(Norway-based metal writer Chile joined our cadre roughly 13 months ago, a bit too late (or too soon) to participate in last year’s LISTMANIA orgy, but he does so this year with an excellent list of 25 albums that helped make 2025 a great year for metal.)
2025, eh? Bloody hell. We’ve felt the dissociation induced by the constant barrage of whatever was going wrong with the world on that particular day. We’ve felt the joy of new beginnings and the desperation of old wounds clawing at our serenity. We’ve felt compassion for the suffering of others, but were sometimes too helpless to act. There was 4 AM whiskey-soaked wisdom, there was bloody-knuckled politics.
We’ve made mistakes, and tried making some of them right again. Some by the grace of others, some we will take to our graves. The clouds passed by, and the days beneath them are passing still. We’re only human, after all. And in the midst of it all, there was the pure, thaumaturgical elation that metal brings to our lives and like all addictions compels us to come back for more. So here we are again.
It may be December already, but rest assured some of these words were put to paper as early as February or March without really knowing will there be a December. There are letters here that have felt the warm, southerly breeze that swept the remaining petals across the graves of the friends we’ve lost and there are some put down in the bitter cold wind surging from the North, whirling the snowflakes through the barren trees. Strange how time works.
Finding the words, scattered over the four seasons, was the easy part. Harder part was always going to be choosing a somewhat manageable number of albums, out of thousands upon thousands of records released in 2025. I’ve found myself sitting on a list of over forty albums already in early May, so you can only imagine how this went on throughout the rest of the year.
Anyway, the chosen twenty-five albums reflect the past twelve months in metal and since we don’t use any noticeable rating system here, except the clean, wholesome quality, there is also no need for putting them in any particular order, as music is not a competition (except Eurosong, but that’s not important right now). Choices made contain some of the albums we reviewed here and there are some we have missed altogether. That’s life.
Barshasketh – Antinomian Asceticism (World Terror Committee)
It is then only natural to begin this wild hunt through the 2025 with the earliest released album on this list. Antinomian Asceticism came out so early in January, that we were still hungover from the feast of 2024. Nevertheless, if there ever was an album to cleanse the palate for the new year, this was it. Striving after what is forbidden, driven by pure desire to reach what was denied to all of us, the band channels their primal energy into these seven songs of awe-inspiring black metal.
Acting as purveyors of some ancient gnostic knowledge, Barshasketh release their occult rites onto an unsuspecting world. From the very first bell chime of “Radiant Aperture” that turns immediately into a torrential riff smothering us in a veil of darkness, the album works in mysterious ways slithering through the cracks of our consciousness invoking images known and unknown.
Songs like the devastating “Nitimur in Vetitum” or the monumental title track just reinforce our belief in the band’s black arts, while constantly rewarding us with new discoveries with each new playthrough.
https://barshasketh.bandcamp.com/album/antinomian-asceticism
Decline of the I – Wilhelm (Agonia Records)
The conjunction of philosophy and metal will not come as something surprising to anyone, as many bands adhere to the various philosophical schools using them as a starting point for inspiration and their own interpretations. With that said, some bands do take it to the extremes and this we can safely say goes for our guests from France, Decline of the I.
Already having one trilogy under their belts based on experiments of their countryman Henri Laborit, the band endeavoured on a new one with their album Johannes from 2021, this time based on the oeuvre of Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. Wilhelm marks the second part of the band’s continuing study of these post-black landscapes and the philosophies contained therein.
Make no mistake, black metal is still the glue that holds everything together, but the various additions of samples, strings, and electronic elements is what elevates the album to a whole other plane of existence. Look no further than the absolute crushing beauty of “Entwined Conundrum” or the equally haunting “Diapsalmata” for some of the prime examples of band’s mastery in fusing these seemingly disparate constituents together.
https://declineofthei.bandcamp.com/album/wilhelm
Havukruunu – Tavastland (Svart Records)
Finland and its well-documented contributions to the world of metal are, well, thoroughly substantiated by the sheer magnitude of bands on the scene and released albums, so it only makes sense that we’ll come across a few of them on this list. Havukruunu is one of them and they are a band that’s been on a roll ever since their debut, releasing great music album after album.
