2025

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    Allegaeon - The Ossuary Lens (2025)

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    Continuing their crushing onslaught to the top levels of Technical/Melodic Death Metal, today we have Allegaeon and their latest opus “The Ossuary Lens”. Featuring ten tracks and nearly 45 minutes of blistering music, this release further refines the band’s high-octane sound, while infusing some new elements and marks the return of their original vocalist Ezra Haynes. With a focus on creating engaging songs and delivering maximum brutality, the band manages to unleash their finest release to date.

    After the atmospheric “Refraction”, the band instantly means business with the punishing “Chaos Theory”. This track sets a very hectic pace thanks to its insane riffing and crafty drumming. The band has never focused on creating complex tracks just for the sake of it, like others in the genre, but rather deliver a perfectly balanced mixture of musicianship, melody and brutality, as “Driftwood”, “Dies Irae” and “The Swarm” showcase.

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    Alien Weaponry - Te Rā (2025)

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    Showing that their impressive momentum after “Tangaroa” was no fluke, New Zealanders Alien Weaponry return with the blistering “Te Rā”. As one of the loudest and more direct Groove Metal bands in the scene, these guys perfectly blend additional elements in the Djent and Progressive Metal realms to create eleven tracks of high-octane music. Full of attitude and authenticity, the band’s overall vibe is a masterful mixture of haka and crushing Metal riffs.

    Opening with the blistering “Crown”, the band immediately hooks the listener with a superbly catchy riff that carries the track from start to finish. The vocals and drumming perfectly complement the band’s high-octane opening move and set the mood for the rest of this intense release. With “Mau Moko”, “1000 Friends”, and “Hanging by a Thread”, this outfit cranks out masterful guitar melodies alongside crafty tempo changes to create a very unique and engaging style, that could be described as a mixture of Jinjer with Into Eternity.

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    Hanging Garden - The Unending (2025)

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    Always evolving and delivering some interesting Gothic/Doom Metal music, today we have Finland’s Hanging Garden and their engaging “The Unending” EP release. Settling in new members over the last few years, has allowed the band to add extra influences to their music and stay more active, releasing a couple of EP’s since their last full-length release. If you like Doom/Gothic Metal with that Finnish edge, you will certainly love this release.

    Opening with the playful “To Seize the Night”, the band sets a very lively tempo, giving us some Theatre of Tragedy vibes from their “Aegis”/”Musique” days. This track is quite entertaining with its crafty clean vocal arrangements and its very melancholic nature. Moving into catchier territories, “The Passage” has a certain Melodic Death Metal edge to it, perfectly complemented by Riikka Hatakka’s dreamy vocals and Toni Hatakka’s harsh growls.

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    Iggor Cavalera / Shane Embury - Neon Gods / Own your Darkness (2025)

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    Cranking out two tracks of chilling Drone/Ambient/Industrial music, today we have Iggor Cavalera and Shane Embury. Featuring dystopian music full of unnerving atmospherics and haunting passages, each track creates its unique atmosphere and slowly envelops the listener into alternative worlds that both Iggor and Shane do not get to showcase on their main bands.

    Opening with “Neon Gods”, this nearly 20-minute piece slowly creeps into the listener’s psyche with a disturbing Drone nature. Reminiscent of some of Masona’s and Merzbow’s work, this track delivers a slow burn that will be seared into the listener. Just think of the movie “Event Horizon” and you’ll slightly know what to expect.

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    Cradle of Filth - The Screaming Of The Valkyries (2025)

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    Unearthing their first offering through Napalm Records, today we have the legendary Cradle of Filth with “The Screaming Of The Valkyries”. Featuring nine tracks and nearly one hour of music, this outfit delivers one of their most complete and diverse releases while retaining their signature sound. With the full incorporation of Zoe Marie Federoff and Donny Burbage into the fold, the band manages to add some exciting elements into an already well established and highly effective style.

