Year-end lists are an industry standard within the music blogosphere. I can’t think of a reputable music coverage outlet that doesn’t have one. But the existence of these lists has always been an interesting proposition for me. The positives on the readership and band level are obvious and multitudinous: consolidated listening recommendations and increased exposure to bands within subgenres that don’t often get a lot of critical shine being the two most obvious benefits. But as a writer, I always find this time particularly challenging. Not because identifying quality is difficult (it isn’t), but because death metal in particular currently falls squarely into the best of problems… there’s so much good shit to listen to.
Death metal has been in a full-blown renaissance that by all counts and measures rivals the scope and quality of the genre’s early 90s output. That sounds hyperbolic. It isn’t. Sure, there are some uniquenesses to death metal’s early days that are less relevant now (Cannibal Corpse being publicly chastised by presidential hopefuls and warning labels being created to scare parents about the latest sexy satanic musical manifestation), but death metal has by no means fallen off the musical radar. Just look across the board for coverage of bands like Blood Incantation, Tomb Mold, 200 Stab Wounds, Undeath, Outer Heaven, Ulthar, and Horrendous over just the past few years. All of these groups (and more) have received generally positive exposure outside of the metal blogosphere, with BI in particular receiving the type of glowing praise reminiscent to the indie world’s embrace of Deafheaven upon the release of Sunbather back in 2013. If we’re looking at public exposure as a barometer of general genre health, death metal is thriving.
But for those in love with this music and remember the absolute doldrums that was the early 2000s, it’s equally important to acknowledge the vitality of the underground. Filth stacks and rises, and while the discerning public sees the top of the shit pile, it’s the fetid foundation that provides the longevity stats. As of 2025, I’m pleased to report that the deepest of the death metal underground is alive and well, slithering and writhing with all the bitterness and disgust of its forebears. The majority of the records you’ll see on this list have never sniffed the likes of Kerrang!, Pitchfork, Decibel, or a host of other industry institutions. Here lies the underground in all of its vicious, technical, progressive, and brutal glory. It’s a testament to the continued health of the genre we all love, and we are so excited to share our picks with you.
Death metal has been through a host of challenges, missteps, corrections, and public castigations since the late 80s, but it’s become quite clear that extreme music’s filthiest and gnarliest strand of mayhem isn’t going anywhere. Quite the opposite, if we’re being honest. The genre expands upon its past with each passing year with continued zeal, and as a diehard fan of this music it’s a wonder to behold. We couldn’t be more excited about where the genre is headed, and apologize to all the excellent bands who didn’t make the list this year based on our own established list parameters. It’s not you. It’s us.
Unless it’s you. Then get gud. We’re waiting. We’re listening.
Death metal. Forever.
-Jonathan Adams
Cream of the Crop - Best of 2025
Jonathan’s Lists
Honorable Mentions
The Acacia Strain - You Are Safe From God Here
Omegavortex - Diabolic Messiah of the New World Order
Phobocosm - Gateway
Vacuous - In His Blood
VoidCeremony - Abditum
Best EP of 2025
Suffering Hour - Impelling Rebirth
As of late, brevity has become a distinct benefit in my art consumption. Miss me with the three hour epic flick (LOTR excluded, always and forever), the double album, or the tedious 1,500 page tome. They have their place, but this past year I’ve been much more aligned with the “gimme the goods” approach, particularly with music. Which is why this year I’m specifically highlighting a short-form release that really did it for me. Surprising none, that selection happens to be from one of the most underrated DM acts in the business: Minnesota’s undeniable Suffering Hour.
Two full-length records in, there are few acts that have had such a prodigious impact on their chosen sonic space. Two top-10 finishes later, it’s safe to say that Suffering Hour are among my favorite purveyors of blackened deathly goodness on the current market. Impelling Rebirth only builds upon their already formidable legacy. Five tracks and fourteen minutes of well-constructed, perfectly executed blackened death goodness, there’s absolutely zero fat on these songwriting bones. Watching this band develop has been a pure delight, and it’s another example of bands leaning on short-form content as a means to consolidate and refine their established sound. The production is even crisper than usual, and the instrumental execution highlights everything this group does well. The guitar work in particular in “Revelation of Mortality” is both hard-hitting and exquisite, culminating in one of Suffering Hour’s most compelling tracks to date.
