Dolphin Whisperer<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Dolphin-Lundgren-01-193x300.jpg\")
Thus Spoke and I go way back. In fact, after our successful graduation from the same n00b class and into our first list season as full article writers, we had imagined that us two as a listing pair would produce a lethal and novel whiplash. So welcome to the bottom (or top) half of this eclectic endeavor that\u2019s sure to leave you with thirty-some-odd unique albums to revisit or ignore or whatever it is you do with our strong and word-riddled opinions.<\/p>\n
Now, the keen reader may notice I\u2019ve had a bit of a productivity drop-off since about June. Well, that\u2019s cause my wife gave birth to The Dolphlet, first of his name, and that\u2019s kind of a lot of work, as I\u2019m finding out. Baby comes first, as it goes. But I squeaked out a few important things, including a Coroner<\/a> review that the unwashed masses claimed didn\u2019t jerk Tommy Baron and co. as full of glee as it should have. I did miss other important things, like several of my list items.. And I sincerely apologize to the following bands and offer them words of condolence or, something like that, based upon their individual situation: Bonginator, you should be glad I dropped the ball, stop it with the lame interludes; and count your blessings, Hell Ever After, thrash doesn\u2019t need to be a musical; Species, you did thrash right<\/a> though and I\u2019m happy that others enjoyed you even more; Moths, and more specifically bassist Weslie Negron, I\u2019m sorry that I took on your interview when my son was one month old and my brain was fried\u2014your album rocks and you put in so much work to make Moths special. And lastly, to all the classics, I had grand plans to YMIO because I thought my brain could make that work\u2014haha.<\/p>\n Angry Metal Guy, however, remains home for me. You, dear readers, are a part of that love and drive that keep me here. Sometimes, I may only be able to conjure a half-funny joke in the comments section\u2014you laugh (let me believe that) and give it two to five likes. Others, I may hype the heck out of a promising underground act until one of my trusted colleagues tells me \u201cDolph, that\u2019s enough already, I\u2019ll review it, sheesh.\u201d\u2014you liked it<\/a> probably more than I did anyway. You see, for every word of bleeding hyperbole that we scribble, two sets of eyes may walk away enraptured. When you\u2019re dealing with artists who have anywhere from sub-100 to 3000 listeners on the popularity engine of Spotify, every set counts. Every purchase on Bandcamp or Ampwall<\/a> counts. Every stream on Tidal or some other competitor counts. Even your damn scrobble on last.fm counts if you\u2019re nerdy enough for that. So sappy as it may seem, along with the herding efforts of Steel and occasionally The Big Dr. AMG Man Himself, you all give life to the bands in this wonderful modern metal scene. Hails!!<\/p>\n #4. Barren Path \/\/ Grieving<\/a> \u2013 The best grindcore album of the decade so far would come from the manic attack of Gridlink sans Jon Chang. Absent his terrifying shriek, Matsubara\u2019s guitar scatter weighs heavier, Fajarado\u2019s lightning snare rolls clang sharper, all against song lengths that inhabit the true short-form tradition of extreme brevity. The truth is, I\u2019ve spent longer than the album\u2019s length trying to convey its intensity and prowess, so just go and listen to it already. I\u2019ll wait here. No, seriously, do it.<\/p>\n #1. Maud the Moth \/\/ The Distaff<\/a> \u2013 When we seek art, we seek bravery and freedom of expression. And in the music that we seek in a refuge like Angry Metal guy, we often find these qualities expressed in emotional theme, in raw, sonic aggression, or in sweeping guitar-led grandeur. Woven from a different base cloth, Maud the Moth on paper does not fit that mold. Amaya L\u00f3pez-Carromero wields, instead, a piano and scrawled diary pages. She, too, has pain, the same as any human who has encountered a world unforgiving to a life that wishes to live in a divergent path. And like the artists we value\u2014or rather, like the artists I value\u2014Amaya presents her vision of this struggle with focused and expanding melodic lines, crushing and crying crescendos, and an earnestness that compels its audience to surrender for a moment to a world created by these musical ideas. When your sadness comes, it won\u2019t weep in blacks and ivories the way that The Distaff does. But you can pop it on and pretend for its run that its triumph will transfer from your ears to the very center of your tingling chest.