In terms of the blog’s health, AngryMetalGuy.com is holding steady. We’ve got a growing team of n00bs covering some of the holes we’ve had in the schedule.² I worked very hard on training them in combination with Druhm, and it’s fair to say we were both happy with the result. We had some of our best candidates to date, and that made me proud and happy. There’s still room for a few more, so we might dig into the pool in the early part of 2026. So if you applied, all hope is not lost. We continue to attract around 1.25 million views a month, and that’s held steady for three years running. Obviously, we would like to continue to grow. But I have a sneaking suspicion that we’re actually seeing a slight downturn in visitors because of Generative AI. There are, of course, a lot of people who go to Google and write “My Favorite Band – New Album Review,” and they will be greeted by an AngryMetalGuy.com link that tends to place pretty highly on the Google Machine and awaits their complaints with open arms. But I suspect there are other kinds of views we’ve accrued – those which end up in people grabbing album art or looking for release dates – that disappear when people are requesting that ChatGPT do that for them. And while LLMs will link you after plagiarizing you, they’ll only do it if you let them, and we do not. And so any conversions of people checking linked resources are probably lost.³ There have been some weird months here and there with seemingly anomalously low numbers, so who even knows.

The active n00bs have allowed us to revive the three-posts-a-day pace,⁴ and we only went dark for five days during 2025. As a collective, we posted 699 posts—down from the very peak of 2019’s nearly 1,000 posts!—but in line with where we’ve been since Covid. And, our posts continue to be longer than they were in 2019, averaging 901 words for a total of 629,905 words that we produced for free in 2025. That’s a 2600-page term paper—Times New Roman, 12 point font, double-spaced on A4 paper.⁵ This dedication to quantity derives from the whip of an analytics-driven Steel Druhm, but wouldn’t be possible without our amazing staff putting their shoulders to the Eternal Boulder ov Metal™ and rolling it uphill every day, saying “One must imagine Sisyphus happy. One must imagine Sisyphus happy. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”

We continue to have international appeal, as well, though the country rankings haven’t changed much from 2024. Like last year, our top five is made up of the English-speaking world (US, UK, CAN, AUS at five) + Germany (at four).⁶ Weirdly, we are getting a sizable amount of traffic from China, which clocks in at six for the first time. There are almost certainly shenanigans at play with those numbers, as I am not aware of any influx of Chinese fans here recently. Maybe that’s AI traffic. Maybe that’s VPN traffic. Maybe we’ve been infiltrated and are now a communist honey pot. Maybe Druhm is buying traffic. Or, maybe, Winnie the Pooh has finally discovered how excellent the realm of heavy metal really is, and China is going through a different kind of cultural revolution! Regardless, 7-10 is made up of the Netherlands, Sweden, Poland, and France, with Spain and Finland dropping out of the top ten. The biggest news, however, when it comes to our international readership, is that signs point strongly to Pope Francis having been our solitary reader in the Holy See. The venerable Franciscan passed away in April of 2025, and I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that no one appears to have made the pilgrimage from the Vatican to Angry Metal Guy this year.

It’s worth noting that we lost more than a few stalwarts along the way in 2025,⁷ largely due to the #Cursed-Boomer-Posting chat on Slack, which has torn us apart. There may also have been some other influences, such as marriages, having high-paying jobs, running TV shows, having actual lives, or resenting me.⁸ Regardless, for all those who have worked hard to make AngryMetalGuy.com go, but who are not here with us anymore, I just want to say thank you. Despite my autistic isolation and standoffishness, I do love you all and miss you. The door is, of course, always open. And I am happy to see some special little guys who’ve been in deep freeze popping their heads out of the sand and grabbing promo. It’s a wonderful sight to behold, and maybe we’ll see some newfound productivity from old friends in 2026.

To close, I want to thank everyone – readers and writers alike – for your enthusiasm, your dedication to AngryMetalGuy.com as an institution, and your undying fealty to me, Angry Metal Guy.⁹ I know I can come off as harsh. And I know that some people grumble that I’m too hard on them when I read their texts or when they have divergent opinions in the comments, but that’s only true if you’ve never met a passive construction you didn’t love or if you’re wrong about metal. And, as I tell my students, we’re a team. Our goal is to make sure that AMG produces the very highest quality writing, while covering as much of the scene as possible.¹⁰ And given the loyalty of our readers, your comments, and “the eye test,” as it were, we are achieving that goal consistently. I’m still very proud of that and, if I stop to think about it, humbled by it, too.

While it feels like there’s a lot to dread after the 2025 that was, we still have a lot to be excited about here. So let’s hope that 2026 isn’t all like it’s felt in the first five days or so. Anyway, I have gone on far too long, have a wordy, overwrought list.

#(ish) 3: Helms Deep // Chasing the Dragon [June 20th, 2025 | Nameless Grave Records | Bandcamp] — Chasing the Dragon is super fun. It’s fun, it’s loud, and it’s a little stupid in a way that I find endearing. And, as I remarked in June, while US Power Metal has been getting a lot of love around these parts, Helms Deep has not been on the receiving end of nearly enough of that love. While other bands showed up to a back alley knife fight, these Florida men showed up with a bejet-packed dragon and a collection of songs that burned hotter than dragonsfire, melting the competition down and shaming their lineages for decades to come. And joking hyperbole aside, Helms Deep doesn’t feel like a novelty act. They aren’t just good ’cause I find them funny. Chasing the Dragon features playing that’s sharp and vital across the board, with guitars that never stand still, a singer who sells every chorus with the right balance of chops, cheese, and buckets of swagger. Said differently, Helms Deep is just dudes playing good, honest heavy metal while having a great time. What more do you need?

#(ish) 2: Vittra // Intense Indifference [September 19th, 2025 | Self-release | Bandcamp] — Vittra’s Intense Indifference shows up hungry, plays fast, hits hard, and gets out before you have time to get bored. Thirty-three minutes of riff-first, bethrashened melodeath go by in a blur; the hooks are sticky, the harmonies are sharp, and the energy is manic and adventurous. While the At the Gates lineage is obvious,¹¹ Vittra pulls in enough Soilwork polish and Mors Principium Est flash to songwriting that’s focused on momentum rather than atmosphere, and the result is addictive. And what really pushes this record from really good to great are the flashes of the unexpected: honkytonk piano, bluesy acoustic passages, and classic rock phrasing that shouldn’t work, but does. It’s great listening to an album this full of piss and vinegar. I get excited when bands pop up that make the kind of thrashy, intense melodic death that never begs for an Insomnium comp. And sure, these guys have room to grow, but Intense Indifference caused me to feel anything but.

#(ish) 1: Arjen Anthony Lucassen // Songs No One Will Hear [September 12th, 2025 | InsideOut Music | Bandcamp] — Arjen Lucassen has been a favorite of mine during the time that AngryMetalGuy.com has been up and running. The “poofy-haired cheesehead”¹² behind many of my favorite albums during AMG’s time is still a gem even in 2025. Crazily, Arjen’s first ‘solo record’ Lost in the New Real was released in 2012,¹³ and Songs No One Will Hear is its direct successor. A true concept record—with Toehider’s god-tier singer, Michael Mills, voicing a radio DJ talking to listeners about impending doom—it reflects both our End Is Nigh Zeitgeist and Arjen’s particular… idiom. Thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish, Songs No One Will Hear is both tongue-in-cheek and yet deeply aware of the nature of information, grifting, and societal collapse, while still displaying the kind of referential goofiness that made Lost in the New Real such a charming record.¹⁴ The thing that dinged Songs No One Will Hear a little for me is the sense of uncanny familiarity. At times, it sounds like Arjen was working specifically to emulate the structure of Lost in the New Real. That created a bit of cognitive dissonance that I have never quite gotten over. It also drove a lot of replays of its under-the-radar predecessor rather than the album I should have been reviewing. But is Songs one of the best 11 records o’ 2025? I certainly think so.

#10: An Abstract Illusion // The Sleeping City [October 17th, 2025 | Willowtip | Bandcamp] — The Sleeping City had two strikes against it. First, it had the unenviable task of following Woe, a record that could easily have been the template on which they built their sound. It’s hard to break away from an overwhelmingly popular sound, yet these Ore Islanders took a left turn, exhibiting a level of daring I admire. The shift in aesthetic is the story of The Sleeping City in a lot of ways; the synths, the vibe, and the mood lean into dystopian sci-fi, and it’s a choice that works. What I love about The Sleeping City is that it’s detailed and detail-oriented without distracting from the expansiveness of the songwriting, which remains evocative and carefully structured. And while they sound comfortable letting songs breathe, they never get lost in the quest for “atmosphere” that undermines many modern releases. Second,¹⁵ the real gripe about The Sleeping City was the mastering job. But even a mastering job that clips peaks and fills valleys shows just how strong the raw material is. And so, finally, The Sleeping City feels like the product of a band choosing growth over safety while being true to themselves. And that’s an admirable trait that I hope they never lose.

