| 5.0 classic |
| 100 Gecs 1000 gecs |
| Addaura Addaura |
| Another band coming from the Cascadian black metal scene, Addaura's debut demo is a masterful exercise is slightly folk tinged black metal. Featuring the excellent shriek of female vocalist Chantal, amazing atmospheres and non-traditional black metal lyrical fare, this is a release that is not only worth your time but leaving you hungry for more. |
| Akasha Canticles of the Sepulchral Deity |
| I really didn?t think anything would dethrone Sinmara so quickly as my favorite black metal so far this year, but the new Akasha seriously gives them a run for their money. I guess this is more aligned with my tastes in black metal nowadays - raw, punky, and melodic - but I think even without it catering my preferences this is an incredibly strong effort. |
| All That Remains The Fall of Ideals |
| Angelcorpse The Inexorable |
| Arcana Coelestia Le Mirage de L’idéal |
| Arch Enemy Burning Bridges |
| Ariana Grande positions |
| positions is Ariana's most understated and least immediate release yet. The sparsity in arrangement feels like a natural progression from thank u, next and much like that album, positions pits Ari's surprising existential awareness against more common pop topics. This will take you a few listens, but it is ultimately one of her most rewarding records. |
| Arizmenda Within the Vacuum of Infinity... |
| Arizmenda Stillbirth in the Temple of Venus |
| Arizmenda's third full-length is undoubtedly the Southern California's strongest collection of songs as of yet. While the previous two releases seemed to be the product of free-flowing jam sessions, the songwriting here proves to be decidedly deliberate, providing more consciously structured pieces. As a result, the songs while more streamlined, are also more memorable. The band hasn't abandoned their now signature brand of discordance, but this time around there is also palpable sense of melody embedded within the tracks. This easily could have been a misstep considering the raw nature of the band, but they incorporate this new element into their patented sound seamlessly, simultaneously staying true to their roots, while treading new ground. Overall, this is an excellent release and recommended for fans of raw, atmospheric black metal. |
| Ash Borer Ash Borer |
| Attack Attack! (US) Someday Came Suddenly |
| Axis of Advance Strike |
| Azarath Blasphemers' Maledictions |
| After a few weeks of thorough and intense listening, Azarath's Blasphemer's Malediction has so far definitely has earned the top stop in my top albums of the year without a second thought or question. In a super aggressive blackened death metal style somewhat comparable to a band like Weapon, Azarath (who have been around since 1998) have really created a special album with Blasphemer's Malediction. With a certain emphasis definitely placed on the more deathy side of Azarath's playing, Blasphemer's Malediction is a goldmine of crushing headbang inducing riffery. There still is some pretty obvious black metal vibes though with a lot of melancholy-filled atmospheric chord formations and tremolo picked sections. Despite all positive aspects of the guitar's rhythm side, where guitarist BartBomiej "Bart" Szudek (ex-Cenotaph) really shines is in his lead playing; going for both intense shred licks ("Supreme Reign of Tiamat") and even some melodic, more atmospheric formations ("Under the Will of the Lord") his playing is both diverse, tasteful and a huge element to what makes this album enjoyable.rThe vocals (courtesy of also bassist/singer Necrosodom) are harsh and phglemy, taking a middle stance inbetween black metal's screeches and death metal's gutturals. Drummer Inferno (of Behemoth) is pretty incredible, pulling of some truly speedy and militant blast beats while also slowing it up nicely at times to complement the more atmospheric sections ("The Abjection"). Overall this album just fucking rapes faces and is highly recommended. |
| Backyard Mortuary Lure of the Occult |
| Another band in the OSDM revivalist movement, Backyard Mortuary play super thick death metal with hints of doom and blackened death metal. This shit is fucking stellar and my favorite death metal album this year. |
| Black Swan (USA-NY) Black Swan (In 8 Movements) |
| Easily the best ambient album from last year, Black Swan is a literal descent into hell; majestic, orchestrated themes may open this monolithic album but as each track passes, an anxious dissonance takes hold, it's grip getting ever tighter with each passing movement. No, Black Swan doesn't have a happy ending; as "Pt. VII"'s deceivingly joyous melodies fade into a noisy stupor, the claustrophobia of "Pt. VIII" drags us into the pit once again. Harrowing, immersible and all so impressive Black Swan is an extremely personal record that creates different experience for each listener, one that surely won't be forgotten anytime soon. |
| Black Swan (USA-NY) The Quiet Divide |
| Much thanks to sources who I will not name here, I have luckily gotten to listen to the follow-up of one of my favorite ambient album ever and let me tell you, I'm not disappointed in the least; following where the last years s/t left off, The Quiet Divide is the album that all of us Black Swan fans were waiting for. Like Black Swan (In 8 Movements), The Quiet Divide's first (and title-track) The Quiet Divide is an example of pure orchestral based ambient bliss, once again conjuring melodies and harmonies that will hit you at your core. A reminder that Black Swan isn't all just about beautiful atmospheric landscapes, tracks like "Chaos Reigns" and "The Bleeding Heats Alliance (Phase 3)" recall the cold, noise filled drones of the previous album with an even darker edge. Overall, The Quiet Divide proves to be an effort that is more than worthy to follow Black Swan's amazing debut; taking the formula of old and intensifying it tenfold, The Quiet Divide is an improved version of an already impressive formula that will sweep you off your feet. |
| Blink-182 blink-182 |
| Bone Awl An Obelisk Marks the Line |
| Arriving a whole 13 years after their debut record, An Obelisk Marks the Line is the second full-length album from blackened punk pioneers Bone Awl, and a piece well worth the wait. While the enigmatic duo have steadily been releasing material of great quality in the form of EPs, splits, and demos throughout the years since Meaningless Leaning Mess there's an obvious uptick in the caliber music here, fitting for a collection of songs that now comprises their second full-length album. Of course, being Bone Awl, one shouldn't expect a giant stylistic shift away from the black metal and punk hybrid they've been peddling for the better part of twenty years now, but when it comes to this style of music, nobody does it better, a point that An Obelisk Marks the Line drives home time and time again throughout the span of its half an hour runtime. |
| Breaking Benjamin We Are Not Alone |
| Breaking Benjamin Phobia |
| Burzum Hvis lyset tar oss |
| Carcass Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious |
| Carcass Symphonies of Sickness |
| Casualties of Cool Casualties of Cool |
| Children of Bodom Something Wild |
| Easily the most underrated Children of Bodom. It?s pretty clear -based on how eccentric it is musically and the more streamlined songwriting they would display on subsequent albums - that this is Bodom still gestating, but there is something so endearing about the youthful ambition it radiates, even if it does come across a bit unfocused at times; it?s all part of the charm. Potential just oozes throughout its seven tracks, an unspoken promise that would be fulfilled throughout their future records. It?s amalgam of death, black, heavy, and neo-classical metal(s) still feels fresh and exciting 23 years later, and in my humble this is one of the best debuts albums in extreme music history, ranking up there with Iron Maiden, Metallica, and any other ?classic? metal band. rTl:dr - this fucking slaps. |
| Children of Bodom Follow the Reaper |
| Children of Bodom Hatebreeder |
| Converge Axe to Fall |
| Convulsing Grievous |
| One of the most dynamic death metal albums I?ve ever listened to. |
| Cradle of Filth Midian |
| I've always felt like Midian's status as black sheep of CoF's discography has been understated. Bringing back original guitarist Paul Allender along with his obsession with other forms of extremity, Midian is a masterpiece of a blackened death metal album, bathed in gothic glory, blood, and vampyric sensuality. Dusk and Cruelty were also inexcusably classic albums, but it was Midian that truly opened the doors of success for Cradle of Filth. |
| Cradle of Filth Cruelty and the Beast |
| Cradle of Filth Dusk... and Her Embrace |
| Cradle of Filth Hammer of the Witches |
| Simultaneously overblown and tasteful, Hammer of the Witches is ACTUALLY Cradle of Filth's best album since Midian. No longer using their symphonics as a crutch for weak songwriting, the skill of new axe-slingers Richard Shaw and Marek 'Ashok' ?merda make this one of Cradle's most guitar dominated albums to date. Of course the band still has an affinity for grand orchestrations, but their incorporation is more thoughtfully done, accentuating the other instruments instead of suffocating them. As if these other factors weren't enough, Dani sounds at the top of his game here, his vocals seemingly revitalized by band's new blood. Even Cradle haters may have a tough time scoffing at this one. |
