Best Of 2024 – Last Rites Combined Staff Top 25

Hi-de-ho, neighbors!

Here we are! The closing ceremonies for 2024. Remarkable survival skills, friends. Let’s see some hearty pats on the back, and let’s take some time to reflect on all the good that’s happened in these barely United States in 2024…

~three seconds pass~

Done? Yeah, me too.

There was music, though! Oh, bless you, good and great music. You are our balm, and it brings us all great pleasure to celebrate and share you to the very best of our ability, which is obviously why we are gathered here today.

Somewhere around October each year the Last Rites staff starts pushing around the idea of our favorite releases, and more often than not, a handful of albums bubble to the surface as distinct contenders for total sweethearts. 2024 felt different, though. Mostly because… well, that last part didn’t really happen. That’s not to say there wasn’t a lot of good metal to pick from, it’s just that there didn’t seem to be any early faves that tied the crew together as obvious candidates for the top spot(s). Two primary reasons for this: 1) 2024 was just a half bubble off in general, and 2) We just don’t get enough time to sit with the albums that are, you know, actually good. Once we take a little more time untangling a few notables with a finer tooth comb, though, the mist finally starts to clear. OH MY GOD, ARE THOSE GORILLAS? How did we not see them until now.

As far as the year’s trends go? Eh, who really knows. Probably the easiest / safest way to suss out overall inclinations is to throw down our annual comparison with some of our cuddly peers, of which eight have already dropped fave lists for 2024. Decibel once again played the role of Juan Soto, because print mags gotta get that shit dizzone early, and once that ball drops the lists and discussions and arguments just start flyyyyyying. It’s fun! Thank you, Decibel, for consistently lighting the Olympic cauldron by throwing a grenade and running away laughing.

News flash: Our list doesn’t have a lot in common with Decibel’s. But then, it doesn’t have a lot in common with any of the lists that have dropped thus far, and that’s not exactly anything new. Take a quick looksie at the commonalities, which are based on a top 25 (or less, in the case of Stereogum and Bandcamp):

Decibel: 3 releases in common
Metal Hammer: 4
Bandcamp: 0
Consequence of Sound: 4
Treble: 2
Pop Matters: 4
The Quietus: 2
Stereogum: 1

BASK in the glory of our snowflakeness, no? Individuality is something to be celebrated amongst the wise ol’ humans.

If you’re interested in hammering out a true winner based on nine publications, I have good news and bad news. The good news: It’s Blood Incantation and Absolute Elsewhere, crossing the plate at 6 out of 9 sites. The bad news: It didn’t make the Last Rites list. That’s right, THE CAT IS OFFICIALLY OUT OF THE BAG, AND IT IS GOING TO CLAW OUR EYES OUT. Goodbye, cruel world. Second place is a tie between Oranssi Pazuzu and perpetual stud muffins Judas Priest, both landing on 5 lists. Ours included. See? We’re not so bad!

And about our list… Ooo, baby, our list is… well, it’s very Last Rites in that it covers a lot of bases, and most of those bases are deep enough in the underground that you might actually need an oxygen mask to stay comfortable. Would we have it any other way? Some days. But not today.

As always, we would like to thank YOU for sticking with us. We obviously wouldn’t do this if people didn’t care, and we very much appreciate your support and readership with our entire hearts. We hope you’ll be there with us for yet another round in 2025. I’m thinking we might have flying cars by then. And MAYBE a new King Diamond (NOPE).

Anything else to talk about? Questions? Concerns? Discussions? See you in the comments here, there, or out there in space.

Oh! One other thing. A special tip of the lid goes out to our friends at Black Market / Stereogum. Their Best of 2024 piece from earlier this week will be their last, and we have a lot of respect for what they’ve done over the years for the betterment of our community. Thanks for the good times and great words, laddies. And best of luck to another friend of LR, Brad Sanders, who’ll be sitting in the big chair with a new Stereogum metal endeavor moving forward into 2025.

That’s it! As the late great Stan Lee was so fond of tattooing across our brainpans: Excelsior!

[CAPTAIN]

25. SABBAT – SABBATICULT

Leave it to me to find out several months after the fact that in 2024 Japanese black/speed metal pioneers Sabbat dropped their first full-length in 13 years, Sabbaticult. Undoubtedly, I was not the only dolt to do this. So I am quite happy to see this ripping charmer on Last Rites’ year-end list.