Tavastland, being their fourth one, keeps the flame burning and rides on triumphantly into battle on wings of fast, sharp riffs and guitar solos so epic that they’re bound for eternal glory. Thematically, the album deals with Finnish history and the fight against Christianity, with the band pouring every single ounce of passion into these eight songs, and it shows.
Having a penchant to be both catchy and heavy is one of the Havukruunu’s greatest strengths and makes songs like the driving title track or the ridiculously epic “De Miseriis Fennorum” so effective, as if beckoning: Come and sing with me the stories, come and chant with me the legends, legends of the times forgotten.
https://havukruunu.bandcamp.com/album/tavastland
Vacuous – In His Blood (Relapse Records)
It was already mentioned at some point that this year was a great year for death metal. And, yes, one could argue that most of the years are great, but some are just greater. This especially comes into view when considering records like the new album by the British death metal forces in Vacuous.
Drawing their inspiration from the human horrors of this world, which just makes it more terrifying than your run-of-the-mill death metal gimmicks, the band bludgeons us with these freshly cut pieces of misanthropic rage. There is a certain departure in sound from the band’s debut (not too far, though), playing into their wishes to make every album as distinct as possible.
Distinctiveness on In His Blood occurs primarily through the band’s willingness to push themselves to previously unexplored spaces coupled with some of the strongest songwriting on a death metal record this year. As always, the best way to evidence this is with the music itself, so just go and marvel at the eerily addicting “Hunger” or the total suffocating darkness of “Contraband”.
https://vacuousdeath.bandcamp.com/album/in-his-blood
Scalpture – Landkrieg (Testimony Records)
Thomas Hardy wrote that “war makes rattling good history, but peace is poor reading”. I guess it is not surprising then why we have a whole lot of metal bands inspired by war, because various peace accords just don’t cut it as a subject. Anyway, warfare is a constant theme in metal ever since “generals gathered in their masses” and plenty of bands have made it their only point of interest.
The German troops in Scalpture also follow that path, but on their fourth album make a marked difference and move away from the 20th century’s world wars which seem to dominate the narrative for metal bands. The band looks further back in history and treats us with a lesson in The Thirty Years’ War, which as you all know was fought in Europe between 1618 and 1648 and is one of the most devastating conflicts up to that point.
The acoustic intro “The Fall…” does not prepare us for the all-out attack of “Into Catastrophe” which comes rolling in like a battalion of, well not tanks, because there were no tanks in the 17th century, but you get the picture. OK then, the trampling continues with supreme cuts like “Wallenstein” and “Hell’s Choirs Chant” and it is exactly this brand of equally brutal and evocative death metal, coupled with THAT cover painted by the supreme Eliran Kantor, what makes Landkrieg an obligatory listen.
https://scalpture.bandcamp.com/album/landkrieg
Osgraef – Reveries of the Arcane Eye (Amor Fati Productions)
There’s being serious about your luciferian black metal and then there’s being really serious about it. The pure fun factor of thinking in these terms makes me smile in many mildly disturbed ways, especially when discovering bands that take it to a whole other level.
In comes Osgraef, the American band seriously dabbling in the occult, luciferian subjects with their debut album (made by experienced musicians though), to remind us of that original rebel and his eternal fight against the celestial authority. With none of the satanic marketing ploys or gimmicks employed by some of the bigger names, the band storms through these six infernal hymns leaving behind a million shattered destinies, slowly drowning in tears of flame.
Carving their sigils into our skin, the sacrilegiously delightful “Sekhem Apep – Vampyre’s Enscription” bursts through the gates of blasphemy setting the pace, while elsewhere impudence-invoking “Magick Wound (Slithering Omnipotence of Thoth)” or the untameable “Mystik Lore – Ancient Summoner of Osgraef” flaunt those hellish visions right before our eyes. Black candles are lit, and everybody’s in. The ceremony is about to begin.
https://amorfatiproductions.bandcamp.com/album/osgraef-reveries-of-the-arcane-eye
Teitanblood – From the Visceral Abyss (Norma Evangelium Diaboli)
The Spanish overlords of monstrous black/death bestiality known as Teitanblood returned in late March after six years with yet another destructive force of an album. From the Visceral Abyss is the band’s fourth album and more or less continues on the path of total obliteration and utter darkness set by its predecessors.
