2024 was one of the most dynamic years for death metal in recent memory. Until I looked back on the first few months of 2025 and about crapped my pants. Holy smokes are fans of ye olde death metal living in the glory days right now, and Death’s Door has the goods on lock.
We hope you enjoy the selections from the last few months detailed below, and don’t hesitate to leave your own faves in the comments. Appreciate you all bearing with what has been a wild few months in the personal life. More consistent death metal recs to come!
Death metal. Forever.
-Jonathan Adams
Cream of the Crop
Imperial Triumphant - Goldstar
Divisive doesn’t even begin to describe Imperial Triumphant. Their blend of jazzy black/death metal looney toons is particularly unique in the extreme music world, and the reactions have been… various. For many a metalhead they’re either the firebrand for a new generation of bands yearning to breathe free or the most pretentious art school project of all-time. Both might be true. Either way no one else sounds like these guys, and Goldstar is a beautiful example of everything that makes this band who they are. It may also be their most weirdly accessible and consistently excellent record to date.
One of the first things I noticed about Goldstar was how unusually heavy it was compared to the rest of the band’s back catalog. This thing RIPS on a level that feels like an elevation in intensity for the band and I’m all the way here for it. “Gomorrah Nouveaux” is one of the most conventionally lethal tracks the band have yet written. Whatever “conventionally” means for a band like this. The riffs buzz and rock in a manner that’s easily headbangable, while the drums maintain their traditional arhythmic flair. “Lexington Delirium” (featuring Meshuggah’s ever brilliant Tomas Haake on the kit) takes a similar trajectory, blending chaotic moments with a clearly discernible harmonic throughline that is simultaneously unique and listenable.
That isn’t to say it’s all accessible riffs and rhythms throughout. Fans of Vile Luxury’s jagged bursts of sudden insanity will find plenty to love in lunatic gyrations like “NEWYORKCITY” and “Rot Moderne,” which both herald back to the band’s historic penchant for off-kilter songwriting and instrumentation. Tracks like these definitely feel like the band flexing their jazz muscles, reminding their fan base that at their core they’re still a bunch of weirdos who love the skronk. Such moments are pervasive throughout Goldstar, but feel like they’ve been strategically included within a record that showcases a band that is unwilling to compromise quality in their quest for a more approachable sound.
While Vile Luxury has been a staple of mine since its release, I feel fairly confident that Goldstar will soon supplant it as my favorite of IT’s records. It’s heavy, listenable, bizarre, high-minded and pretentious, and fun as hell. Everything in my mind that a record from a band of this caliber should be. I wholeheartedly endorse what the band are attempting to do here, and cannot wait to see where this new direction leads them.
-JA
Best of the Rest
Nephylim - Circuition
While the Netherlands I call home have brought forth quite a few sizable names in terms of heavy music, not many of them have managed to capture my attention thus far.
Enter Nephylim, of whom I was shamefully unaware until their latest album Circuition entered my expectant earholes. These strapping lads offer proggy melodic death metal with symphonic elements added for good measure, and I’m devouring it with gluttonous gusto.
Opening with a symphonic intro is a bit of a trope, but with a strong nod to the latest Wintersun opus and a synth melody that has an Erhu-like quality, they manage to set the mood well.
The album is chock-full of slick melodic death ditties, summoning Stormlord and Insomnium(“Travail pt. II”, “Withered”), Enshine and even something like a less technical Stortregn (“Amaranth”; “Grand Denial”). When the growls drop low there’s even a tinge of Gorgon.
Title track and album highlight “Circuition” features a sweet Amorphism in the chorus riff, and pulls out some very good cleans that stop just short of In Mourning’s lofty heights in their plaintive smoothness.
Some ear fatigue and melodic over-saturation might set in towards the end of the album, and while the production job is excellent for an unsigned band, I do feel its loudness after closer “Inner Paradigm” has dropped its last hook in my eager cheek.
That being said, this sadboi melodeath medicine may be injected right into my bloodstream, thank you very much. Get your slick fix from the criminally underappreciated Nephylim right here.
-Boeli Krumperman
Dormant Ordeal - Tooth and Nail
Few bands death metal manage to sit squarely in the middle of its respective subgenres and cherry-pick from each the greatest qualities. On Tooth and Nail, Dormant Ordeal rise to that challenge with verve and fervor.
