Welcome back to MetalBite's Top 10 Albums of the Month. The race to get caught up in the middle of AOTY season is real. Will we do it? Will we languish behind to the point where our year-end lists are meaningless? Does anyone care either way? Who knows. Anyways, thanks for being here. Check out some sick albums below.

-Nate

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Blindfolded And Led To The Woods - The Hardest Thing About Being God Is That No One Believes Me
Prosthetic Records

Damn, that album title + band name is a mouthful, perhaps capturing the suffocating, intricate density of the music within. Fans of Pyrrhon, Imperial Triumphant, and Gorguts are going to get some mileage out of this one, although even at their most discordant the thick production job gives this a crushing, volatile weight.

I struggle with adding albums like THTABGitNOBM (how's that for an acronym lol) to this column because you can't get an accurate read on how much you like it quickly. This music requires several listens - often over the course of several months - to fully wrap your head around. It's not built for rapid consumption, and I'm still nowhere close to deducing where this sits relative to other 2025 releases even with these lists running a couple months behind. But I can at least tell you it's worth a time investment, especially if you have a proclivity for the more mathy, challenging side of death metal.
-Nate

Illusive Key - Consume Us
Amor Fati Productions

Amor Fati have long maintained a strong line in aggressive and obscure black metal that holds true to the orthodox tenets of the sub-genre, but without slavishly replicating the sound of the Scandinavian second-wave, instead delivering the spirit of black metal in a variety of diverse and individual ways. Illusive Key are another such band, an international trio releasing an impressively fully-formed debut, Consume Us. Illusive Key primarily trade in blast-furnace black metal, with an unapologetically low-fi production. The combination of coruscating melodies and touches of dissonance, as on standout track 'Ghosts' suggests Darkthrone playing Deathspell Omega, and the furious intensity of the band's delivery ensures total attention throughout. It could be argued that Consume Us is fairly rudimentary in terms of rhythmic complexity and dynamics, but the ingenuity of the lead guitar lines and relentlessly hateful tone of every track renders this unimportant. As ever, when is prepared to mine a little deeper than the current mainstream flavour of the month, there is treasure still to be found deep underground.
-Benjamin

Pillory - Old Soul
Independent

Ripping death/thrash from the frozen hellscape of Sault Ste Marie. Lots of nods to Death, Cannibal Corpse, Pestilence, demo-era Cynic and even a bit of Vektor sprinkled about. No unnecessary avant-garde diversions on here - just sharp, tight riffs executed precisely and effectively. Kind of like tech-death before tech-death existed if that makes sense.
-Nate

Yellow Eyes - Confusion Gate
Gilead Media

This is one of those bands that has been recommended by trusted sources and is right up my alley stylistically, but I have never given them a proper listen until the promo for this showed up in my inbox. They are very much modern black metal, with a touch of discordance and avant-garde lining the Cascadian vibe. Listening to this album feels like walking through a forest of glistening, metallic trees. You are immersed in what is ostensibly nature, but something feels…off, or displaced. Not in a way that is unpleasant - it's still pretty and colorful, but lined with sharp edges that cut you if you try to touch them. There is a certain euphoria, but with anxiety lurking underneath - it's as if the band is trying to audially represent uncomfortable happiness that borders on mania. The production's hazy qualities, with buried vocals and the remaining instruments fighting for dominance, shrouds the album in mystique. It invites you in, not fully revealing itself on a cursory listen - but after peeling back the layers, you might not be satisfied with what you find. "Confusion Gate" is a surprisingly apt album title.

If nothing else, this is very interesting. I don't know where I'd put this on my year-end list - really, I'm not even sure if I like it. But it compels me to listen more and dig deeper, and that alone is indicative of qualities that most bands don't have.
-Nate

Impermanence - Anicca
Satanath Records

Impermanence nails everything on their debut album, technical prowess with mind melting riffs and solos, balancing a decent level of catchiness (like the many riffs and solos on "From Mirage To Lust") and a blackened touch of atmosphere, making it sound extra evil (like on "Spiritual War", when things slow down a bit with haunting soft whispers just before the great solo). The only thing I would improve is that the vocals are a bit one note, but being tech death, it's not the worst since instrumentally there is always something going on. All in all, a really strong debut by a promising new band!
-Raphael

Drofnosura - Ritual Of Split Tongues
Transcending Obscurity

Sludgy, blackened, and atmospheric - this is one of Toronto's hidden gems. The disparate influences converge into a cohesive fabric that contorts in a fluid, yet unpredictable manner. The higher-register dissonant flourishes are as beautiful as they are eerie, and by the end of the album you're still wondering what the hell just happened. Though they thrive in playing with empty space in a way that accents the dynamics, moments of reprieve are rare. The atmo-metal scene in Ontario has been under-appreciated for a while, and it's nice to see that Transcending Obscurity is taking notice of it and living up to their namesake.
-Nate

Bonginator - Retrodeath
Testimony Records

This is a really solid listen despite being directly in opposition to my personal taste. I'm a 90s kid so I have zero 80s nostalgia, and crossover thrash/new wave hardcore-tinged death metal aren't my go-to genres. I can appreciate elements of humor, but if they supersede quality riffs you've lost me.