I can’t say enough good things about Impelling Rebirth. It’s by far the best EP I heard this year, and only makes me more amped for whatever their next full-length will bring. Hopefully that’s soon, because the wait between releases has become… insufferable (har har). But until that time comes, I’ll be feasting on this sub-half hour slab of excellence with nary a complaint. Excellent music from an excellent band. Heartily recommended.
Top 10 of 2025
- Centuries of Decay - A Monument to Oblivion
Of all the death metal records I listened to this year, there are none that left me more dumbfounded than Centuries of Decay’s spellbinding sophomore outing. A Monument to Oblivion is a record that takes a boatload of ideas and melds them into a cohesive, seamless, borderline perfect whole that is equal parts intellectually stimulating and emotionally draining. The instrumentation and songwriting here are absolutely superb, with nary a wasted moment to be found across its seven excellent tracks. It’s progressive, technical, and punishing in equal measure, bringing in more than enough melody and catchy riffs to keep the head banging. A balanced and deeply re-listenable affair, A Monument to Oblivion is a seminal achievement and easily my favorite death metal record of the year. The fact that I’ve seen so little coverage of this thing is alarming and sad.
- Barren Path - Grieving
Speaking of brevity, Barren Path’s fantastic debut Grieving is by far the shortest full-length record on my list and, given its placement here, obviously one of the year’s best. Built from the remains of our dearly departed Gridlink, Barren Path takes the best elements of that project and expands them with a distinctly death metal sheen converting them into what is without question the best deathgrind record of the year. There are of course the distinctly progressive elements that we’ve come to expect from this group of musicians, but the main attraction here is a furious flurry of death metal riffs and unimaginably aggressive kit work that are presented at such breakneck speed that it’s nearly impossible to digest and consume in one sitting. Thankfully, Grieving is an infinitely revisitable record, with new sonic treasures awaiting the patient listener with each new spin. There isn’t a single release in 2025 that I listened to more, and I cannot wait to see where this project goes from here. A titan of a deathgrind record that I cannot stop listening to.
- Cryptopsy - An Insatiable Violence
Let me make an opinion crystal clear: Cryptopsy didn’t stop being good after None So Vile. Sure, following up what is arguably a subgenre’s greatest release of all time, especially after the departure of the band’s popular nucleus, is a difficult if not impossible task. I would never claim that they have accomplished that feat, either. But frankly they don’t need to. Outside of one unfortunate misstep of a record, Cryptopsy have kept pace with brutal death metal stalwarts like Defeated Sanity and Dying Fetus when it comes to quality aggression, but none of those other bands have received the same level of flak for not meeting the standards of their most celebrated releases. I don’t know why this is, but it’s stupid. So here’s my final say on the matter… Cryptopsy remains a titan of brutal technical death metal, and An Insatiable Violence is a uniformly excellent, thoroughly punishing record that highlights everything the band has always done well and then some.
You want riffs? Donaldson’s got ‘em, straight to your dome piece. Want filthy vocals? Look no further than Matt McGachy, who gives a varied and utterly brutal performance throughout. What about rhythm and a little bit of groove? Flo and Oli dismember with commendable savagery. There isn’t a performance, track, or section on An Insatiable Violence that is anything less than uniformly interesting and expertly executed. It’s one of the most consistently excellent releases of the band’s career, and as long as these dudes choose to keep playing and writing I’m confident they will continue to build on their legacy in the pantheon of brutal death metal greats. Cryptopsy isn’t “back.” They never really left to begin with. Fantastic stuff.
- Qrixkuor - The Womb of the World
Man… what a fitting title for a record. Qrixkuor’s monumental second full-length outing The Womb of the World feels like a birth of sorts, a fully-fledged gestation of something new and dark for the project. Known already for its winding, frightening compositions, Qrixkuor’s second outing is an ethereal, symphonic hellscape of a record that’s both hard to listen to yet fundamentally irresistible. The songwriting here is enigmatic and inspired, incorporating choral elements with an aplomb that only emanates from musicians possessed of complete conviction. It’s weird as hell, but also unusually listenable for this brand of progressive/dissonant death metal. I’ve found myself returning to it frequently, though it’s the kind of art that requires patience and some time to digest. But each new foray unfurls more fiendish delights, culminating in a record that’s hard to deny. An odd, discomfiting, truly unique (and equally stellar) release.