| Cradle of Filth Dusk and Her Embrace - The Original Sin |
| Cradle of Filth Cryptoriana – The Seductiveness of Decay |
Absolutely amazing album and the perfect continuation of the sound they introduced with Hammer. They brought
back some classic Filthisms without sounding stale and dated. And this could honestly be Dani's best album
vocally, he kills it. |
| Daft Punk Random Access Memories |
| Dance Gavin Dance Acceptance Speech |
| sometimes, i stand in front of my mirror with nothing but a dgd shirt on, cup my nuts, squeeze them tight and try to sing just like tillian |
| Dance Gavin Dance Downtown Battle Mountain |
| Dance Gavin Dance Happiness |
| Dance Gavin Dance Downtown Battle Mountain II |
| Dance Gavin Dance Instant Gratification |
| Dance Gavin Dance Mothership |
| COCAINEEEEE CRINGE-FESTTTTTrAfter IG I was genuinely worried that Tilian-era wouldn't be able to top what's been their best album since Happiness, but it seems my fears have been allayed, because Mothership is easily not just one of their best of this iteration, but the one of the best in the band's discography. They've become more concise without sacrificing the technical chaos we've come to expect from them. Tilian is still probably their most polarizing vocalist, but he's never shined brighter than he does here. He can be soulful like Jonny, funky like Kurt, and poppy like nobody else has been before. Fucking great. |
| Dance Gavin Dance Acceptance Speech 2.0 |
| I really didn?t think a remix would make this album so much better.... I was wrong. |
| Dance Gavin Dance Downtown Battle Mountain II (Instrumental) |
| Dark Watcher Dark Watcher |
| Darkest Hour Deliver Us |
| Darkthrone A Blaze in the Northern Sky |
| Darkthrone Under a Funeral Moon |
| Darkthrone Transilvanian Hunger |
| Darkthrone Panzerfaust |
| Deafheaven Sunbather |
| what if the album title is "sun bat her" and we are all wrong and stupid |
| Def Leppard Hysteria |
| Dimmu Borgir Enthrone Darkness Triumphant |
| Dimmu Borgir Death Cult Armageddon |
| Eighteen Visions Until the Ink Runs Out |
| Eighteen Visions Vanity |
| Eighteen Visions The Best of Eighteen Visions |
| A collection of re-recorded songs from Lifeless, ]Time Is Yesterday Killed, and No Time For Love, The Best of Eighteen Visions is a shining example of why Eighteen Visions were one of the best metalcore bands of the early 2000's. With an improved production and the same unwavering enthusiasm, 18v relentless rips through 11 tracks of devastating metalcore that emphasize mosh-worthy riffage, whirlwind drumming and psychotic vocals. |
| Entombed Clandestine |
| Entombed Left Hand Path |
| Falls of Rauros Patterns in Mythology |
| This is the type of album where words fail to do it justice. |
| False Portent |
False's newest effort Portent is a modern incarnation of Emperor's symphonic bombast filtered through 25
years of black metal evolution and supplemented by USBM's knack for twisting genre staples into something new
and previously unheard. And to be honest, there really is nothing that sounds like False; Portent takes all the
conventions of overly pompous black metal - orchestral backdrops, furious blasting, winding tremolo guitars - and
whips it all together into a maelstrom of melody and chaos. Thanks to their roots in the Minnesota DIY and
hardcore scenes, there is a underlying punk pastiche that makes the record feel real and grounded despite its
potential to burst through the stratosphere. In a year where black metal is dominating (especially the black metal
coming from the band's label, Gilead Media) False matches their peers' excellence and raises the bar for
everyone else. |
| Grand Belial's Key Judeobeast Assassination |
| He Is Legend I Am Hollywood |
| Horrendous Idol |
| Immolation Close to a World Below |
| Immolation Dawn of Possession |
| Their best album IMMO.... DO YOU FUCKING SEE WHAT I DID THERE? |
| Immortal Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism |
| Iron Maiden Iron Maiden |
| Undoubtedly Iron Maiden's magnum opus; amazing energy, great musicianship and a raw factor that is unfortunately absent with Dickinson era albums. "Prowler" remains to be the best song the band ever wrote. |
| Jellyfish Spilt Milk |
| Killswitch Engage Alive or Just Breathing |
| Malfet The Snaking Path |
| Malfet The Way to Avalon |
| Malfet The Glimmering |
If there's one not terrible thing that has come from Coronavirus, it was that it indirectly caused
Malfet's The Glimmering, a two song EP that was originally meant to be exclusive to the
unfortunately now cancelled Northeast Dungeon Siege, to be released.These two tracks are leftovers
from the Californian dungeon master's debut The Snaking Path, but they in no way feel like
afterthoughts, or inferior the tracks featured on that album; once again, Malfet delivers absolute
perfection. Both songs ("The Glimmering" and "Dim Arbours") are drenched in medieval melodies,
exuding wistful nostalgia and playful, folksy charm. They are excellent additions to his steadily
growing catalog and absolutely essential listening to any dungeon synth fans, newcomer and
veterans alike. |
| Malfet Alban Arthan |
| Metallica Live Shit: Binge & Purge |
| Metallica Ride the Lightning |
| Miles Paralysis Miles Paralysis |
| Morbid Angel Blessed Are the Sick |
| Morbid Angel Covenant |
| Morbid Angel Altars of Madness |
| Motley Crue Too Fast for Love |
| Motley Crue Shout at the Devil |
| Motley Crue Motley Crue |
| Motley Crue Decade of Decadence |
| Neckbeard Deathcamp SO MUCH FOR THE TOLERANT LEFT |
| Obliteration Black Death Horizon |
| rating classic to remind myself to get this also fu sputnik i dont need yr 50 chrctrs |
| Odz Manouk Odz Manouk |
| Panopticon Panopticon |
| Panopticon Collapse |
| Pearl Jam Ten |
| Pestilence Consuming Impulse |
| Idk, probably one of the best death metal albums ever |
| Pierce the Veil Collide with the Sky |
| Prosanctus Inferi Noctambulous Jaws Within Sempiternal Night |
| Since its release in 2013, Prosanctus Inferi's diabolical sophomore effort Noctambulous Jaws Within Sempiternal Night has been a favorite of mine, but thanks to their recent announcement of an upcoming third album, Hypnotic Blood Art (release date TBA), I've dug back into Noctambulous... in a way that I haven't in a long time. I still find it the ultimate culmination of black and death metal; Jake Kohn's spits bile with every blasphemous word, his delivery reminiscent of the vaunted Peter Helmkamp in its guttural rasp. Musically, Noctambulous... is easily the group's most muscular and death metal-oriented outing to date, however it still oozes a charred and blackened atmosphere. In many ways, it's very similar to early Morbid Angel, rife with Azagthothian off-kilteredness and an underlying sense of esoterica. When it comes to war metal that isn't completely Blasphemy inspired, Prosanctus Inferi's Noctambulous Jaws Within Sempiternal Night is the best you're going to get. |
| Queensryche Operation: Mindcrime |
| Rhinocervs RH-08 "Untitled 1 & 2" |
| Rhinocervs Odour of Dust and Rot |
| Roadrunner United The All-Star Sessions |
| Sacramentary Abolishment River of Corticone |
| After fifteen years, The River Corticone is an album that by all means, is the definition of being completely and utterly underrated. Superbly written blacked death metal that succeeds in being both primal and astoundingly mature AT THE SAME TIME. |
| Secret Band Secret Band EP (Remastered) |
| Senses Fail Let It Enfold You |
| Shadows Fall The War Within |
| When Shadows Fall released The War Within, it was just another album, albeit a great one but there was nothing overtly special about it; it didn't make any crazy cultural impact, it wasn't the most original album and it wasn't even the best album of the year... but it will forever remain a life-changing release for me. You see, this is the first record I bought with screamed vocals, a decision that changed my musical life. From this point on there were no more boundaries, no more caps to what I could listen to. This album opened my mind to world of extreme metal and will forever and always remain a milestone in my musical development. |
| Skid Row (US) Skid Row |
| Slipknot Slipknot |
| Slipknot Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses |
| Slipknot Vol.3: The Subliminal Verses [Reissue] |
| Soundtrack (Film) Sucker Punch |
| Holy shit if watching this movie already made me wanna bang emily browning this just ... sets me offf |
| Still Remains Of Love and Lunacy |
| Summoning Stronghold |
| Sweven (SWE) The Eternal Resonance |
| The Black Crowes Shake Your Money Maker |
| The Black Twilight Circle Tliltic Tlapoyauak |
| This just reaffirms why The Black Twilight Circle are the most important thing in black metal today. It's amazing to see the growth in the returning bands - Arizmenda's track might just be the best thing they've ever done. Axeman's song could be one of the best black metal songs EVER. Even the newer bands manage to pull their own weight. Kampilan rocks the foundation with their thundering brand of filthy death/doom while In Lakech Ala Kin triumphantly represent the disturbed brand of atmospheric black metal The Black Twilight Circle has become known for. Seriously, any and every black metal fan needs to get their hands ALL OVER THIS. Hopefully, this is a prelude to a whole slew of releases from this enigmatic group of bands, and if it is, the underground has a lot to look forward to. |