#9: Fallujah // Xenotaph [June 13th, 2025 | Nuclear Blast Records | Bandcamp] — Fallujah landing on my list came as a genuine surprise to me, mostly because I really had quietly written them off. I used to like them, but they never carried that In Flames-style of eternal hope for me. Xenotaph pulled me back in by doing a deceptively simple thing: reintroducing attack. Everything about this record feels more immediate; guitars cut, compositions move with purpose, and songs are taut and sharp. The atmospheric elements remain, but they’re now integrated into something heavier and more immediate. I love the balance Fallujah finds, combining that late-Cynic energy with the aggression of brutal and technical death. And the deeper I got, the more Xenotaph rewarded me. Repetition revealed interlinked ideas and layered guitar work that shoots like a web throughout, creating a sinuous structure on which everything rests. As I wrote in my Record o’ the Month blurb, “Fallujah has achieved a conceptual evolution on Xenotaph that feels true to their origins and yet develops their sound in ways that make it accessible, and yet, truly unique.” It isn’t exactly br00tal death metal, but it’s not so drenched in “atmosphere” that it lacks tension. Most importantly, it worked.

#8: Scardust // Souls [July 18th, 2025 | Frontiers Records | Stream or Buy at Qobuz] — Scardust landing at number eight sans review is another casualty of my 2025 Stack o’ Shame, though this was less neglect than simple overextension in a year where too many heavy hitters landed at once. July, yo, what a month. Unfortunately, I missed the review window, then I missed the window to pawn it off responsibly, and by the time I circled back, it was late. However, Scardust’s third full-length is a sharp, confident 42 minutes of symphonic power/prog that feels fully aware and unique. While it doesn’t quite lock together as tightly as Strangers did at a conceptual and compositional level, Souls more than compensates for that with sheer craft. The orchestral and choral arrangements are some of the strongest I heard all year, and Scardust’s chemistry is ridonkulous. The rhythm section especially deserves accolades, with basswork that should be forcing its way into “best of” conversations. As a band, Scardust exists in the interstices of genre, where comparisons kind of work but can’t capture their unique voice. And while the band is impressive, the compositions feel so coherent because of Noa Gruman, who carries the album with control, range, and an incomparable soprano. Her extreme register (that is, growls) stays mostly holstered here, but her presence—and sheer talent—is on constant display, balancing different styles, moods, and feels. And her vocal performance isn’t the only standout vocal performance on Souls. The closing “Touch of Life” trilogy finds Ross Jennings (Haken) popping up in full “weird Ross” mode, which ends up as the cherry on top. The result is smart, muscular, and memorable; an album I’m ashamed to have missed.

#7: Aephanemer // Utopie [October 31st, 2025 | Napalm Records | Bandcamp] — Aephanemer’s Utopie landed, as I mentioned in my Record o’ the Month blurb, squarely at the top of my Stack o’ Shame. I was honored to be able to get access to this and start listening early, and I was immediately impressed. Yet, I got sick. Darkness took me, and I strayed out of thought and time, and stars wheeled overhead, and every day was as long as the life age of the earth. Meanwhile, Utopie sat there reminding me of my failures until Grin Reaper saved my ass and gave Aephanemer’s newest opus the unhinged tongue bath it so rightfully deserved. Utopie takes everything these French melodic death metallers have been doing over the past couple of albums and tightens the screws until the whole machine purrs with confidence. The neoclassical elements have become a perfect blend that helps everything work perfectly. Utopie flows; songs connect, ideas develop, momentum carries everything forward, and yet Aephanemer does not sacrifice the immediacy and energy that makes melodic death metal such a fine dopamine mine. While I haven’t sat down and learned the parts, I feel like the guitars are more fluid and more expressive, resulting in special melodies propelled by a buoyancy reflected in the theme. And you know me, what I want from great records is a holistic sense of greatness. Happily, Aephanemer accomplishes just that on Utopie. Had I been operating at full capacity when it dropped, I would have written a review that kids would call “extra.”¹⁶

#6: Insania // The Great Apocalypse [June 13th, 2025 | Frontiers Music | Stream or Buy on Qobuz] — The Great Apocalypse, contrary to its name, is sneaky. It doesn’t gallop in and smack you in the face with shock or novelty, but instead, it reveals its strength through confidence, craft, and an almost unfair level of replay value. What initially feels like—and has been so often written off as—a solid, familiar Europower record gradually opens up to be something richer and more rewarding. And it’s kept paying dividends the longer I’ve been sitting with it. Insania sounds, as I noted when I wrote the review, like a band fully aware of their lineage and completely at ease with it. But the truly confident understand themselves enough to think differently. The resulting record is full of massive, sticky hooks, choruses that hit with power metal optimism and momentum, and electrifying guitars throughout. In fact, while investigating their discography, I was struck by how much Insania upped their game on The Great Apocalypse. And key to that is the guitar, which elevates the record by resisting predictability and yet coexisting on a meta-level with the genre that they know so well. Songs evolve instead of looping, melodies get reshaped rather than repeated, and familiar ideas or tropes are nudged just enough off-center to stay engaging but familiar. The Great Apocalypse approaches with intention, and Insania performs like a band that’s rediscovering why they love playing this kind of music in the first place. This record is exhilarating, memorable, and deeply satisfying, which is why it belongs among these other great releases.

#5: Kalaveraztekah // Nikan Axkan [May 2nd, 2025 | Self-release | Bandcamp] — In what I’m pretty sure is a first for me, an Ünsïgnëd Bänd Rödëö contestant has made my Top Ten(ish) list. I’ve had plenty of unsigned bands on my lists, but I walked into Kalaveraztekah’s masterful Nikan Axkan utterly unprepared for what I would find. Like a kid buying music in the ’90s, I just looked at that amazing cover art and decided that I was going to join the team reviewing this record instead of the other one. And that twist of fate has earned Mexico’s finest Aztec-themed death metal band a spot on the End o’ Year Metal List o’ Record™.¹⁷ As I cleverly wrote in my Record o’ the Month blurb: “There’s no sense that these Hidrocálidos are some kind of novelty act. They aren’t a Mexican Eluveitie, just playing Dark Tranquillity riffs while putting a Ritual Death Flute over it for 40 seconds in every song.”¹⁸ Rather, Nikan Axkan is chock full of muscular riffing and the kind of grindy death metal that I’ve always associated with the Mexican scene. Combined with a high-concept connecting to Mexican pre-history and the judicious use of a fucking death flute, I just never quit listening to Nikan Axkan.¹⁹ And so here they are, in the Top 5 of my Top 10(ish) of 2025,²⁰ and it couldn’t be more deserved.

#4: Impureza // Alcázares [July 11th, 2025 | Season of Mist | Bandcamp] — I admit, I have tried to lead by example. I have attempted to become a servant leader. Rather than eating up a ton of oxygen and making everything actually about me (instead of just in jest) and what I want as Angry Metal Guy, I have, with time and wisdom, tried to allow others a chance to spread their wings. One of the things that means is that I can’t just bogart other writers’ “discoveries,” and I try not to block them if they grab something before I do.²¹ So, in that context, you’ll understand that I got pretty excited when I realized that I could review the newest Impureza without poaching it. The band’s approach to metal—infused with flamenco and semi-fantastical alternate-historical high concepts about colonial history—had entranced me previously, but I always felt like they were leaving a lot on the table. Their sound had not quite blended the flamenco and the metal, but rather, the genres sat side by side. Alcázares changes that. From start to finish, Alcázares is addictive, creative, musically impressive, and just a lot of fun. The artful ability of these Orléanais-via-España to marry such disparate styles with genuinely unique approaches to music that run as deeply as the very notion of meter is one of the most impressive feats accomplished in metal in 2025. But it’s not just a meta-concern of the artistic feat that excites me. Alcázares is a fucking banger that can stimulate your intellect, or that can leave your neck sore. Take your pick!²²

#3: Phantom Spell // Heather & Hearth [July 18th, 2025 | Cruz del Sur Music | Bandcamp] — Phantom Spell has the benefit of being a genuine surprise. My happy place, when I can afford to be there, is digging through the promo bin and listening to everything I can get my hands on. I have made so many fantastic discoveries there, just immersed in my own little world, listening to samples to get a feel of what we’re being sent. Heather & Hearth looked like classic Steel Druhmcore: Cruz del Sur Records, retro metal, D&D Basic Set art. I popped it in, got dragged in, and totally distracted from the rest of what I was doing. I know that this might seem incongruent, but Heather & Hearth sounds fresh. In a world of hypercompressed, hyper-reamped, extremer-than-thou metal, the act of writing good songs with tons of vocal harmonies, instruments that sit in their sonic corridors, and—despite being recorded by one single dude—a convincingly live vibe feels “like a radical act.”²³ I quickly grew to love Heather & Hearth, shared it with all the normies I know who love Ghost (“Isn’t this so much better?”), and began singing its praises. And I’ve been happy to see it popping up on lists throughout list season. It means a lot to me that people can hear just how good Phantom Spell is. And Phantom Spell also proved to be quite generative, in that I wrote the Spotify post as a response to a discussion about why Heather & Hearth wasn’t available there. Easily one of the best records I heard in 2025, and I’m looking forward to hearing so much more.