Against all odds, Bonginator avoids these pitfalls through ripping production (that snare tone is absolutely delicious), using the funny stuff as a garnish to make certain songs more memorable ("Short Ass Bus" being a prime example), and having a surprisingly versatile skill set for a band that is designed to be stupid mosh music enjoyed in a live setting. They might masquerade as idiots, but careful inspection shows a band that very much knows what they're doing and how to market themselves. Nothing is an accident.

Above all, though, this isn't really music that is meant to be dissected - just crank it up and bang your head, and go see them live (they tour constantly and have a pretty insane work ethic). This is covertly intelligent via its overt ignorance.
-Nate

Ultra Raptor - Fossilized
Fighter Records

Anyone here remember Vlad? He was a regular contributor to these lists for a while, and tended to cover a lot of classic 80s styled speed metal in this vein. Consider this my way-too-late tribute to him.

I am more of a "genre tourist" to this stuff myself, but Fossilized is a party and a half. Perhaps I gravitate more towards it because the members behind it seem to originate from a more extreme background, with ties to Csejthe, Hatalom Obvurt and Outre-Tombe. That usually helps bring heavy/speed metal into my regular rotation, as I do think informing it with some more modern sensibilities and production values helps things from feeling stale and dated. The choruses are catchy, the ballads go surprisingly hard, and there's colorful dinosaurs on the front cover. If you hate this, I'm pretty sure you hate fun.
-Nate

Silent Tombs - Mourning Hymns From Beyond
Personal Records

Pain, sorrow and the deepest darkness of the abyss with a touch of beauty and melodies? Sounds like a new Finish band. Well yes it does, but no, hailing from sunny Mexico, these boys can write some fine slow and depressing riffs, dripping with sadness but always with melody in mind. Vocally, Victor Mercado summons deep growls that are powerful and evokes the pain in a perfect way. He sometimes whispers/sings, bringing a vulnerability that adds to the depressing atmosphere. The production is raw and organic, with a cover art by Brvja XIII that captures the sad beauty of the music, it's a perfect album to throw on a cold autumn morning, gazing at the dying nature, getting ready for a long cold winter season.
-Raphael

An Abstract Illusion - The Sleeping City
Willowtip Records

Beauty meets atmosphere meets complex brutality. 2022 Woe was one of my favorite albums of that year and while I don't think The Sleeping City quite achieves the greatness of Woe, it is still enjoyable, think of bands like Ne Obliviscaris or Vintersea. They focus more on keyboard melodies and sound, more than real classical instruments, although cellos and violins are still present on some songs, giving the album a more modern prog feeling. Still, plenty of great ideas on here, like the pulsating heaviness of "Like A Geyser Ever Erupting" or the angelic chorus of "No Dreams Beyond Empty Horizons" or the almost djenty riff of "The Sleeping City" and the devastating blackened blastbeats present all around the album. If you like modern prog with big and bright production, this should satisfy your cravings.
-Raphael

Despised Icon - Shadow Work
Nuclear Blast

I've been revisiting Consumed By Your Poison recently, so this new album arrived at an oddly fitting time - and it underscores to me that throughout their career, Despised Icon has always been a true crossover band, and one of the first to do it. Their technicality and sheer speed has always been substantial enough to make this a "safe" listen for the staunch metalheads, but the dual vocalist approach and use of big breakdowns gets all the mosh-heavy hardcore kids to come out to the shows. They've developed in terms of professionalism and had more resources behind them as the years have gone on, but their approach has always been the same - and this is the most inspired they've sounded since Day Of Mourning.
-Nate

Valdur - Guilded Abyss
Bloody Mountain Records

As a newcomer to US three-piece Valdur, it's somewhat daunting to discover that the band have already reached their seventh full-length, given the substantial volume of catching up that this triggers. Guilded Abyss caught the ear due to the hugely unpleasant nature of their blackened death metal. Or perhaps deathened black metal. Song by song, riff by riff, the balance of their sound shifts, a death metal riff supplanted by bulldozing black metal tremolo, the whole thing unified by a domineering vocal approach that wouldn't be out of place on a Revenge album. Although Valdur rather cheekily commence the record with a riff that directly lifts the iconic tritone sequence from 'Black Sabbath', it is instructive to note that this is as accessible as Guilded Abyss gets, the album devolving into dark and supreme evil as soon as the Mysticum-style drum battery joins the fray. Valdur lie somewhere between Pissgrave and Aborym, a cold, industrial edge lending their noise an unhuman and even psychedelic feel that is absolutely not for the weak and feeble. Valdur are the sound of disease and decay, and nothing living is safe as long as they exist.
-Benjamin

Morgue - Terre De Cauchemars
Ascension Records

A whirlwind of evil riffs has been unleashed upon the world from the cold and industrially ravaged lands of Québec city. These boys have been making music for the past 20 years and are as fuelled by rage and a hatred of Christianity on their latest work, Terre De Cauchemars, (land of nightmares), as they were at their beginning. Riffs are king on their fourth album, blending catchiness with devastating heaviness, making them memorable. Expect surprises like a bass solo on "L'âge Des Ténèbres" and a touch of sad melodies in the tremolo pickings of "Les Vautours". As for the musicianship, a lot of them played or are playing in various technical death metal bands, arguably the greatest metal export of "la belle province", and it truly shows. If you like blackened death metal and are searching for something less flamboyant and more honest than Behemoth, Morgue is here for you.
-Raphael