| The Devil Wears Prada Dear Love: A Beautiful Discord |
| The Hope and the Failure The Lights Are on But This Dance Never Ends |
| Ugh this is like the best screamo album of all time, it's so fucking amazing ughaldfkajdf |
| The Offspring Smash |
| The Offspring Ixnay on the Hombre |
| The Speed of Sound in Seawater Red Version |
| Thorns Grymyrk |
| We wouldn?t have black metal as we know it today without this demo. |
| Tukaaria Raw to the Rapine |
| Ulver Kveldssanger |
| Van Halen Van Halen |
| William Fitzsimmons The Sparrow and the Crow |
| Yellow Eyes Rare Field Ceiling |
| Now that I've finally gotten to take a good listen, Rare Field Ceiling is officially my rblack metal AOTY so far. It's such a nuanced piece of music that brims with classic black rmetal energy while maintaining the individualistic flair that sets Yellow Eyes a step rabove their contemporaries. Most of all, you can feel the passion it took them to rcultivate this album, as it's imbued in every riff and necrotic snarl. It is a shining rexample of modern black metal, setting a standard that won't soon be beaten. |
| 4.5 superb |
| A Day to Remember What Separates Me from You |
| I don't know what it is; perhaps the way they integrated an all time low type pop punk sound (that didn't suck) and heavier sections with overall more personality (particularly because of vocalist jeremy mckinnon's INCREDIBLY improved screams) and definite shift from their previous metalcore styled breakdowns to straight hardcore breakdowns, but ehhh I'm listening to to album A LOOOOOOOOOOOT! Ahhh, i'm so gay for liking this. |
| A Lot Like Birds DIVISI |
| Abyssal (UK) Antikatastaseis |
| Accidental Suicide Deceased |
Accidental Suicide was the purest distillation of filth to ever terrorize early 90's death/doom
fans. While Autopsy regaled subterranean citizens with sewage-soaked arias, Accidental Suicide
delved even further below, erecting Deceased, a monument of such putridity and rot that
stands to this day, dissuading the squeamish from experiencing its rancid visage. This is death
metal in its most raw form. |
| Anagnorisis Overton Trees |
| Anathema Judgement |
| Andavald Undir Skyggðarhaldi |
| This year for black metal is what last year was for death metal. There is not a day that goes by that I don?t discover something killer. In particular the Icelandic scene. I?ve waxed on about it a lot recently, but it just keeps delivering and at an inhuman pace. My latest discovery is the band Anvald. They definitely have elements of the Reykjavk sound, but instead of the usual blastbeat intensity they slow things down to a crawl, allowing their creepy, dissonant sounds to worm their way into your head and make camp. Highly recommended. |
| Arch Enemy Anthems of Rebellion |
| Arch Enemy Burning Japan Live 1999 |
| Arghoslent Hornets of the Pogrom |
| Ariana Grande Sweetener |
| Ariana Grande Dangerous Woman |
| Ariana Grande Thank U, Next |
| ARTS Vault of Heaven |
| Modern raw black metal done right. Apocalyptic, misanthropic, this shit is about as true as it gets. |
| Ash Borer and Fell Voices Split |
| Avenged Sevenfold Waking the Fallen |
| Avenger Shadows of the Damned |
| Axis of Light Axis of Light |
Axis of Light are an incredibly consistent and reliable band. For 8 years now they have been
conjuring melodic yet warped raw black metal that is beautiful but often obscured by the lo-
fidelity of their production. Their first full-length doesn't change that formula much, but
refines it; the riffs are more triumphant, and the production while still grating and
appropriately "under" is a just a touch clearer. It lacks the pretenses of more cerebral, heady
black metal to focus on the basics and in the end succeeds in its efforts as a simplistic,
straightforward black metal banger. |
| Azarath Diabolic Impious Evil |
| Chaotic and brutal Immolation inspired death metal from these amazing Polish blasphemers. |
| Beheat Gorum de Mentheurd Portraits |
| Bestial Warlust Vengeance War Til Death |
| Bestial Warlust Blood & Valour |
| Blink-182 Dude Ranch |
| Blink-182 Enema of the State |
| Blink-182 Take Off Your Pants and Jacket |
| Blood Incantation Starspawn |
| Well, this is really good. |
| Bluetile Lounge Lowercase |
| I must say my first experience with slowcore has been a pleasant one thanks to Bluetile Lounge; Lowercase easily deserves its title as a quintessential album for the genre. Slow, minimalistic compositions that still manage to carry a whopping amount of emotion, Lowercase is a phenomenal album that is recommended to anyone. |
| Bluetile Lounge Half-Cut |
| Brand of Sacrifice Interstice |
| Brand of Sacrifice God Hand |
| Breaking Benjamin Saturate |
| Brides Of Destruction Here Come The Brides |
| Brutally Deceased Satanic Corpse |
| Buckethead Colma |
| Buckethead Electric Tears |
| Buckethead Population Override |
| Buckethead The Dragons Of Eden |
| Buckethead Shadows Between The Sky |
| A definite comeback from his last two releases, Shadows Between The Sky sees Buckethead delve into his most melodic territory since Electric Tears. Great melodies, quality playing and song-writing that slays for days |
| Burial Invocation Abiogenesis |
This year has been a blockbuster year for death metal, and yet Burial Invocation sit on the top of
heap; gathering eclecticisms that span from death metal's ragged roots to the transcendental
technicality of today, Abiogenesis is the culmination of the underground's unwavering 35 year
obsession to out-extreme itself. |
| Burzum Burzum |
| Burzum Burzum/Aske |
| Burzum Det som engang var |
| Cara Neir Sublimation Therapy |
| 2012 is the year of Cara Neir; after an awesome split with the blackened crust unit Ramlord, these crazy Texans return with an EP that is easily one of the best to come out in extreme metal each year. Although most of the tracks barely scrape past the one minute mark, it totally works in the band's favor. It's actually quite remarkable to see how they can do so much in such a short amount of time. So fucking good. |
| Cara Neir Part III / Part IV |
This band can do no wrong. Fitting of a title calling back to their first two albums (I/II),
III/IV is the ultimate culmination of their sonic history, a piece that honors their roots as well
as the diversity they?ve explored in their decade long career. |
| Carcass Swansong |
| Charles Bronson Complete Discocrappy |
| Children of Bodom Hate Crew Deathroll |
| Children of Bodom Are You Dead Yet? |
| Circle of Ouroborus Armon Keitaalla |
| Cirrhus Cirrhus LP |
| Cirrhus Identical Hallways |
| Recorded in 2011 but not seeing the light of day until 2017, Identical Hallways is a euphoric journey led by one of the United States' best black metal bands. The production is raw, but not enough to veil Cirrhus' black metal dirge. The music is sharp but melodic, and oddly nostalgic; it feels comforting in a way, which may be odds with black metal ethos, but Cirrhus have never been afraid to blur the lines. If you can get over the production (which in my opinion works wonderfully with the music), you won't be disappointed by giving this a listen. |
| Clandestine Blaze Falling Monuments |
| Along with Paracletus, Mikko Aspa has had his hands in two of 2010 best black metal albums. Cold, unrelenting yet containing enough melody to ensnare the attention of both black metal veterans and newcomers, Falling Monuments is not a black metal record that breaks any new ground but is just a black metal record that kicks copious amounts of ass. |
| Converge You Fail Me |
| Converge All We Love We Leave Behind |
| Counterparts Nothing Left to Love |
| Cradle of Filth Vempire or Dark Faerytales in Phalluste |
| Cradle of Filth Nymphetamine |
| Dance Gavin Dance Artificial Selection |
| Darkest Hour Undoing Ruin |
| Deceased Fearless Undead Machines |
| The culmination of the changes started on The Blueprints for Madness, the sci-fi themed classic Fearless Undead Machines displays Deceased fully embracing their thrash and progressive influences, dropping all elements of death metal vocally and implementing a sound that many would call their best. Replacing aggression for dynamics, Fearless Undead Machine is nowhere near as angry as the band's earlier albums but with incorporation of more melody as well as their obviously heightened songwriting skills, Deceased more than make up for the largely diminished trait of old. An album to check out if you are looking for something other than your run of the mill standard death metal. |
| Deceased Luck of the Corpse |
| Before mostly abandoning death metal on subsequent releases, Deceased first album Luck of the Corpse is an early death/thrash classic. Capitalizing on King Fowley's excellent gutturals and creative drum patterns as well as the beefed up thrash inspired guitar riffs, Luck of the Corpse is truly a standout release within death metal's formative years. |
| Dephosphorus Night Sky Transform |
Holy fuck. I've really never enjoyed Dephosporus until
now; Night Sky Transform changed my opinion on the
band within its first thirty seconds. This record is just
massive, a superb juxtaposition of black metal
coldness and punk attitude. With that combination of
personalities, sonically the album ranges from
astoundingly fast to awesomely groovy allowing the
band's grindier side to take precedence with elements
of black metal resonating within its distant cousin.
