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Weekly rundown January 16 – 2026
Reviews of metal albums released January 10 – January 16
This week’s releases don’t hold back in the slightest, pouring on aggression, bombast or atmospheric mood, leaving no question about their intended style.
Carrion VAEl – Slay Utterly
Genre: Technical/melodic death metal/deathcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: As interpretations of sonic carnage go, this is an extravagant one. Very much in the vein of bands like Summoning the Lich, Carrion Vael play distinctly technical and symphonic-leaning modern melodeath with vocal and rhythmic styles that will appeal just as much, if not more, to fans of melodic deathcore. They employ a massive, relentless sound that seeks to stampede all over you repeatedly, but there are also thematic intros of contrasting musical styles employing acoustic instruments and clean vocals, allowing you to reset before the next onslaught. While not exactly boundary-pushing, the album is loaded with bangers, performed with awesome precision, strong melodic aptitude and a clear desire to build on the formula and mix related styles.
Highlight: “Bisection 47” and “Truth Or Consequences”
Death Cult – Death Cult
Genre: Sludge metal/hardcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: A howling, barely controlled tumble down a pit of existential despair, where you’re repeatedly stomped on by massive manifestations of humanity’s collective woes. This is the debut full-length of French sludgecore band Death Cult, and it seems they’ve unleashed enough pent up anger to sustain a good handful of albums, all in one go. It’s dark, coarse, with massive, chugging riffs and a tone so heavy it sounds like it would crack apart a concrete floor. A few sections get slightly repetitive, and the slower sections drag a bit, but they also build pressure, raising expectations for the next release of crushing fury.
Highlight: “Feeling Of Death”
Edenbridge – Set The Dark On Fire
Genre: Symphonic metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: This newest album by Austrian Symphonic metal band Edenbridge is like being whisked along on a slightly detached adventure, overlooking fantastically impactful events from a vantage points up in the clouds. At its best it feels both rousing and emotionally invested, but there are also a few too many parts with clunky melodic transitions, well-worn lyrical concepts and utterly unengaging rhythms. There are ups and downs, enough to please fans, but not to convince the average listener.
Hyperion – Cybergenesis
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: A dose of classic heavy metal coming at your from Italy, reminding me of Saxon first and foremost. If you’re just looking for that shreddy, no-nonsense hit of uncomplicated nostalgia, this will do the trick. The first part of the album is lively and fairly vital, but unfortunately it doesn’t last, and they seem to turn on the cruise control from about the fourth track and out. Nothing actively bad, but fairly unremarkable.
Kreator – Krushers Of The World
Genre: Thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Your take on this album is going to depend greatly on what kind of Kreator you want to come leaping out of the speakers at you. If you just want thrash, thrash and more thrash, at the very least you need to skip past the first four tracks, because judging by the first half of the album you’d think that they’ve fully converted into a modern melodeath band, very much reminiscent of Arch Enemy. And all throughout “Krushers Of The World” you get strong influxes of heavy- and even power metal, pushing melody to the forefront, prioritizing catchy, straightforward rhythms and insisting on nod-along, anthemic choruses. Worry not, there are plenty of ripping riffs in store, but if that’s mainly what you’re hoping for, then you’re likely going to be left with too little for it to be worth your time. However, if you like the band playing around with their sound and providing an easy-to-like sense of occasion with unmistakable Kreator character, then this album is very much for you.
Highlight: “Deathscream”
Marianas Rest – The Bereaved
Genre: Atmospheric doom/death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Bring on the grey weather feels. Marianas Rest is organizing a depressive-meditative retreat to the remote Finnish wilderness, having you trek along misty lakes, rocky mountainsides and whispering forests. Their style is folk-infused and expansively atmospheric melodeath played as doom. The song runtimes aren’t actually all that long, but they feel like they go on forever, and that’s mostly meant as a compliment. This is an escape, after all, sampling tragedy and melancholy as a way of opening up repressed pockets of your psyche. Overall, it is a tad monotone, but the balance of immersive melody, satisfying riffs, bitter aggression and rewarding buildups is exactly how you want it for this kind of style. If you have the patience for the sedate pace and don’t expect massive contrasts, I highly recommend letting this album carry you off into the muted expanse.
Highlights: “Rat in the Wall” and “Diamonds in the Rough”
Ov Sulfur – Endless
Genre: Symphonic/blackened deathcore
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: At its best this is a cathedral-sized gargoyle come to demonic life and laying waste to anything remotely pious in its immediate surroundings. Striding forth on massive roars and thundering riffs, with bitter-tinged melodies blaring into the black skies. But it also dips all the way into creed-level acoustic ballad territory to deliver some ear-wrenchingly on-the nose emotion, which breaks completely with the superficially unholy theme. And for large sections it’s so compulsively breakdown-prone that the progression grinds to a complete halt. For fans of the style it delivers more than enough oomph to get wild to, but it will most likely repel everyone else.
Total Annihilation – Mountains of Madness
Genre: Thrash/death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: This is the perfect sound to accompany an album cover adorned by carnivorous mountaintops and a good ‘ol pile of skulls. From the very first few seconds you’re in no doubt that you’re in for an absolute ripper of a rough-edged thrash record adorning itself unabashedly with the morbid trappings of old school death metal. No distractions, no unwarranted experimentation, just a snarling, chasing-the-scent killing spree of racing drums and frantically clawing riffs. It’s a great mix of grooves and wildly thrashing gallops, constantly switching techniques to keep it interesting and going from menacing, mid-tempo pacing to maniacal whirlwind strikes. If the Kreator album dropping this week wasn’t to your taste, I highly recommend giving this a shot.
Highlights: “The Art Of Torture” and “Chokehold”
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
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Weekly rundown January 09 – 2026
Reviews of metal albums released January 03 – January 09
The metal world is slowly awakening from its year-transitioning slumber, stretching some melodic muscles as well as coughing up some morbid phlegm.
Beyond The Black – Break The Silence
Genre: Symphonic metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: The stereotype-ist in me would tell me to expect far more bombast from a German symphonic metal band than is actually present on this newest offering by Beyond the Black. That’s not to say that the lyrics will leave you contemplating life’s great mysteries, the overall feel isn’t majorly uplifting or that the rhythms aren’t head-swayingly easy to follow. But, apart from some occasional, slightly off-putting electronic voice filtering, there’s not a ton of unnecessary fluff in the production. It’s almost lean, and even though it’s certainly not groundbreaking, it avoids the biggest clichés and actually manages a decent variation in tone and intensity, drawing more from pop and hard rock than their own genre’s tropes. The result is lively, optimistic and engaging.
Highlight: “Break The Silence”
Ectovoid – In Unreality’s Coffin
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: As you could’ve probably guessed from the album cover, this is coarse, unrelenting old school death metal with a blackened feel. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it terrifying – it doesn’t seem interested in utilizing atmosphere in any sort of nightmare-inducing way – but it’s certainly not the happy-go-lucky kind either. The vocals, the tone, the theme, it all comes from the light-devouring abyss. But you never really forget to appreciate the technicality of it – the merciless riffs, the rhythm transitions like sudden tidal shifts, and the way everything sharpens up and goes on the attack whenever a burst of intensity is called for. In the end, it doesn’t really stand out in any significant way, but its intended audience will likely find their appreciation for it increasing the longer they listen.
Highlight: “Intrusive Illusions (Echoes from a Distant Plane”
For My Pain… – Buried Blue
Genre: Gothic metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: I’ve not picked up on this Finnish long-going gothic metal band before, so I can’t expertly compare to their previous material, but based on vibes I certainly see the appeal. It’s got that typical, moody, folk-derived melodic sensibility, heavy riffs and soaring solos pulling up as the morose vocals and doomy sections want to go nowhere but down. For me though, I find way too many inconsistencies in the production, mix and vocal performances, and far too little innovation in the writing.
Lionheart – Valley Of Death II
Genre: Metallic hardcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: I guess “Welcome to the West Coast” isn’t the only album to get a sequel series with roman numerals in Lionheart’s discography. This is heavy, extremely riff-forward hardcore with a certain kind of over-emphasized street attitude. Where their last album felt layered and fairly varied, with lasting grooves and well-fitting melodic moments, this is all breakdowns with start-stop riff sections and chest-high stomps. Tons of energy, yes, but I would say that less than half the songs on here tell the whole story.
Oraculum – Hybris Divina
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: Chilean death metal that has absolutely no intention of playing nice. It’s raw, ragged, but not underproduced, with hoarse-raspy vocals and low-tempo sections that feel like supplication to malevolent divinity. There’s little new on here for a seasoned OSDM fan, but there’s a commitment to, and honesty about, their particular style that shine through on every track.
Push! – Plowing Ahead
Genre: Hardcore/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: This is a band that manages both restraint and unhinged anger, the former functioning as energy-building breaks to line up their next attack and accumulate interest before accelerating savagely into the next breakneck riff section, accompanied by a vocal performance to tear down any monument or instrument of opposition and oppression on its way. There’s thrash, groove and modern, djent-like crashes of dissonance as well. Nothing feels calculated or forced, making for a malleable style that lets each new expression of outrage feel fresh, like they’re adapting on the fly.
Highlight: “Beyond Exhaustion”
Redivider – Sounds Of Malice
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: Crisp, chugging, semi-brutal death metal with Corpsegrinder-like vocals and a non-vehement attitude towards groove, this is the kind of stuff that’s able to both intimidate and entertain, depending on your disposition. It’s very much about delivering riff punishment in a variety of different tempos, leaning more towards classic styles than the modern, but certainly not skimping on the heft. It’s not the kind of thing where there’s a bunch of layers to uncover beneath the surface, but if it hits your sweet spot it’s a great bit of barbaric fun.
