(Here’s Daniel Barkasi‘s monthly NCS roundup of reviews, focusing this time on records released in July 2025.)
To begin, a quick word about the loss of one of the legends of legends in metal music. Not long after my last column for June releases, we lost Ozzy Osbourne. To say it was a surprise would be disingenuous, as his health hadn’t been great for a time. The rousing performance he and the rest of Black Sabbath gave everyone at Back to the Beginning was nothing short of stunning, a perfect sendoff for the band who is responsible for all of this.
A quick anecdote: I actually met the man, albeit very briefly. I was set to interview Silenoz of Dimmu Borgir at Ozzfest 2004. I was waiting backstage, and he was running a little behind. Lo and behold, here comes Ozzy with his entourage. He just wanted to make the rounds and say hello to people. I was lucky enough to get a brief greeting, and starstruck, I managed to thank him for making all of this possible. He just thanked me for being there, and moved on, holding court like only he could.
A blip in his day, I’m sure, but he made you feel like you were the most important person in the world for those few seconds. Silenoz came by not too long after, and I thanked him for his delay; he couldn’t have been cooler and still is one of my favorite interviews that I’ve done. The performance that evening was nothing short of brilliant, of course, and how can one complain about seeing Dimmu Borgir, Judas Priest and Black Sabbath on the same bill?
Rest easy, Prince of Darkness. We all are forever in your debt, and what a life lived to the absolute craziest and fullest. A one-of-a-kind artist, performer, and most important of all, human, who meant so much to his family, many friends, and millions upon millions of heavy music lovers all over. It’s sobering that a lot of the legends are nearing the end of their storied careers. We’ve already lost Dio and Lemmy, and before you know it, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest will be calling it a career, so enjoy them as much as possible while we still have the opportunity.
Moving into the music, July was again a packed month with a bunch of standout records that we still can’t put down. Imperial Crystalline Entombment and Sigorspéd let the black metal flow, along with the incredible and severely underrated Vong, whose album Phan Hám should be on everyone’s list to check out. Newcomers Sorceröt gave us a dose of Rotten Magick, and to all of the synthwavers out there – I know there’s bound to be a few – New Arcades dropped a soothingly chill and addictive record. None of these are amongst the main course, however, which per usual has a fair bit of variety for your distinguished palate.
Floating – Hesitating Lights
Release Date: July 11, 2025
We begin our trek with a strange brew of styles that meld together shockingly well, to the point of being undeniably invigorating. Sweden’s Floating is the culprit, who throw together a heavy load of post-punk with the likes of discordant death metal on Hesitating Lights. The most apt description may be Morbus Chron and Ulcerate meeting City of Caterpillar in a dark alley and deciding to be best buds.
The result is tense, detailed, and firmly biting. You won’t hear another record this year that sounds like Hesitating Lights. Tracks such as “I Reached the Mew” dip and dive all over, driven by pace-setting and mesmerizing bass lines and dazzling punky clean sections, with a big riff or two thrown in here and there, along with Arvid Sjödin’s low-register growl.
No track travels a predictable, linear path; “Cough Choir” exemplifies this thought, giving a peppy punk affront that morphs into several forms throughout, building and exploding in ways you’re not going to predict. The clean guitars are my vice with this album, with “Exit Bag Song” especially putting this brain into a hypnotic haze whilst also gradually upping the tension and kicking the crap out of me by the conclusion. The album gets heavier as it goes – “Still Dark Enough” traverses a mid-paced, furious rumble forward, and “The Wrong Body” ups the pace and frenetically tosses you about with reckless abandon.
Spend some time with Hesitating Lights, as the detail is deeply ingrained, the overall sound is soothing-yet-punchy, and it’s so addicting that you’ll need to come back a whole bunch of times. Floating has something special here, and this feels like only the beginning of what they’re capable of.
Hell – Submersus
Release Date: July 11, 2025
No band that we’ll discuss in this space will have a more appropriate name than Hell, whose bleak, droning black/sludge would be a fitting soundtrack to being violently dragged into said humid region. I live in Florida, though, so maybe we’re already there, but I digress. Their tone is thick and fuzzy, their riffs enormous, and their care for your comfort level non-existent. M.S.W.’s main creative outlet is back after a long absence with Submersus, and we’re all going down to the blazing inferno with him.
Hell obliterates, rends, and engulfs with obnoxious heaviness in every facet. Opener “Hevy” – spot-on title – takes no time in slowly and meticulously pounding the hapless listener into steaming dust. Lovers of the riff will have a field day, as they’re monstrous, uncompromising, and plentiful. Furthermore, an underlying groove is present on Submersus that makes the songs more interesting and infinitely repeatable, placed within an atmosphere of absolute horror and trepidation. Entries such as “Gravis” build ominously with terror as the music becomes bleaker still; “Mortem” plunders via shredding screams and reverberating guitar and drum rhythms; closer “Bog” highlights Hell’s ambient side by way of vicious vibrations and pensive build before crushing what’s left of you absolutely.