Dephosphorus go about playing blackened grind on
their own terms, a bold move that has seemed to have
paid off in dividends here. |
| Diocletian Gesundrian |
| Disemballerina Undertaker |
| Dissection Storm of the Light's Bane |
| Dominus Xul To the Glory of the Ancient Ones |
| Drowning the Light Varcolaci Rising |
| As one of the most prolific artists in modern black metal, Drowning the Light strides and progress are noticeable with every album he releases. Varcolaci Rising is no exception, and it seems like Azorgh has his raw and romantic brand of black metal down to a science. The material here is very straightforward and full of strong melodies, making each track an absolute earworm, and the album as a whole, worthwhile. |
| El-Ahrairah El-Ahrairah |
It should be celebrated that El-Ahriarah created a raw black metal album that breaks the rules. With touches of
experimentalism littered throughout the course of this album, it's a record that is so many things at once, but still
feels unified under a singular vision. It's melodic, it's punk-y, it has a million different kinds of bells-and-whistles,
and they all come together to make this album one of the best black metal records of the year. |
| El-Ahrairah El-Ahrairah 2009 Demo |
| El-Ahrairah Demo MMXII |
| Electrocution Inside the Unreal |
| Electrocution played technical death metal before it was really called technical death metal; instead of all the gravity blasting, sweep abusing shit that comes out now, Inside the Unreal was old-school death metal with an extra technical edge. Still full of great, thick riffage, Electrocution literally played circles around everyone else but never come off as over the top; the balance between standard death metal elements and added instrumental ability here is perfect, allowing for this album to be remembered in the classic status it so rightfully deserves. |
| Emarosa Relativity |
| Enslaved Axioma Ethica Odini |
| Axioma Ethica Odini is without a doubt the ultimate culmination of Enslaved's previous efforts; retaining the progressing rock elements of their last three albums while boosting the black metal elements that remained strangely absent, Axioma Ethica Odini is undoubtedly Enslaved's masterpiece album. |
| Enslaved Vikingligr Veldi |
| Enslaved Mardraum - Beyond the Within |
| Escape the Fate There's No Sympathy for the Dead |
| Exhumation (GR) Dance Across the Past |
| Fall Out Boy Take This to Your Grave |
| Fell Voices 2010 Tour CD-R |
| Fell Voices Untitled |
| Fief I-IV |
| Four Year Strong Rise Or Die Trying |
| Ghastly (FIN) Death Velour |
| Ghosts and Vodka Addicts and Drunks |
| Gorephilia In The Eye Of Nothing |
| The nexus between Azagthothian eccentricity and Finnish absurdity, Gorephilia's third album In The Eye of Nothing is a frequently off-kilter death metal record that embraces dynamicism as much as it does brutality. It touches on so many things that make death metal great; speed, atmosphere, groove all have their part to play here, and Gorephilia's execution is near flawless at every turn. This is what death metal should sound like in 2020. |
| Gospel The Moon Is a Dead World |
| Grinning Death's Head Blood War |
| Guidelines S/T_EP |
| Hadez Aquelarre |
| Horribly underrated early black/death album that like most extreme metal from South America has very noticeable thrash influences as well. With a sense of minimalism that carries on from the riffs to the suitably dry production, Aquelarre's bare-bones approach is always effective, whether the band be performing their high-speed tremolo picked riffs or delving into the depths of doom with simple yet crushing chords and a funeral crawl pace. Also packed full of leads that range from absolute whammy-bar shred to creepier, more atmospheric lines, the lack of atmosphere from the production is more than made up for with a myriad of different yet equally terrifying guitar textures. To complete this near perfect package are the vocals, a great mash-up of hoarse gutturals and raspy high pitched screeches. Overall an album that is highly developed despite its simplistic presentation, Aquelarre to this day, still deserves to be a more recognized album within death and black metal's formative years. |
| He Is Legend Suck Out The Poison |
| He Is Legend White Bat |
| Heinali And Matt Finney Lemonade |
| Heinali And Matt Finney Conjoined |
| WTF TOO MUCH GOOD MUSIC. Conjoined is better than it's predecessors and they are already both in my top 25 of the year! |
| Heinali And Matt Finney Town Line EP |
| HIM Venus Doom |
| I Set My Friends On Fire You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter |
| Ignite Our Darkest Days |
| Immolation Here in After |
| Iron Maiden Killers |
| Iron Maiden Seventh Son of a Seventh Son |
| Jellyroll Rockheads Kill Trend Thrash |
| Jordablod Promo |
| Jordablod is both raw and progressive. They are certainly ugly, evil, and everything you want black metal to be, but there is a sense of class to them as well that is generally lost on their peers. Overall, really fucking good. |
| Kathaaria The Complex Void of Negativity |
| Killswitch Engage The End of Heartache |
| Killswitch Engage As Daylight Dies |
| Kurt Travis Split EP |
| L.A. Guns Tales From The Strip |
| Lamp of Murmuur Heir of Ecliptical Romanticism |
| Lamp of Murmuur The Burning Spears Of Crimson Agony |
| Lamp of Murmuur Cursed Deambulations of the Nocturnal Entities |
| Lampir The Alchemy of Cursed Blood |
| Raw and punky black metal from Perverse Homage records. Evokes familiar USBM acts like Furdidurke, Grand Mood, and the CW Productions line-up albeit with a more black metal feel. |
| Lampir Awaiting the Predatory Dreamscape |
| Lana Del Rey Born to Die |
| Last Days These Places Are Now Ruins |
| Liquicity Escapism 3 |
| Liturgy Origin of the Alimonies |
| Liturgy H.A.Q.Q. |
We laughed at transcendental black metal in 2011, but it looks like Liturgy are the ones having
the last laugh now. H.A.Q.Q. is an excellent record that reconciles black metal with Hunter-
Hendrix's more cerebral approach and abstract tendencies to create something very new and
exciting. |
| Lord Snow Solitude |
| Lord Snow Sovngarde |
| Lugubrum De Vette Cuecken |
| Machine Head Burn My Eyes |
| Majestic Mass Savage Empire of Death |
| rThis record seriously came out of nowhere and is fantastic. It sounds like if The Doors and Celtic Frost had a baby who grew up listening to nothing but The Cult Is Alive-era Darkthrone. It?s an odd mix, but overall the album is as good as it is eccentric. |
| Manchester Orchestra A Black Mile to the Surface |
| Mefitis Emberdawn |
| Megadeth So Far, So Good... So What! |
| Mercyful Fate Melissa |
| Metallica Kill 'Em All |
| Miserere Luminis Miserere Luminis |
| Misery Signals Mirrors |
| Miss Fortune A Spark To Believe |
| Motley Crue Red, White, & Crue |
| Muse Absolution |
| My Chemical Romance Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge |
| Necros Christos Domedon Doxomedon |
Necros Christos final album evokes the malevolence of 80's black/death metal while being
played with modern intensity. At a whopping 27 tracks, the many interludes while
interesting in of themselves, do hinder the immersion and flow of the otherwise
synergetic extreme metal experience. It really is unfortunate that Necros Christos is
breaking up, however leaving us with their best effort is nothing to mope around about. |
| Nocturnal Blood Devastated Graves... |
| Nocturnal Triumph Into Light's Graven Womb |
| It's pretty rare that I am completely floored by something, but this is one of the best black metal albums I've heard in a long time. It has this unidentifiable quality about it, this aura of mysticism and magic that reminds me of black metal's second wave. It has that same classic feeling, effortlessly. The production is perfectly bad, and together with the grand, sweeping melodies, creates a euphoric listening experience that's rare to come by. Recommended. |
| Obituary Cause of Death |
| Obsequiae The Palms Of Sorrowed Kings |
| Offenbarung Jaguar Levitation |
| Order From Chaos Stillbirth Machine |
| Panopticon Autumn Eternal |
| Panopticon Roads to the North |
| Panopticon/Nechochwen Panopticon / Nechochwen |
| Pentatonix PTX Vol. II |
| For the longest time I thought a cappella was cheesy without redemption (and maybe it is) but Pentatonix is the sound of its future |
| Pentatonix PTX, Vol. 1 |
| Plainwords Overgrow to Overthrow |
| Portal Seepia |
| Although easily the band's most "conventional" release, Portal's first demented album, Seepia is still a sick and twisted listening experience. Performed in filth ridden production, Seepia shows Portal playing more riff oriented blackened death while still beginning to exhibit some of the claustrophobic and dense atmospheres that would take precedence on later albums. They might have not have found their feet yet, but Seepia is still an incredible album and "Glumurphonel" is still one of the group's best songs to date. |
| Portal Outre |
| Portal Swarth |
| Rebel Wizard Magickal Mystical Indifference |
I?ve always enjoyed the majority of his material, but Rebel Wizard has easily become my favorite Nekrasov
project. His newest album under that guise, Magickal Mystical Indifference, is stunningly good. The way he
combines punk driven black metal and classic heavy metal is such a wonderful collision of sound, offering both
the grounded rawness in the former while still indulging larger than life qualities of the latter. It?s undoubtedly
heavy but when he hits a melody, he hits it hard. That?s not even mentioning the guitar hero-esque solos he lays
down throughout. This is just so good. Recommended. |
| Reel Big Fish Our Live Album Is Better Than Your Live |
| Remete (AUS) Into Endless Night |
| Remete continues to be one of the only worthwhile cold and blizzardous black metal band worth investing in. This album rages with the tempest of only the fiercest winter storm yet the underlying ambience remains surprisingly soothing. It's a beautiful album and at this point D has cemented himself as a one-man wunderkind on par with Austin Lunn, M. Rekevics, and any other black metal visionary that's debuted in the last decade. |