Like finding yourself in the middle of a Zerg rush armed only with a blunt blade, this abominable beast bludgeons you mercilessly right from the start with its wall of sound destined to drill deep into your mind. As always with their music, two words that come to mind are controlled chaos, for there is a structure rising from the abyss, even when it seems that the foundations are sinking into the sand, things fall apart and the centre cannot hold.
Vertiginous guitars apply constant pressure on the listener, demanding attention as evidenced in the ravaging title track, while the deadly “And Darkness Was All” or the writhing fifteen-minute monolith of “Tomb Corpse Haruspex” showcase this band’s propensity for all-out madness.
https://teitanblood.bandcamp.com/album/from-the-visceral-abyss
Ancient Death – Ego Dissolution (Profound Lore Records)
Death metal bands dealing with death, well, no surprise there. Surprises abound when some of those bands expand their worldviews by turning their gaze towards the cosmic expanses (or the unfathomable depths of inner-selves) and away from the deafening silence of the graves.
Ancient Death follows that suite to the letter, flying towards the Lagrange point where the gravitational pulls of both Death and Blood Incantation provide an equlibrium of influences. The band stands on its own though and provides us with 35 minutes of some the most varied death metal put to record this year, and with this being their debut, makes it even more of an accomplishment.
Word of caution though: this is still primarily a death metal album, and as such is absolutely bulging with monster riffs and fantastic guitar solos. The opening title track makes this crystal clear with its display of an uncompromising blend of savageness and other-worldly trippiness, with other highlights being the most-infectious-song candidate “Breaking the Barriers of Hope” and the philosophically inclined “Violet Light Decays”.
https://ancient-death.bandcamp.com/album/ego-dissolution
Kexelür – Epigrama de un pasado perdido (Sun & Moon Records)
And now for something completely different. Well, at least somewhat different. “Unsettling” is an adjective that accompanies a lot of metal music and is one of the main reasons we love it. While we’re at it, you can also throw in “unnerving” and “disconcerting”. Now we’re arriving somewhere, but not quite here.
The main reason for this come in the form of the debut album by the Chilean band Kexelür which seems intent on packing many of these uncomfortable adjectives into its three songs. Epigrama de un pasado perdido obfuscates our descent into the vast underground dwellings and makes us feel for our every step as we move slowly downwards. We are ensconced in the darkest gloom, not knowing what makes us stumble.
The band invoke these feelings of dread with ease, infusing their black metal with some off-kilter guitar playing and effects, almost coming off as some antipodean Dødheimsgard. All of this best shines through on the album’s centerpiece “Ningún resplandor evitará el final” which develops a magnitude of ideas in its thirteen minutes, making it for one of the most compelling pieces of music heard this year.
https://kexelur.bandcamp.com/album/epigrama-de-un-pasado-perdido
Caustic Wound – Grinding Mechanism of Torment (Profound Lore Records)
There is no doubt that I am constantly treading the line of “metal should be fun” and “metal should acknowledge the mess of the world we live in”. For the time being, I can do both, but then comes an album that just puts you in a state of mind that makes the aforementioned mess that much palpable.
This year, that album is Caustic Wound’s sophomore effort, the devastatingly grim Grinding Mechanism of Torment. The band puts all the pieces together perfectly, packed with nothing but raging fury into these sixteen statements of intent, and their absolutely blistering set at Kill-Town Death Fest in Copenhagen sealed my opinion of Caustic Wound being one of the premier forces to be reckoned with in metal today.