<\/p>\n Honorable Mentions:<\/p>\n Pissgrave \/\/ Malignant Worthlessness<\/a> \u2013 Tempos that flow like a full sewage pipe and riffage that doesn\u2019t let up until the steaming and warped conclusion. The Pissgrave family flows as one heaving death-fueled machine, and it\u2019s sad to see them close shop. But they left us with a monster of a swansong. Disappointments o\u2019 the Year:<\/p>\n Songs o\u2019 the Year:<\/p>\n Why give you one when I can give you twenty-seven? Why twenty-seven? That\u2019s my secret. Now, I\u2019ve talked enough. Go out there and enjoy some music, friends. And enjoy this photo of my dogs eating. And the Dolphlet admiring them!<\/p>\n Thus Spoke<\/p>\n Musically, 2025 has been a (small) step down from 2024 for me, although this could just be due to my attention deficit. I\u2019ve had my finger less firmly on the pulse in the last six months, such that several albums, by artists I like, many on this list, either took me completely by surprise on release day, or crossed my radar barely any sooner, thanks to me actually checking Slack for once. I don\u2019t have any well-defined excuse for this outside of plain old burnout plus terrible organization. On the other hand, the fact that I didn\u2019t review most of my favorite records this year means that I can bat away criticisms of self-indulgence by having a year-end list mostly comprised of albums I didn\u2019t write about. One thing I am happy to have achieved this year is running my first AMG Ranking piece on<\/a> Panopticon. It might be the most verbose and least exciting of its kind for the majority of site readers, but being forced to immerse myself that extensively in the discography of an artist I love was very cool (albeit intense).<\/p>\n Speaking of my own erratic presence at HQ, leads me on to the hiatus (official or not) of several wonderful people among the staff, particularly my list-buddy Maddog, whom I miss very much. They all have good reasons, and I support them immensely, even if it means fewer of their excellent reviews. Fortunately, we\u2019ve also welcomed many newcomers to our ranks who can pick up my slack in their stead, and whose reviews help me improve my own writing whilst also appending to the endless list of Things I Must Listen To.<\/p>\n As my extensive yapping here shows, my ability to meet a word count hasn\u2019t improved much. Before finally moving on to the list, I\u2019ll take the chance to reiterate my gratitude for everyone reading this, and some people who might not be. Thank you to all the staff for collectively making this all possible, and giving me the opportunity to speak about music and for people\u2014you guys\u2014to actually read it. Thank you for reading. Even if our tastes are completely opposed and you think I\u2019m wrong about everything, I\u2019m glad you\u2019re here.<\/p>\n Now for the bit people actually care about.<\/p>\n #1. Cave Sermon \/\/ Fragile Wings<\/a> \u2013 Last year, Divine Laughter went from unknown to #5 on my year-end list in about 2 weeks, so when I found out there was a follow-up\u2014thanks to my new Flippered list buddy\u2014I dropped everything. My stratospheric expectations were not only met, but they were lifted into outer space. I would fear for Cave Sermon\u2019s ability to deliver in the future, but Fragile Wings itself dismisses any trepidation. So recognizably, uniquely Cave Sermon, it displays a new, more uplifting interpretation of their sound. A commenter pointed out the lack of reference to So Hideous in my review, and in retrospect, I see their point, at least in degree: the two projects are similarly experimental and impressively novel-sounding without actually feeling avant-garde. But there is just something about Cave Sermon that puts them in an entirely different category of genius\u2014for me. Fragile Wings is playful but not silly; it\u2019s complex but memorable, groovy, and fun; it\u2019s dissonant and strange, but it\u2019s organic, harmonious, and digestible. The idea that just one person is behind this makes it that much more mind-blowing. At this rate, there could well be another Cave Sermon record next year, and on the current trajectory, it may finally land this fantastic artist the official Iconic status they have always deserved.<\/p>\n Honorable Mentions:<\/p>\n Dormant Ordeal \/\/ Tooth and Nail<\/a> \u2013 Hands-down my favorite Dormant Ordeal album so far. Heavy, groovy, and eminently-listenable, it really got its claws into me\u2014especially during gym sessions shortly after release. It did fall out of my rotation quite substantially, in favor of its rivals above, thus putting it here. Songs of the Year<\/p>\n Cave Sermon \u2013 \u201cAncient for Someone\u201d \ufeff\ufeff<\/p>\n \n\tGive in to Your Anger:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dolphin Whisperer Thus Spoke and I go way back. In fact, after our successful graduation from the