Highlight: “Fratricide”
The Ruins of Beverast – Tempelschlaf
Genre: Progressive doom/black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: I’ve had to mature a bit as a listener to really grasp the musical concept of The Ruins Of Beverast. Not that it’s fiendishly complicated or lacking structure, but to someone unused to this level of style melding in extreme music it can seem a bit schizophrenic. There’s what feels like slightly hesitant progressive black metal slithering in and out of oily, gothic-tinged death doom, and you never quite know exactly what you’re going to get ten seconds down the line. It can feel massive, ancient, mercurial, intangible and brutally direct, all during the course of a single song. And somehow the transitions between these different personalities just seem to work in the moment, given that you’ve had a bit of time to attune to it. “Tempelschlaf” might actually be a pretty good starting point for getting into the band, as it feels relatively even-tempered and offers prolonged sections of engaging riffs and rhythms or inviting melody to go with the multi-minded darkness. It doesn’t quite feel like the massive statement that related bands like Blut Aus Nord have been able to achieve lately, but it’s still masterfully crafted.
Highlights: “Alpha Fluids” and “Babel, You Scarlet Queen!”
Semper Acerbus – Following Omens
Genre: Metalcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: A melding of early and modern metalcore, with quite a few traits reminding me of early-to-mid career Trivium. It’s a mostly aggressive-melodic and groove-centric kind of sound, with only moderate interest in clean sections, which is a plus in my book. If you’re just looking for a big slice of the style without a ton of investment, this will work very well, but it lacks the standout tracks to take it beyond this stage.
Stranguliatorius – Flies Don’t Lie
Genre: Death metal/grindcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: If you’ve been digging for that over-cured, crust-encased death metal to effectively purge any delicate sensitivities you might have contracted from your surroundings, then this stuff will most definitely do the job. Stranguliatorius is a Lithuanian deathgrind band that also like to incorporate a touch of morbid doom, and it works surprisingly well, considering the grindcore part tugs in the exact opposite direction. What you end up with though, is kind of the best of both worlds, with a mix of no-regard rampages all the way down to the 8-second title track, and also 4-5 minute behemoths that start out massively sinister and crawling out of the mortuary, before kicking some life into their limbs and building up some bloodlust for another bestial charge. I can hear several classic influences in their style, mostly from the death doom spectrum, but also traces of grind-era Carcass. I might have preferred a bit more crispness and even greater variation in riff- and vocal style, but consider me properly, appreciatively savaged.
Highlights: “They Who Don’t Sleep Will Not Wake Up” and “The Notes Of The Deceased”
Uuhai – Human Herds
Genre: Folk/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: The debut album of this Mongolian, throat singing heavy folk band. While the idea of mixing traditional Mongolian instruments with modern ones isn’t a new one, there’s still plenty of room for building niches within the style. Uuhai choose a two-fold path of traditional, riff-happy heavy metal and a far more epic and reverent approach involving strings, choruses and mighty drum blasts. While this leaves gaps in the album’s energetic drive, it prevents the band from falling into the category of folk bands where the traditional elements feel like a tacked-on afterthought. I believe that there’s still room to both broaden this conceptually and narrow it down a bit in terms of technical style, but it’s a strong start showcasing the band’s range.
Highlight: “Uuhai”
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
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Weekly rundown January 02 – 2026
Reviews of metal albums released December 27 – January 02
We made it into the new year, and the first wave of new metal music lands harder than you might expect.
Beyond the Structure – Born of Naught
Genre: Experimental/technical death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: These guys care little for coherence, and tire quickly of any one approach, be it rhythm, melody, mood or even instrument (yes, it’s got sax). It reminds me a fair bit of Gojira in parts, as it has traces of the same kind of groove and technique, with roughly the same level of aggression. It’s too wavering in style to really land anything truly solid, but it’s an interesting trip that’s not overly disturbing to listen to.
Callisto 5 – Imaginary Explorer
Genre: Progressive thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: A peculiar meld of mid-tempo thrash and spacey prog rock, that either floats of writhes around in unexpected directions, prioritizing playfulness and exploration over genre-bound satisfaction. There’s a bit too many half-committed approaches after another for it to land anything coherent, and it could have benefitted from a good deal more technical ferocity, but as a concept and creative attempt, it’s pretty exciting.
Ellende – Zerfall
Genre: Atmospheric black metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: I jumped on the Ellende appreciation train with 2022’s “Ellenbogengesellschaft”, and remained sufficiently unfamiliar with their material to not catch the fact that 2024’s “Todbringerin” was a re-recording of 2016’s “Todbringer” until after I’d already written the review. No matter, it’s excellent regardless, and the same can happily be said about their latest, completely new full-length “Zerfall”. Sadness is still the prevailing emotion, but, as before, it’s not treated with the ugly vehemence and bitterness that would be typical among the scowling denizens of the black metal realm. Nor is it wrapped in fluffy layers of naïveté or shoved into your ears with heavy-handed earnestness. It’s like watching prolonged snippets of natural events that simply feel tragic to the human sensibility. The band experiments with musical styles, scaling up and down the sense of grandeur to suit the moment, but also to give each song distinction, and I do feel like I’ve been part of something comprehensive and significant at the end of it. It might feel a tad too tame and overly patient to some in parts, but to me this is very close to the perfect balance between beauty and emotional pain.
Highlights: “Reise” and “Wahrheit Teil II”
Erlking – Ends of the Earth
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: Now for some nostalgia-inducing heavy metal sending your mind to a simpler and more uplifting time. Serving you rock ‘n’ roll rhythms, soaring hard rock solos and earworm choruses, this would fit right into the less technical corner of the NWOBHM. The band does a lot of things right to get your mind in the proper place, and there’s lot to like, but they have a little way to go in terms of memorable melodies and matching the vocal performances to them.
Lay Waste – Lay Waste
Genre: Grindcore/hardcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: The goings on of the world doesn’t hold up just because we’ve barely entered the new year, so why should the music? This is ferocious protest-grindcore of the anti-fascist variant, which feels very earned given the state of things. It’s got some great, crunchy hardcore chugs, but these are mostly conserved for the parts where they are able to somewhat contain their fury. The rest of the time it’s pure mayhem.
Highlight: “NOTHING WAS DONE”
The Malum Process – Ignominious Feast of Decay
Genre: Brutal death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: Technically on-point modern brutal, slamming death metal that feels a bit like being receiving a high-frequency series of moderate shunts directly to the face. It hits hard and is performed well, but leans on to tropes and conventions for dear life.
Night Savage – Eternal Revenge
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Riff-o-licious 80’s-style heavy metal that manages to combine a small dash of sleaze with a shadow of doomy darkness. It’s very much exploring a time-stamped, very specific style, but doing so with a great sense of fun and not content to simply copy. The production is full and warm, yet allowing for crisp detail. The lyrics and melody lines are well written if not phenomenally original, with a good sense for the memorable, without resorting to ballads or getting overly anthemic. Nothing disappoints and the performances remain solid throughout.
Highlight: “Space Master”
Null Existence – Cryptic Monolith
Genre: Technical death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: Melodic and mildly symphonic tech death that’s balancing on the border into deathcore. There’s plenty of good performances on display, and overall it feels alive and varied. It does, however, seem a bit too preoccupied with style and technique to establish any real theme or other distinction to speak of.
Upiór – Forefathers’ Eve (Redemption)
Genre: Symphonic death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: A French symphonic death project that goes big on drama and technicality, with a strong sense of storytelling to go in between the bass drum barrages. It’s the kind that will envelop you with sound, awe you with its majesty and inspire vivid images of epic-tragic scenes. It can’t quite match the level of Fleshgod Apocalypse in terms of memorable songwriting, but will no doubt please the same kind of audience, as it delivers many of the same qualities. It’s precise, lofty yet dark and aggressive, and doesn’t lose focus of the task/story at hand despite a good number of instrumental interludes.
Highlight: “Forefather’s Eve (Part II)”
Wildhunt – Aletheia
Genre: Thrash/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: I feel like “epic thrash metal” can mean a few different things, but I think it’s very apt for Wildhunt’s stylie, in the same way that “epic doom” is a good description for what bands like Crypt Sermon dabble in. You feel like you’re being served up old wanderer’s tales, meant to both amaze, excite and, to a certain degree, intimidate. The riffing is sweet, so are the solos, although the instrument/vocal melodic interplay isn’t always on point.
Highlight: “The Holy Pale”
Woe – Legacies of Human Frailty
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: New York band Woe has mastered the ability to make “middle of the road” black metal with a clear signature of their own, that doesn’t try to crawl back under the bark of the original Norwegian subgenre tree. It brings in traces of atmosphere and melody, but remains relentlessly aggressive and fairly nihilistic. They show off a decently wide gamut of vocal- and guitar techniques, and successfully employ a dynamic rhythm approach with smooth transitions from section to section. Fresh ideas are mixed with dependable tricks, and they do a great job of highlighting and expanding strong melody- and riff lines as the backbones of the songs, without them getting repetitive.
Highlight: “Fresh Chaos Greets the Dawn”
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
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Weekly rundown December 26 – 2025
Reviews of metal albums released December 20 – December 26
A late one just to wrap up 2025 and enter the new year wrapped up in a small bundle of gloom. Happy new year everyone!
Abysmal Grief – Taetra Philosophia
Genre: Doom/gothic metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Spooky! If you’re thinking of celebrating new year’s at the graveyard, then consider bringing this album with you. Who knows, you might end up summoning some undead company. This is Italian gothic doom metal band Abysmal Grief’s seventh full-length, and while there’s absolutely black lace theater all over this thing, it’s not like it’s not doing its job of creating that occult underground mood. My mind goes to black-and-white horror films and robed rituals of possession. The riff- and rhythm style can get a bit repetitive, but at its best it’s reminiscent of classic Black Sabbath and Ghost’s first album. There’s some sweet solos in here too, just in case you worried it was getting too serious.
Highlight: “Corpus Mortuum”
Consanguine – Worlds Hidden Behind Vision, Rituals Hidden Behind Dream (EP)
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: Some noisy black metal to thoroughly purge any merriment that might have slithered in to clog up your neural pathways. This is noisy and fairly chaotic stuff that sort sounds like its its been wrung, to rid it of any unnecessary layers and leave it nice and stretched. It feels long and painful, which is no doubt the idea.