#2: In Mourning // The Immortal [August 29th, 2025 | Supreme Chaos Records | Bandcamp] — When a record is truly exceptional, the hardest part is often articulating why it has transcended other things without reducing it to a checklist. In Mourning’s fantastic The Immortal resists that kind of accounting in the best possible way. Its melodies are lush and emotionally evocative, capable of landing with equal force whether they’re carried by aching vocals or unfurled through long, expansive, yet intimate, trem-picked guitar passages. The riffing is punishing but disciplined, balancing weighty chug with sharper, blackened melodies, creating a constant tension between death metal heft and sadboi atmosphere without fully committing to drowning the production in reverb. And yet, none of this marks a radical departure from what In Mourning has done before—has been doing since 2008. The crucial difference here is in execution: every compositional choice seems to land exactly where it should be. In a sense, this calls attention to the role of probability, as much as inspiration or songcraft, in composition. Some records feel blessed from the outset, where one can go through the same process again and never produce the same results. The hooks here stick without feeling forced, climaxes are perfectly placed, and the pacing across the record gives each track room to breathe while contributing to the kind of flow reserved for only the best albums. Even moments that might feel familiar hit differently on The Immortal, like everything snaps into place. The Immortal succeeds, then, not just on craft but on feel: it feels heavier, sadder, and more resonant than its predecessors; and it stands comfortably among the strongest melodic death metal releases in years.

#1: Calva Louise // Edge of the Abyss [July 11th, 2025 | Mascot Records | Bandcamp] — Edge of the Abyss ran away with my listening this year in a way I genuinely don’t remember happening before, and that probably tells you most of what you need to know. The record is frantic, restless, and overloaded with ideas, moving between genres and feels with the speed of fast-cut editing; shifting at the drop of a dime. That both makes the record fun to listen to and keeps it surprising and fresh even after dozens of listens. The pace and density line up uncannily well with where my own brain tends to live, and I suspect that’s a part of why it lodged itself so firmly in my rotation. Calva Louise writes songs that feel driven by impulse and curiosity rather than caution or genre boundaries, and that creative energy and freedom are contagious. Jess Allanic’s pop instincts and melodic sense anchor the chaos, lending the lighter passages real emotional weight and memorability, rather than merely serving as connective tissue. Edge of the Abyss’s incorporation of Latin rhythmic elements and melodic sensibilities ended up also being a personal bonus; Latin music has been a refuge for me from musical monotony for years, and hearing them integrated naturally into Edge of the Abyss was exciting, and it generated affection for this wayward Venezuelan and her French and English bandmates. What really sealed the deal for me, though, was how committed the band sounds to its vision. The songwriting is ambitious and fun, but it doesn’t feel scattered. The album has a cinematic feel – complemented by literally cinematic music videos – but doesn’t feel bloated or melodramatic. And Calva Louise sports a swagger unique to bands who are just doing exactly what they want to be doing. Since July, I’ve kept coming back to Edge of the Abyss and forgetting I had even enjoyed other records this year. There’s a real sense of becoming here; of a band pulling its influences together into something that feels unique. And I also feel invested in Calva Louise in a way I haven’t been with many bands. I really am so happy to see them growing and succeeding. I love seeing them landing on people’s lists here and elsewhere. They have so much potential, and I am so eager to see what they do next. But should the worst befall them, I’ll always have Edge of the Abyss, and it already feels like an all-timer.

Honorable Mentions

Sarastus // Agony Eternal [July 1st, 2025 | Dominance of Darkness Records | Bandcamp] — Stolen from me by one Kenstrosity, Sarastus was a joyous discovery by me in the depths of the promo bin. One part black metal with a touch of death n’ roll for vibes, Agony Eternal strikes hard at modern conventions of black metal and sounds fresh by playing fast, unapologetic, engaging music with razor-sharp riffs. Melodic, without being sickly sweet or cheesy, with a ton of attack and great songwriting chops, Sarastus really threads the needle on Agony Eternal, making something that is driven and addictive, but undeniably black metal.

Wytch Hazel // V: Lamentations [July 4th, 2025 | Bad Omen | Bandcamp] — I’ve been back and forth with Wytch Hazel in the past. I have enjoyed what they do, but in the past I’ve been more skeptical of specifically nostalgiacore records that don’t feel like they’re adding much “new.” First, I think I’m just getting past that problem, as the “new” in metal is emphasizing things I don’t love about the scene. But second, I think V: Lamentations is just a more engaging record. From the word ‘go,’ Wytch Hazel writes with a kind of urgency that gives their brand of ’70s-tinged metal an extra kick, and the energy sits so well with me. Maybe the songwriting is just a bit tighter, maybe it’s faster, I don’t know—I didn’t write the proper review. All I know is that I keep circling back to Lamentations in a way that I haven’t done as much with their earlier albums. And that made it easy to put in the running for Listurnalia and to give my personal Angry Stamp o’ Approval™.

Mors Principium Est // Darkness Invisible [September 26th, 2025 | Perception/Reigning Phoenix Music | Stream or Buy on Qobuz] — Probably the grower of the year, Darkness Invisible surprised me by sticking around. When I started reviewing it, I expected not to like it much. I had been a big fan of the band’s previous output and of their former guitarist’s solo record from last year. But with familiarity—and time spent dissecting it—I became increasingly impressed with the album. While the production is busy and pulls it down, the writing forges a new path that better represents the vision of MPE’s founding member, Ville Viljanen. And that vision is bleak, blackened, and surprisingly sticky. No matter your opinion on the end of the previous incarnation, Darkness Invisible at least demonstrates that there is still a vital future for Finland’s most underrated melodic death metal powerhouse. And that’s a future to which I look forward.

Blackbraid // Blackbraid III [August 8th, 2025 | Self-release | Bandcamp] — I have a Gollumesque distaste for modern black metal. I am physically incapable of starting a review or blurb of a black metal band without reminding readers how much I hate “atmosphere” in the post-Cascadian black metal era. “Give it to us raw and wriggling!” I growl at all the fat hobbitses who try to feed me empty, overcooked “atmosphere.” Blackbraid doesn’t want to feed me atmosphere. Instead, Blackbraid’s III trembles with a vibe that brings me back to discovering black metal; at times blistering, at times introspective, but rarely overstaying its welcome and never feeling like its primary goal is to be the band that defanged black metal for good to make it okay to listen to for kids in the suburbs. I’ll be listening to III for a long time.

Tómarúm // Beyond Obsidian Euphoria — This record is too long. It’s got too much hype among the staff. And also, it’s too damned good to be an honorable mention. And yet, there are only so many #(ish)es, and I got to Beyond Obsidian Eurphoria too late to really give it the kind of sustained love that it needs to properly list. Still, once I started listening, I’ve been swinging past it every day. Sometimes twice. The songwriting is a bit wandering, the album is a bit overwhelming, and yet there is an undeniable vibe that Tómarúm traffics in, and that’s sneakily sticky. Combine that techy Death with something akin to Disillusion, and maybe you’ve got your comp. The only complaint I have is that some of the melodies end up intentionally arch in a way that makes me think that they are actively trying not to give the ear something to latch onto. That’s dumb, but it’s also very 2025. And hey, at least there’s a really easy trick for them to sell out with.

…and Oceans // The Regeneration Itinerary [May 23rd, 2025 | Season of Mist | Bandcamp] —The Regeneration Itinerary was a lot more controversial among fans than I expected, but I really enjoyed it. As I wrote in May, “It’s always fun to watch bands defy Angry Metal Guy’s Law of Diminishing Recordings™, and while The Regeneration Itinerary isn’t their best record yet, 30 years after their debut, …and Oceans is still releasing vital music that’s impossible to overlook.” And that’s just true facts as stated by a metal-knower. While not quite the tour de force of its predecessors, this record is a solid bit of weirdo black metal with some of the best art in the biz. I recommend it highly.

Haxprocess²⁴ // Beyond What Eyes Can See [July 25th, 2025 | Transcending Obscurity Records | Bandcamp] — Four songs, three of which are over 10 minutes long, and a combo of what I’d call post-Opeth songwriting with OSDM aesthetics, Beyond What Eyes Can See deserved more attention this year and ended up, instead, on my Stack o’ Shame™. This isn’t a reflection on them; they play vital death metal and deserve accolades for their expansive vision and the way everything flows. They just got eaten up by the July where everything got released. Sorry, boys, but here’s your fig leaf!

Majestica // Power Train [February 7th, 2025 | Nuclear Blast Records | Stream or Buy at Qobuz] — Back in like 2008, I saw a band called ReinXeed play a whole bunch of covers of Swedish dance/electronica “group” E-Type at a Culture Night in Umeå. I remember hearing from people in the local scene that they were “big in Japan,” and I listened to some stuff, but wasn’t super moved by it at the time. In 2019, ReinXeed changed their name to Majestica and got signed to Nuclear Blast. And damnit if they aren’t just a lot better than they were in 2008. Power Train, which is on our collective Stack o’ Shame™, is the band’s third full-length under the moniker, and it rocks the same kind of sickly sweet melodies, guitar gymnastics, and general sense of fun that makes power metal my go-to genre a lot of days. While not quite as sticky and addictive as some other things higher up the list, Power Train was a solid addition to the band’s discography and one of the better power records I heard this year. You’ve come a long way, baby!

Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail [April 18th, 2025 | Willowtip Records | Bandcamp] — While not as high on this record as others on the staff, Dormant Ordeal is undeniably vital. And I’m just never going to write a better blurb than I did when they got Record o’ the Month for April: “This record hits a sweet spot inside of me, best described as the ‘oh yeah, that’s how death metal is done’ spot. The riffs flow, and my brain just opens up the spigots, releasing a veritable tsunami of dopamine. Every riff that cuts, every transition that seethes, and every recognition of the slick, skilled ways that these guys construct songs, I get a nice big kick of that Happy Chemical. Tooth and Nail is dynamic, punishing, aggressive, and better yet, it’s smart.” Man, that guy can write!

Aversed // Erasure of Color [March 25th, 2025 | M-Theory Audio | Bandcamp] — Last, and I guess technically least – but that isn’t taking into account that there were like 10,000 albums released in 2025 and there are only like 25 on this list – is Aversed’s Erasure of Color. Part of the reason for its late arrival is that, despite being our Record o’ the Month for March, Erasure of Color didn’t actually make it onto my personal playlist until quite a bit later. And damn, that was kind of a big miss on my part. Great melodeath with a unique flavor and great intensity; there’s something thoughtful and sharp about this record. Combine that with excellent album art and the Dolphin Whisperer seal of approval, and Erasure of Color has everything fans of melodeath need to carry them through this wasteland. I will need to keep my eyes on Aversed going forward.

The post Angry Metal Guy’s Top Ten(ish) of 2025 appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.

What have I ever done to make you treat me so disrespectfully? If you’d come to me in friendship, then this music that will ruin your eardrums and cause your grandchildren to yell while they try to communicate with you would already have been yours. And, if, by chance, honest people like yourselves made enemies, they would become my enemies—and they would fear you.

Someday, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, accept this Record(s) o’ the Month as a gift on my daughter’s wedding day.¹

One of metal’s true titans, Paradise Lost has been at this for 40 years and 17 albums. A band with eras, Paradise Lost’s tenure has not been without its ebbs. Yet Ascension [out September 19th, 2025, from Nuclear Blast Records (buy on Bandcamp)] offers fans something old and new again, and truly lifts the band’s modern sound through synthesis. Rather than simply rehashing the classics, Ascension assembles the different pieces of the band’s legacies into something powerful, catchy, and—as counterintuitive as it seems—novel. It would be wrong to say that Paradise Lost has “never sounded so vital,” but they haven’t previously presented such a simultaneously diverse and powerful vision of their sound. Both Steel Druhm and Grymm were blown away by Ascension’s ability to balance the different veins of their sound and feel united and unique. What Druhm gushed is true: “It’s rare a band as long in the tooth as Paradise Lost uncorks a late career album that can stand among the giants in their catalogue, but Ascension is one such slippery aberration.”² And Grymmothy concurs: “Who would have thought,” he wondered aloud after crooning in amazement at this accomplishment of metal, “that by reaching into their vault of classic albums, they would not only put together something fresh and timeless, but also make a strong case for one of their best ever?”

Hegel, that’s who.

Runner(s) Up:

Vittra // Intense Indifference [September 19th, 2025 | Self-release | Bandcamp] — Melodic death metal might be gasping for air in 2025, but Sweden’s Vittra just kicked the respirator across the room and screamed “MOTHERFUCKER LET’S GO!” Intense Indifference clocks in at a tight 33 minutes of thrashy, riff-driven melodeath that remembers the genre was born to move heads, not cry into beards.³ With the manic energy of a band stuck in rural Västmanland and the chops to back it up, Vittra threads the needle between At the Gates’ aggression, Soilwork’s slickness, and the fretboard fireworks of Mors Principium Est. Yet somehow, these weirdos slip in honkytonk piano, bluesy acoustic passages, and enough BDE to make your mom blush. As I papified Pure Divine Doctrine and a Universal Truth for which all dissenters and deviants shall be roundly punished: “Vittra reminds us that melodic death metal still slaps when it remembers to be metal. Intense Indifference might be short, but it’s sharp, hooky, and very, very good.”⁴ Short album, long replay life.

Igorrr // Amen [September 19th, 2025 | Metal Blade Records | Bandcamp] — For nearly twenty years, Gautier Serre has been metal’s reigning mad scientist, blending breakcore, baroque, and blastbeats into something that shouldn’t work but absolutely does. Amen refines the chaos without sanding off the edges, finding full-band-Igorrr firing on every cylinder. Dear Hollow probably crossed someone’s personal boundaries while calling it “a reaffirmation of Serre’s genius/insanity,” but even if he’s sitting too close, that’s the right take. Amen balances absurdity, heaviness, and sophistication with freakish precision. From the orchestral depth to the cartoonish detours of “Mustard Mucous” and “Blastbeat Falafel,” it’s dense, manic, and meticulously constructed. There’s no other band that can make so much noise feel this purposeful or fun. Returning to Dear Hollow’s (only?) vaguely inappropriate public tongue-bathing of Igorrr,⁵ let’s round this off: “Amen is a reaffirmation of Igorrr’s batshit and fun-loving genius, as well as a new step forward: haunting, brutal, and otherworldly in a way that we can take seriously.”

Mors Principium Est // Darkness Invisible [September 26th, 2025 | Perception/Reigning Phoenix Music | No Bandcamp because labels hate their fans] — Eight albums deep and still shredding like they’ve got something to prove, Mors Principium Est returns with Darkness Invisible, a darker, heavier, and more cinematic take on Finnish melodeath. With founding guitarists Jori Haukio and Jarkko Kokko back in the fold, the band taps into its early DNA while pushing toward symphonic density and blackened aggression. In my factual recitation of truths about the world, I referred to Darkness Invisible as “a record that sounds darker and denser than the glossy sheen of Seven,” and incidentally, I’m right; this is ambitious melodeath with a subtly addictive feel, even though the mix sometimes threatens to collapse under its own weight, and Darkness Invisible is a bold reset for Mors Principium Est. I wasn’t going to include this here, but the more I listen to it, the more I like it.⁶ And more importantly, the more I spin it, the better I think it is. While it does struggle with production, its Bodomesque guitarwork and orchestral ambitions make it sneakily addictive.

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The occupational hazard of reviewing music is a fixation on novelty. At a certain point, you have heard the same riffs so many times that you can fall asleep to even the most unhinged blast attack. This bias should raise problems for a band like Ofermod, known for playing black metal of the most orthodox variety. This two-man Swedish black metal act stands tall as a beacon of Luciferian black metal in the tradition of Ondskapt, Watain, and the legendary Dissection. Back in 2012,¹ Madam X heaped praise upon the band’s sophomore release Thaumiel, which I made the Record o’ the Month. Again in 2017,² Grier was overjoyed to heap more praise on Sol Nox. And now, 13 years after the release of Thaumiel,³ Ofermod is back with Drakosophia, testing once again what’s more important: novelty or execution.

Black metal hasn’t changed much, and neither has Ofermod. Minimalist and kinetic, Drakosophia is the vision of second-wave black metal. Blasting drums, tremelo-picked guitars, with every guitar melody descending in sinister half steps. There’s something almost meditative about this music when it hits its stride, and listening to it feels like sitting in the eye of a hurricane, watching the twisting wind and water around you. Ofermod is a two-man band, driven almost entirely by Belfagor, who, despite forming the band in the 90s, put out his debut full-length in 2008 due to ongoing periods in prison. There has been a rotating cast of band members, but current vocalist Adeptus makes his debut appearance here on Drakosophia. Together, Ofermod’s sound is not so different from what it was on Thaumiel. And therefore, it relies almost entirely on strong songs and convincing performances to demonstrate quality.

Drakosophia shows its strength as it unfolds, gaining momentum the deeper it goes. My least favorite song on the record may be the opener “Aichah Kandisha,” which grinds like 1349 rather than grooves like Ofermod. But as the album progresses, things start to feel more familiar: there’s groovy riffs that beg for synchronized guitar swinging (“Drakosophia,” “Belialistic Gra’al Codex”); there’s lightning-picked melodies that no one could ever describe as “slick” or “melodic,” but that nonetheless burrow into your brain and stick there (“The Painful Movers,” “Vinyards of Gomorrah”); there’s Adeptus’ vocal performance, which has a Dim Mak-like rhythmic tendency to at once feel like it’s in line with the music and also slightly detached from it, lending a sense of chaos. And despite a good A-side, the real quality kicks off with “Zazas Zazas Nasatanada Zazas,” which is a partially hilarious and partially entrancing track with a chorus that is unforgettable.⁴ It’s here, and in “Belialistic Gra’al Codex” and “Sister Acolyte,” where the sense of what it means to be “orthodox” in black metal comes through. Melodic chanting sets the table in a way that gives Ofermod a unique—and slightly disconcerting—ritualistic feel.

The result is a record where everything flows towards an epic conclusion (“The Painful Movers”) while sounding great. Drakosophia clocks in at 45 minutes, almost exactly—perfect for the Angry Metal Attention Span—and leaves you wanting more. But the other thing that truly stands out about Drakosophia is that it sounds genuinely good. The drums from the Austrian guest drummer Florian Musil sound as good as any drums I’ve heard in black metal in a long time. Not only can Florian really play, Devo Andersson—who has produced every Ofermod record⁵—has clearly mastered the art of producing black metal that sounds acoustic. Drakosophia sounds natural and live, while still being punishingly heavy. Nothing feels re-amped or replaced, even though that’s almost certainly not true in 2025. It’s worth noting that Andersson also played bass on the album, and in that, he did himself a disservice by mixing it a bit low.