same…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376390,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[200232,4891,64,63,174278,202898,156074,79529,83901,202899,202900,202901,114457,202902,186254,202903,202904,36183,134,202905,202906,202907,58770,36059,202908,202909,36184,48848,136,202910,98452,202911,202912,202913,202914,200234,202915,202916,202917,202918,202919,109113,202920],"class_list":["post-376389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-200232","tag-4891","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-aversed","tag-barren-path","tag-bianca","tag-blog-posts","tag-blut-aus-nord","tag-cave-sermon","tag-changeling","tag-chiasma","tag-clouds","tag-dawnwalker","tag-deafheaven","tag-der-weg-einer-freiheit","tag-dolphin-whispers-and-thus-spokes-top-tenish-of-2025","tag-dormant-ordeal","tag-entertainment","tag-gorycz","tag-grayceon","tag-grima","tag-helms-deep","tag-lists","tag-lynchgate","tag-maud-the-moth","tag-messa","tag-mothers","tag-music","tag-nephylim","tag-panopticon","tag-paradise-lost","tag-patristic","tag-pissgrave","tag-primitive-man","tag-qrixkuor","tag-quadvium","tag-scardust","tag-sterveling","tag-suffering-hour","tag-turian","tag-yellow-eyes","tag-202920"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Messa-The-Spin-01-150x150.jpg\")
#ish. Messa \/\/ The Spin<\/a> \u2013 I can\u2019t rid myself of the power that a soaring bluesy lick and a smoky siren voice hold, no matter how I try. Burned into my head are The Spin\u2019s glassy chorused-out chorus escalations. Drenched into the cones of my crackling car speakers are the synth throbs of certified shakers \u201cFire on the Roof\u201d and \u201cThicker Blood.\u201d Turn up the volume and turn down the lights, Messa has come to steal attention with yet another platter of throwback creativity.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Quadvium-Tetradom-01-150x150.jpg\")
#10. Quadvium \/\/ Tetrad\u014dm<\/a> \u2013 Steve DiGiorgio and Jeroen Paul Thesseling stand at the altar of supreme metal bassists in my own personal head canon. They\u2019d helm yours too if you were familiar with the span of their collective talents across acts like Death<\/a>, Sadus, Autopsy<\/a>, (DiGiorgio), and Pestilence<\/a>, Obscura,<\/a> Sadist<\/a> (Thesseling). Knowing all this, they decided to make an album together. And in their refinement as performers, they managed to make a supergroup two-bass project more than just a thumpy wankfest. Full of diverse and rich tones, modern and proggy jitteriness, and a rounded, jazz fusion-leaning taste for exploration, Tetrad\u014dm provides an exciting notch in the weathered belt of these legends. I don\u2019t know where Quadvium goes next after this, but I hope that it\u2019s anything but dormant.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Scardust-Souls-150x150.jpg\")
#9. Scardust \/\/ Souls \u2013 Every time I hear the introductory stumble of \u201cLong Forgotten Song,\u201d I fall immediately into the spastic and serenading world that Scardust crafts with their hypermelodic, histrionic, and confident progressive metal attitude. Central to this success remains the peerless Noa Gruman, whose every melody lands with honey-slathered tack and sing-a-long inspiration, despite my voice being a far, far cry away from the searing soprano wail that functions as a mic-drop crescendo as often as it needs to. Behind her, though, lies one of modern prog\u2019s most nimble rhythm sections, imbuing even ballads like \u201cDazzling Darkness\u201d and \u201cSearing Echoes\u201d with a bass-popping and hi-hat chattering clamor that places Souls in a league of its own. Also, Ross Jennings of Haken sounds better here than he has with Haken since The Mountain<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Chiasma-Reaches-01-Copy-150x150.png\")
#8. Chiasma \/\/ Reaches \u2013 Chiasma possesses the unique ability to blend in with the modern paradigm of accessible melody prog in the lane of a band like Tesseract without conforming to its most djentrified tendencies. Rather, floating in its own swirl of Cynic-coded riffage and angelic, layered vocal excess, Reaches explodes with atmosphere and propulsive riff alike. In Katie Thompson\u2019s nimble serenades rests a voice imbued with both a fluttering prowess and an aching heart. And in this sorrow\u2014wrapped in the brightness of bleeping electronic backings, flipping virtuosic guitar runs, and singular voice\u2014a yearning and healing takes place in fervent and fluorescent splendor.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/dawnwalker-the-between-01-150x150.jpg\")