- An Abstract Illusion - The Sleeping City
I was late to the party with Woe back in 2022, so when An Abstract Illusion’s third full-length was announced I made sure to jump on it as soon as it was released. I’ve spent a fair amount of time with The Sleeping City, and its blend of beauty (“Blackmurmur”), punishment (“Like A Geyser Ever Erupting”), and majesty (“Emmett”) make it a record that not only goes toe-to-toe with its thoroughly excellent predecessor, but in many ways eclipses it. While comparing a band’s work to itself gets lame fast, it is a decent way to chart a band’s growth. With internal comparison in mind, everything here feels a little more epic, a little more focused, and just a tad sharper than in previous releases, culminating in my favorite release from the group thus far. This is progressive songwriting done right, and I cannot wait to see where An Abstract Illusion takes us next. Essential listening.
- The Ominous Circle - Cloven Tongues of Fire
Back in the mid 2010s, during the absolute heyday of Portal-core, bands like The Ominous Circle, Abyssal, and Altarage were regularly releasing some delicious subterranean nastiness on our unprepared asses. It was a great time to be a dissohead. But that oppressive, blackened death curtain feels like it’s mostly disappeared from the scene. That is until out of nowhere The Ominous Circle dropped their sophomore LP, Cloven Tongues of Fire, a full eight years after their debut. In perhaps the most surprising component of this unexpected release, the record is fundamentally excellent and a massive step up from their already great debut. The songwriting here is absolutely superb, with each track’s coating of dissonant riffage and heavy atmosphere never drowning the listener in an indecipherable note salad. There’s a distinctly listenable vibe to Cloven Tongues of Fire, making it the rare release that’s perpetually nasty while remaining oddly palatable. Huge props to these Portuguese firebrands for bringing us quite possibly one of the best dissodeath releases of the past few years.
- Pillars of Cacophony - Paralipomena
Not gonna lie, I was only introduced to Pillars of Cacophony in the early days of December. So the fact that Paralipomena is on this list at all should give you a distinct clue as to its quality. A one-man project from Austria based entirely on scientific (particularly biological) and science-fiction themes, Pillars of Cacophony brings to the table some of the most interesting songwriting and most delicious riffs the progressive/dissonant technical death metal space has to offer. There isn’t a track on this record that doesn’t slap to high heaven, and even though I’ve had more limited time to listen to it I feel even more convinced of its leapfrogging of other 2025 releases. Quality is quality, and each new spin has brought me more enjoyment than the last. A thoroughly excellent record, and next time I won’t be so slow on the uptake.
- Pedestal for Leviathan - Enter: Vampiric Manifestation
Death metal from Colorado? Check. Blackened, brutal and thrashy riffs aplenty? Double check. Expertly incorporated synth symphonies? Oh hell yeah! VAMPIRES??? LET’S FUCKING GO!!!
Man, what a delightful late-year surprise this record turned out to be. I’ve been spinning it non-stop since its release earlier this month and it scratches such a specific itch in my brain that it was impossible not to include it in my top 10. Deservedly so. This is balls-to-the-wall blackened brutal death metal that is as well-written as it is performed. The Castlevania vibes are strong with this one, but the riffs are absolutely undeniable, regardless of your affinity for their thematic leanings. An absolute blast of a record that I will be listening to many more times in the months to come.
- Hedonist - Scapulimancy
Sometimes a man wants only one thing (and it’s disgusting): riffs. Filthy, depraved, violence-soaked riffs. When that’s what a man wants, he turns to Hedonist, who provide a copious supply of them. More than you can possibly consume in one sitting. But consume you will, until your stomach bursts and maggots come crawling out of your entrails. Until your corpse rots and withers into bone, only to be summarily pounded into dust by, you guessed it, MORE RIFFS. This is the journey Scapulimancy takes listeners on, and it’s a pure delight from its opening seconds until the final note takes its final pound of flesh. It’s not a complicated, complex, or nuanced release. In the spirit of Cannibal Corpse, Hedonist is here to take your heart through violence, and succeeds with a masterful aplomb. Cannot recommend this bad boy highly enough.
- Dormant Ordeal - Tooth and Nail
One of the most alarmingly unsung bands in all of death metal, Dormant Ordeal’s particular brand of audio punishment has been claiming victims on a routine basis since 2013. Four full-length records in, these Polish death dealers have only improved with each subsequent manifestation of their sound, culminating in Tooth and Nail, without question their most adventurous, punishing, and fully realized affair. The performances across the board are top notch, with special commendation given to Chason Westmoreland’s absolutely insane kit work (which feels deeply reminiscent of Jamie Saint Merat’s work with Ulcerate). As is tradition, the songwriting chops here are simultaneously tight and expansive, allowing for Dormant Ordeal’s particular brand of chaos to feel both insanely propulsive and controlled. The madness is decipherable, creating an experience that’s easy to revisit. Which I have certainly done many times since this record’s release. It’s the band’s most complete outing yet, and I hope it continues to garner them the recognition they rightly deserve.