Ofermod’s Drakosophia feels like a proof of concept that what matters is how well you execute your vision, not how much you push the envelope. While I do think that Ofermod’s sound is unique—embracing the ritualistic choirs and chanting and living in groove rather than grind, are things that not a lot of bands are doing in black metal—they have not remade black metal. And yet, Belfagor has riffs and a feel for black metal orthodoxy that reminds me of the execution of the first three Taake records. And while other bands play black metal, Ofermod feels different. Like dinner with Hannibal Lecter, there’s something both deadly serious and disarmingly charming about Drakosophia. Combine that unease with riffs, excellent production, and perfect pacing, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for success.

Rating: Very Good!
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s CBR MP3
Label: Shadow Records
Websites: Bandcamp | facebook.com/OfermodOfficial | instagram.com|ofermodofficial
Releases Worldwide: October 3rd, 2025

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Mors Principium Est should, for longtime fans of Angry Metal Guy, need no introduction. Since 2003, these Finns have released eight full-length albums of top-notch melodic death metal. However, they really took flight in 2012 with …and Death Said Live!, which coincidentally is a year after Andy Gillion joined the band. Between 2011 and 2021, Mors produced melodic death metal that drew heavily on a strong Gothenburg vibe; guitar-forward, slick as fuck, and fun to listen to. Gillion was fired, however, in 2021. That was followed by the band releasing an album of re-recorded songs called Liberate the Unborn Inhumanity, which fans largely considered a half-measure. Darkness Invisible, then, marks the first truly new material since Seven. And I’ve been dying to know how this revamped Mors Principium Est would navigate the changes on album number nine.

Darkness Invisible presents a recognizable core sound that longtime fans will connect with, but its character reflects the shift in the lineup. With Ville Viljanen’s scathing roar still at the helm, the return of Jori Haukio and Jarkko Kokko on guitars reintroduces the early 2000s songwriting DNA, while bassist Teemu Heinola and (new guy) Marko Tommila give the rhythm section both drive and dynamic weight. Together, they summon a melodeath that is at once cinematic, technical, and blackened—evoking countrymen Children of Bodom or Kalmah. The themes that emerge are darker than before: a push toward massive symphonic density that occasionally brushes against Septic Flesh’s deathly grandeur, the arrival of deeper guttural vocals that tilt passages toward brutal death, and flashes of blackened riffing that lend a sharp edge. These elements intermingle across the album, creating a record that is both familiar and ambitious.

Much of Darkness Invisible’s character comes from its dark dynamics and cinematic presentation. The compositions weaponize contrast in vocals and atmosphere, making for a dynamic and entertaining record. Viljanen’s familiar bark remains the anchor of MPE’s sound, but the band now folds in cavernous gutturals that push closer to death metal extremity (“Summoning the Dark”), even contrasting these with operatic cleans and producing a clash of brutality and grandeur (“All Life Is Evil”). Additionally, there’s a frost that creeps into the riffs and drumming, with trem-picked riffs and blastbeats sharpening the band’s melodeath foundation toward something blackened and sinister (see: the chorus of “Venator,” or the end of “The Rivers of Avernus”). And even the more straightforward cuts employ these textures to broaden their weight, layering symphonic swells and bleak grandeur over increasingly technical riffing. The result is a record that sounds darker and denser than the glossy sheen of Seven. This expansion lends ambition and menace, though the density of choirs, gutturals, and orchestrations sometimes threatens to swamp the guitars that were the core of Mors’ sound.

For all its ambition, Darkness Invisible’s major drawback is that it’s undermined by an Industry Standard Production Job™ courtesy of Jens Bogren (mixing) and Tony Lindgren (mastering). Bogren has made dense orchestral metal soar before—think how cleanly he’s wrangled maximalist arrangements for acts like Fleshgod Apocalypse and Turisas—which makes this result unusual. The record is mastered loud and layered thick; climaxes hit hard,¹ but the constant stacking of choirs, vocals, multiple guitar tracks, drums, and orchestration often clutters the field and can bury the guitars that most recently defined Mors Principium Est. On a proper stereo, the album sounds big and sinister—fully loaded with dynamics, pomp, and grandeur—but on earbuds and smaller setups, it can collapse into a busy blur. It’s been a long time since I popped in a new release and found it simply too crowded for casual listening—and it ends up being fatiguing to the ear at times. That busyness contributes to the album’s oppressive mood, but it also blunts individual performances. In reaching for monumental scale, the mix trades away clarity, leaving the listener torn between admiration for scope and frustration at execution.

Darkness Invisible has convinced me that this lineup can carry Mors Principium Est forward. The shift in sound works: the band leans harder into Children of Bodom and Dark Tranquillity on the melodic side, showing off fantastic guitar work while embracing a more cinematic and melodramatic identity. Without the bonus track, the album lands at a vinyl-friendly 46 minutes, and its structural pacing—variations in tempo, atmosphere, and density—make it a fun and dynamic listen despite the crowded mix. Darkness Invisible doesn’t bear much resemblance to the Gillion era, but that’s not necessarily a weakness.² This darker and more melodramatic Mors Principium Est feels fresh, and tracks like “All Life Is Evil” and “The Rivers of Avernus” prove the style’s promise. So, I entered this review with concerns about what a Gillion-less Mors Principium Est would sound like, and I’m leaving it impressed and excited for what’s to come. I would call that a great success.

Rating: Very Good!
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s CBR MP3
Label: Perception [Reigning Phoenix Music]
Websites: Facebook | Instagram
Out Worldwide: September 26th, 2025

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Two months ago, I saw a post on social media announcing Vittra’s sophomore album, Intense Indifference. The name struck me as funny. “A bit like a Radical Neutrality Party¹ or my side-project Exaggerated Understatement,” I quipped quippily while jonesing for that sweet rush of dopamine that comes along with likes. But once my fix was had, I hastily forgot about them. As luck would have it, in this age when melodic death metal releases are few, far between, and often so drenched in reverb that it’s hard to remember that this band is playing death metal, Vittra was my only choice for a melodic death metal record this week. And so, the obvious, hacky hook for which I would shame a n00b needs to be asked: “Is it just a clever name?”

Vittra—hailing from Kolbäck, Sweden (population 2,108)—plays a very Swedish style of death metal. From the opening minutes, Vittra impresses with sticky hooks, thrashy energy, and the kind of melodic death that I associate with bands like Æther Realm, Mors Principium Est, or Xoth more than the stylings of the Insomnia or Omnia Gathera of the world. Vittra benefits from the sense that they are young, hungry, and probably deeply bored in the middle of nowhere in Västmanland. And so, in those long dark winter nights, they have sharpened their riffs, their hooks, and developed a manic energy. And Intense Indifference is 33 minutes of the sharpest riffs, the best harmonies, and a caged animal energy that reminds listeners that Kreator is better than Anthrax.²

Intense Indifference is a record with impeccable energy—unimpeachable vibes. Calling back to the legendary “GO!” on “Slaughter of the Soul,” opener “MOFO” kicks off with a not-yet-legendary, but pretty rad, “MOTHERFUCKER LET’S GO!” that sets the table. And these motherfuckers don’t let up once they get going. Each song on here oozes with the energy and hunger of a young band with a love of riffs and guitar-driven, thrashtastic death metal. From the Dark Tranquillity riffs of “Reign Supreme,” Soilwork’s slick sensibilities on “Burn(h)er,” or a bit of Carnosus/Black Dahlia Murder on “The Leap,” you can go through and pick out all the ways that they synthesize the best of what melodic death has given us over the last 30 years and cooked it down into something you want to freebase.

But Vittra’s vibe offers a unique flavor that works well here, while providing ample promise for the future. These guys seem to have a deep appreciation for Americana, classic rock ‘n’ roll, and blues. And while I struggle with that stuff myself, somehow these Swedish weirdos make it work. “Transylvanian Buffet” transports you to the honkytonk on the piano, while Johan Murmester and new guitarist Lars Elofsson genuinely impress with acoustic blues on “Soul Searcher.” And throughout, there are moments when hard turns toward blue notes or start-and-stop writing evoke the genre’s influence on Megadeth or AC/DC.³ These bits are few and far between, but they keep things creative and fresh, and you can bet your ass that there’s a lot of room for growth around them in the future.

The problem with Intense Indifference is that it flies by too quickly. At 33 minutes, 2:06 of which is spent on a cover of Slayer’s classic “Piece by Piece,” the record definitely fits within the 45-minute rule. But so little original music (covers don’t count, dudes) is a bit of a disappointment, given that the quality on here is stellar. Between the band’s two albums, they don’t even have a headlining set. And that’s a shame, because they have the kind of swagger we all love. And since the album sounds great, thanks to a Simon Johansson (Wolf, Memory Garden, now apparently Soilwork) recording, a Johan Murmester (Vittra) production, and a Lawrence Mackrory (FKÜ, Blackscape) mastering job, the listener wants more. And not just more bass.⁴ More great thrashy melodeath goodness!

