Early December is something of a fever dream, a forced, frantic pause between holidays and end-of-year sprints. We’re trapped in a cycle of looking ahead to the next few weeks while beginning to reflect on the past 11 months. Endlessly wondering about the future, yet grounded in the crush of the present. It’s a time perfectly soundtracked by “...Perchance to Dream,” the newest single from Essex instrumental trio In a House of Heartbeats. 

Fittingly for December, the new song is the beginning of the end, closing out Divination of Dreams with a moody, introspective haze of sound. While earlier tracks are wandering explorations of half-memories, “...Perchance to Dream” is a focused journey through the moments that stick with us.

Complex layers of sound twist around each other like the interconnected web of thoughts and feelings drifting between the conscious and subconscious, intersecting for key moments of bright tension. Yet nothing ever truly comes into focus, overshadowed by gauzy reverb. Urgent melodies create a sense of vivid heaviness, while dreamy post-metal atmospheres create a mesmerizing shroud. Distant voices echo softly while surreal synths swirl across the horizon.

“...Perchance to Dream” manages to capture each step of the hallucinatory journey of Divination of Dreams while bringing us across the threshold into brilliant reality. A perfect conclusion to an ambitious album, and the perfect soundtrack as we collect our thoughts and memories for a new year. 

In a House of Heartbeats shared the inspiration behind their newest track: 

“...Perchance To Dream” is our new single and the closing track from our forthcoming debut album 'Divination Of Dreams'. It is a brooding, post-metal epic, an exploration of the intricacies and idiosyncrasies of the subconscious mind, and the way in which our minds work as we sleep. It opens with a montage of haunting and evocative 'dream talks', recorded from multiple subjects, who were each invited to recollect a dream that has remained strong in their memory.

Musically, the track journeys and drifts through inviting, reassuring passages, eventually building into an exquisite climax of hypnotic hooks and devastating riffs. It's a dense, powerful track, perhaps our most multi-layered and ambitious, that we hope promises to reward the listener with new secrets - or mysteries - upon each repeated listen."

Listen to “...Perchance to Dream” now and pre-order the album on Bandcamp (hint hint: this Friday is the final Bandcamp Friday of 2025!). Divination of Dreams will be released on January 16, 2026. 

Master’s Hammer – Maldorör Disco (progressive/electro black metal)

Czech originators of Norwegian black metal Master's Hammer are back with an album that is extremely weird, although not quite as weird as its promotion and early responses had me scared it might be. Maldorör Disco's blend of krautish industrial-disco and spacey black metal is definitely odd, but it also fits in fairly neatly alongside the likes of Rammstein—whose overall sound it draws many direct comparisons to, along with Til Lindermann's particular pronunciations and phrasings—but also trver contemporaries like mid-period Sigh or Samael, or even Paradise Lost. Indeed, the album's sound is more or less perfectly captured by the Egyptian-walking flayed figure on its cover and made even more impressive by how well the band manage to meld its seemingly incoherent components into something inviting, enjoyable and instantly memorable, if nothing else.

Release Roundup

5Rand – Ordhalia (blackened melodeath)

All We Leave Behind – In Absence Of Light (death doom)

Ancient Settlers – Autumnus: Revisited (heavy metal, melodeath)

APRS – Radio Nocturna Vol. 2: Voces Del Pasado (post black/metal)

Bardo Thodol – Sumerian Tragedy (trad doom)

Bezdan – Upon The Altar (death metal/thrash)

Black Magic Tree – Terra (hard rock)

Bloodfield – Homunculus Sapiens (weird/prog metal)

Blut Aus Nord – Ethereal Horizons (weird post/progressive black-metal)

Carnal Savagery – Crypt Of Decay (death metal)

Darklon – Mind Reaper (heavy metal)

Daughters Of Sophia – (4.0°) Tsalmaweth (post-black metal)

Dead And Dripping – Nefarious Scintillations (brutal/gurgly death metal)

Defamatory – Path of No Return (death metal)

dEmotional – New Horizons (metalcore)

Dellacoma – Searching For You In The Darkness (hard/butt rock)

Devilhusk – Sleep Like The Dead (chaotic deathcore)

Doomherre – Plaguelords (melodoom)

Dyssidia – Deeper Wells Of Meaning (prog metal)

Equilibrium – Equinox (electro folk-metal, melodeath)

Esoctrilihum – Monarchy of Terror on the Broken Mind by Voorh's Disease (again? death grind)

Ergot – Decade (meloblack)

Excide – Bastard Hymns (alt metal)

Feather Mountain – A Liminal Step (prog metal)

Gods Of Gaia – Escape The Wonderland (progressive melo/ death)

Grim Colossus – Unhallowed Blasphemies (sludge doom)

Haunted By Silhouettes – Faith Came Crawling (melodeath)

Hell's Domain – Terminal State (thrash)

Josh Freese – Just A Minute, Vol. 2 (alt rock, punk)

Kaunis Kuolematon – Kun ValoMinussa Kuoli (black metal/doom)

Laetitia In Holocaust – I Rise With The Dead (black metal)

male//gaze – Too Late Now (indie punk, noise-gaze)

Malefic Throne – The Conquering Darkness (blackened death metal)

The Old Dead Tree – London Sessions (prog metal)

The Ominous Circle – Cloven Tongues Of Fire (blackened disso-death)

Onsetcold – Apocalyptic Sleep (noise)

Pabst – This Is Normal Now (indie noise)

Paintrail – Nocturnals (post prog)

Pale Horse Ritual – Diabolic Formation (doom metal)

Phantom Vengeance – Ghost Of A Warrior (symphonic metal)

Phobocosm – Gateway (brutal death metal)

Pitchblack – Walking On Burning Ground (heavy metal, thrash)

Slôdder – Narcissist (noise doom)

Starmen – Starmenized II (Kiss at home)

Steel Arctus – Dreamruler (heavy/power metal)

Struck A Nerve – Struck A Nerve (crossover thrash)

Suffering – Things Seen But Always Hidden (black doom)

Summoning Hellgates – Spear Of Conquest (death metal)

The Tea Club – Chasm (96/24) (jazz rock)

Thermality – Concept 42 (blackened melodeath)

Thy Disease – United We Fall (melodeath)

Tickles – Sugar & Plastic Plates (post punk, noise rock)

Triskelyon – Maelstrom Of Chaos (death/black thrash)

Unlucky Morpheus – Gate of Heaven (power metal, visual kei)

Unviar – Disglaç (post/meloblack)

Valiant Hearts – Hidden Realms (post hardcore)

Various  – The Downward Spiral: Redux (industrial metal, covers)

Vast Pyre – Bleak (sludge doom)

Voyna – Monsters (synth goth)

Hello! Welcome to a new series of posts run by yours truly titled Peeling Back the Leather (at least until I find a more clever name). In this series, I will be interviewing folks from some small(ish) labels that are operating in the metal community or adjacent to it and which I find interesting. That's right - I call the shots. Get used to it.

The idea is to shine a light on an often misunderstood part of our industry. I know that sounds silly, as labels have been around for ages and their role in making music is legendary and infamous. However, I feel like the role of labels has changed drastically several times over the past two decades, with the advent of streaming, crowdfunding, and other trends. Just like listeners wildly underestimate how much it costs and takes to make an album (seriously, it's more than you think) so too do they not fully grasp what goes into running a successful, indie label.

And there you have it! For the first installment of this series, I chose none other than Fiadh Productions, purveyors of excellent black metal, punk, folk, and memes involving cute animals holding medieval weaponry (go follow them on Bluesky for the latter). They are one of the labels I enjoyed following the most in 2025 so the choice was natural for me. What follows is a short email interview where we discussed what a label does today, the role of softness in black metal, and more!

Fiadh Productions

𝔭𝔯𝔬𝔪𝔬𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔦𝔰 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔡, 𝔡𝔞𝔯𝔨 & 𝔢𝔫𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 🌲 𝔰𝔲𝔭𝔭𝔬𝔯𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔞𝔫𝔦𝔪𝔞𝔩 𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔠𝔲𝔢, 𝔯𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔰 & 𝔴𝔢𝔩𝔣𝔞𝔯𝔢 🐾 𝒶𝓃𝓉𝒾𝒻𝒶𝓈𝒸𝒾𝓈𝓉 ⚔️, 𝓋𝑒𝑔𝒶𝓃 Ⓥ, 𝒻𝑒𝓂𝒶𝓁𝑒-𝓇𝓊𝓃✨ fiadhproductions@gmail.com art by branca studio

Fiadh Productions

Hail Fiadh! Thanks for taking the time to chat with us.

Thank you for taking the time to chat with ME! You run an incredible site staffed by awesome people, and your work is appreciated.

Let’s get right to it - what do you think is the role of a label these days? Obviously the olden days of label influence are gone (for bad and for good) so why are labels still around?

I really want to crush any remaining vestiges of labels being a mark of ״prestige״ - but I also want to take this opportunity to remind folks of something super important. Labels, especially small ones, are not bank accounts, and are usually one or two people taking serious financial risks because they believe in an artist. The role of a label is to invest in a release in order to support the creators behind it as well as ensuring it has a platform to reach others. They also should help newer AND veteran artists navigate a very unforgiving industry by being open and transparent about how it all works, using their networks and contacts to benefit them and ultimately to work with them to achieve whatever (realistic) goal that artist has. For many of them, it means moving to a bigger label, so sometimes the role of smaller labels is to prepare them for that! Many younger artists also don’t have the knowledge or means to produce physical merch so they look to labels for that as well. 

As a label that handles a lot of “harsh” genres (like black metal), you introduce a lot of care and warmth to your online presence, communications, and even the physical releases themselves. Is that just who you are, a conscious choice with a goal, or even a bit of both?

I am so glad that this is coming through! Something I keep stressing is that this genre, like other “harsh” genres, is home to many folks who have experienced hardship and trauma. Of course that isn’t a requirement to enjoy any of it, but I do think it’s fair to say a good number of us have connected to crust, black metal, etc. because something in it speaks to spiritual, physical & mental anguish (even nature based atmospheric black metal fans, dare I say?)

Why is this important? Because "kvlt" edgelords who gate-keep the genre, mainly white cis men with privilege, are insistent that not only is black metal “not for these people” (marginalized folks who have suffered at the hands of society in addition to any personal hardship), but that these people should suffer more. Absolutely not. There is enough suffering in our past, in the daily lives of too many fans, that they do not deserve more. It’s my feeling that folks who are uncomfortable with Fiadh’s aesthetic & vibe aren’t the ones truly in need of small joys & comfort - and that’s OK! I want to reach the extreme metal fans who have never felt welcome, safe, or warm - and while Fiadh certainly isn't the only place where they can feel that way, it will always be one.

As for me, I have lived and worked with traumatized companion animals at shelters, rescues & vets for over 15 years in addition to being a mom to two little ones so gentleness is my natural approach (yay sobriety).

Staying on the topic of black metal, what would you say is the most interesting development in the sound of the sub-genre today? There’s a lot of different directions it’s going in and a lot of attention towards it; what is black metal doing today that you like the most?