Boeli’s picks
Honorable mentions
Aephenemer - Utopie
Omnium Gatherum - May The Bridges We Burn Light The Way
Weeping Sores - The Convalescence Agonies
Fallujah - Xenotaph
Amorphis - Borderland
Top 10 of 2025
- Mawiza - Ül
While I could have awarded this coveted spot to other bands based on mind-bending technicality of composition, these lists are ultimately based on how an album makes you feel.
Where it comes to death metal, the feelings I look for are usually either a kind of slavering, voracious clarity, an indomitable boost of energy, or a slick and grooving exhilaration. Mapuche up-and-comers Mawiza have definitively topped my meters in the latter two categories, offering a slick, anthemic yet undeniably heavy collection of righteous, riffing rage. While they wear their influences on their sleeve, the vitality and activism that bursts forth from their Gojirating riffs and their audible roots in their own culture and musical tradition offer a breath of fresh air that rises above the smoke of music industry machinery. Having spent a lot of time listening to their music prior to writing a review around release time, I feel I have articulated my thoughts in that review in detail, and firmly stand behind them still. This shorter entry thus somewhat belies the quality that lurks in Ül, ready to pounce from the undergrowth.
For both their music and their message, Mawiza deserve recognition beyond being influenced by one of the best breakthrough bands in the genre, and I’m here to add my modest voice to the choir of resistance.
- Hecktic - Unbeholden
Burly Bulgarian death metal act Hecktic surprised me like a masochistically welcomed gut punch straight from the calloused knuckles of our discord. Charging out of the gates of late-capitalist hell with a biting critique on the looming pillars of political, military and economic injustice, this criminally underappreciated foursome shreds and pummels through a heaving, blackened pyroclasm of somewhat blackened death metal in a lean mean 32 minutes.
Inviting comparisons to Dormant Ordeal and Hath (“Vital to the Clockwork”, “Unbeholden”, The Other Side), Summoning the Lich (“Plague Waltz”, somehow also “Unbeholden”) and even wielding an unassailable assailant of a riff Fit for an Autopsy on SotY contender “Black Swan”. Faster cut “In Sterquiliniis Invenitur” cleaves together Gorod like nimble technicality with a fat low end and a hearty helping of skronk that cements the comparison to Hath. In a year with no Hath, this will have to do, and do it fucking does.
Across all tracks, Hecktic give no fucks and make no compromises, and their raging hunger is bolstered by a powerful message brought to life by tasteful use of sampling.
As this is still death metal, the meat is in the riffs as it should be, and those are delivered in spades, their weight never undercut by the atmospheric elements but only bolstered by forays into foreboding melody and the sampling that pierces the smoke of the burning machine. A fat, fat bass presence underpins the marvelous riffing at every point necessary.
Hecktic surprised and delighted me this year with a work of visceral immediacy, righteous rage and slithering subtlety. Do not sleep on this short behemoth, that would be far from safe.
- Kardashev - Alunea
Kardashev’s latest album Alunea has been a particularly tough nut to crack for me, rating and placing wise. In the end I might still be underrating it here even in the top three of my death metal top 10. It’s also entirely possible, considering the relatively short and somewhat fragmented time I’ve spent in its orbit, that the crystalline luster will fade and reveal why exactly I almost forgot about it for part of the year, before being inexorably pulled back closer when list season approached.
While describing themselves as “deathgaze”, I would say Kardeshev play a fairly modern and slick style of techy and çore-inspired modern death metal. The crown jewel and focal point of Kardashev’s glittering allure are undoubtedly Mark Garrett’s spellbinding vocals, which scrape the lowest bedrock of death metal gravel before soaring to the glittering peaks or choral grandeur, and all the gritty rasping cliffs in between. This cinematic, sweeping is present in not just the vocals but permeates their sound as a whole, from the guitars which move between twinkly melodicism and immediate, chugging rhythms. The drums are equally expressive, moving between sections of blast beats and more open and sparse arrangements, with cascading tom-heavy fills accompanying some of the album's acrobatic but never entirely unexpected changes in direction.