Intense Indifference may be a kind of stupid name, but it’s also a better-than-kinda-good record, and the band is clearly better than this record. Right now, this slots easily into Listurnalia considerations and is one of the better melodic death metal records I’ve heard in a while. Sure, if you’re allergic to Slaughter of the Soul, you might call it tired.⁵ But I just call it very, very good.

LET’S FUCKIN’ GO!

Rating: Very Good!
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s CBR MP3
Label: Self-released
Websites: Vittra Official | Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram
Out Worldwide: September 19th, 2025

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WE DID IT! WE’RE #1! WE’RE #1! USA! USA! USA! USA! BOOORTLES!!!

Angry Metal Guy didn’t yet exist when I got into In Mourning. In 2008, I got caught in the hype machine for a little record called Shrouded Divine. Following its release in 2008, the band went through a period when it felt like they were still establishing an identity, but in recent years, In Mourning has been on a low-key tear. While both 2019’s Garden of Storms and 2021’s The Bleeding Veil were very good records, In Mourning has outdone themselves on The Immortal [Bandcamp], which was released August 29th, 2025, from Supreme Chaos Records. Without mincing words, The Immortal is clearly the band’s best record since its debut, and I would submit that it’s the best melodeath record since Insomnium’s Winter’s Gate.

When faced with an exceptional record, it can sometimes be difficult to explain exactly why it’s exceptional.³ The melodies are beautiful and rich, hitting you right in the feels whether carried by voice (“Silver Crescent”) or on trem-picked guitars (“As Long as the Twilight Stays”). The riffs are punishing with a good balance of chug (“The Sojourner”) and trem (“Staghorn”), resulting in something that alternates between death and black in feel, if not in orthodoxy. These slight evolutions of sound help to keep In Mourning’s approach fresh, but it’s here that the dark matter of composition can be deduced, but not directly observed. None of this is totally novel in the band’s sound. But sometimes shit just works. There’s a lot of work that goes into writing. And no matter how good you are, not every minor key melody you write is going to be a tear-jerker, not every chunky riff is going to be quite as hooky or head-bangable as others, not every closer is going to be a Song o’ the Year candidate like “The Hounding”. But sometimes, you just keep rolling natural 20s.

The Immortal feels like one of those records blessed by the Metal Gods. Things that aren’t so different from what has gone before, but it all just hits a little harder. This makes The Immortal unquestionably one of the best records released in 2025, and everyone around here agrees with Kenstrosity’s eminently reasonable—arguably even understated—take that “with The Immortal, In Mourning further solidifies its status as an elite act in the melodeath pantheon.” The Immortal is on par with the best records in the genre,⁴ and “you owe it to yourself to hear it.” I think he underrated it.

Runner(s) Up:

Blackbraid // Blackbraid III [August 8th, 2025 | Self-release | Bandcamp] — Black metal is not an easy genre to make vital in the Year of Angry Metal Overlord 2025. But Blackbraid has a sound that feels vital. There’s a no bullshit intensity that Sgah’gahsowáh brings with III’s blast beats, croaks, and the trem-picked wall of sound that brings me back to falling in love with Emperor. Like the very best black metal, however, Blackbraid is not afraid of dropping into groove and synchronized-guitar-swing-friendly riffing that makes the blasts hit harder. There’s also something undeniably slick about Blackbraid. Digging through the potential standout albums from August, I kept coming back to III, because it gives me the things that I love about black metal: the intensity, the feel, the Ulveresque atmosphere without the obvious plagiarism. And it accomplishes this while avoiding the traps of so many modern black metal bands. As Doom_et_al so aptly summed it up: “Blackbraid III is everything a fan of either the band or this style of music could want. Like the land that inspires it, it is infused with violence and beauty and complexity. But it’s the ability to combine these disparate concepts with epic scope and intense vulnerability that sets it apart.” Say what you will, Blackbraid III is a real accomplishment.

Farseer // Portals to Cosmic Womb [August 22nd 2025 | Self-release | Bandcamp] — Farseer has its roots in stoner and sludge, and my eyes just shut of their own accord while I wrote that. So, it should come as no surprise to you that a self-released stoner/sludge release didn’t exactly jump off the page at me when reading about it. But thanks to some fine writing by Tyme and a well-placed bundle of cash in my freezer, I gave Portals to Cosmic Womb another listen. And another listen. And another listen. Turns out, these cats have some riffs in them. When their soupy riffs hit, they hit with the kind of splat that kills. Portals to Cosmic Womb has a drive that adds life to the thick guitar sound and the not-particularly-complex riffs, and for 39 minutes, it holds the listener in its grip without breaking a sweat. Our very own Tyme waxed poetic about Portals to Cosmic Womb, writing, “Farseer basting in their creative juices over the past six years has resulted in a vastly improved product, as Portals to Cosmic Womb shatters any notions of a sophomore slump. As if constructed from a blueprint of Opethic design, Farseer crafted Portals to Cosmic Womb with a near effortless flow. Its six songs—spanning a very manageable forty minutes—find Farseer merging the best parts of meandering instrumentals into rock-solid compositions that, like spring and neap tides, rise and fall with dramatic intensity.” Yeah, he’s saying it’s really good, y’all. Keep up!

Anchorite // Realm of Ruin [August 1st, 2025 | Personal Records | Bandcamp] — Anchorite is one of those bands that I shouldn’t be expected to like. The blues-infused doom roots here are strong, and yet, Realm of Ruin makes a surprisingly convincing case for itself. As is often the case when working with doom metal, the vocalist tends to drive whether a band is good or bad. In this case, Leo Stivala does a great job of balancing the aesthetics of Metal Voice™ and actually being able to sing with power. He’s got a pretty keen sense for melody, and his performance stands out. With that in place, Anchorite’s riffmeisters get to work writing a solid post-Candlemass doom that hits a place in my sadboi soul when I listen to it. And yet, part of what makes Realm of Ruin work is that it’s also surprisingly immediate at times. There’s a vibe like US power metal or thrash metal that suffuses the whole album, and with its unique production—that snare drum actually feels punchy, guys, so that’s weird—and its idiosyncratic songwriting, it all starts to feel special. Serial overrater and all-around softy Steely D put it like this: “Realm of Ruin is one of those albums you enjoy on the first go-through, and with each spin, it reveals more of itself until you’re fully submerged in the band’s craftwork. Anchorite has writing chops, and Realm of Ruin is an immersive stroll through the ruins with moments of genuine brilliance and grandeur.” So, there’s that.

The post Record(s) o’ the Month – August 2025 appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.

I told you that Calva Louise’s most recent opus—entitled Edge of the Abyss [Bandcamp] and out July 11th, 2025, from Mascot Records—was going to be my most controversial Record o’ the Month since Our Oceans.² I don’t think it should be, of course. I think it should be appreciated for the fascinating blend of genres that it represents, as well as the talent—and sheer drive—of a band that truly has dragged itself through the dregs of a dying music industry with an incredible DIY ethic to produce a kick ass record with a gorgeous and powerful blend of ideas. Edge of the Abyss is an act of becoming, a sketch, a step towards finally getting one’s vision down on paper, tape, or film. It’s adventurous, thoughtful, beautiful, and diverse—an invigorating assemblage of ideas ranging from groovecore to Viennese classical to música llanera, spanning the globe and decades for inspiration. It’s music that is truly progressive, if not overly technical. But setting that aside, Edge of the Abyss just works. The fragments have a cinematic feel that the band carries through to its visual profile, with strong songwriting and a cinematic universe that they have been trying to bring into being for four albums. As an overly excited Me Myself gushed to anyone who would listen: “Some records sound big, and some records feel big. Edge of the Abyss does both. It feels big because it has ideas, and it succeeds because it commits to those ideas with zero regard for genre gatekeeping or scene politics. It’s weird, catchy, and gleefully sophisticated, with every song bringing something unique to the table. Every idea and every arrangement counts. It’s a banger parade,” and it’s a promise that there’s so much more to come.

A special note: Calva Louise will be going on their first headlining tour of the US this September [find dates and tickets]. Go see them and tell them that Angry Metal Guy sent you.

Runner(s) Up:

Sarastus // Agony Eternal [July 1st, 2025 | Dominance of Darkness Records | Bandcamp] — One of the best things about being Angry Metal Guy is being able to ask people during arguments which of us has “the eponymous website that hundreds of thousands of people visit monthly.” A close second is discovering shit that no one has heard of and throwing it into the chat, all “Oh, Grier, you need to check out Sarastus! Great black metal without the label atmospheric anywhere near it!” Because I knew from the word go that Agony Eternal was something special and whatever It is, Sarastus has It in spades.³ There’s a specific vibe here that reminds me not just of the sound of late-90s/early-00s melodic black metal, but the feel—hungry, heavy, and addictive. Sarastus doesn’t lean away from attack, but neither do these Finns just blanket the world in blast beats; they find strength in diversity and slick songwriting. Agony Eternal is the kind of record that reminds you of why black metal was such a vital gateway to extreme metal once upon a time. Fast, heavy, extreme, and melodic, it evokes the exact feeling that I need from my black metal: Agony Eternal. And I wasn’t alone, an excited, nimble-fingered Kenfrenstrosity swiped Sarastus from both Myself and Grier, and then rode that hype machine over the cliff like a Once and Future King: “Agony Eternal is a nonstop party. With almost poppy energy, Sarastus captured with remarkable simplicity and undeniable effectiveness the passion and conviction that made black metal of this kind a sensation. But I hear more than just black metal purism. I hear a confident, exuberant soul rooted in rock n’ roll rebellion, forged in timeless techniques, and steeped in metallic traditions across the spectrum.” Sarastus, Life of the Party!