St. Unholyness – Through High Holy Haze
Genre: Stoner metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Review: You know the world’s collectively a little fed up with cribs, shepherds and angels when even the stoner metal is unholy. Technically, it plays as normal, with crunchy riffs, lazy rhythms and a muffled production. But the tone and lyrical content is less chilled out and more “let’s paint the living room black and light some candles”. The problem is that it doesn’t see quite content to stay there, as it constantly sneaks into the kitchen to take a puff. A little messy in its performances, not very confident in its style, but an interesting sound none the less.
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
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The Metal Dispatch’s Top Albums of 2025
100: Frozen Land – Icemelter 
99: For The Pyres – At the Pyres of Sin 
98: Unleashed – Fire Upon Your Lands 
97: Dead Heat – Process Of Elimination 
96: Sanguisugabogg – Hideous Aftermath 
95: Sadist – Something To Pierce 
94: Skaphos – Cult Of Uzura 
93: Trold – I Skovens Rige 
92: Heruvim – Mercator 
91: Pupil Slicer – Fleshwork 
90: Martröð – Draumsýnir eldsins 
89: Vacuous – In His Blood 
88: Oromet – The Sinking Isle 
87: Wretched Path – Sea of Death 
86: Blood Monolith – The Calling Of Fire 
85: Inhuman Condition – Mind Trap 
84: Blood Abscission – II 
83: Hazzerd – The 3rd Dimension 
82: 16 – Guides For The Misguided 
81: Kamra – Unending Confluence 
80: Katatonia – Nightmares As Extensions Of The Waking State 
79: Bent Sea – The Dormant Ruin 
78: Last Retch – Abject Cruelty 
77: Poison The Preacher – Vs The World 
76: Howling Giant – Crucible & Ruin 
75: Outlaw – Opus Mortis 
74: Vittra – Intense Indifference 
73: Nite – Cult Of The Serpent Sun 
72: Tower – Let There Be Dark 
71: Der Weg Einer Freiheit – Innern 
70: In The Woods… – Otra 
69: A Flock Named Murder – Incendiary Sanctum 
68: Faetooth – Labyrinthine 
67: Warfield – With The Old Breed 
66: Nailed To Obscurity – Generation Of The Void 
65: Selvans – Saturnalia 
64: Doomsday – Never Known Peace 
63: Cryptosis – Celestial Death 
62: Ancient Death – Ego Dissolution 
61: Lik – Necro 
60: Conjurer – Unself 
59: Blindfolded And Led To The Woods – The Hardest Thing About Being God Is That No One Believes Me 
58: Scorching Tomb – Ossuary 
57: SpiritWorld – Helldorado 
56: Fell Omen – Caelid Dog Summer 
55: Jade – Mysteries Of A Flowery Dream 
54: Century – Sign of the Storm 
53: …And Oceans – The Regeneration Itenerary 
52: Drouth – The Teeth Of Time 
51: Haggus – Destination Extinction 
50: Blackbriar – A Thousand Little Deaths 
49: Shadow Of Intent – Imperium Delirium 
48: Mantar – Post Apocalyptic Depression 
47: Teitanblood – From the Visceral Abyss 
46: Dessiderium – Keys To The Palace 
45: Imperial Triumphant – Goldstar 
44: King Parrot – A Young Person’s Guide To 
43: Mortal Scepter – Ethereal Dominance 
42: Gaahls Wyrd – Braiding The Stories 
41: Jinjer – Duél 
40: Sacrifice – Volume Six 
39: Morax – The Amulet 
38: Lamp Of Murmuur – The Dreaming Prince In Ecstasy 
37: Puteraeon – Mountains Of Madness 
36: Havukruunu – Tavastland 
35: Sarcator – Swarming Angels & Flies 
34: Wytch Hazel – V Lamentations 
33: Between The Buried And Me – The Blue Nowhere 
32: Despised Icon – Shadow Work 
31: Blackbraid – Blackbraid III 
30: Caustic Wound – Grinding Mechanism Of Torment 
29: Bleed From Within – Zenith 
28: Veilburner – Longing For Triumph, Reeking Of Tragedy 
27: Dormant Ordeal – Tooth And Nail 
26: Revocation – New Gods, New Masters 
25: Mors Principium Est – Darkness Invisible 
24: Aephanemer – Utopie 
23: Weft – The Splintered Oar 
22: Deftones – Private Music 
21: The Haunted – Songs Of Last Resort 
20: Employed To Serve – Fallen Star 
19: Abigail Williams – A Void Within Existence 
18: Qrixkuor – The Womb of the World 
17: Coroner – Dissonance Theory 
16: Cryptopsy – An Insatiable Violence 
15: Impureza – Alcázares 
14: Witherer – Shadow Without A Horizon 
13: The Great Old Ones – Kadath 
12: Scalp – Not Worthy Of Human Compassion 
11: Igorrr – Amen 
10: Allegaeon – The Ossuary Lens 
9: Castle Rat – The Bestiary 
8: Gorotica – Daily Grind Of The Medieval Age 
7: 1914 – Viribus Unitis 
6: Kalaveraztekah – Nikan Axkan 
5: An Abstract Illusion – The Sleeping City 
4: Creatvre – Toujours humain 
3: Whitechapel – Hymns In Dissonance 
2: Warbringer – Wrath And Ruin 
1: Scour – Gold
A list of my favorite 100 metal albums released in 2025
(Click the arrows to progress through the slideshow above, or scroll down the list below).
Compiling this list I more or less abandoned objectivity completely, and arranged the albums by level of impact, both immediate and lasting, on me personally. I love the fact that, no matter how many AOTY lists that get put out there, virtually no one will agree 100% with any other person’s picks, which speaks to the sheer size and complexity of the stylistic spectrum within metal music today.
In an attempt to sum the year up, I suppose what strikes me the most is just how many grindcore-style releases I really got behind. Also, just how few other people, particularly reviewers, seemed to do the same. Prog and straight death metal seem to have had a bit of a setback, but still have great success combining forces. Thrash is as strong as it’s been in a long time, and technical metal seems to have found a sweet spot where individual bands are able to achieve clear distinction, instead of all of them sounding like the product of the same dozen-limbed, frantically out of control, homicidal cyborg. Power-, symphonic- and other mostly melodic metal hasn’t made much of a splash, but melody has been allowed back into the extreme without diluting the ferocity, which I’m always a fan of.
Anyway, without further ado, agree with me or not, here are my top 100 albums of the year. Bear in mind that I haven’t had the time to listen to absolutely everything that dropped. So if you find that a major release is missing from the list, then that’s probably the reason. That, or I think everyone else is wrong, and the album is completely overrated. Feel free to speculate.
100: Frozen Land – Icemelter
Genre: Power metalBorrowing some heft from melodeath, riff elements from thrash and groove, with rhythms from straight heavy metal, and infusing it with a highly eager, instrument-forward, Finnish melodic sensibility, this is a power metal album that’s bursting with fun-factor and adventurous spirit.
99: For The Pyres – At The Pyres of Sin
Genre: Death metalNo, I can, in fact, not get enough of classic Swedish death metal. It’s a non-stop headbanging good time, overflowing with groove and all the brutal bells and whistles you would expect from this style.
98: Unleashed – Fire Upon Your Lands
Genre: Death metalIt’s not innovative at all, but feels confident in just the right kind of way. It’s as if the OSDM revival has shown them that it’s okay to rely on the old ways and embrace the sort of thinking that got them started in the first place.
97: Dead Heat – Process Of Elimination
Genre: Thrash metal/hardcoreThis is a thrash-forward variant of southern Californian crossover, carrying elements of Slayer and Anthrax, among others. It delivers mid-and high tempo serrated-edge riffing with deadly accuracy, and to equally murderous levels of effect, which is a feat in itself.
96: Sanguisugabogg – Hideous Aftermath
Genre: Death/extreme metalI’m gonna say it: It feels mature, if such a thing is possible with track titles like “Erotic Beheading”. There’s an industrial edge to a lot of it, even technical, giving much more a feeling of considered songwriting rather than impulsive, live-oriented chug-piling.
95: Sadist – Something To Pierce
Genre: Progressive death metalThis is one to jump on if you want your death metal to challenge you, but are tired of the surgical technicality of the modern stuff. Sadist plays it murky and whacky, and doesn’t go overboard with the complexity.
94: Skaphos – Cult Of Uzura
Genre: Blackened death metalIt dips into eldritch horror and ritualistic soullessness, but first and foremost it’s an utter assault of coarse riffs, canon-barrage drums and rusty, gurgled vocals.
93: Trold – I Skovens Rige
Genre: Folk metalThis gang of merry trolls understand perfectly how to play around and have fun within the style, while both keeping it simple enough to not have to philosophize over, and also keeping it alive and varied with some actual great musicianship.
92: Heruvim – Mercator
Genre: Death metalHere’s a Ukrainian debut old school death metal album that sounds like it’s traveled all the way from the late 80s and picked up traits from some of the more influential bands along the way.
91: Pupil Slicer – Fleshwork
Genre: MathcoreThis is not your average, fiendishly complicated, rubbing-alcohol-flavored piece of mathcore. It’s aggressive, for sure, and certainly not straightforward. But there are layers to the harshness, and the band deftly maneuvers between them in a way that is both satisfyingly unpredictable and which produces a rich level of variation.
90: Martröð – Draumsýnir eldsins
Genre: Black metalEnter a whirling confluence of the damned, like an infernal whirlpool in the dark, pulling at the edges of your sanity and challenging your sense of comfort at every turn.
89: Vacuous – In His Blood
Genre: Death metalThere’s a place you can go musically, that potentially works quite well for the dirtier and more fiendish spectrum of metal, where everything doesn’t have to fit together perfectly well, and this becomes part of the point. Vacuous exists in this slightly demented, slightly listener-hostile place.
88: Oromet – The Sinking Isle
Genre: Doom metalIf you’re looking for funeral doom with the same kind of all-enveloping, seemingly endless scope as Bell Witch, then this is likely to sate your hunger. It keeps rising, and rising, and rising, and pulls you along with it to unseen domains of the skies.
87: Wretched Path – Sea of Death
Genre: Death metalCompletely stuffed to the brim with skull crushing riffs, served out on easy-to-follow rhythms that sometimes take on a hardcore-like flavor. If it wasn’t for the awesome riff tone, roaring vocals and delicious solo work, I’d be tempted to call it one-dimensional, but it has all the right elements to make me a pure addict.