Sabbat has always been more of a traditional/speed metal band than even a first wave black metal band. The visual aesthetic and the vocals suggest the latter, but historically, the music itself – consistently crude as it is – has been more obviously influenced by the earliest purveyors of heavy metal. That is even more true of the sound here, on Sabbaticult.

Of course, Sabbat is an institution. Reputation and all that. But artists are at the mercy of a fulsome and fickle market. And 13 years makes for a hell of a gap year. Yet somehow, with Sabbaticult, Sabbat manage to sound as vital and inspired as ever. I suspect the new guitarist, Ginoir, has something to do with that. Even for Sabbat, there’s an unexpected energy here that moves this to the top of the heap – the 2024 heap, and the Sabbat discography heap. Granted, nothing will ever top The Dwelling, but this is in Karmagmassacre territory. Which is to say, it’s in elite company.

The band’s unique charm remains its biggest sell. Oddly placed but perfectly executed solos. Weird vocal earworms. It’s all there – that unique Sabbat charm – in spades. You’re simply not going to find another black/speed metal record that hits quite like this one this year. [CHRIS C]

• Bandcamp

24. OPETH – THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT

“These tracks often feel more like one large suite rather than individual songs, packed to the gills with proggy and infectious riffs (heaps of riffs), serene melodic passages, demonic growls, Ian Anderson narration (and flute solos!), jazzy drumming, actual orchestral flourishes, gorgeous singing, and a closer, more drawn in feel than many Opeth albums have featured in the past. If some past albums had the gargantuan scale of towering musical monoliths, The Last Will and Testament feels more intimate, as if you’re in the room with that aristocratic family, the music representing every dramatic twist and turn as secrets are revealed (gasp!). The density of the music really adds to that vibe.” [ZACH DUVALL]

• Last Rites Review

23. CONVULSING – PERDURANCE

The perdurance release arrived like the intake of breath upon waking. At once a continuation of the surgical violence of Grievous and a stunning expansion (or contraction) into the choking constriction of introspection, perdurance has been as much as it is and will be. On February 29 perdurance was keeping time in the murky darkness of the unreal and on March 1 it was forcing our conscious minds to confront the ugliness of its truths.

It is remarkable the depths of emotion this record is able to plumb given the “standard” tools of its creation. Not since I became entranced by Gorguts’ “Sweet Silence” have I been so enamored with the sonic world-building of a death metal recording. The guitars and drums work in tandem, twisting and snapping the songs into and out of place, fracturing everything around them continuously into jagged black peaks or simmering gray waves. Brendan Sloan’s tour de force vocal performance steadily drips venom, occasionally enunciating with gnashing clarity. Listeners take heed as a romp this is not. It is knotty and difficult, and for every ferocious rending of the flesh there is a subsequent passage of raw sensitivity, like you are watching the creator self-mutilate then dress his wounds in real time. By the time you reach the closing seconds of “Endurance” (my favorite song of 2024, easily) it feels as though you’ve borne witness to an entire lifetime of pain and rebirth. Exhausting, maybe, but absolutely vital.

One could highlight multiple death metal releases this year as particularly bright beacons of artistry, your Exhausts, your Omegons perhaps. perdurance, to me, is the quiet triumph, a work of vision and strength and even hope. If you consider yourself a willing and able participant let Convulsing take your hand. Take a deep, intentional breath. Walk off the edge and look to the sky.

“for the richness of life
revealed in small moments
how precious these things
for which to endure this world”

[ISAAC HAMS]

• Bandcamp

22. BLOODY VALKYRIA – KINGDOM IN FIRE

Look, if there’s a damn dragon on the album cover, you have me hook, line, and sinker. Yes, I will indeed listen; sometimes, for better or worse.

Thankfully, the debut album from Finland’s Bloody Valkyria doesn’t suck. In fact, it’s freakin’ fantastic. Kingdom in Fire is melodic black metal done right. In a world where nearly every one and their mother has some sort of black metal project, it can be difficult to run through the lot with a fine-tooth comb, weeding out the ones that do, in fact, reek. With that said, this record has made the rounds in the Last Rites camp since its September release. We can thank Ryan or Cap for that, I think.