My lack of certainty in rating this album stems from these same peaks and valleys that also translate into its memorability, and occasional tendency to disorient and overstimulate to the point of my attention wandering, before being abruptly drawn back in by another stellar, hair raising moment, often delivered in the form of Garrett’s gorgeous clean vocals (“Reunion”, “Seed of the Night”, “We Could Fold the Night”). While the occasional lapse of attention might stem from a sensory overload or the album sagging under the weight of its sonic ambition, the highs more than make up for it and might even hit so hard because of the occasional meander.
Sometimes an album doesn’t need to be perfect, it just needs enough moments of spellbinding transcendence to overcome its challenges. Time will tell if this celestial rock maintains its gravitational pull on my heart.
- Burned in Effigy - Tyrannus Æternum
Beating out Mors Principium Est and In Mourning for my favorite melodic death metal album of the year is no mean feat. While there is of course always a relative element to these lists, that should not be ascribed to any faults on the part of the other melodeath albums. While I’ve had a relatively short part of the year to enjoy Tyrannus Æternum, its dense yet immediately apparent quality has not waned since I lathered it with laudation in my late October review.
Burned In Effigy go for the throat and rarely let up in the span of 45 minutes. While not treading new ground or offering a particularly powerful theme or message, the riffs speak loudly and with a swaggering confidence, and highlights like “Masquerade”, “Wage of Exile” and “The Racking” are still sinking their hooks in just as sharply.
Tyrannus Æternum is 45 minutes of full throttle melodic death metal, propelling itself and its audience ever forward with a joyful violence that never fails to blow my socks off.
- Nephylim - Circuition
While national pride generally makes my skin crawl, I can never help but let out a small inward cheer when a band from my own little Netherlands manages to wow me. Especially when the delightful experience comes from a small band’s self-released debut album.
Nephylim’s Circuition combines the grandeur of peak Wintersun with the exhilarating, emotional kineticism of Stortregn and the moody melodies of Insomnium or Enshine.
Distilled into a short yet wonderfully dynamic and epic 38 minute album, they’ve managed to hit the sweet spot between emotive and cerebral songwriting, being consistently smart yet always letting the feeling come first. The three song journey of “Amaranth”through “Circuition” is one of my favourites from this year, which is all the more impressive on an unsigned debut.
Nephylim have caught lightning in a bottle here, and I can’t wait to hear how they follow this one up. Someone sign these guys (if that’s what they want), they deserve it.
- Dormant Ordeal - Tooth and Claw
I think Tooth and Claw is one of the most generally listed albums of this blog (and others), and that’s for good reason. The menacing blackened death metal of Dormant Ordeal marches to the metronomic beat of its own drum, lashing out with equal measures of acerbic fury and calculated confidence. Tight, dark and heavy, these polish purveyors of death metal are progressive and technical, but never in a way that detracts from the immediacy and sheer headbanging quality of their music. Between highlights like “Horse Eater”, “Solvent” and the utterly defiant “Against the Dying of the Light”, Dormant Ordeal have created a modern death metal classic that sits comfortably at the pinnacle of their discography and among the greats of Polish death metal.
- Mors Principium Est - Darkness Invisible
I wanted to put this one higher, I really did. Perhaps I’ve saturated myself too much with the indomitable music of these Finnish purveyors of belligerent melodic death metal. While I enjoyed their darker, slightly heavier take on the signature MPE sound I haven’t revisited this album as much as I thought I would. They’re still one of my favourite bands, and Darkness Invisible is still my favourite output since …and Death Said Live. I think the placement on this list has more to do with how much the other albums mentioned above claimed my time and felt more exciting because of my deep familiarity with Mors Principium Est. Had I not known of them before, this album would have claimed a spot much nearer to the top. If you, dear reader, are as yet unfamiliar and have a hankering for kinetic, exhilarating melodic death metal, this is an excellent starting point to dive into their discography.
- Impureza - Alcazares
Alcazares was one of my favourite albums to review this year, and one of my favourite new discoveries. Their unique and painstakingly crafted mix of flamenco and dense, knotty death metal kept me deeply engaged and immersed, especially during the pre-review listening phase. The reason they are not higher on this list is a certain fatigue set in, perhaps due to me needing a bit of a break from the intensity on offer here. As I picked Alcazares back up during the past weeks, I was still convinced it needed a spot here. This album is technically masterful, deeply melodic, hooky, and rooted in a strong historical concept. I think my review has said most of what I would state here, this is excellent death metal adorned with a flamenco flair that only improves upon the formula. Even though that formula didn’t draw me back in on a weekly basis, Impureza are more than deserving of their spot on this list.