I like that people are having more fun with it despite having to fight for that, which I could talk about for ages, but sound-wise I am appreciative of the steady inroads crust and the associated punk values continue to make into more mainstream black metal (for example, the massive popularity of Dödsrit despite evolving sound or Totem Skin for whose Weltschmerz I did PR via Halo of Flies, which is another underrated gem of a label)

Shifting gears, a lot of the music on Fiadh has folk influences or is downright folk music. Have you always listened to folk music? What is the potential for folk music in metal spaces, beyond the “classic” use of it as interlude or contrast to heavier music?

Yes, I have always listened to folk music! It was a big part of my upbringing and culture, formative experiences spent at sessions growing up. Additionally, my mom is a piper and I’m a pipe band drummer, so there is also a constant personal overlap into those spaces. Beyond your standard howling wind / acoustic noodling “intro” (which I still love) and the folk metal genre itself, what interests me most is incorporating more traditional folk instrumentation into metal. The potential here goes beyond the music itself, because exposing listeners, especially western ones, to new sounds and experiences in an authentic, non-gimmicky way is crucial. There are already many examples of pipes and hurdy gurdys, but we have Book of Sand using gamelan, Matthew Broadley (formerly of Dawn Ray’d) spotlighting the harmonium with his excellent project Greet, and many others introducing lesser known instruments into metal or metal-adjacent projects. This is such a good opportunity to re-contextualize the way we approach folk music as well as, in some cases, decolonize it. 

I also encourage everyone interested in folk music to follow musician and educator Adam Matlock on socials!

If you had to choose five releases (sorry!) from the Fiadh catalog, which ones would you recommend our readers listen to first and why?

So unfair!

Weald + Woe - For the Good of the Realm

Lust Hag - Lust Hag

The Blood Mountain Black Metal Choir - Demo I: Folklore

Lammoth - Tales of Treachery

Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze - The Fractal Ouroboros

Hircine - Old Kings Fall

Terzij de Horde - Our Breath is Not Ours Alone

Lastly, what’s next for Fiadh? Is the plan to stick to your guns and just keep publishing great music or do you have plans to expand the label and its operations?

STICK TO MY GUNS! However, the label has been getting a bit bigger than I can handle with my kids, dogs, full time job, research & pipe band so I am thrilled to have brought my best friend Jeff on (Weald + Woe, By Fire & Sword, booktok pillar) to help with everything, especially logistical stuff & math. Nothing will change - still no contracts, still just me packing everything in a corner of the basement, but we will definitely be more organized for 2026 thanks to him. A few other things we’ve been approached about that we’re working on is a fest & something in the EU for folks there so stay tuned :)

Portal to the God Damn Blood Dimension show the powerful harmony that can come from combining emotionally resonant orchestral post-rock, and human voices that are breaking at the seams because they really god damn care about what they're yelling about. We first became acquainted with the Salt Lake City ensemble back in 2020 with their debut Rotten Fruit; Regular Orchard, which brought a fresh and passionately raw take on the “chamber music” style of post-rock popularized by Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Given the year of the release and the *gestures vaguely* world events going on, the group unfortunately was unable to play any shows or tour to support the album.

Over time, this period of inactivity led their ensemble of 7-8 active members to deplete down to just 3. Despite this dearth, the remaining members got back to work on the new album, Diluvium Cantos. With recording beginning in 2022, they gradually built the group back up again from 3 to 10 musicians, filling roles such as violas, violins, flugelhorns, sax, and more. Cellist, pianist and backing vocalist, Scott JW, expands on this: “Finding, integrating and recording this new group of musicians was a painstaking process that caused the record to take almost two years to finish tracking and a number of months to mix. Despite this extended cycle, the material is some of our favorite to play.” 

With that many members contributing to a release over a lengthy period of time, it's normal for it to take on multiple meanings depending on who you ask, but Scott suggests that if their first album was their sad album, Diluvium Cantos is the angry one. "Without focusing on any particular narrative, the album is about apostasy. It’s about how organizations who claim to be of a higher calling hoard their help and support for those who need it the least. That faith often dies by a thousand cuts."

The group managed to play a number of shows on the west coast earlier this year, and if you were fortunate to catch them you likely already heard most of this release! And my envy is high, because this is really the sort of music optimized for a live setting. Overflowing with passion, their music grabs you by the collar and demands your attention and every ounce of emotion left in your heart. And if you let it, it will fill that heart with a fury and vitality that courses through your veins. Diluvium Cantos accomplishes this across it's three tracks of stirring, string-laden post-rock accented by poetic spoken word that often teeters on the edge before breaking into fervent screams.

The writing uses post-rock's strength of tension-stretching and swelling, but the crescendos and climaxes feel like an earned and necessary part of a larger journey that you’re caught up in. You feel yourself dangling on that edge with them, feeling their pain, their grief, their wrath. But then there’s a light. A hand reaching out, and a sense of bliss washes over you. You’ve travelled through the Portal to the God Damn Blood Dimension and are now floating in the Diluvium Cantos.

Listen below and support this lovely independent band on Bandcamp, and stream the album everywhere December 5th.

-TB

Human – Concetto Transeunte (progressive/tech death)

This is some very good, fretless-bass-led, progressive tech-death.

Deficit – Deathstyle (nu metal/core)

And this is some dumb nu-metal that remembers when the genre still had something to do with hip-hop, while still bringing a brutal, modern twist. Fun stuff.

Release Roundup

Abstract – Monogram (prog shred)

Acid Death – Evolution (progressive death-thrash)

Aerosmith + Yungblud – One More Time (hard/pop rock)

Aittala – Ill: Gotten Gains (spooky sludge)

The Algorithm – Recursive Infinity (electro-metal, synthwave)

AngelMaker – This Used to Be Heaven (deathcore)

Annisokay – Abyss: The Final Chapter (baddiecore)

Antinoë – The Fold (neoclassical? post doom)

As The Palaces Burn – Zodiac (prog metal/thrash)

Asthenia/World Coda – Rupture (post black/metal)

Beast Eagle – Sorceress (heavy metal)

The Behaviour – Pedestals (prog rock)

The Birch – Vicious Mind (rock)

Blizzen – Metalectric (heavy metal)

Bloodbound – Field Of Swords (power metal)

Born from Pain – Siege Mentality (hardcore, crossover)

Born Of Plagues – dead Endings (post doom)

Bragging Rights – Carpe Jugulum (progressive groove-death, Pratchett-core)

Brainwasher/Sickrecy – Split (grindcore)

Calcraft – Reborn Through Torture (progish/blackened death metal)

Cassidy Paris – Bittersweet (Coyote Ugly)

Civil Service – Dark /// (post rock)

Cryptic Process – Gulps (brutal death metal)

Danko Jones – Leo Rising (hardish rock)

Darktribe – Forgotten Reveries (melodic/prog metal)

De La Soul – Cabin in the Sky (funk hop)

Dead Head – Repression Tank (death metal)

Decorate. Decorate. – Swerve Of Atoms (posty goth/rock)

Decrepit Altar – Egregious Defilement (death doom)

Depravity – Bestial Possession (brutal death metal)

Dome Runner – World Panopticon (shitty industrial metal)

Dream Portals – Lights Of Winter (goth doom)

Dune Aurora – Ice Age Desert (stoner metal)

Edit The Tide – The Space Between Seconds (melodic metal/core)

El Muerto – Lost And Amsterdamned (deathened black metal)

Epigenetic Erotophonophilia/Gangrene Discharge – Split (goregrind)

Eradicator – Alive In The Dead Eye Of The Vortex (thrash)

Extensa – Echomora (post metal)

Fate’s Hand – Steel, Fire & Ice (heavy metal, power doom)

Flesher – Gore on Gore (death metal)

Frozen Land – Icemelter (power metal)

Gasket – Gasket (hard/grindcore)

A Gram Trip – Bud Ends And Glass Bottoms (sludge doom)

Grenouer – Downtown Dream (prog, djent)

The Halo Effect – We Are Shadows (melodeath covers)

Havamal – Age of the Gods (symphonic folk metal, melodeath)

Hounds – Rise of the Immortals (heavy/power metal)

In Virtue – Age Of Legends (cowboy prog)

Karu – Perdition (symphonic black/death metal)

Kill Ritual – In My Head (thrash)

The Last Sound Revelation – The Proximity Effect (instrumental prog)

Locusts and Honey – Shadow of My End (blackened funeral doom)

Mage – Hymns For The Afterlife (stoner metal)

Maha Sohona – A Dark Place (post metal)

Midnite City – Bite The Bullet (gothish hair metal)

Monachopsis – The Carcass Choir (progressive/blackened death metal)

Monochrome Cinderella – Beyond the Ansemble (progressive? heavy/power metal)

Morbikon – Lost Within The Astral Crypts (blackish death metal)

Muramasa – Conquered by Yokai (slamming brutal death)

Murkov – Dark Shades (deathcore)

My Ticket Home – Pure To A Fault (alt/nu metal)

Need2destroy – Anti (groove metal)

Nemorous – What Remains When Hope Has Failed (post-black metal)

Netherwalker - Odyssey of Respair (brutal/technical deathcore)

Númenor – Runes of Power (power metal)

Old Night – Mediterranean Melancholy (doom metal)

Olde Throne – Megalith (meloblack)

Orob – Golden Tears of Love and Sorrow (progressive black metal)

Outlying – Oblivisci (melodeath)

The Pretty Wild – zero.point.genesis (The Pretty Reckless at home)

Putrescent Carcass – Putrescent Carcass (slamming brutal death)

Remaining Warmth – When the Night Ends (post-black)

Reptyle – Blazed Shades & Thorned Veils (goth prog)

Roadkill – This Way to Hell (heavy metal/rock)

Sacred Leather – Keep the Fire Burning (speed metal/thrash)

Sainted Sinners – High On Fire (sloppy-AI-boobs metal)

Sallow Moth – Blue Permutations (weird prog death)

Sallow Moth – Deformity in Ceremony (weird brutal death/grind)

Satra – In Tears of Her Reign (symphonic metal)

Scythe For Sore Eyes – Face Puzzle (gothy metal)

Sedna – Sila Nuna (post-black metal)

Shores Of Null/Convocation – Latitudes Of Sorrow (mellow-death/doom)

Slaughterday – Terrified (grindcore)

Slôdder – Narcissist (sludges)

Sortilège – Le poids de l’âme (heavy metal)

South Arcade – Play! (nu metal)

Spanish Love Songs – A Brief Intermission in the Flattening of Time (indie rock, emo)

Speedclaw – Stardust (heavy metal)

Sterbhaus – Next Akin To Chaos (blackened groove-thrash)

Stone Nomads – Empires Of Stone (sludge doom)

Sun Of The Dying – A Throne Of Ashes (post/black metal)

Terror Corpse – Ash Eclipses Flesh (death metal)

Treat – The Wild Card (granddad rock)

Turbo Lovers – Working Blue (rock)

When Nothing Remains – Echoes Of Eternal Night (doom)

Winds Of Neptune – Winds Of Neptune (rock)

Wolftooth – Wizard’s Light (stoner rock)

Zadism – Under Sadistic Law (death, thrash)

Zero Tolerance – A Test of Strength (black thrash)

Winter beckons. The frost is real. Black metal abounds. Oh yeah, baby. It’s time for the penultimate Kvlt Kolvmn of 2025. 

