Machine Music Presents The Best Metal of 2025

Yet another atrocious year for being a human, yet another divine year for being a person with ears toward musical abuse. If you've spun the Machine Music block once or twice you probably know the deal with my lists (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024). Last year I even went as far as doing a Best of 2020-2024 list, because of course I did. If you haven't, well, happy troubled-scrolling.

Some might say this list is a bit much, or that this format of a list is a bit much, and I think I would agree. I have a great admiration for people who can write or create compact, beautiful things. I am not, however, one of those people. Use this list to "catch up" of great art you "might have missed," use it as its own overwhelming experience, use it as a porthole into the works of the great Virginia Woolf. Do with it what you may, it's really none of my business. 

I should say that this year also marked the return of my kinda-sorta annual compilation series MILIM KASHOT, with all the proceeds from the 2025 installment going toward the good and brave people at World Central Kitchen who are risking their lives in order to feed Gaza. 

Many thanks, as always, to everyone and anyone reading, commenting, and sharing my writing throughout the year and to my loved and loving Patreon supporters. If you haven't been reading, sharing or commenting, well, I hope you die. We all die.

Here's hoping to a better 2026. Probably won't be, but I guess hope should still be a thing.

PART I: THE CATEGORIES

THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ELONGATE THE BRAIN BY STRETCHING THE BODY, AND IN WHICH ANY VIOLENCE DONE TO AND BY THE BODY IS AIMED AT A RESTRUCTURING OF BRAIN PATTERS THROUGH PHYSICAL PAIN

Downward – To Lurk as Fever (Kataflaque)

Drofnosura – Ritual of Split Tongues (Transcending Obscurity Records) – TOP PICK

Death Obvious – Death Obvious (Transcending Obscurity Records)

Ruinous Power – Extreme Danger: Prototype Weaponry (I, Voidhanger Records) – TOP PICK

Veilburner – Yearning for Triumph, Reeking of Tragedy (Transcending Obscurity Records) – TOP PICK

THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE WEARING A CHAINMAIL BLOUSE THAT DANGLERS UNEASILY OVER A WAISTLINE OF A BOOT-CUT  PAIR OF JEANS. MAY INCLUDE A DEMAND OF "SHRUBBERY"

Auriferous Flame – The Dual (True Cult Records) – TOP PICK

Magus Lord – In the Company of Champions (Silver Shield Records / Goatowarex) – TOP PICK

Stygian Ruin – Stygia II: Ancient and Arcane (Ixiol Productions) – TOP PICK

One of Nine – Dawn of the Iron Shadow (Profound Lore Records)

Zeicrydeus –  La Grande Heresie (The Stygian Oath) – TOP PICK

THE BEST ALBUMS AT TEARING DOWN YOUR OWN HOUSE, LITERALLY OPERATING THE BULLDOZER, AND THEN LONGINGLY WRITING POEMS BESIDE THE DUSTY HEAP ABOUT THE WONDERS OF HOME AND THE MELANCHOLY OF DEPARTURE WHILE STARING AT THE SKY AND WONDERING HOW MANY STARS AND NEBULAS YOU ARE SUDDENLY ABLE TO NOTICE HAVING, YOU KNOW, TORN DOWN THE HOUSE AND ALL THAT WITH YOUR OWN HANDS

Abraham – IDSUNGWÜSSÄ (Pelagic Records) – TOP PICK

Atlantic – Timeworn (Fiadh Productions)

Dimscûa – Dust Eater (Independent) – TOP PICK

Ian  – Come On Everybody, Let's Do Nothing! (Human Worth)

Malevich – Under a Gilded Sun (Church Road Records) – TOP PICK

Nür – Shock Mentality (Sludgelord Records) – TOP PICK

THE BEST ALBUMS AT SETTING A MEETING AT SAY 14:00 AND NOT ONLY NOT ARRIVING ON TIME AND NEVER LETTING ANYONE KNOW YOU'RE LATE BUT ARRIVING 24 HOURS LATER, DISHEVELLED, HOLDING A FIRST EDITION OF A RUSSIAN NOVEL AND PRETENDING TO NEVER HAVE KNOWN ANYONE ANYMORE – AKA "THE POLISH BANDS" CATEGORY 

BaarRa – Entheos (Piranha Music) – TOP PICK

Drowned in Silver – Mothers (Pagan Records) – TOP PICK

Exterior Planet – Haragma II (Swamp Noise Records)

Gorycz – Zasypia (Piranha Music) – TOP PICK

Kryształ – Poświaty (Piranha Music) (late 2024)

Pogarda – Czarne Obrazy (Independent)

Uulliata Digir – Uulliata Digir (Independent) – TOP PICK

THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE AN EXTENSION OF THE EASTERN-EUROPEAN TRADITION OF BEING FUCKING WEIRD AND MAYBE AT TIMES DRUNK BUT MOSTLY NOT DOING SO IN EASTERN EUROPE (EXCEPT THE ONE BAND THAT IS, TO WHICH I SAY УДАЧІ)

Beannachd Leibh – Walking in His Works (Independent) – TOP PICK

Grey Aura – Zwart vierkant: Slotstuk (Avantgarde Music) – TOP PICK

Hebephrenique – Decathexis (Brilliant Emperor Records) 

Holzerhurd – Wunderland (Independent) – TOP PICK

Kerath – Gloomy Side of Amnesia (Independent)

Krallice – No Hope (Independent) – TOP PICK

THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE JUST AS LATE AS THE PEOPLE FROM THE PREVIOUS CATEGORY AND MAYBE ALSO JUST AS WEIRD BUT WHEN THEY DO FINALLY SHOW UP THEY'RE FOR SOME REASON HOLDING THE DRIPPING DECAPIDATED HEAD OF THEIR ENEMIES BEARING MORE THAN A SUBTLE HINT THAT YOU MIGHT BE NEXT

Gryla – The Redeemer's Festering Carcass (Iron Bonehead Productions) – TOP PICK

Martröð – Transmutation of Wounds (Mystiskaos/Amor Fati Productions) – TOP PICK

Osgraef – Reveries of the Arcane Eye (Mystiskaos/Amor Fati Productions)

Thanargonauts – Awakening the Egregore (Musical Excrements) – TOP PICK

Vörnir – Av Hädanfärd Krönt (Mystiskaos/Amor Fati Productions) – TOP PICK

Volahn – Popol Vuh (Crepúsculo Negro)

ALBUMS THAT ARE THE LIVING UNDERGROUND AND CHEWING GRAVEL OF THE MUSIC WORLD. YOU WOULD THINK THAT MIGHT LEAD TO EVENTUAL ENLIGHTENMENT AND EMOTIONAL RELEASE BUT REALLY THAT'S A "NO"

Conjurer – Unself (Nuclear Blast Records)

Hell – Submersus (Sentient Ruin Laboratories) – TOP PICK

Mares of Thrace – The Loss (Artoffact Records)

Ossuary – Abhorrent Worship (Darkness Shall Rise Productions)

Primitive Man – Observance (Relapse Records) – TOP PICK

Rwake – The Return of Magick (Relapse Records) – TOP PICK

Ter Ziele – Embodiment of Death (Tartarus Records)

