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   Angry Metal Guy @[email protected] · 2025-12-26 · 13:33 UTC

   Who Are These Clowns and Where Did They Put My Flesh Stapler? The AMG Staff Pick Their Top Ten(ish) of 2025 By Steel Druhm

   Listurnalia is now upon us once again! If you are not ready to be assailed by non-stop lists and bad opinions for the next week and change, I suggest you get fooking ready! Listurnalia cannot be stopped, nor contained. It can only be tolerated and endured!

   More than any year in recent history, 2025 saw more seasoned staffers step away from writing duties due to time constraints and life changes. To compensate for the loss of these slackwagoning quitters and shirkers, we added a gaggle of fresh new voices. This made for a bittersweet time around these parts as long-time friends departed and a bunch of untested, unknowns rose through the brutal n00b gauntlet to seize the means of promo production. These greenhorn neophytes have created great havoc at AMG HQ with their terrible taste, inability to follow directions, and steadfast refusal to ignore deathcore.

   We’ve been here before, though, and we always straighten out the newbie upstarts. The daily beatings, deprivations, and absence of positive reinforcement will wear them down, and if not, we have plenty of space in the rotpit out back. This is, and will ever be, the AMG modality.

   2026 will be an interesting year as the new crew members are shepherded by the olde while everyone is crushed beneath the iron heel of AMG management. Who will make it to 2027? Who will be sold off to Metal Wani for a box of bananas and Gorilla Glue? Place your bets in the official AMG Survival Pool!

   As you read the Top Ten(ish) lists below, remember, reading our content is free, but you get what you pay for.

   Grymm

   #10. Venomous Echoes // Dysmor
   #9. Blut Aus Nord // Ethereal Horizons
   #8. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #7. Structure // Heritage
   #6. Lorna Shore // I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me
   #5. Sigh // I Saw The World’s End – Hangman’s Hymn MMXXV
   #4. Imperial Triumphant // Goldstar
   #3. Am I In Trouble? // Spectrum
   #2. Dax Riggs // 7 Songs for Spiders
   #1. Paradise Lost // Ascension – I fully expected Paradise Lost to come out with quality music, which has been mostly par for the course in their storied almost-40-year career, and no one could blame them if they decided to coast along on their legendary sound. Instead, Ascension sees them giving a masterclass in songcraft and atmosphere, showing everyone, everywhere, how it’s done. With Black Sabbath now officially put to rest, Anathema long gone, and whatever the fuck is happening within My Dying Bride these days, somebody has to fly the British Doom flag high and proud, and Paradise Lost have done a bang-up job of doing so.

   Personal Highlight o’ the Year: Seeing Acid Bath live. I may or may not have cried during “Venus Blue,” and no, I don’t fucking care. 19-Year-Old me was pleased as punch that 48-Year-Old me got to see a legendary band (and one of his personal favorites) come back from tragedy to pay tribute to their fallen bassist and friend, Audie Pitre, by giving it another long-awaited go.

   Disappointment(s) o’ the Year:

   • Losing so many influential heroes (RIP Ozzy Osbourne, Ace Frehley, and Tomas Lindberg, among too many others)
   • My health: I was hoping to be a lot more active this year, but early on, I needed to, in the immortal words of David Lynch, “fix (my) heart or die.”1 Thankfully, after surgery, I feel a million times better, so you should see a lot more of me in 2026. You have been warned.

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Paradise Lost // “Salvation”

   El Cuervo

   #ish. Astronoid // Stargod
   #10. Ollie Wride // The Pressure Point
   #9. Kauan // Wayhome
   #8. Zéro Absolu // La Saignée
   #7. Mutagenic Host // The Diseased Machine
   #6. Asira // As Ink in Water
   #5. Bruit // The Age of Ephemerality
   #4. Saor // Amidst the Ruins
   #3. The Midnight // Syndicate
   #2. Steven Wilson // The Overview
   #1. Messa // The Spin – In a year replete with comfort picks—progressive rock, synthwave, and death metal abound—how is that Italy’s enigmatic, inscrutable Messa forged my Album o’ the Year? The Spin doesn’t take the trouble to make itself easily approachable. Doom, prog, and post influences circle around velvety melodies that sometimes sound like deliberate songs, and sometimes like jazz improvisation. But it’s these very qualities that belie its subtle allure; only with repetition and attention does The Spin shine. Messa gradually reveals rhythmic motifs, instrumental nuances, and rich compositions that enhance my life on so many days. “The Dress,” especially, is stunning. And though the record’s loungey whimsy defies metal conventions, each track prizes genuine grit through its top-drawer guitar riffs. With the devotion it demands, no record from 2025 was more rewarding than The Spin.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Décryptal – Simulacre
   • An Abstract Illusion – The Sleeping City
   • Puteraeon – Mountains of Madness
   • Hasard – Abgnose

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Ambush – “Maskirovka”

   

   GardensTale

   #ish. Structure // Heritage
   #10. In Mourning //The Immortal
   #9. Flummox // Southern Progress
   #8. Der Weg Einer Freiheit // Innern
   #7. Nephylim // Circuition
   #6. Besna // Krásno
   #5. Messa // The Spin
   #4. Labyrinthus Stellarum // Rift in Reality
   #3. Gazpacho // Magic 8 Ball
   #2. Dormant Ordeal// Tooth & Nail
   #1. Moron Police // Pachinko — I was a little nervous when I first read about the length and ambition behind Pachinko, especially in the context of the incredible and very concise A Boat on the Sea. I’ve never been this happy to be this wrong. Nothing in the last decade has overtaken my life as much as Pachinko has, and I’m listening to it yet again as I write this, and will probably restart it once it finishes. Pachinko has a lot in common with Everything Everywhere All At Once, one of my all-time favorite films, as a treatise on the chaos of life and the importance of friends and family. It treats its philosophy of silliness very seriously, laughing in the face of darkness in such a beautiful and inspiring way; it brightens my life every time I hear it. And it does all that in tribute to a dear friend who was gone too soon and too suddenly, and no other eulogistic album has let me feel like its subject’s soul touched mine. An astounding monument to friendship on top of an incredibly accomplished hour of music. Pachinko is a miracle.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Hangover in Minsk // Party is Over
   • 1914 // Viribus Unitis
   • Bianca // Bianca
   • Fange // Purulences
   • An Abstract Illusion // The Sleeping City
   • Blindfolded // What Seeps Through Threads

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Moron Police – “Giving up the Ghost”

   

   Non-metal Albums of the Year:

   • Lorde // Virgin
   • Jonathan Hultén // Eyes of the Living Night
   • Shayfer James // Summoning

   Mark Z.

   #ish. Malefic Throne // The Conquering Darkness
   #10. Urn // Demon Steel
   #9. Teitanblood // From the Visceral Abyss
   #8. Shed the Skin // The Carnage Cast Shadows
   #7. Guts // Nightmare Fuel
   #6. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #5. Perdition Temple // Malign Apotheosis
   #4. Paradise Lost // Ascension
   #3. Revocation // New Gods, New Masters
   #2. Death Yell // Demons of Lust
   #1. Abominator // The Fire Brethren – It took me a few years after hearing this Australian duo’s last album, 2015’s Evil Proclaimed, to realize I was wrong about them. Their raw and relentless black-death metal wasn’t just good, it was fucking awesome. With their long-awaited sixth album, The Fire Brethren, Abominator has conjured flames that reach higher than ever. As always, the enraged rasps, scorching riffs, and endlessly pummeling rhythms are like plumes of hellfire shot directly into your ear canals. But amidst the bludgeoning is some genuinely great songwriting, with deep-cutting hooks (“The Templar’s Curse,” “Underworld Vociferations”), flashes of melody (“Progenitors of the Insurrection of Satan”), thrashy breaks (“Sulphur from the Heavens”), and just enough variety to keep everything hitting as hard as possible. It’s not for everyone, but for those into Angelcorpse and other music of that sort, The Fire Brethren is the type of album you just can’t get enough of.

   Honorable Mention:

   • Blasphamagoatachrist // Bestial Abominator

   Song (Title) o’ the Year:

   • Omegavortex – “Dystopian Worldrape”

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Fugitive – “Spheres of Virulence”

   

   Carcharodon

   #ish. Dax Riggs // 7 Songs for Spiders
   #10. Novarupta // Astral Sands
   #9. Atlantic // Timeworn
   #8. Structure // Heritage
   #7. Agriculture // The Spiritual Sound
   #6. Igorr // Amen
   #5. Messa // The Spin
   #4. Abigail Williams // A Void Within Existence
   #3. Cave Sermon // Fragile Wings
   #2. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #1. Grima // Nightside – In each of 2019, 2021, and 2022, Grima released an album and, in each of those years, I listed said album (#5, HM, and #10). But this year, the year in which I have listened to the least metal and, of course, written the least since I started here in 2018, is also the year that Grima got everything dialled in to just what I want from a Grima album. On Nightside, the duo struck the perfect balance between the traditional influences of 2019’s Will of the Primordial and the propulsive, frozen atmosphere of Frostbitten (2022). The combination gives Nightside an almost hypnotic and weirdly tranquil flow, offset by Vilhelm’s rasping vocals, which remain among the best in the BM game. Every time I come back to this record, and the title track in particular, it’s even better than I remember it being, and I always end up spinning three or more times back-to-back. An album that can keep playing that trick deserves its #1 spot in my book.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • An Abstract Illusion // The Sleeping City
   • Gorycz // Zasypia
   • Psychonaut // World Maker
   • Wardruna // Birna

   Songs o’ the Year:

   • Messa – “Fire on the Roof”

   

   • Novarupta – “Now Here We Are (At the Inevitable End)”

   Mysticus Hugebeard

   #10. Orbit Culture // Death Above Life
   #9. An Abstract Illusion // The Sleeping City
   #8. Qrixkuor // The Womb of the World
   #7. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #6. Panopticon // Laurentian Blue
   #5. Blackbraid // Blackbraid III
   #4. Arkhaaik // Uihtis
   #3. Kauan // Wayhome
   #2. Wardruna // Birna
   #1. Thumos // The Trial of Socrates – I recall groggily stumbling upon Thumos’ The Trial of Socrates at work one early morning, and I’m not sure if I’ve grown attached to it or it’s grown attached to me. It looms in my periphery, routinely interrupting my listening schedule for just one more spin. This gargantuan dive into ancient Greek philosophy and justice is melodically rich, laden with atmosphere, and fiercely intelligent. I love how this album stimulates my curiosity. I pore over The Trial of Socrates like a madman, piecing the puzzle together with feverish glee but never quite feeling finished, because every re-listen yields new shapes, new colors, new ideas. It eggs me on to research various topics on ancient Greek history or philosophy, and even made for an unlikely study partner during my long preparations for the German A1 exam. I always feel smarter by the end of it—hubris, I’m sure, but The Trial of Socrates genuinely sparks my imagination in ways few albums do. Time to go listen to “The Phædo” for the zillionth time.
   

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Night Flight Orchestra // Give Us The Moon
   • Mutagenic Host // The Diseased Machine

   Songs o’ the Year:

   • Disarmonia Mundi – “Outcast”

   The Dormant Stranger by Disarmonia Mundi

   • Jamie Page & Marcy Nabors – “Do No Harm (Ventricular Mix)”

   Do No Harm by Jamie Paige, Marcy Nabors, & Penny Parker

   • Thumos – “The Phædo”

   The Trial of Socrates by Thumos

   Disappointment(s) o’ the year:

   • The dissolution of Ante-Inferno: After Death’s Soliloquy topped my list last year, I was genuinely gutted to see Ante-Inferno’s post that they were no more. Still, I shall not weep but rather smile that they happened, because Ante-Inferno was a rare breed of genuinely moving black metal. Just that one album rooted itself so deeply within me, and I will be listening for a long time.
   • Arno Menses leaving Subsignal: Man, fuck. Fuck. Remember my nuclear-grade glaze of Subsignal, where I might as well have said Menses’ voice single-handedly justified the entire existence of music? How could I not break down in heaving sobs in the middle of this Denny’s when I heard that Menses and Subsignal have parted ways? It sucks, I tell ya. I will still listen to what Subsignal puts out in the future, because Markus Steffen is a talented musician, but it’s going to be a huge adjustment since Menses is nigh irreplaceable.

   Samguineous Maximus

   #ish. Imperial Triumphant // Goldstar
   #10. Primitive Man // Observance
   #9. Motherless // Do You Feel Safe?
   #8. Deafheaven // Lonely People with Power
   #7. Weeping Sores // The Convalescence Agonies
   #6. Between the Buried and Me // The Blue Nowhere
   #5. Calva Louise // Edge of the Abyss
   #4. 1914 // Viribus Unitis
   #3. Crippling Alcoholism // Camgirl
   #2. Crippling Alcoholism // Bible Songs II
   #1. Yellow Eyes // Confusion Gate – Yellow Eyes are one of the best black metal bands in the game, and Confusion Gate is their most impressive work to date. It sees the band return to a more traditional atmospheric sound, but with the lessons learned from their explorations of dissonance and ambience. The result is a kaleidoscopic blend of gorgeous melodies, haunting riffs, and a pervasive sense of pathos that only the best art can achieve. Confusion Gate feels like communing with nature from the top of a wintry peak, embodying both impossible grandeur and awesome terror. This is a record that bypasses the analytical reviewer’s brain and just hits me right in the feeling. It offers a unique catharsis in a year where I truly needed it.

   Honorable Mentions

   • Flummox // Southern Progress
   • Hexrot // Formless Ruin of Oblivion
   • Ava Mendoza/Gabby fluke-Mogal/Carolina Pérez // Mama Killa
   • Strigiform // Aconite

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Crippling Alcoholism – “Ladies Night”

   

   Spicie Forrest

   #ish. Cryptopsy // An Insatiable Violence
   #10. Crimson Shadows // Whispers of War
   #9. Oromet // The Sinking Isle
   #8. -ii- // Apostles of the Flesh
   #7. Suncraft // Welcome to the Coven
   #6. Suncraft // Profanation of the Adamic Covenant
   #5. Chestcrush // ΨΥΧΟΒΓΑΛΤΗΣ
   #4. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #3. Qrixkuor // The Womb of the World
   #2. Primitive Man // Observance
   #1. Wytch Hazel // V: Lamentations – I know, I’m surprised too. But the bottom line is that I’ve been listening to V: Lamentations front to back at least once a week since it released on the most American of holidays, July 4th. For Steel, Wytch Hazel’s latest didn’t have the same staying power as previous efforts, but Lamentations is the first to truly resonate with me. Though musically consistent with their Wishbone Ash-meets-Eagles style, vocalist Colin Hendra brings a new sense of passion to the record, and the interplay between instruments, vocals, and lyrics hits me like a lightning bolt. Very possibly inspired by the core Christian tenet laid out in Romans 6:23-24,2 Lamentations is a masterful portrayal of what it means to perpetually fail, to know you’ll never be good enough, and in the face of a salvation that renders all efforts, deeds, and accomplishments worthless, to keep striving toward the impossible anyway. Even for godless sinners like me, Lamentations is a beautiful reminder that purpose is found in hardship, that the journey is the goal, and that falling down is merely an opportunity to stand up again.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Proscription // Desolate Divine
   • Apocalypse Orchestra // A Plague upon Thee
   • Messa // The Spin
   • Bloodywood // Nu Delhi
   • Pedestal for Leviathan // Enter: Vampyric Manifestation

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Yellowcard – “honestly i”

   Grin Reaper

   (ish) Sallow Moth // Mossbane Lantern
   #10. Turian // Blood Quantum Blues
   #9. Calva Louise // Edge of the Abyss
   #8. Lychgate // Precipice
   #7. An Abstract Illusion // The Sleeping City
   #6. Thron // Vurias
   #5. Structure // Heritage
   #4. Species // Changelings
   #3. Havukruunu // Tavastland
   #2. Aephanemer // Utopie
   #1. 1914 // Viribus Unitis – I didn’t know Viribus Unitis would be my top album of the year the first time I listened to it, but I knew it would list. 1914’s naked emotion and rousing story of a Ukrainian soldier’s survival through World War I, reconciliation with his family, and inescapable return to war remains as gripping and bittersweet now as it did the first time I heard it. Across adrenaline-fueled riffing, oppressive marches, and somber dirges, 1914 never relents on musical or lyrical weight. Though Viribus Unitis was released late in the year, it quickly became the standard I used to appraise albums while going through listing season. 1914 paints war-torn life with savage grace, supplying devastating melody and grueling crawls that elevate the album to such heights that I’m genuinely moved each time I get to the end. Viribus Unitis is bleak, raw, and human, but for all that, I’m never deterred from listening. Ultimately, 1914 clutches the threads of hope and weaves an aural tapestry that brings tragedy and triumph to life, cementing Viribus Unitis as my undisputed top album of 2025.

   
   Honorable Mentions:

   • Walg // V
   • Moron Police // Pachinko
   • Defigurement // Endbryo
   • Ültra Raptör // Fossilized
   • Igorrr // Amen

   Songs o’ the Year:

   • Aephanemer – “Le Cimetière Marin”

   • 1914 – “1918 Pt. III: ADE (A Duty to Escape)”

   Andy-War-Hall

   #ish: Dragon Skull // Chaos Fire Vengeance
   #10: Changeling // Changeling
   #9: Steel Arctus // Dreamruler
   #8: Abigail Williams //A Void Within Existence
   #7: Petrified Giant // Endless Ark
   #6: Imperial Triumphant // Goldstar
   #5: Structure // Heritage
   #4: Lipoma // No Cure for the Sick
   #3: Crippling Alcoholism // Camgirl
   #2: Hexrot // Formless Ruin of Oblivion
   #1: 1914 // Viribus Unitis – Immersion defines great music and art for me. It is almost unfortunate how good 1914 are in this facet of their music. Their ability to transport the listener to the battlefield in all its violence, both carnal and psychological, is stupefying. The utter dehumanizing hatred with “1914 (The Siege of Przemyśl),” the ravenous bloodlust of “1917 (The Isonzo Front),” the hellish wails haunting “1918 Pt. 1 (WIA – Wounded in Action):” all portrayed vividly through 1914’s brilliantly caustic and composed musicianship and deeply personal lyricism. When Dmytro Ternushchak bellows “For three days / The Russians attacked / And accomplished nothing but / 40,000 dead pigs” [“1914 (The Siege of Przemyśl)”], it’s all you need to get into his character’s violent headspace. When 1914 mournfully sing in Ukrainian “Це моя земля”3 [1915 (Easter Battle for the Zwinin Ridge)], you grasp how someone could put their life on the line for kin and country. When our soldier sings “My little girl reached out to me / But duty calls” [1919 (The Home Where I Died)]… well, shit, your heart just has to break, right? 1914 don’t play “history metal.” Viribus Unitis is as present and relevant as you can get.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Fell Omen // Caelid Dog Summer
   • Ophelion // The Jaunt
   • Coroner // Dissonance Theory
   • Starscourge // Conqueror of the Stars – Betwixt Sundered Seraphim, the Lands Between Bleed

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Fell Omen – “The Fire is Still Warm”

   

   Lavender Larcenist

   #ish Spiritbox // Tsunami Sea
   #10. Sold Soul // Just Like That, I Disappear Entirely
   #9. Calva Louise // Edge of the Abyss
   #8. Dying Wish // Flesh Stays Together
   #7. Grima // Nightside
   #6. Aversed // Erasure of Color
   #5. Deafheaven // Lonely People With Power
   #4. Ghost Bath // Rose Thorn Necklace
   #3. Changeling // Changeling
   #2. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #1. Crippling Alcoholism // Camgirl – Sometimes you listen to music, and you feel like it gets you. Camgirl was exactly that type of album, and it probably doesn’t say anything good about me. Ever since Crippling Alcoholism’s latest graced my ears and I shared it with my partner, we have been singing “I fucking hate the way I look, yeah I look like a fat fucking scumbag” way too often and mumbling “Mr. Ran away, ran away from family” every chance we get. The album is dripping with the atmosphere of neon-lit back rooms, seedy interactions, and terrible decision-making. It feels like a lens into the lives of those society has left behind, and I can’t help but feel a connection. The self-destructive nihilism, drugged-out sex, and abrupt violence that is all too common in those on the margins of life is something I think more and more we can all relate to, and Camgirl is the art that mirrors society back to us. As a result, it is an album that is just as ugly as it is terrifying and beautiful.

   
   Honorable Mentions:

   • Shadow of Intent // Imperium Delirium
   • Pupil Slicer // Fleshwork
   • 1914 // Viribus Unitis

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Crippling Alcoholism – “bedrot”

   Creeping Ivy

   #ish. Nite // Cult of the Serpent Sun
   #10. Blackbraid // Blackbraid III
   #9. Flummox // Southern Progress
   #8. 1914 // Viribus Unitis
   #7. Cave Sermon // Fragile Wings
   #6. Saor // Amidst the Ruins
   #5. Imperial Triumphant // Goldstar
   #4. Phantom Spell // Heather & Hearth
   #3. Coroner // Dissonance Theory
   #2. Messa // The Spin
   #1. Havukruunu // Tavastland – On their Bandcamp page, Havukruunu explain the concept of their fourth LP: ‘Tavastland tells how in 1237 the Tavastians rose in rebellion against the church of Christ and drove the popes naked into the frost to die.’ Sounds like the metal album of 2025 to me! But I didn’t crown Tavastland for its lyrics that I can’t understand. As Dr. A.N. Grier has been exhorting for a decade, Havukruunu stands as a model of Viking black metal consistency, having dropped only very good-to-great albums since 2015. Tavastland isn’t a radical improvement over 2020’s Uinuous syömein sota, but it’s an (arguably excellent) improvement nonetheless, making it Havukruunu’s finest work yet. Yes, these fiery Finns forge sounds reminiscent of Bathory and Immortal, but Tavastland seized my attention for its adventurous prog sensibilities. Some of this can be attributed to the return of Hümo, whose bass rattles like the four strings of Geddy Lee. But the prog is deep in the album craft, from the overture-style modulations of opener “Kuolematon laulunhenki” to the extended guitar wankery of closer “De miseriis fennorum.” Now if only I can learn Finnish, I’ll be able to appreciate the killer anti-popery narrative while headbanging to my Record o’ 2025.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Am I in Trouble? // Spectrum
   • Blut Aus Nord // Ethereal Horizons
   • In Mourning // The Immortal
   • Oromet // The Sinking Isle
   • Wyatt E. // Zamāru Ultu Qereb Ziqquratu Part 1

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Phantom Spell – “The Autumn Citadel”

   

   Baguette of Bodom

   #ish. In the Woods… // Otra
   #10. Species // Changelings
   #9. Dragon Skull // Chaos Fire Vengeance
   #8. A-Z // A2Z²
   #7. Apocalypse Orchestra // A Plague upon Thee
   #6. Amorphis // Borderland
   #5. Dolmen Gate // Echoes of Ancient Tales
   #4. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #3. Amalekim // Shir Hashirim
   #2. Suotana // Ounas II
   #1. Buried Realm // The Dormant Darkness – Melodic tech death? Symphonic power metal? Who knows! Much like my 2025 in general, The Dormant Darkness has a bit of everything in one gigantic clusterfuck. The great news is, neither I nor the album crumbled under all that weight. In a year full of odd twists and turns, my list became more varied and unusual than ever. Buried Realm took this variety and gave me everything I like about metal in one dense package: blazing speeds, soaring guitars, majestic vocals, and relentless fury. It’s also inexplicably well-produced for how many layers there are to deal with. While 2025 was not a particularly star-studded release year—especially compared to most of the 2020s so far—it threw plenty of fun curveballs at me, and The Dormant Darkness exemplifies this with its Xothian fusion of metal subgenres in one big Ophidian I blender ov shred. I would also like to request several Christian Älvestam features on every album, please.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Victim of Fire // The Old Lie
   • Dawn of Solace // Affliction Vortex
   • Dynazty // Game of Faces
   • Coroner // Dissonance Theory
   • Hooded Menace // Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Dragon Skull – “Blood and Souls”

   Chaos Fire Vengeance by Dragon Skull

   #1914 #2025 #AZ #AbigailWilliams #Abominator #Aephanemer #Agriculture #AmIInTrouble #Amalekim #Ambush #Amorphis #AnAbstractIllusion #ApocalypseOrchestra #Arkhaaik #Asira #Astronoid #Atlantic #AvaMendozaGabbyFlukeMogalCarolinaPérez #Aversed #Besna #BetweenTheBuriedAndMe #Bianca #Blackbraid #Blasphamagoatachrist #Blindfolded #BlogLists #Bloodywood #BlutAusNord #Bruit #BuriedRealm #CalvaLouise #CaveSermon #Changeling #Chestcrush #Coroner #CrimsonShadows #CripplingAlcoholism #DawnOfSolace #DaxRiggs #Deafheaven #DeathYell #Décryptal #Defigurement #DerWegEinerFreiheit #DolmenGate #DormantOrdeal #DragonSkull #DyingWish #Dynazty #Fange #FellOmen #Flummox #Gazpacho #GhostBath #Gorycz #Grima #Guts #HangoverInMinsk #Hasard #Havukruunu #Hexrot #HoodedMenace #Igorr #Igorrr #II #ImperialTriumphant #JonathanHultén #Kauan #LabyrinthusStellarum #Lipoma #Lists #Lorde #LornaShore #Lychgate #MaleficThrone #Messa #MoronPolice #Motherless #MutagenicHost #Nephylim #NightFlightOrchestra #Nite #Novarupta #OllieWride #Ophelion #OrbitCulture #Oromet #Panopticon #ParadiseLost #PedestalForLeviathan #PerditionTemple #PetrifiedGiant #PhantomSpell #PrimitiveMan #Proscription #Psychonaut #PupilSlicer #Puteraeon #Qrixkuor #Revocation #SallowMoth #Saor #ShadowOfIntent #ShayferJames #ShedTheSkin #Sigh #SoldSoul #Species #Spiritbox #Starscourge #SteelArctus #StevenWilson #Strigiform #Structure #Suncraft #Suotana #Teitanblood #TheAMGStaffPickTheirTopTenIshOf2025 #TheMidnight #Thron #Thumos #Turian #ÜltraRaptör #Urn #VenomousEchoes #VictimOfFire #Walg #Wardruna #WeepingSores #WyattE #WytchHazel #YellowEyes #Yellowcard #ZéroAbsolu

   #az #abigailwilliams #abominator #aephanemer #agriculture #amiintrouble
2. 