METALBITE'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH

10: Tombs - Feral Darkness
Redefining Darkness Records

I blind bought Savage Gold some years ago at a record store and it was in my regular rotation for a while, and initially this came off as a bit of a disappointment - mostly because I expected them to sound like that album. Once I acclimated myself and gave this some time to sink in, I started to appreciate this for what it is. Tombs has gone through a significant re-tooling - the shift from more "major" labels in the extreme metal world (Relapse, Season of Mist, Metal Blade) to a newer, more indie outfit in Redefining Darkness may signal a desire for the band to scale down and have more control over their artistic direction.

Feral Darkness is a grittier take relative to the rest of Tombs' discography. I'd call it a "back to the roots" album, but I don't think they've ever sounded this raw, nor have they expunged the post-metal leanings to this extent. Their style has always straddled a few subgenres in a way that you can't easily categorize, but generally speaking they take the more atmospheric facets of the style and deliver them in a way that might resonate with fans of hardcore and punk. There's a density and depth to the ideas they present, but the undercurrent of the rhythms gets your head banging. This album is less meandering and more on the nose, but once you get used to that, It is equally as compelling as some of their more well-known works - if not more so.

Is anyone else really into Wolvhammer? This album captures the same spirit, and that band also holds the same distinction of being perennially underrated.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.4/10

9: Dead Heat - Process Of Elimination
Metal Blade Records

This album sounds huge; it's pure crossover thrash that focuses on aggressivity and overflowing with energy. Comparisons to Power Trip are inevitable although Dead Heat are decisively heavier. The vocals are angrier and it's riffs after riffs of headbanging fun. The 36 minutes album ends with 3 highlights and especially the last, "Hatred Bestowed", where they truly go wild, with the most savage vocal performance, a short blastbeat and wild double kick drums. Super satisfying crossover for any fans of thrash!
-Raphael

What starts as a pleasant lullaby soon turns into an inferno. Dead Heat offer a speed-laden and brutal mixture of thrash and crossover not unsimilar to bands like Power Trip or Enforced. Occasionally they reduce speed, only to get out the demolition hammer to cause even more damage. The balance between old-school thrash and some more modern crossover tunes is well-done, making for one of the best albums in this genre I've heard in a couple of years. A track like "Annihilation Nation" with its brutal start and the barking chorus is a must-listen for every thrash metal maniac. Mosh or die!!!!
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

8: Morke - To Carry On
True Cult Records

Bright guitars, lyrics about medieval castles and personal growth, warm atmospheres and relaxing melodies. Yes, I'm obviously talking about a black metal album. If you think the description above is a recipe that would not excite the usual kvlt black metal fan, you're right, (except the castle part) but wait, hold on a minute! There are still plenty of aggressive but tasteful blastbeats, fast bursts of double kick drums and a superb vocal performance by Eric Wing, who also plays every instrument. The voice is a piercing high scream that fits perfectly with the soaring melodies and sits a bit lower in the mix with plenty of reverb for max atmosphere. The album flows seamlessly and at a lean 36 minutes, it has incredible replay value, songs like "Coup D'oeil" will be engraved in your mind for weeks, it's that catchy. Lyrically you have songs about medieval fantasy but also, beautiful poems about love and personal growth. The song "To Carry On" particularly resonated with me: "Every battle within Is able to be won To overcome the pain Is freedom of the soul Your life is in your hands Your heart is yours to mend Your love is yours to share Until the very end". To overcome pain is freedom of the soul is such a powerful line, and my severely disabled body relates so much. Until you have known pain, whether it be physical or emotional, you appreciate life much more deeply once the pain is gone.

If you like your black metal a little less rough on the edges, full of melodies and atmosphere, you will love this album!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

7: Coroner - Dissonance Theory
Century Media Records

Switzerland technical thrash pioneers offer us their sixed full length after 32 years! On Dissonance Theory, Coroner go full prog and bring their sound in a truly modern territory. They never forget the grooves, every riff has a great bounce to it. Being a massive Gojira fan, I hear many parallels, some of the breakdowns are as devastating and heavy. But Coroner also brings a touch of melody with shredding solos popping in almost every song. They also go very Meshuggah-esque on "Transparent Eye" with rhythmic heavy chugs but then throw in a great solo on top. They can do classic thrash as well, like with the epic climbing riff of "Trinity" or the classic, full speed riff of "Renewal" and that breakdown! Truly grimace inducing stuff. For three 60 years old men, this album sounds fresh, overflowing with energy and creativity and is probably their best album! Impressive stuff.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.6/10