Year-end content round ups approach swiftly, and we can’t wait to share our best of the best with you. In the meantime, here are the records that spoke unseemly words to us in October. We hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

See you for the grand finale. Until then…

Stay frosty.

-Jonathan Adams

Winter’s Crown

Yellow Eyes - Confusion Gate

With death, comes life. It’s corny, but there are few truths in the universe more constant and unmoving. Destruction begets creation, rot becomes energy, fire brings restoration, and ends often precede beginnings. In the case of Gilead Media, the end of one of the most magical labels in the extreme music world sent shockwaves of sadness throughout the community. The amount of incredible albums I’ve personally discovered due to Gilead is inestimable. But with the end of the road in sight, the label and their most distinctive black metal luminaries Yellow Eyes unleash a swan song that is, without question in my eyes, the greatest album of the band’s career and one of the best to be released in Gilead Media’s history. It’s that good, and one of the best black metal records of 2025. 

Opener “Brush the Frozen Horse” gives listeners everything they need to be able to assess the record’s performance quality. With gorgeous riffs aplenty, Yellow Eyes waste no time reminding you of their superior talents as songwriters and musicians. The guitar tones, kit intensity, and atmospheric haze all coalesce here into something that feels greater than the sum of its parts. It’s equal parts punishing and lush, showcasing a band operating at the peak of their powers. Pulling elements from their last non-metal record Master’s Murmur and incorporating them into their ethereal black metal template works wonders for the band’s overall sound, with “The Thought of Death” being a particular highlight. Feeling simultaneously like a triumphant black metal composition akin to the likes of Obsequiae with the expansiveness of Spectral Lore and an excerpt from the Highlander soundtrack, it’s one of the most gorgeous black metal tracks I’ve heard in years. 

There’s really nothing to knock Yellow Eyes for with Confusion Gate. It’s a gorgeous, at times vicious, magisterial work of art that highlights what this band is capable of achieving. If it is truly one of the final sonic bows of Gilead Media, it is truly a glorious finale. Confusion Gate is absolutely going to be appearing on my genre year-end list, and may crack my general top 10. A supremely effective record. 

-JA

Best of the Rest 

Thormesis - Nevertheless

As the cold sets in, German post-black metallers Thormesis manage to hit me where my heart lives in the darker seasons of the year. Offering a highly melodic take on the Harakiri for the Sky-esque style of post-black metal, but without the need for stretching out their compositions beyond need, these teutonic tear-jerkers sink their hook in right from the get go. Opener “Am Morgen, Wenn die Sonne Untergeht” sets the stage with confidence and poise, establishing a juxtaposition of guitar leads sticky as black tar, interspersed with powerful chugging riffs, a punchy rhythm section and a mix of HftS rasps and burly clean chants. 

Second track and highlight “Entzweit” drives home the power of their formula, boasting both energetic riffing and drums and one of the most enthemic, hum along-ready choruses I’ve heard from a post-black band in a long time. The way they segue back into the last iteration of that chorus, and tack on a humdinger of a little solo before cutting off with a keen ear for where to end a banger has been living rent-free in my brain for a few weeks now.

“Made of Nothing” further exemplifies the Harakiri-sims, while also referencing Woods of Ypres 

In the deep and mournful vocal melodies and surprisingly catchy melodies. “Lonesome - A distant Memory” embeds Thormesis further in their national post-black scene by collaborating with Ellende, another qualitative mainstay in the German post-black scene. The album's second notable highlight arrives in “Fahnen”, with its powerfully layered vocals and chunky yet melodic guitar work. 

Thormesis clearly have an established formula, and most tracks stick to the contrast of slower, more melodic passages interspersed with quick bursts of distorted-chuug aggression. They confidently carry this tried-and-true template through the cold atmospheric rain by consistently writing truly sticky melodies, and knowing when to lower the coffin and move on to the next mournful anthem. Where many of their peers are plagued by a lack of self-editing, Nevertheless never overstays its welcome and shows that less can be more on its concise 39 minute runtime. 

Thormesis do not reinvent the weepy wheel here, but they show a maturity and ear for melody that makes this one of the most enjoyable and memorable post-black metal records I’ve heard this year. If you like your catharsis catchy and bite-sized, look no further. 

-Boeli Krumperman

Kamra - Unending Confluence

There are many ways for metal to disgust you, as disgust is one of the basic aesthetic gestures at its core. Bands can utilize guttural vocals, walls of noise, samples, and more. But Kamra have a different approach, a more esoteric one: what if an album constantly felt like the world was churning around you? Unending Confluence is a lot but it’s a lot in a very specific way. This isn’t the excess of atmospheric black metal or even the aural assault of the punk infused second wave. This is instead a sort of roiling, unwinding, buzzing sound that is very easy to lose oneself to but that also has a faint layer of discomfort and friction to it. In short, it sounds exactly like its cover art looks, which is saying something considering how weird it is.

Look no further than opener “Unlightment”. Why are the “quiet” sections so busy? Why does it feel like there are a million cymbals always going off in the background and why are they so wet? When the heavy parts are ringing out, it feels like being enveloped in that cloud of smoke from the cover, smothering you with an excess of notes. But even the “relief” of the doomy, dragging section at the end is no real relief as it undulates between slightly “wrong” note to another. To conjure forth the drums again, they are always doing something sneaky and unique, denying you even footing and keeping you guessing.

And then there are the vocals. Occultic? Ecstatic? Agonizing? A little of each is probably the right answer, like listening to a sermon being given by a priest who is actively, currently, on fire, perhaps an unholy one. Just trust me on this one - spin Unending Confluence at least a few times and give it your undivided attention. There is so much hiding beneath the surface that comes together for an experience that I cannot call enjoyable per se. Challenging? Satisfying? Cathartic? Definitely. And something else besides, something that is hard to put a finger on but which keeps me coming back.

-EK

We’ve reached the end of another year, and the quality death metal releases keep stacking higher and higher. But don’t fear. Death’s Door is here, and we have the goods!

As our final gift to you and yours before we break for the holiday and prepare our year-end lists, feast on some of the best death metal we’ve heard this year. We’re confident you’ll enjoy more than a small smackeral of the goodness here. And if you don’t, kick rocks. 

JK just tell us what you loved in the comments. THEN kick rocks. 

Death metal. Forever. 

-Jonathan Adams

Cream of the Crop

Suffering Hour - Impelling Rebirth

Of all the “it” bands in death metal over the past few years, none has received less love than Suffering Hour. Over two full-length records and a smattering of excellent singles and EPs, these Minnesota-based blackened death dealers have proven themselves to be among the most interesting, innovative, proficient, and vicious collectives in the extreme music world. On every level the band shines, so it’s supremely frustrating to see them miss out on the accolades and exposure other (very worthy) bands like Blood Incantation, Tomb Mold, Gatecreeper, and Ulcerate receive. So here’s my valiant attempt to give them even a tad more deserved exposure, because Impelling Rebirth is among their best releases to date. 

A tight, vicious EP of five tracks clocking in at 14 minutes, Impelling Rebirth is an exemplary collection that showcases at full power everything this band is capable of. “Revelation of Mortality” feels like the track that most pulls all of the band’s sonic influences and elements together. From cavernous tremolo picked madness to thrashing riffs and deathly bellows, all spiced with an Ad Nauseam-core progressive bent, it’s hard to deny this track’s magnitude and the effectiveness in which it accomplishes its mission. Which, as far as I can tell, is melting our brains while we headbang ourselves into inky oblivion. Every track on here is an absolute banger front to back, and cements Suffering Hour’s status as modern death metal titans. 

While I’ve always deeply enjoyed Suffering Hour, Impelling Rebirth feels like the release that cements their status as one of the absolute best and brightest acts in extreme music. There is genuine, awe-inspiring talent and vision on display here, and I cannot get enough of this sequence of tracks. Here’s hoping we get another full-length release sooner rather than later. But until then I’m gonna listen to this thing until my ear drums pop. Exceptional death metal. 

-JA

Best of the Rest

Aephanemer - Utopie

French melodic death metal Aephanemer have taken a different path towards Wintersun worship than other melodic death metals AE-pex predators Aether Realm. Where the latter have chosen to drop the brow and arguably the quality after Tarot, Aephenemer have upped the symphonic grandeur and the melodic pomp and circumstance considerably since 2016 highlight Prokopton, and arguably still more since 2021s A Dream Of Wilderness, which I’ve recently revisited and rediscovered, after (aside from the amazing artwork) it failed to capture my imagination on release.

This was not the case with Utopie. Starting with another expertly executed symphonic intro as we have come to expect from Aephanemer, and clearly endowed with a more sophisticated production job this time around, the album impresses out of the gates with a strong three-song run of “Le Cimetière Marin”, highlight “La Règle du Jeu” and “Par-delà le Mur des Siècles”. Between exuberant melodies, majestic orchestration, lively and buoyant drumming, a decidedly more plopping if still sometimes buried bass presence, and the vicious, French-cadenced snarl of Marion Bascoul these melodeath mainstays are firing on all cylinders. The Wintersun comparisons are more obvious here than on previous platters, especially in the wildly melodic and technical guitar pyrotechnics, and lead to some wonderful moments. 

Aephamener really show their compositional craft by delivering perhaps my favourite track on the album without the need for vocals. The sweeping, glittering meander of “La Rivière Souterraine” shows that when the compositions are strong enough, dropping the vocals entirely is a risk worth taking. The track exudes poignancy and drama, and has quickly shot up the ladder of my favorite melodic death metal ditties of the year. 

Two part closer Utopie (Partie I and II) close out the album to more great fanfare, although the nature of Aephanemer’s music does mean I find my attention wandering every so often as there is a lot going on on this album, and the long track lengths late on the album threaten to drown engagement in excess. This is somewhat aided by the wonderful attention reset button offered by “La Rivière Souterraine” after a somewhat less excellent midsection, but I still feel a couple of minutes could have been shaved off the more noodly sections of the last two tracks. 

Any fans of symphonics-heavy melodic death metal should take definite note of this album, as Aephanemer show once again they still have the chops to make this formula work, and deliver an ever more polished iteration of their tried-and-true formula on Utopie.

-Boeli Krumperman

Hecktic - Unbeholden

The one thing death metal does for me that no other genre of metal does is that it sometimes makes me go “holy fuck” and want to absolutely tear something apart. This is good rage, clean rage, like a blue fire burning everything away. Unbeholden, Hecktic’s second album, is engineered in a lab to make me feel this rage. From opener “The Legacy is a Lie” opening with the vile words of George W. Bush Jr. and ending with the harrowing words of protest against them, through the impossibly powerful and agile riffs of “Plague Waltz”, and all the way to the gruelling and abrasive vocals throughout, Unbeholden is a slab of death metal excellence and aggression.