   Angry Metal Guy @[email protected] · 2025-12-26 · 13:33 UTC

   Who Are These Clowns and Where Did They Put My Flesh Stapler? The AMG Staff Pick Their Top Ten(ish) of 2025 By Steel Druhm

   Listurnalia is now upon us once again! If you are not ready to be assailed by non-stop lists and bad opinions for the next week and change, I suggest you get fooking ready! Listurnalia cannot be stopped, nor contained. It can only be tolerated and endured!

   More than any year in recent history, 2025 saw more seasoned staffers step away from writing duties due to time constraints and life changes. To compensate for the loss of these slackwagoning quitters and shirkers, we added a gaggle of fresh new voices. This made for a bittersweet time around these parts as long-time friends departed and a bunch of untested, unknowns rose through the brutal n00b gauntlet to seize the means of promo production. These greenhorn neophytes have created great havoc at AMG HQ with their terrible taste, inability to follow directions, and steadfast refusal to ignore deathcore.

   We’ve been here before, though, and we always straighten out the newbie upstarts. The daily beatings, deprivations, and absence of positive reinforcement will wear them down, and if not, we have plenty of space in the rotpit out back. This is, and will ever be, the AMG modality.

   2026 will be an interesting year as the new crew members are shepherded by the olde while everyone is crushed beneath the iron heel of AMG management. Who will make it to 2027? Who will be sold off to Metal Wani for a box of bananas and Gorilla Glue? Place your bets in the official AMG Survival Pool!

   As you read the Top Ten(ish) lists below, remember, reading our content is free, but you get what you pay for.

   Grymm

   #10. Venomous Echoes // Dysmor
   #9. Blut Aus Nord // Ethereal Horizons
   #8. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #7. Structure // Heritage
   #6. Lorna Shore // I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me
   #5. Sigh // I Saw The World’s End – Hangman’s Hymn MMXXV
   #4. Imperial Triumphant // Goldstar
   #3. Am I In Trouble? // Spectrum
   #2. Dax Riggs // 7 Songs for Spiders
   #1. Paradise Lost // Ascension – I fully expected Paradise Lost to come out with quality music, which has been mostly par for the course in their storied almost-40-year career, and no one could blame them if they decided to coast along on their legendary sound. Instead, Ascension sees them giving a masterclass in songcraft and atmosphere, showing everyone, everywhere, how it’s done. With Black Sabbath now officially put to rest, Anathema long gone, and whatever the fuck is happening within My Dying Bride these days, somebody has to fly the British Doom flag high and proud, and Paradise Lost have done a bang-up job of doing so.

   Personal Highlight o’ the Year: Seeing Acid Bath live. I may or may not have cried during “Venus Blue,” and no, I don’t fucking care. 19-Year-Old me was pleased as punch that 48-Year-Old me got to see a legendary band (and one of his personal favorites) come back from tragedy to pay tribute to their fallen bassist and friend, Audie Pitre, by giving it another long-awaited go.

   Disappointment(s) o’ the Year:

   • Losing so many influential heroes (RIP Ozzy Osbourne, Ace Frehley, and Tomas Lindberg, among too many others)
   • My health: I was hoping to be a lot more active this year, but early on, I needed to, in the immortal words of David Lynch, “fix (my) heart or die.”1 Thankfully, after surgery, I feel a million times better, so you should see a lot more of me in 2026. You have been warned.

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Paradise Lost // “Salvation”

   El Cuervo

   #ish. Astronoid // Stargod
   #10. Ollie Wride // The Pressure Point
   #9. Kauan // Wayhome
   #8. Zéro Absolu // La Saignée
   #7. Mutagenic Host // The Diseased Machine
   #6. Asira // As Ink in Water
   #5. Bruit // The Age of Ephemerality
   #4. Saor // Amidst the Ruins
   #3. The Midnight // Syndicate
   #2. Steven Wilson // The Overview
   #1. Messa // The Spin – In a year replete with comfort picks—progressive rock, synthwave, and death metal abound—how is that Italy’s enigmatic, inscrutable Messa forged my Album o’ the Year? The Spin doesn’t take the trouble to make itself easily approachable. Doom, prog, and post influences circle around velvety melodies that sometimes sound like deliberate songs, and sometimes like jazz improvisation. But it’s these very qualities that belie its subtle allure; only with repetition and attention does The Spin shine. Messa gradually reveals rhythmic motifs, instrumental nuances, and rich compositions that enhance my life on so many days. “The Dress,” especially, is stunning. And though the record’s loungey whimsy defies metal conventions, each track prizes genuine grit through its top-drawer guitar riffs. With the devotion it demands, no record from 2025 was more rewarding than The Spin.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Décryptal – Simulacre
   • An Abstract Illusion – The Sleeping City
   • Puteraeon – Mountains of Madness
   • Hasard – Abgnose

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Ambush – “Maskirovka”

   

   GardensTale

   #ish. Structure // Heritage
   #10. In Mourning //The Immortal
   #9. Flummox // Southern Progress
   #8. Der Weg Einer Freiheit // Innern
   #7. Nephylim // Circuition
   #6. Besna // Krásno
   #5. Messa // The Spin
   #4. Labyrinthus Stellarum // Rift in Reality
   #3. Gazpacho // Magic 8 Ball
   #2. Dormant Ordeal// Tooth & Nail
   #1. Moron Police // Pachinko — I was a little nervous when I first read about the length and ambition behind Pachinko, especially in the context of the incredible and very concise A Boat on the Sea. I’ve never been this happy to be this wrong. Nothing in the last decade has overtaken my life as much as Pachinko has, and I’m listening to it yet again as I write this, and will probably restart it once it finishes. Pachinko has a lot in common with Everything Everywhere All At Once, one of my all-time favorite films, as a treatise on the chaos of life and the importance of friends and family. It treats its philosophy of silliness very seriously, laughing in the face of darkness in such a beautiful and inspiring way; it brightens my life every time I hear it. And it does all that in tribute to a dear friend who was gone too soon and too suddenly, and no other eulogistic album has let me feel like its subject’s soul touched mine. An astounding monument to friendship on top of an incredibly accomplished hour of music. Pachinko is a miracle.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Hangover in Minsk // Party is Over
   • 1914 // Viribus Unitis
   • Bianca // Bianca
   • Fange // Purulences
   • An Abstract Illusion // The Sleeping City
   • Blindfolded // What Seeps Through Threads

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Moron Police – “Giving up the Ghost”

   

   Non-metal Albums of the Year:

   • Lorde // Virgin
   • Jonathan Hultén // Eyes of the Living Night
   • Shayfer James // Summoning

   Mark Z.

   #ish. Malefic Throne // The Conquering Darkness
   #10. Urn // Demon Steel
   #9. Teitanblood // From the Visceral Abyss
   #8. Shed the Skin // The Carnage Cast Shadows
   #7. Guts // Nightmare Fuel
   #6. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #5. Perdition Temple // Malign Apotheosis
   #4. Paradise Lost // Ascension
   #3. Revocation // New Gods, New Masters
   #2. Death Yell // Demons of Lust
   #1. Abominator // The Fire Brethren – It took me a few years after hearing this Australian duo’s last album, 2015’s Evil Proclaimed, to realize I was wrong about them. Their raw and relentless black-death metal wasn’t just good, it was fucking awesome. With their long-awaited sixth album, The Fire Brethren, Abominator has conjured flames that reach higher than ever. As always, the enraged rasps, scorching riffs, and endlessly pummeling rhythms are like plumes of hellfire shot directly into your ear canals. But amidst the bludgeoning is some genuinely great songwriting, with deep-cutting hooks (“The Templar’s Curse,” “Underworld Vociferations”), flashes of melody (“Progenitors of the Insurrection of Satan”), thrashy breaks (“Sulphur from the Heavens”), and just enough variety to keep everything hitting as hard as possible. It’s not for everyone, but for those into Angelcorpse and other music of that sort, The Fire Brethren is the type of album you just can’t get enough of.

   Honorable Mention:

   • Blasphamagoatachrist // Bestial Abominator

   Song (Title) o’ the Year:

   • Omegavortex – “Dystopian Worldrape”

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Fugitive – “Spheres of Virulence”

   

   Carcharodon

   #ish. Dax Riggs // 7 Songs for Spiders
   #10. Novarupta // Astral Sands
   #9. Atlantic // Timeworn
   #8. Structure // Heritage
   #7. Agriculture // The Spiritual Sound
   #6. Igorr // Amen
   #5. Messa // The Spin
   #4. Abigail Williams // A Void Within Existence
   #3. Cave Sermon // Fragile Wings
   #2. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #1. Grima // Nightside – In each of 2019, 2021, and 2022, Grima released an album and, in each of those years, I listed said album (#5, HM, and #10). But this year, the year in which I have listened to the least metal and, of course, written the least since I started here in 2018, is also the year that Grima got everything dialled in to just what I want from a Grima album. On Nightside, the duo struck the perfect balance between the traditional influences of 2019’s Will of the Primordial and the propulsive, frozen atmosphere of Frostbitten (2022). The combination gives Nightside an almost hypnotic and weirdly tranquil flow, offset by Vilhelm’s rasping vocals, which remain among the best in the BM game. Every time I come back to this record, and the title track in particular, it’s even better than I remember it being, and I always end up spinning three or more times back-to-back. An album that can keep playing that trick deserves its #1 spot in my book.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • An Abstract Illusion // The Sleeping City
   • Gorycz // Zasypia
   • Psychonaut // World Maker
   • Wardruna // Birna

   Songs o’ the Year:

   • Messa – “Fire on the Roof”

   

   • Novarupta – “Now Here We Are (At the Inevitable End)”

   Mysticus Hugebeard

   #10. Orbit Culture // Death Above Life
   #9. An Abstract Illusion // The Sleeping City
   #8. Qrixkuor // The Womb of the World
   #7. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #6. Panopticon // Laurentian Blue
   #5. Blackbraid // Blackbraid III
   #4. Arkhaaik // Uihtis
   #3. Kauan // Wayhome
   #2. Wardruna // Birna
   #1. Thumos // The Trial of Socrates – I recall groggily stumbling upon Thumos’ The Trial of Socrates at work one early morning, and I’m not sure if I’ve grown attached to it or it’s grown attached to me. It looms in my periphery, routinely interrupting my listening schedule for just one more spin. This gargantuan dive into ancient Greek philosophy and justice is melodically rich, laden with atmosphere, and fiercely intelligent. I love how this album stimulates my curiosity. I pore over The Trial of Socrates like a madman, piecing the puzzle together with feverish glee but never quite feeling finished, because every re-listen yields new shapes, new colors, new ideas. It eggs me on to research various topics on ancient Greek history or philosophy, and even made for an unlikely study partner during my long preparations for the German A1 exam. I always feel smarter by the end of it—hubris, I’m sure, but The Trial of Socrates genuinely sparks my imagination in ways few albums do. Time to go listen to “The Phædo” for the zillionth time.
   

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Night Flight Orchestra // Give Us The Moon
   • Mutagenic Host // The Diseased Machine

   Songs o’ the Year:

   • Disarmonia Mundi – “Outcast”

   The Dormant Stranger by Disarmonia Mundi

   • Jamie Page & Marcy Nabors – “Do No Harm (Ventricular Mix)”

   Do No Harm by Jamie Paige, Marcy Nabors, & Penny Parker

   • Thumos – “The Phædo”

   The Trial of Socrates by Thumos

   Disappointment(s) o’ the year:

   • The dissolution of Ante-Inferno: After Death’s Soliloquy topped my list last year, I was genuinely gutted to see Ante-Inferno’s post that they were no more. Still, I shall not weep but rather smile that they happened, because Ante-Inferno was a rare breed of genuinely moving black metal. Just that one album rooted itself so deeply within me, and I will be listening for a long time.
   • Arno Menses leaving Subsignal: Man, fuck. Fuck. Remember my nuclear-grade glaze of Subsignal, where I might as well have said Menses’ voice single-handedly justified the entire existence of music? How could I not break down in heaving sobs in the middle of this Denny’s when I heard that Menses and Subsignal have parted ways? It sucks, I tell ya. I will still listen to what Subsignal puts out in the future, because Markus Steffen is a talented musician, but it’s going to be a huge adjustment since Menses is nigh irreplaceable.

   Samguineous Maximus

   #ish. Imperial Triumphant // Goldstar
   #10. Primitive Man // Observance
   #9. Motherless // Do You Feel Safe?
   #8. Deafheaven // Lonely People with Power
   #7. Weeping Sores // The Convalescence Agonies
   #6. Between the Buried and Me // The Blue Nowhere
   #5. Calva Louise // Edge of the Abyss
   #4. 1914 // Viribus Unitis
   #3. Crippling Alcoholism // Camgirl
   #2. Crippling Alcoholism // Bible Songs II
   #1. Yellow Eyes // Confusion Gate – Yellow Eyes are one of the best black metal bands in the game, and Confusion Gate is their most impressive work to date. It sees the band return to a more traditional atmospheric sound, but with the lessons learned from their explorations of dissonance and ambience. The result is a kaleidoscopic blend of gorgeous melodies, haunting riffs, and a pervasive sense of pathos that only the best art can achieve. Confusion Gate feels like communing with nature from the top of a wintry peak, embodying both impossible grandeur and awesome terror. This is a record that bypasses the analytical reviewer’s brain and just hits me right in the feeling. It offers a unique catharsis in a year where I truly needed it.

   Honorable Mentions

   • Flummox // Southern Progress
   • Hexrot // Formless Ruin of Oblivion
   • Ava Mendoza/Gabby fluke-Mogal/Carolina Pérez // Mama Killa
   • Strigiform // Aconite

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Crippling Alcoholism – “Ladies Night”

   

   Spicie Forrest

   #ish. Cryptopsy // An Insatiable Violence
   #10. Crimson Shadows // Whispers of War
   #9. Oromet // The Sinking Isle
   #8. -ii- // Apostles of the Flesh
   #7. Suncraft // Welcome to the Coven
   #6. Suncraft // Profanation of the Adamic Covenant
   #5. Chestcrush // ΨΥΧΟΒΓΑΛΤΗΣ
   #4. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #3. Qrixkuor // The Womb of the World
   #2. Primitive Man // Observance
   #1. Wytch Hazel // V: Lamentations – I know, I’m surprised too. But the bottom line is that I’ve been listening to V: Lamentations front to back at least once a week since it released on the most American of holidays, July 4th. For Steel, Wytch Hazel’s latest didn’t have the same staying power as previous efforts, but Lamentations is the first to truly resonate with me. Though musically consistent with their Wishbone Ash-meets-Eagles style, vocalist Colin Hendra brings a new sense of passion to the record, and the interplay between instruments, vocals, and lyrics hits me like a lightning bolt. Very possibly inspired by the core Christian tenet laid out in Romans 6:23-24,2 Lamentations is a masterful portrayal of what it means to perpetually fail, to know you’ll never be good enough, and in the face of a salvation that renders all efforts, deeds, and accomplishments worthless, to keep striving toward the impossible anyway. Even for godless sinners like me, Lamentations is a beautiful reminder that purpose is found in hardship, that the journey is the goal, and that falling down is merely an opportunity to stand up again.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Proscription // Desolate Divine
   • Apocalypse Orchestra // A Plague upon Thee
   • Messa // The Spin
   • Bloodywood // Nu Delhi
   • Pedestal for Leviathan // Enter: Vampyric Manifestation

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Yellowcard – “honestly i”

   Grin Reaper

   (ish) Sallow Moth // Mossbane Lantern
   #10. Turian // Blood Quantum Blues
   #9. Calva Louise // Edge of the Abyss
   #8. Lychgate // Precipice
   #7. An Abstract Illusion // The Sleeping City
   #6. Thron // Vurias
   #5. Structure // Heritage
   #4. Species // Changelings
   #3. Havukruunu // Tavastland
   #2. Aephanemer // Utopie
   #1. 1914 // Viribus Unitis – I didn’t know Viribus Unitis would be my top album of the year the first time I listened to it, but I knew it would list. 1914’s naked emotion and rousing story of a Ukrainian soldier’s survival through World War I, reconciliation with his family, and inescapable return to war remains as gripping and bittersweet now as it did the first time I heard it. Across adrenaline-fueled riffing, oppressive marches, and somber dirges, 1914 never relents on musical or lyrical weight. Though Viribus Unitis was released late in the year, it quickly became the standard I used to appraise albums while going through listing season. 1914 paints war-torn life with savage grace, supplying devastating melody and grueling crawls that elevate the album to such heights that I’m genuinely moved each time I get to the end. Viribus Unitis is bleak, raw, and human, but for all that, I’m never deterred from listening. Ultimately, 1914 clutches the threads of hope and weaves an aural tapestry that brings tragedy and triumph to life, cementing Viribus Unitis as my undisputed top album of 2025.

   
   Honorable Mentions:

   • Walg // V
   • Moron Police // Pachinko
   • Defigurement // Endbryo
   • Ültra Raptör // Fossilized
   • Igorrr // Amen

   Songs o’ the Year:

   • Aephanemer – “Le Cimetière Marin”

   • 1914 – “1918 Pt. III: ADE (A Duty to Escape)”

   Andy-War-Hall

   #ish: Dragon Skull // Chaos Fire Vengeance
   #10: Changeling // Changeling
   #9: Steel Arctus // Dreamruler
   #8: Abigail Williams //A Void Within Existence
   #7: Petrified Giant // Endless Ark
   #6: Imperial Triumphant // Goldstar
   #5: Structure // Heritage
   #4: Lipoma // No Cure for the Sick
   #3: Crippling Alcoholism // Camgirl
   #2: Hexrot // Formless Ruin of Oblivion
   #1: 1914 // Viribus Unitis – Immersion defines great music and art for me. It is almost unfortunate how good 1914 are in this facet of their music. Their ability to transport the listener to the battlefield in all its violence, both carnal and psychological, is stupefying. The utter dehumanizing hatred with “1914 (The Siege of Przemyśl),” the ravenous bloodlust of “1917 (The Isonzo Front),” the hellish wails haunting “1918 Pt. 1 (WIA – Wounded in Action):” all portrayed vividly through 1914’s brilliantly caustic and composed musicianship and deeply personal lyricism. When Dmytro Ternushchak bellows “For three days / The Russians attacked / And accomplished nothing but / 40,000 dead pigs” [“1914 (The Siege of Przemyśl)”], it’s all you need to get into his character’s violent headspace. When 1914 mournfully sing in Ukrainian “Це моя земля”3 [1915 (Easter Battle for the Zwinin Ridge)], you grasp how someone could put their life on the line for kin and country. When our soldier sings “My little girl reached out to me / But duty calls” [1919 (The Home Where I Died)]… well, shit, your heart just has to break, right? 1914 don’t play “history metal.” Viribus Unitis is as present and relevant as you can get.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Fell Omen // Caelid Dog Summer
   • Ophelion // The Jaunt
   • Coroner // Dissonance Theory
   • Starscourge // Conqueror of the Stars – Betwixt Sundered Seraphim, the Lands Between Bleed

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Fell Omen – “The Fire is Still Warm”

   

   Lavender Larcenist

   #ish Spiritbox // Tsunami Sea
   #10. Sold Soul // Just Like That, I Disappear Entirely
   #9. Calva Louise // Edge of the Abyss
   #8. Dying Wish // Flesh Stays Together
   #7. Grima // Nightside
   #6. Aversed // Erasure of Color
   #5. Deafheaven // Lonely People With Power
   #4. Ghost Bath // Rose Thorn Necklace
   #3. Changeling // Changeling
   #2. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #1. Crippling Alcoholism // Camgirl – Sometimes you listen to music, and you feel like it gets you. Camgirl was exactly that type of album, and it probably doesn’t say anything good about me. Ever since Crippling Alcoholism’s latest graced my ears and I shared it with my partner, we have been singing “I fucking hate the way I look, yeah I look like a fat fucking scumbag” way too often and mumbling “Mr. Ran away, ran away from family” every chance we get. The album is dripping with the atmosphere of neon-lit back rooms, seedy interactions, and terrible decision-making. It feels like a lens into the lives of those society has left behind, and I can’t help but feel a connection. The self-destructive nihilism, drugged-out sex, and abrupt violence that is all too common in those on the margins of life is something I think more and more we can all relate to, and Camgirl is the art that mirrors society back to us. As a result, it is an album that is just as ugly as it is terrifying and beautiful.