6: Psychonaut - World Maker
Pelagic Records

Psychonaut is a Belgian progressive and post-metal band blending complex rhythms with ethereal atmospheres and the occasional burst of heaviness, counterbalancing their softer side. They are particularly strong with build ups, on the song "And You Came With Searing Light" for example, climbing slowly, increasing in volume and technical bass lines until it plateaus for a few instances and then explodes with harsh vocals and full heavy guitars and bass riffs. Harm Peters's drumming is out of control, slow grooves, complex fills and even tasteful blastbeats on "Origins". "Stargazer" begins as more of an upbeat prog rock piece but quickly gets heavier and continues alternating until a short atmospheric solo. I would compare the feelings you get listening to Psychonaut to bands like TesseracT, blending complexity and emotions with occasional aggressivity. Any prog fans should follow this band.
-Raphael

Raphael already beat me to this one, so I won't go on for too long, but this is one of my favorite albums of this year, period. I am a huge fan of The Ocean, Isis, Dvne, and psychedelics, so anything within those realms is going to get me excited, and Psychonaut checks all those boxes with aplomb. I was into Violate Consensus Reality, but World Maker has got me neck deep in their multi-faceted, progressive post-metal. There's a sludgy vibe that gives a viscous density, but my favorite moments on this album are when the band gets a little softer and leans into the post-rock. The off-kilter rhythms create extra space for this sublime ethereality to venture into. I definitely get the sense at least one of these guys - probably the drummer - is big into Tool and Porcupine Tree. Without laying on the purple prose too thick, this is an album that forces you to sit with dormant aspects of yourself, inspiring a level of thought and reflection that borders on transcendence. It's not often a piece of music can do that.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.6/10

5: Heteropsy - Embalming
Caligari Records

Boss HM-2 distortion pedal, slow crushing riffs and super melodic leads. Again with the Swedish death metal you might think, but no! Heteropsy are from Tokyo, Japan! What you get on this album is death metal, heavily flirting with doom, with incredibly melodic leads thrown in, just because they can and a monstrous cavernous vocal performance. And have you seen this cover art? I can't believe how sick it looks and how it represents the sound of this record perfectly, brutal yet beautiful at the same time, it's what I wished the new Hooded Menace sounded like.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.7/10

4: Blaze - Out Through The Door
No Remorse Records

This Japanese band is such a revelation for me, the kind of feel-good album that is perfect in every way. First, this sounds warm and organic, with every instrument shining in the mix, the drums sound big but subtle at the same time, the bass is thick and audible, the guitar is bright and super melodic and Wataru Shiota's vocal performance shines, it's heavy metal done to perfection. The number of great solos packed in this 46 minutes masterpiece is impressive but my absolute favorite song on here would be "Picture On The Wall" a nine minutes epic that begins really heavy, with a Sabbath inspired riff that quickly goes in the most catchy chorus of the entire album (which is something since catchy chorus are everywhere) and then the song goes in a over three minutes long epic solo! This album is like a warm blanket that will become a repeated play in your playlist for months if not years to come.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.8/10

3: Malakhim - And In Our Hearts The Devil Sings
Iron Bonehead Productions

Chant, Lucifer, chant!!! Spread your word all over the planet. Oh wait, this is already happening, otherwise we wouldn't have elected all these assholes that rule a lot of nations at the moment. He sang quite loud just yesterday when the Orange Emperor and Honey Infantino were creeping into each other's asses while the World Championship 26 became a joke that needs to be boycotted.

For such cases we have the second Malakhim album with its fitting title. The music truly is devilish, sinister traditional black metal with a lot of energy in it. Their debut was already a really good old-school piece of Swedish black metal, and this is even more intense. A lot of tremolo picking, not too much dissonance or other unnecessary experiments, just gloomy, vitriolic music. "And In Our Hearts The Devil Sings" is one of the best traditional black metal albums this year. Let your hearts sing!!!
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

2: Agriculture - The Spiritual Sound
The Flenser

Remember Liturgy? They've settled into their niche in recent years, but when I was really taking the plunge into the world of underground extreme metal in the late 00s/early 2010s, they were a very hot topic. Crusty black metal purists loathed them, as they rose to prominence in a time when "hipster black metal" was persona non grata - and they were the most hipster-y of the bunch. The mastermind behind the project, Haela Hunt-Hendrix, had a whole philosophical thesis behind the art they were making, adding an extra layer of pretension for people to sneer at. Even with all the controversy, though, there was no doubt they were making waves, and something…different was going on. You could argue their merit until you were blue in the face, but there was definitely something unique happening, especially with the later work. Did I personally enjoy it? Not really. But I did find myself returning to it on repeated occasions, because it was very clear they were thinking outside the black metal box, and the ideas they toyed with warranted additional exploration even if they didn't fully click.

If Liturgy is the Meshuggah of this genre, Agriculture is the Periphery - the band that grounds the style, makes it more accessible and potentially legitimizes it for a wider fanbase. It's very different, but you can still connect one to the other, and the origins are the same. It's indie rock kids flirting with black metal, approaching a very rigid, gate-kept style with an outsider perspective that casts the ideas in a novel light. But even that is an unfairly narrow description - The Spiritual Sound also incorporates turbulent mathcore, layered, standalone clean vocals and post-rock buildups, creating a real "full album" experience that sounds completely different by the end than it does when you start. What you categorize this as will depend on what song you're listening to, which is something increasingly rare in an era of hyper-specialization and Spotify playlist culture. This album starts out very aggressive, dissonant and chaotic, and evolves into something tender, cathartic and ethereal by its conclusion - and it all feels like the same band. You could call it "avant-garde" but nothing feels weird for the sake of it. Quite the contrary, in fact - there is a sense of necessity and purpose behind this album that draws you in to listen even if it's not your preferred style. This quickly convinces you to buy into its eclectic features and constant twists. It grabs you by the collar, forcing you to completely re-assess what you think black metal should be (and can be).