Wren – Black Rain Falls (Church Road Records) – TOP PICK

THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE A MILD MANNERERD YOUNG PERSON WALKING IN THEIR HOME SAYING HI TO THEIR MOM, SAYING SCHOOL WAS OK, ASKING WHAT'S FOR DINNER, HUGGING THEIR MOM, WALKING UP THE STAIRS TO THEIR ROOM, SHUTTING THE DOOR DELICATELY BEHIND THEM, PLACING EARPHONES ON THEIR EARS, LISTENING TO PORTAL AND SAYING: "YEAH, NOT FUCKED UP ENOUGH FOR ME" AND THEN PROCEEDING TO OPEN A GATEWAY INTO THE NETHERWORLD AT THE OTHER SIDE OF WHICH THEY HAVE AN OFFICE WHERE THEY SUCK SOULS OUT OF FETID CORPSES WITH A STRAW DECORATED WITH SMILING UNICORNS

Acephalic Void – We Chose Death (Independent)

Antiversum – De Nemesis Omnes et Omnia (Amor Fati Productions)

Délirant – Thoughteater (Sentient Ruin Laboratories) – TOP PICK

Hadopelagyal – Haematophoryktos (Amor Fati Productions)

Lhaäd – Beyond (Amor Fati Productions)

Noise Trail Immersion – Tutta la Morte in un solo punto (I, Voidhanger Records) – TOP PICK

Pillars of Cacophony – Paralipomena (Teratogen Records)

Sacred Noose – Vanishing Spires (Fiadh Productions) – TOP PICK

Umulamahri – Learning the Secrets of Acid (Ordovician Records)

THE BEST BANDS THAT ARE THE SKIES IN A J. M. W. TURNER PAINTING. BTW I ASKED AI TO MAKE A TURNER SKY MADE OF FENDERS. WE ARE LOST AS A SPECIES. I WON'T PUT IT HERE. IT'S HORRIBLE

Black Narcissus – There Lingers One Who Is Long Forgotten (Dunk! Records)

Cave Sermon – Fragile Wings (Independent) – TOP PICK

In the Company of Serpents – A Crack in Everything (Independent)

Pelican – Flickering Resonance (Run for Cover Records)

Völur & Cares – Breathless Spirit (Black Thorne Productions)

Year of No Light – Les Maîtres Fous (Pelagic Records)

THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE DEFENESTRATION AS AN ARTISTIC ENDAVOR

Kamra – Unending Confluence (Avantgarde Music) – TOP PICK

Kostnatění – Přílišnost (Willowtip Records) – TOP PICK

Imperial Triumphant – Goldstar (Century Media Records) – TOP PICK

Junon – Promo MMXXV (Independent) – TOP PICK

Sleep Paralysis – Sleep Paralysis (I, Voidhanger Records) – TOP PICK

Smiqra – Rɡyaɡ̇dźé! (Independent) – TOP PICK

Stump Tail –  Sonder Down Yonder (Moonlight Cypress Archetypes) – TOP PICK

THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE THIS:

Dawnwalker – The Between (Independent) – TOP PICK

Gaahls WYRD – Braiding the Stories (Season of Mist)

Helheim – HrabnaR / Ad vesa (Dark Essence Records) – TOP PICK

Hexvessel – Nocturne (Prophecy Productions) – TOP PICK

Obsidian Tongue – Eclipsing World of Scorn (Profound Lore Records) – TOP PICK

Vauruvã – Mar da Deriva (Flowing Downward) – TOP PICK

THE BEST ALBUMS THAT DON'T REALLY FIT ANYWHERE AND THAT SEVERELY JUDGE OTHER ALBUMS FOR BEING TOO JUDGEY, THAT WOULD HAVE HAPPILY PARTAKEN IN THE SOUL-SEARCHING INVOLVED IN THE ABOVE CATEGORY BUT ARE SO ALLERGIC TO ANY CATEGORIZATION THAT FOUND THEMSELVES UNABLE TO EVEN BE GROUPED IN THE "WEIRDO" SUB-GROUP OF ALBUMS

Fleshvessel – Obstinacy: Sisyphean Dreams Unfolded (I, Voidhanger Records) – TOP PICK

Hypomanic Daydream – The Yearning (Fiadh Productions) – TOP PICK

Imipolex – Acts of Vulgar Piety (Fiadh Productions) – TOP PICK

THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE THE POTATO YOU FORGOT ABOUT AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POTATO THING (DRAWER, BASKET) THAT TURNED BLACK AND SPROUTED DEVILISH EYES AND THAT BOTH STANK UP THE PLACE AND ALSO FURTHER DROVE IN THE SENSE THAT YOU IN FACT ARE A FAILURE AT BEING AN ADULT YOU CAN'T FUCKING EVEN TAKE CARE OF A FUCKING POTATO

Abysmal Descent – Dismal Thoughts (Nuclear Winter Records)

Act of Impalement – Profane Altar (Caligari Records)

Ancient Death – Ego Dissolution (Profound Lore Records) – TOP PICK

Blood Monolith – The Calling of Fire (Profound Lore Records)

Diabolizer – Murderous Revelations (Dark Descent Records / Me Saco Un Ojo Records) – TOP PICK

Filth – Time to Rot (Me Saco Un Ojo Records / Rotted Life) – TOP PICK

Glorious Depravity – Death Never Sleeps (Transcending Obscurity Records) – TOP PICK

Hedonist – Scapulimancy (Southern Lord Recordings)

Kontusion – Insatiable Lust for Death (Profound Lore Records)

Mortual – Altar of Brutality (Nuclear Winter Records) – TOP PICK

Phrenelith – Ashen Womb (Dark Descent Records / Me Saco Un Ojo Records)

Terror Corpse – Ash Eclipses Flesh (Dark Descent Records) – TOP PICK

Tithe – Communion In Anguish (Profound Lore Records)

Tribal Gaze – Inveighing Brilliance (Nuclear Blast Records)

Vacuous – In His Blood (Relapse Records) – TOP PICK

THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE A MAJECTIC FLIGHT THROUGH A SUNSET-KISSED CLOUDY SKY WHILE FIDDLING WITH YOUR CASIO CALCULATOR WRISTWATCH

Arrows – Yearning Arrows; Cloven Suns (Independent) – TOP PICK

Esoctrilihum – Ghostigmatah – Spiritual Rites of the Psychopomp Abxulöm (I, Voidhanger Records) – TOP PICK

Lychgate – Precipice (Debemur Morti Productions)

Valdrin – Apex Violator (Avantgarde Music) – TOP PICK

LOOK WE CAN BEAT AROUND THIS UNHOLY BUSH BUT LET'S NOT, OK? WE'RE CONSENTING ADULTS, SO LET'S JUST CALL THIS MOTHERFUCKER WHAT IT PLAINLY IS: BLACK METAL THAT MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE A PLUSH TOY OF FEELINGS AND THEY'RE ALL VERY SAD

A Flock Named Murder – Incendiary Sanctum (Hypaethral Records)