   
   Honorable Mentions:

   • Shadow of Intent // Imperium Delirium
   • Pupil Slicer // Fleshwork
   • 1914 // Viribus Unitis

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Crippling Alcoholism – “bedrot”

   Creeping Ivy

   #ish. Nite // Cult of the Serpent Sun
   #10. Blackbraid // Blackbraid III
   #9. Flummox // Southern Progress
   #8. 1914 // Viribus Unitis
   #7. Cave Sermon // Fragile Wings
   #6. Saor // Amidst the Ruins
   #5. Imperial Triumphant // Goldstar
   #4. Phantom Spell // Heather & Hearth
   #3. Coroner // Dissonance Theory
   #2. Messa // The Spin
   #1. Havukruunu // Tavastland – On their Bandcamp page, Havukruunu explain the concept of their fourth LP: ‘Tavastland tells how in 1237 the Tavastians rose in rebellion against the church of Christ and drove the popes naked into the frost to die.’ Sounds like the metal album of 2025 to me! But I didn’t crown Tavastland for its lyrics that I can’t understand. As Dr. A.N. Grier has been exhorting for a decade, Havukruunu stands as a model of Viking black metal consistency, having dropped only very good-to-great albums since 2015. Tavastland isn’t a radical improvement over 2020’s Uinuous syömein sota, but it’s an (arguably excellent) improvement nonetheless, making it Havukruunu’s finest work yet. Yes, these fiery Finns forge sounds reminiscent of Bathory and Immortal, but Tavastland seized my attention for its adventurous prog sensibilities. Some of this can be attributed to the return of Hümo, whose bass rattles like the four strings of Geddy Lee. But the prog is deep in the album craft, from the overture-style modulations of opener “Kuolematon laulunhenki” to the extended guitar wankery of closer “De miseriis fennorum.” Now if only I can learn Finnish, I’ll be able to appreciate the killer anti-popery narrative while headbanging to my Record o’ 2025.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Am I in Trouble? // Spectrum
   • Blut Aus Nord // Ethereal Horizons
   • In Mourning // The Immortal
   • Oromet // The Sinking Isle
   • Wyatt E. // Zamāru Ultu Qereb Ziqquratu Part 1

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Phantom Spell – “The Autumn Citadel”

   

   Baguette of Bodom

   #ish. In the Woods… // Otra
   #10. Species // Changelings
   #9. Dragon Skull // Chaos Fire Vengeance
   #8. A-Z // A2Z²
   #7. Apocalypse Orchestra // A Plague upon Thee
   #6. Amorphis // Borderland
   #5. Dolmen Gate // Echoes of Ancient Tales
   #4. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #3. Amalekim // Shir Hashirim
   #2. Suotana // Ounas II
   #1. Buried Realm // The Dormant Darkness – Melodic tech death? Symphonic power metal? Who knows! Much like my 2025 in general, The Dormant Darkness has a bit of everything in one gigantic clusterfuck. The great news is, neither I nor the album crumbled under all that weight. In a year full of odd twists and turns, my list became more varied and unusual than ever. Buried Realm took this variety and gave me everything I like about metal in one dense package: blazing speeds, soaring guitars, majestic vocals, and relentless fury. It’s also inexplicably well-produced for how many layers there are to deal with. While 2025 was not a particularly star-studded release year—especially compared to most of the 2020s so far—it threw plenty of fun curveballs at me, and The Dormant Darkness exemplifies this with its Xothian fusion of metal subgenres in one big Ophidian I blender ov shred. I would also like to request several Christian Älvestam features on every album, please.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Victim of Fire // The Old Lie
   • Dawn of Solace // Affliction Vortex
   • Dynazty // Game of Faces
   • Coroner // Dissonance Theory
   • Hooded Menace // Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Dragon Skull – “Blood and Souls”

   Chaos Fire Vengeance by Dragon Skull

   #1914 #2025 #AZ #AbigailWilliams #Abominator #Aephanemer #Agriculture #AmIInTrouble #Amalekim #Ambush #Amorphis #AnAbstractIllusion #ApocalypseOrchestra #Arkhaaik #Asira #Astronoid #Atlantic #AvaMendozaGabbyFlukeMogalCarolinaPérez #Aversed #Besna #BetweenTheBuriedAndMe #Bianca #Blackbraid #Blasphamagoatachrist #Blindfolded #BlogLists #Bloodywood #BlutAusNord #Bruit #BuriedRealm #CalvaLouise #CaveSermon #Changeling #Chestcrush #Coroner #CrimsonShadows #CripplingAlcoholism #DawnOfSolace #DaxRiggs #Deafheaven #DeathYell #Décryptal #Defigurement #DerWegEinerFreiheit #DolmenGate #DormantOrdeal #DragonSkull #DyingWish #Dynazty #Fange #FellOmen #Flummox #Gazpacho #GhostBath #Gorycz #Grima #Guts #HangoverInMinsk #Hasard #Havukruunu #Hexrot #HoodedMenace #Igorr #Igorrr #II #ImperialTriumphant #JonathanHultén #Kauan #LabyrinthusStellarum #Lipoma #Lists #Lorde #LornaShore #Lychgate #MaleficThrone #Messa #MoronPolice #Motherless #MutagenicHost #Nephylim #NightFlightOrchestra #Nite #Novarupta #OllieWride #Ophelion #OrbitCulture #Oromet #Panopticon #ParadiseLost #PedestalForLeviathan #PerditionTemple #PetrifiedGiant #PhantomSpell #PrimitiveMan #Proscription #Psychonaut #PupilSlicer #Puteraeon #Qrixkuor #Revocation #SallowMoth #Saor #ShadowOfIntent #ShayferJames #ShedTheSkin #Sigh #SoldSoul #Species #Spiritbox #Starscourge #SteelArctus #StevenWilson #Strigiform #Structure #Suncraft #Suotana #Teitanblood #TheAMGStaffPickTheirTopTenIshOf2025 #TheMidnight #Thron #Thumos #Turian #ÜltraRaptör #Urn #VenomousEchoes #VictimOfFire #Walg #Wardruna #WeepingSores #WyattE #WytchHazel #YellowEyes #Yellowcard #ZéroAbsolu

   #az #abigailwilliams #abominator #aephanemer #agriculture #amiintrouble
3. 

   Angry Metal Guy @[email protected] · 2025-12-26 · 13:33 UTC

   Who Are These Clowns and Where Did They Put My Flesh Stapler? The AMG Staff Pick Their Top Ten(ish) of 2025 By Steel Druhm

   Listurnalia is now upon us once again! If you are not ready to be assailed by non-stop lists and bad opinions for the next week and change, I suggest you get fooking ready! Listurnalia cannot be stopped, nor contained. It can only be tolerated and endured!

   More than any year in recent history, 2025 saw more seasoned staffers step away from writing duties due to time constraints and life changes. To compensate for the loss of these slackwagoning quitters and shirkers, we added a gaggle of fresh new voices. This made for a bittersweet time around these parts as long-time friends departed and a bunch of untested, unknowns rose through the brutal n00b gauntlet to seize the means of promo production. These greenhorn neophytes have created great havoc at AMG HQ with their terrible taste, inability to follow directions, and steadfast refusal to ignore deathcore.

   We’ve been here before, though, and we always straighten out the newbie upstarts. The daily beatings, deprivations, and absence of positive reinforcement will wear them down, and if not, we have plenty of space in the rotpit out back. This is, and will ever be, the AMG modality.

   2026 will be an interesting year as the new crew members are shepherded by the olde while everyone is crushed beneath the iron heel of AMG management. Who will make it to 2027? Who will be sold off to Metal Wani for a box of bananas and Gorilla Glue? Place your bets in the official AMG Survival Pool!

   As you read the Top Ten(ish) lists below, remember, reading our content is free, but you get what you pay for.

   Grymm

   #10. Venomous Echoes // Dysmor
   #9. Blut Aus Nord // Ethereal Horizons
   #8. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #7. Structure // Heritage
   #6. Lorna Shore // I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me
   #5. Sigh // I Saw The World’s End – Hangman’s Hymn MMXXV
   #4. Imperial Triumphant // Goldstar
   #3. Am I In Trouble? // Spectrum
   #2. Dax Riggs // 7 Songs for Spiders
   #1. Paradise Lost // Ascension – I fully expected Paradise Lost to come out with quality music, which has been mostly par for the course in their storied almost-40-year career, and no one could blame them if they decided to coast along on their legendary sound. Instead, Ascension sees them giving a masterclass in songcraft and atmosphere, showing everyone, everywhere, how it’s done. With Black Sabbath now officially put to rest, Anathema long gone, and whatever the fuck is happening within My Dying Bride these days, somebody has to fly the British Doom flag high and proud, and Paradise Lost have done a bang-up job of doing so.

   Personal Highlight o’ the Year: Seeing Acid Bath live. I may or may not have cried during “Venus Blue,” and no, I don’t fucking care. 19-Year-Old me was pleased as punch that 48-Year-Old me got to see a legendary band (and one of his personal favorites) come back from tragedy to pay tribute to their fallen bassist and friend, Audie Pitre, by giving it another long-awaited go.

   Disappointment(s) o’ the Year:

   • Losing so many influential heroes (RIP Ozzy Osbourne, Ace Frehley, and Tomas Lindberg, among too many others)
   • My health: I was hoping to be a lot more active this year, but early on, I needed to, in the immortal words of David Lynch, “fix (my) heart or die.”1 Thankfully, after surgery, I feel a million times better, so you should see a lot more of me in 2026. You have been warned.

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Paradise Lost // “Salvation”

   El Cuervo

   #ish. Astronoid // Stargod
   #10. Ollie Wride // The Pressure Point
   #9. Kauan // Wayhome
   #8. Zéro Absolu // La Saignée
   #7. Mutagenic Host // The Diseased Machine
   #6. Asira // As Ink in Water
   #5. Bruit // The Age of Ephemerality
   #4. Saor // Amidst the Ruins
   #3. The Midnight // Syndicate
   #2. Steven Wilson // The Overview
   #1. Messa // The Spin – In a year replete with comfort picks—progressive rock, synthwave, and death metal abound—how is that Italy’s enigmatic, inscrutable Messa forged my Album o’ the Year? The Spin doesn’t take the trouble to make itself easily approachable. Doom, prog, and post influences circle around velvety melodies that sometimes sound like deliberate songs, and sometimes like jazz improvisation. But it’s these very qualities that belie its subtle allure; only with repetition and attention does The Spin shine. Messa gradually reveals rhythmic motifs, instrumental nuances, and rich compositions that enhance my life on so many days. “The Dress,” especially, is stunning. And though the record’s loungey whimsy defies metal conventions, each track prizes genuine grit through its top-drawer guitar riffs. With the devotion it demands, no record from 2025 was more rewarding than The Spin.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Décryptal – Simulacre
   • An Abstract Illusion – The Sleeping City
   • Puteraeon – Mountains of Madness
   • Hasard – Abgnose

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Ambush – “Maskirovka”

   

   GardensTale

   #ish. Structure // Heritage
   #10. In Mourning //The Immortal
   #9. Flummox // Southern Progress
   #8. Der Weg Einer Freiheit // Innern
   #7. Nephylim // Circuition
   #6. Besna // Krásno
   #5. Messa // The Spin
   #4. Labyrinthus Stellarum // Rift in Reality
   #3. Gazpacho // Magic 8 Ball
   #2. Dormant Ordeal// Tooth & Nail
   #1. Moron Police // Pachinko — I was a little nervous when I first read about the length and ambition behind Pachinko, especially in the context of the incredible and very concise A Boat on the Sea. I’ve never been this happy to be this wrong. Nothing in the last decade has overtaken my life as much as Pachinko has, and I’m listening to it yet again as I write this, and will probably restart it once it finishes. Pachinko has a lot in common with Everything Everywhere All At Once, one of my all-time favorite films, as a treatise on the chaos of life and the importance of friends and family. It treats its philosophy of silliness very seriously, laughing in the face of darkness in such a beautiful and inspiring way; it brightens my life every time I hear it. And it does all that in tribute to a dear friend who was gone too soon and too suddenly, and no other eulogistic album has let me feel like its subject’s soul touched mine. An astounding monument to friendship on top of an incredibly accomplished hour of music. Pachinko is a miracle.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Hangover in Minsk // Party is Over
   • 1914 // Viribus Unitis
   • Bianca // Bianca
   • Fange // Purulences
   • An Abstract Illusion // The Sleeping City
   • Blindfolded // What Seeps Through Threads

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Moron Police – “Giving up the Ghost”

   

   Non-metal Albums of the Year:

   • Lorde // Virgin
   • Jonathan Hultén // Eyes of the Living Night
   • Shayfer James // Summoning

   Mark Z.

   #ish. Malefic Throne // The Conquering Darkness
   #10. Urn // Demon Steel
   #9. Teitanblood // From the Visceral Abyss
   #8. Shed the Skin // The Carnage Cast Shadows
   #7. Guts // Nightmare Fuel
   #6. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #5. Perdition Temple // Malign Apotheosis
   #4. Paradise Lost // Ascension
   #3. Revocation // New Gods, New Masters
   #2. Death Yell // Demons of Lust
   #1. Abominator // The Fire Brethren – It took me a few years after hearing this Australian duo’s last album, 2015’s Evil Proclaimed, to realize I was wrong about them. Their raw and relentless black-death metal wasn’t just good, it was fucking awesome. With their long-awaited sixth album, The Fire Brethren, Abominator has conjured flames that reach higher than ever. As always, the enraged rasps, scorching riffs, and endlessly pummeling rhythms are like plumes of hellfire shot directly into your ear canals. But amidst the bludgeoning is some genuinely great songwriting, with deep-cutting hooks (“The Templar’s Curse,” “Underworld Vociferations”), flashes of melody (“Progenitors of the Insurrection of Satan”), thrashy breaks (“Sulphur from the Heavens”), and just enough variety to keep everything hitting as hard as possible. It’s not for everyone, but for those into Angelcorpse and other music of that sort, The Fire Brethren is the type of album you just can’t get enough of.

   Honorable Mention:

   • Blasphamagoatachrist // Bestial Abominator

   Song (Title) o’ the Year:

   • Omegavortex – “Dystopian Worldrape”

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Fugitive – “Spheres of Virulence”

   

   Carcharodon

   #ish. Dax Riggs // 7 Songs for Spiders
   #10. Novarupta // Astral Sands
   #9. Atlantic // Timeworn
   #8. Structure // Heritage
   #7. Agriculture // The Spiritual Sound
   #6. Igorr // Amen
   #5. Messa // The Spin
   #4. Abigail Williams // A Void Within Existence
   #3. Cave Sermon // Fragile Wings
   #2. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #1. Grima // Nightside – In each of 2019, 2021, and 2022, Grima released an album and, in each of those years, I listed said album (#5, HM, and #10). But this year, the year in which I have listened to the least metal and, of course, written the least since I started here in 2018, is also the year that Grima got everything dialled in to just what I want from a Grima album. On Nightside, the duo struck the perfect balance between the traditional influences of 2019’s Will of the Primordial and the propulsive, frozen atmosphere of Frostbitten (2022). The combination gives Nightside an almost hypnotic and weirdly tranquil flow, offset by Vilhelm’s rasping vocals, which remain among the best in the BM game. Every time I come back to this record, and the title track in particular, it’s even better than I remember it being, and I always end up spinning three or more times back-to-back. An album that can keep playing that trick deserves its #1 spot in my book.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • An Abstract Illusion // The Sleeping City
   • Gorycz // Zasypia
   • Psychonaut // World Maker
   • Wardruna // Birna

   Songs o’ the Year:

   • Messa – “Fire on the Roof”

   

   • Novarupta – “Now Here We Are (At the Inevitable End)”

   Mysticus Hugebeard

   #10. Orbit Culture // Death Above Life
   #9. An Abstract Illusion // The Sleeping City
   #8. Qrixkuor // The Womb of the World
   #7. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #6. Panopticon // Laurentian Blue
   #5. Blackbraid // Blackbraid III
   #4. Arkhaaik // Uihtis
   #3. Kauan // Wayhome
   #2. Wardruna // Birna
   #1. Thumos // The Trial of Socrates – I recall groggily stumbling upon Thumos’ The Trial of Socrates at work one early morning, and I’m not sure if I’ve grown attached to it or it’s grown attached to me. It looms in my periphery, routinely interrupting my listening schedule for just one more spin. This gargantuan dive into ancient Greek philosophy and justice is melodically rich, laden with atmosphere, and fiercely intelligent. I love how this album stimulates my curiosity. I pore over The Trial of Socrates like a madman, piecing the puzzle together with feverish glee but never quite feeling finished, because every re-listen yields new shapes, new colors, new ideas. It eggs me on to research various topics on ancient Greek history or philosophy, and even made for an unlikely study partner during my long preparations for the German A1 exam. I always feel smarter by the end of it—hubris, I’m sure, but The Trial of Socrates genuinely sparks my imagination in ways few albums do. Time to go listen to “The Phædo” for the zillionth time.
   

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Night Flight Orchestra // Give Us The Moon
   • Mutagenic Host // The Diseased Machine

   Songs o’ the Year:

   • Disarmonia Mundi – “Outcast”

   The Dormant Stranger by Disarmonia Mundi

   • Jamie Page & Marcy Nabors – “Do No Harm (Ventricular Mix)”

   Do No Harm by Jamie Paige, Marcy Nabors, & Penny Parker

   • Thumos – “The Phædo”

   The Trial of Socrates by Thumos

   Disappointment(s) o’ the year:

   • The dissolution of Ante-Inferno: After Death’s Soliloquy topped my list last year, I was genuinely gutted to see Ante-Inferno’s post that they were no more. Still, I shall not weep but rather smile that they happened, because Ante-Inferno was a rare breed of genuinely moving black metal. Just that one album rooted itself so deeply within me, and I will be listening for a long time.
   • Arno Menses leaving Subsignal: Man, fuck. Fuck. Remember my nuclear-grade glaze of Subsignal, where I might as well have said Menses’ voice single-handedly justified the entire existence of music? How could I not break down in heaving sobs in the middle of this Denny’s when I heard that Menses and Subsignal have parted ways? It sucks, I tell ya. I will still listen to what Subsignal puts out in the future, because Markus Steffen is a talented musician, but it’s going to be a huge adjustment since Menses is nigh irreplaceable.

   Samguineous Maximus

   #ish. Imperial Triumphant // Goldstar
   #10. Primitive Man // Observance
   #9. Motherless // Do You Feel Safe?
   #8. Deafheaven // Lonely People with Power
   #7. Weeping Sores // The Convalescence Agonies
   #6. Between the Buried and Me // The Blue Nowhere
   #5. Calva Louise // Edge of the Abyss
   #4. 1914 // Viribus Unitis
   #3. Crippling Alcoholism // Camgirl
   #2. Crippling Alcoholism // Bible Songs II
   #1. Yellow Eyes // Confusion Gate – Yellow Eyes are one of the best black metal bands in the game, and Confusion Gate is their most impressive work to date. It sees the band return to a more traditional atmospheric sound, but with the lessons learned from their explorations of dissonance and ambience. The result is a kaleidoscopic blend of gorgeous melodies, haunting riffs, and a pervasive sense of pathos that only the best art can achieve. Confusion Gate feels like communing with nature from the top of a wintry peak, embodying both impossible grandeur and awesome terror. This is a record that bypasses the analytical reviewer’s brain and just hits me right in the feeling. It offers a unique catharsis in a year where I truly needed it.

   Honorable Mentions

   • Flummox // Southern Progress
   • Hexrot // Formless Ruin of Oblivion
   • Ava Mendoza/Gabby fluke-Mogal/Carolina Pérez // Mama Killa
   • Strigiform // Aconite

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Crippling Alcoholism – “Ladies Night”

   

   Spicie Forrest

   #ish. Cryptopsy // An Insatiable Violence
   #10. Crimson Shadows // Whispers of War
   #9. Oromet // The Sinking Isle
   #8. -ii- // Apostles of the Flesh
   #7. Suncraft // Welcome to the Coven
   #6. Suncraft // Profanation of the Adamic Covenant
   #5. Chestcrush // ΨΥΧΟΒΓΑΛΤΗΣ
   #4. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #3. Qrixkuor // The Womb of the World
   #2. Primitive Man // Observance
   #1. Wytch Hazel // V: Lamentations – I know, I’m surprised too. But the bottom line is that I’ve been listening to V: Lamentations front to back at least once a week since it released on the most American of holidays, July 4th. For Steel, Wytch Hazel’s latest didn’t have the same staying power as previous efforts, but Lamentations is the first to truly resonate with me. Though musically consistent with their Wishbone Ash-meets-Eagles style, vocalist Colin Hendra brings a new sense of passion to the record, and the interplay between instruments, vocals, and lyrics hits me like a lightning bolt. Very possibly inspired by the core Christian tenet laid out in Romans 6:23-24,2 Lamentations is a masterful portrayal of what it means to perpetually fail, to know you’ll never be good enough, and in the face of a salvation that renders all efforts, deeds, and accomplishments worthless, to keep striving toward the impossible anyway. Even for godless sinners like me, Lamentations is a beautiful reminder that purpose is found in hardship, that the journey is the goal, and that falling down is merely an opportunity to stand up again.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Proscription // Desolate Divine
   • Apocalypse Orchestra // A Plague upon Thee
   • Messa // The Spin
   • Bloodywood // Nu Delhi
   • Pedestal for Leviathan // Enter: Vampyric Manifestation

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Yellowcard – “honestly i”

   Grin Reaper

   (ish) Sallow Moth // Mossbane Lantern
   #10. Turian // Blood Quantum Blues
   #9. Calva Louise // Edge of the Abyss
   #8. Lychgate // Precipice
   #7. An Abstract Illusion // The Sleeping City
   #6. Thron // Vurias
   #5. Structure // Heritage
   #4. Species // Changelings
   #3. Havukruunu // Tavastland
   #2. Aephanemer // Utopie
   #1. 1914 // Viribus Unitis – I didn’t know Viribus Unitis would be my top album of the year the first time I listened to it, but I knew it would list. 1914’s naked emotion and rousing story of a Ukrainian soldier’s survival through World War I, reconciliation with his family, and inescapable return to war remains as gripping and bittersweet now as it did the first time I heard it. Across adrenaline-fueled riffing, oppressive marches, and somber dirges, 1914 never relents on musical or lyrical weight. Though Viribus Unitis was released late in the year, it quickly became the standard I used to appraise albums while going through listing season. 1914 paints war-torn life with savage grace, supplying devastating melody and grueling crawls that elevate the album to such heights that I’m genuinely moved each time I get to the end. Viribus Unitis is bleak, raw, and human, but for all that, I’m never deterred from listening. Ultimately, 1914 clutches the threads of hope and weaves an aural tapestry that brings tragedy and triumph to life, cementing Viribus Unitis as my undisputed top album of 2025.

   
   Honorable Mentions:

   • Walg // V
   • Moron Police // Pachinko
   • Defigurement // Endbryo
   • Ültra Raptör // Fossilized
   • Igorrr // Amen

   Songs o’ the Year:

   • Aephanemer – “Le Cimetière Marin”

   • 1914 – “1918 Pt. III: ADE (A Duty to Escape)”

   Andy-War-Hall

   #ish: Dragon Skull // Chaos Fire Vengeance
   #10: Changeling // Changeling
   #9: Steel Arctus // Dreamruler
   #8: Abigail Williams //A Void Within Existence
   #7: Petrified Giant // Endless Ark
   #6: Imperial Triumphant // Goldstar
   #5: Structure // Heritage
   #4: Lipoma // No Cure for the Sick
   #3: Crippling Alcoholism // Camgirl
   #2: Hexrot // Formless Ruin of Oblivion
   #1: 1914 // Viribus Unitis – Immersion defines great music and art for me. It is almost unfortunate how good 1914 are in this facet of their music. Their ability to transport the listener to the battlefield in all its violence, both carnal and psychological, is stupefying. The utter dehumanizing hatred with “1914 (The Siege of Przemyśl),” the ravenous bloodlust of “1917 (The Isonzo Front),” the hellish wails haunting “1918 Pt. 1 (WIA – Wounded in Action):” all portrayed vividly through 1914’s brilliantly caustic and composed musicianship and deeply personal lyricism. When Dmytro Ternushchak bellows “For three days / The Russians attacked / And accomplished nothing but / 40,000 dead pigs” [“1914 (The Siege of Przemyśl)”], it’s all you need to get into his character’s violent headspace. When 1914 mournfully sing in Ukrainian “Це моя земля”3 [1915 (Easter Battle for the Zwinin Ridge)], you grasp how someone could put their life on the line for kin and country. When our soldier sings “My little girl reached out to me / But duty calls” [1919 (The Home Where I Died)]… well, shit, your heart just has to break, right? 1914 don’t play “history metal.” Viribus Unitis is as present and relevant as you can get.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Fell Omen // Caelid Dog Summer
   • Ophelion // The Jaunt
   • Coroner // Dissonance Theory
   • Starscourge // Conqueror of the Stars – Betwixt Sundered Seraphim, the Lands Between Bleed

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Fell Omen – “The Fire is Still Warm”

   

   Lavender Larcenist

   #ish Spiritbox // Tsunami Sea
   #10. Sold Soul // Just Like That, I Disappear Entirely
   #9. Calva Louise // Edge of the Abyss
   #8. Dying Wish // Flesh Stays Together
   #7. Grima // Nightside
   #6. Aversed // Erasure of Color
   #5. Deafheaven // Lonely People With Power
   #4. Ghost Bath // Rose Thorn Necklace
   #3. Changeling // Changeling
   #2. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #1. Crippling Alcoholism // Camgirl – Sometimes you listen to music, and you feel like it gets you. Camgirl was exactly that type of album, and it probably doesn’t say anything good about me. Ever since Crippling Alcoholism’s latest graced my ears and I shared it with my partner, we have been singing “I fucking hate the way I look, yeah I look like a fat fucking scumbag” way too often and mumbling “Mr. Ran away, ran away from family” every chance we get. The album is dripping with the atmosphere of neon-lit back rooms, seedy interactions, and terrible decision-making. It feels like a lens into the lives of those society has left behind, and I can’t help but feel a connection. The self-destructive nihilism, drugged-out sex, and abrupt violence that is all too common in those on the margins of life is something I think more and more we can all relate to, and Camgirl is the art that mirrors society back to us. As a result, it is an album that is just as ugly as it is terrifying and beautiful.