I'll cut myself off before I get increasingly pretentious - this is something that is better experienced than explained, anyways. Agriculture have made one of the most compelling albums of the year with The Spiritual Sound. This feels like a group of people creating genuine art, rather than a business-minded band creating another rendition of the same safe product on a conveyor belt. I think that's something we need more of in the current state of our oligarchical, AI-infested world.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

1: Hooded Menace - Lachrymose Monuments Of Obscuration
Season Of Mist

Shamefully, this listener has slept on Hooded Menace until now, on the basis that they were surely run of the mill doom-death, and therefore it was not necessary to listen to a band treading ground so familiar that one could simply imagine the sound of their albums, with no real need to actually verify the fiction. However, it is now clear that a mistake has been made, and the silver lining of making such a big one, is the corresponding increase in the fervent joy experienced in the discovery that in fact Hooded Menace have made one of the most triumphantly outstanding albums of 2025. The basis of the band's sound is Icon-era Paradise Lost, with a tinge of early Katatonia, and this alone would be enough for a fairly deep well of inspiration. What makes this record really fly though, is the way in which Hooded Menace so effectively integrate traditional heavy metal elements into their sound – the majestic riff part way through 'Pale Masquerade' that segues into an instrumental passage straight out of King Diamond's Fatal Portrait, a section lit up by unusual chord voicings and palm-muted lead guitar runs, or the manner in which 'Daughters Of Lingering Pain' transforms from a snaking Candlemass groove into a Schuldiner-fulled death metal onslaught. Lachrymose Monuments Of Obscuration could so easily be simply a jumble of influences, but the band's ability to alchemically combine the disparate parts of their sound into something so cohesive and so memorable makes this album much more than the sum of its parts. Even if we could all have done without the Duran Duran cover.
-Benjamin

One of the more underrated bands around. Though they release good to very good albums consistently, they don't get the recognition they should have. Hopefully this will change with their new album. Still focusing mainly on bone-crushing doom metal, they have incorporated some more melody. This makes it easier to hook in some new fans, but also more entertaining in general. It is obvious they have listened a lot to "Gothic" by Paradise Lost especially with the track "Pale Masquerade". But many other influences are present, with the biggest surprise being the cover: "Save A Prayer". Never heard of it? Perhaps you're more familiar with "Wild Boys"…yep, it's Duran Duran. And if you think that such a song doesn't fit into metal, Hooded Menace prove the opposite.
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 9.1/10

Thanks as always for stopping by. Check out the previous lists for this year here:

September 2025
August 2025
July 2025
June 2025
May 2025
April 2025
March 2025
February 2025
January 2025

And, of course, Follow MetalBite on Facebook, Spotify and Instagram so you can be there right when the next Top 10 list drops!

Welcome back to MetalBite's Top 10 Albums of the Month! January is a special month for this column, because the start of the year also marks our anniversary. We've been keeping this up, without missing a single month, for 4 whole years now! Writers have come and gone, the lists have fluctuated in size, but one thing that never stops is our love for all that metal has to offer and passing on our findings to you, our readers.

This is also a special month because we've got two new contributors cutting their teeth in this list. Welcome aboard Adam and Greg. Celebrations all around!

-Nate

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Tormentor Tyrant - Excessive Escalation Of Cruelty
Everlasting Spew

Legion is my favorite Deicide album, so it's no surprise that Excessive Escalation Of Cruelty tickles my fancy. This is propulsive, savage death metal that strikes a great balance between high-octane riff blitzes and nasty, midpaced grooves. I hear a fair bit of thrash influence, which makes sense given the old-school throwback vibes, but it's more of the Demolition Hammer/Beneath the Remains strain of thrash, so this can still hang with all the extremophiles and should appeal to all the kids that just want mosh music. With connections to Solothus, Pestilent Hex and even the underground legends of Wormphlegm, it's clear that Tormentor Tyrant has heaps of experience in the face-ripping arts.
-Nate

Exul - Perpetual Catastrophe (EP)
Independent

One of the most promising thrash bands to come out of Poland recently, alongside the nearly homonymous Exist, Exul offer a brand-new EP in the dawn of 2025 with this Perpetual Catastrophe. The band's guitarist and main man is currently the new recruit of crossover thrashers Terrordome, but here we're at the total opposite – compositions are long, with a decent amount of twists, and, most of all, tons and tons of lead guitar goodness, like on their debut LP Path To The Unknown. Exul still convey the impression they could do ever so slightly better in the memorability department, but the welcome death metal tendencies, especially due to Bogdan Sroka's improved vocals and the new drummer's more extreme portfolio, more than make up for it. Plus, 'Deathbringer' might be their new all-around best track... for now.
-Greg