86: Blood Monolith – The Calling Of Fire
Genre: Death metal/grindcoreThis feels like the full force of the primal savagery behind all death metal unleashed, and further boosted by the ferocity of grindcore. But beneath the storm-whipped, turbulent surface grinds a steady wheel, steering the onslaught in a controlled direction.
85: Inhuman Condition – Mind Trap
Genre: Death/thrash metalThe surprise lies not in it being experimental, progressive or terribly distinct, but in that it manages to be so goddamn engaging despite its faithfulness to that original, Obituary-like style.
84: Blood Abscission – I I
Genre: Atmospheric black metalThis is a synthetic-melodic, highly atmospheric black metal project. Very importantly, it doesn’t get lost in its distant wanderings, staying on course and getting both exultant and in an uproar at times.
83: Hazzerd – The 3rd Dimension
Genre: Thrash metalThrash! Unfiltered, unmodified, unpretentious, on-point thrash that takes its mission just the perfect degree seriously. Not markedly old school nor modern, it perfectly blends speed, groove, sharp precision and impatient attitude into a pure, timeless thrash extravaganza.
82: -(16)- – Guides For The Misguided
Genre: Sludge metalThis is still a coarse, roaring, bone-rattling sound with a threatening tone, but damn are you getting your fill of groove on this one. Many of the riffs are Metallica-level catchy and the lead guitar gets into some seriously tantalizing escapades.
81: Kamra – Unending Confluence
Genre: Atmospheric black/death metalIt’s a monumental, barely controlled series of half-dissonant, darkly atmospheric waves of unholy cacophony. And, worryingly, it makes more and more sense the longer you listen to it.
80: Katatonia – Nightmares As Extensions Of The Waking State
Genre: Progressive/gothic metalThis album feels like the natural continuation of 2023’s “Sky Void of Stars”, which doesn’t speak all that much to the band’s powers of innovation, but as styles go, it’s a very good one to keep exploring.
79: Bent Sea – The Dormant Ruin
Genre: GrindcoreIt’s a lively one for sure, particularly in the drum department, and given that it’s 20 tracks long, it’s a huge plus that they’ve managed a high level of variation, even incorporating a couple of atmospheric interludes.
78: Last Retch – Abject Cruelty
Genre: Death metalWhat is otherwise a perfectly murky, malevolent, mid-tempo affair with dry-gurgling vocals, almost sinking into doom on a few occasions, will on most of its tracks set off on a riff rampage that, at times, feels almost comically eager.
77: Poison The Preacher – Vs The World
Genre: Thrash metal/hardcoreThey serve up plenty of is that Power Trip-style, old school death metal-derived raspy brutality, and coupled with the fired-up, no-way-but-forward mentality of eager, short-form thrash, it sets off like a Mad Max-styled monster truck.
76: Howling Giant – Crucible & Ruin
Genre: Stoner/psychedelic metalThis is a gorgeous sounding album that will have you delighting in the classic, tasteful instrumentation as well as the enveloping atmosphere. There is a mild prog-ness to the rhythms, but nothing distracting or overly complicated.
75: Outlaw – Opus Mortis
Genre: Melodic black metalThis is black metal that dares to dream, and even though these dreams drip with melancholy, it’s not the venomous nor overly nihilistic kind we so often get from Northern Europe.
74: Vittra – Intense Indifference
Genre: Melodic death/thrash metalIn my opinion, there are few things as badass as good death thrash. And, as evidenced by this fun-loving Swedish bunch, it certainly doesn’t have to take itself all that seriously in order to achieve said bad-assery.
73: Nite – Cult Of The Serpent Sun
Genre: Heavy/black metalIt’s still devilishly catchy in as tasteful a way as can be managed, and seems to absolutely revel in that spine-tingingly cool lead guitar work, reminiscent of the very best you get from Tribulation and Ghost.
72: Tower – Let There Be Dark
Genre: Heavy metalWhat might be the most impressive part of the album is that the band manages to craft slow, ballad-like tunes that are, if anything, even more captivating than the high-energy, galloping, solo-tastic tracks.
71: Der Weg Einer Freiheit – Innern
Genre: Atmospheric black metalIt can be harsh and aggressive, and peaks with plenty of force, but it’s not an overwhelmingly negative minded thing. There’s wonder and constructive thought mixed in with the bleakness, making for a fuller spectrum of tonality than you might expect.
70: In The Woods… – Otra
Genre: Progressive black/doom metalIt sounds bleak and mature, but never one-dimensional, and it never gets stuck in neither misery, misanthropy or contemplation for very long at a time. It feels confidently relaxed, flexing beauty, catchiness and depth like it’s second nature.
69: A Flock Named Murder – Incendiary Sanctum
Genre: Progressive black/doom/death metalIt transitions organically into different iterations of itself like the weather on a particularly tempestuous day, and you get the feeling that it’s an elemental force that decides the fates of many.
68: Faetooth – Labyrinthine
Genre: Atmospheric doom metalThis is a very well-balanced experience, where the transitions between mellow and coarse feel otherworldly smooth, allowing you to properly immerse your mind into a world of blissful gloom without fear of getting jarred when the intensity builds.
67: Warfield – With The Old Breed
Genre: Thrash metalImmediately establishing a malicious tone and a headstrong, impatient approach to song progression, the guys deliver on this promise on track after track.
66: Nailed To Obscurity – Generation Of The Void
Genre: Melodic/progressive death/doom metalStepping comfortably into Katatonia-levels of accessibility and leaning fully into Opeth- and Leprous-like progressive-mindedness, this is a many-faceted sound that doesn’t end up over-complicated.
65: Selvans – Saturnalia
Genre: Avant-garde black/heavy metalWelcome to the theatre of the damned. It will spook you, move you, amuse you and bewitch you, and you will likely not come out the other end with your soul still in your possession.
64: Doomsday – Never Known Peace
Genre: Thrash metal/hardcoreThey successfully add an epic dimension to the sound with the guitar-led melodies and solos, and the fuck-it-all attitude shining through every seam makes it difficult not to like.
63: Cryptosis – Celestial Death
Genre: Progressive thrash/extreme metalIt’s the kind of progressive approach that isn’t exhausting in its complexity, rather being preoccupied with moving the style in different directions away from the core, precisely so that you can’t accurately label it, and instead accept it as something genuinely unique.
62: Ancient Death – Ego Dissolution
Genre: Progressive death metalIt’s not extreme in its unconventionality, but does most things in its own way, like it’s mutated from a very recognizable shape into something more complex, while retaining most of its original aspects.
61: Lik – Necro
Genre: Death metalEverything is stylistically spot on, from the hoarse, throat-rending vocals to the over-crunched guitars to the Sabbath-style-evil tone and the very moderately folk-derived melodies.
60: Conjurer – Unself
Genre: Progressive sludge/doom metalThere is frail melody to juxtapose the crashing harshness, and they craft the transitions between the two in a way that make them seem like two sides of the same coin rather than two clashing personalities, although the contrast is just as strong as you’d hope for.
59: Blindfolded And Led To The Woods – The Hardest Thing About Being God Is That No One Believes Me
Genre: Technical/experimental death metal/deathcoreThere’s awesome technical control, a good deal of groove, and it both rises into symphonic heights as well as dissolves into atmospheric mist.
58: Scorching Tomb – Ossuary
Genre: Death metalThis thing was designed to detach your skull from the spinal cord by way of excessively forceful headbanging. What you’re in for is crisp, bloodthirsty death metal in the vein of Cannibal Corpse, but with a massive focus on meaty grooves.
57: Spiritworld – Helldorado
Genre: Hardcore/thrash metalAs you listen to Spiritworld’s brand of metallic hardcore, you might think to yourself, how hard can it be to make direct, catchy riffs like this? But then the saying goes – if it was easy, everyone would do it.
56: Fell Omen – Caelid Dog Summer
Genre: Black/heavy metal/punkThis is (naturally) a single individual in a suit of armor, clearly having the time of his life playing cellar-dungeon-darkness-meets-biker-tomfoolery punky, speedy black metal. There’s nothing sinister about this, but the harshness plays a critical part as contrast to the silliness.
55: Jade – Mysteries Of A Flowery Dream
Genre: Atmospheric/melodic death metalLike a storm sweeping over the peaks of a mountain range, the sonic turbulence resounding across the valleys below, this atmospheric death metal album rolls over you, forcing you to lean into it to keep your footing.
54: Century – Sign of the Storm
Genre: Heavy metalRegardless of the fantasy-leaning, gloomy themes, and sometimes full-on doom choruses, the playing always, always takes you back to riff- and solo heaven, which feels inexplicably reassuring, like a car accelerating in perfect accord with the decreasing g-forces as it comes out of a tight bend.
53: …And Oceans – The Regeneration Itinerary
Genre: Symphonic/avant-garde black metalYou take in the first couple of minutes of a song and think you know exactly where this is headed, and then they change it up with a bit of synthwave, or an atmospheric break, only to continue in a new, interesting direction.
52: Drouth – The Teeth Of Time
Genre: Black/death metalIt has an adventurous and daring spirit to it, like the feeling you get from great epic doom and conceptually solid prog metal, and without borrowing any of the technical tropes.
51: Haggus – Destination Extinction
Genre: Grindcore/hardcoreThere are a few by-the-numbers tracks (and even these hold a high standard) and then there’s a generous handful of true entertainers, rocking your world with style shifts, endearing attitude and/or sick riffs.
50: Blackbriar – A Thousand Little Deaths
Genre: Symphonic/gothic metalI guess I’m a goth now, ’cause this stuff just instantly struck a chord with me. Not being familiar with the band, I went in with customary low expectations considering the genre, but had pretty much all of my prejudices swept away and drowned like scattered castaways in a stormy ocean.
49: Shadow Of Intent – Imperium Delirium
Genre: Deathcore/technical death metalThe balance they strike between roaring deathcore pandemonium, death metal savagery, tech death instrumental flourishes and theatrical grandeur is right up there with the very best of their discography, as well as that of their peers.