…And Oceans – The Regeneration Itinerary (Season of Mist) – TOP PICK

Białywilk – Wniebowstąpienie (Fiadh Productions) – TOP PICK

Blut aus Nord – Ethereal Horizons (Debemur Morti Productions)

Drouth – The Teeth of Time (Eternal Warfare Records) – TOP PICK

Drudkh – Shadow Play (Season of Mist) – TOP PICK

Feral Lord – Wunjo (Independent) – TOP PICK

Lijkschouwer – All What Did the Blade Reveal (Indepenent)

Lunar Amulet – Lunar Amulet (Independent)

Panopticon – The Poppies Bloom For No King (Bindrune Recordings) – TOP PICK

Shagor – Lyksalver (Vendetta Records)

Silver Knife – Silver Knife (Amor Fati Productions and Extraconscious Records) – TOP PICK

Vulning – The Wound (Independent)

THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE ALMOST KIND OF LIKE THE PREVIOUS ALBUMS BUT JUST WAY SADDER AND LIVE IN A FOREST WITH NO CABLE TV

Fulgur Et Morte – Ashes as Rain (Musical Excrements)

Lucerne Hammer – Vermilion Pyre (Fiadh Productions) – TOP PICK

Returning – Numinous (Bindrune Recordings) 

Unsouling – Outward Streams of Devotional Woe (I, Voidhanger Records) – TOP PICK

Vile Haint – Abound with Malice (Moonlight Cypress Archetypes) – TOP PICK

ALBUMS THAT PULSE LIKE A HEART*

* A FILTHY MACHINE IN WHICH THE BLOOD OF PAIN MIXES WITH THE BLACK GREASE OF DEATH

Ara – Mutterseelenallein und aus eigener Kraft (Into Endless Chaos Records) – TOP PICK

Clan Dos Mortos Cicatriz – Técnicas de Morte (Sentient Ruin Laboratories) 

Crossed – Realismo Ausente (Zegema Beach Records) – TOP PICK

NyreDolk – Barndommens hjem (Stygled Records)

Scare – In The End, Was It Worth It? (Independent)

Pit of Despair – вина (Independent)

THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE BOTH THE MOST PROFOUND QUESTION AS WELL AS THE MOST CONFUSING ANSWER. BUT NOT CONFUSING AS IN "CONFUSING," BUT CONFUSING AS IN STRAGELY COMFORTING THAT YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN BEING THE WAY YOU ARE. THE CONFUSING WAY YOU ARE

Diespnea – Radici (Aural Music) – TOP PICK

Gates of Dawn – III (Death Hymns) – TOP PICK

Night Vigil – Night Vigil (Independent) – TOP PICK

Sea Mosquito – Majestas (I, Voidhanger Records) – TOP PICK

Sedna – Sila Nuna (Dusktone) – TOP PICK

Yellow Eyes – Confusion Gate (Gilead Media) – TOP PICK

THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE THE METAL VERSION OF A HIGH-SCHOOL BULLY KICKING IN THE SHIT OUT OF YOU AND THERE YOU ARE, IN DIRT DIRT, BLEEDING, SMILING

Chaos Inception – Vengeance Evangel (Lavadome Productions)

Necropolis – Secular Circumambulation (Independent)

Qrixkuor – The Womb of the World (Dark Descent Records) – TOP PICK

Sepulchral Curse – Crimson Moon Evocations (Dark Descent Records) – TOP PICK

Teitanblood – From the Visceral Abyss (NoEvDia)

THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE THE ECHOING LOW-BASS MOANS OF DESPAIR THAT REVERBERATE BACK TO YOU WHEN YOU WHISPER INTO A MAGICAL WELL. ALL YOU DID WAS WHISPER, SO CAN SOMEONE, PRAY, SOMEOME, SAY WHERE THE HORRID MAONS ARE COMING FROM? AND WHO TURNED ON THE SUB-BASS? CAN YOU TELL ME THAT?

Binah – Ónkos (Osmose Productions) – TOP PICK

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

Cabinet – Anhedonia (Bloody Mountrain Records) – TOP PICK

Choir – Smithe Thee Smoldering Providence (Total Dissonance Worship / Violence in the Veins) 

Defacement – Doomed (Avantgarde Music) – TOP PICK

Malthusian – The Summoning Bell (Relapse Records) – TOP PICK

Pedestal for Leviathan – Enter: Vampyric Manifestation (Gurgling Gore Records)xf

Phobocosm – Gateway (Dark Descent Records) – TOP PICK

Valdur – Guilded Abyss (Bloody Mountain Records)

THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE THE AURAL VERSION OF OTTO DIX

BYONOISEGENERATOR – Subnormal Dives (Transcending Obscurity Records)

Caustic Wound – Grinding Mechanism of Torment (Profound Lore Records)

Dephosphorus – Planetoktonos (Nerve Altar) – TOP PICK

Fed Ash – Rotting Exuberance (Astralands)

Low Before the Breeze – A Hole Beneath the Home We Shared (Terminus Hate City) – TOP PICK

Scalp – Not Worthy of Human Compassion (Closed Casket Activities)

Stimulant – Stimulant (Nerve Altar)

Trauma Bond – Summer Ends. Some Are Long Gone (Independent) – TOP PICK

ALBUMS THAT ARE A JEFF WALL PHOTOGRAPH. WE DON'T ALWAYS CHOOSE WHY THE ART THAT MATTERS TO US MATTERS TO US. I NEVER KNEW A THING ABOUT JEFF WALL, BUT WHEN THE 2006 WAR BROKE OUT MY PARENTS WERE ABROAD FOR A WHILE, IN LONDON, AND SO I WENT WITH MY GIRLFRIEND, THE SAME I HAD THOUGHT I WOULD NEVER SEE AGAIN BECAUSE I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE, TO LONDON. EVERYTHING ABOUT THAT TRIP WAS UNREAL AND MAGICAL. MY MOM WOULD GIVE US TRAVEL MONEY AND JUST LEAVE IT BY THE DOOR, LIKE I WAS A CHILD AGAIN, THOUGH I WAS 25. THE ROOM WAS ALWAYS DRY, THE AIR WAS DRY AND COLD, AND SO WE HAD A FUMIGATOR, WHICH MADE IT BETTER. WE WENT TO TATE MODERN. EVERY PICTURE WE TOOK, IT FELT LIKE MY GIRLFRIEND WAS HOLDING ON TO MY SHIRT, CLINGING, AS IF TO MAKE SURE I WAS REALLY THERE. THERE WAS A JEFF WALL EXHIBIT AND I LOVED IT. THE DEAD SOLDIERS, THE WEIRD COLORS, THE WIND. WHO KNOWS IF I WAS REALLY THERE. WE HAVE THREE KIDS NOW.