   
   Honorable Mentions:

   • Shadow of Intent // Imperium Delirium
   • Pupil Slicer // Fleshwork
   • 1914 // Viribus Unitis

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Crippling Alcoholism – “bedrot”

   Creeping Ivy

   #ish. Nite // Cult of the Serpent Sun
   #10. Blackbraid // Blackbraid III
   #9. Flummox // Southern Progress
   #8. 1914 // Viribus Unitis
   #7. Cave Sermon // Fragile Wings
   #6. Saor // Amidst the Ruins
   #5. Imperial Triumphant // Goldstar
   #4. Phantom Spell // Heather & Hearth
   #3. Coroner // Dissonance Theory
   #2. Messa // The Spin
   #1. Havukruunu // Tavastland – On their Bandcamp page, Havukruunu explain the concept of their fourth LP: ‘Tavastland tells how in 1237 the Tavastians rose in rebellion against the church of Christ and drove the popes naked into the frost to die.’ Sounds like the metal album of 2025 to me! But I didn’t crown Tavastland for its lyrics that I can’t understand. As Dr. A.N. Grier has been exhorting for a decade, Havukruunu stands as a model of Viking black metal consistency, having dropped only very good-to-great albums since 2015. Tavastland isn’t a radical improvement over 2020’s Uinuous syömein sota, but it’s an (arguably excellent) improvement nonetheless, making it Havukruunu’s finest work yet. Yes, these fiery Finns forge sounds reminiscent of Bathory and Immortal, but Tavastland seized my attention for its adventurous prog sensibilities. Some of this can be attributed to the return of Hümo, whose bass rattles like the four strings of Geddy Lee. But the prog is deep in the album craft, from the overture-style modulations of opener “Kuolematon laulunhenki” to the extended guitar wankery of closer “De miseriis fennorum.” Now if only I can learn Finnish, I’ll be able to appreciate the killer anti-popery narrative while headbanging to my Record o’ 2025.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Am I in Trouble? // Spectrum
   • Blut Aus Nord // Ethereal Horizons
   • In Mourning // The Immortal
   • Oromet // The Sinking Isle
   • Wyatt E. // Zamāru Ultu Qereb Ziqquratu Part 1

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Phantom Spell – “The Autumn Citadel”

   

   Baguette of Bodom

   #ish. In the Woods… // Otra
   #10. Species // Changelings
   #9. Dragon Skull // Chaos Fire Vengeance
   #8. A-Z // A2Z²
   #7. Apocalypse Orchestra // A Plague upon Thee
   #6. Amorphis // Borderland
   #5. Dolmen Gate // Echoes of Ancient Tales
   #4. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #3. Amalekim // Shir Hashirim
   #2. Suotana // Ounas II
   #1. Buried Realm // The Dormant Darkness – Melodic tech death? Symphonic power metal? Who knows! Much like my 2025 in general, The Dormant Darkness has a bit of everything in one gigantic clusterfuck. The great news is, neither I nor the album crumbled under all that weight. In a year full of odd twists and turns, my list became more varied and unusual than ever. Buried Realm took this variety and gave me everything I like about metal in one dense package: blazing speeds, soaring guitars, majestic vocals, and relentless fury. It’s also inexplicably well-produced for how many layers there are to deal with. While 2025 was not a particularly star-studded release year—especially compared to most of the 2020s so far—it threw plenty of fun curveballs at me, and The Dormant Darkness exemplifies this with its Xothian fusion of metal subgenres in one big Ophidian I blender ov shred. I would also like to request several Christian Älvestam features on every album, please.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Victim of Fire // The Old Lie
   • Dawn of Solace // Affliction Vortex
   • Dynazty // Game of Faces
   • Coroner // Dissonance Theory
   • Hooded Menace // Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Dragon Skull – “Blood and Souls”

   Chaos Fire Vengeance by Dragon Skull

   #1914 #2025 #AZ #AbigailWilliams #Abominator #Aephanemer #Agriculture #AmIInTrouble #Amalekim #Ambush #Amorphis #AnAbstractIllusion #ApocalypseOrchestra #Arkhaaik #Asira #Astronoid #Atlantic #AvaMendozaGabbyFlukeMogalCarolinaPérez #Aversed #Besna #BetweenTheBuriedAndMe #Bianca #Blackbraid #Blasphamagoatachrist #Blindfolded #BlogLists #Bloodywood #BlutAusNord #Bruit #BuriedRealm #CalvaLouise #CaveSermon #Changeling #Chestcrush #Coroner #CrimsonShadows #CripplingAlcoholism #DawnOfSolace #DaxRiggs #Deafheaven #DeathYell #Décryptal #Defigurement #DerWegEinerFreiheit #DolmenGate #DormantOrdeal #DragonSkull #DyingWish #Dynazty #Fange #FellOmen #Flummox #Gazpacho #GhostBath #Gorycz #Grima #Guts #HangoverInMinsk #Hasard #Havukruunu #Hexrot #HoodedMenace #Igorr #Igorrr #II #ImperialTriumphant #JonathanHultén #Kauan #LabyrinthusStellarum #Lipoma #Lists #Lorde #LornaShore #Lychgate #MaleficThrone #Messa #MoronPolice #Motherless #MutagenicHost #Nephylim #NightFlightOrchestra #Nite #Novarupta #OllieWride #Ophelion #OrbitCulture #Oromet #Panopticon #ParadiseLost #PedestalForLeviathan #PerditionTemple #PetrifiedGiant #PhantomSpell #PrimitiveMan #Proscription #Psychonaut #PupilSlicer #Puteraeon #Qrixkuor #Revocation #SallowMoth #Saor #ShadowOfIntent #ShayferJames #ShedTheSkin #Sigh #SoldSoul #Species #Spiritbox #Starscourge #SteelArctus #StevenWilson #Strigiform #Structure #Suncraft #Suotana #Teitanblood #TheAMGStaffPickTheirTopTenIshOf2025 #TheMidnight #Thron #Thumos #Turian #ÜltraRaptör #Urn #VenomousEchoes #VictimOfFire #Walg #Wardruna #WeepingSores #WyattE #WytchHazel #YellowEyes #Yellowcard #ZéroAbsolu

   #az #abigailwilliams #abominator #aephanemer #agriculture #amiintrouble
4. 

   Angry Metal Guy @[email protected] · 2025-12-26 · 13:33 UTC

   Who Are These Clowns and Where Did They Put My Flesh Stapler? The AMG Staff Pick Their Top Ten(ish) of 2025 By Steel Druhm

   Listurnalia is now upon us once again! If you are not ready to be assailed by non-stop lists and bad opinions for the next week and change, I suggest you get fooking ready! Listurnalia cannot be stopped, nor contained. It can only be tolerated and endured!

   More than any year in recent history, 2025 saw more seasoned staffers step away from writing duties due to time constraints and life changes. To compensate for the loss of these slackwagoning quitters and shirkers, we added a gaggle of fresh new voices. This made for a bittersweet time around these parts as long-time friends departed and a bunch of untested, unknowns rose through the brutal n00b gauntlet to seize the means of promo production. These greenhorn neophytes have created great havoc at AMG HQ with their terrible taste, inability to follow directions, and steadfast refusal to ignore deathcore.

   We’ve been here before, though, and we always straighten out the newbie upstarts. The daily beatings, deprivations, and absence of positive reinforcement will wear them down, and if not, we have plenty of space in the rotpit out back. This is, and will ever be, the AMG modality.

   2026 will be an interesting year as the new crew members are shepherded by the olde while everyone is crushed beneath the iron heel of AMG management. Who will make it to 2027? Who will be sold off to Metal Wani for a box of bananas and Gorilla Glue? Place your bets in the official AMG Survival Pool!

   As you read the Top Ten(ish) lists below, remember, reading our content is free, but you get what you pay for.

   Grymm

   #10. Venomous Echoes // Dysmor
   #9. Blut Aus Nord // Ethereal Horizons
   #8. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #7. Structure // Heritage
   #6. Lorna Shore // I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me
   #5. Sigh // I Saw The World’s End – Hangman’s Hymn MMXXV
   #4. Imperial Triumphant // Goldstar
   #3. Am I In Trouble? // Spectrum
   #2. Dax Riggs // 7 Songs for Spiders
   #1. Paradise Lost // Ascension – I fully expected Paradise Lost to come out with quality music, which has been mostly par for the course in their storied almost-40-year career, and no one could blame them if they decided to coast along on their legendary sound. Instead, Ascension sees them giving a masterclass in songcraft and atmosphere, showing everyone, everywhere, how it’s done. With Black Sabbath now officially put to rest, Anathema long gone, and whatever the fuck is happening within My Dying Bride these days, somebody has to fly the British Doom flag high and proud, and Paradise Lost have done a bang-up job of doing so.

   Personal Highlight o’ the Year: Seeing Acid Bath live. I may or may not have cried during “Venus Blue,” and no, I don’t fucking care. 19-Year-Old me was pleased as punch that 48-Year-Old me got to see a legendary band (and one of his personal favorites) come back from tragedy to pay tribute to their fallen bassist and friend, Audie Pitre, by giving it another long-awaited go.

   Disappointment(s) o’ the Year:

   • Losing so many influential heroes (RIP Ozzy Osbourne, Ace Frehley, and Tomas Lindberg, among too many others)
   • My health: I was hoping to be a lot more active this year, but early on, I needed to, in the immortal words of David Lynch, “fix (my) heart or die.”1 Thankfully, after surgery, I feel a million times better, so you should see a lot more of me in 2026. You have been warned.

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Paradise Lost // “Salvation”

   El Cuervo

   #ish. Astronoid // Stargod
   #10. Ollie Wride // The Pressure Point
   #9. Kauan // Wayhome
   #8. Zéro Absolu // La Saignée
   #7. Mutagenic Host // The Diseased Machine
   #6. Asira // As Ink in Water
   #5. Bruit // The Age of Ephemerality
   #4. Saor // Amidst the Ruins
   #3. The Midnight // Syndicate
   #2. Steven Wilson // The Overview
   #1. Messa // The Spin – In a year replete with comfort picks—progressive rock, synthwave, and death metal abound—how is that Italy’s enigmatic, inscrutable Messa forged my Album o’ the Year? The Spin doesn’t take the trouble to make itself easily approachable. Doom, prog, and post influences circle around velvety melodies that sometimes sound like deliberate songs, and sometimes like jazz improvisation. But it’s these very qualities that belie its subtle allure; only with repetition and attention does The Spin shine. Messa gradually reveals rhythmic motifs, instrumental nuances, and rich compositions that enhance my life on so many days. “The Dress,” especially, is stunning. And though the record’s loungey whimsy defies metal conventions, each track prizes genuine grit through its top-drawer guitar riffs. With the devotion it demands, no record from 2025 was more rewarding than The Spin.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Décryptal – Simulacre
   • An Abstract Illusion – The Sleeping City
   • Puteraeon – Mountains of Madness
   • Hasard – Abgnose

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Ambush – “Maskirovka”

   

   GardensTale

   #ish. Structure // Heritage
   #10. In Mourning //The Immortal
   #9. Flummox // Southern Progress
   #8. Der Weg Einer Freiheit // Innern
   #7. Nephylim // Circuition
   #6. Besna // Krásno
   #5. Messa // The Spin
   #4. Labyrinthus Stellarum // Rift in Reality
   #3. Gazpacho // Magic 8 Ball
   #2. Dormant Ordeal// Tooth & Nail
   #1. Moron Police // Pachinko — I was a little nervous when I first read about the length and ambition behind Pachinko, especially in the context of the incredible and very concise A Boat on the Sea. I’ve never been this happy to be this wrong. Nothing in the last decade has overtaken my life as much as Pachinko has, and I’m listening to it yet again as I write this, and will probably restart it once it finishes. Pachinko has a lot in common with Everything Everywhere All At Once, one of my all-time favorite films, as a treatise on the chaos of life and the importance of friends and family. It treats its philosophy of silliness very seriously, laughing in the face of darkness in such a beautiful and inspiring way; it brightens my life every time I hear it. And it does all that in tribute to a dear friend who was gone too soon and too suddenly, and no other eulogistic album has let me feel like its subject’s soul touched mine. An astounding monument to friendship on top of an incredibly accomplished hour of music. Pachinko is a miracle.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Hangover in Minsk // Party is Over
   • 1914 // Viribus Unitis
   • Bianca // Bianca
   • Fange // Purulences
   • An Abstract Illusion // The Sleeping City
   • Blindfolded // What Seeps Through Threads

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Moron Police – “Giving up the Ghost”

   

   Non-metal Albums of the Year:

   • Lorde // Virgin
   • Jonathan Hultén // Eyes of the Living Night
   • Shayfer James // Summoning

   Mark Z.

   #ish. Malefic Throne // The Conquering Darkness
   #10. Urn // Demon Steel
   #9. Teitanblood // From the Visceral Abyss
   #8. Shed the Skin // The Carnage Cast Shadows
   #7. Guts // Nightmare Fuel
   #6. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #5. Perdition Temple // Malign Apotheosis
   #4. Paradise Lost // Ascension
   #3. Revocation // New Gods, New Masters
   #2. Death Yell // Demons of Lust
   #1. Abominator // The Fire Brethren – It took me a few years after hearing this Australian duo’s last album, 2015’s Evil Proclaimed, to realize I was wrong about them. Their raw and relentless black-death metal wasn’t just good, it was fucking awesome. With their long-awaited sixth album, The Fire Brethren, Abominator has conjured flames that reach higher than ever. As always, the enraged rasps, scorching riffs, and endlessly pummeling rhythms are like plumes of hellfire shot directly into your ear canals. But amidst the bludgeoning is some genuinely great songwriting, with deep-cutting hooks (“The Templar’s Curse,” “Underworld Vociferations”), flashes of melody (“Progenitors of the Insurrection of Satan”), thrashy breaks (“Sulphur from the Heavens”), and just enough variety to keep everything hitting as hard as possible. It’s not for everyone, but for those into Angelcorpse and other music of that sort, The Fire Brethren is the type of album you just can’t get enough of.

   Honorable Mention:

   • Blasphamagoatachrist // Bestial Abominator

   Song (Title) o’ the Year:

   • Omegavortex – “Dystopian Worldrape”

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Fugitive – “Spheres of Virulence”

   

   Carcharodon

   #ish. Dax Riggs // 7 Songs for Spiders
   #10. Novarupta // Astral Sands
   #9. Atlantic // Timeworn
   #8. Structure // Heritage
   #7. Agriculture // The Spiritual Sound
   #6. Igorr // Amen
   #5. Messa // The Spin
   #4. Abigail Williams // A Void Within Existence
   #3. Cave Sermon // Fragile Wings
   #2. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #1. Grima // Nightside – In each of 2019, 2021, and 2022, Grima released an album and, in each of those years, I listed said album (#5, HM, and #10). But this year, the year in which I have listened to the least metal and, of course, written the least since I started here in 2018, is also the year that Grima got everything dialled in to just what I want from a Grima album. On Nightside, the duo struck the perfect balance between the traditional influences of 2019’s Will of the Primordial and the propulsive, frozen atmosphere of Frostbitten (2022). The combination gives Nightside an almost hypnotic and weirdly tranquil flow, offset by Vilhelm’s rasping vocals, which remain among the best in the BM game. Every time I come back to this record, and the title track in particular, it’s even better than I remember it being, and I always end up spinning three or more times back-to-back. An album that can keep playing that trick deserves its #1 spot in my book.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • An Abstract Illusion // The Sleeping City
   • Gorycz // Zasypia
   • Psychonaut // World Maker
   • Wardruna // Birna

   Songs o’ the Year:

   • Messa – “Fire on the Roof”

   

   • Novarupta – “Now Here We Are (At the Inevitable End)”

   Mysticus Hugebeard

   #10. Orbit Culture // Death Above Life
   #9. An Abstract Illusion // The Sleeping City
   #8. Qrixkuor // The Womb of the World
   #7. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #6. Panopticon // Laurentian Blue
   #5. Blackbraid // Blackbraid III
   #4. Arkhaaik // Uihtis
   #3. Kauan // Wayhome
   #2. Wardruna // Birna
   #1. Thumos // The Trial of Socrates – I recall groggily stumbling upon Thumos’ The Trial of Socrates at work one early morning, and I’m not sure if I’ve grown attached to it or it’s grown attached to me. It looms in my periphery, routinely interrupting my listening schedule for just one more spin. This gargantuan dive into ancient Greek philosophy and justice is melodically rich, laden with atmosphere, and fiercely intelligent. I love how this album stimulates my curiosity. I pore over The Trial of Socrates like a madman, piecing the puzzle together with feverish glee but never quite feeling finished, because every re-listen yields new shapes, new colors, new ideas. It eggs me on to research various topics on ancient Greek history or philosophy, and even made for an unlikely study partner during my long preparations for the German A1 exam. I always feel smarter by the end of it—hubris, I’m sure, but The Trial of Socrates genuinely sparks my imagination in ways few albums do. Time to go listen to “The Phædo” for the zillionth time.
   

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Night Flight Orchestra // Give Us The Moon
   • Mutagenic Host // The Diseased Machine

   Songs o’ the Year:

   • Disarmonia Mundi – “Outcast”

   The Dormant Stranger by Disarmonia Mundi

   • Jamie Page & Marcy Nabors – “Do No Harm (Ventricular Mix)”

   Do No Harm by Jamie Paige, Marcy Nabors, & Penny Parker

   • Thumos – “The Phædo”

   The Trial of Socrates by Thumos

   Disappointment(s) o’ the year:

   • The dissolution of Ante-Inferno: After Death’s Soliloquy topped my list last year, I was genuinely gutted to see Ante-Inferno’s post that they were no more. Still, I shall not weep but rather smile that they happened, because Ante-Inferno was a rare breed of genuinely moving black metal. Just that one album rooted itself so deeply within me, and I will be listening for a long time.
   • Arno Menses leaving Subsignal: Man, fuck. Fuck. Remember my nuclear-grade glaze of Subsignal, where I might as well have said Menses’ voice single-handedly justified the entire existence of music? How could I not break down in heaving sobs in the middle of this Denny’s when I heard that Menses and Subsignal have parted ways? It sucks, I tell ya. I will still listen to what Subsignal puts out in the future, because Markus Steffen is a talented musician, but it’s going to be a huge adjustment since Menses is nigh irreplaceable.

   Samguineous Maximus

   #ish. Imperial Triumphant // Goldstar
   #10. Primitive Man // Observance
   #9. Motherless // Do You Feel Safe?
   #8. Deafheaven // Lonely People with Power
   #7. Weeping Sores // The Convalescence Agonies
   #6. Between the Buried and Me // The Blue Nowhere
   #5. Calva Louise // Edge of the Abyss
   #4. 1914 // Viribus Unitis
   #3. Crippling Alcoholism // Camgirl
   #2. Crippling Alcoholism // Bible Songs II
   #1. Yellow Eyes // Confusion Gate – Yellow Eyes are one of the best black metal bands in the game, and Confusion Gate is their most impressive work to date. It sees the band return to a more traditional atmospheric sound, but with the lessons learned from their explorations of dissonance and ambience. The result is a kaleidoscopic blend of gorgeous melodies, haunting riffs, and a pervasive sense of pathos that only the best art can achieve. Confusion Gate feels like communing with nature from the top of a wintry peak, embodying both impossible grandeur and awesome terror. This is a record that bypasses the analytical reviewer’s brain and just hits me right in the feeling. It offers a unique catharsis in a year where I truly needed it.

   Honorable Mentions

   • Flummox // Southern Progress
   • Hexrot // Formless Ruin of Oblivion
   • Ava Mendoza/Gabby fluke-Mogal/Carolina Pérez // Mama Killa
   • Strigiform // Aconite

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Crippling Alcoholism – “Ladies Night”

   

   Spicie Forrest

   #ish. Cryptopsy // An Insatiable Violence
   #10. Crimson Shadows // Whispers of War
   #9. Oromet // The Sinking Isle
   #8. -ii- // Apostles of the Flesh
   #7. Suncraft // Welcome to the Coven
   #6. Suncraft // Profanation of the Adamic Covenant
   #5. Chestcrush // ΨΥΧΟΒΓΑΛΤΗΣ
   #4. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #3. Qrixkuor // The Womb of the World
   #2. Primitive Man // Observance
   #1. Wytch Hazel // V: Lamentations – I know, I’m surprised too. But the bottom line is that I’ve been listening to V: Lamentations front to back at least once a week since it released on the most American of holidays, July 4th. For Steel, Wytch Hazel’s latest didn’t have the same staying power as previous efforts, but Lamentations is the first to truly resonate with me. Though musically consistent with their Wishbone Ash-meets-Eagles style, vocalist Colin Hendra brings a new sense of passion to the record, and the interplay between instruments, vocals, and lyrics hits me like a lightning bolt. Very possibly inspired by the core Christian tenet laid out in Romans 6:23-24,2 Lamentations is a masterful portrayal of what it means to perpetually fail, to know you’ll never be good enough, and in the face of a salvation that renders all efforts, deeds, and accomplishments worthless, to keep striving toward the impossible anyway. Even for godless sinners like me, Lamentations is a beautiful reminder that purpose is found in hardship, that the journey is the goal, and that falling down is merely an opportunity to stand up again.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Proscription // Desolate Divine
   • Apocalypse Orchestra // A Plague upon Thee
   • Messa // The Spin
   • Bloodywood // Nu Delhi
   • Pedestal for Leviathan // Enter: Vampyric Manifestation

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Yellowcard – “honestly i”

   Grin Reaper

   (ish) Sallow Moth // Mossbane Lantern
   #10. Turian // Blood Quantum Blues
   #9. Calva Louise // Edge of the Abyss
   #8. Lychgate // Precipice
   #7. An Abstract Illusion // The Sleeping City
   #6. Thron // Vurias
   #5. Structure // Heritage
   #4. Species // Changelings
   #3. Havukruunu // Tavastland
   #2. Aephanemer // Utopie
   #1. 1914 // Viribus Unitis – I didn’t know Viribus Unitis would be my top album of the year the first time I listened to it, but I knew it would list. 1914’s naked emotion and rousing story of a Ukrainian soldier’s survival through World War I, reconciliation with his family, and inescapable return to war remains as gripping and bittersweet now as it did the first time I heard it. Across adrenaline-fueled riffing, oppressive marches, and somber dirges, 1914 never relents on musical or lyrical weight. Though Viribus Unitis was released late in the year, it quickly became the standard I used to appraise albums while going through listing season. 1914 paints war-torn life with savage grace, supplying devastating melody and grueling crawls that elevate the album to such heights that I’m genuinely moved each time I get to the end. Viribus Unitis is bleak, raw, and human, but for all that, I’m never deterred from listening. Ultimately, 1914 clutches the threads of hope and weaves an aural tapestry that brings tragedy and triumph to life, cementing Viribus Unitis as my undisputed top album of 2025.