Tying all of these excellent elements together, the production on this album is just unrelenting. Drowning everything in a dark tone that nonetheless muddies not a note of the music, Unbeholden sounds even more menacing than its constituent parts would lead you to believe. Yes, it’s loud in that death metal but it’s not just loud to be loud; the volume is there to make sure that every bass note, double kick, and churning chords hits you right where it should, namely your stomach. It also makes the album strangely palatable in a way; I can listen to this one all day long and in fact have, circling around and around its dark allure like a moth to some fucked up flame.

Alright, you get the picture. This is death metal with a capital “AAAAHHHH”, filled with rage against the bastards who pretend to “lead” us even as they drive us right off a cliff. It is filled with that anger that is at the core of death metal, the seat upon which the genre was founded, and the number one thing I still go to it for. If you want to feel that rage channeled through some truly excellent metal, Unbeholden is your ticket.

-EK

Blindfolded and Led to the Woods – The Hardest Thing About Being God Is That No One Believes Me

Why are bands from “down under” so good at making progressive death metal? Ulcerate, Portal, Convulsing and Eye Eater are a few notable mentions, but Christchurch quintet Blindfolded and Led to the Woods are now a must on any list of Antipodean aural aggression. Their new album, The Hardest Thing About Being God Is That No One Believes Me, picks up the mantle from where previous full length, 2023’s Rejecting Obliteration, left its listeners…and that is a very dark place indeed. The troubling subject matter of this concept album is that of someone having their sanity slowly unravel, giving way to unhealthy obsessions, and the band have clearly dug deep to paint this disturbing picture in as much detail as possible. 

On my first listen I could immediately hear elements of ‘…And Then You’ll Beg’ era Cryptopsy in the vocal delivery and off-kilter riffs, while some of the hurtling rhythms are reminiscent of Kill era Cannibal Corpse. These comparisons should tell you there has been a slight shift from their recent dissonant death metal leanings to a more direct and abrasive sound. There are still plenty of intelligent melodic flourishes throughout the album, but they are merely the side dishes that accompany the main meal of delicious technical progressive death metal. 

Epic eight-minute opener “Arrows of Golden Light” covers the full spectrum of where BALTTW are in 2025; jagged riffs are thrown at you like knives in a circus act, insanity speed blast beats pummel you into submission, and delicately plucked chords trickle over a thunderous double kick and synth soundscape. It keeps you locked in, as you try (and fail) to guess what might be coming next. “Red” is another track that will stay with you as it bounces between black metal ferocity and a symphonic-sludge finale (we could all do with more symphonic-sludge in our lives). The title track is also suitably complex with a sumptuous jazz inspired mid-section that I wish lasted a few minutes longer. 

I’ve been struggling to get into a lot of the celebrated death metal releases this year, and I still haven’t put my finger on exactly why that is. This album, however, has got me back in the game and I’m genuinely grateful for that. BALTTW have created an exceptional blend of ferocity, technicality and originality that not only enthrals the listener, but pulls you into an ominous world where the inner thoughts of their twisted perpetrator run riot.     

-PK

Back in 2018, I premiered a neat little EP from a doom band called Sundecay. Back then, the cover art is what grabbed me initially; its atmospheric composition and alluring subject spoke to me. Ever since then, I've gone back to Gale, said EP, from time to time for its excellent riffs and proto-doom atmosphere. When I did, I'd ask myself "hey, what happened to those guys?" or "I wonder if I'll ever get new music from them?" Lo and behold, a few weeks ago, I received an email from the band telling me that new music was indeed forthcoming and whether I wanted to premiere a track from The Blood Lives Again, their upcoming album. First I said yes and then I clicked play on "Here Comes the Wizard" and if the track title didn't already tell you, I go what I came for - lots and lots of great riffs and fuzz. Head on down below to check it out!

Like before, things are played relatively straight but the passion and skill for the craft of doom on display here is to be lauded. This is thick, hefty doom that knows what its about and is uncompromising in that dedication to it. Like Gale, the compositions do enough within these spaces to keep you hooked in, iterating on the big, tried and true, early doom sound in interesting ways. I especially like the track's outro, which dabbles with psychedelic sounds while holding to its basic groove to create a larger than life and swirling sort of sound that ushers this track into its death throes and final withdrawl.

The Blood Lives Again is sure to have a lot more of the good stuff and it releases on February 6th, 2026. Yes, it's time for 2026 releases. No, I'm not ready either. Anyway, head on over to the band's Bandcamp below to pre-order this beast; it rocks.

Veilburner – Longing for Triumph, Reeking of Tragedy (weird death metal)

This is some very weird (and very good!) death metal.

Release roundup:

1914 – Viribus Unitus (deathened meloblack)

Ab-Natural – Catabase (progressive/posty metalcore)

All Sinners – We Own The Night (hard/heavy metal)

Angerseed – Rapture is Mine… Glory is Ours (death metal)

Asira – As Ink In Water (post-prog)

Astarothica – The Olden Domain (gothic black metal)

Auditory Anguish – AFA (groove death/metal)

Avoid – Creature Of Habit (popy metalcore)

Avralize – Liminal (melodic metalcore

Bell Witch & Aerial Ruin – Stygian Bough Vol. II (funeral doom)

Ben Quad – Wisher (post hardcore, emo)

Bleakness of Iris – Omniversal Eater (brutal death/core)

Bloodtied – Dismantling Neuroanatomy (brutal death metal)

Bloodtruth – Execration (death metal)

Brainblast – Colossus Suprema (progressive tech-death)

Chairmaker – Leviathan Carcass (deathgrind)

Chokecherry – Ripe Fruit Rots And Falls (alt punk)

Creatures – Creatures II (heavy metal)

Cristiano Filippini’s Flames of Heaven – Symphony of the Universe (power metal)

The Cyclist Conspiracy – Back To Hermetics And Martial Arts: Vol. 1 (progressive post-rock)

Degraved – Spectral Realm Of Ruin (death metal)

Demon King – Death Knell (tech death)

The Devil Wears Prada – Flowers (Lorde-core)

Disaffected – Spiritual Humanized Technology (prog metal/thrash/death?)

Disharmonik – My Inner Ghosts (doom death)

Double Mute – Corporate Culture_FINAL_v2 (post post-black metal?)

Eld Varg – Destroyer (heavy metal)

Enemynside – In The Shadows Of Unrest (groove thrash)

Exxecutor – Into Hellish Domains (black thrash, speed metal)

Fallstaf – Ode To The Dead (groove metal)

Fimbul Winter – What Once Was (meloblack/death)

FKA twigs – Eusexua Afterglow (hyper-pop/hop, wtf?)

Ghold – Bludgeoning Simulations (posty psych-rock/sludge)

The Grasshopper Lies Heavy – Heavy (heavy sludge)

Home Front – Watch It Die (post/indie punk)

The Hyena Kill – Collapse (alt sludge)

Hypostase – Feld-R/Anomalie-N (post/math rock)

Icer Ender – Watching Fall (prog?)

Imperial Domain – Portentum (symphonic/powerful melodeath)

Jonathon “Boogie” Long – Courage In The Chaos (blues rock)

A Karmic Gray – Six Bullets til’ Morning (death metal/core)

Kings Chamber – Dream of Dragons and of Kings (heavy metal)

Kylver – The Gobi (post-rock)

Lamp Of Murmuur – The Dreaming Prince In Ecstasy (black metal)

Lavisher – Aligned & Vital (Nefarious)

Love Your Witch – Radio Fantasia (Self)

Mausoleum Gate – Space, Rituals and Magick (prog rock)

Mezzrow – Embrace the Awakening (death metal/thrash)

Mezzrow – Embrace The Awakening (ROAR)

Mike Patton and The Avett Brothers – AVTT/PTTN (porg rock)

Monograf – Occultation (folky post metal) Review

Moral Implant – Delusion (noisy deathgrind)

Mortification Ritual – Mortification Ritual (death/grind)

Mourn The Light – Sorrow Feeds The Silence (heavy/doom metal)

Murals – Murals (progressive post-hardcore)

Mytherine – Lord of Mountains (melodeath)

Negative Blast – Destroy Myself For Fun (punk)

Nuclear Dudes – Skeletal Blasphemy (noise punk/grind)

Of Mice & Men – Another Miracle (y tho?)

Oslo Tapes – Last Comet (post rock, shoegaze)

Pick Up Goliath – Artificial Ascendency (prog rock)

Piledriver – First Nations Rock (hard rock)

Preyrs – The Wounded Healer (post/prog doom)

Primal Scourge – End of Eden (death metal)

Primordial Rites – Contemplation Scriptures & the Swallowing Void (death/black metal)

Putrevore – Unending Rotting Cycle (death doom)

Ragana + Drowse – Ash Souvenir (post DSBM)

Raw Brigade – 100% (hardcore)

The Reticent – Please (prog rock)

Rise Of The Northstar – Chapter 04: Red Falcon Super Battle! Neo Paris War!! (nu weeb-croe)

Riuten – Until Everything Falls (death metal)

Season Of The Dead – Zombie Chronicles: Vol. 1 (death metal)

Seims – V (jazzy post-rock, actually?)

Silva – Silva (Self)

Skull & Crossbones – Time (power metal)

Slaminem – Slam Shady (butt slam)

Solautumn – Path to the Stars (mellowdoom)

Speedclaw – Stardust (trad metal)

Stellar Circuits – Phantom :: Phoenix (melodic mathy-core)

Stoned Morose – Our Harshest Mellow (funeral doom, sludge)

Strigiform – Aconite (weird/disso-death)

Tempestuous Fall – The Descent Of Mortals Past (symphonic funeral doom)

The Cyclist Conspiracy – Back To Hermetics And Martial Arts: Vol. 1 (progressive post-rock)

The Devil Wears Prada – Flowers (Lorde-core)

The Grasshopper Lies Heavy – Heavy (heavy sludge) Review

The Hyena Kill – Collapse (alt sludge)

The Reticent – Please (prog rock)

Thumbsucker/Atomçk – Split (gore/grindcore)

Trace Amount – Flagrant (industrial noise)

V.I.L. – Ruin (death metal)

Vein – Reveal (death metal)

Voidceremony – Abditum (progressive/blackened death metal)

Vower – A Storm Lined with Silver (post-hardcore, metalcore) Review

How is this not just called Half Hour of Vower? 

Wheel Of Time – Asymmetry (Self)

Withering Soul – Passage Of The Arcane (black metal)

Yawning Man – Pavement Ends (post rock)

Your Inland Empire – Your Inland Empire (goth rock/metal)

It’s HEAVY. Yep. That’s it, that’s the review. Insights like this are only available on the Heavy Blog. 

Nah, I kid. Though, if I was truly as lazy as my freshman year Spanish teacher thought I was—after all, my nickname was Perezoso—I’d call it a day. But you’re here for something with a little more substance: something to color what you’ll hear on this record, with a bit of contextual flair and maybe even some entertainment. Let’s just say I’ve checked that box already…

What The Grasshopper Lies Heavy steamroll out with HEAVY is some good ol’ fashioned riff-forward, chunky-waves-smashin’-into-your-eardrums brand of AmRep-appropriate noise rock. It’s got a cynical disposition with a penchant for some headfucking and off-beat twists, but it’s not without a few good earwormin’ hooks along the way. In essence, for those familiar, it’s a logical followup to their wonderful 2021 release, A Cult That Worships A God Of Death.