Chat Pile and Hayden Pedigo – In the Earth Again (The Flenser) 

Choshech – Architecture of Decay (999 Cuts) – TOP PICK

Kayo Dot – Every Rock, Every Half-Truth Under Reason (Prophecy Productions) – TOP PICK

Dan Meyer – Kneeling (The Flenser) – TOP PICK

Lo Beherion – We Are (Independent) – TOP PICK

夢遊病者 (Sleepwalker) – РЛБ30011922 (Independent) – TOP PICK

Sumac and Moor Mother – The Film (Thrill Jockey Records) – TOP PICK

Sutekh Hexen – Primeval (Sentient Ruin Laboratories) 

Uboa – All the Dead Melt Down as Rain (The Flenser)

Wreck and Reference – Stay Calm (The Flenser) – TOP PICK

Zeresh – The End (999 Cuts) – TOP PICK

DREAMS OF A SOUL-LESS BODY MADE MANIFEST VIA RIFF. ALBUMS THAT ARE THE DESIRE FOR THE DEATH FOR ALL METAPHYSICS. SO, REALLY, ALBUMS THAT ARE A COMBO BETWEEN WITTGENSTEIN'S TRACTATUS AND THE GROSS PARTS FROM THE ILIAD

Bloodtied – Dismantling Neuroanatomy (New Standard Elite)

Dead and Dripping – Nefarious Scintillations (Transcending Obscurity Records) – TOP PICK

Kakothanasy – Metagonism (Amputated Vein Records)

Omnicidal Instinct – Catharsis in Blight (P2)

Relics of Humanity – Absolute Dismal Domain (Willowtip Records)

Sallow Moth – Mossbane Lantern (Lilang Isla) – TOP PICK

Toughness – Black Respite of Oblivion (Godz ov War Productions) – TOP PICK

OK SO THIS CATEGORY IS PROGGY DEATH METAL, THAT'S BASICALLY IT. BUT IT BEGS A LITTLE DISCUSSION, SINCE, AS SEEN ABOVE, THE MORE "PROG" PROG CATEGORY OF METAL ABOVE IS THE ONE WITH THE PHOTO OF A CAMEL AND SOME BUTTCHEEKS, WHICH, REALLY, WOULD NOT HAVE WORKED HERE. AND, SO, WHY? WHAT HAPPENS TO THE STRETCHY, SEXUALLY AMBIVALENT, TREE-HUGGING ASPECT OF PROG WHEN IT ENTERS DEATH METAL? IS THAT AMBIVALENT, AMBIGUOUS, AND ERRATIC FLUX HALTED? CAN YOU BE A STREAM AND A HUNK OF MEAT AT THE SAME TIME?  I THINK THE SEXUAL PART IS THE MOST APPRENT, NO ANDROGENY HERE, JUST RIFFS DESPERATELY CIRCLING THE DRAIN OF UNCERTAINTY, DOING THEIR BEST TO STAY OUT OF THE MURKY DEPTHS

Ataudes – Tempus Edax Rerum (Memento Mori)

Heruvim – Mercator (Redefining Darkness Records)

Inoculation – Actuality (Maggot Stomp) – TOP PICK

Starvation – A Vast Devouring Infestation (Unholy Domain Records)

Tómarúm – Beyond Obsidian Euphoria (Prosthetic Records) – TOP PICK

VoidCeremony – Abditum (20 Buck Spin)

ANGER. BUT, REALLY, REGRET

Brown Angel – Promisemaker (Sleeping Giant Glossolalia) – TOP PICK

Catharsis – Hope Against Hope (Crimethinc) – TOP PICK

Crippling Alcoholism –  Camgirl (Portrayal of Guilt) – TOP PICK

Deadguy – Near-Death Travel Service (Relapse Records) – TOP PICK

Fange – Purulences (Throatruiner Records) – TOP PICK

Fire in the Blood – This Place is Barren (Quick Death Records)

Intercourse – How I Fell in Love with the Void (Brutal Panda Records) – TOP PICK

Skinhead – It's a Beautiful Day, What a Beautiful Day (Closed Casket Activities) 

THE SWEDES DOING SWEDISH STUFF CATEGORY DEDICATED TO THE FACT THAT THIS IS THE KIND OF MUSIC THE SWEDES DO BETTER THAN GOD

Lepra – Mortuus Morgana (Stygian Black Hand) – TOP PICK

Floating – Hesitating Lights (Transcending Obscurity Records) – TOP PICK

ALBUMS THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN MADE BY THOSE IMMENSE DUMPTRUCKS THEY USE IN MINES OR WHATEVER. I DON'T HAVE VEHCILE-BASED DREAMS ANYMORE, BUT THOSE MOTHERFUCKERS STILL LOOK COOL 

Eternal Darkness – Eternal Darkness (Pulverised Records) – TOP PICK

Gloombound – Dreaming Delusion (Gruesome Records) – TOP PICK

Innumerable Forms – Pain Effulgence (Profound Lore Records) – TOP PICK

Ritual Ascension – Profanation of the Adamic Covenant (Sentient Ruin Laboratories) – TOP PICK

Tentacult – Synaptic Perfidy (Transylvanian Recordings)

Töviskert – Töviskert… a kísértés örök érzete… Lidércharang (Pulverised Records)

Weeping Sores – The Convalescence Agonies (I, Voidhanger Records) – TOP PICK

THIS IS THE CATEGORY:

Abduction – Existentialismus (Candlelight Records) 

Arcane Marrow – Rising in the Early Dawn (Moonlight Cypress Archetypes) – TOP PICK

Hexerei – Realms….. (Sentient Ruin Laboratories)

Kommodus – A Foetal Wolf in Stained Glass (GoatowaRex) – TOP PICK

Koreltsak – Koreltsak (Altare Productons)

Lamp of Murmuur – The Dreaming Prince in Ecstasy (Wolves of Hades) – TOP PICK

Leegte – Finis (Distant Voices) – TOP PICK

Strigoi – Black Magick Fumes (Apocalyptic Productions) (late 2024) – TOP PICK

Vanagandr – Felled Yew (Fiadh Records)

THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE A DARK ROOM, FUZZY STROBING LIGHTS AND SOMEONE YOU FIND ATTRACTIVE DANCING SOMEWHAT OFF TO THE SIDE, NEAR THE CORNER, WHERE THE PASSING LIGHTS HARDLY REACH

Ainsoph – Affection & Vengeance (Wolves of Hades)

Bez|kres – Bez|kres (Pagan Records)

Fields of Mildew – IV (Nordvis)

Hateful Abandon – Threat (Sentient Ruin Laboratories) – TOP PICK

Pile – Sunshine and Balance Beams (Sooper Records)

The Infinity Ring – Ataraxia (Profound Lore Records)

SAD WEIRD NOISES THAT MANAGE TO BECOMES MOUNTAINS IN AIR

Faith Coloccia and Daniel Menche – Smelter (Room404) – TOP PICK

Kali Malone and Drew McDowall – Magnetism (Ideologic Organ) – TOP PICK

Kevin Gan Yuen – Uncloaked Infinite (Utech Records) 

Mizmor – Ambient Mosaic (Profound Lore Records) – TOP PICK

Phil Elverum & Arrington de Dionyso – Giant Opening Mouth on the Ground (P.W. Elverum and Sun)

Stephen O'Malley – But Remember What You Have Had (Portraits GRM) – TOP PICK

Sunken Basilica – Xalxal (Fiadh Productions)

Ulver – Neverland (House of Mythology)

Vatican Shadow – 20th Hijacker (20 Buck Spin)