The sheer strength of this album could already be felt at the time of its release, by getting not one, but two glowing reviews here on No Clean Singing. Not much to add to what’s already been said, just go and enjoy these 28 pissed-off minutes, with damage dealers like “Advanced Killing Methods” and “Human Shield” leading the way.
https://profoundlorerecords.bandcamp.com/album/grinding-mechanism-of-torment
Jade – Mysteries of a Flowery Dream (Pulverised Records)
On one hand, I feel that the genre of atmospheric black metal is somewhat crowded, if not overdone. On the other one though, I do feel we need more of the atmospheric death metal. Such is our luck then, that not only there is a growing number of bands dabbling in the genre, but we can also attest that one of the best releases this year comes straight out of this genre’s playbook.
You may think that having a title like Mysteries of a Flowery Dream may be more suitable for a 1960s psychedelia band, but rest assured that Jade’s sophomore album hits as hard as anything else on this list. Right off the start, eerie guitars fill up the oneiric void coupled with whispering voices commanding us into the arms of the Sandman giving way to expansive riffs and melodies that seem to grow in stature with each passing breath.
Unraveling those mysteries come at a price of being completely mesmerized by the majestical effervescence of “Shores of Otherness” or the paradoxically luminous “Darkness in Movement”, as we are gladly taken under their wings. Visions cupped within a flower, deadly petals with strange power, indeed.
https://emperorjade.bandcamp.com/album/mysteries-of-a-flowery-dream
Vauruvã – Mar da Deriva (Unsigned/independent)
The global reach of metal is a well-documented fact with new bands springing forth from all four corners of the Earth. We are that much richer, for some of these bands are constantly bringing something new to the table, pulling the influences from their respective cultures. In this sense, one of the most fruitful parts of the world is South America, a continent known for its undying love and support of everything metal.
And out of that wonderful place called Brazil, before us now stands Vauruvã, with their third album Mar da Deriva. Consisting of three long movements, the album cuts a slender note at its 35 minutes, and just like that great river, takes us effortlessly in its flow. With one hand caressing the river’s surface and our eyes set on the constellations above, the band takes us on a transcendental journey to those hidden places that lie just west of the moon and east of the sun.
The sound is based primarily on black metal’s more avant-garde leanings, with the band making good use of instrumentation at their disposal, with the fabulous “As selvas vermelhas no Planeta dos Eminentes” being the album’s crown achievement. As a side note, although released independently back in May, the physical releases are coming out on the Flowing Downward label just about now.
https://vauruva.bandcamp.com/album/mar-da-deriva
Martwa Aura – Lament (Malignant Voices)
Most people (or some, at least) would say that the elusive sweet spot of album length lies in the Goldilocks zone between 35 and 42 minutes. Be it as it may, there are also albums that I just wish would go on for at least a couple more songs. The third album by the Polish black metal stalwarts in Martwa Aura is exactly that album.
Both lying in that just enough timespace with its 39 minutes, but at the same time leaving the listener with an evergrowing wish for more, Lament ticks all the boxes for a classic example of doing things right. Released in May, the album still holds sway and I keep coming back to it, with these seven songs scratching that itch for the uncompromising black metal.
Furious and angry, as it should be, the band intertwine this intensity with just enough melodic leads and atmospheric details to keep things interesting and moving forward. Although we could pick any of the six laments or the concluding “Morbus Animus II” as representative, “Lament drugi” is that one song which embodies the band’s philosophies to the fullest.
https://martwa-aura.bandcamp.com/album/lament
Balmog – Laio (War Anthem Records)
Maybe I am being too idealistic or romantic in my views, or probably both, but with how things are developing right now with the emerging technologies and their abuse of art, I am hoping that metal music could be one of the last vestiges of human creativity, at least until the whole place burns up finally. That is why I feel it is imperative to support the bands making great music, album after album.
One of those bands are the Galician masters of the occult black metal (and skulls on their album covers), the inimitable Balmog. Laio being their fifth album shows a band in full command of their powers and with a maturity that experience normally brings. Already subjected to a full review here on No Clean Singing in early July, we can only reiterate the main points.