In many ways, Bloody Valkyria is a black metal project in the spirit of power metal. What’s most alluring about Bloody Valkyria or, more specifically, Kingdom in Fire, is how well it flows from start to finish. “Flames Upon a Bridge (Kingdom in Fire pt. 1)” is triumphant, sparked by beautiful melodies and raspy vocals. The Tolkien lore is strong with this one, too, as you might expect. Between each 12-minute-plus epic is an interlude that constructs the atmosphere akin to those found in our favorite fantasy novels. “Thousand Caves in Blood (Kingdom in Fire pt. 2)” and “Burning Citadel (Kingdom in Fire pt. 3)” find strength in the build-up. Again, the triumphant tones naturally ebb and flow, often culminating in hypnotic solos and epic finales.

Kingdom in Fire is an album you shouldn’t let slip through the cracks this year, especially if you enjoy a good dragon. [BLIZZARD OF JOZZSH]

• Bandcamp

21. MOISSON LIVIDE – SENT EMPERI GASCON

“You want to know the extremely scientific metric that I am using to judge this album? When I listen to it, I feel great. Can we… can we just agree that, well, that’s everything, isn’t it? Am I going to tell you, as I listened and thought about how Moisson Livide honors their local history and culture by singing in the Gascon/Occitan language/dialect, that I didn’t spend any time also thinking about the historian Norman Davies’s tremendous book Vanished Kingdoms? Or that I didn’t spend any time thinking about this line from Hamilton: ‘Who lives; / who dies; / who tells your story?’ Friend, I’m not going to tell you that. My brain – yours, too – does too many things to be held all at once. When I listen to Sent Emp​è​ri Gascon, I feel great and excited and good.” [DAN OBSTKRIEG]

• Last Rites Review
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20. KORPITULI – POHJOLA

The solo project of Joonas Juntunen (Iku-Turso, Alkuharmonian Kantaja), Korpituli emerged from the mists and fog of their prior two Burzum-drenched albums like a pagan bonfire erupting across the frost-laden forests of the North. While that signature biting guitar remained, the songwriting and perspective shifted pretty abruptly into folkish/pagan metal that reminds me way more of Ukraine’s Lucifugum than Norway’s Burzum. The synths are way more dramatic and dynamic, the moods shift within songs, the vocals change voices and converse like a folk myth being told by a particularly gifted orator.

Juntunen peered through the mists and fog of black metal, and with Pohjola, seems to have found a deeper connection with his own past and ancestral roots. It’s a pretty unique album and a unique presentation of Finnish mythology through he other side of the obsidian mirror. Sure, Moonsorrow and Sentenced have found plenty of inspiration from Finnish mythos that feels more akin to that of their Scandinavian neighbors, but Korpituli does it in a way that, musically, feels connected with Finland’s Baltic roots. It makes for a fantastically well-rounded and unique album, complete with the crisp execution and attention to detail that has followed the project since its incarnation. I’ve been a pretty ardent support of Korpituli’s sound from the beginning, but Pohjola really made me respect the artistry behind Korpituli as he weaves his own tale and finds his own burning flame in the darkened haze of the metals black. [RYAN TYSINGER]

• Bandcamp

19. DISSIMULATOR – LOWER FORM RESISTANCE

“…clearly drawn to the darker and heavier side of things, as clearly reflected in the other music they make as members of Chthe’ilist, Atramentus, and Worm, but also the very technical side in Beyond Creation, First Fragment, and Sutrah. So it doesn’t take the brains of an astrophysicist to hypothesize some complex interaction of these bands on this record and that’s nominally correct. At its core, this is dry, sharp, technical thrash intersected by a dark and brutal rhythmic battery, like machines executing their commands dispassionately within precise start-stop protocols and interlaced with bright, colorful leads and solos and synthesized flourishes.” [LONE WATIE]

• Last Rites Review
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18. CHAPEL OF DISEASE – ECHOES OF LIGHT

“The core of Chapel of Disease’s songwriting style is cut from the same cloth as fellow wanderers Tribulation, Morbus Chron/Sweven, Venenum, and perhaps even a bit of In Solitude circa Sister. Does this mean that Echoes of Light is just as well-suited to skulking around dilapidated city streets wearing eyeliner and a cape as it is to emerging from a wood-paneled van in a haze of bongwater and lava lamp glow? Mister, I sure wish you would quit your hypothetical jawing and just crank this sucker up. Tight tunes, tasty licks, and basically just the down-home dirty business of electric guitars making excellent sounds.” [DAN OBSTKRIEG]