Impureza // Alcázares [July 11th, 2025 | Season of Mist | Bandcamp] — When it comes to inventive ways to make your death metal cooler, Impureza has one of my favorites. The blending of flamenco—one of the world’s coolest non-metal styles of music—and death metal is a hard row to hoe, but somehow these French death metallers have gotten the balance right. This wasn’t always the case, but Alcázares is the perfect refinement of what was already a pretty well-developed idea. What’s fun is that Impureza has started taking on an almost melodic death feel at times, reminiscent of Æeternam at their best.⁴ But there’s a brutality evocative of the era in death metal history when Black Seeds of Vengeance was considered to be the peak of death metal evolution. And at this point, I’m just fucking here for all of it. In My Frothy Excitement, I sandblasted the Internet with words: “Alcázares is Impureza at their most ambitious: historically immersed, sonically expansive, blasphemous, and super into alternative histories of colonialism.⁵ Alcázares is a violent, poetic invocation of Spain’s medieval imagination, and it sports an enchanting vibe that recalls some of the best records I own. Seven years of development resulted in a record full of tight riffs, beautiful guitar work, intense compositions, and somehow a Necromancer. I would say that I hope to see something from them soon, but I’m happy to wait another seven years for another record of this quality.” Enjoy ov Orphaned-Land-Sized Breaks between Albums. I’ll be ready for you to blow my mind again in 2032.

Phantom Spell // Heather & Hearth [July 18th, 2025 | Cruz del Sur Music | Bandcamp] — Phantom Spell was a real surprise for me. Sometimes you go into a record knowing you like the band. But Phantom Spell, I wouldn’t have looked twice at it if I hadn’t just clicked play on the promo. And man, it’s risky having a 12-minute track as the opener for your album. But that’s the kind of risk that Kyle McNeill takes and, honestly, it paid off. I knew Heather & Hearth was going to be quality when I bobbed my head through the whole 11 minutes and 51 seconds of “The Autumn Citadel,” only to look up and realize it was 11 minutes and 51 seconds long. And that’s the trick with Heather & Hearth; it catches you off guard. Whether it’s the organ tones stolen directly from The Snow Goose, the guitar solos that taste like shag carpet, or the vocal harmonies that make Mikael Åkerfeldt jelly, everything works to perfection while sounding great. Rather than feeling like nostalgiacore, Phantom Spell feels authentic, powerful, and is a truly addictive listen. As I babbled as loudly as anyone would allow me: “This is a great record, and the only thing left for Heather & Hearth to prove is that it has staying power. From the opening ‘bew bew bews’ of the organs, to the *insert nature sounds here* that close the album out, Heather & Hearth is a triumphant exploration of songwriting from a different time. Phantom Spell makes me genuinely long for a time when it would have been impossible for Phantom Spell—a solo project—to exist. And that’s an amazing success.”

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Månegarm’s arc explains how we got here. From Havets vargar (2000) to Nattväsen (2009), Månegarm was among the hardest-hitting of the folk metal vanguard. They blended black metal’s blasting intensity with violin counterpoint (and solos), and Erik Grawsiö’s gravel-throated roar. But following Nattväsen, Månegarm underwent a serious change. With the departure of their violinist and bassist, Grawsiö moved to bass, but more importantly, they emerged with a retooled sound. By 2013’s Legions of the North, Månegarm had begun shaping themselves towards something more akin to Amon Amarth’s mid-paced crunch than the blastful abandon of their black metal roots. Edsvuren continues the same trajectory, letting the flames burn low rather than trying to rekindle the blaze; content to let the embers glow.

When the wind blows right, however, Månegarm’s fire burns bright. When these Swedes go heavy, the results are still vital—some of the best metal they’ve released in years. The opening trifecta demonstrates this: “I skogfruns famn” brims with trem-picked harmonies, fiddle, and melodies and pacing that evoke Isengard or Lumsk. “Lögrinns värn” picks up the pace and builds on Amon Amarthian heft, while “En Blodvittneskrans”—one of the album’s standout tracks—crackles with surprisingly punk-inflected drumming and tremelos that transport me to Bjoergvin. On the album’s back half, we again find heavy tracks that brim with harmonic minor riffing, fantastic vocal harmonies, and creative songwriting. “Skild från hugen” stretches into a seven-minute epic, weaving gallops, fiddle, and a doomy interlude where Elinor Videfors’ smoky alto helps to elevate the song. While “Likgökens fest” follows with another blast of urgency. In these moments, Månegarm is vibrant and confident, with a powerful sound and presence.

Much of Edsvuren, however, lives in the embers. Acoustic folk tracks like “Rodhins hav,” “Till gudars följe,” and “I runor ristades orden” aren’t filler; they’re beautiful. The production places each acoustic strum and hand drum with care, and Videfors’ voice adds a crystalline, haunting quality. Ancient and evocative, these songs are built on droning harmonies and modal folk melodies. And they sound great. In listening to these, I’m reminded of Panopticon’s Laurentian Blue, folk music with fiddle and a deep melancholy.³ The problem is proportion. Nearly half the record lives in this slower, acoustic, or mid-paced heavy space. And when stacked back-to-back (“Rodhins hav” through “Hör mitt kall,” and then again in the closing pair of songs), the album sputters. At 51 minutes, Edsvuren isn’t overlong, but there are moments when the pacing lengthens the album.

The vocals provide the oxygen that keeps Edsvuren burning, showcasing some of the finest arrangements Månegarm has ever recorded. Grawsiö’s extreme vocals remain commanding, but it’s his cleans—gravelly and full,⁴ at times evoking throat singing—that unite Edsvuren. The interplay with the guest vocalists—Elinor Videfors, Grawsiö’s daughter Lea on “I skogfruns famn”—is well balanced. And at its best, the record gives the impression that you’re sitting around the campfire and listening to them sing. Choruses bloom into layers of voices that feel almost ritualistic—but at least communal—and are balanced expertly in the mix (“Till gudars följe”). There’s an almost Finntrollian playfulness in the vocal arrangements at times (again, “Till gudars följe”), while at other times the harmonies are clinically tight like harmonic minor Bad Religion or early Soen. Even when the riffs tread familiar ground—or the album feels like it’s slowing down too much—the vocals continually elevate compositions and keep me hooked.

Edsvuren is an album that’s easy to like, but tricky to love. But I can say with confidence that it’s my favorite Månegarm since the Napalm run began in 2013. The heavy material is vital, energetic, and it reminds me of why I fell in love with these Swedish wolves to begin with. The folk songs and feel are brittle and beautiful, and give the album character and variety. Unfortunately, the overall balance of the record leans a little too hard into mid-tempo riffs, rock feels rather than blastbeats, and acoustic folk music—resulting in pacing that makes it feel less than the sum of its Very-Good!-to-Great! parts. I enjoy the songs, I admire the craft, but taken as a whole, they leave Edsvuren a little low on bite. Edsvuren may not spark anew Månegarm’s flames, but it tends the embers—keeping them warm enough for fellowship, beer, and song.

Rating: Good!
DR: N/A | Format Reviewed: Stream⁵
Label: Napalm Records
Websites: linktr.ee/manegarmofficial | manegarm.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: August 29th, 2025

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You guys remember that time when we had a big kerfuffle with the guy who produced The Flesh Prevails? That’s the last time that I can clock that a Fallujah record really hit home for me. As much as I adored their debut, Fallujah’s post-gettin’-big material has largely left me cold. I’m not even sure I remember listening to 2022’s Empyrean until prepping for this. Xenotaph—out June 13th, 2025, from Nuclear Blast Records [Bandcamp]—is different. With a vibe that screams Traced in Air, but with a willingness to push into the realms of death metal that made Fallujah a household name,¹ Xenotaph hits genuinely different. Sounding something more akin to reunion-era Cynic works for them because it’s technically appealing, it’s melodically sexy, and it doesn’t undermine their strengths. It enhances them. While The Harvest Wounds did have a vaguely atmospheric backing, the guitars and drums had bite, and the whole album didn’t have the dreamlike quality that came to define their follow-ups. While the increasingly atmospheric vibe undermined the band’s sound for me, Xenotaph—which features more guitar attack than any record of theirs since their debut, probably—benefits from the dreamy qualities, giving it a surreal, progressive feel that flows with the album art, the dynamic vocal performances, and interesting composition. Yet, the reintroduction of attack on the guitars and the more consistent compositional dynamics make Xenotaph feel heavier and more immediate than anything I’ve heard from these Bay Area death metallers in a long time. The deeper I dig into Xenotaph, the stronger it feels. Dolphin Whisperer noted—in a newborn baby-induced fugue state—that the album benefits from borderline-conceptual interlinkages between songs and “endless and lush guitar layers that scaffold the composition on Xenotaph and make it a rewarding, repeatable listen.” That’s unusually understated for a Record o’ the Month review. So let me hyperbolize: Fallujah has achieved a conceptual evolution on Xenotaph that feels true to their origins and yet develops their sound in ways that make it accessible, and yet, truly unique. Said differently, Fallujah’s sellout has been well executed, and I’m here for it.²

