OK - Let Down, Hot Singles In Your Area - Scene Queen, Fission - Dead Poet Society, HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER - South Arcade	"New God" - Moon Walker, "COME ALIVE" - From fall To Spring, "PSYCHO" - Thecityisours, "Sliding Doors" - Boston Manor, "the garden" - unpeople, "Disease" - Lady Gaga
Anna Oggier	Trollslayer - Wind Rose, Greetings From Suffocate City - The Funeral Portrait, Mistakes Are A Friend of Mine - The Break Plans	"Perfect Strangers" - Archers, "Black Masquerade" - Awake At Last, "My Skin" - Avatari
Hana Belanger	Hot Singles In Your Area - Scene Queen, POST HUMAN: NeX GEn - Bring Me The Horizon, Diminishing Returns - Runaway Ricochet, Heaven Can Wait - Trash Boat, The Great Impersonator - Halsey, Ignite/Decay - Wave Break, IDK How To Talk To Girls - Beth McCarthy, Paint The World - Color Me Krazy!, Comforting Embrace - Splitjaw, Drowning Therapy - Cane Hill	"Balloons" - As It Is, "Good Bi" - Bethany McCarthy, "Hot Singles In Your Area" - Scene Queen, "I2I" - Magnolia Park, "YOUtopia" - Bring me The Horizon
Jacki Knight	Duck Face killings - Fulci, Absolute Elsewhere - Blood Incantation, More Insane - Undeath, Chromakopia - Tyler the Creator, Hot Singles In Your Area - Scene Queen, eternal sunshine - Ariana Grande, Short 'N' Sweet - Sabrina Carpenter, BRAT - Charli XCX, In the Jaws of Bereavement - Maul, FREEDOM SWEET FREEDOM - Regional Justice Center	"Brandish the Blade" - Undeath, "we can't be friends" - Ariana Grande, "LABOUR (the cacophany)" - Paris, "YOUtopia" - Bring Me The Horizon, "Kool-Aid" - Bring Me The Horizon
Rachel Caton	From Hell I Rise - Kerry King , Whip: Volume I - Michael "Whip" Wilton	"Mirror, Mirror" - Burning Witches, "Seed of Death" - Nervosa, "The Other Side of Anger" - Crypta

I would also like to take a moment to recognize some beautiful musical moments from this year from my perspective. Out of all my experiences this year, my favorite moments are as follows: 

1) Favorite concert: Blood Incantation with special guest Midwife; at The Brighton Music Hall, Allston MA 

2) Favorite mosh pit: Knocked Loose with special guests Hatebreed, Drain, and Militarie Gun; at The Dome At Toyota Oakdale Theater, Wallingford CT 

3) Favorite interaction with a musician: Gatecreeper with special guests Worm and Frozen Soul; at The Middle East Downstairs, Cambridge MA; Complimenting Chad Green on his Magic the Gathering shirt as he passed by the (last minute) ADA section. 

4) Favorite band merch: The Absolute Elsewhere Tour long sleeve in 3XL (the comfiest Blood Incantation band tee I have ever owned!) 

5) Honorable mention moment: Me being totally unaware that Hatebreed has a giant 

inflatable ball for the crowd, I prepared for a “Wall of Death” only to realize no one else was doing the same and I misheard “Ball of Death” as the infamous “Wall of Death” moshers have come to love. (Don’t worry, we got The Wall of Death during Knocked Loose and it was glorious, even with a cane in hand.)