Onirophagus - Revelations From The Void
Personal Records

Apocalyptic Death/Doom for our apocalyptic times. If you want your music to sound painful and desperate, Onirophagus from Spain have concocted something so disgusting, it's beautiful. The vocal performance is interesting, he can deliver the lowest, deepest growls and great cleans, that are a kind of howling scream/chant. This phenomenal vocal performance is accompanied by a perfect blend of slow and heavy doom with occasional bursts of faster but equally heavy death metal. If you like your death/doom disgustingly heavy, this is for you. And that cover by the master Paolo Girardi, chef's kiss!
-Raphael

A Tyrants Lament - Offerings Of The Inhumane
CDN Records

It's hard for me to hype this up because I know all these fine folks personally, but I don't rep shit from the homies on this column unless I would listen to it of my own accord, and that is absolutely the case here. Kyle Sharpe's drumming alone makes this worth the price of admission, as his dexterity and tasty fill placement holds its own with all your favourite blasturbators. The guitarwork and song structuring is careful and flowing, with enough surprises to keep your interest but enough attention paid to the transitions because that's where the money is made. These fellas cover XenoChrist by The Faceless live, which is a good enough reference point, but I hear lots of Deicide and Job for a Cowboy (Genesis-Demonocracy era) as well. A nice helping of guest solos and vocal cameos gives a few extra garnishes and when you get right down it, this is just an all-around solid death metal album.

PS: check out the 2:20 mark on "Mountain Of Lies" :)
-Nate

Tumenggung - Back On The Streets
Jawbreaker Records

A hard rock album, tinged with speed and hair metal, from East Java, Indonesia doesn't come along every day, and certainly not one that is as good as this. Indeed, if Tumenggung are part of a thriving scene in their homeland, it suggests that we should be paying rather more attention to what's happening in that part of the metal world than we generally do. Tumenggung are a pitch perfect recreation of the harder end of 1980s hard rock, occupying the denim 'n' leather filled space between Judas Priest, early Queensryche, and Van Halen, right down to the smallest tom-laden drum fill. The pristine production allows the crunching guitars to chug their way through 34 minutes of infectious rifferama, elevated by some heroic twin guitar solo passages, and enlivened by choruses that would not be out of place on the first W.A.S.P album. Back On The Streets is almost too much fun, but one should emphasise that the enjoyment experienced is absolutely not ironic. Tumenggung play things straight down the line, and the sincerity and conviction of their delivery shows that they are taking it just as seriously as you should. Java: not just coffee.
-Benjamin

Thy Kingdom Will Burn - The Loss And Redemption
Scarlet Records

Melodic death metal from Finland, one of the most iconic sounds in metal. Folky and super melodic riffing, varied instrumentation sprinkled throughout the album, from piano to strings, with bursts of more aggressive blast beats, this is a beautiful, old school 2000 era, Finnish melodic death metal record. At first, I wasn't the biggest fan of the vocals, the growls in particular, because the cleans are epic as fuck but after a few listens, I've grown to like them.
-Raphael

Rudra - Antithesis
Awakening Records

Vedic death metal is a great concept. Melechesh and Cult of Fire are a couple of immediate comparables, as they also have a distinct flavour that adds spice and atmosphere to their extreme riffing. and it's surprising that more bands don't incorporate Eastern influences like this because it seems like an easy way to explore relatively uncharted territory. But perhaps it's more common than I think…take Rudra for example, who have been doing this in some form since 1992 and are on their eleventh full-length album with the release of Antithesis. Maybe I'm just in my Western bubble and out of the loop on this?

Anyhow, this mini-review is my method of atonement for generally neglecting this style. This album effortlessly gives off a vibe without abandoning battle-tested extreme conventions. Reminiscent of Absu in that it's thrashy with some blackened death metal spliced in, there's lots of uptempo moments, but the speed never feels less than intentional. Glistening pedal effects make this feel…historical, like an unearthed relic of hymns used in traditional celebrations.
-Nate

Mutagenic Host - The Diseased Machine
Dry Cough Records

Departing from the usual themes of death metal, Mutagenic Host "tackle the modern-day spectres of complacency, apathy, and the looming threat of AI". We used to call this science fiction, but sadly we are now living in a reality where AI does kill dozens of people every day, for the past 15 months straight… If you're interested, read: 'Lavender': The AI machine directing Israel's bombing spree in Gaza from 972 magazine to really understand how fucked up Israel's genocide truly is. Musically, Mutagenic Host do not reinvent the wheel but they are still super creative and blend OSDM with more modern compositions and production. Excellent soundtrack for our dystopian times.
-Nate

Relics Of Humanity - Absolute Dismal Domain
Willowtip Records

If you were saddened by the demise of Belarusian tech-slam group Ominous Scriptures, you should find this to be a thoroughly satisfying replacement. Guitarist Sergey Liakh is a constant in both, and it seems as though Relics Of Humanity is now his main project.