• Last Rites Missing Pieces Blurb
• Bandcamp

17. MOSS UPON THE SKULL –
QUEST FOR THE SECRET FIRE

“It takes sophomore long player Quest For The Secret Fire all of about 30 seconds to quash any fears of a letdown. Moss Upon the Skull made the smart decision to not mess with the formula all that much, because when you’ve found a vibe that is truly you, lean into it. In their case, that formula includes plenty of, yes, Death with a capital D (Human and after), a ton of The Chasm’s melodic vortex of thrashy death, touches of Ved Buens Ende’s warbly weirdness and Voivod’s beautiful nerdiness, and a keen balance between meticulously crafting every detail and ensuring things still sound quite natural and jammed out.” [ZACH DUVALL]

• Last Rites Review
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16. BEATEN TO DEATH –
SUNRISE OVER RIGOR MORTIS

“It’s a tricky thing getting all that fun and silliness across without losing your edge, but these guys have been doing it reliably for nearly a decade and half and keep it up on album number six. Sunrise is savage to its bones, despite its penchant for sunny positive vibes. The riffs, as frequently as they shine, are just as often caustic; always righteous either way. The drums and bass are absolutely devastating all the way through. And all of it together, blasted at top volume, highlights a wonderful production job that puts the listener right there in the tiny space where they recorded the album live, all hot and sweaty, bumping slippery shoulders with the band. Gross.” [LONE WATIE]

• Last Rites Review
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15. IHSAHN – IHSAHN

“…Ihsahn isn’t going to necessarily surprise you stylistically or in terms of personality, but if you’ve hung around for part or most of his career, it’s going to make you extremely happy. Ihsahn shows Ihsahn being really, really good at being Ihsahn, which is probably the biggest reason why it’s called Ihsahn. Absolutely no part of me thinks the man is done innovating or flying his freak flag, but this record shows how supremely kickass he is at simply being an excellent version of himself. This is a minor triumph for him at this stage of his career (even though he isn’t yet even 50 years old…) and a no-brainer for all fans of progressive and symphonic extreme metal, theatricality and drama, or simply indulging the whims of one of metal’s all-time great visionaries.” [ZACH DUVALL]

• Last Rites Review

14. KONTACT – FULL KONTACT

“While Kontact ain’t exactly afraid to wear their influences on their sleeve, the clever ways they fuse everything together gives the end product a notably unique footprint. So, just when you think the record is primarily devoted to the ever-shifting face of Voivod, you get something as cold and unrelenting as ‘Ixaxar’ that ends up conjuring images of a forgotten B-side to Khold’s classic Masterpiss of Pain. Or ‘Watcher at the Edge of Time,’ which craaaawls like some sort of inconceivable Sunset Strip funeral doom song before spotlighting one of the record’s finest and longest solos. ‘Bloodchild’ follows the crawl, and by comparison it hits like the breeziest summer hit one could hope to encounter. That friendly melody will weld itself to your synapses, offering up ‘the album’s sole message of hope,’ by the band’s own admission.” [CAPTAIN]

• Last Rites Review
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13. BRODEQUIN – HARBINGER OF WOE

Harbinger of Woe was two decades in the making. The Knoxville, Tennessee brutal death metal outfit’s follow-up LP to 2004’s Methods of Execution is a reminder that they’re one of the heaviest hitters in a sea of power punchers. Dating back to 2000’s Instruments of Torture, Brodequin has always encompassed the violence and suffocating nature of extreme music. From the subject matter to the album art to the music itself, it all makes these Tennesseans a quintessential BDM band.

It’s true that Brodequin doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel or branch off into uncharted territory, but what they do, they do so immaculately—chunky riffs at blasting BPMs overlayed with growls and squeals submerging deeper than the Mariana Trench. And the grooves are infectious as hell; my favorites being the midpoint riffs on “Vredens Dag” and the final minute-and-a-half of the title track. Of course, we shouldn’t gloss over the splendid performances from the rhythm section that add layers of impenetrable thickness to “Of Pillars and Trees” and “Fall of the Leaf.”

