Greetings, fellow metalheads!

I've recently noticed that my way of getting older is definitely getting more lazy. And before I noticed it's already February in 2025 and I am only sitting down to write a few words about latest releases. I hope I have enough energy to write the whole thing, lol. But as usual, I hope you were visiting Metalbite profile on Spotify occasionally to notice that at least playlists were updated. Also occasionally.

Well, it's time to give you an update on the first month of 2025 and already plenty of interesting productions to at least check out once to see how all subgenres are developing. Unless something becomes a track on repeat or an album on repeat and before you notice you're sitting with the latest CD or digital version bought directly from a band, a t-shirt or a hoodie and hands on keyboard searching for the upcoming shows. The ones definitely worth mentioning are - Patriarkh, Plaguewielder, The Halo Effect, Rudra, Wardruna, The Hellacopters, Consumption and All That Remains. Check all these and more by checking out the list of full-lengths here:

Quite a few EPs came out in January, we've got Beatrix, Thundermother, Lumnos, EP promoting movie "Pink" (collaboration or Pawares Ongprasert, Nathagrit and Jinjer), we also have Moonthoth, Torture Pig, Ex Deo, Wynter Myst, Mourir, Arion, Sunrot, Exul, Enterprise Earth, Tyrann, The Third Grade and Repugnator. All ready for your ears here:

The list of singles is already making me very excited about 2025, some of the biggest and among them some of my favourites will be releasing some material and I like what I've heard so far. The highlights are Nephylim, Crown Magnetar, Obscura, Sadist, Ereb Altor, Cytotoxin, Nite, Hinayana, Whitechapel, Heaven Shall Burn, Alien Weaponry, Imperishable, Scour, Bleed From Within, Cradle of Filth, Coffin Feeder, Killswitch Engage, Bury Tomorrow, Lucifer's Child, Aborted, Jinjer, Fractal Universe, Deserted Fear, Behemoth, Walg and Mantar. I'm sure there are a lot more gems, I'm still discovering some new bands which got my attention and I hope you can find some, too. Here's the full list:

Now the list of live albums. I'm really sad that Dark Fortress decided to disband, I'll definitely miss their own take on black metal, but we have a good-bye live album from them. Other bands which released some live tracks in January are Heathen, Interceptor, Magnum, Nunslaughter, Riverside, Shores of Null, Sobernot and Temperance:

We've got some interesting re-releases as well. We've got remastered "Nothing Stays the Same" and "Dancing with the Dead" from PAIN, Rhapsody (re-released EP which originally came out under bandname Thundercross), Amaranthe, Madrost, Gurthang, Dying Phoenix, Orphaned Land, Antti Martikainen, Mroh, Emil Bulls and Al-Namrood. If you want to listen to new version or get the old version but with few bonus tracks head over here:

I've got one more playlist in January as Antimatter decided to release a compilation of their rarities from 2001 to 2024, so here is the compilation:

I'm glad I went through and actually finished this summary, believe me, I had October and November 2024 done about half-way before I gave up. Anyways, remember to check out our profile on Spotify for more regular updates, no matter if you want to compare your notes with reviews on Metalbite website, check what your favourite artists are doing or just searching for something new.

IJust a little note - I've only recently found out that some contracts that artists have to sign include cut from merch being sold at the live shows which is being taken from their pockets. And apparently it's becoming a new norm, so it's not an easy choice if all contracts the bands are presented with have the same clause. As if until now artists, especially in niche genre like ours, weren't being ripped off enough. So again I encourage you to buy stuff from sources as close to the band as possible if you want your favourite creators to keep on doing what they do best.

Keep on visiting our website, check our profile and remember to mosh responsibly \m/

Your fellow metalhead,

Maciek

Greetings, fellow metalheads! 

It feels as if just few days ago I was trying to curb the sluttiness of my ears and reduce the amount of amazing albums released in 2023 to a mere 23, and suddenly I'm already adding tracks to our February playlists on Spotify. January has gone by so fast I didn't even prepare my thoughts on December 2023 releases, but I hope you'll have a peek into our playlists and see what gems were hiding there.

