GONZO’S HEAVY ROUNDUP, END-OF-SUMMER EDITION, 2025

(Denver-based NCS scribe Gonzo wrote the following album-review roundup, covering four albums released in July or August and one released a week ago.)

As per usual with every summer, I’ve spent about 75% of it in places that don’t include being in front of my computer. And when I am seated here in this vaunted throne, I’m staring at work. The kind that pays the bills. Sigh.

But really, who am I to complain? After a three-year wait, this summer’s resurgence of Fire in the Mountainswas everything it ever could’ve been and more, highlighting a July that was filled with all kinds of uplifting moments. And while I was out galivanting in the woods for undetermined lengths, tons of new releases came gurgling out of the ether that I have yet to write about.

Let’s fix that.

 

IN THE COMPANY OF SERPENTS, A CRACK IN EVERYTHING

The venerable Denver trio In the Company of Serpents had been relatively quiet for the past few years, save a few local shows here and there. And considering bassist Ben Pitts’ schedule with his other gig in Nightwraith, it’s impressive that ITCOS came out swinging with a release as strong as A Crack in Everything.

ITCOS brilliantly fuses sludge and stoner metal into a smoldering sound that’s distinctively their own. They did it with alacrity in 2020’s epic Lux, and A Crack in Everything picks up the torch right where they left it nearly five years ago. The band has always had a strong flow of Denver sound—or as I like to call it, tumbleweed metal—in their DNA, and Crack is full of masterclass moments in that esoteric art form. “A Patchwork Art” comes to mind first, wielding its dusty-twang-turned-bile-spewing-angst throughout.

“Cinders” kicks open the saloon door with a subtle head-nodding groove that’s ripe for whiskey drinkin’, and standout track “Endless Well” bursts out with apocalyptic lyrics and supporting vocals from Goya’s Jeff Owens. From start to finish, A Crack in Everything is undoubtedly one of the crown jewels of the Denver metal scene this year.

https://inthecompanyofserpentsdoom.bandcamp.com/album/a-crack-in-everything
https://www.facebook.com/InTheCompanyOfSerpents

 

DUSK CULT, FOLKLORE DISCIPLINE

In our modern metal landscape of genre-bending and blending comes Australia’s innovative Dusk Cult. One part Be’lakor (Elliott Sansom) and one part Rainshadow (Ben Williamson), this duo has low-key made a formidable impression in the depths of the underground.

Fused together with sinews of folk and black metal, Folklore Discipline roars its way through nine tracks that run the gamut between both members’ other day jobs in their respective bands. At times, it’s like Agalloch and Be’lakor released an album of B-sides. In other moments, the band channels the marauding folk-metal gallop of Winterfylleth.

More variance is thrown into the pot with both Sansom and Williamson splitting the vocal duties; one of whom is charged with raw bile-spitting rage, and the other sports more of a deeper, guttural roar. Tracks like “Verbraucht” and “Old Oak Remains” showcase what this duo is capable of in both the vocals and instrumentation. If Folklore Discipline is any indication of what these dudes can produce when they’re together, the sky’s the limit.

https://duskcult.bandcamp.com/album/folklore-discipline
https://www.facebook.com/DuskCultMusic

 

FARSEER, PORTALS TO COSMIC WOMB

I’m partial to bands that add a generous dusting of psychedelia into their sound, and Chicago’s Farseer have made a believer out of me.

Portals to Cosmic Womb is a post-metal powerhouse that’s fueled by gnashing vocals and unpredictable tempo stampedes. Each of the six tracks here is very much its own self-sufficient journey that makes up the greater whole. There’s some flirting with death metal’s nihilistic undertones, sure, but the backbone of Farseer is more rooted in sludgy doom. “Endless Waves of Obliteration” in particular is an unrelenting eight-minute tour de force that alternates between sludge at its grimiest and an almost jam-band-like interlude.

There might only be six tracks here, but there’s plenty to sink your teeth into throughout. In fact, I listened to Portals several times in a row before adding it to this column, and not only was I never bored, but I noticed something new with each spin. Check “The Abomination Renders the Poor Man Speechless” for the most prescient example.

https://farseerofchicago.bandcamp.com/album/portals-to-cosmic-womb
http://facebook.com/farseerofchicago

 

HEMELBESTORMER, THE RADIANT VEIL

If you can’t get enough post-metal this month, I’ve got good news: Hemelbestormer may have released one of the best albums of the year within that subgenre.

Translating to “stormer of heaven” in Dutch, these Belgians have been rumbling around Europe’s festival circuit for the past 13 years. They have a propensity for writing cathartic, nearly anthemic metal that dips a finger into the same well that’s been long since immortalized by their fellow countrymen in Amenra. On The Radiant Veil, though, Hemelbestormer have taken the kind of proverbial leap that can define a band’s identity.

When I played opening track “Usil” for a friend who’s quite savvy in the post-metal world, he described it as “sounding like one final heroic push to defeat some kind of unstoppable cosmic evil.” Not only did I tell him I’m shamelessly stealing that description, but it’s an applicable way to sum up this album in its entirety: Bold, captivating, and grandiosely heavy. It’s all enough to make me forget that there are virtually no vocals found throughout, save Philip Jamieson’s stirring contributions on “Turms.” If that’s the only complaint, though, it’s pretty indicative of a solid hour of heavy music.

https://hemelbestormer.bandcamp.com/album/the-radiant-veil
http://www.facebook.com/Hemelbestormer

 

JORD, EMELLAN TRADEN

We all have our preferred therapy of choice. Mine just happens to be a group of angry Scandinavian men screaming about how sad they are.

Much like Alcest and Insomnium and so many other bands who drench their depression in riffs and atmosphere, Sweden’s Jord wields a sound that packs an emotional wallop. Emellan Traden picks up the torch the band left burning brightly after 2023’s Tundra and carries it into intensely searing territory. The opening trio of songs grabbed me immediately, the spectacular “King of the Night” leading the way with its masterful use of dynamics and an instantly memorable piano hook.

The band flirts with the occasional blast beat, which might be enough to plaster the “atmospheric black metal” label upon a corpse-painted face, but there’s a lot more to their sound than that. I’d go so far as to argue their sound hits its peak when they stretch it out from a slow beginning into a calculated, methodical crescendo (see “Prinsessan och Hasten” for a good example.) It’s that razor-sharp use of songwriting that propels the whole of Emellan Traden into such addictive territory, and why it has a strong chance of showing up in my annual Listmania in just a few months.

https://hammerheart.bandcamp.com/album/emellan-tr-den

 

Like what you’ve heard? Follow my best-of-2025 playlist for selections from everything you’ve just read, and a whole helluva lot more.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7zWqE685GVpuB5M3qRDvog?si=08d80939b43e4d89