#7. Dawnwalker \/\/ The Between<\/a> \u2013 Just when I thought Dawnwalker didn\u2019t have any more surprises left in their bag of tricks that seem tailor-made for my enjoyment, these sneaky Brits went and pulled out the one-long-song album. Continuing to live in the space of esoteric philosophy set forth in The Unknowing<\/a> last year, Dawnwalker collects moods from all their previous works\u2014the melancholy of isolation from In Rooms, the vocal aggression from Human Ruins, a sonic palette even grander in scope than Ages<\/a>\u2014to explore thoughts surrounding death. In lush construction, plaintive discourse, and time-bending magic, The Between breathes as a meditation bookended by heavy chiming bells\u2014a journey that feels longer than its svelte 30-ish minute runtime but with none of the fatigue its gargantuan ask threatens. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Gorycz-Zasypia-01-348x350.jpg\")
#6. Gorycz \/\/ Zasypia \u2013 It\u2019s a shame that Gorycz isn\u2019t a household name, as their mystical, groovy approach to atmospheric and retching black metal sits among my favorites in the genre as a whole. Zasypia, as part three of a trilogy, tells a tale of despair through a warping pedalboard light on traditional distortion, shrieking throat on the edge of coherence, and dancing kit full of jazzy aplomb. In the space that lives between recursive and developing refrains, terror lurks. But in the Gorycz tattered exhale hangs a reverence for the beauty that can emerge from destruction and grieving. Feel every amplified string creak as you fall deeper into this devastating world.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Lychgate-Precipice-01-350x350.jpg\")
#5. Lychgate \/\/ Precipice<\/a> \u2013 You may be aware that this album was released on the 19th of December, a full two days after we were supposed to turn in these lists. Knowing that, I made sure I beat Precipice to the punch of garbage time list upheaval by listening to it, well, before that. In turn, Lychgate made sure that they\u2019d make this late-season blooming count. With the death-thrash spirit of an early Morbid Angel crashing through low-end organ harmony and colliding with Holdsworthian alien guitar bleating, Precipice holds back neither on its urge to wander in arcane atmosphere nor on its urge to churn bodies in kinetic wonder. As another writer (whose name I can\u2019t remember) said, Precipice ensnares by \u201c\u2026oscillating between Zappa\u2019s Jazz from Hell and unearthly, pit-scorching acrobatics.\u201d I couldn\u2019t have put it better myself.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/BarrenPath-Grieving01-350x350.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Turian-BloodQuantumBlues01-350x350.jpg\")
#3. Turian \/\/ Blood Quantum Blues \u2013 So very rare is the album that aligns like a key to a lock of a heart torn by generational angst. An eloquence exists in the disparity between Turian\u2019s stark societal observations punctuated by raw emotional interjections of \u201cFUCK\u201d. I haven\u2019t bothered to count the instances that this linguistic escalation occurs, but I guarantee that there are more fucks per stanza on Blood Quantum Blues than your favorite album this year. And, after you\u2019ve become addicted to its overdriven noise rock-meets-hardcore-meets-industrial madness, you\u2019ll know every single one as you shout along its contemptuous tales of cultural erasure. Indians don\u2019t vanish, and neither will my love for every riff, every breakdown, and every tirade of Blood Quantum Blues.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Changeling-Changeling-01-350x319.jpg\")
#2. Changeling \/\/ Changeling<\/a> \u2013 Tom \u201cFountainhead\u201d Geldschl\u00e4ger poured everything into Changeling. Arranging over thirty performers across Changeling\u2019s seems Sisyphean in scope, but Geldschl\u00e4ger persevered. Through peerless fretless wailings, every instrument under the sun follows well-developed motifs, and a pure love for metal, Changeling expresses nostalgia and novelty in its every loaded nook and cranny. And behind each moment of dense and exuberant songcraft, Geldschl\u00e4ger has tinkered to deliver an experience that feels carved over a lifetime. On top of all of that, Geldschl\u00e4ger is also a true guitar wizard\u2014he zigs and zags and twists and twirls where others wear a scale to death. Like a classic novel or movie, Changeling reveals its worth both in immediate, jaw-dropping action and deep, attention-stealing detail. Geldschl\u00e4ger even put together a Dolby Atmos mix for the album and held listening parties in Berlin. I hear they\u2019re wonderful. Come to California, Tom!<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Maud-the-Moth-The-Distaff-01-500x500.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nDormant Ordeal \/\/ Tooth and Nail<\/a> \u2013 Pummeling and emotionally resonant\u2014if a bit ham-fisted in some lyrical choices\u2014Tooth and Nail represents the ideal form so far of what Dormant Ordeal can achieve with their gut-wrenching take on the Polish death metal sound.