THE "THRASH WILL NEVER DIE" CATEGORY ONLY THRASH HAS BEEN DEAD FOR SO, SO LONG AND THE VERY FACT THAT THESE ALBUMS ARE ACTUALLY GOOD IS SOME KIND OF SMALL MIRACLE

Burning Death – Burning Death (Caligari Records)

Coroner – Dissonance Theory (Century Media Records) – TOP PICK

Cult Member – Gore (Loyal Blood Records) – TOP PICK

Phantom Fire – Phantom Fire (Edged Circle Records)

I THINK IF YOUR NERVES WERE REPROGRAMMED TO MAKE IT SEEM THAT EVERY SINGLE AIR DROPLET ON YOUR SKIN FELT LIKE BEING STABBED IN THE NECK, OR THAT A FARAWAY BIRD SINGING WAS THE SOUND OF HELL ITSELF RISING UP TO SWALLOW YOU WHOLE THEN THIS WOULD BE THE KIND OF MUSIC YOU WOULD MAKE (DID I ACCIDENTLY COMPOSE A NEW LABEL DECSRIPTION FOR THE FLENSER/FIADH?)

Agriculture – The Spiritual Sound (The Flenser) – TOP PICK

Deafheaven – Lonely People with Power (Roadrunner Records) – TOP PICK

Eudaemon – Spiritual Anguish (Fiadh Productions)

Rå – Rå (Musical Excrements) – TOP PICK

Terzij de Horde – Our Breath is Not Ours Alone (Church Road Records)

Trhä – di nido jad – ◊untwan law¶ur dëhajt◊ejn – a∫ëtana lín bë (Independent) – TOP PICK

Trhä – tahaccet ga qëcha com ibajn (Independent) – TOP PICK

THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE THIS:

Dead Neanderthals – Incantations (Utech Records)

Deaf Kids and Test – Sem Esperanças (Rapid Eye Records) – TOP PICK

Divide and Dissolve – Insatiable (Bella Union) – TOP PICK

Neptunian Maximalism – Le Sacre Du Soleil Invaincu (I, Voidhanger Records) 

Pharaoh Overlord – Louhi (Rocket Recordings) – TOP PICK

Sunn O))) – Eternity's Pillars b/w Raise the Chalice & Reverential (Sub Pop)

Swans – Birthing (Young Gods Records) – TOP PICK

The Overmold – The Overmold (I, Voidhanger Records) – TOP PICK

THE BEST ALBUMS THAT DELIVER THAT BASS-TONED GOSPEL THAT SPEAKS THE TRUTH OF A LIFE WITHOUT MEANING, OF A DEATH WITHOUT END, AND OF THE SUFFERING AND UNSPEAKABLE HORROR OF COMPOSING YEAR-END LISTS

Bell Witch and Aerial Ruin – Stygian Bough: Volume II (Profound Lore Records) – TOP PICK

Coltsblood – Obscured into Nebulous Dust (Translation Loss Records) – TOP PICK

Evoken – Mendacium (Profound Lore Records) – TOP PICK

Faetooth – Labyrinthine (The Flenser) – TOP PICK

Forger Relics – Portal (Rope or Guillotine) – TOP PICK

Oromet – The Sinking Isle (Transylvanian Recordings) – TOP PICK

Rye – Знание (Reflection Nebula) – TOP PICK

THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE BEING OFF YOUR MEDS IN THE GENERAL VICINITY OF AN ELECTRIC GUITAR AND A RELATIVELY STABLE INTERNET CONNECTION

Homeskin – Soul Washed Bleach (Lilang Isla) – TOP PICK

Skin Tension – Inaugurate Resistance (Independent) – TOP PICK

Theophonos – Allegheny Rains (Ten Plagues Tapes) – TOP PICK

THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE SCREAMING AT THE CLOUDS BUT YOUR MOUTH IS VERY SMALL AND YOUR VOICE IS SHRILL, NASAL, AND INEFFECTIVE AT SCREAMING SO YOU SCREAM HARDER BUT THE CLOUDS JUST DON'T FUCKING CARE

Corridoré – Abandon (Hypaethral Records / Jems Label)

ONW – Ersatz Soul (An Out Recordings) – TOP PICK

Pale – Our Hearts in Your Heaven (Tokyo Jupiter Records) – TOP PICK

Process//Sleep – Wherever You Think You Belong, You Probably Don't (Tomb Tree Tapes)

Raein – Forme Sommerse (Persistent Vision) – TOP PICK

THE BEST ALBUMS THAT SMELL LIKE UNBATHED FLESH STINKING UNDER UNWASHED LEATHER, INCENSE, FUNGUS, AND TEARS

Coltaine – Brandung (Independent) – TOP PICK

Messa – The Spin (Metal Blade Records) – TOP PICK

Obscure Sphinx – Emovere (Independent)

Telestrion –  Songs of Orpheus (Snow Wolf Records)

Wolvennest – Procession (Consouling Sounds)

THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE THAT SCENE IN THE FIRST ROBOCOP WHERE ONE OF THE BADDIES FALLS INTO A VAT OF ACID AND THEN GETS RUN OVER BY A CAR 

Haggus – Destination Extinction (Tankcrimes) – TOP PICK

Barren Path – Grieving (Willowtip Records)

Pissgrave – Malignant Worthlessness (Profound Lore Records) – TOP PICK

THE BEST ALBUMS THAT PROBABLY HAVE A COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP WITH THE PAST BUT ALSO WEIRLDY HAVE THE BEST CHANCE OF GETTING LAID IN THIS LIST

Crypt Sermon – Saturnian Appendices (Dark Descent Records) – TOP PICK

Dolven – In My Grave…Silence (Winding Stair Records / Fiadh Productions)

Tar Pit – Scrying the Angel Gate (Transylvanian Recordings) – TOP PICK

Tombs – Feral Darkness (Redefining Darkness Records)

THE FRANKENSTEINING OF PARTS THAT WORK SO IN THAT WAY VERY UNLIKE THE NEW FRANKENSTEIN MOVIE

Occult Blood / Carrion Bloom (Wergild) – TOP PICK

Kommodus / Koreltsak – Meridians of Sacrifice (Goatowarex)

Internal Rot / Mutilated Cop (Nerve Altar) – TOP PICK

Sepulcrum / Blood Oath / Nigromancia / Phantom – Evoking the Abominations (Chaos Records)

Uboa / Whitehorse – The Dissolution of Eternity (Tartarus Records) – TOP PICK

Vetter / Fyrnask – Nattverk (Duplicate Records / Ván Records)

BEST SHORT THINGS

A Colossal Hand – The Last Good Days (Independent) – TOP PICK

Afterworldsmen – Afterworldsmen (Independent)

Blood Chariot – Chariot of Blood (Independent)

Desekryptor – Sacrophagal Corridors (Nuclear Winter Productions)

Fiery Serpent –  Flammae quae Ligant (Independent) – TOP PICK

Fluisteraars – De Kronieken Van Het Verdwenen Kasteel – III – Grunsfoort (Eisenwald) – TOP PICK

Forbidden Temple – Draculhearsals (Gramschap)