If meticulous, abrasively heavy, and filled with muck is what you want, well, then go straight to Hell. Yeah, it’s an obvious pun, but we’re using it anyway. Submersus is no joking matter, however, and be warned – this record doesn’t give an inch to breathe. It’s summer, it’s humid, and everything is cooking – try pointing out a better musical accompaniment for my blazing misery.
Clairvoyance – Chasm Immurement
Release Date: July 18, 2025
Onto ripping death metal featuring, once again, the artistically visual swirling abyss of utter misanthropy that only the legendary Paolo Girardi can provide in such a detailed and fitting manner. We’re talking about Clairvoyance and their debut full-length Chasm of Immurement. If Dead Congregation-ish filth tickles your fancy as much as it does for yours truly, you’re in for quite the gritty delight.
There’s a blackened tinge tonally to Clairvoyance, but their sound profile is overwhelmingly gravelly death metal. From the ruthlessly downpicked onslaught that is “Eternal Blaze,” the earworm leads and pulverizing rhythms of “Hymn of the Befouled”, and on to the well-inserted time changes in “Fleshmachine” and the ominous death/doom moments amongst furious shredding of “Reign of Silence,” there’s enough variation to keep proceedings plenty intriguing, but in their severed gut is a binding rapturous crunch that grabs hold tightly.
On the whole, the album is tight in every department, with the Polish five-piece showing off an accomplished level of chemistry. Finishing number “Monument to Dread” puts the proverbial icing on the rotting cake with a thunderous seven-minute march of distorted bliss and guttural roars.
It’s thankfully been a good year thus far for death metal, with a healthy number of acts creating memorable and impactful records that stand tall amongst a crowded field of copycats and listless drivel. Clairvoyance flaunts a sinister sound with a confident swagger that pays homage to the best legacy acts, but adds their own touch to make it their own. Moreover, they have a knack for crafting songs that stick in the memory and provide those moments that keep you coming back. Chasm of Immurement is a divine smattering of dirty, caustic death metal that doesn’t let up.
Eternal Darkness – Eternal Darkness
Release Date: July 18, 2025
How about this for a band’s story: form in 1990, drop a few highly celebrated and essential demos and an EP that are important parts of the formulation of death/doom, split up in 1995, only to come back and drop your first album 30 years later, and call it quits before it even drops as their last hurrah. That’s the abbreviated story of death/doom pioneers Eternal Darkness. Like George Costanza, they’ve made a fine exit, but unlike our slow-witted bald friend, they’ve done so in an impactful, unforgettable fashion that you have to give the utmost respect to.
Their demos are known for an overwhelming, unfiltered, and mercilessly raw sound, and that ethos has continued on their self-titled first and last full-length soiree. An album that’s steeped in the ’90s, mostly because it is, and they pull it off better than most who have been going consistently for a long while. We’ll admit that this has been a difficult album to peel away from, and we’ve had to in order to listen to anything else, but it keeps showing up in the rotation.
From the first note of “The Beyond,” it’s plain to hear that Eternal Darkness have a pummeling in store. The guitar work of duo John Carlsson and Kristian Henriksson overflow with power and impact with every carnage-laden strum, each riff creeping like inescapable quicksand with no one coming to save you – “Pungent Awakening” and “Grief” serve as fine examples of this dire feeling.
Drummer Make Pesonen and bassist Jeff Hausel are the pulsating engine that propels this awakened beast, by way of masterclasses such as “Funeral” and the slithering force that is “Into the Crematory.” Vocalist Janne Heikkinen sounds as vital as ever, delivering his singular snarls with presence; “Death Above All” stands as a particularly dominating performance that shakes the ground below.
Eternal Darkness has laid upon us a swansong that aims to permanently leave an indelible mark that will leave a morose and bruising imprint. An innovative force that gathered all they had to give and left us with all their souls could conjure, and the resultant is a violent eruption of music that will cement their legacy. An album dedicated to people the band lost along the way (including several ex-bandmates), this also serves as a highly personal and fitting tribute to those sadly lost. In a world filled with many “what may have been” stories, Eternal Darkness penned and unleashed their final chapter on their own terms with a recording that will be long remembered. What a way to go out on the high note.
Gloombound – Dreaming Delusion
Release Date: July 25, 2025
We’ll continue on the doom train, but this one is of a differing purview. Gloombound’s debut wades deeply into the realms that Skepticism originated, but not without adding their own flavor profile to their keyboard-heavy funeral doom emanations via Dreaming Delusion.