With its unique blend of black metal intensity and a certain classic rock, or even punkish, energy, the band created one unique-sounding record. From the opening intro “Falling” to the closing duo of songs consisting of the hard hitting “The Silence of the Trumpets” and the masterful slow-burner “Getsemaní”, the band exhibits all traits of greatness.
https://balmog.bandcamp.com/album/laio
Patristic – Catechesis (Willowtip Records)
I am not sure at what point in the last thirty or so years and who or what triggered it, but my taste in metal took a steady, spiraling turn towards the weird and weirder time signatures and general dissonance (not that I turned my back on the “normal” stuff). You may call it a natural progression, as our musical tastes expand into the unknown, searching for that missing key to unlock our minds’ door.
Now, before scaring some people away, it needs to be said that our Italian friends in Patristic are not nearly as dissonant as some other bands on this list (for example, like their compatriots just below). Instead, the band treads the thin, black/death line between the oddities and the more traditional motifs of the two genres. Catechesis consists of six songs, split into two distinct chapters with “A Vinculis Soluta” having two parts, and “Catechesis” four.
Conceptually, the album deals with the writings of early Christian authors and draws on that mysticism elucidating words veiled by history. The songs benefit from a stellar production job, making this one of the best sounding albums this year, and the band’s performance is nothing short of spectacular. “Catechesis I” is a prime example of building the tension in a supreme fashion, releasing it authoritatively and catching us completely off guard.
https://patristic.bandcamp.com/album/catechesis
Noise Trail Immersion – Tutta la morte in un solo punto (I, Voidhanger Records)
It is always a good sign for any band going into their second decade and having a number of albums under their belts, that there are still many different spaces to explore so that you can keep your fans guessing at what’s next. Italian mindmelters Noise Trail Immersion are exactly that band.
Their previous album Curia from 2021 introduced more atmospheric parts into their chaotic mix of mathcore and black metal, thus creating a new perspective for their music, but instead of going further down that path, the band throw at us another curveball in the form of their new album.
Being fifteen minutes shorter than its predecessor speaks volumes, making its punch even more evident with the band doing away with most of the atmospherics and concentrating on deviant, dissonant disturbances not unlike a certain French band known for such excursions. Guitars snarling and writhing, all focusing on that single point of death, bring out the best in the maniacally frenzied “Spire di Sangue” or the frenziedly maniacal “Culla e Bara”.
https://i-voidhangerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/tutta-la-morte-in-un-solo-punto
Floating – Hesitating Lights (Transcending Obscurity Records)
One of many things I love about metal is its ability to take me completely by surprise by throwing at me all kinds of weird music which fall under its wide umbrella of genres, subgenres, and their various mixtures. Such is the matter with the Swedish band Floating and their sophomore album Hesitating Lights.
Completely unaware of their debut (a mistake corrected by now), I went into this without any preconceptions, trusting the good people at Transcending Obscurity with their recommendations, and sometimes people deserve their faith to be rewarded. Semantics aside, calling this a death metal record would be a misnomer of sorts, because Floating stretches genre’s capacity for innovation and brings in a ton of other influences which all seem to work for the album’s benefit.
Think about what Hail Spirit Noir does with black metal, then apply it here for death metal and you’ll be coming close. By adding a healthy dose of The Cure and their post-punk/gothic leanings, the band take these songs to some unpredictable places, resulting in winners like the gnarly “Grave Dog” or the outlandish album closer “The Waking”.
https://floating-label.bandcamp.com/album/hesitating-lights
Sea Mosquito – Majestas (I, Voidhanger Records)
Paraphrasing Ursula Le Guin here, who wrote that first sentences in novels are doors to worlds, meaning those first few words can pull you straight into the novel’s universe, can also easily be applied to metal and its ability to do a similar thing with just a few opening notes. Be it a fast, ominous riff or slow, atmospheric intro, it sets the scene, commanding your attention.
The unorthodoxically named British band Sea Mosquito chooses to open their sophomore album Majestas with a bang in a burst of agonizing vocals and whirling guitars, instantly submerging us into the boundless vasts of this record. It is somewhat hard to give a precise description of the music involved here, with so much going on and the album seemingly traversing the boundaries of several black metal subgenres making a completely fresh take on the established tropes.