While Harbinger… may be the most well-produced of their four full-lengths, it also just might be their best album, even eclipsing the highly-regarded Festival of Death. There’s something to be said about a band that knows what they do well and roll with it. Sometimes, our own worst enemy is the instinctual urge to drift away from the same old song and dance. But chopping away at the same piece of granite, shaping it, and refining it time and time again is the key to the magnum opus. Now 26 years into their existence, Brodequin can take a step back and admire theirs—absolutely brilliant. [BLIZZARD OF JOZZSH]

• Bandcamp

12. REPLICANT – INFINITE MORTALITY

“Listening to the entire 45 minutes of Infinite Mortality is like being dumb enough to punch a hole in a wall but then immediately having the detailed know-how to perfectly stitch all wounds and set all broken bones without looking anything up… …The most immediate comparison that will pop into your head is Gorguts and not just because of the Lemay-inspired gruff and wily vocals. No, Replicant is like if Gorguts felt groove was as vital as dissonance and then filtered that formula through a slam mentality. Infinite Mortality is brutal and br00tal while slapping some swag on it.” [SPENCER HOTZ]

• Last Rites Review
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11. MAYHEMIC – TOBA

“While the title track serves as a more apt closer in terms of feel, the real damage is done before it even caps things off. But that’s part of what makes Toba such a great listen. It’s paced exactly as it should be, never losing that tension and intensity even when it’s working between its peaks. While the three aforementioned tracks make for some serious highlight touchstones, the whole journey makes for a more than worthy front-to-back play every time. However it’s meaning is interpreted, Mayhemic’s first proper full length is a blisteringly fun listen, reminding those Valparáiso boys that Santiago can thrash with the best of ’em.” [RYAN TYSINGER]

• Last Rites Review
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10. WAR DOGS – ONLY THE STARS ARE LEFT

“…loads of classic USPM in the style of Manowar and Virgin Steele, which then leads to more epic hammerers such as DoomSword, Crescent Shield and IronSword, and then finally concludes with War Dogs launching an ideal amalgamation of all those bands into something that’s as EPIC and POWERFUL as an Eric Adams screeeaaaam from Into Glory Ride… …I would say Only the Stars Are Left is a fairly straightforward affair, but War Dogs does a really great job of varying the pacing and atmosphere across the full 48 minutes. Plus, the leads top to bottom here are nothing short of amazing.” [CAPTAIN]

• War Dogs in We Have the Power 2024
• Bandcamp

9. NIMBIFER – DER B​Ö​SE GEIST

“Nimbifer strays far from the stereotypical—and sometimes correct—assumptions regarding the raw black metal realm. Each instrument can be heard on the album—even the forbidden bass—adding some color to the usual black-and-white aura of the genre. Der b​ö​se Geist is an entity in and of itself, which is the best way to put it. It bleeds character through its substance. Each moment enhances the next. From the minute ‘Der Wind’ echoes through your speakers, Nimbifer sets a triumphant tone with earworm melodies that you’ll find yourself humming in the days following your inaugural listen.” [BLIZZARD OF JOZZSH]

• Last Rites Missing Pieces Blurb
• Bandcamp

8. MALIGNANCY – …DISCONTINUED

“Malignancy may not move quickly, but when they death metal, they death metal on the same level as some of the greats, which makes them a great, too. (Transitive property, kids. Look it up.) In a way, an album like Discontinued is two in one: You can listen to it with your everyday brain, try to follow the rhythms or the riffs, spend hours thinking about them, wonder how they manage to keep it all together… or you can listen with your caveman brain, and let Malignancy pound you with rocks for half an hour, and you smile with every hit.” [ANDREW EDMUNDS]

• Last Rites Review
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7. THY CATAFALQUE –
XII: A GYONYORU ALMOK EZUTAN JONNEK

“…these are ten wonderful songs that span just over 48 minutes, but they comprise a much better album, thanks in large part to one well-honed practice and one unexpected change. First, as simple as it sounds, albums are what Tamás Kátai makes. A look at runtimes, sounds, themes, and dynamics of the songs across the album suggests it was conceived and constructed with much the same thoughtfulness and ingenuity as the songs themselves… …A Gyönyörü Álmok Ezután Jönnek is heavy, progressive, catchy, eclectic, energetic, and fun. Ultimately, it’s simply a Thy Catafalque album, which is to say it is a uniquely wonderful album that sounds like other Thy Catafalque albums, but not just, and otherwise like nothing else at all.” [LONE WATIE]