   
   Honorable Mentions:

   • Walg // V
   • Moron Police // Pachinko
   • Defigurement // Endbryo
   • Ültra Raptör // Fossilized
   • Igorrr // Amen

   Songs o’ the Year:

   • Aephanemer – “Le Cimetière Marin”

   • 1914 – “1918 Pt. III: ADE (A Duty to Escape)”

   Andy-War-Hall

   #ish: Dragon Skull // Chaos Fire Vengeance
   #10: Changeling // Changeling
   #9: Steel Arctus // Dreamruler
   #8: Abigail Williams //A Void Within Existence
   #7: Petrified Giant // Endless Ark
   #6: Imperial Triumphant // Goldstar
   #5: Structure // Heritage
   #4: Lipoma // No Cure for the Sick
   #3: Crippling Alcoholism // Camgirl
   #2: Hexrot // Formless Ruin of Oblivion
   #1: 1914 // Viribus Unitis – Immersion defines great music and art for me. It is almost unfortunate how good 1914 are in this facet of their music. Their ability to transport the listener to the battlefield in all its violence, both carnal and psychological, is stupefying. The utter dehumanizing hatred with “1914 (The Siege of Przemyśl),” the ravenous bloodlust of “1917 (The Isonzo Front),” the hellish wails haunting “1918 Pt. 1 (WIA – Wounded in Action):” all portrayed vividly through 1914’s brilliantly caustic and composed musicianship and deeply personal lyricism. When Dmytro Ternushchak bellows “For three days / The Russians attacked / And accomplished nothing but / 40,000 dead pigs” [“1914 (The Siege of Przemyśl)”], it’s all you need to get into his character’s violent headspace. When 1914 mournfully sing in Ukrainian “Це моя земля”3 [1915 (Easter Battle for the Zwinin Ridge)], you grasp how someone could put their life on the line for kin and country. When our soldier sings “My little girl reached out to me / But duty calls” [1919 (The Home Where I Died)]… well, shit, your heart just has to break, right? 1914 don’t play “history metal.” Viribus Unitis is as present and relevant as you can get.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Fell Omen // Caelid Dog Summer
   • Ophelion // The Jaunt
   • Coroner // Dissonance Theory
   • Starscourge // Conqueror of the Stars – Betwixt Sundered Seraphim, the Lands Between Bleed

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Fell Omen – “The Fire is Still Warm”

   

   Lavender Larcenist

   #ish Spiritbox // Tsunami Sea
   #10. Sold Soul // Just Like That, I Disappear Entirely
   #9. Calva Louise // Edge of the Abyss
   #8. Dying Wish // Flesh Stays Together
   #7. Grima // Nightside
   #6. Aversed // Erasure of Color
   #5. Deafheaven // Lonely People With Power
   #4. Ghost Bath // Rose Thorn Necklace
   #3. Changeling // Changeling
   #2. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #1. Crippling Alcoholism // Camgirl – Sometimes you listen to music, and you feel like it gets you. Camgirl was exactly that type of album, and it probably doesn’t say anything good about me. Ever since Crippling Alcoholism’s latest graced my ears and I shared it with my partner, we have been singing “I fucking hate the way I look, yeah I look like a fat fucking scumbag” way too often and mumbling “Mr. Ran away, ran away from family” every chance we get. The album is dripping with the atmosphere of neon-lit back rooms, seedy interactions, and terrible decision-making. It feels like a lens into the lives of those society has left behind, and I can’t help but feel a connection. The self-destructive nihilism, drugged-out sex, and abrupt violence that is all too common in those on the margins of life is something I think more and more we can all relate to, and Camgirl is the art that mirrors society back to us. As a result, it is an album that is just as ugly as it is terrifying and beautiful.

   
   Honorable Mentions:

   • Shadow of Intent // Imperium Delirium
   • Pupil Slicer // Fleshwork
   • 1914 // Viribus Unitis

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Crippling Alcoholism – “bedrot”

   Creeping Ivy

   #ish. Nite // Cult of the Serpent Sun
   #10. Blackbraid // Blackbraid III
   #9. Flummox // Southern Progress
   #8. 1914 // Viribus Unitis
   #7. Cave Sermon // Fragile Wings
   #6. Saor // Amidst the Ruins
   #5. Imperial Triumphant // Goldstar
   #4. Phantom Spell // Heather & Hearth
   #3. Coroner // Dissonance Theory
   #2. Messa // The Spin
   #1. Havukruunu // Tavastland – On their Bandcamp page, Havukruunu explain the concept of their fourth LP: ‘Tavastland tells how in 1237 the Tavastians rose in rebellion against the church of Christ and drove the popes naked into the frost to die.’ Sounds like the metal album of 2025 to me! But I didn’t crown Tavastland for its lyrics that I can’t understand. As Dr. A.N. Grier has been exhorting for a decade, Havukruunu stands as a model of Viking black metal consistency, having dropped only very good-to-great albums since 2015. Tavastland isn’t a radical improvement over 2020’s Uinuous syömein sota, but it’s an (arguably excellent) improvement nonetheless, making it Havukruunu’s finest work yet. Yes, these fiery Finns forge sounds reminiscent of Bathory and Immortal, but Tavastland seized my attention for its adventurous prog sensibilities. Some of this can be attributed to the return of Hümo, whose bass rattles like the four strings of Geddy Lee. But the prog is deep in the album craft, from the overture-style modulations of opener “Kuolematon laulunhenki” to the extended guitar wankery of closer “De miseriis fennorum.” Now if only I can learn Finnish, I’ll be able to appreciate the killer anti-popery narrative while headbanging to my Record o’ 2025.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Am I in Trouble? // Spectrum
   • Blut Aus Nord // Ethereal Horizons
   • In Mourning // The Immortal
   • Oromet // The Sinking Isle
   • Wyatt E. // Zamāru Ultu Qereb Ziqquratu Part 1

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Phantom Spell – “The Autumn Citadel”

   

   Baguette of Bodom

   #ish. In the Woods… // Otra
   #10. Species // Changelings
   #9. Dragon Skull // Chaos Fire Vengeance
   #8. A-Z // A2Z²
   #7. Apocalypse Orchestra // A Plague upon Thee
   #6. Amorphis // Borderland
   #5. Dolmen Gate // Echoes of Ancient Tales
   #4. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail
   #3. Amalekim // Shir Hashirim
   #2. Suotana // Ounas II
   #1. Buried Realm // The Dormant Darkness – Melodic tech death? Symphonic power metal? Who knows! Much like my 2025 in general, The Dormant Darkness has a bit of everything in one gigantic clusterfuck. The great news is, neither I nor the album crumbled under all that weight. In a year full of odd twists and turns, my list became more varied and unusual than ever. Buried Realm took this variety and gave me everything I like about metal in one dense package: blazing speeds, soaring guitars, majestic vocals, and relentless fury. It’s also inexplicably well-produced for how many layers there are to deal with. While 2025 was not a particularly star-studded release year—especially compared to most of the 2020s so far—it threw plenty of fun curveballs at me, and The Dormant Darkness exemplifies this with its Xothian fusion of metal subgenres in one big Ophidian I blender ov shred. I would also like to request several Christian Älvestam features on every album, please.

   Honorable Mentions:

   • Victim of Fire // The Old Lie
   • Dawn of Solace // Affliction Vortex
   • Dynazty // Game of Faces
   • Coroner // Dissonance Theory
   • Hooded Menace // Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration

   Song o’ the Year:

   • Dragon Skull – “Blood and Souls”

   Chaos Fire Vengeance by Dragon Skull

   Show 3 footnotes

   1. Translated: I had atrial fibrillation and needed a cardiac ablation. ↩
   2. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” ↩
   3. “This is my land.” ↩

   #1914 #2025 #AZ #AbigailWilliams #Abominator #Aephanemer #Agriculture #AmIInTrouble #Amalekim #Ambush #Amorphis #AnAbstractIllusion #ApocalypseOrchestra #Arkhaaik #Asira #Astronoid #Atlantic #AvaMendozaGabbyFlukeMogalCarolinaPérez #Aversed #Besna #BetweenTheBuriedAndMe #Bianca #Blackbraid #Blasphamagoatachrist #Blindfolded #BlogLists #Bloodywood #BlutAusNord #Bruit #BuriedRealm #CalvaLouise #CaveSermon #Changeling #Chestcrush #Coroner #CrimsonShadows #CripplingAlcoholism #DawnOfSolace #DaxRiggs #Deafheaven #DeathYell #Décryptal #Defigurement #DerWegEinerFreiheit #DolmenGate #DormantOrdeal #DragonSkull #DyingWish #Dynazty #Fange #FellOmen #Flummox #Gazpacho #GhostBath #Gorycz #Grima #Guts #HangoverInMinsk #Hasard #Havukruunu #Hexrot #HoodedMenace #Igorr #Igorrr #II #ImperialTriumphant #JonathanHultén #Kauan #LabyrinthusStellarum #Lipoma #Lists #Lorde #LornaShore #Lychgate #MaleficThrone #Messa #MoronPolice #Motherless #MutagenicHost #Nephylim #NightFlightOrchestra #Nite #Novarupta #OllieWride #Ophelion #OrbitCulture #Oromet #Panopticon #ParadiseLost #PedestalForLeviathan #PerditionTemple #PetrifiedGiant #PhantomSpell #PrimitiveMan #Proscription #Psychonaut #PupilSlicer #Puteraeon #Qrixkuor #Revocation #SallowMoth #Saor #ShadowOfIntent #ShayferJames #ShedTheSkin #Sigh #SoldSoul #Species #Spiritbox #Starscourge #SteelArctus #StevenWilson #Strigiform #Structure #Suncraft #Suotana #Teitanblood #TheAMGStaffPickTheirTopTenIshOf2025 #TheMidnight #Thron #Thumos #Turian #ÜltraRaptör #Urn #VenomousEchoes #VictimOfFire #Walg #Wardruna #WeepingSores #WyattE #WytchHazel #YellowEyes #Yellowcard #ZéroAbsolu

   #az #abigailwilliams #abominator #aephanemer #agriculture #amiintrouble
5. 

   Futurist Jim Carroll @[email protected] · 2025-12-11 · 11:40 UTC

   “Your brain is built for addition. The future is built on multiplication.” - Futurist Jim Carroll

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   Futurist Jim Carroll is writing his end-of-2025 / introduction-to-2026 series, 26 Principles for 2026. You can follow along at 2026.jimcarroll.com. He welcomes your comments.

   ---

   When exponential change arrives, it never goes well.

   That's because most people fail to understand what it means and don't act, which is a problem. After all, there is a remarkably narrow window between "this will never work" and "how did we miss this?"

   We are on Day 16. Earlier in this series (go back to Day 2), we confronted the staggering velocity of change—the doubling of scientific knowledge, the acceleration of technological breakthroughs.

   But there is a massive, invisible chasm we have not yet crossed:

   It is the gap between intellectually knowing the numbers and viscerally comprehending what they mean for your reality in 36 months. It's called the scale-blindness epidemic, and why your brain cannot comprehend what is coming.

   Consider this: you can read the reports on AI growth, computing power, or synthetic biology until your eyes bleed. You can nod your head and agree that things are moving fast.

   But deep down, you don't believe it.

   Why? Because you are a human being. We are linearly wired creatures living in an exponential world. Our brains evolved to track linear threats—a lion moving across the savannah at a constant speed. We understand “1, 2, 3, 4, 5.” Slow, linear growth.

   But it seems we are biologically incapable of intuitively grasping “1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32.” Wildly fast exponential growth.

   Because of this evolutionary flaw, the vast majority of leaders suffer from "Scale-Blindness." When we look at an emerging exponential technology, our brains instinctively project its growth linearly. We do a 1-2-3-4-5 - not a 1-2-4-8-16-32. We look at what it can do today—which is usually underwhelming—and assume next year it will be maybe 10% better. And the fact is, it could be 100% better, or 1,000%, or maybe even 10,000%

   And because of our blindness, we fail to miss out on the significance of the trend.

   Think about it another way - if we see a 10-foot wave coming and prepare accordingly, completely blind to the fact that the exponential function will turn it into a 100-foot tsunami by the time it reaches shore.

   That's why principle **#16** in this series isn't about learning more facts; it's about forcing your brain to undergo a sort of exponential shock therapy so you can cure this blindness before it's too late. That's because there is comfort in incremental thinking!

   ----
   **#ScaleBlindness** **#Exponential** **#Velocity** **#Disruption** **#Innovation** **#Acceleration** **#Linear**

   Futurist Jim Carroll believes that most organizations are falling way behind when it comes to the 'acceleration gap.'

   Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2025/12/decoding-tomorrow-mastering-2026-16-scale-blindness-your-brain-is-built-for-addition-the-future-is-built-on-multiplication/

   #scaleblindness #exponential #velocity #disruption #innovation #acceleration
6. 

   Marco Ciappelli🎙️✨:verified: :donor: @[email protected] · 2025-11-29 · 01:11 UTC

   Guess what!
   🎙️✨ AUDIO SIGNALS IS BACK ✨🎙️
   After a few months of hiatus, I couldn't stay away.
   My passion for storytellers and storytelling cannot be tamed—and I'm thrilled to return with a conversation that reminds me why this podcast matters.
   Meet Bradley W. Buchanan —retired English professor, two-time blood cancer survivor, and debut novelist who just released Spy's Mate, a gripping chess thriller set in Cold War Soviet Union.

   Why This Episode Matters:
   Brad is what's medically called a "chimera"—his DNA was literally altered by a stem cell transplant. He was blind for a year and a half. He nearly died multiple times. Through it all, he had chess dreams where the pieces hunted him across the board.

   His novel isn't just a spy thriller. It's a deeply personal story about Yasha, an Armenian chess prodigy who promises his dying mother he'll become world chess champion—a promise that drives him through a world where the KGB manipulates tournaments and chess prowess equals communist superiority.

   Brad wrote this after his own mother died. He cried writing the final pages, giving his protagonist the closure he couldn't have in real life.

   What We Explored: ♟️ How the KGB used psychological warfare in chess tournaments ♟️ Writing a novel that works as both myth and historical thriller ♟️ The personal cost of storytelling and processing grief through fiction ♟️ Why he wrote this like a screenplay (calling Netflix!) ♟️ Surviving cancer and finding new purpose as a full-time writer ♟️ The hero's journey through 64 squares

   This is storytelling at its most human—where personal trauma transforms into universal narrative, where a game becomes life and death, where a son's promise to his mother echoes through pages of Cold War intrigue.

   Links in the comments 🤫

   We are all made of stories. Some of us write them. Some of us tell them. All of us need them.

   🎧 Watch/Listen: https://youtu.be/ib36bVcYbmw
   🎙️ If you like to go for the Audio Podcast here is Audio Signals Podcast: https://www.audiosignalspodcast.com/
   🌐 Learn more about my work: https://marcociappelli.com 

   Welcome back to Audio Signals. 🎙️

   #Storytelling #AudioSignals #Podcast #Chess #SpysMate #ColdWar #Author #DebutNovel #WritingCommunity #BookRecommendation #BradleyBuchanan #HistoricalFiction #SpyThriller #CancerSurvivor #MarcoCiappelli #ITSPmagazine #books #writers #readers #writing #reading

   #storytelling #audiosignals #podcast #chess #spysmate #coldwar
7. 

   Marco Ciappelli🎙️✨:verified: :donor: @[email protected] · 2025-11-29 · 01:11 UTC

   Guess what!
   🎙️✨ AUDIO SIGNALS IS BACK ✨🎙️
   After a few months of hiatus, I couldn't stay away.
   My passion for storytellers and storytelling cannot be tamed—and I'm thrilled to return with a conversation that reminds me why this podcast matters.
   Meet Bradley W. Buchanan —retired English professor, two-time blood cancer survivor, and debut novelist who just released Spy's Mate, a gripping chess thriller set in Cold War Soviet Union.

   Why This Episode Matters:
   Brad is what's medically called a "chimera"—his DNA was literally altered by a stem cell transplant. He was blind for a year and a half. He nearly died multiple times. Through it all, he had chess dreams where the pieces hunted him across the board.

   His novel isn't just a spy thriller. It's a deeply personal story about Yasha, an Armenian chess prodigy who promises his dying mother he'll become world chess champion—a promise that drives him through a world where the KGB manipulates tournaments and chess prowess equals communist superiority.

   Brad wrote this after his own mother died. He cried writing the final pages, giving his protagonist the closure he couldn't have in real life.

   What We Explored: ♟️ How the KGB used psychological warfare in chess tournaments ♟️ Writing a novel that works as both myth and historical thriller ♟️ The personal cost of storytelling and processing grief through fiction ♟️ Why he wrote this like a screenplay (calling Netflix!) ♟️ Surviving cancer and finding new purpose as a full-time writer ♟️ The hero's journey through 64 squares

   This is storytelling at its most human—where personal trauma transforms into universal narrative, where a game becomes life and death, where a son's promise to his mother echoes through pages of Cold War intrigue.

   Links in the comments 🤫

   We are all made of stories. Some of us write them. Some of us tell them. All of us need them.

   🎧 Watch/Listen: https://youtu.be/ib36bVcYbmw
   🎙️ If you like to go for the Audio Podcast here is Audio Signals Podcast: https://www.audiosignalspodcast.com/
   🌐 Learn more about my work: https://marcociappelli.com 

   Welcome back to Audio Signals. 🎙️

   #Storytelling #AudioSignals #Podcast #Chess #SpysMate #ColdWar #Author #DebutNovel #WritingCommunity #BookRecommendation #BradleyBuchanan #HistoricalFiction #SpyThriller #CancerSurvivor #MarcoCiappelli #ITSPmagazine #books #writers #readers #writing #reading

   #storytelling #audiosignals #podcast #chess #spysmate #coldwar
8. 

   Marco Ciappelli🎙️✨:verified: :donor: @[email protected] · 2025-11-29 · 01:11 UTC

   Guess what!
   🎙️✨ AUDIO SIGNALS IS BACK ✨🎙️
   After a few months of hiatus, I couldn't stay away.
   My passion for storytellers and storytelling cannot be tamed—and I'm thrilled to return with a conversation that reminds me why this podcast matters.
   Meet Bradley W. Buchanan —retired English professor, two-time blood cancer survivor, and debut novelist who just released Spy's Mate, a gripping chess thriller set in Cold War Soviet Union.

   Why This Episode Matters:
   Brad is what's medically called a "chimera"—his DNA was literally altered by a stem cell transplant. He was blind for a year and a half. He nearly died multiple times. Through it all, he had chess dreams where the pieces hunted him across the board.

   His novel isn't just a spy thriller. It's a deeply personal story about Yasha, an Armenian chess prodigy who promises his dying mother he'll become world chess champion—a promise that drives him through a world where the KGB manipulates tournaments and chess prowess equals communist superiority.

   Brad wrote this after his own mother died. He cried writing the final pages, giving his protagonist the closure he couldn't have in real life.

   What We Explored: ♟️ How the KGB used psychological warfare in chess tournaments ♟️ Writing a novel that works as both myth and historical thriller ♟️ The personal cost of storytelling and processing grief through fiction ♟️ Why he wrote this like a screenplay (calling Netflix!) ♟️ Surviving cancer and finding new purpose as a full-time writer ♟️ The hero's journey through 64 squares

   This is storytelling at its most human—where personal trauma transforms into universal narrative, where a game becomes life and death, where a son's promise to his mother echoes through pages of Cold War intrigue.

   Links in the comments 🤫

   We are all made of stories. Some of us write them. Some of us tell them. All of us need them.

   🎧 Watch/Listen: https://youtu.be/ib36bVcYbmw
   🎙️ If you like to go for the Audio Podcast here is Audio Signals Podcast: https://www.audiosignalspodcast.com/
   🌐 Learn more about my work: https://marcociappelli.com 

   Welcome back to Audio Signals. 🎙️

   #Storytelling #AudioSignals #Podcast #Chess #SpysMate #ColdWar #Author #DebutNovel #WritingCommunity #BookRecommendation #BradleyBuchanan #HistoricalFiction #SpyThriller #CancerSurvivor #MarcoCiappelli #ITSPmagazine #books #writers #readers #writing #reading

   #storytelling #audiosignals #podcast #chess #spysmate #coldwar
9. 

   Marco Ciappelli🎙️✨:verified: :donor: @[email protected] · 2025-11-29 · 01:11 UTC

   Guess what!
   🎙️✨ AUDIO SIGNALS IS BACK ✨🎙️
   After a few months of hiatus, I couldn't stay away.
   My passion for storytellers and storytelling cannot be tamed—and I'm thrilled to return with a conversation that reminds me why this podcast matters.
   Meet Bradley W. Buchanan —retired English professor, two-time blood cancer survivor, and debut novelist who just released Spy's Mate, a gripping chess thriller set in Cold War Soviet Union.

   Why This Episode Matters:
   Brad is what's medically called a "chimera"—his DNA was literally altered by a stem cell transplant. He was blind for a year and a half. He nearly died multiple times. Through it all, he had chess dreams where the pieces hunted him across the board.

   His novel isn't just a spy thriller. It's a deeply personal story about Yasha, an Armenian chess prodigy who promises his dying mother he'll become world chess champion—a promise that drives him through a world where the KGB manipulates tournaments and chess prowess equals communist superiority.

   Brad wrote this after his own mother died. He cried writing the final pages, giving his protagonist the closure he couldn't have in real life.

   What We Explored: ♟️ How the KGB used psychological warfare in chess tournaments ♟️ Writing a novel that works as both myth and historical thriller ♟️ The personal cost of storytelling and processing grief through fiction ♟️ Why he wrote this like a screenplay (calling Netflix!) ♟️ Surviving cancer and finding new purpose as a full-time writer ♟️ The hero's journey through 64 squares

   This is storytelling at its most human—where personal trauma transforms into universal narrative, where a game becomes life and death, where a son's promise to his mother echoes through pages of Cold War intrigue.

   Links in the comments 🤫

   We are all made of stories. Some of us write them. Some of us tell them. All of us need them.

   🎧 Watch/Listen: https://youtu.be/ib36bVcYbmw
   🎙️ If you like to go for the Audio Podcast here is Audio Signals Podcast: https://www.audiosignalspodcast.com/
   🌐 Learn more about my work: https://marcociappelli.com 

   Welcome back to Audio Signals. 🎙️

   #Storytelling #AudioSignals #Podcast #Chess #SpysMate #ColdWar #Author #DebutNovel #WritingCommunity #BookRecommendation #BradleyBuchanan #HistoricalFiction #SpyThriller #CancerSurvivor #MarcoCiappelli #ITSPmagazine #books #writers #readers #writing #reading

   #storytelling #audiosignals #podcast #chess #spysmate #coldwar
10. 

    Seth Goldstein @[email protected] · 2025-11-24 · 20:52 UTC

    Working With AI To Build Something

    I know how people feel about AI, but Claude is helping me make a web-based calculator for a client. I wouldn’t be able to have built this without it.

    Now, I know I could hired a developer to get it done and all that. But using AI benefited me as well.

    Seeing how Anthropic’s Claude was doing it and seeing it’s rational and being able to read the code somewhat myself, I was learning how it was being done.

    Also, a large part of the project has to do with the prompting as it’s a complex task.

    Look, using AI blindly is not good, but using to to help you and trying to learn from what the AI is writing isn’t a bad thing.

    I think so many people are so quick to just write off AI and say it’s all bad without looking at it from various points of view.

    This project didn’t have a budget big enough for me to use a dedicated development team. The amount of time it would have take to get it done with the “telephone-method” (like whispering down the line) would have been so painful.