| Rhinocervs RH02 |
| Rhinocervs RH-11 |
| Rhinocervs RH-07 |
| Rhinocervs RH-08 |
| RVIVR The Beauty Between |
| holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit |
| Rx Bandits Gemini, Her Majesty |
| This is just so ridiculously catchy. Perfect summer album. |
| Sacramentary Abolishment The Distracting Stone |
| Sanguine Relic Divine Stygianism: The Bliss in Torment |
| Saor Forgotten Paths |
| Secret Band LP2 |
| Seether Disclaimer II |
| Seether Karma And Effect |
| While Disclaimer was more natural in the band's raw mongrel rock, its follow-up Karma and Effect takes the unexpected route in being MUCH heavier than its predecessor. Impressively forsaking an attempt to go more mainstream, Seether's second effort is heavily influenced by metal and benefits greatly from it. For a "mainstream" rock band, these guys sure can write some motherfucking riffs. Great shit. |
| Senses Fail Renacer |
| Album should have been called "Yes, We Lift" |
| Shataan War Cry Lament |
| Underrated so hard. Musically this is a fantastic combination of psychedelic, dark folk, and black that easily sets the band apart. The vocals get some take some getting used to but Damn when it finally hits you, it really hits you |
| Shinedown The Sound of Madness |
| Sigh Imaginary Sonicscape |
| Slavehouse / Krukh / Kostnatění / Sainte Marie des Loups / Torment Is Flesh |
| Sleeping With Sirens If You Were a Movie, This Would Be Your Soundtrack |
| Slipknot Iowa |
| Solstice (USA-FL) Solstice |
| FUCKING EXCELLENT RECORD. It's beyond me how these guys didn't up blow up with the rest of Floridian death metal scene in the early 90's, Solstice's first self-titled effort easily holds its ground against any classic produced from that time period. This album is basically just the complete package; absolutely crushing guitar riffs, killer solos, (two guest solos from the famous James Murphy!) along with great, technical drumming and some vocals that actually manage to stand out from the pack. Highly recommended! |
| Someplace To Hide Shouting, "Saintly Not Ghostly!" |
| Spite Extreme Wing Vltra |
| Symphony X Paradise Lost |
| The Color Morale My Devil In Your Eyes |
| The Electric Boa Candy Coated Cyanide |
| The hard rock hometown heroes of Philadelphia, The Electric Boa's debut album, Candy Coated Cyanide is easily one of the best and unique straight up rock albums to come out in the last decade. With The Rolling Stones swagger, The Black Crowes unabashed love for the blues and the modern edge of Buckcherry (without the suck!) The Electric Boa is simply put, one of kind. As if all those factors wasn't enough, when you add lead songwriter and crooner John "Higgsy" Higginbottom and all his eccentricities, you get an album that that is truly memorable and instantly enjoyable. Super highly recommended, this is definitely an album that deserves to be heard by ANYONE. |
| The Push Kings Far Places |
| The Spirit Of Iuvenium Bequeath Thy Grievous Loss |
| The Spirit of Iuvenium's debut dropping on the eve of autumn's yearly reprisal must have been intentional; Bequeath Thy Grievous Loss rolls in with gothic splendor and the same feeling of ravishing decay fall evokes. Elements of dungeon synth, dark wave, and neo-classical provide a backdrop for album's themes - tainted purity, lost love, madness, and obsession - the ideal canvas for its tragic inclinations. |
| The Strokes Angles |
| The Toll (USA) The Toll |
| The Wallflowers Bringing Down the Horse |
| The Weeknd House of Balloons |
| The Word Alive The Word Alive |
| Thorngoth Leere |
| Hell yeah had to bump rating up! Album fucking rules face and is a great example of a modern take on traditional black metal. EPIC AS SHIT. In my top ten of the year. |
| Tides of Man Dreamhouse |
| Times of Grace The Hymn of a Broken Man |
| Tina Dico Tina Dickow w/ Danish National Chamber Orchestra |
| Toil Relics of Decaying Splendor |
| Trachimbrod A Collection of Hidden Sketches |
| Trha Novej kalhnjënnp |
| The second release and first EP this year by this mysterious one-man black metal entity, Novej kalhnjnnp may adhere to the tried and trve frostbitten atmosphere black metal's foundation was built upon, but nobody can accuse of them of not doing it their own way; the wintrous maelstrom Trh whips up throughout these three tracks is completely unique to them. The way riffs can bounce from blizzardous mysticism to stomping punk fervor, the way ethereal keys frame its metallic brethren to give order to the chaos, and so many more small elements work to give Trh a feeling of uniqueness despite their dedication to this 30+ year old craft. Highly, HIGHLY recommended. |
| Trivium Ascendancy |
| Trophy Scars Never Born, Never Dead |
| Ulcerate Stare Into Death and Be Still |
| how tf they expect me to be still with all these good riffs? |
| Ulver Nattens Madrigal |
| Uncanny Splenium For Nyktophobia |
| Underoath Define the Great Line |
| Underoath The Changing of Times |
| Unholy Vampyric Slaughter Sect The World Trapped in Vampyric Sway |
| Verwustung When Light Broke the Stars, Humanity Rejected Us |
| Viggo Mortensen Pandemoniumfromamerica |
| Violent Dirge Craving |
| For those of you who love Cynic but wish that they were heavier, Violent Dirge's second album, Craving is the perfect album for you; still achieving that uber technical jazziness while also having a foundation more firmly placed in the death metal camp, Craving is the answer to all of you who have asked themselves "What if?". |
| Vlad Tepes/Belketre March To The Black Holocaust |
| While the Black Legions had some good material,this split remains to be one of the best albums released from the group. |
| Volahn Dimensiones del Trance Kosmico |
| Volahn Aq Ab Al |
| Absolutely fantastic black metal courtesy of The Black Twilight Circle. Very much inspired by their Aztec roots, the Spanish influenced music certainly sets Volahn apart from their contemporaries in the best way possible. Add in the impressive musicianship and sweeping melodic breaks and you have all the ingredients for an excellent album. |
| Weeping Sores False Confession |
The album cover and review I read earlier (which is on Invisible Oranges and written by Langdon Hickman who is
one of my favorite metal reviewers) convinced me to check this out and I?m so glad I did. It has a gothic feel in a
Peaceville Three kind of way, but still has moments where it bares its teeth. The pacing is really compelling, and
doesn’t really ascribe to the usual death/doom paradigm as far as its division of faster/slower segments. My
favorite part is definitely the violin, performed by Gina Eygenhuysen of Tchornoborg. It gives the already
impressive atmosphere even more depth, doesn?t detract from the metallic instrumentation, and offers some
gorgeous melodies in its own right. Overall this is just really solid, and feels fresh while still providing all the
familiar thrills of extreme music. |
| With the End in Mind Unraveling; Arising |
| It's been a long time since I've been so genuinely floored by a black metal album, and the last place I expected it to come from was Cascadia. That scene may be dead, but apparently With the End In Mind didn't get the memo. The juxtaposition of the naturalistic timbre of the aforementioned movement and winsome dolor of post-black metal is executed so tactfully throughout, bringing to light the strengths of both scenes without their flaws anywhere in sight. The pristine production can't belie how raw the sentiment underneath is, and waves of despair slice through your gut like jagged, but fine shards of glass. Superficially beautiful, but emotionally tormented, Unraveling; Arising is truly a special album. |
| With the End in Mind Tides of Fire |
| As one of the only Cascadian black metal bands to make it out of the 2010's, With the End in Mind enters this new decade with their finest work yet, Tides of Fire. It's not an album that traverses new ground, but rather doubles down on what the project does best; euphoric swells of melodic black metal riffage, doom-ridden spoken word ruminations, cooing folk passages, and atmosphere that drops you right in the Pacific Northwest. As someone who waited four years for this release, I am more than satisfied with the final product. |
| Woe Quietly, Undramatically |
| Zella Day Zella Day |
| Zwarte Drakk Demo I |
| THIS IS WHAT RAW BLACK METAL SHOULD SOUND LIKE. |
| 4.0 excellent |
| *shels Sea of the Dying Dhow |
| 0 (Null) Entity |
| 100 Gecs 1000 Gecs and the Tree of Clues |
| 1349 Hellfire |
| 1349 Massive Cauldron of Chaos |
| 200 Stab Wounds Piles of Festering Decomposition |
| A Day to Remember Common Courtesy |
| A Lot Like Birds Conversation Piece |
| A Pregnant Light The Feast of Clipped Wings |
| Raw and punked up black metal from Colloquial Sound Recordings that gets better with every listen. |
| A Pregnant Light Stars Will Fall |
| A Pregnant Light Live to Tell |
| A Pregnant Light Before I Came |
| A Skylit Drive Wires...and the Concept of Breathing |
| A Static Lullaby Rattlesnake! |
| Aakon Keetreh Dans La Foret |
| Excellent dark ambient from the ex-Belketre frontman Lord Aakon Keetreh. A dark melancholic atmosphere supplemented by eerie chants, moody guitar and LLN style production. |
| Abigail Williams Walk Beyond The Dark |
| Walk Beyond The Dark is very impressive. It?s an adventurous , atmospheric/quasi-symphonic black metal album that is equally as intricate as it is bombastic. There?s a subtle complexity throughout, with each nuance exuding a vibrancy even as they weave themselves into the album?s greater tapestry, culminating in a multilayered record with depth to add to its unbridled grandiosity. Abigail Williams should be proud of this one. |
| Abominable Putridity The Anomalies of Artificial Origin |
| Okay so this is a lot better than I initially gave it credit for. |
| Absum/Odz Manouk Rotting Esophagus |
| Abuse. Abuse |
| Abyssal (UK) A Beacon In The Husk |
| Abyssal and Carcinoma Apanthropinization |
| Two UK black/death metal bands just tearing it the fuck up. This is a great release. |