48: Mantar – Post Apocalyptic Depression
Genre: Blackened punk/sludge metalThe energy on here is bottomless and highly infectious. The blackened edge is still there, but steered more in the direction of black ‘n’ roll, which is absolutely the correct choice for this sound.
47: Teitanblood – From the Visceral Abyss
Genre: Black/death/war metalListen attentively, and you will find that it breathes, builds, rises and hunches like a terrible beast, the appearance of which you can only gleam as a black contour. If you think that the vast majority of dark extreme metal is too safe, then this is for you.
46: Dessiderium – Keys To The Palace
Genre: Progressive/melodic death metalDessiderium still play melodic, effortlessly complex extreme/death prog that explores its soundscape, sometimes like a curious little critter and sometimes like a frenzied predator.
45: Imperial Triumphant – Goldstar
Genre: Experimental/avant-garde black metalIt’s the sound of a particular brand of madness, or at least a very interesting interpretation of this madness made sonic manifest. It is art, and it is inspired, well-crafted and on-brand art at that.
44: King Parrot – A Young Person’s Guide To
Genre: Grindcore/hardcoreThis album feels like chugging gasoline and promptly pissing it onto a fire. It’s strutting with barbed wire bravado and reckless abandon, but instead of going in the murky, ultra-heavy direction of death metal, it pulls from hardcore and punk, making it agile and spiteful.
43: Mortal Scepter – Ethereal Dominance
Genre: Blackened thrash metalThere’s an air of prestige, and a tendency of wanting to flesh things out beyond the dagger-storm of riffs and hyperactive drums. There’s darkness, but in that cosmic, uncaring universe sort of way rather than demonic, and it’s not without a sense of adventure.
42: Gaahls Wyrd – Braiding The Stories
Genre: Avant-garde black metalIt feels like a small universe of its own, where we travel down a spiraling, non-linear timeline, the progression being felt as both near-stationary floating, and stark sprints of riled-up panic.
41: Jinjer – Duél
Genre: Progressive/groove metalThe balance between the harshly mechanical, startlingly aggressive, jaw-droppingly dexterous and brilliantly melodic is so pleasingly struck on here that I find my enthusiasm steadily growing as well as regularly peaking throughout the duration.
40: Sacrifice – Volume Six
Genre: Thrash metalIt’s the first by these Canadian thrash metal greats in 16 years, but there’s certainly no cobwebs to be found on here. It’s got an aggressive, blackened edge, and radiates confident, energetic malice, in a “let’s show ’em how it’s done” kind of way.
39: Morax – The Amulet
Genre: Heavy/doom metal“Occult” heavy metal, when done tastefully, can embody pretty much everything of what metal is about outside of the “extreme” sphere. The Norwegian one-man project that is Morax does exactly this.
38: Lamp Of Murmuur – The Dreaming Prince In Ecstasy
Genre: Black/gothic metalThe symphonic, gothic and prog elements that were present last time around have now been boosted, making for a more melodic and stylistically varied sound. Slightly less sharp and aggressive, but still dramatic.
37: Puteraeon – Mountains Of Madness
Genre: Death metalThis is a Lovecraft-themed, fairly cold-toned, modestly melodic, Swedish old school death metal album that boasts a beefy production, playful rhythms and a constantly threatening tinge.
36: Havukruunu – Tavastland
Genre: Black/heavy metalIt seems to come from a place of genuine musical inspiration and appreciation, and the mood goes where it’s needed in order to tell the story. Whether that be a hailstorm of sharp aggression or solo-happy, ride-across-the-hills, high-spirit stuff.
35: Sarcator – Swarming Angels & Flies
Genre: Thrash/black metalSometimes you get the sense that a metal subgenre was created awaiting the day when a band comes along and discovers a way to maximize its inherent potential. I certainly get that sense with Sarcator and blackened thrash metal.
34: Wytch Hazel – V: Lamentations
Genre: Heavy metalFrom the exquisite vocal quality to the warm embrace of the production, eager rhythms and tastefully understated but-ever-present riffs, it doesn’t break stylistic stride for a single second of its 45 minute, 9 second runtime.
33: Between The Buried And Me – The Blue Nowhere
Genre: Progressive metalI get slightly different iteration of the band with every song, and a new surprise at almost every turn. It’s got heaviness, aggression, dazzling instrumentality, excellent interplay, impactful melody and a good dose of catchiness.
32: Despised Icon – Shadow Work
Genre: Deathcore“Shadow Work” is an instant ambush assault of charging drums and demolishing guitars, rounded off with gut-punch grooves and a touch of bitter-sweet melody.
31: Blackbraid – Blackbraid III
Genre: Atmospheric folk/black metalThe album feels loaded with emotion, not in any sort of tender or overly earnest way, but the highly expressive screams and melodies on here are loaded with passion.
30: Caustic Wound – Grinding Mechanism Of Torment
Genre: Death metal/grindcoreWhile it’s a savage, dirt-covered, rotting monstrosity to the core, it’s not completely inaccessible. The riffs are meaty, the squeals are sharp, the bass is very much present and menacing, and the vocals sound like they’re hacking up innards piece by shredded piece.
29: Bleed From Within – Zenith
Genre: Metalcore/groove metalEven though there are a few tracks on here that are more miss than hit, the ones that pierce the bullseye are all radiant, vital examples of how to make youthful, melodic extreme metal that bridges the gap between light and dark.
28: Veilburner – Longing For Triumph, Reeking Of Tragedy
Genre: Progressive death/black metalInstead of a forbidden, underground ritual, we’re now in the devil’s laboratory/workshop, where all sorts of abominations are born, altered and grafted to each other and all manner of impractical objects.
27: Dormant Ordeal – Tooth And Nail
Genre: Death/black metalDespite its jaw-clenched aggression, it’s impressively controlled and highly precise, without feeling like it’s being held on a leash. The melodies give it depth and reach, without deflating the force or disrupting the progression.
26: Revocation – New Gods, New Masters
Genre: Technical death/thrash metalA lot of it sounds like a kind of complex task-solving, and I must conclude that it’s not as overwhelmingly pleasing as its predecessor. But it’s not far off, and it’s more layered, allowing you to appreciate different facets of it on each new listen.
25: Mors Principium Est – Darkness Invisible
Genre: Melodic death metalFor people like me, who desire both more of what I’ve loved previously and attempts at branching out and evolving, this is like a personalized gift basket.
24: Aephanemer – Utopie
Genre: Symphonic/melodic death metalIt’s the lofty yet playful neoclassical style that the shred monsters of the 80s championed, and bands like Chrildren of Bodom took into the realm of extreme metal, now revived with aggressive melodeath fervor and a flair of prog death complexity.
23: Weft – The Splintered Oar
Genre: Atmospheric/avant-garde black metalSteeped in achingly beautiful melody and folk-y Americana, it sweeps you off to solemn, desolate, yet breathtaking places. It builds to majestic, roaring highs of anger, but restrains the harshness to a point where its role is that of the snow-capped peak of the mountain,
22: Deftones – Private Music
Genre: Alternative/progressive metalYou get hard-hitting grooves and hardcore aggression, and it’s juxtaposed with dreamy, contemplative atmosphere, rhythm- and melody tangents, a tone that travels between deeply psychedelic and fluffy calm, and mood that goes from ecstatic elation to sadness and anxiety.
21: The Haunted – Songs Of Last Resort
Genre: Melodic death/thrash metalThey go heavy on the thrash and groove, but always with the throat-ripping vocals and a ravenous aggression fueling the momentum. The start of the album is insanely strong, and it keeps up the quality all the way through.
20: Employed To Serve – Fallen Star
Genre: Metalcore/groove metal“Fallen Star” vibrates with vigor, exploding with forceful performances and radiating positive, creative energy. A brilliant lighthouse of a release that will likely bridge the gap between the mainstream and the extreme for many.
19: Abigail Williams – A Void Within Existence
Genre: Atmospheric black metalAn album I never ended up reviewing, but certainly couldn’t leave out of this list. The gravity of it is mercilessly arresting, and it’s as masterfully dynamic as it is scrupulous in its tonal and stylistic range.
18: Qrixkuor – The Womb of the World
Genre: Atmospheric death/black metalIt feeds on your fear and causes light itself to wither and die. An orchestra of beautiful malevolence plays in the background, while the vocals hiss like serpentine demons and the guitars thrash and writhe in blind rage and agony.
17: Coroner – Dissonance Theory
Genre: Progressive thrash metalIt’s truly fascinating to get all this deadly riffage, Testament-like groove and Kreator-like snarling vocal work deftly navigating their way through a complex, yet organic and surprisingly melodic system of ebb-and-flow energy, and subtly layered moods.
16: Cryptopsy – An Insatiable Violence
Genre: Technical death metalIt’s got some of the most spine-tinglingly crushing riffs I’ve heard all year, and manages to inject austere, darkly majestic melody without it diluting the malevolence.
15: Impureza – Alcázares
Genre: Folk/death metalThe transitions between castanets and acoustic guitar and murderous chugs with predatorial vocals include both complete shifts and stylistic blends, and somehow work incredibly well regardless. A thing I didn’t realize how much I needed in my life.
14: Witherer – Shadow Without A Horizon
Genre: Blackened death/doom metalIt feels like being buried alive and hearing the earth move around your coffin like a great beast tossing and turning in its sleep, while other buried souls scream their lungs out in agony and despair all around you.
13: The Great Old Ones – Kadath
Genre: Atmospheric black metalIt is a full, rich soundscape of tragic melody and powerful natural forces that feels as steady and intentional as it is unpredictable.
12: Scalp – Not Worthy Of Human Compassion
Genre: Grindcore/death metalScalp’s third full-length feels like being subjected to a spiked, hyperactive garbage compactor infused with the rage born of the world’s collective unfairness. Again, and again, and again the album delivers cataclysmic bangers, punching up with barbed-wire-bound fists.
11: Igorrr – Amen
Genre: Experimental extreme metal“Amen” sounds like the most coherent album I’ve listened to of Igorrr’s to date, and that’s not saying it feels in any way tamed, or even housetrained. The flow writhes and glitches along in typical, spasmic fashion, and, long story short, it’s a great fucking time.