• Last Rites Review
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6. MOTHER OF GRAVES – THE PERIAPT OF ABSENCE

“These guys have managed to tinker enough within the well-worn machinery to make the old engine roar with a modern vitality. How bout that ripping, near-blast pace transition to just-quicker-than-comfortable mid-paced groove in ‘Like Darkness to a Dying Flame’? Or that harmonized tapping lead halfway through ‘Shatter the Visage’ that thrillingly bisects the halves of the song? Or the stately introduction to the title track that feels like entering a Victorian manse, ornate and austere, and wandering down a hall lined with portraits of the dead? I could go on but shouldn’t.” [ISAAC HAMS]

• Last Rites Review
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5. PYRRHON – EXHAUST

“…sees Exhaust as the band’s most streamlined album to date, including the fact that only one song (barely) surpasses the five-minute mark. Noise rock also carries a much stronger influence this time around. That’s not to say the band’s penchant for technical weirdness and dissonant aggression has disappeared, but there’s a lot more Unsane and KEN mode filtering into these 10 songs… …Album number five is easy to keep putting on over and over again as it marries the ugly with more memorable hooks and easily-digested shorter tracks. Exhaust was a surprise but how excellent it is surely isn’t.” [SPENCER HOTZ]

• Last Rites Review
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4. NOXIS – VIOLENCE INHERENT IN THE SYSTEM

“…if you happen to be an adventurous sort who appreciates death metal that knows how to cleverly balance frantic with meticulous, deadliness with playfulness and cruelty with polish, and you moreover love it when the style hits that sweet spot of being technical without being outright tech, you will surely need to put Violence Inherent on your shortlist… …Guttural elegance from the gutters of the North Coast that not so politely requests listeners to hurtle themselves into the nearest wall at 100mph.” [CAPTAIN]

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3. JUDAS PRIEST – INVINCIBLE SHIELD

“…ends up being the latest Priest album to rightfully claim ‘Best Since [insert album title that is probably Painkiller]’ status… …Invincible Shield brings over 50 minutes of no-filler modern Priest, largely maintaining the mode of Firepower with chunky riffs, a lot of high-flying Painkiller-power metal drive (minus the touch of brutality), oodles of shreddy solos, and passages with the classic dual leads still driving things (the finale of the towering title track). Oh, and of course more catchy Rob Halford vocal parts than you can shake a horse whip at, again proving both his timelessness and refusal to age…” [ZACH DUVALL]

• Last Rites Missing Pieces Blurb

2. ORANSSI PAZUZU – MUUNTAUTUJA

“…perhaps the most important thing one can say about Muuntautuja is that it continues Oranssi Pazuzu’s flawless streak of just being impossibly cool. This is music you want to hear over and over. It’s music you want to share, often with people that might not typically like the extreme metal ingredients. This is in spite of the fact that this and every Oranssi Pazuzu album brings with it a bit of a learning curve, because it’s always a welcoming learning curve based on the listener’s particular sense of curiosity and the band’s ability to write deep cosmic hooks. Even if you love Muuntautuja instantly, you’ll still be unraveling its secrets on your 25th listen. This band understands the value of depth, and as such possesses the type of magnetism that can’t really be taught.” [ZACH DUVALL]

• Last Rites Review
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1. DEFEATED SANITY – CHRONICLES OF LUNACY

“Like, what the actual bonk, ‘The Odour of Sanctity.’ How does a band cram every Bond car chase into a single song and still make things sound organized and purposeful? I am asking you that question, Defeated Sanity, and I am fully expecting you to just… you know… point at the video. I very much appreciate how this band realizes that unsophisticated soreheads such as yours truly need visuals to help the brain understand what’s afoot. Something that’s even more remarkable, however, is the fact that ‘The Odour of Sanctity’ might be one of the more straightforward songs on the record? I mean, it all might as well be a ten full cabinets of calculus textbooks avalanching into my head, but shit really starts flying through unpredictable switchbacks and loop de loops moving forward. ‘Accelerating the Rot,’ for example, *casually runs over your impressively vulnerable body like a godhead thresher. (*Casually, if ‘casually’ was something as fast as the train to Busan.)” [CAPTAIN]

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