Yet, what’s here feels a touch more aggressive and challenging. Demanding rhythms lend a sense of disorientation while also written in a way that encourages listeners to surrender to some righteous groove. For those coming at this from a more metal-leaning background—I fucking swear if Gojira ever decides to tone things down with a noise rock turn, they’ll be lifting some ideas from this. Tell me you can’t hear some of that punishing groove in “Cure 1997,” or in the one-two punch of instrumental closers “Labyrinth” and “Maze.” And even in their more straightforward moments, like in the driving opener “Human Claymore” or it’s chuggy and tongue-in-cheek Torche-like followup “Lyrics Are Hard” (this song is really just missing a couple bomb strings), there’s no shortage of brute force. Hell, the real only reprieve you’ll get with this record is a couple minutes in “Tallow Man,” a piece that harkens back to TGLH’s more introspective and atmospheric early work.

In yet another year packed with exceptional noise rock releases, where finding your flavor of choice is every bit as paralyzing as choosing a fucking ice cream flavor, HEAVY stands out. What TGLH offer here is not as unhinged as the likes of Intercourse, as dark and depraved as Crippling Alcoholism, as crass or punk as mclusky, or as nuanced as that new Chat Pile/Hayden Pedigo collab. Instead, they tick the boxes for those looking for a more physical, Part Chimp- or Nerver- type approach. And still, TGLH’s sludgy foundation and aggression gets them to places that I’m frankly not catching anywhere else, at times even veering into Mastodon-esque territory (“We Are All The Antichrist”), where there’s a level of instrumental sophistication you may not be expecting. It lends for some depth to its inevitable neck-wrecking replay.

So, yeah. It’s loud. It’s smart. It’s pissed. It’s HEAVY.

HEAVY drops this Friday, November 14. Pre-order wax and digital here.

When you think of Puerto Rican music, most of us default to Bad Bunny. But the growing metal scene of the island is not to be missed or underestimated, with an ever-expanding pool of talented bands and artists making their mark in the extreme music underground. 

Case in point: the cinematic doom of Ender. Formed in 2021, the San Juan-based trio crafts an elegant strain of progressive/melodic doom metal that’s equal parts emotional and heavy. After releasing their debut EP, Lamplighter, in late 2023, Ender is preparing to re-emerge with In Silent Throne on February 20th next year. Today, they unveil the first single, “The Obelisk.”

Second releases are always tricky, especially for bands with an experimental or avant-garde streak. Reproducing the complex alchemy of inspiration and originality takes focus, and many bands (understandably!) find themselves refining their vision on their sophomore release. With Ender, the differences are subtle yet distinct, an aura of increased confidence and crispness that envelops “The Obelisk.” With Lamplighter, droning incantations rolling into deep doom riffs wrapped around heavy metal rhythms and song structures. The tension perfectly matched Rasputin’s conspiracies in the Russian court, which served as the inspiration of the EP. 

With “The Obelisk,” Ender turn inward, exploring the collapse of faith. The competing, yet often coexisting, forces of devotion and disillusionment are pitted against each other. Clean, almost orchestral vocals with the plaintive tone of a prayer seem to be in dialogue with harsh growls, which scrape against bruising, abrasive guitars. The rapid tone shifts create a sense of breathless turmoil, channeling the emotional intensity and loss of self that comes with a fall from faith. Like an acolyte finding new purpose after disillusionment, the new era of Ender promises greater clarity in their sophomore EP.   

Listen to “The Obelisk” below and follow Ender on Bandcamp or Instagram. “In Silent Throne” will be released on February 20, 2026 via Praetorian Records. 

Ender will perform this December at a Metal & Hardcore Festival in Puerto Rico, where they will debut their new single live. Alongside the live performance, the band will launch a pre-sale campaign on Bandcamp and host a CD Release Party in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Besides setting the world on fire in a myriad of ways, literal and metaphorical, the first half of the whimpering 20s have exacted their toll on the literal roar of some darlings of the UK's (alternative) metal scene. Recent swings of the scythe of circumstance took from us Ithaca (fucking RIP) and Svalbard, while last year marked the end for Palm Reader, but The hardest blow for me personally was probably Black Peaks calling it quits in 2021. Proving once more that ashes make for fertile ground, this merciless slash and burn tactic led to the formation of scrappy upstarts Vower—a proggy, post-hardcore-leaning alt-metal band, comprised of vocalist Josh McKeown from Palm Reader, guitarist Joe Gosney and drummer Liam Kearley from Black Peaks, guitarist Rabea Massaad from Toska, (who also threw in the towel in 2021, although I never listened to them and bassist Rory McLean filling out the roster. I’ve been following Vower since the drop of their first single, and am generally quite enamored with everything they’ve put out so far, but the question remains if they can fill the void left by these scene darlings, or if the steel-toed kickers left behind leave too much wiggle room.

Previous releases were condensed in 2024’s Apricity EP, and Vower have chosen to stick to a similar formula here—releasing most tracks as singles and then bundling everything together into a bite-sized release with a couple of fresh tracks. I’m generally not a fan of this formula, but it seems Vower (and/or their label) see the need to accommodate the short attention spans and overstimulated ears of their audience, and—after having to put down their prior bands, who followed a more traditional album structure—who are we to fault them for that? The sharp, hit and run release schedule also fits the musical direction Vower take. Their songwriting is more streamlined than Black Peaks or Palm Reader, cutting out atmospheric sections and slower builds for back to back hooks and a somewhat more formulaic approach to songwriting. That is not to say this is boilerplate or poppy: there is more than enough brawn and brain here to call Vower both firmly progressive and defiantly and definitively metal. 

The six songs on offer here range from four to six minutes in length and feature juxtapositions between melodic builds that bring to mind their progenitor bands as well as Karnivool, Soen and Hippotraktor, climaxing in mathy, post-metal meltdowns ready to realign the spine. Previously unreleased opener “Dawn in Me” engages me the least of what’s on offer here, being saved by the inimitable, chameleonic vocals performance of Mckeown, who switches between affective, cleans, acerbic highs and a powerful roar on the drop of a dime, and hearing him soar through these transitions between different vocal styles with flying colors offers some of the best moments on the song and the album as a whole. Of the two yet unreleased tracks, closer “Serpent”is the decided winner. After a more pensive, atmospheric build akin to the opener, this track really breaks loose with a vicious, screeching climax that gets the blood flowing and exposes the incisors in the victorious climax of a short release, before soaring off into the distance. 

The cool opening drum pattern on “Dawn In me” aside, it’s on the satisfying, Karnivool-esque squeal and crunch of “Deadweight” that Vower start picking up steam, even if the chorus somewhat fails to capitalize on the gritty verse with a perfect payoff. Everything really starts to coalesce on "Stuck" though, with McKeown once again stretching the limits of his bungee-cord like vocal chords for a performance that nails both the gravel and the grandeur, and a chorus that has been appropriately stuck in my head for a week now. The EP's centerpiece and most atmospheric offering, “Moth Becomes The Flame” hearkens close to the heyday of Palm Reader and Black Peaks, opening on a moody intro before drums and bass lead whip up a powerful drive and work towards a powerful climax. This track shows Vower at their heaviest and their most vulnerable, and when the gorgeous Soen-orous clean section sparks into a winged blaze, around the three-and-a-half-minute mark, the results are both anthemic and arresting. Fifth track “Satellites” offers another short, riffy bruiser elevated by great vocals. The song is both mathy and crunchy while remaining approachable in a great but somewhat formulaic fashion.

Vower burn hot, short and magnesium-bright on A Storm Lined With Silver—knocking out criticism with short, punchy and brawny tracks that still show their cerebral side enough to appeal to the prog crowd. I hope they retain their edge while giving their songcraft a bit more time to breathe on a hopefully forthcoming full-length. For now though, they remain poised to melt down the crowns of their forebears and forge a shining new star of the scene. 

Visual Kei (or "Visual Style", pronounced "Visual Kay") refers to both an entire scene and a music genre. It represents and informs both how a band looks and how they sound. The visual aspect blends elements of punk, goth, glam, emo and Harajuku fashion together, while the music itself runs the gamut from, glam, goth, alt rock, post punk, nu-, black-, hair-, power- and prog metal, all the way to deathcore and dance pop. Throughout all these tangents though, remains a through-line that can be traced back through a tradition that began in Japan's '80s glam rock scene and transformed—and transgressed—though goth and alt rock in the early '90s and on into the more extreme and experimental territories it occupies today.

Perhaps it is easiest to think of it as analogous to genres like "goth" or "emo" that describe a scene more than a style, yet are still useful to communicate a general sound and aesthetic and which adhere to a continuous and ever evolving tradition—although, like the latter, it has also has largely come to imply the involvement of some seriously swoopy and often brightly coloured fringes. These looks have also evolved over the years, beginning as extravagant exaggerations of 80 glam and hair metal get-ups, through flamboyant and often androgynous aristocratic outfits, to twisted goth nu metal industrial fetish gear and more subtle, stylish fashions in modern era.

I am hardly an expert in such things, but the genre has recently (re)captured my interest, so I reached out to the Heavy Blog Discord's resident music-weeb Dan Moriarti, who this post has been written in collaboration with. Dan was first drawn to visual kei (as most are) via his love for anime and a desire to listen to music that was truly “out there”. At first it was more of a novelty, but over the years has grown into a genuine obsession, to the point where his listening habits almost exclusively consist of J-rock, J-pop, Japanese folk, and, of course, visual kei.

With this post we have endeavoured not to recommend or define an authoritative list of the "best" visual kei album, but rather give an overview and offer inroads to its many different guises. The first "Essential Starting Points" sections covers an assortment of subgenres, from nu/alt metal, through baroque prog, hair metal, alt goth and even symphonic power metal. The following "Next Steps" section is a bit more uniform in its recommendations, offering a selection of quality cuts from visual kei's more modern and extreme incarnations (although we also find room to slip in some softer indie/art-prog while we're at it), while the final "Further Listening" section offers an array of possible next steps, depending on your preference, arranged in chronological order for your perusal.

Essential Starting Points

Dir En Grey – Withering to Death (2005)

If you’ve only ever heard of a single visual kei band, it’s probably Dir En Grey—and for good reason! Not only are they the most popular and influential visual kei band, but they are also undoubtedly the best. They also exemplify the inherent unclassifiability of the genre, if only via the paradoxical quality of having defined it. Formed in 1997, Dir En Grey (whose name means "The Silver Coin" for no particular reason) began as fairly conventional visual kei outfit, following in the footsteps of earlier bands like X Japan, Buck-Tick, and Kuroyume, while also bringing in more modern, metal-influenced sounds. Ironically, they were one of the first visual kei bands to sing (and scream) entirely in Japanese, and were already turning heads with their earlier nu metal-influenced albums and frontman Kyo's impressive and often unhinged vocal gymnastics. From there though, they quickly evolved into a more expansive outfit, becoming the much heavier, more progressive and harder to pin down act they are today, while also becoming the definitive turning point within the visual kei tradition, from which all subsequent significant VK can be said to have sprung.