- In Mourning - The Immortal
Ah, In Mourning. Of all my favourite mel(l)o(w)dic death metal bands, this has historically been the one that takes me the most time per album to really assess quality. While The Immortal felt more immediate than their previous releases soon after its release, and I am still just as sure of its quality, it took a back seat in listening hours to albums released in the same period. The sheer quality of In Mourning’s writing, immediately obvious in standout tracks like “Song of the Cranes” and “Staghorn” and more subtly so in the flowing, gracious stickiness of the album as a whole let me easily maintain my confidence that this album will stay in rotation for many years to come. Just as with other parts of their discography, it will probably take me quite some time yet to start spinning this one as much as Garden of Storms when I finally cracked that one. There’s just something about these guys that keeps me coming back, even when an album still hasn’t fully clicked or fell to the wayside fro a while, snowed under by the precipitation of other quality releases.
- ADE - Supplicium
Taking up my last spot on this list is Roman death metal legion ADE. On Supplicium they have forged a no frills, razor sharp gladius of symphonic and folk-infused death metal. Less grandiose than Ex Deo, without the bombast of Fleshgod Apocalypse, but equally meritorious, ADE strip their sound down to something that reminds me most of a filthier, more death metal forward iteration of highly melodic and historically rooted death metal. Comparisons to more condensed and gritty Aeternam or Gorgon are also apt. I’m a great fan of this style, and have spent a good amount of time with this album since its March release date. A slight lack of variety in sound, and my propensity for the more bombastic iterations of this style has relegated ADE to the last spot on this list. The riffs, however, are very much there and smartly embellished with a Mediterranean twist they hit all the harder.
Eden’s Picks
Top 10 of 2025
Vertex - The Purest Light
I’m not sure where all the aggression they used to absorb went when I stopped listening to Meshuggah but when I threw on Vertex’s The Purest Light for the first time in 2025, it definitely came back from whatever that was. Pure, unadulterated, in your face death metal that manages to stride that line between technicality and aggression that the above mentioned legends are so good at. Here, the production is more spacious though, perhaps owing to the different theming of the cover art, the lyrics, and the overall approach. It really does feel like being cooked to a crisp by the purest kind of light, dissolving in a wall of riffs and anger. Feels good.
Dormant Ordeal - Tooth and Nail
There’s always at least one album this year that sounds super unique but it’s also really hard to point to exactly why. In Tooth and Nail’s case it’s some sort of weird mix between the production and the approach to composition. It creates an atmosphere that just sounds like nothing else, even if the album is not “experimental” per se. It’s still one of the more unique releases of the year and there’s a reason it’s on so many lists: nothing else quite hits the same. If you’re looking for good, direct blackened death metal that will also make you scratch your head in that sort of “did I leave my oven on” sort of way, this is the release for you.
Ominous Ruin - Requiem
Tech death, am I right? At this point, we are from the heyday of the style, where every second release seemed to be some sort of technical death metal album. But the genre is still doing worthwhile things and no tech death release was more worthwhile in 2025 than Ominous Ruin’s Requiem. I think the best thing it has going for it is its runtime and how it uses it. It’s short, coming in at less than forty minutes, but it’s also efficient and ambitious, which means that it doesn’t feel overloaded or sparse. Instead, it’s just the right size, a tasty dish of perfectly cooked tech death. Add in some deathcore touches here and there in the form of some nastier riffs and you’ve got everything you need for a rocking good time.
Fallujah - Xenotaph
This might be more of a “me” thing but I’m just not done with the unique combination of colors and sounds that Fallujah have been exploring for the last few years. Xenotaph is a continuation of that exploration, not really delivering anything vastly new but once again channeling that unique, super chromatic style of progressive death metal that the band have been creating for the last few years. Everything still checks out - the vocals are evocative, the solos kick ass, and the whole thing seems clothed in a many-colored, fantastical cloak. If you’re still craving for that sound, and you should because there’s no one out there delivering quite the same flavor, then Xenotaph is simply more of that. And that’s a great thing.