10: Allegaeon – The Ossuary Lens
Genre: Technical/melodic death metalIt’s always moving forward, in leaps and bounds, scurrying along complex tunnel networks, prowling the shadows and taking jet-fueled flight. Melodically, it’s as vibrant as it is focused, which is a hard thing to pull off.
9: Castle Rat – The Bestiary
Genre: Doom/heavy metalWhat Castle Rat does so well within the fantasy doom genre is that they don’t make music ABOUT an imaginary realm, describing it in the role of storytellers, or poke half-ironic, half-loving fun at the concept from a meta standpoint. Their music IS the fantasy realm.
8: Gorotica – Daily Grind Of The Medieval Age
Genre: Grindcore/death metalIt’s hyper aggressive and savagely heavy, but instead of sticking with the intention of simply causing damage, they’ve crafted a series of flavorful, outstanding chapters in a mildly unhinged tale of cannibalism and medieval sadism, that’s about as serious as a Tarantino-film.
7: 1914 – Viribus Unitis
Genre: Black/death/doom metalIt’s extremely well balanced, and spins a dynamic tale that takes us through the entirety of the war, and chances are good you’ll come out the other end feeling things you might not have expected from a blackened death metal project.
6: Kalaveraztekah – Nikan Axkan
Genre: Progressive/melodic death metalThis is progressive death metal that’s absolutely dripping with Mesoamerican instrumental folk elements. It makes for a saturated and highly distinct sound not quite like anything else I’ve ever heard. It hits damn hard, is highly varied, and just oozes potential.
5: An Abstract Illusion – The Sleeping City
Genre: Progressive/atmospheric death metalIt’s got amazing melodic depth, feels completely organic, and builds beautifully. It’s impressively heavy as well as hypnotically atmospheric, with the kind of pull that has you “waking up”, as if from a trance at the end of it.
4: Creatvre – Toujours humain
Genre: Progressive/avant-garde extreme metalTalk about outdoing yourself. “Toujours Humain” is alive, and running a whole bunch of different operations simultaneously, continuously evolving as its incomprehensible mind processes new information and reacts to it in ways both benign and hostile.
3: Whitechapel – Hymns In Dissonance
Genre: DeathcoreThis stuff will shake your brain into a paste of submissive appreciation that they’ll knead into a ball and throw repeatedly into a wall. There’s tons of groove, and an impressive range of tempos, vocal styles and riff tones. Did I mention it’s unbelievably goddamn heavy?
2: Warbringer – Wrath And Ruin
Genre: Thrash metalThis might be the most focused, best produced thrash metal release that I have ever heard. Pause for effect. And that isn’t even nearly the best part of it…
1: Scour – Gold
Genre: Black metal/grindcoreThe achievement of this album can be compared to the effort of mounting a chainsaw as a bayonet to a rotary cannon and somehow employing it as a precision weapon. The combination of frigid-toned, razor-edge ferocity and raw brutality on here might be the best I’ve ever heard. To me, this is everything that extreme metal is about and more.
What’s your AOTY? Voice your eclectic preferences in the comments below.
-(16)-, …and oceans, 1914, A Flock Named Murder, Abigail Williams, Aephanemer, Allegaeon, an abstract illusion, Ancient Death, Bent Sea, Between the Buried and Me, blackbraid, Blackbriar, bleed from within, blindfolded and led to the woods, Blood Abscission, Blood Monolith, castle rat, Caustic Wound, Century, conjurer, Coroner, Creatvre, Cryptopsy, Cryptosis, Dead Heat, Deftones, Der Weg Einer Freiheit, Despised Icon, Dessiderium, doomsday, Dormant Ordeal, Drouth, Employed to Serve, Faetooth, Fell Omen, For The Pyres, Frozen Land, Gaahls Wyrd, Gorotica, Haggus, Havukruunu, Hazzerd, Heruvim, Howling Giant, Igorrr, imperial triumphant, Impureza, in the woods…, inhuman condition, Jade, Jinjer, Kalaveraztekah, Kamra, katatonia, King Parrot, lamp of murmuur, Last Retch, Lik, mantar, Martröð, Morax, Mors Principium Est, Mortal Scepter, Nailed to Obscurity, nite, Oromet, outlaw, Poison the Preacher, pupil slicer, Puteraeon, Qrixkuor, revocation, Sacrifice, Sadist, sanguisugabogg, sarcator, Scalp, Scorching Tomb, Scour, Selvans, Shadow of Intent, Skaphos, spiritworld, Teitanblood, The Great Old Ones, The Haunted, Tower, Trold, Unleashed, Vacuous, veilburner, Vittra, Warbringer, Warfield, Weft, Whitechapel, Witherer, Wretched Path, wytch hazel -
Weekly rundown December 19 – 2025
Reviews of metal albums released December 13 – December 19
For the last weekly rundown I expect you’ll be paying half attention to this year, we’ve got a meagre handful of true gems that deserves to be played on repeat into the new year.
Dead Sun – This Life Is A Grave
Genre: Melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Review: Being one of Rogga Johanssons numerous projects, you can be sure that you’re getting some form of Swedish death metal that’s fairly loyal to the original recipe, and a certain base level quality is all but guaranteed. Unfortunately, there’s not all that much else to say about this melodeath album. It’s melancholy in a doomy fashion and as riff focused as you’d hope, but once you’ve listened to the first two tracks, you’ve sort of heard all of it.
Funeral Vomit – Upheaval Of Necromancy
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: A gurgly, old-school-brutal heap of mid-paced, festering fun. Is it perfectly produced? No. Is it innovative or particularly interesting? Nope. Does it get better the more you listen to it? Yup! Like a mutated, scabby beast emerging from its cave of hibernation, it takes a little time to shake off the grogginess, but once alert and mentally centered, its appetite becomes apparent.
Highlight: “Altars of Doom”
Lychgate – Precipice
Genre: Avant-garde black/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: Back after seven years with their fourth full-length, Lychgate wants to make sure you have the chance to get properly unsettled before sinking into the fluffy, warm comfort of Christmas. Listening to this album feels like being dropped into a darkened museum of bones randomly arranged into a host of abominable shapes, that all come alive around you and start to interact in confused and violent ways. The black metal side to the music is prominent, but not in a trope-y way that makes you go “oh, this is just that-and-that Norwegian band fused together”. But certainly in a way that makes you think of tormented spirits and affronts to all things pious. And the doom side provides that feeling of “dusty, haunted manor with family portraits telling a tale of worsening mental instability”. It’s a bleakly vivid sort of sound that pulls you in and leaves you wondering just where the hell your consciousness went for 47 minutes and 47 seconds.
Highlights: “”Renunciation” and “Terror Silence”
Pythonic – Decomposition (EP)
Genre: Groove/death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Review: Some Canadian pissed-off groove metal, screaming spittle at you in rhythmic fashion. There’s not quite enough on offer besides crunchy riffs and pummeling drums to really elevate it into something outstanding, but the aggression is there.
Starscourge – Conqueror Of The Stars – Betwixt Sundered Seraphim, The Lands Between Bleed
Genre: Death/black/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: A Swedish and Singaporean duo playing epic, blackened death metal inspired to a certain extent (I’m not a player, so I can’s say exactly how much) by Elden Ring. They don’t hold back, showcasing a bunch of different influences, and getting properly nerdy with the lyrics and spoken-word parts. To me, it’s unfortunately too badly produced and messily composed to get any lasting enjoyment from. Also, far too much AI in the band’s various cover art.
Taedifer – Indivinus
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: How about a sizable dose of old school Swedish-style death metal? You know I’m in. This stuff sounds like it’s caked with centuries old dirt and flaking off pieces of crispy clothing and skin as it rises out of a gargantuan tomb to trample and terrorize the surrounding villages. It’s menacing, unrelenting and in a bit of a mood, as it elbows aside insignificant concerns of melody or cerebral depth. It feels grounded in stylistic confidence and finishes off just as strong as it starts, with a couple of well-chosen guest performances.
Highlight: “Hateseed”
Weft – The Splintered Oar
Genre: Atmospheric/avant-garde black metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5Review: If you’re (for some reason) looking for only one last, freshly released album to listen to in 2025, let it be this one. I thought my highlights list for the year would be good and set by now, but “The Splintered Oar” will definitely make it on there. What Texan band Weft (masterminded by Panopticon violinist Charlie Anderson) have made here is an atmospheric black metal album steeped deeply in achingly beautiful melody and folk-y Americana taking you by the hand and sweeping you off to solemn, desolate, yet breathtakingly striking places. It builds to majestic, roaring highs of anger, offering more than enough heaviness to place it in the extreme metal category, but restraining the harshness to a point where its role is that of the snow-capped peak of the mountain, rather than covering the entire soundscape in jagged ice. It’s deeply soulful, featuring masterful violin work, a wide range of vocal style, and just enough layers to make you feel properly enveloped.
Highlights: “A Dream of Oaks” and “The Hull”
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
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Weekly rundown December 12 – 2025
Reviews of metal albums released December 06 – December 12
The darkest month of the year receives a suitable injection of black and gothic metal, with an aftertaste of harsh, modern chugging to go with it.
Abbie Falls – Life is just a temporary plan
Genre: Metalcore/nu metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: One of my first thoughts diving into this latest release from Czech band Abbie Falls was that a lot of it reminds me of Bleed From Within. It’s got a lot of the same groove, technical melodic playing, and the same level of fury, with even more frantic energy. Where it diverges is in its unabashed leanings into modern metalcore, deathcore and nu metal conventions, like the predictable breakdowns, djent-guitars and sudden shifts to turntable hip-hop rhythms. There’s also a decent amount of electronica-based industrial in here as well, and it all adds up to a fairly varied and almost desperately expressive kind of sound, like the band is clawing for your attention at every turn. The good part of that is that they’re very obviously trying very hard, and got the instrumental chops to back it up. A tad too conventional in parts, but highly entertaining.