\nSterveling \/\/ Sterveling<\/a> \u2013 The backdrop of black metal on what is otherwise downcast jam music makes for a combo that is both hypnotic and uncontested in the space. It helps that the vocalist lets out some of the most demented howls I\u2019ve heard this year.
\n\u5922\u904a\u75c5\u8005 \/\/ \u0420\u041b\u041130011922<\/a> \u2013 Speaking of jam music, \u5922\u904a\u75c5\u8005 has, over time, morphed from a more frenetic math rock-indebted experience to this current, flowing state of progressive tone porn. 2025 was a good year for the one-song album. And much like Dawnwalker\u2019s The Between, it takes up about thirty minutes and some change. Restraint, class, and fat bass heaven.
\nAversed \/\/ Erasure of Color<\/a> \u2013 I\u2019m not normally one for melodic death metal. But when it comes packaged with this much mic vitriol and a neoclassical sense that reminds me of the late, great Nevermore, I pay attention. And I spin it again and again and again\u2014constant rotation since arrival.
\nYellow Eyes \/\/ Confusion Gate<\/a> \u2013 Certain albums that come out late in the year suffer greatly because their true power lies in remaining interesting and unfolding over a long period of time. Immersion Trench Reverie is a special album, and Confusion Gate feels like its sequel. Comfy and caustic all at once.
\nMoths \/\/ Septem \u2013 As the premier progressive metal band from Puerto Rico, Moths has a loaded mission to make a name for themselves. And with another album that keeps its runtime tight and its riffweight heavy, Septem deserves your attention for half an hour and then some. Hey, look, it\u2019s on Ampwall<\/a> too!
\nGrayceon \/\/ Then the Darkness<\/a> \u2013 Cello metal at its finest and most relatable. Despite advances in chamber inclusion throughout the metalsphere, not a single band sounds like Grayceon yet. And their songwriting quality remains so high that I don\u2019t care that this album is just about eighty minutes.
\nHelms Deep \/\/ Chasing the Dragon <\/a>\u2013 There\u2019s a dragon with a jetpack on the cover. I shouldn\u2019t need to say more than that. But note also that Chasing the Dragon comes also loaded with rollicking \u201980s flair and pentatonic guitar wizardry that\u2019s so out of fashion it\u2019s cool again. This is metal.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/dolphlet-coconut-kiwi-320x350.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/ThusSpoke_Duck_01-350x350.jpg\")
I\u2019ve been blindsided by the year\u2019s end again, and now have to find some interesting things to say about 2025. Other than the fact that I turned 30, my main personal Thing ov Significance is that I managed to land myself a new job, which I\u2019ll start in the new year. Don\u2019t worry, though, I won\u2019t be girl-bossing too hard to have time for AMG.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Panopticon-Songs-of-Hiraeth-01-150x150.jpg\")
#ish. Panopticon \/\/ Songs of Hiraeth<\/a> \u2013 Quietly released alongside Laurentian Blue, Songs of Hiraeth is a collection of songs composed between 2009-2011 that never saw the light of day. In it, you can hear the incredible development of Panopticon\u2019s signature emotionally swelling black metal style in this period, and this record, like virtually all of them, as I repeated in my ranking blurbs, is gorgeously, absorbingly heartfelt and powerful. Unlike you might expect, it actually increases in intensity as it progresses (for me), with the final trifecta of \u201cThe End is Drawing Near,\u201d \u201cA Letter,\u201d and \u201cThe Eulogy\u201d all gunning for my Songs o\u2019 the Year playlist with first devastating rage and fury, then heartbroken solemnity and sublime melody throughout. I guess it\u2019s not fully in the list purely because it\u2019s not a \u2018proper\u2019 new release, or whatever.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Grima-Nightside-01-150x150.jpg\")