Consisting of six expansive musical pieces, which we can also refer to as songs, the band create an evocative, almost spiritual in nature, sonic landscape that pans through our senses, constantly revealing new meanings and images. Behold the rampaging “Ascension” or the ode to one’s own mortality “To Look Upon Your Own Skeleton” and you’ll get a clearer picture of the band’s intentions.
https://i-voidhangerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/majestas
Defacement – Doomed (Unorthodox Emanations)
Moving in the general vicinity of dissonance, many bands have tried their luck with the discordant side of metal, but as with everything, some lead the way, others follow in their footsteps. The international crew in Defacement saw a meteoric rise in their stature in underground circles and have steadfastly found themselves at the forefront of said tendencies.
Taking into account the quick turnover of new music from the band (the previous album came out a year ago at the time of release of Doomed in August), one could agree that Defacement is intent on striking while the iron is hot. And strike, they most certainly do. Their fourth album Doomed finds the band in the state of continuing growth, expanding their reach by adding even more post-rock elements to their trademarked frenzy of dissonant riffs.
Admittedly, while all of their albums contain interludes that stray into that atmospheric territory, here there is no clear demarcation line, with songs flowing effortlessly between these two excited states constantly, adding energy to the mixture. Using “Unexplainable” as an archetypal song, what starts in a flurry of demolishing riffs takes a turn midway into the atmospheric noctilucence, thus showing the band in constant motion.
https://defacementofficial.bandcamp.com/album/doomed
Proscription – Desolate Divine (Dark Descent Records)
Setting sail back to Finland, here we are again disembarking on those glorious shores full of metal wonders. Upon us, the sophomore album by the mighty Proscription looms large like some ancient darkness invoked from the abyssal dimensions. Desolate Divine marks a timely return for these Finns, for it was a long wait of five years from their monster debut.
Although the new album mostly follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, merging twisted melodies and destructive riffs, we could argue that at some point Desolate Divine turns onto an even darker and less-travelled path, which is a remarkable feat in itself, considering the absolute darkness of their debut.
The whole affair feels denser and meaner, even with the scattered melodies adorning the serpentine riffs seemingly coming from a void beyond the desolate plains of despair. For those in need of a proof, the deleteriously crushing “Bleed the Whore Again” or the titanically stomping “Heave Ho Ye Igneous Leviathan” are as good a start as any.
https://darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/desolate-divine
Gawthrop – Kuboa (Sentient Ruin Laboratories)
Heaviness in metal is always subjective, or so to speak, it’s in the ear of the beholder. Still, even the untrained ear will have no problems in recognizing that some things are much heavier than others. Such is the matter with the South Korean band Gawthrop and their debut album Kuboa.
The dense, oppressive tones emanating from the hell of this album make for an unsettling, suffocating experience right from the very first second of “Bulbocapnine” and cannot be described in any other way but crushingly heavy. Low, rumbling currents from the deep form this neutron star of an album resulting in its formidable density pulling us into a state of oblivion.
While having most of the hallmarks of doom and sludge metal, these are only used as threads that are constanly woven into the fabric of obliterating heaviness, thus creating the unique atmosphere that permeates the entire 37 minutes of Kuboa.
True to its nature, all of this is best reflected in the monumentally deranged “Jumbo” or equally agonizing “Granfalloon” which serve as exemplary songs for the album as a whole. In addition, the unexpected cover of “In Heaven”, a song originally from David Lynch’s “Eraserhead”, is a fittingly twisted tribute to the late director.
https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/album/kuboa
Qrixkuor – The Womb of the World (Invictus Productions)
Generally speaking, there are two types of bands. Ones that have found their formula and are sticking to it like their lives depend on it, and then there are ones that keep coming back into the laboratory to develop new formulas fatal to the flesh by adding new ingredients with every new round of experiments. You may have guessed it, the British peddlers of occult monstrosities in Qrixkuor fall into the latter category.
Charting a clear path across their career, The Womb of the World comes as a definitive sublimation of everything the band did so far. The expansive, world-shattering ambition of their debut Poison Palinopsia and the emerging, lavish instrumentation of the 2022 EP Zoetrope coalesce here in a sound so rich and cinematic that it puts these four movements on par with anything done by even the greatest composers.