Highlights: “Black Void” and “Purge”
Dawn Of A Dark Age – Ver Sacrum
Genre: Atmospheric black/folk metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: A melding of traditional acoustic instruments and heavy metal-level aggressive black metal into long, chant-y, slightly ritualistic feeling songs that feel a lot like epic doom. Everything is well performed, and the music moves through many rewarding phases both beautiful, sad and bitter, but in the end there’s a bit too much repetition going on to really get excited.
Kaosophia – Funeral Of The Gods
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: A Ukrainian black metal duo that, despite a few influxes of soulful, guitar-based melody and rainy-day-atmosphere, is a staunchly gritted-teeth, infernal-rumble double bass drum, raspy-vocal dark and deeply bitter kind of thing with several similarities to typically mid-to-low-paced, Eastern European blackened death metal. Most of it sounds really good, but most of it is a bit too straightforward to leave a real mark.
Lord Of The Lost – Opvs Noir Vol. 2
Genre: Gothic/industrial metal/rock
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: The German goth sensations are back with the second part to their “Opvs Noir” album released earlier this year. They’re still very much leaning into the bombastic catchiness that saw them to the Eurovision final, and even have one of the co-finalists from that year joining them on a song. There are other guests as well, and to me these collabs make for the best tracks on the album. Outside of these, there are very, very few surprises.
Highlight: “What Have We Become?”
Lust Of Decay – Entombed In Sewage
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: Some strong ear defilement coming your way in the form of semi-brutal, gory death metal with harsh, hammering rhythms, gurgling vocals and slamming riffs. There’s a modicum of groove in there, but it’s never really allowed to dominate. This is about punishment and shoveling rotting filth.
Martröð – Draumsýnir eldsins
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: Enter a whirling confluence of the damned, like an infernal whirlpool in the dark, pulling at the edges of your sanity and challenging your sense of comfort at every turn. This Icelandic/American project plays a saturated form of black metal, pouring on layers of atmosphere and disharmonic melody over rushing drums, subtle, dissonant symphonic backing elements and growling vocals somehow sounding both wet and hoarse at the same time. It’s a kind of sound that sucks you in and leaves you too petrified to turn away, as it becomes your whole reality. There are only four tracks on the album, but each play different parts in the experience, as they explore new areas of the nightmarish underworld.
Highlight: “Sköpunin” and “Dauðinn”
Orbis de Ignis – Ancestral Strides
Genre: Doom/gothic metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: This album combines a lot of what I love about the sadder side of Amorphis (much thanks to the vocal style) and Norwegian classic doom band Sahg. What this is in essence is melancholy doom in the vein of My Dying Bride, but taken in a distinctly Finnish melodic direction and added a few mild progressive touches. The guitars get to soar into overcast skies on dark daydream tangents, and the tone glides between sullen gothic introspection and trickles of hope. Not all of the melody lines work quite as well, but the ones that do have the potential to stick in your mind a long time. This has a lot of promise, and I’m looking forward to hearing more.
Highlight: “Golden Snake”
Pincer+ – Who Are You When No One’s Around
Genre: Hardcore/metalcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: A crushing, heavily metallic hardcore album out of Australia that’s got great momentum, groovy-yet-abrasive chugs and, of course, ground-splitting breakdowns. It insistently grabs a hold of your attention and keeps shaking you to the beat of the music to ensure that you’re involved all the way through the sub-22 minute runtime. There are a few, shoegaze-y melodic moments, but mostly this is about slamming your feet into the ground to the musical equivalent of breaking apart a concrete floor with sledgehammers.
Highlight: “Concrete Lullaby”
Sun Of The Suns – Entanglement
Genre: Progressive groove/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: Fronting their sound with the rumbling chug-grooves of the likes of Orbit Culture, Sun of the Suns is an Italian semi-progressive groove- and technical death metal band. It’s a modern style, but not embracing trendy tropes either, instead opting for brutal aggression mixed with classic melodic depth. There are not quite enough songs that really stand out, but there’s nothing weak either, so if you’re looking for some well-executed heavy riffs with a bit of space in between to get lost in, then this is for you.
Highlight: “On The Last Day Of Earth”
Windswept – The Devil’s Vertep
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: A black metal project by Drudkh’s Roman Sayenko, this is back-to-basics evil stuff with marching rhythms and stripped-down winter gale melodies. It sounds raw and suitably primitive, but with some depth to it, and a few well-chosen folk elements. The vocal style is a bit too phlegm-y for my taste, and overall there aren’t a ton of distinguishing features, but it’s to-the-point and confident in its unholy brand.
Highlight: “The Potion”
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
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Weekly rundown December 05 – 2025
Reviews of metal albums released November 29 – December 05
As most of the metal world shies away into its various caves as we head into December, there are always a few, brave stragglers that dare contend with the Christmas hits.
Bläkken – Swiatowstret
Genre: Black/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: You might think “yawn, yet another Polish blackened death metal band”, but this one’s a little bit different. Sure, the vocalist snarls at you like you’re the scum of the earth and the melodic and atmospheric parts drip with bitterness. But then it suddenly changes gears and roar off on neck-breaking thrashy riffs, or shuffle unexpectedly into Gojira-like prog grooves. There’s enough of it that it doesn’t feel random, and not so much that it emerges completely from the blackened death metal pit. It’s got no less than five interludes, as well as an intro, which feels like an unnecessary attempt to add depth, but at least the main tracks usually get straight to business, and when they do they hit hard.
Highlight: “Słowa zatrute goryczą”
Blood Red Throne – Siltskin
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: Didn’t expect Blood Red Throne to be back with new stuff this soon, although technically it’s been nearly two years since their January 2024 release “Nonagon” (which was a banger), but I’m sure as hell not complaining. This will be no less than their 12th full-length, and while there are definitely traces of the old school in the tone, feel and technical execution, this is very much up to date, leaning into tech death and aggressive melodeath in the vein of Black Dahlia Murder. If you’re here for riffs (no surprise if you are) then you’ll get stuffed to bursting point and beyond. Every track feels tight and purposeful, delivering heaps of punishing groove. Conceptually there’s not much to talk about, but there’s been a shift away from apocalyptic fury to the slightly darker and more sinister, which makes for a welcome, if slight, change of flavor.
Highlights: “Beneath The Means” and “Husk In The Grain”
Death Obvious – Death Obvious
Genre: Experimental death/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: Delving into the vast emptiness expecting nothing but hardship and calamity, this album will be the soundtrack to your suffering. It’s the debut album of this Finnish duo, and it’s clear that they’re trying to carve out a niche of their own. They do a lot of carving, but never really land anywhere, remaining floating and relatively undefined as the album comes to a close. They go a lot of interesting places on the way, but the question remains if there was any plan at all from the get-go.
Enthroned – Ashspawn
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Long-going Belgian black metallers Enthroned are not here to entertain you. While not piercingly dissonant or overly chaotic, hardly anything of the “Ashspawn” listening experience can be described as pleasant, catchy or harmonious. There’s very little in the way of melodic flow, it scores high on hostility, and the song structures feel ever so slightly disorienting. Personally I find just a tad too little to hold on to, but it stands out in the kvlt crowd and is undoubtedly well crafted, with a really cool album cover.
Ghoulhouse – Realm Of Ghouls
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: Very nearly on the day 1 year after their last album, Sweden’s Ghoulhouse dumps another truckload of zombie-horror, brittle-bone-crunchy death metal on your twinkly-lights-festooned doorway. For a death metal junkie it’s not all that much more than empty calories, but it’s tasty calories, and it hits the sweet spot. The vocals are ragged, the bass is meaty and the rhythms quite agile, just as it should be.
Hexjakt – Blessing Of The Damned
Genre: Doom metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: A bass-heavy, steady-moving caravan of Swedish classic doom. It borrows a bit of stoner groove and adds a lot of sludge roughness to its vocals, then explores both darkly epic, open expanses and the sinister shadows of buried ruins. It tends to get a little too comfortable grinding out the same kind of riffs for long periods of time, but manages both enveloping atmosphere and head-on confrontations to great effect.
Sepulchral – Beneath The Shroud
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: I don’t think I’ve actually come across Spanish old school death metal before, so this’ll be a first. It’s the kind that sounds both mad and kind of happy-go-lucky at the same time, as it hops along on eager, predictable rhythms, riding on warm, blunt riffs like a steadily revving engine. And yet the vocals and tone spell nothing but doom and suffering. This style of death metal feels old, like the notes were found in musty, ancient tomes. It doesn’t get lost in ritualistic atmosphere or experiment with the formula like the Veilburner album from a couple of weeks ago, but somehow seems like it comes from the same, forbidden place.
Highlight: “Blood, Phlegm, Black bile”
Skogskult – Skogskult
Genre: Stoner/doom metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: Out from the Swedish woods rumble a compact behemoth of a doomy stoner record, dragging the parts of the forest spirit caught in its chunky tires with it. That’s not to say, like the band’s name might suggest, that this is some endlessly atmospheric, folk-stuffed kind of thing. Old school doom and heavy rock ‘n’ roll form the very center of its workings, and its patient groove pairs perfectly with the phenomenal, powerful vocals. The tempo varies from a slow trudge to enthusiastic chugging, matching the mood of the given song perfectly. The album starts a bit too slow for its own good, but picks up significantly, and manages a surprisingly wide range of melodic and emotional flavors throughout. And the best part is that it doesn’t quite sound like anything else.
Highlights: “Pakten” and “Jag Ger Mig Av”
Upon A Burning Body – Blood Of The Bull
Genre: Deathcore/metalcore
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: I was not familiar with the band prior to discovering their 2022 album “Fury”, but the album plays regularly in my earbuds at the gym. It was a great mix of driving groove and metalcore aggression, with a moderate melodic dimension. With “Blood of the Bull”, the band throw themselves headlong into the current metalcore and deathcore trends, with staccato riffs and rhythms, nu-metal stomps and rapping, and poppy melodic choruses. Losing a ton of character in the process. It’s not badly made at all, but also not the slightest bit distinct.
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
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Weekly rundown November 21 – 2025
Reviews of metal albums released November 15 – November 21
In a week of serious, nefarious, heavy-blow kind of stuff, it’s the cheerful and riff-happy stuff that wins out.
