Doom Metal

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    Lychgate - Precipice (2025)

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    For their first release in over five years, UK’s Lychgate returns with their cavernous and maddening Avant-garde Black/Doom metal, unleashing “Precipice”. Featuring nine tracks and over 45-minutes of truly chaotic and haunting music, the band’s sound is enveloping and this release does feel like falling into a hellish precipice as it descends into total aural annihilation. For the fans of the weird and the bizarre, this release has plenty of magical things to digest.

    The madness immediately starts with the haunting intro, as it sets a chaotic backdrop for “Mausoleum of Steel” to unleash some crafty doomy riffs alongside harrowing vocals, creating a dense and immersive atmosphere. As “Renunciation” and “The Meeting of Orion and Scorpio” roll around, the band delivers some interesting and sultry jazzy passages alongside hearty guitar driven sections that further expand the band’s creativity and reach.

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    Bell Witch & Aerial Ruin - Stygian Bough: Volume II (2025)

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    Unleashing one of the most demoralizing and gut-wrenching releases of 2025, today we have Bell Witch pairing with Aerial Ruin to deliver the second volume of “Stygian Bough”. Featuring four tracks and nearly one hour of monumentally crushing Funeral Doom Metal, this album is as bleak as they come. Erik Moggridge of Aerial Ruin perfectly complements Bell Witch, creating a very punishing and lush release that won’t easily be forgotten.

    Opening with the moody vocals of “Waves Become the Sky”, they perfectly blend into the weeping Doomy riffs, creating a very desolate and punishing atmosphere. The tempo slowly drowns the listener in misery as the opener seamlessly blends into the bleakness of “King of the Wood”, a more atmospheric piece. The band’s ability to create slow and very uneasy soundscapes is just magical, as these tracks fly by and they are over 12-minutes each.

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    Novembre - Words of Indigo (2025)

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    Hailing from Italy, Novembre was one of those early bands with a strong melancholic Death/Doom sound when Katatonia, Anathema, My Dying Bride were rising up. Over the years, the band shifted into more Progressive and even Gothic Metal territories with excellent releases filled with emotions and intricately crafted music. With a very melancholic sound, Carmelo Orlando returns with a brand new cast of musicians to deliver eleven tracks and over 60 minutes of dreamy and highly emotive music, with some of their best songs to date.

    Not a very constant presence in the scene, the band after their 2007 release, dropped off the radar, in terms of releases, for nine years, and then after their 2016 release, dropped off again for another nine years. That being said, once “Sun Magenta” opened this release, we were instantly cured of missing the band’s signature ‘mopey’ sound. Being a mixture of mid-stage Katatonia with older Anathema and some sprinkles of Fall of the Leaf, songs like “Statua”, “ Neptunian Hearts”, and our favorite “House of Rain”, are very dreamy and engaging pieces full of atmosphere and craftiness.

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    Bianca - Bianca (2025)

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    Creating a very unique blend of Black Metal with Doom Metal and a heavy emphasis on atmospherics, today we have Italy’s Bianca and their self-titled debut release. With a very unique sound that could be considered adjacent to bands like Ponte del Diavolo, this release unleashes eight tracks and over 43 minutes of captivating music that is both hypnotic and punishing.

    After the atmospheric opener “The Dawn”, the release fully unravels with Doomy riffs and dreamy clean female vocal antics of “Abysmal”. However, it's the fierce Black Metal onslaughts that provide a brilliant contrast to a very sultry atmosphere. Keeping the vibes quite sultry and ethereal, “Somniloquies” continues to build the album’s atmosphere as the ravaging BM shrieks, blistering riffs, and crafty drumming keep things weaving back and forth from aggressive to melancholic.

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    Evoken - Mendacium (2025)

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    Showcasing that the USA can also unleash punishing Funeral Doom albums, today we have the legendary Evoken and their latest opus “Mendacium”. Seven years have passed since their last full-length release and the band returns with some gargantuan slabs of Doom, split in eight tracks and over 60 minutes of music. For fans of slow and painful music, this release has that grainy old-school vibe of outfits like Thergothon and Morgion, with hauntingly simple and effective atmospherics and deep growls.