    Plus, if I were to get it developed cheaply via offshoring it, so much more would get lost in the language barrier.

    It was easier to use AI and iterate with AI and code it up with… wait for it… AI.

    #ai #anthropic #claude #clientWork #thoughts #webCalculator

    #ai #anthropic #claude #clientwork #thoughts #webcalculator
11. 

    o lаvrоvsky @[email protected] · 2025-10-31 · 14:37 UTC

    A deep dive into #Accessibility with Claudio Zeni from #Incluthon

    As a case study, he compares the website of a local taxi company, or a pizza restaurant, vs. the plain Wordpress theme with careful tagging at SBV, the Swiss association of the blind and visually impaired — which we should all support at https://sbv-fsa.ch 💜

    Instructive and inspiring pangs of shame from anyone writing (AI-)sloppy HTML code, or putting inaccessible Web components and poorly designed layouts into the public domain. Often the correct description of buttons, hierarchy of form elements, fundamental questions are ignored. Desktop software is better (mostly), but still fails at the boundary of un-OCR'ed scans and many edge cases.

    Thanks for coming to the #ecollecting #hackathon and sharing your valuable perspective with us, Claudio! Hopefully these lessons are also being well learned in the classes of @bfh_hesb and IT departments of government.

    #accessibility #incluthon #ecollecting #hackathon
12. 

    o lаvrоvsky @[email protected] · 2025-10-31 · 14:37 UTC

    A deep dive into #Accessibility with Claudio Zeni from #Incluthon

    As a case study, he compares the website of a local taxi company, or a pizza restaurant, vs. the plain Wordpress theme with careful tagging at SBV, the Swiss association of the blind and visually impaired — which we should all support at https://sbv-fsa.ch 💜

    Instructive and inspiring pangs of shame from anyone writing (AI-)sloppy HTML code, or putting inaccessible Web components and poorly designed layouts into the public domain. Often the correct description of buttons, hierarchy of form elements, fundamental questions are ignored. Desktop software is better (mostly), but still fails at the boundary of un-OCR'ed scans and many edge cases.

    Thanks for coming to the #ecollecting #hackathon and sharing your valuable perspective with us, Claudio! Hopefully these lessons are also being well learned in the classes of @bfh_hesb and IT departments of government.

    #accessibility #incluthon #ecollecting #hackathon
13. 

    o lаvrоvsky @loleg · 2025-10-31 · 14:37 UTC

    A deep dive into #Accessibility with Claudio Zeni from #Incluthon

    As a case study, he compares the website of a local taxi company, or a pizza restaurant, vs. the plain Wordpress theme with careful tagging at SBV, the Swiss association of the blind and visually impaired — which we should all support at https://sbv-fsa.ch 💜

    Instructive and inspiring pangs of shame from anyone writing (AI-)sloppy HTML code, or putting inaccessible Web components and poorly designed layouts into the public domain. Often the correct description of buttons, hierarchy of form elements, fundamental questions are ignored. Desktop software is better (mostly), but still fails at the boundary of un-OCR'ed scans and many edge cases.

    Thanks for coming to the #ecollecting #hackathon and sharing your valuable perspective with us, Claudio! Hopefully these lessons are also being well learned in the classes of @bfh_hesb and IT departments of government.

    #accessibility #incluthon #ecollecting #hackathon
14. 

    o lаvrоvsky @[email protected] · 2025-10-31 · 14:37 UTC

    A deep dive into #Accessibility with Claudio Zeni from #Incluthon

    As a case study, he compares the website of a local taxi company, or a pizza restaurant, vs. the plain Wordpress theme with careful tagging at SBV, the Swiss association of the blind and visually impaired — which we should all support at https://sbv-fsa.ch 💜

    Instructive and inspiring pangs of shame from anyone writing (AI-)sloppy HTML code, or putting inaccessible Web components and poorly designed layouts into the public domain. Often the correct description of buttons, hierarchy of form elements, fundamental questions are ignored. Desktop software is better (mostly), but still fails at the boundary of un-OCR'ed scans and many edge cases.

    Thanks for coming to the #ecollecting #hackathon and sharing your valuable perspective with us, Claudio! Hopefully these lessons are also being well learned in the classes of @bfh_hesb and IT departments of government.

    #hackathon #ecollecting #incluthon #accessibility
15. 

    o lаvrоvsky @[email protected] · 2025-10-31 · 14:37 UTC

    A deep dive into #Accessibility with Claudio Zeni from #Incluthon

    As a case study, he compares the website of a local taxi company, or a pizza restaurant, vs. the plain Wordpress theme with careful tagging at SBV, the Swiss association of the blind and visually impaired — which we should all support at https://sbv-fsa.ch 💜

    Instructive and inspiring pangs of shame from anyone writing (AI-)sloppy HTML code, or putting inaccessible Web components and poorly designed layouts into the public domain. Often the correct description of buttons, hierarchy of form elements, fundamental questions are ignored. Desktop software is better (mostly), but still fails at the boundary of un-OCR'ed scans and many edge cases.

    Thanks for coming to the #ecollecting #hackathon and sharing your valuable perspective with us, Claudio! Hopefully these lessons are also being well learned in the classes of @bfh_hesb and IT departments of government.

    #accessibility #incluthon #ecollecting #hackathon
16. 

    yume ★ @[email protected] · 2025-09-21 · 23:54 UTC

    CW: introduction post (finally) + warning for a list of kinks containing gross or extreme kinks like diapers, bodily fluids, emeto, niche fetishes and whatever one would find on deviantart / pixiv + lolisho, noncon, incest and yandere mention ⚠️

    .𖥔 ݁ 𓊈 ❝ ଘ(੭ㅍ▽ㅍ)੭~°. ☆ hello ~ ❞ 𓊉 ݁ 𖥔.

    ⭐️ I'm Yume and I love Yuga Aoyama from mha ! I'm 19 and I go by she/her (most of the time) ☆ my bday is may 28th ♊️ and I'm ENTP 7w6 sp-blind 749

    🌠 hobbies : drawing, writing, editing, picsart, headcanons, scrapbooking, coloring, crafting, paper crafts, listening to music, anything creative !! I love creative stuff and I need lots of ideas and motivation to satisfy my chronic boredom (part of the reason why I like this "logo kids" side of the internet, the ppl there have unfiltered imagination like when I was a happy kid who didn't have any shame or repression) if my f/os aren't involved in any of these creative stuff, I lose complete interest. I can't draw something unless I'm also gonna draw Yuga or anything related to him.

    💖 I love Yuga Aoyama so much and I selfship with him. I'm non-sharing but you're free to go feral at nsfw of him ( •ᴗ- ) ~ ☆

    selfship tag : #2winklingstars

    ☂️​​ SHIPS I LIKE (🖤 = darkship)​ ☂️​

    ☆ tsumane (tbhk) 🖤 <- twincest
    ☆ naruase (komi-san : animanga) <- I like the AU where Naruse is transfem + cannibalism AU yummmm !!
    ☆ argentio, raturine, sunturine, sunratio, sungenti, avengenti, or the polyship between all of the four characters (hsr)
    ☆ AFOyama (mha) 🖤 <- abuser x victim
    ☆ (sometimes) iidayama, dekuyama, ojiyama, shojiyama, denkiyama, and even yugabowl (mha)
    ☆ yugacest <- usually 🖤 bc it's almost always abusive and bloody, but if it's not then it's Yuga x his pro hero self (adult x minor)

    ⭐️ MEDIA INTERESTS ⭐️

    ☆ MHA
    ☆ TBHK
    ☆ total drama series
    ☆ honkai star rail
    ☆ you and I are polar opposites
    ☆ tamon B side
    ☆ smiling friends
    ☆ PuniKawa
    ☆ 100 kanojo
    ☆ nozaki kun
    ☆ sanders sides
    ☆ undertale / deltarune
    ☆ brown and friends
    ☆ gumball
    ☆ genshin impact
    ☆ yume 2kki
    ☆ komi san (og and live action, they're different AUs)
    ☆ tadc
    ☆ vocaloid (I love maretu and nashimoto ui)
    ☆ dunmeshi

    🌹 F/O LIST 🌹

    ☆ YUGA AOYAMA FROM MHA I LOVE HIM SO MUCH AND HE TWINKLES EVERYDAY !!! HE'S MY BABY AND EVERYTHING !!! (romantic + non sharing)

    ☆

    ☆
    ☆

    now let's get naughty and list my kinks and fav tropes ...

    ⚠️ WARNING THEY'RE ABNORMAL ⚠️
    (fictional ONLY) (I always put a warning for a kink in my posts !!)

    ☆ infantilism / abdl / mental regression / ageplay (I do love agere in a sfw way) ⭐️
    ☆ diapers / pull-ups , toilet (sometimes) , toilet + diaper / pull-ups combo ⭐️
    ☆ breastfeeding / lactation ⭐️
    ☆ non-visible bodily fluids such as messing / wetting self or the toilet (I prefer solid messes and constipation over diarrhea 🤤), farting, sweating, snot and drooling esp when the character is crying or mindbroken ⭐️
    ☆ kodocon (esp shotacon)
    ☆ constipation coaching (helping someone poop and encouraging them until they find relief 🥵) ⭐️
    ☆ the only visible body fluid parts I like are bed-wetting (I'm very very picky when it comes to poop)
    ☆ spanking (hand or the back of a hairbrush, might as well be creative and say spatula and other objects)
    ☆ feet / belly / belly buttons
    ☆ belly growling
    ☆ Yuga's thighs and groin area 🤤
    ☆ lobotomoe / "born sexy yesterday"
    ☆ yandere / lovesick / possessiveness
    ☆ codependency / emotional dependency
    ☆ twincest
    ☆ selfcest
    ☆ self-voyeurism voyeurism (voyeuring a self-voyeur, although I also like when someone is voyeuring a voyeur who's voyeuring a self-voyeur - VOYEUR TRAIN !! 🚂)
    ☆ extreme hurt/comfort that involves noncon and ryona
    ☆ cumflation and inflation
    ☆ dacryphilia
    ☆ cannibalism out of love
    ☆ forcefeeding / overstuffing
    ☆ sickness / vomiting
    ☆ hypnosis
    there's probably more but my main ones are marked with (⭐️) also, I might change the list depending on my mood.

    okay ... you saw my unhinged side. I hope you're having a good say ( =ˊ ᵕ ˋ= )

    my ao3 is yumeaoyama :ao3: and my tumblr is yumeyuyumeyume :tumblr: btw

    #introduction ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .ᐟ

    #introduction #2winklingstars
17. 

    Angry Metal Guy @[email protected] · 2025-06-30 · 10:53 UTC

    Stuck in the Filter: April 2025’s Angry Misses

    By Kenstrosity

    The cicadas have passed, the brood has bred. And now, it’s all being washed away by a constant deluge of heavy rain and hail amidst thunderous storm of increasing intensity. I imagine those skyborne rumblings shudder every wall of the ducts where my minions toil. I am sure they are frightened, claustrophobic, and soaked. And yet, they persist under my demanding and ruthless management—all so you can have more of what you already get every day in these halls.

    Show your appreciation for what we bring to you, and enjoy ov deep Filter!

    Kenstrosity’s Biblically-Accurate Beast

    Ancient Death // Ego Dissolution [April 18th, 2025 – Profound Lore Records]

    A lot of people pine for Death. We know this due to the sheer number of Death worship acts out there, most of which operate eternally under that legend’s shadow. Less common, however, are acts of worship in the service of underground-er heroes The Chasm. Thankfully, Massachusetts death metal quartet Ancient Death take on this mantle, blending much Death and The Chasm inspo with their own curated, abyssal sound. Everything here hearkens back to the ways of olde, but updated to feel relevant in the modern era. Such as this is the case, opening salvos “Ego Dissolution” and “Breaking the Barriers of Hope” strike while the iron is hot, piercing through all expectation with sharp riffs, evolving passages, and dynamic shifts in structure. So effective is this attack strategy that even instrumental aberrations like “Journey to the Inner Soul” feel story driven and purposeful. Standout tracks like “Breathe – Transcend (Into the Glowing Streams of Forever),” “Echoing Chambers Within the Dismal Mind,” and “Unspoken Earth” steal the show, however, boasting Ancient Death’s best riffs, a downright surprising display of vocal versatility, and disgusting solos and dive bombs. It needs time and dedicated spins to bloom and come alive, though, which may discourage listeners hoping for a cheap fix. But trust me, it’s worth the investment!

    Killjoy’s Flavorful Feasts

    Malphas // Extinct [April 11th, 2025 – Soulseller Records]

    If I’m to enjoy no-frills black metal, it needs to have lots of hooks. In this sense, Switzerland’s Malphas had their priorities straight while writing Extinct. Their melodic guitar leads may not be as exuberant or exaggerated as, say, Moonlight Sorcery’s, but they have a thrashy flair which is just as much fun. Once the riffs captured my attention, they reeled me in for a battering vocal assault of coarse barks and spiteful snarls. Drummer Jöschu Käser (also of Aara and many others) can play seemingly any rhythm or tempo, best exemplified across the entirety of “Butcher’s Broom.” This is key for Malphas to prove they have the nuance to pull off mid-paced tempos (“Majestic Moon,” “Consumed,” “Armada Christi”), a quality that I find important in black metal. There are a few neat little surprises as well, like the piano section midway through “Majestic Moon” and the icy synths popping up momentarily in the instrumental closer “Astral Dissonance.” Fans of engaging and catchy meloblack won’t want to miss out on Extinct.

    Svnth // Pink Noise Youth [April 18th, 2025 – These Hands Melt]

    You’ve likely heard of white noise, but what about its counterpart, pink noise? Whereas white noise contains equal amounts of all frequencies audible to humans, pink noise favors lower frequencies and is generally considered to be easier on the ears. Likewise, Pink Noise Youth, Svnth’s fourth album, is a remarkably pleasant listen. This unassuming post-black group from Rome, Italy has evolved considerably since Cherd’s review of 2020’s Spring in Blue. The familiar glossy guitar tremolos and chords now have an unexpected companion: the electric sitar. This newcomer is mainly supportive, with stray notes and lines drizzled atop the already dreamy guitars for extra sweetness. There are spicier moments, too, like the punky riffs and d-beats peppered with rasping barks that kick off “Winter Blues.” There’s also a much greater prevalence of clean singing this time around, Rodolfo Ciuffo’s hypnotic intonation complements the chunky post-metal of “Perfume” as easily as the carefree guitar strumming in “Nairoby Lullaby.” Gone are the overlong, meandering tracks of before; Pink Noise Youth gets straight to the point with sharper songs hovering in the 5-minute range across a tight 37 minutes in total. Svnth seem determined to make the post-black genre their own and, by all indications, it’s working.

    Owlswald’s Wide-Eyed Wonders

    Game Over // Face the End [April 25th, 2025 – Scarlet Records]

    In the absolutely loaded month that was April, two records surprised these owl ears enough to earn regular spots in my playlist. First up is Game Over’s sixth full-length, Face the End. These Italian thrashers have been peddling their version of the Bay Area sound since 2009, yet this is somehow my first encounter with them. Following the departure of co-founder/bassist/vocalist Renato Chiccoli, Game Over revamped its lineup, bringing in Danny Schiavina on vocals and Leonard Molinari on bass. This refreshed five-piece delivers a newly polished sound, making Face the End the most fun I’ve had with a thrash album in recent memory. “Grip of Time,” “Weaving Fate” and “Veil of Insanity” showcase Game Over’s mastery of Testament and Exodus-level aggression while “Neck Breaking Dance” offers a light-hearted pit call reminiscent of early Anthrax. Alessandro Sansone’s and Luca Zironi’s fast and forceful down-picking, melodic leads and flashy solos run over Anthony Dantone’s rock-solid drumming, all within a crisp and powerful production with ample punch. Schiavina’s charismatic, high-flying vocals immediately grab your attention on “Lust for Blood,” never relinquishing their grasp as they transmit their 70s and 80s horror-inspired themes above abundant gang vocals. In a genre plagued by inconsistency, Face the End is everything I want my thrash to be—aggressive, dynamic and fun.

    Kiritsis // Kiritsis [April 4th, 2025 – Wise Blood Records/Pout Records]

    Next up is the ruthless sludge and hardcore of Kiritsis. I hope you checked your fun at the door because this Indianapolis-based quartet isn’t here to make friends. Formed by members of Trenches, Hatesong, and Sundown, Kiritsis’ self-titled debut is here to punch you square in the face and take your lunch money. Over the course of thirty-one minutes, this foursome bludgeons listeners with uncompromisingly heavy doses of abrasive distortion, hard-hitting beats and pure unadulterated anger, all slathered in a blackened layer of Carcass-like filth. Blake Henry’s roars and rasps tear through your speakers with pure vitriol and torment, perfectly complementing Eric Mason’s grim riffing, Bill Scott’s demonic bass growls and Nik Jensen’s weighty drum strikes. “Like the Taste,” “Pissant” and “Deny.Defend.Dispose” embody a Will Haven spirit with a barrage of penetrating, assaulting riffs and pounding half-time slams underpinning Henry’s blood-curdling screams. Meanwhile, the sorrowful and doom-tinged “It Ain’t Easy” and “Thieves and Fools” drag you into anguish-ridden depths, draped in their dark, hopeless atmospheres and plodding facades. You won’t find any overly technical or flashy music here—this is pure hatred and loathing in a tight, cathartic package, meant to blast at high volume while you fuck shit up.

    Tyme’s Grungy Gift

    Melvins 1983 // Thunderball [April 18th, 2025 – Ipecac Recordings]

    Hot on the heels and building off of 2024’s Tarantula Heart, stalwart grunge/sludge rock icon Buzz Osborne has teamed back up with original drummer Mike Dillard for Melvins 1983‘s third release and first in four years, Thunderball. This time around, Osborne and Dillard have partnered with experimental electronic artists Void Manes and Ni Maîtres to deliver yet another in a long line of inimitable, don’t-give-a-fuck-what-you-think releases that have become synonymous with the Melvins brand. As influential a band as any going right now on sludgy noise rock emanating from garages across the world, I take note anytime a new Melvins project hits shelves. With Thunderball, Buzz ‘n company have delivered another tasty morsel packed with some o’ that Houdini-sweet heaviness (“King of Rome”) that sweats grunge like “Negative Creep.” A merging of shimmery post-rock with punky garage rock and bass-laden disso-doom that meanders to a close in a wash of plodding riffs and bleep-bloop electronics, “Victory of the Pyramids” is a decent summation of what you’ll find lurking around most of Thunderball‘s thirty-four minute, five track corners, as Void Manes and Ni Maîtres don’t so much enhance as they incorporate their particular brand of electronica into Thunderball‘s sonic aesthetic. As a newcomer still assimilating into the Melvin hive mind here at AMG, I still have the independent lock-step wherewithal to recommend Melvins 1983‘s Thunderball to those who might have missed it.

    Dolphin Whisperer’s Ample Acquisitions

    Emma Goldman // All You Are Is We [April 28th, 2025 – Zegema Beach Records]

    Sassy is as sassy does or somethin’ like that. If you were wondering whether anarchist icon Emma Goldman came back to life to front a mathcore band, I’m sorry to report that that is not the case. However, if you’re in the ballpark for Canadian punks speedballin’ through skronked-out, strung-out chorus barks with a hundred words trapped in ten seconds, then Emma Goldman will be your ticket to a hot psych ward summer.1 From working class psychosis (“i don’t think much at all,” “this is your brain on minimum wage”) to patchwork insomniac ramblings as loaded as the cut-and-scan cover collage (“at rock bottom i was a piss girl,” “that is the land of lost content”), vocalist Victoria delivers a shredded flurry of barks, nags, and cries that pierce straight through the boomy mix. And though the rhythm guitars and bass pulse and industrial cracklings (particularly the two interlude scratches) register on the lower end of the sound spectrum, a fluid twang and tight, clanging snare find an abrasive balance throughout—two broken tones make a right. In under half an hour, All You Are Is We both breezes by in its effortless flow and brandishes passersby with heart-stained tirades and boiled-over emotion. Along with modern acts like Massa Nera and Blind Girls, Emma Goldman in bold, romantic, and unsettled rage makes a strong case for how true skramz can continue to evolve through rich musicianship, progressive leanings, all while maintaining an adherence to post-indebted builds (“it rubs the boycott ketchup on its brand new slacks,” “that is the land…”). And with a dollop more of that cathartic and capturing energy, Emma Goldman may yet charge with the notoriety of its namesake at the front of this genre pack.

    Sonum // The Obscure Light Awaits [April 11th, 2025 – Dusktone]

    As a product of a previous filter fetching, I had hoped to provide a lengthier statement on my enjoyment of Sonum’s sophomore outing The Obscure Light Awaits. You see, this Italian act has a knack for supplying death metal that holds true to the origins of dark and twisted riffage while still pushing at edges of richer composition in hypnotic rhythms. As a second attempt at deathly glory, The Obscure Light Awaits shows studio knowledge growth in a drum sound that highlights expansive cymbal textures and quick-turn tom rolls that power the mood-driven world in which Sonum inhabits. And in post-growing melodic builds—the kind of atmosphere that leans dissonant like the Ulcerate-channeling broodings of Devenial Verdict—Sonum shows that mood can swell and explode on the backs of horror-tinged orchestral accompaniment and creaking refrains (“Trapped in the Labyrinth of Aberration,” “Nobody Is Innocent”). Trimmed to a three-piece set for The Obscure Light Awaits, the focus that borders on self-similarity on this extended-length journey feels both intimate and indulgent—the closing psychedelic jam session certainly leans on the latter feeling. But with churning tremolo runs that lead to gruff-toned cries, the majority of what Sonum brings to the table lands in consistent and crushing effort (“In This Void We Dwell,” “Messenger of Cosmic Dread”). As a band still finding their footing in the grander scheme of the death metal universe, Sonum has a sense of identity that gives them a fighting edge. And though The Obscure Light Awaits wears its unique vision a little loose at the waist, its journey is well worth exploring.

    Zmarłym // Wielkie Zanikanie [April 18th, 2025 – Godz of War Productions]

    Once upon a time, Zmarłym fancied themselves a Polish sadboi act whose turmoil was wrapped in the urban decay of early COVID lockdown measures. And now that we’ve all stepped some distance—a safe distance you might say—away from that reality, Zmarłym has learned that the sad doesn’t dissipate quite that easily. Wielkie Zanikanie finds a familiar malaise in isolation, frustration, and a general defeated nature wrapped up in a longing black metal wane with post-punk and progressive undertones, much like you’d find on a record like Voice’s Frightened or Cursebinder’s Drifting. Blaring synth throbs give way to entrancing drum patterns and phase-shifting vocal howls (“Miejsca,” “Bunt maszyn”). Classic tremolo flurries raze playful energy to set the stage for sinister, blood-soaked cries (“Sny o lataniu,” “Plamy II”). And though a goofy mid-album Killing Joke-indebted romp—even a switch to heavy accent English from the brooding native tongue—threatens to break the sinister ambiance that Zmarłym explores throughout the rest of Wielkie Zanikanie, its soft and bouncy inclusions still find layering amongst smoldering black metal riffage. And as all elements come to join hands in the space-bound, synth squealing crescendo of the closing title track, Zmarłym has delivered an experience full of variety and surprise, curated to bore a hole into a mind searching for melancholy with a sense of adventure and play.