| Acephalix Deathless Master |
| Acherontas Faustian Ethos |
| Acheulean Forests Of Faerie |
| Addaura Burning for the Ancient |
| Addaura's first full-length album is a more than worthy effort; Burning for the Ancient is a bit more "Wolves In The Throne Room" than the material on the band's 2010 demo, but the group also greatly explores (and expands on) some of the more distinguished moments present on their previous release, intelligently using the awesome range of new vocalist Ryan to lead the charge. Sometimes the songs do drag just a bit, but overall the band manages to keep the songs interesting throughout their average thirteen and a half minute runtimes. This isn't quite as good as I think Addaura are really capable of creating, but on its own merit Burning for the Ancient is still a very good release. |
| Addaura ...And The Lamps Expire |
| Coming three years after their full-length debut, ...And The Lamps Expire sees Addaura starting to shed their Cascadian black metal roots in favor of beginning to search for an identity of their own. This release is very much a transitory effort, but the two tracks here are still excellent. There is noticeable reduction of WIITR-worship, and bit more experimentation, especially in the song's arrangements. By breaking up the long(er)-winded black metal sections with minimal folk breaks, creates an excellent sense of dynamics, and though both "Amid the Tumult..." and "The Sun Shines To-day Also" are about ten minutes each, they certainly don't feel that long. Hopefully the band continues to explore their sound, because this could very much be the beginning of a great career. |
| Aeon Spoke Aeon Spoke |
| Aeon Spoke Above the Buried Cry |
| Aethyrvorous Demo |
| AG Form Commons |
| Against Me! White Crosses |
| Agressor Neverending Destiny |
| Aguynguerran Perverting the Nazarene Cult |
| Aguynguerran's first full-length is not one to be underestimated; combining black metal with elements of melodic death metal, Perverting the Nazarene Cult features awesome riffs, great solos and some surprisingly catchy moments. Great record for both hardcore and newer fans of the black metal. |
| Ajuna Prisoners of the Sun |
| Akasha Consuming The Soul |
| vampyric american black metal that takes cues from punk-era darkthrone, early bathory/venom, and the theatrics of cradle of filth |
| Akatharsia Demo |
| Aksumite Tormented By Blessings Abundant |
| Alkymist (CAN) Wreckage of the Raging World |
| All That Remains ...For We Are Many |
| Regaining their senses after the mediocre Overcome, on ...For We Are Many All That Remains not only thankfully reintroduces melodeath back into the fold, but metalcore producer extraordinaire Adam D. also makes the welcome return back as producer. Almost like the jump from This Darkened Heart to The Fall of Ideals, compared to Overcome the band has definitely made large strides of improvement; although still inferior to The Fall of Ideals, ...For We Are many is easily the band's next best effort and the true follow-up to their best album. Once again boosting a perfectly clear production, All That Remains once again seems alive; Labonte has discarded the overly processed, robotic vocal approach of the last album opting for a more organic effort that not only suits him, but the band better overall. "Some of the People, All of the Time" represents not only a great performance by him (where he shows great variety in his screamed vocals and comes up with a great chorus melody) but the rest of the band also once again seems lively. Bringing back a guitar style that more strongly follows The Fall of Ideals aesthetic, Herbert and Martin great some ridiculously heavy guitar lines as well as stirringly melodic ones. Herbert's trademark solo style is more intact here as well, with the solos in songs such as "Faithless" and "The Waiting One" easily holding up amongst his classic solos of old. Hopefully this is a trend that will follow ATR until their next album, where they may regain their titles as kings of modern metalcore. ...For We Are Many has gotten my hopes up, now lets hope they deliver. |
| Altar of Plagues White Tomb |
| Altarage The Approaching Roar |
| Alter Bridge Blackbird |
| Alvvays Alvvays |
| Amon Amarth Surtur Rising |
| Babyss - 5 Classic :Dark Tranquility - Skydancer/Of Chaos and Eternal Light, Dark Tranquility - The Gallery, Dimmu Borgir - Enthrone Darkness Triumphant, Keep of Kalessin - Kolossus,Ordo Draconis - Camera Obscura Pt. 1 ,Radiohead - OK Computer, Rhapsody of Fire - Symphony of Enchanted Lands, Septic Flesh - The Ophidian Wheel, Septic Flesh - Mystic Places Of Dawn, Septic Flesh - Esoptron, Septic Flesh - A Fallen Temple, Sonata Arctica - Winterheart's Guild, Sonata Arctica - Reckoning Night |
| An Isolated Mind I'm Losing Myself |
| Atmospheric death metal has always felt like one of those more head cannon-y sub-genres. It's without clear-cut parameters to truly define what it is, and for that reason you have everything from Australian instrument-torturers Portal to Finnish filth-lords Desolate Shrine -two very different sounding projects- performing what could in essence be called atmospheric death metal. It's one of those "you know it when you hear it" types, where the finer details don't matter as much as the finished product. rThe reason I bring all of this up, is another project, the incomparably weird An Isolated Mind, seem to fall within this vague and nebulous extreme metal genre. Exuding a stifling sense of psychedelia and featuring a range of oddities - everything from jazzy saxophone interludes to moments of ambient claustrophobia - I'm Losing Myself does its name justice with its variation without ever becoming too overbearing or experimental for its own good. The balance struck between straightforward and atmospheric, dissonant and melody is incredibly well-executed, offering a multi-faceted approach that begs repeated listens. This is very fucking good, and highly recommended for fans of Cynic, Gorguts, Portal, and anything in-between. r |
| Anal Vomit Demonic Flagellations |
| It's fairly obvious that whoever rated this album 1 only did so based on the bands ridiculous name --yes while Anal Vomit is truly an awful name, the band plays black/death metal so well they deserve to get away with it. |
| Angelcorpse Hammer of Gods |
| After spending the better part of his youth in the legendary Order From Chaos, in 1995 Peter Helmkamp formed what would become his most recognized project and arguably one of the greatest blackened death metal bands of all time, Angelcorpse. With Helmkamp performing bass and vocals, guitarists Bill Taylor and Gene Palubicki and John Longstreth on drums, the group's first album Hammer of Gods was not the best this band would craft but set them on a path that would see them achieve great heights in years to come. Combining Morbid Angel's unorthodox guitar madness with black metal's unrelenting speed and Helmkamp's clever wordplay, Hammer of Gods put Angelcorpse on the map, securing a place in the annals of hell for this truly blaspheming band. |
| Anhedonist/Spectral Voice Abject Darkness/Ineffable Winds |
| Antediluvian Through the Cervix of Hawaah |
| I had the highest hopes for this album and needless to say, it fully delivered |
| Antediluvian Under Wing of Asael |
| Filthy blackened death metal from Canada; these guys combine the occult atmosphere of band's like Portal with some older school sensibilities to create a truly terrifying album with Under Wing of Asael. |
| Anti Toxin Demo |
| Combining elements of punk, hardcore and thrash, Anti Toxin played fast and fun crossover that slays for days. |
| Anti Toxin The Tower |
| Antiklesis Antiklesis |
| DsO and Ampere influenced screamo. If that doesn't pique your interest, nothing will. |
| Apoptygma Berzerk Welcome To Earth |
| Aqualung Magnetic North |
| Arch Enemy Stigmata |
| Arizmenda Without Circumference Nor Center |
| Stylistically very similar to Within the Vacuum of Infinity, Without Circumference Nor Center continues to follow Arizmenda in creating disturbingly dark atmospheric black metal. With the shortest song clocking in at a lengthy seven minutes, the highly engaging sonic beating the band delivers definitely justifies such long pieces; from the amount of riffs, to the tempo changes, to even the ever so subtle psychedelic influences, the bands unwavering technique ensnares your attention, only releasing its grip in the albums dying moments. While structurally dissonance is the very foundation the album was built upon, its the melody that really separates Arzimenda from their peers with guitarist Juan Cabello imbuing fierce tremolo picked lines with haunting melodies and absolutely thriving during the albums cleaner sections.rHonestly, this is an album with an infinite amount of admirable qualities, but for the sake of this not turning into a full review and giving you the chance to read the other albums I have on the list Ill just close with this statement: Without Circumference Nor Center is definitely a challenging listen, but youll find that if you give it the time it deserves, the feeling once finishing it is immensely gratifying and fulfilling hence why it deserves not only the accolades it has received here, but almost everywhere else on the internet.r |
| Arizmenda Beneath This Reality of Flesh |
| I've never had more mixed emotions about how to feel about an album. I want to love it so much because it's Arizmenda, and there are certainly some fantastic moments, but it seems like something is missing. |
| Arizmenda Despairs Depths Descended |
| Arkhtinn 最初の災害 |
| Arnaut Pavle Demo Tape MMXIII |
| Riffy riffy black metally goodnessy |
| Arnaut Pavle Arnaut Pavle |
| As I Lay Dying An Ocean Between Us |
| As I Lay Dying The Powerless Rise |
| Ascended Dead / Evil Priest Nexus of the Black Flame / Revealing My Obscurity |
| Aseitas False Peace |
| Ash Borer Tour Rehearsal Demo |
| Ash Borer 2009 Demo |
| Ashdautas Where the Sun is Silent... |
| Aspid Extravasation |
| Assorted Heap Mindwaves |