Channeling the wallop of classic Polish death metal, the snaky guitar marvels of late period Ulcerate or Serpent of Old, and the foreboding atmosphere of Hath, they leave only scorched earth and take no prisoners.
Although founding member Radek Kowal has left the band for possibly greener pastures, replacement skinsman Chason Westmoreland offers an equally impressive performance. Maciej Nieścioruk and Maciej Proficz handle guitars, vocals and bass with ravenous riffs and roars, all of which is aided by a much more pleasant mix on Tooth and Nail.
Highlights include but are not limited to the proggy, atmospheric second half of
“Horse Eater”, the majestic slow(er) burn of “Solvent” and the utterly relentless “Dust Crown”. The latter, with its blackened belligerence, summons a slavering grin akin to Panzerfaust’s choicest cuts.
Sink your teeth onto this one and see if it doesn’t return the favor.
-BK
Aversed - Erasure of Color
Boston, Massachusetts- based melodic/progressive death-leaning extreme metal group Aversed are a decidedly cool band of musicians. The Berklee College of Music education and the slightly ironic band pictures that somewhat subvert established tropes (either too “happy” and colorful, or all black and artsy with no band shirts) tell me these people are probably writing some cool tunes.
Turns out I’m right: this album by and large slaps like an angry swan. Drawing whammy-kissed comparisons to Gorod’s Aethra off the bat (“To Cover up the Sky”) is a surefire way to get my attention, and sailing somehow into Oceans of Slumber waters on the following track will hold that attention too.
Highlight “Inexorable” opens with a sick disso-death passage, underpinned by a laudably audible bass. It’s giving Hath and Ulcerate, before moving back into Oceans of Slumber territory and breaking out the Black Crown Initiate influence for good measure. My incessant name dropping notwithstanding, these cats are generally doing their own, original thing, and they pull it off with great results.
Performances are superb across the board, with skronky, creative and soulful guitars by Sungwoo Jeong and Alden Marchand layered on top of deft and funky bass and drum work by Martin Epstein and Jeff Saltzman respectively. Dueling harsh and clean vocals are handled by Jeong and recent acquisition Sarah Hartman (unless I’m mistaken and it’s all Hartrman these days,my limited sources are conflicting), with excellent results.
There is a lot going on on this album’s back half as well, with funky jams (“Burn”), foreboding symphonic tech majesty al la Inferi (“Erasure of Color”), a pretty instrumental interlude and some wonderfully affective melodies contrasted with more skronky disso-death bringing to mind Ashen Horde on closer “Departures”.
If you’re not averse to less than 40 minutes of virtuoso metal jam-packed with cool ideas and flashy flourishes, give Erasure of Color a couple of spins.
-BK
Changeling - Changeling
I love it when a good plan comes together and Changeling’s self-titled release feels like everything coming together for friend of the blog and renowned guitarist Tom Geldschläger. Over the last decade or so, Tom has been patiently honing his craft and navigating the minefield that is a musical career, going from strength to strength despite the best efforts of some of the scene's more unsavory figures. It all adds up to Changeling, an album somehow more ambitious than his already expansive work. He pulls it off not only with his own compositional skills but with the help of some truly excellent musicians, namely Mike Heller (ex-Fear Factory), Arran McSporran (Vipassi, Virvum) and the master of timbre himself, Morean (Alkaloid, Dark Fortress). The end result is an album which represents everything I love about the scene of death metal that it comes from, progressive, deep, and heartfelt.
Those last two adjectives come from something that’s probably not often discussed when reviewing Geldschläger’s work: the lyrics. On Changeling, Tom has developed his humanist and spiritual approach to lyrics and coupled them with a perspective on his own journey. This adds a lot of intimacy and character to the album, which works incredibly well with the more technical and grandiose compositions at its core. Brought to life by Morean’s signature, impactful style, they turn this epic work into something that more listeners can connect with.
Make no mistake, this album is epic: on display are Geldschläger’s usual fretless sounds, further enhanced by McSporran’s penchant for the fretless bass. There’s many-noted solos, groovy riffs, and intricate drums but I’ve found that, at the end of the day, what stayed with me were the emotional and biographical parts of the album and the deep connection I felt for Geldschläger’s struggle for self-acceptance and actualization. You can listen to this as “just” one of the best progressive death metal albums in the last few years or you can go one step deeper and explore one of metal’s more interesting stories.
-Eden Kupermintz