Changeling - Changeling
It’s pretty crazy to me how underrated this album was this year. Spearheaded by the celebrated Tom “Fountainhead” Geldschläger, Changeling not only sport an insane guest list (seriously, just read it at the Bandcamp link below or I’ll run out of space) but is also chock full of crazy good progressive death metal ideas and compositions. It’s Geldschläger’s most ambitious work to date, and that’s saying something considering how ambitious and grand his music already is. On Changeling he reaches new heights of self-expression, joining forces with Morean to create an absolutely titanic but evocative sound that is easy to get lost in and to get moved by. If you haven’t yet given this album a try, like many haven’t, then please go back and check it out. There’s a lot to celebrate here.
Pillars of Cacophony - Paralipomena
This was my death metal album of the year and it’s all because of one word: attack. Pillars of Cacophony are absolutely not willing to accept the dichotomy that exists (for some reason) in people’s brains between complexity and directness. Paralipomena has a tinge of disso-death on it, a splash of technical death metal, but a whole lot of aggression. That aggression is not conveyed with super guttural vocals, buzz-saw guitars, or bottomless heaviness but rather with a circling, vibrating sense of closeness, like the music is about to swallow you whole. This is achieved partly via composition, as the tracks tighten and tighten riff after riff, but also by the production, which achieves this preternatural closeness of instruments that places a firm hand around your throat. I’ve rarely heard death metal this intricate played with this much attack and for that, I absolutely adored Paralipomena and plan to listen to it many times more.
An Abstract Illusion - The Sleeping City
Unsurprisingly for those who know me, there’s a lot of progressive death metal on this list but The Sleeping City is the best one of those. I wasn’t as big of a fan of their previous release as some other people but this one feels a lot more balanced to me. What I mean by that is that The Sleeping City seems to run a better line between the “natural” flow of its compositions (that is, everything feels properly set up and not rushed) and its desire to be grandiose and sweeping. Previous efforts by the band felt too tied up in needing to “be” something, whereas The Sleeping City feels more content and secure in where it’s going. This makes it a much smoother ride, removing a lot of the waste and excess that caused me to get fatigued by their previous efforts. Instead, I find myself constantly humming passages from the album and return to the piece often for an effortless transportation into its sound.
Waxwolf - Magic Madness Sadness
On one hand, I should have put this album higher up on the list because it’s one of my absolute favorite albums of 2025. On the other hand, it was really fun anticipating writing about it because it really is a challenge. Waxwolf sounds like...fuck, I don’t even know. It sounds like a project that would feature Hannes Grossman (which it does) but that’s also somehow playing Ocarina of Time. Does that make sense? Just listen to the album - it’s pretty incredible how the chiptune elements (yeah) are used as not just intro or outro pieces but an integral part of the sound. They often overlay or even overwhelm the guitar riffs, playing alongside a million different piano tracks and other percussive instruments. But the album can also be super heavy? And intricate? And jazz fusion? I don’t even know how Magic Madness Sadness is possible. Hey, I guess the album name pretty much describes the whole thing huh? So why do you even need me? Just hit play and experience all three of these things at once.
Dyssidia - Deeper Wells of Meaning
Number one contender for “late comer album of the year” Deeper Wells of Meaning sounds like the progressive death metal of yore, by which I mean wild, unrestrained, and heavy as fuck. These Australian chaps have created an album that has that dark sheen that progressive metal had at the end of the first decade of the century. It also has the same propensity and willingness to dig into heavier, more aggressive sounds and blending them beautifully with melodic elements. The result is a very hard to pin down album but one which hits on the desperate beauty at the heart of progressive death metal - the balance between dark and light. Dyssidia walk this line with expertise, keeping everything cohesive but still energetic, messy but direct.
Dephosphorus - Planetoktonos
This is another contender for the most underrated album of the year. Planetoktonos is weird in a hard to define way. Its oddity lies somewhere between the production, with crazy murky guitars and drums creating a churning baseline for the sound, and the approach to composition. The tracks are short but they somehow feel long and busy, swirling with an atmosphere that’s hard to shake off. Add in some weird, weird drawn out harsh vocals at the back of the more straight-forwardly aggressive lead vocals and you really have a sound that I want to call “noxious”. It’s like crossover thrash swerved a truck full of molasses into an oil refinery while a grindcore band was playing a set on the factory floor. In space. Or something, I don’t know, listen to this fucking album. It really is bizarre but will also scratch numerous itches, some of which you didn’t even know you had.