And since Nate already struck a rebellious tone by including Cruciamentum's album on December list (the album can be found on our November playlist on Spotify if you want to check it out), we're descending even further into chaos as true followers of the left hand path, and I'll mention the few albums from MetalBite's Top 10 from December 2023 on my January 2024 summary. And it's not even just 10, because there are also some honorable mentions, so generally numbers do not mean anything anymore. Some of the releases are not on Spotify, so obviously make sure to visit Bandcamp profiles, too, and while you're there you might get some merch directly from the bands. So, the creations from Debember 2023 MetalBite folks recommend and can be found on our playlist came from: Dwelling Below, Winterhorde, Devil's Reef, Cryptworm, Revulsed, Nornir, Demoncy, Vargrav, Varathron, Phobocosm and Geistaz'ika. I would also mention the latest Helfró, which I liked so much it made it to my list of favourite albums of all time. And let's not forget that Therion released an album in the same month.

Now, since you decided to join me in the war on maths and restrictions, let's get on with the full releases from January 2024. Two releases certainly drew my attention due to putting some fun into metal by their band names, track names and album cover art - Cancer Christ and At the Plates, both certainly put a smile on my face. There are some heavyweights here as well - Ribspreader (turning 21 this year!), Saxon, Master, we also got female fronted Madder Mortem and Lucifer, new material from Inquisition, Exocrine (I'm definitely excited to check this one out as their previous release is one of my all-time favourites) and Blood Red Throne, to mention a few. The playlist with full albums has even more sounds to offer, click below:

The list of EPs released in January include Panzerchrist, who are spoiling us with the new material (after 10 years' wait we got a new album in 2023 and there's a follow-up EP in 2024 already). The other bands who decided neither to go big nor go home are Krvna, Slope, Lifesick, Karnak Seti, Extinction A.D., Alluvial, DIR EN GREY, The Crypt, Smerdead, Ancient Settlers, Voltumna, Die Apokalyptischen Reiter and Winter Ov Thanatoz. Good for filling half of your daily shift (or even a full shift if it includes phone calls to support because random shit is not working and meetings which could have been an e-mail), the list can be found under the link below:

The singles list could cover two full uninterrupted shifts, maybe even journey there and back if it's not far. We got new tracks from Vitriol (full album already out), The Absence, Drown in Sulphur (quite a few sounds from their full album caught my attention), Dödsrit (album already reviewed on our website), The Last Ten Seconds of Life, Enslaved, Exhorder, Charlotte Wessels (with Allisa White-Gluz as a guest), Aborted (with guest performance from Alex Erian), Borknagar, Vltimas, Necrophobic, Ov Sulfur (featuring Lukas Nicolai), Monkey3, Korpiklaani, Invent Animate, Ingested, Ihsahn, Organectomy, Judas Priest, Hideous Divinity, Doro (cover version of "The Four Horsemen"), Khold, Vredehammer, Skeletal Remains, Walg, Distant's collaboration with Within Destruction, Orecus (with omnipresent Björn "Speed" Strid as a guest), Bruce Dickinson, Baest, Job for a Cowboy and many, many more. The playlist with an old-school radio vibe can be found below:

The splits list is quite short, we have Graveir part of their split with Thrall, Aberration/Diabolic Oath, Grim Fate/Mouflon, Ivctvs/Suspirium and Podridão/Convulsive. Head on to the list by clicking the link:

If you work alone from home or from a cubicle where you don't have contact with other people but for some weird reason you are an extrovert and miss crowds, we've got you covered with the live performances from Crystayler, Mean Machine, Hexis, Satanika, Nunslaughter, Samael, Vitam et Mortem, Marduk, Artillery, Temic, Whitechapel and Batushka. The link can be found below:

Reworks of some older material also came out in January and they included Warforged, Athemon, Misanthrope, Reencarnacion, Anciients, Beyond the Black, Blutgott, Retched, Alice Cooper, Marduk, Antropofagus and Analepsy. The playlist with the different take on the originals can be found below:

I've come across only one compilation album in January and it came from Integrity with their "All Death is Mine: Total Domination":

Enjoy all the sounds I've managed to find for you and as usual share them with as many people as possible, follow our profile to keep up with the latest releases and remember to support your favourites. And join my community of people with slutty ears. It's not my fault, I've got big head and my ears are always spread wide. And don't forget to mosh responsibly \m/

Your fellow metalhead,

Maciek