For connoisseurs of all things brutal, this will be a satisfying addition to your repertoire - little bit of ping in the snare, a dash of slams in the guitars, a lot of gurgle in the vocals and a slightly jazzy touch in the standalone bass sections. Defeated Sanity are undoubtedly the kings of this style, but a band with even 60% of their power is bound to be worth your time.
-Nate

Sarcator - Swarming Angels & Flies
Century Media Records

This album is best when they crank up the speed to the max, it feels like you're assaulted by pure rage, it's at times dizzying and it's awesome, think of a similar feeling as you get listening to Vitriol! They slow down a bit towards the half and add a touch of melody and they lose me a bit, especially with the instrumental but overall, it's a hell of a blackened thrash good time.
-Raphael

The Halo Effect - March Of The Unheard
Scarlet Records

Being a big fan of In Flames, I absolutely love to see the old line up continue making music together. They get back right where the last album left off, bringing nostalgic melodies but this time, I think they truly found their own sound. It of course is very reminiscent of In Flames and Dark Tranquility but they add a few new touches that make the whole thing sound extremely nostalgic but new at the same time. It's not as good as their first but it's still pure Gothenburg melodic death candy.
-Raphael

March Of The Unheard has a lot of melody and Mikael Stanne adds a lot of character. This is catchy and infectious and the atmosphere evokes memories of classic 90s Gothenburg metal - mainstream and accessible enough, but still satisfying to hardcore fans of the genre. Songwriting is solid and well-done, the drumming provides a steady backbone, and while there's nothing here that hasn't been done many times before, the rousing, flashy choruses should be enough to make this an entertaining listen.
-Adam

METALBITE'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH

10: Unreqvited - Pathway To The Moon
Prophecy Productions

At times ferocious and ominous, other times symphonic and ambient, sometimes fast but most times, slower and peaceful with warm melodies and atmospheres, this post-black album has rich layers and textures, it's a heartwarming journey that will satisfy any fan of Alcest, Harakiri For The Sky and everything ambient and shoegazey.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.3/10

9: Zero Absolu - La Saignée
AOP Records

Containing members of Alcest and Regarde Les Hommes Tomber, Zero Absolu are the renamed version of Glaciation, and their dreamy atmospheric black metal sits somewhere in between all of those bands. The crystalline guitar shapes of Alcest are present and correct, but Zero Absolu take a much more freeform approach to black metal than Neige's more song-oriented troupe. The artwork of the interior of post-fire Neseblod Records in Oslo (once Euronymous's Helvete) raises a wry smile, the band surely making some mischief here, given the short shrift that their pretty and expansive sound would likely get from the shop's more elitist patrons, but the warped vision of classic black metal that it suggests is not, in fact, so far away from the truth, as the odd furious tremolo line escapes from the twinkling math-rock of much of the first track. The second (and final) song, 'Le Temps Détruit Tout' is the stronger of the two, mixing some angular chord progressions with ambient passages that evoke Paysage D'Hiver, before climaxing with a series of stately cadences with serve to pull the band's amorphous threads together at the last moment. An auspicious start for a band that can ultimately travel to just about wherever they wish in the future.
-Benjamin

MetalBite's Rating: 8.3/10

8: The Great Old Ones - Kadath
Season Of Mist

This French group has always been in an odd spot where they're clearly a part of the "mainstream underground" - signed to Season of Mist, tour with some bigger bands fairly regularly and have a substantial following on social media (almost 30k on Facebook) - but I never see them talked about in the online circles I frequent. Maybe it's because I'm in North America and all of their activities, live shows etc are in Europe? Hard to say.

Regardless, they're awesome and definitely deserve more recognition across the pond. Their brand of post-black metal is multifaceted and riffy, but generates just as much ethereal atmosphere as bands that lean more on repetitive hypnosis (Altar of Plagues, Forteresse, Harakiri for the Sky). Their dynamic song construction that includes many different motifs makes for a style that you don't get bored of easily, and the Lovecraftian angle, while not the most original conceptual theme, is a bit less explored in this subgenre, and it fits well.

Previous albums have the downside of too much exploration and not enough focused riffing, but Kadath strikes a better balance. While it still meanders a fair amount, there's more of a destination and the payoff is extra satisfying. We'll have to wait and see how this stacks up with the rest of the 2025 releases, and I wouldn't call this an immediate AOTY contender - but The Great Old Ones have a strong first volley for the year, and have an album that rewards repeated listens and also has a fair amount of surface appeal.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.3/10

7: Hazzerd - The 3rd Dimension
M-Theory Audio

Super varied thrash, with virtuoso technicality, and a great sense of melody. Here you get fast and aggressive songs, yes, but always with a lot of dynamics and never forgetting about musicality! Dylan Westendorp on drums and vocals brings a lot of these dynamics, he is comfortable with going crazy fast but he easily pulls back and lets the guitars be the hero, and trust me, they are, with a healthy dose of meaty riffs and incredible soloing. Vocally he has a raspy and high pitch aggressive shout/scream that pumps you up and makes me crave a Pabst blue ribbon. No, just kidding, ew.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.4/10

6: Grafjammer - De Tyfus, De Teerling
Folter Records

Dutch black punks Grafjammer are back with their fourth full-length album and with this the stories about Dutch history, religious insanity and destruction continue. The band hasn't changed much since the last album De Zoute Kwel but you can find some surprises in songs like "Bertken" or "Rampokker". If you like a casual mixture of traditional black metal combined with a lot of Celtic Frost and some punk riffs, you can't go wrong with this.
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