The pacing and the keyboard/organ work bleed the aforementioned Skepticism, and being one of the most important bands to ever exist in doom, it’s a big shadow to overcome when traveling this path. Gloombound don’t succumb to mimicry, thankfully, embracing a shared thread in how their soundscapes fill the air with mournful despair. “At the Precipice to Longinquity” crawls out of the Earth with downtrodden purpose, organs ringing to provide the aura, and the heavy-yet-subtle movements building upon each previous motion, combining to form a budding flow. The transition from escalating heaviness to piano and clean vocal driven somberness isn’t a new trick, per se, but the usage of this tool is executed with profound effect.
Pieces such as “An Eternity of Complete Acquiescence” have venom-filled quick strikes that lumber like the rattling stomps of impending annihilation, whilst also embracing the solemn side by way of lead guitar work that spins a hypnotic yarn. On the other side, “Luminary Dissolution” embraces far more of the death side of the band’s sound, giving a slight Evoken feel to add diversity. Finale “Dreaming Delusion” is the magnum opus by way of duration (over 15 minutes worth) and breadth, drawing an intriguing narrative as the mood turns slowly throughout, serving as a fitting conclusion that any doomsters should be able to dig deeply into.
No matter if this comes from a newbie on the scene or seasoned veteran act, Gloombound have crafted a noteworthy album in Dreaming Delusion. The band have managed to combine influences from across the doom spectrum whilst adding touches that make the outcome an interpretation of their very own that they should be immensely proud of. Don’t forget their name, as we reckon that they’ll have much more to say with their melancholic tones in the near future.
Nihilvm – Ancient Cosmic Emanation
Release Date: July 29, 2025
We come to the end of this romp with a black metal release that took this jaded fellow by surprise at how fiery and well-realized it was for a first album. We’re speaking of Nihilvm’s Ancient Cosmic Emanation, a standout black metal release that we believe will stand tall at year’s end, as it’s a visceral, bleak, and menacing attack on the senses.
If one wants to talk about cool debuts, the band played their first live show at none other than the famed Beyond the Gates festival in Bergen, Norway – a festival that is a firm need to get to for yours truly. Hard to complain about that, though that certainly adds a modicum of pressure, right? No fear of that from the Nihilvm horde. When it comes to their stylings, they’ve built upon their 2022 Life-Death-Empty EP with more fully formed ideas and a further enveloping and complex structure. Still a merging of black and death metal, but firmly weighing towards the black, their first full effort is unrestrained yet sharply focused.
“Arcy triumf śmierci” serves as an extended intro track, emanating a ritualistic march sort of air, before exploding into “Transcendencja”, a virile, high-velocity wall of pestilential riffs and a beastly percussive display courtesy of Shitala. Vocally, L. Verewolf (also guitarist, along with partner in peril Defekator) boasts a mighty howl reminiscent of KzR from Bølzer and Nergal’s Demigod through Evangelion era of fellow Poles Behemoth. His vocal delivery is amongst the top standout features of a band with many illuminating characteristics. He’s got a powerful delivery with more presence than most, and it only gains in strength as Ancient Cosmic Emanation briskly moves along.
Cuts such as “Srebrzyste ostrza gwiazd” are grand in scope and atmosphere, with reprises that pump the brakes slightly, allowing the song to expand and overwhelm. The cadence deftly shifts throughout – “Reticulum” is more along the lines of a mid-speed death metal concrete slab with purely blackened exterior; “Nihilizm ostateczny (zawiła droga ku boskości)” is as sinister and foreboding as it gets with guitar work that’s flat out mean and unforgiving. The bass on this track is a hair more noticeable here, though the rhythmic heft that purveyor Jeff puts forth is formidable on all of Ancient Cosmic Emanation.
(With absolutely zero disrespect or knowledge of the origins of the member’s name or pseudonym, but my stupid self can’t resist – when you have L. Verewolf, Defekator, Shitala, and Jeff, one is not like the others, reminding me of the roasting of the name Jeff on What We Do in the Shadows. No matter the stupid quips or ill-formed ironic musings my brain invents, the fellow adds a determined weightiness that any black metal worth its salt needs.)
Final track “Koniuracja” is the longest and most expansive by a sizable margin. Likely the band’s most well-composed track, it delivers the knockout blow on an album with more exceptional instances than can be counted. This is the kind of black metal that raises the hairs on one’s neck and reminds me of why it’s one of my favorites of metal’s many sub-genres. Gaze at that cover art, too – artist Kataraxia created a magnificent piece (you can bet that we’ll be ordering that shirt).
Nihilvm are operating on the level of a long-time foundational act in the sweet spot of their career, and they’ve got the chops and expertly built songs to back it up. Ancient Cosmic Emanation is a triumph of exalted proportions, a record that should cement Nihilvm as an entity to follow closely and with the highest level of anticipation and expectation.