Bragging Rights – Carpe Jugulum
Genre: Groove/sludge metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Do you have a desire to immerse yourself into the turbulent, lightless currents of that “The way of all flesh”-era Gojira dark, slightly droning groove riffing, having it envelop and tenderize you by way of blunt force trauma? That’s more or less what you’re in for with “Carpe Jugulum”. Compared to the earlier mentioned inspiration, this is a less progressive, more focused kind of sound, going low and at a mostly unhurried pace, but with a feeling of unstoppable momentum. There is melody, but it’s scaled back, radiating up from the depths like a faint glow, then slicing through at times with the lead guitar. Each single song is a tad one-dimensional in scope, mostly revolving around a limited number of riff- and rhythm approaches, but overall you’re not left with a lingering feeling of repetition. More like a violent, nocturnal ocean voyage.
Highlight: “Prey”
Depravity – Bestial Possession
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: Semi-technical, modestly melodic, but first of all ripping a gory path with a fierce sense of urgency, these Australian death metallers’ third full-length means business. It’s a crisp, lethal kind of sound with good low-end punch and plenty of aggression to propel it at a brisk pace. It’s a decidedly modern sound, but retaining the savagery of old and not leaning too hard on technical tropes. Personally I was missing just a bit of personality. I wouldn’t say it sounds too “clean”, but having just a few too many tracks fail to really grab my attention. Still, the playing is top notch, it’s a great blend of speedy groove and morbidity, and at it’s best it’s absolutely killer.
Highlights: “Call to the Fallen” and “Rot in the Pit”
Frozen Land – Icemelter
Genre: Power metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: Borrowing some heft from melodeath, riff elements from thrash and groove, with rhythms from straight heavy metal, and infusing it with a highly eager, instrument-forward, Finnish melodic sensibility, this is a power metal album that’s bursting with fun-factor and adventurous spirit. It has a whiff of the neoclassical, and just enough of a vague hint of Children of Bodom synth-guitar interplay that my heart immediately starts beating faster. Yes, there are quite a few parts that sound quite recognizable from others of its ilk, and the vocal performance doesn’t quite reach the level of the subgenre’s best, but there’s not a single track on here that doesn’t at least make me smile and nod my head without even thinking about it.
Highlight: “Chosen, Corrupt and Cancerous” and “Dead End”
Gloombound – Dreaming Delusion
Genre: Doom/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: We’ve had some pretty darn good funeral doom lately (Bell Witch/Aerial Ruin, Oromet), and this one still does enough to stand out. It manages the feat of combining the murkiness of old school, graveyard-death metal and the misty atmospheric sense of longing and overcast sadness of darkly emotional doom. It takes a while to get to the truly arresting moments, but be assured that they are there to be found, and worth your patience.
Highlight: “At the Precipice to Longinquity”
Morbikon – Lost Within The Astral Crypts
Genre: Black/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: This is blackened thrash that goes light on the groove and heavy on the un-holiness. There’s still shredding, to be sure, and the tempo is mostly high, with precise drum work and hairpin-turn rhythm transitions. But it draws heavily on the tone and feel of early, semi-melodic black metal. A fair bit of it reminds me of Abbath’s current solo project, which should be taken as a big compliment. It lacks a bit in uniqueness, but makes up for it with clear intent of creating something that’s constantly in your face and engaging.
Highlights: “Heavens That Burn and Eons Divided” and “Numeric Portal Ascendency”
Olde Throne – Megalith
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Going strong on the pagan vibes and leaning moderately into atmosphere, New Zealand’s Olde Throne play chilling and haunting black metal that where the harshness mostly stays clearly separated from the more melodic folk elements. They do both aggression and stretched-out, melancholy calm really quite well, which makes for a balanced and layered experience. My main issue is that the instances of jungle atmosphere and tribal instruments feel a bit misplaced, as they make promises of a different kind of flavor, when, in fact, the actual black metal is not that much different to the classic, northern European variant. But there are also songs on here where the style morphs and mixes with the folk influences, and that where you really get the character of the band shining through.
Highlight: “Ail Na Mireann”
Stone Nomads – Empires Of Stone
Genre: Doom/stoner metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: A Texan bunch of low-end groove appreciators that very successfully blend old school doom with crashing stoner riffs and that bulky Southern sludge. And while the style doesn’t sound all that original, this is not a straightforward, utterly predictable sort of release. A bit like with Pantera, they have a very clear idea for the purpose of each song, and aren’t afraid to take detours and quickly skip lanes to change things up, although always heading for the same destination. Some of the riffs on here are truly massive, and they vary the tempo and intensity to an extent you probably wouldn’t have expected for a doom project. It’s produced to sound big, like it’s inflating your skull as you listen, but it’s not complicated or overly layered – quite the opposite, and in the best possible way.
Highlights: “Desolate Sands” and “Mount Aras”
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
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Weekly rundown November 14 – 2025
Reviews of metal albums released November 08 – November 14
A week that might make you feel better about embracing the coming darkness of winter, with black and blackened metal delivering truly outstanding releases.
1914 – Viribus Unitis
Genre: Black/death/doom metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5Review: Music about WW1 should be grim, and there is little doubt that Ukrainian band 1914 agrees with me on that point. The three sides to their sound play different parts in setting the scene of warfare – the blackened presence of wasted life and hopelessness, the death metal roar of merciless, mechanized slaughter, and the doom lull of heart rending sadness and misery. Their fourth full-length exudes anger and bitterness, but also reverence. It’s extremely well balanced, and spins a dynamic tale that takes us through the entirety of the war, and chances are good you’ll come out the other end feeling things you might not have expected from a blackened death metal project.
Highlights: “1914 (The Siege of Przemyśl)” and “1918 Pt 3: ADE (A duty to escape)”
Bell Witch & Aerial Ruin – Stygian Bough Vol. II
Genre: Doom metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: It’s become a pretty safe bet that whatever lurches our way from the musty tomb Bell Witch surely record in is going to be top-notch. This time they’ve decided to make a sequel to the 2020 collaboration effort “Stygian Bough Volume I”, and once again they’ve teamed up with Aerial ruin. The good thing is that, unlike some collaboration projects, this genuinely changes the sound. Yes, it’s still funeral doom, but, despite the sorrowful tone and rather mellow vocal style, it feels like it’s (near) constantly on the move. It’s gripping, doesn’t take forever to build, and doesn’t feel repetitive for more than fleeting moments. It doesn’t quite send shivers down my spine with its peaks like they’ve managed in the past, but this is a dense, rewarding album that no doom fan should miss.
Highlights: “Waves Became the Sky” and “The Told and the Leadened”
Chairmaker – Leviathan Carcass
Genre: Grindcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: If nothing but the fastest and most furious will do for you, forget the movies and put this one on. Maybe on repeat, ’cause it’s over in less than 15 minutes. This is grindcore with death metal elements, that simply does not let up, yet calls attention to its technical riff- and drum work just enough for you to get half an appreciative nod in before it rages on. There’s a bit of dissonance and a few breakdowns just to jar your brain even further. The vocal style is a bit one-dimensional, and it’s not the most imaginative thing you’ll hear this week. But it sure as hell rips.
Highlight: “Pigfucker”
Lamp Of Murmuur – The Dreaming Prince In Ecstasy
Genre: Black/gothic metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: Following up 2023’s excellent “Saturnian Bloodstorm” was never gonna be a walk in the park, but the L.A.-based solo project Lamp of Murmuur has risen to the task. It’s not exactly more of the same, but the style will be very recognizable, and it brings the same level of unholy enthusiasm, sounding almost gleeful in its unreserved instrumental approach. The symphonic, gothic and prog elements that were present last time around have now been boosted, making for a more melodic and stylistically varied sound. Slightly less sharp and aggressive, but still dramatic, and still undeniably black metal. Some listeners will likely bemoan the slight departure from the “Immortal sound” into something a bit more rounded, but it still feels daring, committed and conceptually solid.
Highlights: “Forest of Hallucinations” and “Reincarnation of a Witch”
Stellar Circuits – Phantom :: Phoenix
Genre: Progressive/alternative metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: Here’s some moody, silky-melodied and djent-riffed prog metal for those who like it melodic and moderately emotional. I hear Chevelle, some Deftones, a pinch of later era Linkin Park and a tiny drop of Gojira – ingredients that all play together quite nicely, for a coherent and particular kind of flavor rather than a wild, adventurous mishmash. It does sound like they’re just coasting along in certain parts, but they certainly know how to pick it up and pour out some proper aggression and head-turning instrumentation. The vocals have great range, and overall the album feels highly mature and accomplished, while retaining a young and vital sound.
Highlights: “Bury The Ashes” and “The War Within”
Veilburner – Longing For Triumph, Reeking Of Tragedy
Genre: Progressive death/black metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: Now on the 8th full-length release in 11 years, the maddened musical forges of Veilburner surely never run cold. Last year’s “The Duality of Decapitation and Wisdom” was the one that finally caught my attention, and I was both taken aback and enamored with how it sounded so different from pretty much everything else in the blackened death metal sphere. The weirdness thankfully lives on with this one. Instead of a forbidden, underground ritual, we’re now in the devil’s laboratory/workshop, where all sorts of abominations are born, altered and grafted to each other and all manner of impractical objects. It’s a riff-heavy release, with some solos and tasteful melodic work, which makes it extra fun, but it’s also got a patient, doomy side that does introduce a bit of repetition and slight stagnation every now and then. Still, it very much stands on its own and keeps up the highly impressive quality of this hard-working band.
Highlights: “Pestilent Niche” and “That Which Crypts Howls Grandeur”
Voidceremony – Abditum
Genre: Experimental death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: How about some death metal in the style of an experimental jazz jam, while being unpredictably pulled into a black hole? This is a dense sounding and fairly restless sort of listening experience, with any one approach rarely lasting more than 15 seconds. It’s well produced, and they haven’t drowned the instrumental performances in layers of atmosphere, which makes it surprisingly quick to get into if you’re of the mind to pay proper attention. If you’re not, then you might very well suffer a headache. Behind all the perceived randomness there’s some razor sharp technicality, and you’re definitely getting a well-measured and varied progression rather than just a wall of noise.
Highlight: “Seventh Ephemeral Aura”
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