| Mindwaves by Assorted Heap is quite the thrash album; beefing up their sound to incorporate more elements from the then newly found death metal scene, Assorted Heap played a form of highly technical death/thrash that really emphasized the latter. Great riffs, great drumming, songs like "Mindwaves" display the band at their heaviest while tracks like "Holy Ground" reveal the band's keen sense of melody, an often hidden element that does wonders when revealed. Overall, Mindwaves is an incredibly solid piece of extreme metal, a must have for all fans. |
| At Dusk / Sacerdos At Dusk / Sacerdos |
| Ataraxy Where All Hope Fades |
| Attrition (CANADA) Vengeance |
| Aucun Demo I |
| Autokrator Hammer Of The Heretics |
| Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold |
| Aves Aves |
| An instrumental post-rock/punk band with black metal influences, Aves first rarely delves deep into the latter genre, leaving way for wondrous jangly guitar riffs, feel good basslines and programmed drumming actually that doesn't take an ounce out of the record's overall enjoyability. There is some truly beautiful work to be had on this. |
| Awenden Golden Hour |
| Axis of Advance Obey |
| Axis of Advance The List |
| Axis of Advance Purify |
| Axis of Light By the Hands of the Consuming Fire |
| Combining epic, sweeping raw black metal with hardcore undertones, Axis of Light's debut album By The Hands of Consuming Fire is a very powerful 2012 release |
| Azath Demo 2018 |
| Azoic Gateways |
| Labyrinth like blackened death metal that takes cues from Ulcerate and Deathspell Omega. Frightening atmospheric and disappointingly underrated. |
| Bacchus Bacchus |
| Bad Dream Demonstration |
| Bad Meets Evil Hell: The Sequel |
| Although I'm not really much of a rap fan, Bad Meets Evil is an album that I'm attracted to a lot of the time because of it's sheer intensity; while "intensity" may see like a strange word to use, there is an aggression here that really transcends music and is I think the reason as to why I enjoy the album so much. |
| Banished Deliver Me Unto Pain |
| The more I listen to this the more it grows on me - great old school styled death metal with flourishes of the classic New York slamming. Definitely a great and overlooked album and definitely something that grows on you. |
| Baphomet (NY) The Dead Shall Inherit |
| Baring Teeth Atrophy |
| A great combination of technical prowess and atmosphere. |
| Basalte Vertige |
| Basmu Infernal Circles of the Sabbat |
| Basmu Enshrined In Eternity |
| Battlemaster Warthirsting & Winterbound |
| Blackened death metal with an emphasis on technical instrumentation, Battlemaster may come off as a bit cheesy at times, but at the end of the day these guys are a tight unit with some good songs. |
| Batushka Litourgiya |
| Bea5t Empathy Is a Gift |
| Beach Pneumatic Beach Pneumatic |
| Beats Antique Collide |
| yooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. |
| Begrime Exemious Impending Funeral of Man |
| Beheaded Perpetual Mockery |
| Although generally only labelled as "brutal death metal" Beheaded on Perpetual Mockery are actually so much more than then that; incorporating a whopping amount of technical prowess into what is more aggressive than average death metal, Beheaded succeeds in being both unrelentingly heavy and appropriately melodic. Definitely a great start to what would prove to be a fruitful career. |
| Behemoth I Loved You at Your Darkest |
| I Loved You At Your Darkness sees Behemoth stripping their sound down to the bare essentials, creating their most atmospheric and melodic effort to date, as well as their most "black metal" album in 20 years. There is definitely something compelling about the more streamlined sound, but at times it feels TOO bare and some of the ideas are certainly ones anyone who has been listening to black metal for more than a day have heard before. That being said, this is still a very enjoyable record and I can see it growing with repeated listens. These back-to-basics records can usually go either way, but this one definitely falls in favor of Behemoth. |
| Belketre Ambre Zuèrkl Vuorhdrévarvtre |
| Bergtatt Labyrinthine Subterranean Passages |
| Bhang Khang 2011 Demo |
| Bilmuri Banana |
| Birthplace Ameliorate |
| Black Breath Sentenced To Life |
| Dark and sinister hardcore with touches of Swedish death metal and crust. All around awesome |
| Black Cilice Transfixion of Spirits |
| Black Curse Endless Wound |
| Black Everest/Captain, Your Ship is Sinking Split |
| Black Freighter Graves And Monuments |
| Holy shit, how was this not heard before? Fucking AMAZING blackened sludge. Tons of great riffs, great vocals and most importantly great fucking songs, Graves and Monuments is a hidden gem of 2010 that definitely deserves an unearthing. |
| Black Mass (UK) Of First and Last Things |
| Black Swan (USA-NY) Evolution |
| Bleeding Through The Truth |
| Bleeding Through Declaration |
| Bleeding Through Love Will Kill All |
Am I crazy in thinking this may be one of Bleeding Through's best efforts? It's
been six year since their supposed-to-be finale The Great Fire, and ironically
enough if there was ever a fire burning, Love Will Kill All sees it at its
brightest. Symphonic elegance supplements brutal hardcore breakdowns, bloody screeches
lead into melodious choruses, and man, if some of Brandan's best one-liners are not on
this records. This isn't just an excellent return to form, it's one of Bleeding Through's
strongest efforts in general. |
| Blink-182 The Mark, Tom and Travis Show |
| Blink-182 Neighborhoods |
| Blood Fortress Our Vvampyric Mother Bounded to the Earth |
| Blood Revolt Indoctrine |
| Blut Aus Nord 777 - Sect(s) |
| The Paracletus of 2011. Don't get me wrong, this is in no way a carbon copy of DsO's last album; 777 is black metal at its most haunting, combining eerie atmospheres with labyrinths of dissonant riffage and somber melodies to create a nightmarish album of epic proportions. Unorthodox in about every way possible, 777 doesn't make sense at all, but it's the album's unpredictability along with its genius crafting that will make it one of the better black metal albums of this year. |
| Blut Aus Nord Hallucinogen |
| Bone Awl Meaningless Leaning Mess |
| Boreal The Battle of Vosad |
| Combining low-fi atmospheric black metal with elements of folk and ambient The Battle of Vosad may initially be a a rough listen, but over time the soothing melodies and droning song nature is appreciated. |
| Boreal The Battle of Vosad (2020) |
| Bosse-de-Nage All Fours |
| Botanist VI: Flora |
| Boys of Fall Thank You and Goodbye |
| Breaking Benjamin Dear Agony |
| Brutality Screams of Anguish |
| Buckethead Giant Robot |
| Buckethead Bucketheadland 2 |
| Buckethead The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell |
| Buckethead The Elephant Man's Alarm Clock |
| Buckethead Chicken Noodles |
| Buckethead Pepper's Ghost |
| Buckethead Ghost Host |
| Buckethead Chicken Noodles II |
| Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze Offerings of Flesh and Gold |
| Bullets And Octane Bullets And Octane |
| Bullets And Octane In the Mouth of the Young |
| Bullets And Octane The Revelry |
| Burden of a Day Blessed Be Our Ever After |
| Burn Down Rome Devotion |
| Burzum Belus |
| Cadence Fox Metaphors for the Decline of Humanity |
| Candelabrum Portals |
| Cantique Lepreux Paysages Polaires |
I find that the winds of icy and frostbitten black metal don't sting me like they used to; they've
been blowing so hard for so long that I've become acclimated to the chill and yet, Paysages
Polaires is cold enough to make my teeth chatter. Cantique Lepreux has found new ways to make
frigid temperatures exciting again and my body literally can't stop moving as a result. |
| Capharnaum Reality Only Fantasized |
| Capital Lights This Is An Outrage! |
| Captain, We're Sinking The Animals Are Out |
| Cara Neir Stagnant Perceptions |
| This album is awesome. If you disagree you are entitled but prepare for a shunning. |
| Cara Neir Portals To A Better, Dead World |
| Cara Neir The Overwatch |
Totally differing from the black metal/screamo of Portals to a Better, Dead World, Cara Neir's newest EP The
Overwatch, returns to the more succinct compositions of Sublimaton Therapy, all while continuing to expand
their already diverse sound. It's a mixture of all their influences, yet it still wears the unmistakeable Cara Neir
brand,
and it's easily one of their most enjoyable releases to date. Recommended. |
| Cara Neir/Ramlord Split |
| I haven't listened to the Ramlord side of this yet but the Cara Neir side is fucking phenomenal. By far their most post-rock/screamo set of songs to date, it's amazing how well they can pull off black metal with all these difference nuances |
| Cara Neir/Wildspeaker Guilt and His Reflection |
| Musically, Guilt and His Reflection is one of the most interesting things I've heard all year. It defies categorization; Cara Neir is seamlessly avant-garde, metal, screamo, hardcore, and many other things. Wildspeaker is a bit more straightforward, but their blend of black metal/hardcore/post- is equally as compelling. The vocals on both sides are furious and vitriol-filled, with Chris' rasps and shouts feeling schizophrenic and harrowing (perfect for the split's concept) and Natalie's sounding like a more black metal influenced Jacob Bannon. There is a concept strewn across all the songs, revolving around cannibalism in a post-apocalyptic world, and the mental/physical effects it has on the story's main character. This shit is fucking tight. |
| Carcass Heartwork |
| Carcass Reek of Putrefaction |
| Carrion of Torrent Inituum Calamitatis Regni |
| Carved Cross Demo III |
| Carved Cross Carved Cross |
| Carved Cross Sapped of Strength, Left to Wither and Fade Away |
| Carved Cross The Yawning Abyss of Perdition |
| Carved Cross Severance of Disparity in Absolute Acrimony |
This is perhaps is Carved Cross’ best record. The core tenants of their sound - minimalism, repetition, and
obscenely raw production- are intact, but there’s is more melody and atmosphere present than ever before.