Full of Hell – Broken Sword, Rotten Shield (Closed Casket Activities)

Hulder – A Beacon from Darkened Skies (Independent) – TOP PICK

Inner Cloister – Demo MMXXV (Cestrum Nocturnum Records) – TOP PICK

Kea – Kea (Chaos Cartel Productions)

Lavender – Sorrowland (Independent) 

Leucotome – Cuts of Offal (Gurgling Gore Records) – TOP PICK

Lucerne Hammer – Demo (Fiadh Produtctions) – TOP PICK

Lugubrious Garment – Demo MMXXV (Nuclear Winter Records) – TOP PICK

Meditation – Meditation (Tartarus Records)

Primitive Slaughter – Endless Raids (Independent)

Rites – Einor (Independent) – TOP PICK

Sancticide – Ritualistic Homicides Deifying Death (Independent) – TOP PICK

Suffering Hour – Impelling Rebirth (Profound Lore Records) – TOP PICK

Teardrinker – Killing the Flowers Will Not Delay Spring (Independent) – TOP PICK

Terror Corpse – Systems of Apocalypse (Dark Descent Records / Me Saco Un Ojo Records) – TOP PICK

The Blood Mountain Black Metal Choir – Demo I (Fiadh Productions) – TOP PICK

Twilight Enchantment – Lothric (Annulet) – TOP PICK

Undeath – Enter Patient / Endless Graveyard (Independent) – TOP PICK

Voidspire – Vacant Towers (Chaos Records)

Ziege – Kadaverknast (Lower Class Kids Records)

PART II: THE LIST

WHY, AFTER ALL, SHOULD ONE NOT BE BORN THERE AS ONE IS BORN HERE, HELPLESS, SPEECHLESS, UNABLE TO FOCUS ONE'S EYESIGHT, GROPING AT THE ROOTS OF THE GRASS, AT THE TOES OF THE GIANTS?¹

100.   Tribal Gaze – Inveighing Brilliance (Nuclear Blast Records)

99.5   Blindfolded and Led to the Woods  – The Hardest Thing About Being God Is That No One Believes Me (Prosthetic Records)

99.4  Eternal Darkness – Eternal Darkness (Pulverised Records) 

99.3   Choir – Smithe Thee Smoldering Providence (Total Dissonance Worship / Violence in the Veins) 

99.2   Inoculation – Actuality (Maggot Stomp) 

99.1   Rwake – The Return of Magick (Relapse Records) 

99.     Faith Coloccia and Daniel Menche – Smelter (Room404)

98.     Deaf Kids and Test – Sem Esperanças (Rapid Eye Records) 

97.     Divide and Dissolve – Insatiable (Bella Union) 

96.     Bell Witch and Aerial Ruin – Stygian Bough: Volume II (Profound Lore Records) 

95.1   Evoken – Mendacium (Profound Lore Records) 

95.     Filth – Time to Rot (Me Saco Un Ojo Records / Rotted Life) 

94.     Fange – Purulences (Throatruiner Records)

93.     Uboa / Whitehorse – The Dissolution of Eternity (Tartarus Records) 

92.1   Fiery Serpent –  Flammae quae Ligant (Independent) 

92.     Ritual Ascension – Profanation of the Adamic Covenant (Sentient Ruin Laboratories) 

91.     Kea – Kea (Chaos Cartel Productions)

THE MEREST SCHOOLGIRL, WHEN SHE FALLS IN LOVE, HAS SHAKESPEARE, DONNE, KEATS TO SPEAK HER MIND FOR HER; BUT LET A SUFFERER TRY TO DESCRIBE A PAIN IN HIS HEAD TO A DOCTOR AND LANGUAGE AT ONCE RUNS DRY.²  

90.2   Ruinous Power – Extreme Danger: Prototype Weaponry (I, Voidhanger Records) 

90.1   Binah – Ónkos (Osmose Productions) 

90.     Crypt Sermon – Saturnian Appendices (Dark Descent Records) 

89.     Tómarúm – Beyond Obsidian Euphoria (Prosthetic Records) 

88.     …And Oceans – The Regeneration Itinerary (Season of Mist)

87.     Night Vigil – Night Vigil (Independent) 

86.     Imipolex – Acts of Vulgar Piety (Fiadh Productions) 

85.     Leegte – Finis (Distant Voices) 

84.     Afterworldsmen – Afterworldsmen (Independent)

83.     Desekryptor – Sacrophagal Corridors (Nuclear Winter Productions)

82.     Cabinet – Anhedonia (Bloody Mountrain Records)

81.     Wren – Black Rain Falls (Church Road Records) 

80.1   Vacuous – In His Blood (Relapse Records) 

80.     Strigoi – Black Magick Fumes (Apocalyptic Productions) 

79.     Full of Hell – Broken Sword, Rotten Shield (Closed Casket Activities)

78.     Sancticide – Ritualistic Homicides Deifying Death (Independent) 

77.2   Rites – Einor (Independent) 

77.1   Diabolizer – Murderous Revelations (Dark Descent Records / Me Saco Un Ojo Records) 

77.     Crossed – Realismo Ausente (Zegema Beach Records)

76.1   Panopticon – The Poppies Bloom For No King (Bindrune Recordings) 

76.     Rå – Rå (Musical Excrements) 

75.     Blood Chariot – Chariot of Blood (Independent)

74.     Forger Relics – Portal (Rope or Guillotine) 

73.2   Inner Cloister – Demo MMXXV (Cestrum Nocturnum Records)

73.1   Lo Beherion – We Are (Independent) 

73.     Stygian Ruin – Stygia II: Ancient and Arcane (Ixiol Productions) 

72.     Zeresh – The End (999 Cuts)

71.     Zeicrydeus –  La Grande Heresie (The Stygian Oath) 

AND I SAW AGAIN THE CURRENT WHICH TOOK THE BOAT AND THE UNDER-GRADUATE AND THE DEAD LEAVES; AND THE TAXI TOOK THE MAN AND THE WOMAN, I THOUGHT, SEEING THEM COME TOGETHER ACROSS THE STREET, AND THE CURRENT SWEPT THEM AWAY, I THOUGHT, HEARING FAR OFF THE ROAR OF LONDON'S TRAFFIC, INTO THAT TREMENDOUS STREAM.³