#10. Grima \/\/ Nightside<\/a> \u2013 It could have been easy to forget about Grima, given its dropping right on the cusp of the stacked Spring release season we had this year, and the fact that I didn\u2019t instantly mark it down for a TYMHM as with Clouds. But I didn\u2019t forget. Despite their wintry aesthetic, Grima\u2019s music warms my heart with folky magic and ardent blackened blizzards. Nightside is no exception, its warmth coming this time from a renewed emphasis on the atmosphere and bayan after the higher energies of Frostbitten. I love intense, harsh, frosty black metal, and I love how Grima do it (\u201cImpending Death Premonition,\u201d \u201cWhere We are Lost\u201d). But what I love most of all about Grima is how they pair that with their folky tendencies, and the way\u2014as Sharky pointed out\u2014Vilhelm\u2019s rasps graze over it all. This culminates, for me, in the more mournful and urgent tone of several tracks on Nightside, where intense moments still feel dreamlike (\u201cThe Nightside\u201d), and vocals breathe like ghostly whispers (\u201cMist and Fog\u201d). It\u2019s not my favorite Grima record (that\u2019s probably Rotten Garden), but being a Grima record at all, given their caliber, means it\u2019s bloody great and has to be on my list. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bianca_ST_01-1-150x150.jpg\")
#9. Bianca \/\/ Bianca<\/a> \u2013 Here\u2019s an excellent example of a record I very likely would never have heard were it not for the AMG writer community. And wow, am I grateful I did. Ken\u2018s description alone caught my interest, let alone the tidbit that the project includes two members of another 2025 favorite of mine, Patristic. It takes familiar concepts from metal, both post\u2014ethereal atmospheres and haunting singing\u2014and extreme\u2014sky-piercing shrieks, undulating, relentless double-bass, and tangled guitar blizzards\u2014but sounds like nothing else. Even in combining these elements, Bianca stands alone. The coalescence of blackened, doomed, ambient layers is mesmerizing, the pitches upward into mania, and lapses back into mournful mystique, captivating. Throat-gripping furor arrests me more inextricably than almost anything else this year (\u201cAbysmal,\u201d \u201cNachthexe\u201d), and transcendent melodies forged from this black fire lift me fully out of my body (\u201cAbysmal,\u201d \u201cTodestrieb\u201d). I\u2019ve been in love since.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Der-Weg-Einer-Freiheit-Innern-01-150x150.jpg\")
#8. Der Weg Einer Freiheit \/\/ Innern<\/a> \u2013 Innern\u2019s influence on me was subtle and insidious. I would just put it on, be absorbed\u2014or be sucked back in periodically, if I was working and not concentrating on it\u2014and suddenly it would end. Then I\u2019d listen to it again. Der Weg Einer Freiheit has been developing their particular intense, dark, atmospheric kind of (post-) black over the last decade or so, and with Innern, it\u2019s approaching an apex. Through endlessly enveloping compositions, filled with fury and urgency (\u201cMarter\u201d) or solemn reflection and introspection (\u201cEos,\u201d \u201cForlorn\u201d), that flow seamlessly out of one another, Innern folds you insidiously into its depths. Compelling melodies, dynamic rushing percussion, and here-dramatic, there-soft-spoken vocals, each taking pieces and incorporating trials from Der Weg Einer Freiheit\u2019s career so far, drive the thematic compositional thread through irresistibly. From the anticipatory opening shudders to the ebbing chords at its close, Innern is an experience best taken whole, and one I\u2019ve indulged in countless times to go on this magnetic journey once again.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Paradise-Lost_Ascension-01-150x150.jpg\")
#7. Paradise Lost \/\/ Ascension<\/a> \u2013 I never thought this would land here when first announced. Sure, I like Paradise Lost, but their back-catalog is so mixed (in style, let alone quality), that \u2018liking\u2019 them for me comes down to enjoying a handful of their now 17 albums. Even the singles\u2019 being good failed to stir anything more than curiosity, given my experience with intra-album inconsistency. But when Ascension did finally grace my ears in full, it appropriately transcended any doubts and softened my heart towards these doom icons again. Paradise Lost were heavy again, melancholic and mopey again\u2014in a cool, atmospheric way\u2014and Ascension just flowed, with grungy aggression and sadboi introspection in perfect equilibrium. This easy, natural duality that characterizes Gothic metal, and Paradise Lost themselves as genre pioneers, when they\u2019re at the top of their game, is exemplified in Ascension. Hopefully, the group can stay on this trajectory for number 18, if that comes.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766939654_678_Clouds-Desprins-01-150x150.jpg\")