5: FaithXtractor - Loathing & The Noose
Redefining Darkness Records

I almost passed on this one, because of that stupid name, (which I now realize is pronounced faith extractor but I still read it as faith X tractor) and thank the lords of metal I did not! This is high quality death metal that sounds massive, incredibly precise, with a good amount of variety, going from fast paced brutality to slower, almost death/doom territories but always with impeccable riffing and shredding solos left and right. Death metal starts strong this year!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

4: Disrupted - Stinking Death
Independent

Everybody who is into Swedish death metal should get all ears on this. It's old school as fuck. On Stinking Death early Dismember, Entombed are the main influences, with some Grave in the rougher parts. This album wears its inspiration on its sleeve and classifying it as a "worship album" is appropriate.

Has it ever steered you wrong before though? Didn't think so. Get your ears chopped off by this stinking album, you won't regret it. Only the unpolished and super rough sound (in comparison to Dismember or Entombed) might be a little bit unpleasant for the more pampered listener.
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

3: Harakiri For The Sky - Scorched Earth
AOP Records

These Austrian boys are truly the masters of making intense but beautiful and super sad post-black metal. Every song delves in heavy subjects like depression, suicide and grief all accompanied by sad melodies with impeccable production. Michael Kogler aka J.J. has a distinctive screamed howling that perfectly conveys all of the pain described in the songs. The first thing that might turn off black metal fans is the production, it's a modern sounding record, nothing is out of place, every instrument sounds crystal clear and massive. As is the case for all their previous albums, it's a long one, an hour and eight minutes of moody and atmospheric post-black that is as beautiful as it is emotional.
-Raphael

Scorched Earth has a nice intense atmosphere to it. It shows a band playing blackened post-metal to good effect. There is an admirable harsh tone that enhances the emotional impact in a way that makes it an early standout for 2025 releases. Scathing guitars and strong vocals come together to create an expressive work.
-Adam

I must say I never cared too much about Harakiri For The Sky until I heard the hype about this album. That was a big mistake because this is great! On their sixth full-length album, so much happens that it is really hard to describe in a few lines. Eruptive outbursts full of desperation and hate go hand in hand with melancholic piano tunes and in many moments there also is this underlying hope, a feeling you can get redeemed from your own personal Weltschmerz. The tremolo-picking is dominant but in some lighter moments you will find some catchiness shining through the dystopian music. This is a really great example of how post-black metal can turn out great instead of getting lost into too many different emotions.
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.7/10

2: Lunar - Tempora Mutantur
Saibot Reigns

The artwork for Tempora Mutantur, Lunar's fourth full-length, suggests that we are to be treated to some folky black metal, or perhaps something more traditional in the vein of Argus or Slough Feg. It is, therefore, a surprise, when the pure prog of opening track 'A Summer To Forget' channels Van Der Graaf Generator and Yes, before transitioning into a form of progressive death metal that alternates between slamming thrash riffs, and ornate flights of fancy that transport the listener to something far beyond the satellite of the Earth that their name invokes. Perhaps the nearest comparison is Still Life-era Opeth. Lunar's use of unconventional chord voicings, combined with classical metal phrasing is reminiscent of the Swedes at their most metallic, although it doesn't truly capture Lunar's broader reference points, and their tendency to dive much deeper into the progressive side of their music, as well as their more straightforward vocal melodies, such as the soraing 'Weakening Winter Touch'. In fact, this song and others recall early Dream Theater, particularly in the lengthy interplay between the guitars and keys, albeit without some of the more off-putting elements of that rather polarising group. Regardless of who Lunar remind the listener of at various points, what makes Tempora Mutantur so addictive is that it ultimately transcends its obvious influences, bringing something fresh, timeless, and grandiose, but not overly pompous. This may not be January's heaviest album, but it's certainly the record that this listener has returned to most often this month.
-Benjamin

MetalBite's Rating: 8.8/10

1: Fleshbore - Painted Paradise
Transcending Obscurity Records

High quality technical death metal jammed pack with riffs after riffs, intricate bass lines, precise and powerful drums and a beast of a vocalist, doing Archspire style, rapid fire growled lines sometimes going slower, sometimes doing incredibly low, brutal death demon growls other times doing high pitch snarls. Musically it follows the eclectic vocal performance with more melodic and even catchy guitar chorus and then pummels you to the ground with a groovy, brutal death breakdown. The whole album has a real progressive side, with complex and melodic soloing and full of "djenty" grooves. The cover art, a beautiful digital art by Mark Erskine, depicts a tranquil scenery that makes you think this album doesn't sound like a hellish whirlwind of technicality and brutality but, thankfully, it does sound like that!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

As always, thank you for checking out our lists! If you'd like to backtrack your way into 2024, here's the link to December's Album of the Month list, which links to all the previous year's lists, which you can slowly go down the rabbit hole of all the way back to 2021, when this column began. Happy digging!

And, of course, Follow MetalBite on Facebook, Spotify and Instagram so you can be there right when the next Top 10 list drops!