70.1   A Colossal Hand – The Last Good Days (Independent)

70.     Malthusian – The Summoning Bell (Relapse Records) 

69.1   Glorious Depravity – Death Never Sleeps (Transcending Obscurity Records)  

69.     Pissgrave – Malignant Worthlessness (Profound Lore Records) 

68.     Twilight Enchantment – Lothric (Annulet) 

67.     Coltsblood – Obscured into Nebulous Dust (Translation Loss Records) 

66.     Tar Pit – Scrying the Angel Gate (Transylvanian Recordings) 

65.1   Pharaoh Overlord – Louhi (Rocket Recordings) 

65.     Drouth – The Teeth of Time (Eternal Warfare Records) 

63.4   Lugubrious Garment – Demo MMXXV (Nuclear Winter Records) 

63.3   Raein – Forme Sommerse (Persistent Vision) 

63.2   Coltaine – Brandung (Independent) 

63.1   Gryla – The Redeemer's Festering Carcass (Iron Bonehead Productions) 

63.     Haggus – Destination Extinction (Tankcrimes) 

62.     Intercourse – How I Fell in Love with the Void (Brutal Panda Records) 

61.     Oromet – The Sinking Isle (Transylvanian Recordings) 

60.     Esoctrilihum – Ghostigmatah – Spiritual Rites of the Psychopomp Abxulöm (I, Voidhanger Records) 

59.     Feral Lord – Wunjo (Independent) 

58.     Rye – Знание (Reflection Nebula) 

57.     Sallow Moth – Mossbane Lantern (Lilang Isla) 

56.3   Homeskin – Soul Washed Bleach (Lilang Isla) 

56.2   Terror Corpse – Systems of Apocalypse (Dark Descent Records / Me Saco Un Ojo Records) 

56.1   Ancient Death – Ego Dissolution (Profound Lore Records) 

56.     Sacred Noose – Vanishing Spires (Fiadh Productions)  

55.     ONW – Ersatz Soul (An Out Recordings) 

IT WAS A SUMMER'S NIGHT AND THEY WERE TALKING, IN THE BIG ROOM WITH THE WINDOWS OPEN TO THE GARDEN, ABOUT THE CESSPOOL⁴

54.     Lamp of Murmuur – The Dreaming Prince in Ecstasy (Wolves of Hades) 

53.     Obsidian Tongue – Eclipsing World of Scorn (Profound Lore Records) 

52.     Suffering Hour – Impelling Rebirth (Profound Lore Records) 

51.2   Coroner – Dissonance Theory (Century Media Records)

51.1   Lucerne Hammer – Demo (Fiadh Produtctions) 

51.     Phobocosm – Gateway (Dark Descent Records) 

50.4   Arcane Marrow – Rising in the Early Dawn (Moonlight Cypress Archetypes) 

50.3   Hulder – A Beacon from Darkened Skies (Independent) 

50.2   Trauma Bond – Summer Ends. Some Are Long Gone (Independent) 

50.1   Trhä – di nido jad – ◊untwan law¶ur dëhajt◊ejn – a∫ëtana lín bë (Independent) 

50.     Trhä – tahaccet ga qëcha com ibajn (Independent) 

49.1.  Teardrinker – Killing the Flowers Will Not Delay Spring (Independent) 

49.     The Blood Mountain Black Metal Choir – Demo I (Fiadh Productions) 

48.     Terror Corpse – Ash Eclipses Flesh (Dark Descent Records) 

47.     Internal Rot / Mutilated Cop – Split (Nerve Altar) 

46.     Dephosphorus – Planetoktonos (Nerve Altar) 

45.     Nür – Shock Mentality (Sludgelord Records)

44.1   Gates of Dawn – III (Death Hymns) 

44.     Qrixkuor – The Womb of the World (Dark Descent Records) 

43.     Drudkh – Shadow Play (Season of Mist) 

42.     Diespnea – Radici (Aural Music) 

41.     Primitive Man – Observance (Relapse Records) 

40.     Gloombound – Dreaming Delusion (Gruesome Records)

39.     Unsouling – Outward Streams of Devotional Woe (I, Voidhanger Records) 

38.     Vörnir – Av Hädanfärd Krönt (Mystiskaos/Amor Fati Productions) 

37.2   Innumerable Forms – Pain Effulgence (Profound Lore Records)

37.1   Leucotome – Cuts of Offal (Gurgling Gore Records)

37.     Mizmor – Ambient Mosaic (Profound Lore Records) 

36.     Cult Member – Gore (Loyal Blood Records) 

35.     Swans – Birthing (Young Gods Records) 

34.2   Brown Angel – Promisemaker (Sleeping Giant Glossolalia) 

34.1   Silver Knife – Silver Knife (Amor Fati Productions and Extraconscious Records) 

34.     Sleep Paralysis – Sleep Paralysis (I, Voidhanger Records)

33.     Vauruvã – Mar da Deriva (Flowing Downward) 

32.2   Białywilk – Wniebowstąpienie (Fiadh Productions) 

31.1   Imperial Triumphant – Goldstar (Century Media Records) 

31.     Hexvessel – Nocturne (Prophecy Productions)

DEATH AND GALL AND BITTER DUST WERE ON HER PEN-TIP; AND AS THE AFTERNOON WORE ON, RED HAD WORKED INTO HER CHEEK-BONES AND A LIGHT WAS IN HER EYES.⁵

30.1   Faetooth – Labyrinthine (The Flenser) 

30.     Kayo Dot – Every Rock, Every Half-Truth Under Reason (Prophecy Productions) 

29.     Low Before the Breeze – A Hole Beneath the Home We Shared (Terminus Hate City) 

28.     Defacement – Doomed (Avantgarde Music) 

27.4  Martröð – Transmutation of Wounds (Mystiskaos/Amor Fati Productions)

27.3  Junon – Promo MMXXV (Independent

27.2   Skin Tension – Inaugurate Resistance (Independent) 

27.1   Dimscûa – Dust Eater (Independent) 

27.     Weeping Sores – The Convalescence Agonies (I, Voidhanger Records) 

26.    Toughness – Black Respite of Oblivion (Godz ov War Productions)

25.     Catharsis – Hope Against Hope (Crimethinc)

24.     Arrows – Yearning Arrows; Cloven Suns (Independent) 

23.     Auriferous Flame – The Dual (True Cult Records) 

22.3   Stump Tail –  Sonder Down Yonder (Moonlight Cypress Archetypes)

22.2   Drowned in Silver – Mothers (Pagan Records) 

22.1   Noise Trail Immersion – Tutta la Morte in un solo punto (I, Voidhanger Records) 

22.     Dead and Dripping – Nefarious Scintillations (Transcending Obscurity Records) 

21.1   Occult Blood / Carrion Bloom (Wergild) 

21.     Mortual – Altar of Brutality (Nuclear Winter Records) 

20.4   Deafheaven – Lonely People with Power (Roadrunner Records) 

20.3   Hateful Abandon – Threat (Sentient Ruin Laboratories) 

20.2    Vile Haint – Abound with Malice (Moonlight Cypress Archetypes)

20.1   Sumac and Moor Mother – The Film (Thrill Jockey Records) 

20.     Veilburner – Yearning for Triumph, Reeking of Tragedy (Transcending Obscurity Records) 

19.     Wreck and Reference – Stay Calm (The Flenser) 

18.     Uulliata Digir – Uulliata Digir (Independent) 

17.     Drofnosura – Ritual of Split Tongues (Transcending Obscurity Records)

16.1   Stephen O'Malley – But Remember What You Have Had (Portraits GRM) 

16.     Kamra – Unending Confluence (Avantgarde Music) 

15.     Lucerne Hammer – Vermilion Pyre (Fiadh Productions)

14.     Void Paradigm – Tout Ira Mieux Sans Nous (I, Voidhanger Records)

13.1   Valdrin – Apex Violator (Avantgarde Music) 

13.     Sepulchral Curse – Crimson Moon Evocations (Dark Descent Records) 

12.4  BaarRa – Entheos (Piranha Music)

12.3   Fluisteraars – De Kronieken Van Het Verdwenen Kasteel – III – Grunsfoort (Eisenwald) 

12.2   Dawnwalker – The Between (Independent) 

12.1   Kali Malone and Drew McDowall – Magnetism (Ideologic Organ) 

12.     Magus Lord – In the Company of Champions (Silver Shield Records / Goatowarex) 

SHE FELT SOMEHOW VERY LIKE HIM—THE YOUNG MAN WHO HAD KILLED HIMSELF. SHE FELT GLAD THAT HE HAD DONE IT; THROWN IT AWAY. THE CLOCK WAS STRIKING. THE LEADEN CIRCLES DISSOLVED IN THE AIR. HE MADE HER FEEL THE BEAUTY; MADE HER FEEL THE FUN. BUT SHE MUST GO BACK.⁶ 