Though highly regarded within their discography, Withering to Death probably isn't be Dir En Grey's best album. For that you'd have to either go back one to the unhinged, nu metal onslaught of Vulgar (2003), which includes their most well-known song "Obscure", whose infamy (and the band's own) was propelled by a particularly disturbing, abortion-themed video clip, which definitely makes bands like Marilyn Masnon and other popular shock rockers of the time look pretty tame; or jump ahead a few records to the full-on embrace of progressive metal on 2008's Uroboros and the other albums that followed. What makes Withering to Death a good starting point though—for both DEG and VK as a whole—is that it is also one of their more accessible and varied offerings, giving a good overview of the different aspects of their signature sound, without going off the deep end into potentially alienating chaos (although. in the end, that may just be the point).

Just as DEG themselves are a turning point in the VK genre, Withering is a turning point in their discography, signalling their transition from a primarily nu metal-based sound toward textures more accurately characterised as alternative or progressive metal—all led by Kyo’s various shouts, screams and howls. On its surface the album is a fairly straight forward alt rock or post-hardcore outing, but there's much more to it than that, with the album also taking a departure through goth rock and screamo for good measure. These later genres are embodied on the album's trademark track, "The Final", which is the only song from the album that they made a (disappointingly tame) video for.* The song is a nu metal-tinged, goth, suicide anthem, that might be easy to write of as VK's answer to Papa Roach's "Last Resort", if it weren't for Kyo's serene and soaring vocal delivery, that brings the song more in line with the likes of AFI or early My Chemical Romance. Elsewhere, the album offers up heavier fare, in the form of "Merciless Cult" and "Saku" ("New Moon"), along with plenty of dramatics on tracks like "Itoshisa Ha Fuhai Nitsuki" ("With Decay Comes Loveliness"), "Higeki Ha Mabuta Wo Oroshita Yasashiki Utsu" ("Tragedy Is the Sweet Melancholy That Lowered My Eyelids") and odd combinations of Japanese noise punk and bouncy garage rock on "Machiavellism".

Withering to Death was also the album that saw Dir En Grey brake into the Western mainstream, with Korn taking them out on the 2006 Family Values tour, alongside heavy hitters like Deftones, Stone Sour and also Flyleaf. For many, it's the definitive visual kei album and easily one of the most important, even if only represents the beginning of what Dir en Grey and the rest of the genre would become in its wake.

*I prefer the re-recorded version from their 2013 EP The Unravelling.

Malice Mizer – Merveilles (1998)

Dir en Grey may have defined modern visual kei's sound, but it's Malice Mizer who are largely responsible for how it looks—that is them up top on the banner, after all. They are one of the biggest and most influential bands of visual kei's second wave, becoming well known for their gender-bending, fetishistic French aristocrat image and extremely elaborate live shows with huge set pieces and several costume changes. Their most famous singer Gackt (who performs on this album) has served as the inspiration for numerous video game characters, including Genesis Rhapsodos in Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core (2007), Lau Wong in Bujingai (2003), Nikki in Chrono Cross (1999) and probably the original Final Fantasy VII's Vincent Valentine as well—having provided the theme for the character's spin-off Dirge of Cerberus (2006)—and going on to become a prolific film and voice actor as well. Their guitarist, Mana is a fashion icon in his own right even has his own "gothic lolita" fashion line Moi-même-Moitié.

Although always excessive, the band's sound and aesthetic was pushed to its highest limits with their third album Merveilles (French for "Wonders"), having evolved from the more straight-forward goth rock and synth pop of their earlier albums into a bombastic blend of baroque pop, symphonic power metal, industrial electronica and prog rock. As that description suggests, the album veers wildly from tracks like electronic S&M carnival canto "Illuminati" to more rock-inclined fare, including Dan's favourite "Bel Air", which has been noted for its introduction of European power metal aesthetics into the visual kei sound and which is perhaps the closest Malice Mizer come to professing pure prog-rock/metal.

Merveilles' sonic madness is only exceeded by its accompanying live show (below), which begins in a flurry of industrial fetish gear, following an orchestral overture—like some kind of bondage carnival-disco. It doesn't stay still for long though, transitioning through several sound, costume and set changes, including but not limited to:

• A horror-sacrifice sequence that wouldn't seem out of place in the latest Lady Gaga show
• The re-emergence of the band in their trademark androgynous aristocrat/baroque court jester outfits (which are certainly striking, if nothing else (although I must admit the Victorian moppet is a bit much...)
• A beautiful piano and drum duet between Gackt and drummer Kami
• A psychotic bass-freakout, courtesy of Yu~ki (who always steals the show)
• A Euro-pop disco song, whose melody reminds me a lot of "Flowers" by Miley Cyrus, but also something else that I can't quite place
• And the final rebirth of the band as a bedazzled brigade of butterfly devils, demonic bats and vampiric fallen-angels.

Merveilles is Malice Mizor's grandest achievement, and very much a defining statement in both their discography and visual kei as a whole. It was also almost the final statement of their career, with Gackt leaving the band the following year to pursue a successful solo career, and Kami becoming a member of the notorious "27 club" shortly after, due to a brain haemorrhage.

Malice Mizer's story does not end there, however. The band went on to release one more album called Bara no Seidou (2000) with new singer Klaha, which turned towards a more neo-classical, goth and even industrial sound, especially their final album. The live show for that record matches (and arguably exceeds) Merveilles' spectacle by featuring an entire on-stage cathedral. Their material is not readily available on many streaming services and can be hard to track down, but it is worth witnessing at least once, since Malice Mizer must truly be heard and seen to be believed.

X Japan – Blue Blood (1989)

If you've only heard of two visual kei bands, then you've probably also heard of X Japan, who weren't necessarily the first VK band, but were by far the biggest and most influential name in the scene before Dir En Grey showed up. X Japan are often credited as Japan's first mainstream rock band, with only their more conservatively dressed contemporaries in Loudness providing any real competition to the claim (and likely edging them out by having actually gotten their music to print a lot sooner). The two band's sounds are fairly similar though, blending American-style speed, thrash and glam metal, amid a mix of mix of English and Japanese lyrics—except that X Japan were so much bigger and more dramatic, in every way, going on to sell over 30 million records, inspire a genuinely fanatic following and arguably found visual kei in the process.

Despite starting out in 1982—as simply X—it took until 1988 for X Japan to put their first album out and the band were at the peak of their powers a year later with their second album Blue Blood, whose extravagance is exemplified by penultimate, eleven-minute, speed-thrash epic "Rose of Pain" which cranks up the sonic intensity to match their overblown image. The band went on release three more albums over the subsequent seven years, before disbanding then reuniting a decade later with Luna Sea guitarist Sugizo (see below) and hitting the nostalgia circuit—including a 2014 Coachella set that saw them joined by Fortus and Limp Bizkit's Wes Borland of all people (whose image is heavily VK-influenced and has also played a bunch of other shows with them state-side). Even if you're not a fan of their sound, it's definitely worth watching the 2016 documentary We Are X, to get a good idea of the band's story, which contains more dramatic twists and turns than a Malice Mizer concert—including the unexpected (and rather Michael Hutchence-esque) suicides of guitarist Hide ("He-day") and original (disgraced?) bassist "Taiji", as well as the literal, actual brainwashing of vocalist Toshi by an abusive cult.

The influence of Western rock trends upon X Japan is obvious, but the influence goes the other way as well. Most notable is ballad "Endless Rain", which some (though not nearly enough) people have pointed out bears a striking resemblance to Guns n' Roses mega-hit "November Rain", both in sound and visual aesthetics—with later GnR guitarist Richard Fortus (Love Spit Love, The Dead Daisies, BT) often performing the vocal melody from the song as part of his solos (alongside, uh—checks notes—Christina Agulera's "Beautiful"), and there is also some contention around Guns n' Roses "Yesterdays". It's easy to see why X Japan caught the attention of American music and marketing moguls like Kiss's Gene Simmons and Marvel Comics' Stan Lee, and less why they never caught on sooner.

Dan doesn't really like these guys, outside of hummable Helloween-sounding speed metal song "Kurenai" ("Crimson") and Hide's solo band, uh, Spread Beaver's song "Pink Spider", which makes the Borland connection a lot clearer. Nevertheless, he—like everyone else—recognises how important they are. These days, X Japan are kind of like the Iron Maiden of Visual Kei, in that they don't really sound anything like the modern genre they helped inspire, but remain both foundational and infinitely influential, and anyone who wants to understand or get into visual kei or any kind of Japanese metal needs to check them out.

Luna Sea – Mother (1994)

Luna Sea (get it?) don't look that similar visual kei bands of their era, but they became big around the same time as first-wave bands—constituting a quarter of the genre's original "Big 4", alongside L'Arc-en-Ciel, Buck-Tick and X Japan, who their guitarist Sugizo ("Sug-zo") now plays guitar for. Within the visual kei tradition, they represent the sound's split into Japanese rock (as opposed to metal), with Mother serving as the genesis point for all the J-rock Dan listens to today. Lead singer Ryuichi Kawamura's weirdly warbled vocals, along with Sugizo's catchy string melodies and superior solos form the centre of Luna Sea's sound, which otherwise more heavily from alt rock, goth and punk than the bands we have explored so far,

Indeed, the cover of Luna Sea's first, self-titled album (1991) (above) has them looking like a mix of Crashdïet and The Cure. It is on fourth album Mother, however, that the band arguably perfected their style—blending punk, prog rock, goth and post punk into a sound that is wholly theirs. Standouts include the anthemic "Rosier" and "True Blue" with their catchy choruses and largely English lyrics, which perhaps provide easier access to non-Japanese-speaking listeners. The band's subsequent record, Style (1996), also continues the sound established on Mother to a composable quality—so much so that Dan usually listens to both albums together, with his favourite song from the later record, "End of Sorrow", sounding like it could have easily slotted into this earlier album as well.

Mother and Style are decidedly less metallic albums than a lot of what is on offer here, but it's still well worth listening to—from front to back if possible. While Dan thinks of the album as a collection of standalone standouts, I found Mother made a lot more sense as a whole, creating a mood reminiscent of early Cult albums, or a more melodic, mid-period AFI. It's a refreshing change of pace that shows how visual kei can remain appealing while also understated.

Matenrou Opera – Mutsu No Hana (2024)

Moving into more modern and metallic territory for our final first-draft, Matenrou Opera ("Skyscraper Opera") have been together since 2006 At first, they were an indie band that played the same metal meets J-rock variant of visual kei as many others in the scene, but came into their own as a symphonic/power metal band midway through their career. Their sound may be rather different to that of mast visual kei bands, but their look remains relevant and they have forged a reputation for themselves as one of Japan's hardest working bands, through extensive touring and collaborations with numerous other visual kei bands, including Versailles and D.