    #2025 #Aara #AllYouAreIsWe #AmericanMetal #AncientDeath #Anthrax #Apr25 #BlackMetal #BlindGirls #Carcass #Cursebinder #Death #DeathMetal #DevenialVerdict #Dusktone #EgoDissolution #EmmaGoldman #Exodus #Extinct #FaceTheEnd #GameOver #GodzOfWarProductions #Grunge #Hardcore #Hatesong #IpecacRecordings #ItalianMetal #KillingJoke #Kirtisis #Malphas #MassaNera #Mathcore #MelodicBlackMetal #Melvins #Melvins1983 #Metal #MoonlightSorcery #NiMaîtres #PinkNoiseYouth #PolishMetal #PostBlackMetal #postPunk #PoutRecords #ProfoundLoreRecords #ProgressiveDeathMetal #Review #Reviews #ScarletRecords #Screamo #Sludge #SludgeMetal #SludgeRock #Sonum #SoulsellerRecords #StuckInTheFilter #StuckInTheFilter2025 #Sundown #Svnth #Swiss #Testament #TheChasm #TheObscureLightAwaits #TheseHandsMelt #ThrashMetal #Thunderball #Trenches #Ulcerate #Voices #VoidManes #WielkieZanikanie #WillHaven #WiseBloodRecords #ZegemaBeachRecords #Zmarłym

    #aara #allyouareiswe #americanmetal #ancientdeath #anthrax #apr25
18. 

    Angry Metal Guy @[email protected] · 2025-06-30 · 10:53 UTC

    Stuck in the Filter: April 2025’s Angry Misses

    By Kenstrosity

    The cicadas have passed, the brood has bred. And now, it’s all being washed away by a constant deluge of heavy rain and hail amidst thunderous storm of increasing intensity. I imagine those skyborne rumblings shudder every wall of the ducts where my minions toil. I am sure they are frightened, claustrophobic, and soaked. And yet, they persist under my demanding and ruthless management—all so you can have more of what you already get every day in these halls.

    Show your appreciation for what we bring to you, and enjoy ov deep Filter!

    Kenstrosity’s Biblically-Accurate Beast

    Ancient Death // Ego Dissolution [April 18th, 2025 – Profound Lore Records]

    A lot of people pine for Death. We know this due to the sheer number of Death worship acts out there, most of which operate eternally under that legend’s shadow. Less common, however, are acts of worship in the service of underground-er heroes The Chasm. Thankfully, Massachusetts death metal quartet Ancient Death take on this mantle, blending much Death and The Chasm inspo with their own curated, abyssal sound. Everything here hearkens back to the ways of olde, but updated to feel relevant in the modern era. Such as this is the case, opening salvos “Ego Dissolution” and “Breaking the Barriers of Hope” strike while the iron is hot, piercing through all expectation with sharp riffs, evolving passages, and dynamic shifts in structure. So effective is this attack strategy that even instrumental aberrations like “Journey to the Inner Soul” feel story driven and purposeful. Standout tracks like “Breathe – Transcend (Into the Glowing Streams of Forever),” “Echoing Chambers Within the Dismal Mind,” and “Unspoken Earth” steal the show, however, boasting Ancient Death’s best riffs, a downright surprising display of vocal versatility, and disgusting solos and dive bombs. It needs time and dedicated spins to bloom and come alive, though, which may discourage listeners hoping for a cheap fix. But trust me, it’s worth the investment!

    Killjoy’s Flavorful Feasts

    Malphas // Extinct [April 11th, 2025 – Soulseller Records]

    If I’m to enjoy no-frills black metal, it needs to have lots of hooks. In this sense, Switzerland’s Malphas had their priorities straight while writing Extinct. Their melodic guitar leads may not be as exuberant or exaggerated as, say, Moonlight Sorcery’s, but they have a thrashy flair which is just as much fun. Once the riffs captured my attention, they reeled me in for a battering vocal assault of coarse barks and spiteful snarls. Drummer Jöschu Käser (also of Aara and many others) can play seemingly any rhythm or tempo, best exemplified across the entirety of “Butcher’s Broom.” This is key for Malphas to prove they have the nuance to pull off mid-paced tempos (“Majestic Moon,” “Consumed,” “Armada Christi”), a quality that I find important in black metal. There are a few neat little surprises as well, like the piano section midway through “Majestic Moon” and the icy synths popping up momentarily in the instrumental closer “Astral Dissonance.” Fans of engaging and catchy meloblack won’t want to miss out on Extinct.

    Svnth // Pink Noise Youth [April 18th, 2025 – These Hands Melt]

    You’ve likely heard of white noise, but what about its counterpart, pink noise? Whereas white noise contains equal amounts of all frequencies audible to humans, pink noise favors lower frequencies and is generally considered to be easier on the ears. Likewise, Pink Noise Youth, Svnth’s fourth album, is a remarkably pleasant listen. This unassuming post-black group from Rome, Italy has evolved considerably since Cherd’s review of 2020’s Spring in Blue. The familiar glossy guitar tremolos and chords now have an unexpected companion: the electric sitar. This newcomer is mainly supportive, with stray notes and lines drizzled atop the already dreamy guitars for extra sweetness. There are spicier moments, too, like the punky riffs and d-beats peppered with rasping barks that kick off “Winter Blues.” There’s also a much greater prevalence of clean singing this time around, Rodolfo Ciuffo’s hypnotic intonation complements the chunky post-metal of “Perfume” as easily as the carefree guitar strumming in “Nairoby Lullaby.” Gone are the overlong, meandering tracks of before; Pink Noise Youth gets straight to the point with sharper songs hovering in the 5-minute range across a tight 37 minutes in total. Svnth seem determined to make the post-black genre their own and, by all indications, it’s working.

    Owlswald’s Wide-Eyed Wonders

    Game Over // Face the End [April 25th, 2025 – Scarlet Records]

    In the absolutely loaded month that was April, two records surprised these owl ears enough to earn regular spots in my playlist. First up is Game Over’s sixth full-length, Face the End. These Italian thrashers have been peddling their version of the Bay Area sound since 2009, yet this is somehow my first encounter with them. Following the departure of co-founder/bassist/vocalist Renato Chiccoli, Game Over revamped its lineup, bringing in Danny Schiavina on vocals and Leonard Molinari on bass. This refreshed five-piece delivers a newly polished sound, making Face the End the most fun I’ve had with a thrash album in recent memory. “Grip of Time,” “Weaving Fate” and “Veil of Insanity” showcase Game Over’s mastery of Testament and Exodus-level aggression while “Neck Breaking Dance” offers a light-hearted pit call reminiscent of early Anthrax. Alessandro Sansone’s and Luca Zironi’s fast and forceful down-picking, melodic leads and flashy solos run over Anthony Dantone’s rock-solid drumming, all within a crisp and powerful production with ample punch. Schiavina’s charismatic, high-flying vocals immediately grab your attention on “Lust for Blood,” never relinquishing their grasp as they transmit their 70s and 80s horror-inspired themes above abundant gang vocals. In a genre plagued by inconsistency, Face the End is everything I want my thrash to be—aggressive, dynamic and fun.

    Kiritsis // Kiritsis [April 4th, 2025 – Wise Blood Records/Pout Records]

    Next up is the ruthless sludge and hardcore of Kiritsis. I hope you checked your fun at the door because this Indianapolis-based quartet isn’t here to make friends. Formed by members of Trenches, Hatesong, and Sundown, Kiritsis’ self-titled debut is here to punch you square in the face and take your lunch money. Over the course of thirty-one minutes, this foursome bludgeons listeners with uncompromisingly heavy doses of abrasive distortion, hard-hitting beats and pure unadulterated anger, all slathered in a blackened layer of Carcass-like filth. Blake Henry’s roars and rasps tear through your speakers with pure vitriol and torment, perfectly complementing Eric Mason’s grim riffing, Bill Scott’s demonic bass growls and Nik Jensen’s weighty drum strikes. “Like the Taste,” “Pissant” and “Deny.Defend.Dispose” embody a Will Haven spirit with a barrage of penetrating, assaulting riffs and pounding half-time slams underpinning Henry’s blood-curdling screams. Meanwhile, the sorrowful and doom-tinged “It Ain’t Easy” and “Thieves and Fools” drag you into anguish-ridden depths, draped in their dark, hopeless atmospheres and plodding facades. You won’t find any overly technical or flashy music here—this is pure hatred and loathing in a tight, cathartic package, meant to blast at high volume while you fuck shit up.

    Tyme’s Grungy Gift

    Melvins 1983 // Thunderball [April 18th, 2025 – Ipecac Recordings]

    Hot on the heels and building off of 2024’s Tarantula Heart, stalwart grunge/sludge rock icon Buzz Osborne has teamed back up with original drummer Mike Dillard for Melvins 1983‘s third release and first in four years, Thunderball. This time around, Osborne and Dillard have partnered with experimental electronic artists Void Manes and Ni Maîtres to deliver yet another in a long line of inimitable, don’t-give-a-fuck-what-you-think releases that have become synonymous with the Melvins brand. As influential a band as any going right now on sludgy noise rock emanating from garages across the world, I take note anytime a new Melvins project hits shelves. With Thunderball, Buzz ‘n company have delivered another tasty morsel packed with some o’ that Houdini-sweet heaviness (“King of Rome”) that sweats grunge like “Negative Creep.” A merging of shimmery post-rock with punky garage rock and bass-laden disso-doom that meanders to a close in a wash of plodding riffs and bleep-bloop electronics, “Victory of the Pyramids” is a decent summation of what you’ll find lurking around most of Thunderball‘s thirty-four minute, five track corners, as Void Manes and Ni Maîtres don’t so much enhance as they incorporate their particular brand of electronica into Thunderball‘s sonic aesthetic. As a newcomer still assimilating into the Melvin hive mind here at AMG, I still have the independent lock-step wherewithal to recommend Melvins 1983‘s Thunderball to those who might have missed it.

    Dolphin Whisperer’s Ample Acquisitions

    Emma Goldman // All You Are Is We [April 28th, 2025 – Zegema Beach Records]

    Sassy is as sassy does or somethin’ like that. If you were wondering whether anarchist icon Emma Goldman came back to life to front a mathcore band, I’m sorry to report that that is not the case. However, if you’re in the ballpark for Canadian punks speedballin’ through skronked-out, strung-out chorus barks with a hundred words trapped in ten seconds, then Emma Goldman will be your ticket to a hot psych ward summer.1 From working class psychosis (“i don’t think much at all,” “this is your brain on minimum wage”) to patchwork insomniac ramblings as loaded as the cut-and-scan cover collage (“at rock bottom i was a piss girl,” “that is the land of lost content”), vocalist Victoria delivers a shredded flurry of barks, nags, and cries that pierce straight through the boomy mix. And though the rhythm guitars and bass pulse and industrial cracklings (particularly the two interlude scratches) register on the lower end of the sound spectrum, a fluid twang and tight, clanging snare find an abrasive balance throughout—two broken tones make a right. In under half an hour, All You Are Is We both breezes by in its effortless flow and brandishes passersby with heart-stained tirades and boiled-over emotion. Along with modern acts like Massa Nera and Blind Girls, Emma Goldman in bold, romantic, and unsettled rage makes a strong case for how true skramz can continue to evolve through rich musicianship, progressive leanings, all while maintaining an adherence to post-indebted builds (“it rubs the boycott ketchup on its brand new slacks,” “that is the land…”). And with a dollop more of that cathartic and capturing energy, Emma Goldman may yet charge with the notoriety of its namesake at the front of this genre pack.

    Sonum // The Obscure Light Awaits [April 11th, 2025 – Dusktone]

    As a product of a previous filter fetching, I had hoped to provide a lengthier statement on my enjoyment of Sonum’s sophomore outing The Obscure Light Awaits. You see, this Italian act has a knack for supplying death metal that holds true to the origins of dark and twisted riffage while still pushing at edges of richer composition in hypnotic rhythms. As a second attempt at deathly glory, The Obscure Light Awaits shows studio knowledge growth in a drum sound that highlights expansive cymbal textures and quick-turn tom rolls that power the mood-driven world in which Sonum inhabits. And in post-growing melodic builds—the kind of atmosphere that leans dissonant like the Ulcerate-channeling broodings of Devenial Verdict—Sonum shows that mood can swell and explode on the backs of horror-tinged orchestral accompaniment and creaking refrains (“Trapped in the Labyrinth of Aberration,” “Nobody Is Innocent”). Trimmed to a three-piece set for The Obscure Light Awaits, the focus that borders on self-similarity on this extended-length journey feels both intimate and indulgent—the closing psychedelic jam session certainly leans on the latter feeling. But with churning tremolo runs that lead to gruff-toned cries, the majority of what Sonum brings to the table lands in consistent and crushing effort (“In This Void We Dwell,” “Messenger of Cosmic Dread”). As a band still finding their footing in the grander scheme of the death metal universe, Sonum has a sense of identity that gives them a fighting edge. And though The Obscure Light Awaits wears its unique vision a little loose at the waist, its journey is well worth exploring.

    Zmarłym // Wielkie Zanikanie [April 18th, 2025 – Godz of War Productions]

    Once upon a time, Zmarłym fancied themselves a Polish sadboi act whose turmoil was wrapped in the urban decay of early COVID lockdown measures. And now that we’ve all stepped some distance—a safe distance you might say—away from that reality, Zmarłym has learned that the sad doesn’t dissipate quite that easily. Wielkie Zanikanie finds a familiar malaise in isolation, frustration, and a general defeated nature wrapped up in a longing black metal wane with post-punk and progressive undertones, much like you’d find on a record like Voice’s Frightened or Cursebinder’s Drifting. Blaring synth throbs give way to entrancing drum patterns and phase-shifting vocal howls (“Miejsca,” “Bunt maszyn”). Classic tremolo flurries raze playful energy to set the stage for sinister, blood-soaked cries (“Sny o lataniu,” “Plamy II”). And though a goofy mid-album Killing Joke-indebted romp—even a switch to heavy accent English from the brooding native tongue—threatens to break the sinister ambiance that Zmarłym explores throughout the rest of Wielkie Zanikanie, its soft and bouncy inclusions still find layering amongst smoldering black metal riffage. And as all elements come to join hands in the space-bound, synth squealing crescendo of the closing title track, Zmarłym has delivered an experience full of variety and surprise, curated to bore a hole into a mind searching for melancholy with a sense of adventure and play.

    #2025 #Aara #AllYouAreIsWe #AmericanMetal #AncientDeath #Anthrax #Apr25 #BlackMetal #BlindGirls #Carcass #Cursebinder #Death #DeathMetal #DevenialVerdict #Dusktone #EgoDissolution #EmmaGoldman #Exodus #Extinct #FaceTheEnd #GameOver #GodzOfWarProductions #Grunge #Hardcore #Hatesong #IpecacRecordings #ItalianMetal #KillingJoke #Kirtisis #Malphas #MassaNera #Mathcore #MelodicBlackMetal #Melvins #Melvins1983 #Metal #MoonlightSorcery #NiMaîtres #PinkNoiseYouth #PolishMetal #PostBlackMetal #postPunk #PoutRecords #ProfoundLoreRecords #ProgressiveDeathMetal #Review #Reviews #ScarletRecords #Screamo #Sludge #SludgeMetal #SludgeRock #Sonum #SoulsellerRecords #StuckInTheFilter #StuckInTheFilter2025 #Sundown #Svnth #Swiss #Testament #TheChasm #TheObscureLightAwaits #TheseHandsMelt #ThrashMetal #Thunderball #Trenches #Ulcerate #Voices #VoidManes #WielkieZanikanie #WillHaven #WiseBloodRecords #ZegemaBeachRecords #Zmarłym

    #aara #allyouareiswe #americanmetal #ancientdeath #anthrax #apr25
19. 

    Angry Metal Guy @[email protected] · 2025-06-17 · 15:48 UTC

    Leverage – Gravity Review

    By Steel Druhm

    Finland’s Leverage are one of those bands that always seemed to operate at the outer fringes of heavy metal. Their 2006 Tides debut showcased a strong 80s rock base with just enough of an over-the-top edge to make it plausible to call them a metal act. Most of the songs reminded me more of Survivor and Night Ranger than any specific metal act, but the writing was catchy enough that it didn’t matter. Follow-ups Blind Fire and Circus Colossus kept the template in place with only modest tweaks, and when very distinctive frontman Pekka Heino decamped, they replaced him well with Kimmo Blom. Blom passed away in 2022, and now Leverage return with a new frontman as they try to soldier on. For 6th album, Gravity, they also added a full-time violinist to expand their sound beyond their familiar rock/metal blueprint. Since I’ve enjoyed all the Leverage albums to some degree, I was curious if they could bounce back from tragedy and keep on delivering the earwormy goods.

    I’m happy to report that Gravity is very much a typical Leverage outing in most regards. New singer Paolo Ribaldini (ex-Skiltron) sounds a lot like both Pekka and Kimmo, so there’s no real acclimation period for the longtime Leverage fan. Opening cut “Shooting Star” is everything you’d want and expect from them, with big, bombastic radio rock energy pinging off a tougher metal aesthetic and a vague country-western drawl, and the writing is designed to stick immediately. The chorus is catchy enough to ensure you wear it home like gum in your back hair. Paolo wins you over immediately with bold, forceful vocals that bring enough power to the 80s retro party. From there, Gravity blasts through a series of tracks that balance cheese with iron, radio rock with metal, and the emphasis is always on hooks. “Tales of the Night” belongs on the soundtracks for Rocky III AND IV, and you will want to create your own training montage to this thing. “Moon of Madness” is so Survivor it almost leaves no survivors, but the hooks are there, and the fiddle bits are odd, but interesting.

    The band takes some chances and stretch their writing at times, as on “All Seeing Eye” which sounds like a Dio-era Rainbow song that’s been lost in a dusty vault until now. It has that 70s coolness factor and the same grandeur heard on cuts like “Stargazer” and “The Gates of Babylon,” and Paolo really comes into his own with a gritty, badass performance full of gravitas. “King Ghidorah” sounds like a mash-up of Nightbreaker era Riot and the more hard-charging Deep Purple classics, and that means a rabble-rousing good time. Hell, even the nearly 10-minute title track works for the most part, stealing some of Avantasia’s trade secrets about writing ginormous power ballads crammed full of bombast and cheddar. It’s ultimately about 3 minutes too long, but it’s an entertaining tune at its core. The big set-piece tracks suffer some unsightly bloat, but the shorter, more immediate tracks power the album along at a brisk, breezy pace and keep you bopping along.

    With the usual Leverage vets all in place and doing their thing, Paolo is given a solid foundation to work with and build from, and he impresses with his macho vocal efforts. He’s enough like past Leverage singers, but he has a few extra gears to reach for when needed. He does the whole Jorn/Coverdale hard rock growl well and brings enough of his own style to the table to sell the material like cupcakes outside a CBD superstore. Tuomas Heikkinen continues to marry hard rock and 80s rock idioms with harder-edged riffwork and makes it all work together. He can be flashy, but he’s the kind of guitarist that puts song before wank. New violinist Lotta Pitkänen is only noticeable at a few key moments, and the rest of the time she’s deep in the background behind the keyboards. I’m not sure she’s needed, but she does provide a nice gloss when audible.

    I’ve never been disappointed by a Leverage album, though I have my favorites. Gravity is good enough to drop right in the middle of their discography with a few playlist-worthy cuts that demand poaching. If you like bands in the Brother Firetribe / The Night Flight Orchestra vein, Gravity should be right in your wheelhouse. It’s not quite a must-hear, but it packs enough entertainment value to be worth a flyer. I’m glad they’re still with us. R.I.P. Kimmo.

    Rating: 3.0/5.0
    DR: NA | Format Reviewed: Fucking STREAM
    Label: Frontiers Music
    Website: facebook.com/leverageofficial
    Releases Worldwide: June 20th, 2025

    #30 #BrotherFiretribe #FinnishMetal #FrontiersMusic #Gravity #HardRock #HeavyMetal #Journey #Leverage #Rainbow #Review #Reviews #Survivor

    #brotherfiretribe #finnishmetal #frontiersmusic #gravity #hardrock #heavymetal
20. 

    Angry Metal Guy @[email protected] · 2025-06-17 · 15:48 UTC

    Leverage – Gravity Review

    By Steel Druhm

    Finland’s Leverage are one of those bands that always seemed to operate at the outer fringes of heavy metal. Their 2006 Tides debut showcased a strong 80s rock base with just enough of an over-the-top edge to make it plausible to call them a metal act. Most of the songs reminded me more of Survivor and Night Ranger than any specific metal act, but the writing was catchy enough that it didn’t matter. Follow-ups Blind Fire and Circus Colossus kept the template in place with only modest tweaks, and when very distinctive frontman Pekka Heino decamped, they replaced him well with Kimmo Blom. Blom passed away in 2022, and now Leverage return with a new frontman as they try to soldier on. For 6th album, Gravity, they also added a full-time violinist to expand their sound beyond their familiar rock/metal blueprint. Since I’ve enjoyed all the Leverage albums to some degree, I was curious if they could bounce back from tragedy and keep on delivering the earwormy goods.

    I’m happy to report that Gravity is very much a typical Leverage outing in most regards. New singer Paolo Ribaldini (ex-Skiltron) sounds a lot like both Pekka and Kimmo, so there’s no real acclimation period for the longtime Leverage fan. Opening cut “Shooting Star” is everything you’d want and expect from them, with big, bombastic radio rock energy pinging off a tougher metal aesthetic and a vague country-western drawl, and the writing is designed to stick immediately. The chorus is catchy enough to ensure you wear it home like gum in your back hair. Paolo wins you over immediately with bold, forceful vocals that bring enough power to the 80s retro party. From there, Gravity blasts through a series of tracks that balance cheese with iron, radio rock with metal, and the emphasis is always on hooks. “Tales of the Night” belongs on the soundtracks for Rocky III AND IV, and you will want to create your own training montage to this thing. “Moon of Madness” is so Survivor it almost leaves no survivors, but the hooks are there, and the fiddle bits are odd, but interesting.

    The band takes some chances and stretch their writing at times, as on “All Seeing Eye” which sounds like a Dio-era Rainbow song that’s been lost in a dusty vault until now. It has that 70s coolness factor and the same grandeur heard on cuts like “Stargazer” and “The Gates of Babylon,” and Paolo really comes into his own with a gritty, badass performance full of gravitas. “King Ghidorah” sounds like a mash-up of Nightbreaker era Riot and the more hard-charging Deep Purple classics, and that means a rabble-rousing good time. Hell, even the nearly 10-minute title track works for the most part, stealing some of Avantasia’s trade secrets about writing ginormous power ballads crammed full of bombast and cheddar. It’s ultimately about 3 minutes too long, but it’s an entertaining tune at its core. The big set-piece tracks suffer some unsightly bloat, but the shorter, more immediate tracks power the album along at a brisk, breezy pace and keep you bopping along.

    With the usual Leverage vets all in place and doing their thing, Paolo is given a solid foundation to work with and build from, and he impresses with his macho vocal efforts. He’s enough like past Leverage singers, but he has a few extra gears to reach for when needed. He does the whole Jorn/Coverdale hard rock growl well and brings enough of his own style to the table to sell the material like cupcakes outside a CBD superstore. Tuomas Heikkinen continues to marry hard rock and 80s rock idioms with harder-edged riffwork and makes it all work together. He can be flashy, but he’s the kind of guitarist that puts song before wank. New violinist Lotta Pitkänen is only noticeable at a few key moments, and the rest of the time she’s deep in the background behind the keyboards. I’m not sure she’s needed, but she does provide a nice gloss when audible.

    I’ve never been disappointed by a Leverage album, though I have my favorites. Gravity is good enough to drop right in the middle of their discography with a few playlist-worthy cuts that demand poaching. If you like bands in the Brother Firetribe / The Night Flight Orchestra vein, Gravity should be right in your wheelhouse. It’s not quite a must-hear, but it packs enough entertainment value to be worth a flyer. I’m glad they’re still with us. R.I.P. Kimmo.

    Rating: 3.0/5.0
    DR: NA | Format Reviewed: Fucking STREAM
    Label: Frontiers Music
    Website: facebook.com/leverageofficial
    Releases Worldwide: June 20th, 2025

    #30 #BrotherFiretribe #FinnishMetal #FrontiersMusic #Gravity #HardRock #HeavyMetal #Journey #Leverage #Rainbow #Review #Reviews #Survivor

    #brotherfiretribe #finnishmetal #frontiersmusic #gravity #hardrock #heavymetal
21. 