#6. Clouds \/\/ Desprins<\/a> \u2013 I don\u2019t understand how Clouds are as good as they are. I mean this as no insult to the musicians; what stuns me is the depth of pathos, and the consistency with which they deliver it, given the relatively understated and idiosyncratic manner in which they execute it. Their characteristic flute-folk-funeral doom is so ethereally, painfully sad without being overwrought, melodramatic, or crushing. It took my n00bish breath away four years ago, and this year Desprins came and took it again; this time with pieces of my soul attached. The music is just so beautiful\u2014unrelentingly bleak, but beautiful, and Clouds\u2019 balance of the dark and the light through the synths and acoustics, and apathetic spoken-word is exquisite and deeply affecting. These composite melodies, swelling and trilling softly, are transportive for me\u2014particularly \u201cLife Becomes Lifeless,\u201d \u201cChain Me,\u201d \u201cSorrowbound,\u201d and \u201cChasing Ghosts.\u201d Desprins is everything I want funeral doom to be: a prolonged dream-state of melancholy that paradoxically brings me joy.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Deafheaven-Lonely-People-With-Power01-350x350.webp.webp\")
#5. Deafheaven \/\/ Lonely People with Power<\/a> \u2013 I have never been a Deafheaven fan. In all honesty, I\u2019m still not. Lonely People with Power fires me up and fills my soul, while the rest of their discography continues to leave me completely cold. It seems that, briefly departing from metal entirely with Infinite Granite, has matured their sound, adding layers to their edgy blackgaze. Even when indifferent, I never understood the scorn their music generates, and now that I\u2019ve fallen for Lonely People with Power, it makes even less sense. Not only is the way Deafheaven are combining rich, beautiful melodies with\u2014yes\u2014brilliant black metal simply lovely to listen to, slick, seamless, sharp, etc, it\u2019s also distinctive and engrossing. That\u2019s before even getting into how emotionally resonant it is. And it\u2019s not even like this means it can\u2019t be heavy\u2014heck, one of these tracks is on my Heavy Moves Heavy playlist. It\u2019s not \u2018cringe\u2019; it\u2019s a phenomenal record and one of the best to release this year.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1914-Viribus-Unitis-01-350x350.jpg\")
#4. 1914 \/\/ Viribus Unitis<\/a> \u2013 I have always been most moved\u2014emotionally and aesthetically\u2014by 1914\u2019s brand of WWI-themed blackened-death than any other like act. Viribus Unitis somehow outdoes Where Fear and Weapons Meet, and possibly all of the band\u2019s previous efforts, for evocativeness and being straightforward and compelling. From the now hallmark bookends \u201cWar In\/Out\u201d to frequent samples to lyrics infused with real soldier testimony, Viribus Unitis envelops the listener in this portal to the past through 1914\u2019s most powerful, urgently melodic compositions. Every song is heavy, dramatic, and snappy in just the right amounts, resulting in a series of back-to-back bangers that also occasionally really, really hit home emotionally. \u201c1918 Pt 3: ADE (A duty to escape)\u201d does all the above to perfection and has received an almost embarrassing number of replays in the short time since release. But \u201c1919 (The Home where I Died)\u201d did actually make me cry, and its fade into \u201cWar Out\u201d is the perfect end to the monumental achievement Viribus Unitis represents.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Patristic-Catechesis-01-350x350.jpg\")