Mutsu No Hana ("six-pointed star", or "snowflake"), is their most recent record, and also maybe their best. It starts off in more extreme, symphoninc-goth territory, with opener "Blood" sounding like something from a mid-period Cradle of Filth record, before settling into a more traditional, symphonic power metal sound as it progresses. While its overall aesthetic will be familiar to Western listeners the album also stands apart due to its distinctly Japanese melodies. Dan’s favourite track, "Yoakehayukitotomoni" is punctuated by Anzi's soaring guitar melodies, Sono's vibrant vibrato vocals and Hibiki's enthusiastically driving drums, and is at its best (as are most Matenrou Opera songs) when Anzi's guitars and Ayame keyboards really lock in together—Yo's bass is also there).

While Mutsu No Hana is probably a bit long, it's hard to complain when it's all of this high a quality, and the album will likely serve as a more accessible entry point for Western metal maniacs. If you like what you hear (uh...) here, then you might also want to check out Matenrou Opera's previous album Shinjitsu Wo Shitte Iku Monogatari ("A Story of Learning the Truth") (2022) , or the track "Rainbow", from 2019's Human Dignity, which are also likely more translatable to Western audiences. Power metal maestros would also do well to check out the symphonic stylings of Unlucky Morpeus, while fans of this album's earlier, heavier offerings may find further success with Sadie, who bring in more of Dir En Grey's heavier, frenzied approach to their symphonic goth sound.

Next Steps

Dir En Grey – Dum Spiro Spero (2011)

If Withering to Death is Dan's DEG entry-point pick, then Vulgar or Dum Spiro Spero ("While I Breathe, I Hope") are mine–especially if you enjoy the more extreme side of things. You really can’t go wrong with any Dir En Grey album, but Dum Spiro Spero is particularly important in that it is by far the band’s heaviest, while also being one of their most experimental.

The album's sound is characterised by a thick, heavy mix and down-tuned, seven-string riffs. From the first track "Kyoukotsu No Nari" ("Blossoming Beelzebub"), you are taken on a weird, meandering journey, with Kyo seemingly showcasing all of his extensive vocal tricks at once. Then you get taken into lead single "Different Sense", which sounds like if Suicide Silence suddenly learned how to play their instruments really, really well. The track also harks back to the more confrontational days of "Obscure", with lyrics centred around suicidal, social alienation and an accompanying video (below) featuring some extremely graphic and disturbing tentacle-erotica/assault scenes from adult anime Mahou Shoujo AI San (2009) ("sexy magical girl AI"),* and is as intense a song as Dir En Grey (or any Visual Kei) band have ever written. Hell, even the "ballads" like nu-metal banger "Lotus" are heavy!

Dum Spiro Spero is sandwiched between Dan's two favourite Dir En Grey albums, Uroboros (2008) and Arche (2014) and the band would go on to experiment with even more expansive sounds on the subsequent albums that might appeal more to pure prog fans. As far as the more extreme side of Visual Kei goes, however, this album simply can't be beaten.

WARNING: Extremely NSFW!

*...aaaand I forgot to open a private tab before I Googled that.

Deviloof – Dystopia (2021)

Continuing upon a more extreme trajectory, Deviloof are another band who will definitely appeal to deathcore fans being more or less the direct descendants of what Dir En Grey were doing on Dum Spiro Spero. Their sound is characterised by the usual deathcore combination of extremely heavy breakdowns, pig squeals and shrieks, along with an unnerving and extravagant visual kei aesthetic and some tasty fretless bass to spice things up as well.

While Deviloof’s earlier, more hip-hop influenced outings are probably best avoided, Dystopia is a pure deathcore album (with the exception of nu metal banger “Song for the Weak”, which Dan does not like, but I kinda do…). They're a band who constitute the furthest reaches of modern visual kei extremity and who would also fit in well alongside leading American acts like Brand of Sacrifice and Lorna Shore. Indeed, Deviloof’s in-your-face extremity has already caught the eyes and ears of notable metal YouTuber Nik Nocturnal. They might seem tailored to current deathcore trends and YouTube screamer reactions, and it's hard to believe that Deviloof are even in the same ballpark, let alone "genre" as some of the other visual kei bands mentioned here. Nevertheless, there is a long tradition of this sort of thing, going back to songs and videos like Dir En Grey's "Obscure" and "Different Sense", with the members of Deviloof—like all VK bands—listing them and X Japan among their biggest influences, alongside Western metal acts like Megadeth and Gamma Ray, and also Elvis Presley, because sure, why not?

Plastic Tree – Ink (2012)

Plastic Tree have been together since 1993 and are highly regarded by both visual kai fans and other bands in the scene. Like Luna Sea, they are another band who don’t immediately scream visual kei when you look at or listen to them, having started out as something of a noise rock band and becoming more increasingly influenced by indie- and alt rock-leaning acts like Radiohead and The Cure across the sixteen albums they have put out since the early '90s. Nevertheless, hey remain extremely important and influential to other visual kei bands and are simply another example of how expansive the genre can be.

They primarily blend alternative rock, shoegaze, electronica, dream pop and garage punk together—all of which is present on their 12th album Ink, which was released at the tail-end of 2012. It's an album that Dan listens to all the time, starting with its outstanding title-track and progressing through highlights like "Piano Black", with its dreamy vocals and swirling arpeggio synth; and "Life is Beautiful", which features well-thought-out (translated) lyrics like "Sorrow is still beautiful, forever untouched Like gazing at a bouquet of withered flowers But whenever the night as dark as your eyes arrives, It’s another blackout, blackout". Plastic Tree might not appeal to exclusively heavy metal or deathcore fans, but if you like this, then their recent, self-titled album from 2024 is another strong offering that continues Ink's indie/garage/dream-pop sound to a similarly high standard.

Sukekiyo – Ius Cerebri (2024)

Sukekiyo is a side project that Kyo of Dir En Grey started with members of several the other high profile visual kei bands. This makes them kind of like the Japanese A Perfect Circle to Dir En Grey’s Tool. The comparison works for their sound as well. While Dir En Grey might not sound much at all like Tool—outside of some of the rhythmic and tonal progressions on Uroboros—Sukekiyo readily recalls Maynard's mellower menagerie through their masterful blend of progressive/art rock and alternative metal.

Sukekiyo is part of a double-disc compilation, along with Sinistro Cerebrum (2024), containing best tracks from the four albums Sukekiyo have released so far. While Sinistro Cerebrum celebrates the weirder, more avant garde side of their sound, Ius Cerebri showcases the softer, more accessible side of their sound. Kyo’s vocals are obviously the star, with Sukekiyo allowing him to show off more of his cleaner singing, rather than relying on his shocking screams so much. However, he is also accompanied by equally masterful performances courtesy of guitarist Uta (9Goats Black Out [sic]), guitarist/keyboardist/composer Takumi (Rentrer En Soi), bassist of Yucchi (Kannivalism) and drummer Mika (also Rentrer En Soi). Mellower doesn't mean less versatile though. Dan's favourite Sukekiyo song, "En", is a melodic prog rock number with a lot of piano, as is the stirring "Hakudaku", which should appeal to Opeth and Mars Volta fans alike. Meanwhile, "Candis", "Moan" and "Dorothy" are poppier, synthier offerings. Dan listens to Sukekiyo as much as he does Dir En Grey or Plastic Tree these days, and it's easy to see why. Just don’t listen to radio edits!

Madmans Esprit – 나는 나를 통해 우리를 보는 너를 통해 나를 본다 ("I See Myself Through You Who See Us Through Me") (2022)

Just when it doesn't seem like there are any more boundaries to push, South Korean black metal act Madmans Esprit dare to question whether visual kei even has to be Japanese—or even South Korean for that matter. Main (and for a long time only) member Kyuho Lee (also of earlier and far more Radiohead-influenced VK band Ms. Isohp Romatem) lived for a long time in Germany during the project's early years, where he also fronted progressive metal band Human Traces. These experiences left Lee fluent in that country's language, along with Japanese, English and Korean—all of which he switches between for Madmans Esprit, sometimes within the space of a single track.

Again, Dir En Grey are the biggest and most obvious influence in play here, but their sound is much more expansive and refined than most other VK bands of their ilk. Madmans Esprit self-describe as "depressive suicidal blackened pop", which sounds about right, even if the "pop" aspect is highly debatable. There's also a distinctly nu metal influence to their style, with much of their lengthily titled third album bringing to mind a more blackened version what Tallah have been doing lately. Despite the global dominance of K-Pop, South Korea doesn’t seem to have a particularly prominent (or at least far-reaching) metal scene. Perhaps Madmans Esprit will finally put them on the map—or just blow it up altogether.*

*The map that is, not South Korea, which I wish a long and prosperous future.

Further Listening:

Dead End – Ghost of Romance (1987)
Buck-Tick – Darker than Darkness (1993)
L'Arc-en-Ciel – Ark / Ray (1999)
Kuroyume – Fake Star (1996)
Pierrot – Finale (1999)
Exist Trace – Ambivalent Symphony (2009)
D – Vampire Saga (2011)
Versailles – Holy Grail (2011)
Nocturnal Bloodlust – The Omnigod (2014)
Lynch. – D.A.R.K: In The Name of Evil(2015)
The Gazette – Dogma (2015)
Girugamesh – Chimera (2016)
Unlucky Morpheus – Change of Generation (2018)
Mucc – Aku (2020)
Petit Brabancon – Fetish (2022)
Dimlim – Dimlim (2022)
Deadman – In The Direction of Sunrise and Night Light (2022)
Imperial Circus Dead Decadence – 殯-死へ耽る想いは戮辱すら喰らい-彼方の生を愛する為に命を讃える (2022)
Sadie – The Revival of Darkness (2024)
Jiluka – Xndii (2025)

Arriving a full six years after their gorgeous autumnal debut, Norwegians Monograf returns with another stunning release seamlessly mixing post-rock, Scandinavian folk, progressive rock, and various metal subgenres. While Occultation is a clear continuation of the rich autumnal stew of sounds established on previous album Nadir (2019), it is also considerably more sinister, sounding as if that very same satiating stew has been transformed into a witch’s brew.

Nadir was a pensive yet expansive affair, conjuring images of pagan harvest celebrations carried out solemnly with the acknowledgment of the inevitable passage of time. featuring intertwining clean guitars playing somber chord progressions with twinkling melodies inspired by Scandinavian folk and post-rock alike. The mournful clean singing of founding member and multi-instrumentalist Erik Normann Sannes Aanonsen (ex-Antestor) colored the album's reflective mood, while the spacious compositions and contemplative atmospheres often led to climaxes that wouldn’t be out of place on a Godspeed You! Black Emperor record.

From the beginning, Occultation is more ominous, aggressive, and pointed. Opener “The Prophet” takes on noticeably more foreboding sonics than Nadir, with Aanonsen’s quivering clean voice replaced with strained and despairing vocals, nearly approaching a black metal howl at times. His and Thomas Anda’s guitars also largely abandon the golden, sparkling sunlight emanating from that previous album's clean guitars in favor of the churning darkness of minor chord progressions and phrasing performed with a rust-covered iron wall of fuzz. That aspect, coupled with the plodding pace of most tracks, points to an undeniably doomier and more menacing sound.

In spite of this heavier approach, there are still quieter moments. One of the most noteworthy respites from the band’s more aggressive approach on Occultation is “Ashes,” which begins with Aanonsen’s characteristically vulnerable voice singing mournfully over a single acoustic guitar. Ihlhaug’s violin eventually enters the fray before distant, distorted drums improvisationally build up to a swirling vortex of quiet chaos, just as meditative as it is disconcerting. Fiddler Sunniva Molvær Ihlhaug’s integral contributions are no less prominent than before and the violin, as well as other traditional folk instruments, feature prominently in “Carrion Seller” as Ihlhaug’s staccato plucks and legato phrasing add an elegiac counterpoint to the saturated, sullen swing of the guitars that sound like hammers pounding on the last nails of hope’s coffin.

If Nadir was the sound of deep autumnal reflection and pagan admiration for the season, then Occultation is the melancholy of the darker days of a winter plagued by pestilence and famine, and there is simply no better conduit for experiencing the dread of those oncoming darker days.

Astronoid – Stargod (progressive/melodic "hyperthrash", synth rock)

There are two factions here at Heavy Blog: one that holds Asronoid's groundbreaking "dreamthrash" debut Air (2016) in extremely high regard and considers the band to have lost something of that original inspiration as each passing record carves off more and more of its raw, post-metal progressiveness; and another that believes the band have only become better with each subsequent and increasingly refined record—and just because I seemingly account for the entirety of this later camp all on my own doesn't make me any less assured or vocal in my convictions!* I completely understand why someone enamoured with Air might not care for Stargod. Though pockets of pace and energy remain, there's hardly anything here that I'd call "trash", or even really "hyper" for that matter, other than a general, higher register. What there is though is an absolute abundance of elatedly ecstatic, yet also mournfully melodic, synth rock that has maybe ignited my particular personal passion harder than anything else I've heard this year.

The entire album is amazing, but there are two key moments completely, that won me over. First is the title track, which—following an already incredible and largely upbeat opening two tracks—pulls the pace back to a mid-paced grove that simultaneously sounds like the nostalgic romance theme and triumphant closing credits number of the best '80s movie you've never seen, coupled with an instantly infectious, yet also surprisingly understated, chorus. It's everything I wanted from the new Coheed and Cambria album and immediately burrowed its way into my soul while suggesting that Stargod might be something really special. This suspicion was then immediately confirmed by lead single "Third Shot", which sounds like a mash-up of Devin Townsend's "Hyperdrive" and Don Henley's "Boys of Summer" while also lifting the riff and rhythm from Killswitch Engage's "Rose of Sharyn", with the rest of the album largely follows suit from there. If that isn't an appealing concoction, then I don't know how to help you, as I am utterly powerless against Stargod's precise and particular charms—but why would I ever want to resist?

This album makes me feel how I imagine Eden feels like when he listens to post-rock, simultaneously elated and forlorn, on the brink of tears the entire time, but also unstoppable grinning from ear to ear. While there have been many good and some even great albums released this year, none have really stuck with me the way my favourite albums from prior annums have. Stargod, however, is one I have been going back to over and over again since we first got the promo for it a few weeks ago, and I can't see myself slowing down any time soon. I am utterly enthralled with this record, to the point that I can hardly stop myself from proclaiming it my album of the year, and don't really see any reason why I should!**

*There are, of course, also dirty centrists like Eden, who sit somewhere perhaps more sensibly in the middle.

**...besides a sensible exercise of caution and maybe Broken By the Scream.

Omnium Gatherum – May the Bridges We Burn Light the Way (melodeath)

Providing further testament to the power of animal-print guitars* this week are Finnish melodic death metal institution Omnium Gatherum. While I'm sure I must have listened to them at some point or another, not a single moment of their previous nine outings has ever stuck with me. May the Bridges We Burn Light the Way, however, immediately shot up this year's highly competitive melodeath rankings and indeed those of the general state of melodic death metal in general, especially when it comes to the other big-name legacy acts.

Imagine if Dark Tranquility or Amon Amarth were still making songs this good! That's not just hyperbole, the comparisons here are fairly direct and the Finnish OGs** come out on top every time. Despite its more melodic textures, there is also a progressive edge to opener "My Pain" , which leaves it sounding like a mix of mid-period Dark Tranquility and Dream Theater, or even modern Evergrey, while "The Last Hero" sounds like a synth rock rendition of "First Kill" from that last great (or even really good) Amon Amarth album Jomsviking (2016), over a decade ago. Beyond their animalised aesthetic, Bridges also shares a large part of appeal with Stargod thanks to its shiny production and the hefty helpings of Devin Townsend-esque tonalities at the start of "The Darkest City".

So it is that I find myself somewhat at odds with Boeli's much more well-informed review, in that I find its first few, more melodic and tightly-plotted tracks significantly more memorable than its later offerings, but lack the huge hooks of its opening salvos. I can't really say how it stacks up against Omnium Gatherum's previous works, other than that—from my extremely subjective and ignorant point of view—it blows them completely out of the Nordic waters, along with everyone else. If you're looking for a melodeath album that leans more into the defining, melodic side of its genre, without sacrificing any of its metallic punch, then all you have to do is look towards the light.

*Why don't I have one of those?!

**Thanks for that one Boeli!

Release Roundup

Agnostic Front – Echoes In Eternity (hardcore)

Adorn – Adorn (post-black metal)

Alcatrazz – Prior Convictions (heavy/speed metal)

Armor For Sleep – There Is No Memory (butt metal)

Ashen Heart – Dragons of Death (death metal)

Avernal – Ekpyrosis (death metal)

Backlash – Time To Impact (AOR)

Bastion Rose – Traces Of Gold (melodic rock, prog metal)

Beastwars – The Ship // The Sea (stoner metal, sludge doom) Review

Black Sabbitch – Unrest In The West (stoner rock)

Bliss Of Flesh – Metempsychosis (black/ened-death metal)

Bogwife – From Ashes (doom rock)

The Burden Remains  – trotz_däm nüt (progressive post-metal)

Burning Sister – Ghosts (stoner doom)

Buzzard – Everything Is Not Going To Be Alright (doom metal)

~ CAŁ● ~ – Ludzie błądzący w nocy (weird black metal)

Casket Rats – Rat City Rockers (hard rock)

Caskets – The Only Heaven You’ll Know (baddiecore)

Centinex – With Guts And Glory (black metal)

Cepheidae Variable – Primordial Reverie (progressive metal)

Cold In Berlin – Wounds (goth, post punk)

Cold Steel – Discipline & Punish (crossover thrash)

Cremate – Ready to Fight (death metal)

Cuttermess – Lie/Sense (crossover thrash)

D’Ercole – Reactance Theory (rock)

Danny Brown – Stardust (weird hip-hop, hyper-pop?)

Deconstructing Sequence – Tenebris Cosmicis Tempora (black metal)

Denial Of Life – Witness The Power (thrash metal)

Deteriorot – Echoes From The Past (death doom)

The Devil’s Trade – Nincs Szennyezetlen Szép (post-metal/doom)

Drain – …Is Your Friend (crossover thrash/hardcore)

Drowned In Silver – Mothers (doom)

Dünedain – Érase (power metal)

Dysentery – Dejection Chrysalis (slaming brutal death)

Engrupid Pipol – Quadragenta At Finem Mundi (instrumental metal)

Esprit D’Air – Aeons (electro metal)

Fäust – Crypts of Eternity (melo/black metal)

Ferosity – De-Evolution (brutal death metal)

Finger Eleven – Last Night On Earth (alt rock)

Glorious Depravity – Death Never Sleeps (death metal)

Godark – Omniscience (progressive melodeath)

Gürschach – Absolutely Nothing (proggy/folkish metal)

Hell In The Club – Joker In The Pack (melodic rock)

Ildaruni – Divinum Sanguinem (black metal)

Inhuman – Gloriae (alt metal)

Insidius – Vulgus Illustrata (blackened death metal)

Iskariot – Zelot (post-meloblack)

Joe Hasselvander – Fire on the Mountain (heavy/doom metal)

Jonas Lindberg And The Other Side – Time Frames (prog rock)

Kauan – Wayhome (doomy post-rock)

Kostnateni – Přílišnost (Excess) (weird/sludgy prog-black)

Mad Vantage – Minutiae. (instrumental jazz-prog)

Malepeste – Ex Nihilo (black doom)

The Maple State – Don’t Take Forever (pop punk, emo)

Maudits – In Situ (instrumental post-doom)

The Mist – The Dark Side Of The Soul: An Anatomy Of The Soul (melo/death thrash)

The Mon – Songs Of Abandon (doomish folk)

The Mountain Goats – Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan (indie)

Murmur – Red Hill (meloblack)

My Darkest Hate – Rust And Bones (death metal)

N.Y.C. – Built To Destroy (heavy/groove metal)

Night Resident – Total Obscurity (trad metal)

Nightblaze – Evaricade (melodic rock, AOR)

Norilsk – Gigantes Mortui (funeral death-doom)

Novembre – Words Of Indigo (prog rock)

Old Deer – Someone In The House (post metal)

Olymp – Rising (heavy metal)

Ophidian Memory – Seraphim (deathened black metal)

Oromet – The Sinking Isle (folky funeral doom)

Pallbearer – Foundations Of Burden: 2025 Redux (doom)

Phenomy – Phantasmagoria (melodic/groove thrash)

Plague of the Fallen – Torturous Ascension (groove death)

Predeceased – Weirdo Riffers (hardcore)

Ptolemea – Kali (post/folky doom)

Pupil Slicer – Fleshwork (sludgy metalcore)

PVRS – Let The Silence Begin (post-doom)

Qrixkuor – The Womb Of The World (blackened disso-death)

Radiant Thought – Transcendance (post/psych rock)

Recurrence – Art Of Survival (one guy wearing a suit metal?)

Revis – Killing Time (rock)

Rituals – Hope In Hatred (nu metal, hardcore)

Roadkill – Bleed for the Crown (thrash)

Secret Chord – Echoes of Existence (alt metal)

Selias – Killkarma (alt/modern metal)

Set it Off – Set it Off (nu metal)

Shivered – Chains (sad post-rock)

Signs of Extinction – The Post-Human Manifesto (progressive death metal)

601 – We Are Not The Same (industrial metal)

Softsun – Eternal Sunshine (chill post)

Soulfracture – The Leader of the Exploited (death metal)

Spiracle – Ossiphage (ambient)

Spriggan Mist – The Glare (rock)

Stellvris – Shatter & Bloom (nu/electro metalcore)

Temple Of Love – Songs Of Love And Despair (goth rock)

Tenebris – Kochanowski (symphonic/blackened death-goth)

Town Portal – Grindwork (post-rock)

217 – In Your Gaze (alt rock/hardcore)

Unwell – Allegoria (melodic metal, pop punk?)

Uranium – Corrosion Of Existence (brutal/industrial deathgrind)

V/Haze Miasma – Praise Me! Erase Me! (mellow/funeral doom)

Warfield Within – Rise Of Independence (groove metal, melodeath)

Witcher – Öröklét (post-black/folk metal)

Zebulon – Come Day Of Reckoning (doom metal)

Zilqy – Vacant Throne (alt/pop metal)