OUR LIST OF 2025’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 15): ABDUCTION, BLACK RABBIT, ANZV

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2025  No Responses »
Jan 222026
 

(written by Islander)

I always confront two challenges in making this list — which songs to include overall, and which ones to group together in each segment. In trying to solve the second conundrum I sometimes conceive of connections that make the grouping seem logical, though at times my “logic” must certainly seem perplexing to others.

Tomorrow will be a decent example of an intentional combination, for reasons I’ll explain then. Today really isn’t that, but more just a grabbing of three songs I thought belonged on the list as they jumped out at me from the early part of my alphabetical list of candidates when I scanned through it for the umpteenth time since December. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2025’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 14): THE OMINOUS CIRCLE, VENUS STAR, HAVUKRUUNU

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2025  No Responses »
Jan 212026
 

(written by Islander)

We’ve reached Part 14 of this list today, which includes three songs I think are exceptional for reasons beyond their addictive qualities.

I’ll also report that I’ve been able to spend enough time with other candidates on my gargantuan list of 2025 songs that I’ve succeeded in mapping out all the remaining Parts of this list except the last one. Figuring out the last one is always a daunting and distressing challenge, and I’ll be agonizing about that one probably right up to the eve before I post it at the end of next week. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2025’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 13): HOODED MENACE, GRAND CADAVER, DOOMSDAY

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2025  No Responses »
Jan 202026
 

(written by Islander)

Triskaidekaphobia is a recognized affliction, but no one should fear this 13th installment of our infectious song list. Instead, it should be relished, though in the case of some aspects of the following music it may be worth remembering that in the tarot deck, XIII is the card of Death, often depicting the Pale Horse with its rider. You’ll probably relish those aspects too. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2025’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 12): TOMBS, VACUOUS, CLAIRVOYANCE

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2025  2 Responses »
Jan 192026
 

(written by Islander)

I spent some time this weekend trying to figure out what I should add to this list after the three segments I’ve planned for the first three days of this week, which is as far as I’ve gotten. I thought I ought to pay more attention to songs from albums that didn’t make any of our year-end lists, and albums we didn’t even review, and songs I didn’t comment about in weekend roundups. I have a lot of listening ahead of me.

But today’s choices are all from albums we paid attention to in print last year. They were all on my radar back in late December when I started mapping out the first two weeks of this January rollout. They are all from albums we reviewed and that rightly received their fair share of acclaim during YE list season. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2025’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 11): RIVERS OF NIHIL, FIMBUL WINTER, GRAVETAKER

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2025  No Responses »
Jan 162026
 

(written by Islander)

After today there will be 10 days left to complete this series before I stop at the end of January (unless I panic and post a segment on a weekend). I’m guessing some of you are wondering when I’m going to include more of the 2025 songs you played most often, because I’m confident there’s no way we’ve hit everyone’s favorites so far — there’s just way too many good candidates out there. But I also suspect that this list is already serving as a reminder of that very fact.

My own mind has reached the boggled stage where I know I’m going to have to leave off a great many songs that really got their hooks in me (and you) last year. I also know I’m incapable of ranking the remaining candidates in any way that will make the decisions easier, even with 10 more installments to come after this one.

Well, I’ll leave those agonies for another day and focus instead on today’s trio of addictives tracks. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2025’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 9): IN MOURNING, CYTOTOXIN, JORDSJUK

 Exceptions to the Rule, MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2025  No Responses »
Jan 142026
 

(written by Islander)

We’re at another installment of this list where I don’t really have any organizing principle to explain why I put these three songs together. They’re just three songs I thought deserved to be on the list, and they happen to come from three really good 2025 albums too, but each one sounds very different from the other two. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2025’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 8): THEMATA, VICTIM OF FIRE, HVRT

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2025  4 Responses »
Jan 132026
 

(written by Islander)

As I’ve repeatedly stated (to protect the innocent), this is MY list, not some kind of list of THE SITE. But while my own tastes and listening habits drive things, I do try to pay attention to what our readers have suggested, as well as what got our other writers pumped up. That’s pretty much what drove me to package these next three songs together:

Yesterday’s segment was likely to make DGR happy, and today’s installment should make Andy Synn happy… unless he thinks I fucked up and picked the wrong songs from these three albums. Well, we’ll see….

But what I really hope is that these selections will make YOU happy when you hear them. And to be clear, I’m still driving this bus. While my co-writers helped steer me toward these albums and songs, I genuinely did find them very catchy, memorable, infectious in different ways. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2025’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 7): CRYPTOPSY, LIK, SYNAPTIC

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2025  No Responses »
Jan 122026
 

(written by Islander)

A new week begins and so we resume the rollout of this 2025 Most Infectious Song list. With this Part 7 the number of songs climbs to 21.

For this installment I decided to lean into death metal, very different flavors of death metal to be sure, but each track a neck-wrecker. These choices ought to make my comrade DGR particularly happy, but hopefully many of you as well — though I quickly admit that the three albums from which I extracted these songs were home to lots of other infectious ones too. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2025’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 6): GAAHLS WYRD, BEASTWARS, CHAMBER MAGE

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2025  No Responses »
Jan 092026
 

(written by Islander)

As a reminder to people that our site’s name isn’t really the ironclad rule that it pretends to be, I always include songs on this list that include… singing.

I mean, the site’s name isn’t a complete joke. The vast majority of the music we feature has no singing in it — only growls, howls, or screams — and most of the time sung vocals don’t hold a lot of appeal for me. Given my tastes in metallic extremity, I find that they often tend to diminish or distract from the emotional and sonic intensity I’m after.

On the other hand, I readily admit that singing can enhance a song’s power, or add contrasting or complementary “colors” that elevate a song’s impact beyond what it could achieve with harsh vox or no vocals at all. The three songs I’ve added to this list today are examples of what I’m getting at. Of course, there are other aspects to the songs which make them addictive, but the voices — which are dramatically different from each other — are a key reason why they got their hooks in me last year. Continue reading »

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