    Opening with the cavernous explorations of “Matins”, the band sets a glacial pace with distorted riffs and subtle atmospherics. As the release progresses to the chugging Death Metal riffs of tracks like “Lauds”, and “Terce”, the listener can appreciate the band’s core influences in a slow and demoralizing way, creating a bleak atmosphere while providing rays of light through crafty guitar leads or instrumental passages. The band has perfected their tempo switching, to combine superbly slow parts with some hellish onslaughts of speed and punishment.

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    Remina - The Silver Sea (2025)

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    Unleashing one of the most dreamy and otherworldly releases of 2025, today we have Remina with their sophomore release “The Silver Sea”. Formed by Heike Langhans and Mike Lamb, and now with Shayne Roos on drums, this outfit delivers one hell of an Atmospheric Gothic/Doom Metal release that will send shivers down your spine. For seven tracks and nearly 45-minutes of music, the band creates some of the most atmospheric and haunting music ever created, so be prepared to be blown away.

    Opening with the sidereal dreaminess of “Trust No One”, Heike’s solemn and charismatic vocals are perfectly embraced by trippy and crafty atmospherics alongside powerful riffs. Featuring a more prominent Doom vibe, “Algol” has Mick Moss (Antimatter) in an amazingly engaging duet with Heike. The second guest appearance comes under “Vanta Ray”, a very lively piece featuring Tony Dunn of Sgàile and very crafty guitar work, alongside playful drumming and a very melancholic vibe.

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    Ba'al - The Fine Line Between Heaven And Here (2025)

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    Unleashing a highly melancholic and very cathartic release, today we have UK’s Ba’al with “The Fine Line Between Heaven and Here”. Featuring over 60 minutes of a brilliant amalgamation of Sludge/Post-Metal/Doom Metal, and some sprinkles of Black Metal, this release is fierce and punishing. Creating masterful emotionally charged soundscapes, this album will sneak up on you and you will find yourself playing it over and over again.

    Opening with the moody “Mother’s Concrete Womb”, the band sets a bleak and yet pummeling mood, thanks to crushing Sludgey riffs that blend into lush Post-Metal territories. There are plenty of tempo changes into fierce and brutal Black Metal-ish territories, perfectly adorned by the harsh,and familiar, screams of Joe Stamps, of current Hecate Enthroned fame. The band seamlessly transitions between dreamy atmospheric passages, like the opening of “Waxwork Gorgon” as it transitions into heavy walls of distortion and moody Sludgy/Post-Metal atmospherics.

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    In The Company Of Serpents - A Crack In Everything (2025)

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    Unleashing a hefty dose of twangy Sludge/Doom Metal with some Stoner elements, today we have Denver’s In The Company Of Serpents with “A Crack in Everything”. As the band’s fifth full-length release, this album features over 43 minutes of engaging music that has a traditional vibe for the genre while infusing some Spagetti-Western undertones and a solid dose of heavy riffs. If you like bands like Yob, High on Fire, and Neurosis, check these guys out.

    Opening with the crafty “Don’t Look In The Mirror”, the band opens the onslaught with some ripping riffs and a very catchy vibe. The raspy vocals perfectly blend with the tempo changes and the masterful melodies of the crushing guitars. Moving into funkier territories, the twangy “A Patchwork Art”, the playful “Cinders”, and the fierceness of “Endless Well”, the band experiments with a wider palette of elements, creating memorable tracks that induce plenty of headbanging moments.

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    Funeral - The Funereal (2025)

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    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.

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    Messa - The Spin (2025)

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    Facing the herculean task of following up to their ground-breaking release “Close”, Messa returns with “The Spin” and manages to shake things up enough to create awe and excitement. After heavily touring the world after their previous release, the band took a different approach when recording this album, and managed to deliver another Doomy/Jazzy/Proggy offering with a few interesting surprises.

    Quickly turning heads, the release opens with “Void Meridian”, a mysterious track that while having some of the band’s signature elements, it also introduces some intense Darkwave/Goth Rock vibes. With an eerie The Sisters of Mercy meets Tribulation meets Soror Dolorosa, the opener and “At Races”, and “Fire on the Roof” showcase the band’s on a different light, making them more dynamic and perfectly complementing their already hypnotic style. Sara Bianchin’s vocals are a perfect fit for such a style and are as haunting as ever, particularly on the solemn “Immolation”.

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