An overstatement maybe, but there is no denying the band’s aspiration to grow far beyond the constraints of death metal and its genre labels. Be it the harrowingly nightmarish “Slithering Serendipity” or the bewildering greatness of the title track, the only question remaining is where do you go after this?
https://invictusproductions666.bandcamp.com/album/the-womb-of-the-world
Terror Corpse – Ash Eclipses Flesh (Dark Descent Records)
Marching further through the death spectrum of extreme metal, we are visited by the American masters of savage riffs and monstrous visions of decaying worlds, namely Terror Corpse, raised from the rotting cadaver of Malignant Altar. With their debut album, the band carves a path right through the heart of the genre in what could be called the purest distillate of death metal, if there ever was one.
Thematically, Ash Eclipses Flesh oozes its obsession with death and carnal malevolence, and although there is no real invention here, the need for bands like Terror Corpse is as great as ever, for only by learning from the past can we protect the future. The marvelous cover art is a perfect representation of the ghastly landscapes the band invokes and just unleashes relentlessly onto us in the form of these ten bone-crushing stompers.
From the first note of the massive “Pyre of Ash and Bone” to the punishing descent into the vaults of dread in the magnificent cover of Celtic Frost’s “Into the Crypts of Ray”, the band simply delivers.
https://darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/ash-eclipses-flesh
The Ominous Circle – Cloven Tongues of Fire (Osmose Productions)
Buried somewhere in my subconsiousness, there lies a list of bands whose return I eagerly await. Some will probably never release anything new, but then some surprise us after a long wait and just drop the announcement (or the album itself, yes, looking at you No Solace).
Anyway, The Ominous Circle. The Portuguese death bringers return after almost eight years of silence since their debut with their second full-length album, the crushingly sulphuric Cloven Tongues of Fire. Passing time certainly made an impact, but it did not dull the razorblade sharpness of the band’s music. Coming back leaner and meaner, The Ominous Circle’s devastatingly overwhelming brand of death/black metal just floods our senses with its blasphemic immanations.
The band is constantly pushing us further down into the abyss, with the drumming of Marcelo Aires being an absolute highlight of the album and one of the best performances heard this year. With five proper songs and two intro/interludes, these wails of the damned souls echo beyond the apocalypse, culminating in the deviantly tyrannical “Writhing, Upturning, Succumbing” and the hellishly stifling ten-minute closer “Utterance of the Formless”.
https://osmoseproductions.bandcamp.com/album/cloven-tongues-of-fire
Lychgate – Precipice (Debemur Morti Productions)
Well, being in danger of repeating myself and as luck would have it, there comes another band whose return was eagerly awaited, although not really expected. Lychgate most certainly falls into that category, what with their previous album coming out all the way back in 2018 (and OK, they’ve had an EP also in 2020, but still).
Although the end of the year was already stacked with great releases (incidentally, plenty of them coming also from Debemur Morti Productions), the British avant-garde enchanters prevailed by exposing us to the majesty of their fourth album, Precipice. Pulling out all the stops, the band’s eclectic forays into metal’s heart of darkness resulted in one of the most mesmerizing experiences put on tape in 2025.
Mostly based on E.M. Forster’s short story “The Machine Stops” (among others), the album is frighteningly current with its themes of climate change and omnipotent machines (without revealing too much of the plot). Naturally, Lychgate uses this only as a springboard for exploring a vast array of humanistic ideas through their unique blend of extreme genres.
The ten minutes of “Hive of Parasites” serve both as a centerpiece and an anchor of the album, while revolving around it, tracks like the T.S. Eliot-inspired “Death’s Twilight Kingdom” and the fiery sermon of “Mausoleum of Steel” further showcase the band’s inclination for exploration. Now it only remains to be seen whether we, the hollow men, are heading for the precipice in 2026.
https://lychgate.bandcamp.com/album/precipice
“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language
And next year’s words await another voice.”
T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets