2025

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Dreams of Gray - A Beginning (2025)

    cover

    Unleashing a very lively and engaging Melodic Metal EP, today we have North America’s Dreams of Gray with “A Beginning”. Featuring an interesting mixture of Melodic Death Metal, Thrash, Progressive Metal, and a few other elements, this three song EP is very well crafted and showcases the promise behind Luis Rivera’s brainchild. If you are into bands like Dark Tranquility, Katatonia, In Flames, etc. this is a release to check out.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Cryptopsy - An Insatiable Violence (2025)

    cover

    Canadian legends Cryptosy are back with one of their most vicious releases with “An Insatiable Violence”. Showing that the ‘old guys’ can hang out with the younger Brutal/Technical Death Metal crowd, the band further elevates their sound to be more brutal and faster in this one. Featuring over 33 minutes of music in eight tracks, the band makes a pummeling statement with this release.

    Blasting away with “The Nimis Adoration”, one immediately notices that Matt McGachy vocals are more vicious and mean this time around,and so are the crafty guitar leads of Christian Donaldson. The band has managed to keep up with the times while still keeping their signature style, and unleashes bangers like “Until There's Nothing Left”, the blistering “Fools Last Aclaim”, and the more melodic onslaughts of “The Art of Emptiness” and its deep growls. All in-all, the band alongside Dying Fetus, are standing the test of time with their music.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Sigh - I Saw the World's End - Hangman's Hymn MMXXV (2025)

    cover

    As a re-recording and re-imagining of their 2007 masterpiece “Hangman's Hymn”, Sigh return with their usual madness, while giving this release a refresh with a (slightly) better production and infusion of their newer influences, elements, and band members. While we are great fans of the original version and its impact, at the given time, this refresh brings the album to a more modern context (in terms of the band) and will certainly appeal to any nostalgic fans.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Hexvessel - Nocturne (2025)

    cover

    Keeping things weird and unique as always, Mat McNerney is back with the current era of Hexvessel that has them playing a very frosty and powerful blend of Atmospheric Black Metal with some of the band’s earlier Dark Folk elements. In “Nocturne” the band shapeshifts a bit more, taking the BM elements of “Polar Veil”, and blending some harrowing bleak soundscapes with chilling vocals and a few guest appearances to keep things dreamy and weird.

    With a mood setting opener and the chilling keyboards of “Sapphire Zephyrs”, the band sets a very desolate backdrop that masterfully is reinvigorated with piercing Black Metal-styled guitars and harsh screams. The transition to “Inward Landscapes” shifts the momentum to more atmospheric territories alongside Mat’s eerie clean vocals. One of our favorite tracks has to be the moody “A Dark Graceful Wilderness”, which gives us some “Dawnbearer” and “When We Are Death” vibes.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Sargeist - Flame Within Flame (2025)

    cover

    Unleashing a clinical onslaught of uncompromising Finnish Black Metal, today we have Sargeist with “Flame Within Flame”. As the band’s first full-length release in nearly eight years, and featuring Shatraug back on vocals, this album is fierce and punishing, just what we all expect from this congregation of masterful Black Metal musicians, which also feature Spellgoth handling bass guitar and backing vocals, and new drummer Nur-i-siyah.

    Regardless of the line-up changes, Shatraug and VSJ keep the band’s style intact with their furious riffing onslaughts. Pummeling away with their signature style, “An Eternal Dream Beyond the Accursed Protent”, “Flame within Flame” and “The Chant of Rotting Tongues" perfectly transition between fast paced sections to more hypnotic and melodic passages that keep things eerie and highly atmospheric. With a timeless Black Metal style, this release masterfully mixes the gritty and raw with a polished production and crisp instrumentation.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Fallujah - Xenotaph (2025)

    cover

    It is quite impressive how far has Fallujah come, from their early Deathcore days, to their current Progressive/Technical Death Metal style. With “Xenotaph”, the band continues to polish their skills and delivers the best album to date. It is brutal, it is technical, it is fast, it is crafty, it basically has it all, and fans of the band and the genre will be blown away as to how good it really is.

    Setting the mood with “In Stars We Drown”, we get a very dreamy and ethereal piece, similar to Persefone cranks out, but with the distinctive Fallujah style. From here on, the rollercoaster ride begins with the crushing “Kaleidoscopic Waves” and its intricate guitar work, “Labyrinth of Stone” and “Step Through the Portal and Breathe”, and their Death-like tempo changes and crafty melodic interludes . The band’s abilities to craft songs that perfectly blend heaviness with melody and technical prowess have greatly matured over time and are beyond masterful here.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Katatonia - Nightmares as Extensions of the Waking State (2025)

    cover

    As the first Katatonia release without Anders Nyström, “Nightmares as Extensions of the Walking State” continues the band’s moody and melancholic journey with ten emotional songs. While losing Anders was a big blow to the band, Jonas Renkse and company compensate by creating a very dreamy and crafty release that weaves back and forth between bleakness and heaviness, but at the end of the day, still feels as just a continuation of their efforts from the last few years.

    The release starts heavy with powerful riffs that very quickly dissolve into the band’s weepy style. New guitarists Nico Elgstrand (ex Entombed) and Sebastian Svalland (ex In Mourning), are definitely capable musicians and imprint some of their personal styles on tracks like “The Liquid Eye”, “Lilac”, and “Departure Trails”, they still mimic some of the older ‘Katatonia-style’ riffs and arrive at a very familiar and traditional sound, which is not band for people expecting more of the same, but it does now grow the band’s musical range.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Funeral - The Funereal (2025)

    cover

    Dropping completely unexpectedly, today we have legendary Norwegian Doom Metal band Funeral with a four song EP titled “The Funereal”. Featuring a three movement song and an acoustic piece, this release continues the band’s voyage through Doom Metal territories with lush string instruments (violin) and crushingly heavy riffs. For fans of the genre, this is a nice entry in 2025, a year that has started slow with these types of releases.

Pages

Recent Image Galleries