Runner(s) Up:

Insania // The Great Apocalypse [June 13th, 2025 | Frontiers Music | Stream on Tidal] — I was surprised when I started listening to Insania’s The Great Apocalypse and found myself increasingly invested in it. At first, it was the kind of record that felt familiar—a solid Good! on the rating scale, something that scratched an itch and amused me—but with time, I came to see so much more. Too much of the response to this album has been to write it off as either derivative or rote power metal, but a deep dive tells a different story. The Great Apocalypse finds a band that’s developing its sound, using decades of experience, and branching out slowly but surely. This becomes increasingly true as the album continues. A bit like T/L’s Rhapsody, this record starts in the familiar and becomes increasingly adventurous and interesting as it goes on—with particularly elevated guitarwork throughout. But I don’t need to justify my love for The Great Apocalypse by saying it’s more than it is perceived to be. Because it is also a very good Europower record from a band that cut its teeth decades ago and has reawakened full of piss, vinegar, and addictive hockey rock choruses that you won’t forget for days. To quote an earlier, extremely excited version of AMG Myself, “by playing to form and yet resisting predictability, The Great Apocalypse finds Insania sounding like a band that knows the rules so well that they don’t have to break them; they subvert them. While earlier albums felt a bit paint-by-numbers, added nuance and increasing sophistication have propelled Insania into a different tier: one that’s ambitious, confident, and, at times, even profound.”³

Cryptopsy // An Insatiable Violence [June 20th, 2025 | Season of Mist | Bandcamp] — Remember when a Cryptopsy release was the biggest deal in the metal scene since the last Cryptopsy release? It’s been a while. And yet An Insatiable Violence is a reminder that Cryptopsy is still very sorry for whatever it was they tried to do, and actually, they’re still really fucking good. Maybe they’ve gotten better. At first pass, An Insatiable Violence feels like a continuation of 13 years of Cryptopsy paying penance for an album no one liked while proving they can still rip with the best of them. But the longer you sit with An Insatiable Violence, the more it comes into focus as something greater: 38 minutes that deliberately weave together every era of Cryptopsy, from the bone-grinding grooves and whirwind savagery of their early days to flashes of melody and subtle nods to avant-garde detours. As some fucking guy who I’ve never heard of before (Alekhines Gun?⁴) wrote with an obvious excess of pathos that makes me wonder whether he’s a fit for what we do around here: “For the last decade plus, Cryptopsy have enhanced their skillset, honed their compositions, and fine-tuned their performances into the giants they used to be. An Insatiable Violence is engaging, bloodthirsty, frantic, and most importantly, an excellent release from a granddaddy band who are here to remind any that there truly is none so vile.”

Helms Deep // Chasing the Dragon [June 20th, 2025 | Nameless Grave Records | Bandcamp] — American power metal was on a lot of lips in June. Alas, everyone was talking about one band with great music, but who struggled to stick the landing. On the other hand, not enough people were talking about the album that literally has a dragon with a fucking jetpack on the cover, as well as a vocalist who can both cheese and hit notes when doing his US Power Metal Obligatory Falsetto Wail™. Whether evoking Mötely Crüe (“Cursed”) or Rata Blanca (“Craze of the Vampire”), Helms Deep does it all with the kind of charm and pizzazz that is undeniable. Chasing the Dragon exudes a certain charisma, what the kids would call “rizz,” but also has a righteously old school production job—in style, if not in DR Score—that makes me feel like I’m listening to a dubbed tape that my brother’s buddy’s older brother recorded for us. But all of this is window dressing on a record that is chock full of genuinely good guitar work, fun writing, and the kind of Drinking a PBR and Headbanging with My People energy that metal has increasingly lost as listeners and practitioners have become invested in Being Taken Very Seriously as Artists.⁵ As a-guy-who-definitely-is-not-Superman wrote, unchecked by journalistic ethics or a desire to be circumspect and humble in his opining: “Within the belly of this dragon is a great album. I immensely enjoyed my time with Chasing the Dragon, which has a modern sound that is clearly dedicated to its influences without ripping them off. Sciortino has created a magical project. If Helms Deep can combine their balls-to-the-wall energy with some discipline, their next album could be a monster.” Point taken, it’s long, but Chasing the Dragon is already a monster. A winged, armored, fire-breathing monster wearing a fucking jet pack!

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There’s almost no good way to mark these anniversaries without getting a little self-referential, maybe a little maudlin… or without tooting your own horn until you’re red in the face and everyone’s embarrassed. Still, it has come to my attention that this is the 10,000th post of AngryMetalGuy.com. Actually, as of this writing, the number of posts in the entire system is supremely metal 10,666. Also, we have something like 600 drafts that never saw the light of day and 49 pending posts that have never been published.¹ To say that we’ve been productive carries with it a drunk Bilbo Bagginsesque tone of bemusement.

“My, we have been productive.”

During the 16ish years of unbound fecundity that it took for us to reach this dubious landmark, many a writer or would-be writer (over 60, at this point) has spilled internet ink within these unhallowed halls. We have extolled the virtues and excoriated the shortcomings of wonderful records and forgettable platters. We’ve opined, and raged, and littered the page with so many puns and dad jokes that you’d think this website was the patriarch of a family of 10. The total result of this hard work has resulted in been 8,032,385 words that have been written.² Divide that by 10,000, and that’s an average of about 803 words per post—53 more than our max review length.³ The Year of Our Angry Overlord, 2019, was our most productive year ever. It saw us jam through 983 posts—a mind-numbing number if you think about it for long enough. Our longest average posts to date were last year, in 2024, where our average post had 955 words. I can’t even imagine how that’s possible, but there you go.⁴

And what are the core bits of writing that really drive readership? Well, here’s where the horn tootin’ comes in. Of our Top 20(ish) posts, 10 are Angry Metal Guy’s Top Ten(ish) Record(s) o’ the Year lists (with 2015 taking the cake for the most read post of all time). Three more of those are other lists: songs 50-41 of my Top 50 Heavy Metal Songs list; 10-1 of that same list; and my Top 15(ish) of the 2000s. The most viewed non-list was Steel Druhm’s April Fool’s post from last year about Ripper Owens leaving KK’s Priest for BB’s Maiden. And then there’s the reviews. El Cuervo’s review of Opeth The Last Will and Testament,⁵ my review of In Flames’ Foregone, Druhm’s review of Megadeth’s The Sick, the Dying…and the Dead!, both Veil of Imagination and Epigone (landing very close to each other in terms of views and written by El Cuervo and myself), Batushka’s Litourgiya (TYMHM from 2015, penned by our dear [not actually] deceased Roquentin), and my review of Opeth’s Pale Communion round out the Top 20 posts.⁶

And even after all this time, we are still changing the world and keeping up with the times by spreading disinformation about incorrigible self-Googler Ripper Owens. That Ripper Owens post that was posted on April 1st, 2024, has moved from parody into objective fact, as it has been picked up by Google’s AI as the answer to the question: “Is Ripper Owens still in KK’s Priest?” The answer? “No, Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens is not currently with KK’s Priest. He left the band in early 2024 to pursue a new project with former Iron Maiden vocalist Blaze Bayley.” A round of applause for both Druhm and the superiority and inevitability of AI!⁷

What do I take away from this list? Well, aside from pride at what I—nay, we—have wrought, it pays to review big bands’ records if you want a lot of views. I know that’s tough to imagine, but there we are. Better, however, than the super obvious thing is that I’m particularly proud of how we helped to spread the word about Wilderun and Batushka. But this list also brings with it some melancholy and nostalgia. Seeing Druhm and me as the only active writers on this list is a bit of a bummer. But as time moves on, we’ll make new memories with new exploited writers who will pen review after review without compensation, only to watch us feast ourselves even fatter on the spoils of our seniority.

And the raft of contributors who have come and gone deserve recognition. In the end, I want to thank everyone who has contributed to making Angry Metal Guy what it has become over the years—from the Potatoes Jim of the world to the Steels Druhm.⁸ Without you, this would never have happened. I appreciate the blood, sweat, and/or tears that you have put into carrying my boulder up that hill every day. And so even though your names aren’t at the top of this list, know that I tolerate each one of you with the same cold-hearted disinterest that I always have. Your service has been noted.

As for you readers? Without you, it would’ve taken a lot of refreshing my browser and switching between VPNs to get enough daily readers, so as to result in a desire to keep pushing on until we hit 10,000 posts. So, thank you for your loyalty over the years. We love (most) of your comments. We enjoy (most) of your opinions. And we are (entirely) happy that you spend your hard-earned money on the bands we love, and thank you for your trust. You reading, listening, and supporting the scene means we’re all making the world a better place one overwritten review or blog post at a time.

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