    Angry Metal Guy @[email protected] · 2025-06-17 · 15:48 UTC

    Leverage – Gravity Review

    By Steel Druhm

    Finland’s Leverage are one of those bands that always seemed to operate at the outer fringes of heavy metal. Their 2006 Tides debut showcased a strong 80s rock base with just enough of an over-the-top edge to make it plausible to call them a metal act. Most of the songs reminded me more of Survivor and Night Ranger than any specific metal act, but the writing was catchy enough that it didn’t matter. Follow-ups Blind Fire and Circus Colossus kept the template in place with only modest tweaks, and when very distinctive frontman Pekka Heino decamped, they replaced him well with Kimmo Blom. Blom passed away in 2022, and now Leverage return with a new frontman as they try to soldier on. For 6th album, Gravity, they also added a full-time violinist to expand their sound beyond their familiar rock/metal blueprint. Since I’ve enjoyed all the Leverage albums to some degree, I was curious if they could bounce back from tragedy and keep on delivering the earwormy goods.

    I’m happy to report that Gravity is very much a typical Leverage outing in most regards. New singer Paolo Ribaldini (ex-Skiltron) sounds a lot like both Pekka and Kimmo, so there’s no real acclimation period for the longtime Leverage fan. Opening cut “Shooting Star” is everything you’d want and expect from them, with big, bombastic radio rock energy pinging off a tougher metal aesthetic and a vague country-western drawl, and the writing is designed to stick immediately. The chorus is catchy enough to ensure you wear it home like gum in your back hair. Paolo wins you over immediately with bold, forceful vocals that bring enough power to the 80s retro party. From there, Gravity blasts through a series of tracks that balance cheese with iron, radio rock with metal, and the emphasis is always on hooks. “Tales of the Night” belongs on the soundtracks for Rocky III AND IV, and you will want to create your own training montage to this thing. “Moon of Madness” is so Survivor it almost leaves no survivors, but the hooks are there, and the fiddle bits are odd, but interesting.

    The band takes some chances and stretch their writing at times, as on “All Seeing Eye” which sounds like a Dio-era Rainbow song that’s been lost in a dusty vault until now. It has that 70s coolness factor and the same grandeur heard on cuts like “Stargazer” and “The Gates of Babylon,” and Paolo really comes into his own with a gritty, badass performance full of gravitas. “King Ghidorah” sounds like a mash-up of Nightbreaker era Riot and the more hard-charging Deep Purple classics, and that means a rabble-rousing good time. Hell, even the nearly 10-minute title track works for the most part, stealing some of Avantasia’s trade secrets about writing ginormous power ballads crammed full of bombast and cheddar. It’s ultimately about 3 minutes too long, but it’s an entertaining tune at its core. The big set-piece tracks suffer some unsightly bloat, but the shorter, more immediate tracks power the album along at a brisk, breezy pace and keep you bopping along.

    With the usual Leverage vets all in place and doing their thing, Paolo is given a solid foundation to work with and build from, and he impresses with his macho vocal efforts. He’s enough like past Leverage singers, but he has a few extra gears to reach for when needed. He does the whole Jorn/Coverdale hard rock growl well and brings enough of his own style to the table to sell the material like cupcakes outside a CBD superstore. Tuomas Heikkinen continues to marry hard rock and 80s rock idioms with harder-edged riffwork and makes it all work together. He can be flashy, but he’s the kind of guitarist that puts song before wank. New violinist Lotta Pitkänen is only noticeable at a few key moments, and the rest of the time she’s deep in the background behind the keyboards. I’m not sure she’s needed, but she does provide a nice gloss when audible.

    I’ve never been disappointed by a Leverage album, though I have my favorites. Gravity is good enough to drop right in the middle of their discography with a few playlist-worthy cuts that demand poaching. If you like bands in the Brother Firetribe / The Night Flight Orchestra vein, Gravity should be right in your wheelhouse. It’s not quite a must-hear, but it packs enough entertainment value to be worth a flyer. I’m glad they’re still with us. R.I.P. Kimmo.

    Rating: 3.0/5.0
    DR: NA | Format Reviewed: Fucking STREAM
    Label: Frontiers Music
    Website: facebook.com/leverageofficial
    Releases Worldwide: June 20th, 2025

    #30 #BrotherFiretribe #FinnishMetal #FrontiersMusic #Gravity #HardRock #HeavyMetal #Journey #Leverage #Rainbow #Review #Reviews #Survivor

    #survivor #reviews #review #rainbow #leverage #journey
22. 

    Angry Metal Guy @[email protected] · 2025-06-17 · 15:48 UTC

    Leverage – Gravity Review

    By Steel Druhm

    Finland’s Leverage are one of those bands that always seemed to operate at the outer fringes of heavy metal. Their 2006 Tides debut showcased a strong 80s rock base with just enough of an over-the-top edge to make it plausible to call them a metal act. Most of the songs reminded me more of Survivor and Night Ranger than any specific metal act, but the writing was catchy enough that it didn’t matter. Follow-ups Blind Fire and Circus Colossus kept the template in place with only modest tweaks, and when very distinctive frontman Pekka Heino decamped, they replaced him well with Kimmo Blom. Blom passed away in 2022, and now Leverage return with a new frontman as they try to soldier on. For 6th album, Gravity, they also added a full-time violinist to expand their sound beyond their familiar rock/metal blueprint. Since I’ve enjoyed all the Leverage albums to some degree, I was curious if they could bounce back from tragedy and keep on delivering the earwormy goods.

    I’m happy to report that Gravity is very much a typical Leverage outing in most regards. New singer Paolo Ribaldini (ex-Skiltron) sounds a lot like both Pekka and Kimmo, so there’s no real acclimation period for the longtime Leverage fan. Opening cut “Shooting Star” is everything you’d want and expect from them, with big, bombastic radio rock energy pinging off a tougher metal aesthetic and a vague country-western drawl, and the writing is designed to stick immediately. The chorus is catchy enough to ensure you wear it home like gum in your back hair. Paolo wins you over immediately with bold, forceful vocals that bring enough power to the 80s retro party. From there, Gravity blasts through a series of tracks that balance cheese with iron, radio rock with metal, and the emphasis is always on hooks. “Tales of the Night” belongs on the soundtracks for Rocky III AND IV, and you will want to create your own training montage to this thing. “Moon of Madness” is so Survivor it almost leaves no survivors, but the hooks are there, and the fiddle bits are odd, but interesting.

    The band takes some chances and stretch their writing at times, as on “All Seeing Eye” which sounds like a Dio-era Rainbow song that’s been lost in a dusty vault until now. It has that 70s coolness factor and the same grandeur heard on cuts like “Stargazer” and “The Gates of Babylon,” and Paolo really comes into his own with a gritty, badass performance full of gravitas. “King Ghidorah” sounds like a mash-up of Nightbreaker era Riot and the more hard-charging Deep Purple classics, and that means a rabble-rousing good time. Hell, even the nearly 10-minute title track works for the most part, stealing some of Avantasia’s trade secrets about writing ginormous power ballads crammed full of bombast and cheddar. It’s ultimately about 3 minutes too long, but it’s an entertaining tune at its core. The big set-piece tracks suffer some unsightly bloat, but the shorter, more immediate tracks power the album along at a brisk, breezy pace and keep you bopping along.

    With the usual Leverage vets all in place and doing their thing, Paolo is given a solid foundation to work with and build from, and he impresses with his macho vocal efforts. He’s enough like past Leverage singers, but he has a few extra gears to reach for when needed. He does the whole Jorn/Coverdale hard rock growl well and brings enough of his own style to the table to sell the material like cupcakes outside a CBD superstore. Tuomas Heikkinen continues to marry hard rock and 80s rock idioms with harder-edged riffwork and makes it all work together. He can be flashy, but he’s the kind of guitarist that puts song before wank. New violinist Lotta Pitkänen is only noticeable at a few key moments, and the rest of the time she’s deep in the background behind the keyboards. I’m not sure she’s needed, but she does provide a nice gloss when audible.

    I’ve never been disappointed by a Leverage album, though I have my favorites. Gravity is good enough to drop right in the middle of their discography with a few playlist-worthy cuts that demand poaching. If you like bands in the Brother Firetribe / The Night Flight Orchestra vein, Gravity should be right in your wheelhouse. It’s not quite a must-hear, but it packs enough entertainment value to be worth a flyer. I’m glad they’re still with us. R.I.P. Kimmo.

    Rating: 3.0/5.0
    DR: NA | Format Reviewed: Fucking STREAM
    Label: Frontiers Music
    Website: facebook.com/leverageofficial
    Releases Worldwide: June 20th, 2025

    #30 #BrotherFiretribe #FinnishMetal #FrontiersMusic #Gravity #HardRock #HeavyMetal #Journey #Leverage #Rainbow #Review #Reviews #Survivor

    #brotherfiretribe #finnishmetal #frontiersmusic #gravity #hardrock #heavymetal
23. 

    Life on the Wicked Stage: Act 3 @[email protected] · 2025-03-28 · 13:25 UTC

    “Improper Ideology.” How Long Before They Just Call It Degenerate Art?

    It’s only a matter of time before the Nazis currently running America into the ground recycle Degenerative Art as a naming convention. At this point I’m not sure what’s holding them back giving their predilection for attacking anything other than the privileged white bread culture they seem to love. Although I doubt many of them actually eat white bread. 

    Doing his worst to try and remake culture and history into something most of the world has left behind, Trump yesterday issued another of his plans. This time it’s directed at the Smithsonian Institution proclaiming that there has been a concerted and widespread effort to replace the “objective facts” of American History with a “distorted narrative.” Oh, yeah, it’s now called “improper ideology.”

    The Nazis played a similar game with history and culture, labeling some of the art they didn’t like, or that didn’t support the world they wanted to create, as “degenerate art.” Funny though that those same goons sent troops all over Europe to snatch and grab quite a bit of that artwork for their own personal use. Go ahead, tell me who were the real degenerates. 

    As I said, I’m not sure why the cowards in this administration haven’t stolen the “degenerate art” label for themselves, while they are stealing everything else. I’m sure there’s a Signal thread running around discussing it somewhere. 

    I don’t need to lay out why this is bad and yes, stupid. The Smithsonian isn’t the only target and other cultural institutions are on the list, of course the most prominent prior to this being The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. There have been and will continue to be many more sad and horrific days with horrific and misguided attempts at forcing blinders over muzzles.

    At some point those you try to muzzle bite back. 

    You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. 

    #art #Culture #DegenerateArt #History #Museums #Politics #SmitsonianInstitution #Writing

    #art #culture #degenerateart #museums #politics #smitsonianinstitution
24. 

    Georgiana Brummell @[email protected] · 2024-11-30 · 03:25 UTC

    *Updated.*
    Hello. I joined Friendica in October of 2024, after Facebook closed their Basic Mobile site (not app). I live in New Jersey and am forty-one years old. Some of my interests include studying dandyism, nineteenth-century grammar, Upper Received Pronunciation, British history, and the Regency. I like coffee, tea, wine, nasal snuff, cooking, hot baths, reading British literature, watching nature and historical documentaries, gardening, hot weather, and playing cards and dice. I also love cats. In classical music, I enjoy Baroque through a bit of early Romantic, while in popular, I usually prefer 1950's through 1970's. I love theatre (especially English and Viennese operettas, Edwardian musical comedies), and some Regency/Georgian plays. I prefer antique menswear and accessories. It's my dream to either buy a genuine Edwardian suit or have one commissioned. I love wit, wordplay, and dry humour without vulgarity. My parents are lesbians, and I am a huge gay rights supporter, but I stop short of using singular they and promoting the idea of more than two sexes, though you can certainly lean more towards one while being the other (as I do being a masculine woman), or change from one to the other via hormones, surgery etc. I have been totally blind since I was two months old, due to Retinopathy of Prematurity.

    I am happily childfree and am not religious. I hardly ever write about politics. I tend to get along better with people older than I, but I will accept friends twenty-one and over. I have no understanding of chronic illness, anxiety, depression, loneliness, etc. I enjoy hearing about cats, cooking or gardening adventures, antiques, and interesting life stories.

    This is my journal. Anyone can read or comment, whether or not he is a member.

    dandylover1.dreamwidth.org

    #antipolitics #antiquemensware #antiques #BBC #blind #blindness #books #British #Britishliterature #BeauBrummell #cards #cats #childfree #coffee #cooking #classicalmusic #crafts #dandies #dandyism #ClaraNovelloDavies #dice #dinnerparties #documentaries #Dreamwidth #Edwardian #England #English #Eton #Facebook #fashion #food #Friendica #friends #friendship #gayrights #gardening #grammar #highculture #humor #humour #introduction #LordAlvanley #men #MS-DOS #nasalsnuff #nature #NewJersey #NewYork #IvorNovello #oldermen #omnivores #operettas #reading #ReceivedPronunciation #Regency #relationships #seniors #silverfork #singing #singles #tea #theater #theatre #UnitedKingdom #Wales #Windows #writing

    #british #english #wales #singing #ivornovello #beaubrummell
25. 

    Georgiana Brummell @[email protected] · 2024-11-30 · 03:25 UTC

    *Updated.*
    Hello. I joined Friendica in October of 2024, after Facebook closed their Basic Mobile site (not app). I live in New Jersey and am forty-one years old. Some of my interests include studying dandyism, nineteenth-century grammar, Upper Received Pronunciation, British history, and the Regency. I like coffee, tea, wine, nasal snuff, cooking, hot baths, reading British literature, watching nature and historical documentaries, gardening, hot weather, and playing cards and dice. I also love cats. In classical music, I enjoy Baroque through a bit of early Romantic, while in popular, I usually prefer 1950's through 1970's. I love theatre (especially English and Viennese operettas, Edwardian musical comedies), and some Regency/Georgian plays. I prefer antique menswear and accessories. It's my dream to either buy a genuine Edwardian suit or have one commissioned. I love wit, wordplay, and dry humour without vulgarity. My parents are lesbians, and I am a huge gay rights supporter, but I stop short of using singular they and promoting the idea of more than two sexes, though you can certainly lean more towards one while being the other (as I do being a masculine woman), or change from one to the other via hormones, surgery etc. I have been totally blind since I was two months old, due to Retinopathy of Prematurity.

    I am happily childfree and am not religious. I hardly ever write about politics. I tend to get along better with people older than I, but I will accept friends twenty-one and over. I have no understanding of chronic illness, anxiety, depression, loneliness, etc. I enjoy hearing about cats, cooking or gardening adventures, antiques, and interesting life stories.

    This is my journal. Anyone can read or comment, whether or not he is a member.

    dandylover1.dreamwidth.org

    #antipolitics #antiquemensware #antiques #BBC #blind #blindness #books #British #Britishliterature #BeauBrummell #cards #cats #childfree #coffee #cooking #classicalmusic #crafts #dandies #dandyism #ClaraNovelloDavies #dice #dinnerparties #documentaries #Dreamwidth #Edwardian #England #English #Eton #Facebook #fashion #food #Friendica #friends #friendship #gayrights #gardening #grammar #highculture #humor #humour #introduction #LordAlvanley #men #MS-DOS #nasalsnuff #nature #NewJersey #NewYork #IvorNovello #oldermen #omnivores #operettas #reading #ReceivedPronunciation #Regency #relationships #seniors #silverfork #singing #singles #tea #theater #theatre #UnitedKingdom #Wales #Windows #writing

    #british #english #wales #singing #ivornovello #beaubrummell
26. 

    Angry Metal Guy @[email protected] · 2024-07-05 · 16:09 UTC

    Orden Ogan – The Order of Fear Review

    By Steel Druhm

    I’ve always been a sucker for the style of Euro-power that Orden Ogan bring to the War Council. They fly in the same sky as Blind Guardian and seek the same kind of over-the-top bombast and epical scope, but they take all BG’s frills, hoopla, jiggery-pokery, and opera house shenanigans and boil them down to a reduction sauce that tastes way more direct and hooky. Albums like To The End and Ravenhead were jam-packed with memorable moments of unusual size, yet by borrowing from acts like Iron Savior, they wisely kept things heavy and chonky enough to feel dangerous rather than frilly and show tuney. 2021s Final Days used the same family recipe to deliver delightfully oversized, cheddar-forward cuts that somehow felt serious as fook despite the goofy subject matter. Now comes 8th album The Order of Fear and Orden Ogan try their hand at darker themes without overhauling their trademark style. Will a grim, gritty basecoat accent their glossy take on grandiose power? Let’s do a trial membership in The Order of Fear and see.

    The album begins with a sudden jolt as “Kings of the Underworld” erupts out of nothing in full Euro-gallop and proceeds to run roughshod over your ears like a thoroughbred stallion that got into the trainer’s bathtub meth. It’s fast, furious, and anthemic with gang chants of “In union we stand.”1 It flies by in a heartbeat and it’s good, clean fun. Things get darker and heavier on the mid-tempo fist-pumping title track which has the classic Orden chorus loaded with pomp nuggets. It has a big anthemic vibe and it’s catchy on the first spin. “Moon Fire” is another brightly burning selection, balancing epic ambition with direct writing. A youthful version of Blind Guardian pulses through the song’s core but the Orden style guide keeps it easy to digest. It’s this album’s version of “F.E.V.E.R.” and it’s easy to get stuck on.

    Every song through the album’s first two-thirds offers quality power metal moments with hooks. “Conquest” feels like something off To the End and it’s another rabble-rousing specimen with an epic sheen making it feel bigger than Cyber Jesus. That chorus is hot tar on fresh flypaper and good luck peeling it off your grey matter. Even uber dramatic power ballad “My Worst Enemy” is a win, with Seeb Levermann totally nailing the emo but earnest vocals and using illegal chorus sorcery to make you love it. It actually pisses me off how much I like this song and it pisses Madam X off too, because she is mighty tired of it. Despite all these successes, things get bogged down in the final stanza. “Anthem to the Darkside” is solid but runs too long at 7-plus-minutes, and then you’re immediately plundered by 8-plus-minute closer “The Long Darkness,” which is better, but it runs out of steam several minutes before the end. The album’s 48-minute length is reasonable on its face, but that last 16 minutes feels extra-stretched out, which makes the whole album feel that way, unfortunately.

    As ever, Seeb’s big-time vocals make the material go down like a cold pilsner on a hot day. His Hansi Kürsche-esque delivery is a big weapon in the band’s arsenal and he brings gravitas to even the cheesiest moments. He’s one of the best power metal singers and he elevates everything he touches. He never oversings, though it would be so easy to do so on these kinds of tunes, and I commend him for his restraint. Niels Löffler and Patrick Sperling once again find that happy medium between Euro-wank and traditional metal crunch, keeping things from devolving into a colorful Broadway soundtrack. The beefy riffage is a boon and the solos are grand but always tasteful. The big success as usual is the writing, which serves up one memorable moment after another. Eight of the ten songs are going to stick to one degree or another and things only go sideways when they try too hard to pen longer-form epics.

    Orden Ogan know where their power bread is buttered and by and large, they stick to their strengths on The Order of Fear. There are 32 minutes of killer Euro-power here that will please fans and newcomers alike, and even the less amazing stuff isn’t bad, it’s just not as thrilling. As far as successful Euro-power goes in this day and age, Orden Ogan are near the top of the food chain. That means you can join The Order of Fear without too much fear. Sun’s out, Ogan’s out!

    Rating: 3.0/5.0
    DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
    Label: reigningphoenixmusic.com
    Websites: ordenogan.de | facebook.com/ordenogan
    Releases Worldwide: July 12th, 2024

    #2024 #30 #BlindGuardian #FinalDays #GermanMetal #Jul24 #OrdenOgan #PowerMetal #ReigningPhoenixMusic #Review #Reviews #TheOrderOfFear

    #theorderoffear #reviews #review #reigningphoenixmusic #powermetal #ordenogan
27. 

    Social Audio Description Collective @[email protected] · 2024-02-09 · 20:18 UTC

    SADC produced AD for Emmy-winning writer and Broadway performer Ellen Gould, whose performance of Seeing Stars is part of a documentary currently in progress. SADC provided AD for a newly available preview of the film.

    Seeing Stars is Gould’s most personal project in two decades of writing and solo musical performance, speaking about the influence and impact of vision loss in her life and lives of others with inherited, late childhood-onset macular degeneration—or Stargardt, from which the title, Seeing Stars, takes leap. 

    Listen to the introductory or pre-show AD to learn about Ellen, the Seeing Stars show set, and more. You could also read the pre-show transcript.

    AD written by Project Lead Cheryl Green. Blind QC and narration by Nefertiti Matos Olivares. Audio editing by Thomas Reid.

    https://socialaudiodescription.com/2024/02/09/seeing-stars-a-film-with-vision/

    #CherylGreen #CherylProjectLead #CherylWriter #EllenGould #NefertitiBlindQC #NefertitiMatosOlivares #NefertitiNarrator #SADC #ThomasReid

    #cherylgreen #ellengould #nefertitimatosolivares #sadc #thomasreid #cherylprojectlead
28. 

    Social Audio Description Collective @[email protected] · 2024-04-22 · 22:16 UTC

    SADC produced a collection of audio tours for two exhibitions concurrently showing at San Francisco’s Museum of Craft and Design: Mr. Roboto and Indie Folk. For each, SADC produced an “At-a-Glance” tour as well as more detailed “Immersive” tour. Scroll down to the “Audio Tours” links near the bottom of the exhibition pages online to listen or read the transcripts. All the tours describe the layout and a selection of four exhibits, and they also explain the concept and background of the exhibitions with information from the curators.

    Writing by Project Lead Cheryl Green and Oliver Baker. Blind QC by Nefertiti Matos Olivares and Rick Hammond (not an SADC member). Narration and audio editing also by Cheryl Green.

    https://socialaudiodescription.com/2024/04/22/museum-of-craft-and-design/

    #CherylAudioEditor #CherylGreen #CherylNarrator #CherylProjectLead #CherylWriter #NefertitiBlindQC #NefertitiMatosOlivares #OliverBaker #SADC

    #cherylaudioeditor #cherylgreen #cherylnarrator #cherylprojectlead #cherylwriter #nefertitiblindqc
29. 

    Whoosh @[email protected] · 2024-05-05 · 00:40 UTC

    #kDrama
    Gyeongseong Creature
    (2023 - Netflix, 10 1:10 eps)

    Unusual in that it depicts the Japanese occupation in 1945 & the war crimes. Many actors turned down the roles because the topic is too sensitive.

    When you hate horror, but you find yourself rooting for the creature, you know the writing & acting are fabulous. The costumes are wonderful, the sets, the props, all superbly executed. It is a stellar production.

    An unwilling hero finds himself "drafted". Enlisting the help of professional detectives, they set off to find out what exactly is happening. It's a great mystery thriller with action, family & community, & romance.

    The questions of what would you do under torture, what do you turn a blind eye to, how much risk are you willing to take, will haunt you as you see what the characters are up against.

    Anxiously awaiting part 2.

    https://mydramalist.com/700441-gyeongseong-creature

    #GyeongseongCreature #경성크리처 #ParkSeoJoon #박서준 #HanSoHee #한소희 #KimSuHyun #김수현 #KimHaeSook #김해숙 #WhooshReview

    #kdrama #gyeongseongcreature #경성크리처 #parkseojoon #박서준 #hansohee
30. 

    Jim Bliss @[email protected] · 2023-04-09 · 16:16 UTC

    Just re-read The Big Sleep. Not *quite* my favourite Chandler novel, but it's close.

    It shares many of the same plot beats as the screenplay while somehow being a totally different story (if you've seen the film but not read the book; you'll be very surprised at what happens). It also fills in a few of the film's plot holes. Great as the film is, Chandler, famously, was blind drunk the entire time he was writing the screenplay and it sort of shows.

    #Recommended
    #TheBigSleep #RaymondChandler

    #recommended #thebigsleep #raymondchandler