11.     Theophonos – Allegheny Rains (Ten Plagues Tapes) 

10.     Ara – Mutterseelenallein und aus eigener Kraft (Into Endless Chaos Records) 

9.1     Helheim – HrabnaR / Ad vesa (Dark Essence Records) 

9.       Holzerhurd – Wunderland (Independent) 

8.2.2  Dan Meyer – Kneeling (The Flenser) 

8.2.1  Choshech – Architecture of Decay (999 Cuts) 

8.2     Malevich – Under a Gilded Sun (Church Road Records) 

8.1     Sedna – Sila Nuna (Dusktone) 

8.       Smiqra – Rɡyaɡ̇dźé! (Independent)

7.1     Gorycz – Zasypia (Piranha Music)

7.       Deadguy – Near-Death Travel Service (Relapse Records)

6.       Hypomanic Daydream – The Yearning (Fiadh Productions)  

5.2.3  Crippling Alcoholism –  Camgirl (Portrayal of Guilt) 

5.2.1  Hell – Submersus (Sentient Ruin Laboratories) 

5.2     Grey Aura – Zwart vierkant: Slotstuk (Avantgarde Music) 

5.1     Abraham – IDSUNGWÜSSÄ (Pelagic Records) 

5.       Sea Mosquito – Majestas (I, Voidhanger Records) 

4.1     Fleshvessel – Obstinacy: Sisyphean Dreams Unfolded (I, Voidhanger Records)

4.       Thanargonauts – Awakening the Egregore (Musical Excrements) 

3.1.2  Délirant – Thoughteater (Sentient Ruin Laboratories) 

3.1     Kommodus – A Foetal Wolf in Stained Glass (GoatowaRex) 

3.       Messa – The Spin (Metal Blade Records) 

2.1.3  Cave Sermon – Fragile Wings (Independent) 

2.1.2  Pale – Our Hearts in Your Heaven (Tokyo Jupiter Records) 

2.1.1  Lepra – Mortuus Morgana (Stygian Black Hand) 

2.1     Beannachd Leibh – Walking in His Works (Independent) 

2.       Kostnatění – Přílišnost (Willowtip Records) 

IN SPRING THE GARDEN URNS, CASUALLY FILLED WITH WIND-BLOWN PLANTS, WERE GAY AS EVER. VIOLETS CAME AND DAFFODILS. BUT THE STILLNESS AND THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE DAY WERE AS STRANGE AS THE CHAOS AND TUMULT OF NIGHT, WITH THE TREES STANDING THERE, AND THE FLOWERS STANDING THERE, LOOKING BEFORE THEM, LOOKING UP, YET BEHOLDING NOTHING, EYELESS, AND SO TERRIBLE.⁷

1.5  夢遊病者 (Sleepwalker) – РЛБ30011922 (Independent) 

夢遊病者 are retreating more and more into the childhood bedroom of the mind. This isn't about making a proggy album, or extrapolating black metal for the twenty-first century, or not just that. It's about slowly peeling away the layers of music so as to get back to where that music came from, opening the King Tut seal on the past and rummaging through things both remembered and repressed. РЛБ30011922 finds the project already sitting in that room, thinking about old photos, fondling forgotten letters, bringing with it a sense of not only chaos and melancholy but of true focus and accessibility. They've invited you in. How do you refuse?

1.4  The Overmold – The Overmold (I, Voidhanger Records) 

Very few albums that supposedly do as little as The Overmold do here are as effective, artistically and emotionally as this album in making me feel large things. There's that adage or idea that musicians get better at doing simpler things, or that they begin by overdoing and aspire toward the understated and the compact. That the small gesture, sometimes the lack of a gesture at all, is the real show of artistic mastery. Well, in that world The Overmold is the taking up of all that is understated and "simple" and sticking it together to create an absolute monster of overpowering nuance. A one-of-a-kind album from two truly one-of-a-kind musicians. 

1.3 Floating – Hesitating Lights (Transcending Obscurity Records) 

In a world bereft of hybrid beasts, Floating aren't afraid to be many things at once. All of the promise was already there in Floating's out-of-fucking-nowhere masterpiece, The Waves Have Teeth. The eeriness, the post-punk atmospheres, and that addicting Swedish death metal attitude and sound. And there are some ways in which Hesitating Lights represents a further streamlining of that combination, one that accentuates those atmospheres at the expense, at times, of the heft. But Hesitating Lights is also a transmutation of whatever The Waves Have Teeth was into a more confident, effective, and, ultimately, compelling statement. 

1.2 Agriculture – The Spiritual Sound (The Flenser)

Agriculture to me feel like a very creative, curious entity or thing that has never seen a sharp turn they didn't absolutely love. That tendency is obviously a positive, and yet can lead, and has led, at times, toward some interesting but, to me, less than stellar results. It would be impossible for me to say whether The Spiritual Sound is just them stumbling into another strange corner, or whether it is actually a change in how they think about and make music going forward. I guess time will tell. But regardless of how we got here, whether this is some insane accident or the birth of a new phase for the band, what it resulted is one the most significant, emotionally exposed, human, and brilliant records of the decade so far. 

1.1  Yellow Eyes – Confusion Gate (Gilead Media)

Confusion Gate sees Yellow Eyes (see what I did there? Oh! I did it again!) scaling the summit of what Yellow Eyes had been. It would be wrong to say that Yellow Eyes was ever just one thing, and more accurate to say that they have been chipping away at the same marble block, each time from a different angle, and sometimes from outer space (heya Master's Murmuur). But Confusion Gate is all of those pathways woven into one shimmering blanket, one that also, I think, includes more than one thread from some other, related fabric (heya Ustalost). All criss-crossed and refied into such a brilliantly cohesive whole that it just might – it just might – be the greatest American black metal album in existence.  

NOTES

¹ Virginia Woolf, "The Mark on the Wall," in Two Stories by Virginia and Leonard Woolf (London: Hogarth Press, 1917).

² Virginia Woolf, On Being Ill (London: Hogarth Press, 1930).

³ Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own (London: Hogarth Press, 1929).

⁴ Virginia Woolf, Between the Acts (London: Hogarth Press, 1941).

⁵ Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room (London: Hogarth Press, 1922).

⁶ Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway (London: Hogarth Press, 1925).

⁷ Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse (London: Hogarth Press, 1927).

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