#3. Patristic \/\/ Catechesis<\/a> \u2013 It seems that every year, I review one particular atmospheric-dissonant death metal record which dominates my listening in that subgenre, and instantly secures a year-end list spot. In 2023, Serpent of Old, last year Ulcerate, and this year Patristic. Catechesis was an immediate, visceral love for me, and not once since June has it left rotation. Sinister and dark, but irresistible in its seamlessly flowing, captivating macro-composition narrated by roars and solemn sermonizing; it ends far too soon. And in addition to being beautifully atmospheric and magnetic in melody and dissonance alike, it stands out for truly insane performances in their own right. Specifically, the drumming, which continues to blow my mind and propels Catechesis from greatness into excellence with hypnotic, intelligent rhythmic interplay. Patristic\u2019s uncanny ability to make extreme, inaccessible music incomprehensibly engrossing and a magnificent expression of its concept are why I can\u2019t stop listening to Catechesis, and why it\u2019s almost the best record of 2025.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Qrixkuor_TWotW_01-350x350.jpg\")
#2. Qrixkuor \/\/ The Womb of the World<\/a> \u2013 Much like reviewer Kenstrosity, whereas Qrixkuor\u2019s debut Poison Palinopsia rewired my brain with its brilliance, I found follow-up Zoetrope a tad underwhelming. When said sponge began to hint, and then gush unstoppably about the duo\u2019s second full-length, The Womb of the World, which was in his possession, vague hope turned to giddy excitement. Not only the twisted, psychedelic horror of their signature freeform blackened death would await me, but also a full live orchestra. Yet I still don\u2019t think anything could have adequately prepared me for how massive and mad The Womb of the World actually is. With the strings, horns, and piano swooping and crashing about in great surges and falls, Qrixkuor\u2019s already grandiose style fully feels like some tormented classical opus, and it\u2019s utterly magnificent. Things so small as my words can\u2019t do justice to the way the eerie and intense lurching orchestrals, maniacal snarling voices, and cavernous extreme metal combine to create some of the best things I have ever heard, ever. Weirdly memorable and violently compelling despite its monstrosity, I\u2019ve become completely addicted to it since. Ken himself said, it is \u201ca mastapeece for those to whom sanity is immaterial,\u201d when he rightfully deemed it \u2018Excellent\u2019. If I must rescind soundness of mind to so esteem The Womb of the World, I will do so gladly.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Cave-Sermon-Fragile-Wings-01-1-500x500.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nPrimitive Man \/\/ Observance<\/a> \u2013 When Observance dropped, and I was listening for the first time, I badly tried to describe Primitive Man to my partner (not a metal fan) over WhatsApp as \u201cbeing crushed by a big rock really slowly, but in a good way.\u201d Obviously, they didn\u2019t know what I was on about, but Spicie Forrest seems to with his much better analogy of \u201cbeing imprisoned and forgotten in a lightless pit.\u201d Primitive Man has always made silly-heavy, scary-huge music, but Observance clicked with me like nothing else in their discography prior. I am indeed helplessly crushed and held prisoner.
\nBlut Aus Nord \/\/ Ethereal Horizons<\/a> \u2013 I think if this had dropped just a tiny bit earlier, it could have ended up on my list proper. Blut Aus Nord has always been one of those artists I know I do enjoy, but for some reason has never fully clicked for me. Ethereal Horizons felt immediately more enthralling. It\u2019s more atmospheric, more darkly melodic, more blackened in its heaviness, and through it all, possibly more frightening.<\/p>\n
\nPanopticon \u2013 \u201cA Letter\u201d
\nPanopticon \u2013 \u201cThe Poppies Bloom For No King\u201d
\nPatristic \u2013 \u201cA Vinculis Soluta II\u201d
\nQrixkuor \u2013 \u201cThe Womb of the World\u201d
\nBianca \u2013 \u201cAbysmal\u201d
\nDeafheaven \u2013 \u201cThe Garden Route\u201d
\nNephylim \u2013 \u201cAmaranth\u201d
\nClouds \u2013 \u201cSorrowbound\u201d
\n1914 \u2013 \u201c1918 Pt 3 A.D.E (A Duty to Escape)\u201d
\nDer Weg Einer Freiheit \u2013 \u201cMarter\u201d
\nPrimitive Man \u2013 \u201cNatural Law\u201d<\/p>\n