    The release opens with the Omen-esque intro to “To Live Deliciously”, which quickly transitions into nightmarish territories thanks to lush orchestrations and Dani Filth’s signature shrieks. The album’s tempo changes a bit into more sinister territories with the crafty “Demagoguery” and the epic “The Trinity of Shadows”, which delivers very cool vocal arrangements and some killer guitar leads. For those looking for Gothic darkness, “Non Omnis Moriar” is an excellent melodic piece that creates a “Dusk and Her Embrace”-esque atmosphere.

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    Granitader - Schlachtenklang (2025)

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    Unleashing a crafty mixture of Melodic/Pagan/Folk Metal with atmospheric tendencies, today we have Germany’s Granitader and their latest EP “Schlachtenklang”. Showcasing 15-minutes of music in three tracks, this release shows a nice balance between power and melody, reminding us of outfits like Enid, Ensiferum, and User Ne.

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    Last Leaf Down - Weight of Silence (2025)

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    Perfect for a gloomy cloudy evening, today we have Last Leaf Down and their latest opus “Weight of Silence”. Masterfully blending Post-Rock with Shoegaze elements, this Swiss outfit delivers ten tracks of highly emotional and melancholic music. With a mixture of elements from bands like EF, Tides from Nebula and Mono, this release is top notch from start to finish.

    Opening with the solemn and yet dreamy “Silence”, the band sets a very ethereal atmosphere filled with soaring guitars and moody vocals. The melancholic rollercoaster continues with excellent songs like “Cold Heart”, “Reach the Sun”, and “Illusion” that weave back and from cathartic moments to solemn slower passages, keeping this very ethereal and bleak. We particularly love the influence of bands like Katatonia and Slowdive that the band incorporates into their music.

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    Arch Enemy - Blood Dynasty (2025)

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    As one of the most eagerly awaited releases of 2025, today we have Arch Enemy and their latest opus “Blood Dynasty”. With a long storied career, the stakes are always high when big bands release new albums, and luckily for all, this release delivers in every single aspect. Riding their explosive and highly melodic sound, Alissa White-Gluz and company deliver eleven tracks and over 44 minutes of ravaging music.

    Opening with the ripping “Dream Stealer”, we are treated to a prime Arch Enemy song with blistering guitar work, Alissa’s growls, and tons of catchiness. The band’s musicianship can never be questioned, and as tracks like “Illuminate the Path”, “March of Miscreants”, and “A Million Suns

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    Whitechapel - Hymns in Dissonance (2025)

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    Unleashing a crushing Deathcore master class, today we have Whitechapel and their latest opus “Hymns in Dissonance”. With over 43 minutes of total brutality, the band’s eight full-length release delivers ten tracks of vicious music that is quite brutal and yet some melodic hints shine through to keep things interesting and more dynamic. As one of the most consistently good Deathcore bands in the scene, Phil Bozeman and company continue to induce pain with their crushing music.

    Opening with the ravaging “Prisoner 666” the band quickly escalates things with their crafty guitar work, crushing breakdowns and the insane vocals of Phil Bozeman. Steamrolling the listener with the extreme brutality of tracks like “Diabolic Slumber”, “A Visceral Retch”, and the album title track, this outfit showcases their pedigree and experience with crushing onslaught after crushing onslaught. Particularly when things go from 100 to 120% when the growls and shrieks seem to add extra punishment.

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    Déhà - Nethermost & Absolute Comfort (2025)

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    Just when you think that Déhà’s music can’t get any darker and gloomier, he drops a release like “Nethermost & Absolute Comfort”. Creating a very intense and enveloping atmosphere, this release is sorrowful and demoralizing to almost a whole new level. For over 72 minutes, we get a master class in excruciatingly slow and painful Atmospheric/Funeral Doom, that elevates the genre to whole new levels.

    Opening with the 44-minute behemoth “Nethermost”, a track that makes all of Mournful Congregation’s 10+ or 20+ minute tracks seem like radio jingles, Déhà levels the human psyche with a mournful composition. This track delivers thunderous riffs, crafty tempo changes, alongside powerful atmospherics and haunting vocals, creating one of the most crushing songs we have heard in quite a while.

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