These additions are obviously not exceedingly groundbreaking, but when working in tandem with the
idiosyncrasies Carved Cross have been peddling since their debut in 2012, elevates their particularly raw brand
of black metal rto the next level of quality. |
| Carved Cross/Malphas Split |
| Castlefield The Mascot EP |
| Catholic Girls Distant |
| Cauteror They Fell |
| Cease Upon the Capitol Untitled |
| Cedamus Song of the Forest |
| Cer Dialectic Enigma |
| Chaos Moon Eschaton Mémoire |
| Chaotian Where Gods Excarnate |
| Chapel of Disease ...And As We Have Seen The Storm |
| Chapel of Disease have managed to graft depth, dimension, and death metal together into a seamless package. I'm fucking here for it. |
| Charts and Maps Dead Horse |
| Jazzy post-rock woooooooooooooooooooooooooo omg orgasm |
| Children of Bodom Tokyo Warhearts |
| Children of Bodom Hexed |
| Chronaexus Algedonic Awakening |
| Chthe'ilist Le Dernier Crépuscule |
| Church Whip Psychedelic Nightmare |
| Cinderella Night Songs |
| Circle of Ouroborus Kuuhun Kahlittu |
| Circle of Ouroborus Viimeinen Juoksu |
| Circle Takes the Square As the Roots Undo |
| Cirrhus Cirrhus |
| Cirrhus Unimpeachable Madness |
| City Hunter Deep Blood |
| Clandestine Blaze Fist of the Northern Destroyer |
| Clandestine Blaze Night Of The Unholy Flame |
| Coast Coast |
| Converge Jane Doe |
| i bet half of you didn't even listen to this and rated 5 |
| Converge Petitioning the Empty Sky |
| Converge No Heroes |
| Converge When Forever Comes Crashing |
| Converge The Dusk in Us |
| Converge are about to put The D in Us |
| Cornerwrithe I Am All Saints Defiled |
| Cosmic Church Täyttymys |
| Cosmic Church/Keres Lucifer Returns to Heaven |
| Cosmic Putrefaction At the Threshold of the Greatest Chasm |
| Cosmic Putrefaction is one of several solo projects of Italian multi-instrumentalist G.G., and though I have yet to hear those other works, Cosmic Putrefaction is good enough to the point where I think I'll need to investigate this backlog. What initially jolted my interest was the fact that Brendan Sloan of Convulsing -easily one of my favorite contemporary extreme metal acts- was providing the majority of the vocals for this album; however what keeps me coming back is the entire package. It's an album that certainly lives up to its name, exuding a certain celestial quality from it's off-kilter onslaught. In a lot of ways it reminds of me a modernized version of Blessed Are The Sick-era Morbid Angel, with a very Azagthothian feel to how G.G. pairs stuttered, thrashy riffage together with more conventional death metal fare. Brendan unsurprisingly delivers a performance on par with the work in his own band, with his guttural lows feral but also wielding a good deal of emotion. Overall this album is a successful experiment, one that I hope comes together again to give us more excellent death metal. |
| Cosmic Putrefaction The Horizons Towards Which Splendour Withers |
| Counterparts You're Not You Anymore |
| Cradle of Filth Thornography |
| Cradle of Filth Lovecraft & Witch Hearts |
| Cradle of Filth The Principle of Evil Made Flesh |
| Cradle of Filth Damnation and a Day |
| Crazy Lixx Loud Minority |
| Creeping Death Wretched Illusions |
| Crooked Necks Alright Is Exactly What It Isn't |
| This is an album I've been waiting a long time for - I've been a fan of this band since their days as Frail, and even though the majority of the bands black metal influence has been thrown to the wayside, they've definitely proven themselves here as a solid post-punk/shoegaze project. Glistening melodies coupled with jubilant bass-lines, Crooked Necks creates music that sticks with you, crafting melodies that will speak to your soul and raise spirits even in their darkest hours. The music is truly beautiful, and the raw production edge (one of the few black metal remnants the band contains) only adds to the amazing atmosphere. Like I said, I've been waiting a long time for this -- I'm glad I wasn't disappointed. |
| Cruciamentum Engulfed In Desolation |
| Haven't listened to this but If Hyperion says it's good you should pretty much know that it's going to kick copious amounts ass. |
| Cruciamentum Charnel Passages |
| Cruentus (ITA) In Myself |
| Cryptic Shift Visitations from Enceladus |
| Cryptic Shift / Replicant / Inoculation / Astral Tomb Chasm of Aeons |
| Cryptophobism Demo '98 |
| CW Productions Even Biology Is Revolting Despite ItsNaturalAppeal |
| CW Productions is a paragon of raw and punk-y USBM so it (almost) goes without saying that a compilation of new material from the entirety of its roster is ESSENTIAL. |
| Cynic Focus |
| Cynic Traced in Air |
| D.R.I. Dealing with It! |
| Dagorath Evil Is the Spirit |
| Dakhma (SUI) Hamkar Atonement |
| Damian Valles Bow Echoes |
| Dance Gavin Dance Dance Gavin Dance |
| Dance Gavin Dance Whatever I Say Is Royal Ocean |
| Darkest Hour So Sedated, So Secure (Re-Issue) |
| Darkest Hour Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation |
| Darkseid The Three Mothers |
| Obscure death metal from France, Darkseid was a great little band that only put out The Three Mothers concept demo in 1996 before completely dropping off the face of the Earth. Pretty different from anything that was going on in the United States or any other country for that matter, Darkseid played a catchy yet heavy form of death metal with some interesting experimental tendencies. Unlike most other death metal, Darkseid's standard tuned guitar may have sacrificed them some of the sheer heaviness of their peers, but it certainly helped when it came to creating some of the unorthodox guitar lines the album is centered on. The gutturals are also pretty great, containing a nice hoarseness that helps the singer from being just another death metal vocalist. Overall a great, interesting listen. |
| Darkthrone The Cult Is Alive |
| Das Oath Das Oath |
| Das Plague Das Plague |
| David Tagg Pentecost |
| Dawn Ray'd Behold Sedition Plainsong |
| De Magia Veterum Naked Swords Into The Womb Of The Enemy |
| Deafheaven Demo |
| Death Human |
| Death Fortress Triumph Of The Undying |
| Death Fortress Reign of the Unending |
| Death From Above The Physical World |
| Deathspell Omega Paracletus |
| Deathspell Omega The Furnaces of Palingenesia |
| Please check out my right wing Deathspell Omega cover project Deathspell O-MAGA |
| Decapitated Winds of Creation |
| Decapitated Nihility |
| Decapitated Organic Hallucinosis |
| Deceased The Blueprint For Madness |
| Generally seen as a weaker album in Deceased's early discography, The Blueprint For Madness is very much the interim album between the band's two best known releases. However that in no way means The Blueprint for Madness doesn't contain quite a bit of excellent material itself; introducing the progressive elements the band would later capitalize on, here is where Deceased started showing their true ingenuity, fusing the raw direction of their past with more melodic qualities, such as tuneful solos and even some really awesome Maiden inspired harmonies. At the end of the day, The Blueprint For Madness is an underrated album within the Deceased catalog. |
| Deceased Surreal Overdose |
| Deceased Ghostly White |
| Decrepitaph Profane Doctrines Unburied |
| Defaced Creation Serenity in Chaos |
| Swedish death metal with an extra technical edge to it making for a very successful album |
| Deicide The Stench of Redemption |
| There are very few bands that have been able to pull a late game comeback; Megadeth came back roaring with 2009?s Endgame, Cradle of Filth reinvented themselves with 2015?s Hammer of the Witches, and OSDM stalwarts Deicide coincidentally pulled a miracle out of nowhere when they released The Stench of Redemption in 2005 after a near decade of phoning it in. Much like the other examples it was a changing of the guard that breathed new life into this husk of a band. Legends Jack Owen (of Cannibal Corpse fame) and Ralph Santolla (RIP) joined the group after the exit of the bug-eyed Hoffman brothers, and completely reinvigorated the project. By adding just the smallest dose of melody alongside classic, unrelenting death metal riffage, Deicide -for a short moment in time- climbed their way out of irrelevance and managed to position themselves on top the death metal heap once again. If you kept reading and made it to this part, do yourself a favor and just listen, you won?t regret it. |
| Del Paxton Worst. Summer. Ever. |
| Delice Sillage |
| Demilich Nespithe |
| Demon Hunter Storm the Gates of Hell |
| Departure Chandelier Antichrist Rise to Power |
| Dernier Martyr/Lifeless Sorrow/All The Cold The Plague of Our Lands |
| Desolate Shrine Tenebrous Towers |
| Desolate Shrine popped up in the atmospheric death metal boom of the 2010's, but definitely stand out from the sea of Incantation emulators. They are atmospheric in a more traditional sense, with purposeful breaks separating the bouts of punk-y death metal savagery straight out of Stockholm. |
| Despondent Moon Invoking the Freezing Mist |
| DevilDriver The Fury of Our Maker's Hand |
| Dimmu Borgir Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia |
| Dir Yassin Discography |
| Disaffected Vast |
| Disaffected are a Portuguese progressive death metal band that throughout their cumulative 20 year career have only released one truly worthwhile album, Vast. an impressive concoction of atmosphere, jazz fusion, and death metal. |
| Dissection The Somberlain |
| Dissection Reinkaos |
| Dissection Live Rebirth |
| Dodenbezweerder Zwarte Sluiers |
| Dodsengel Mirium Occultum |
| a new take on classic norweigan black metal that for the most part, works well |
| Dommedagssalme Division |
| Donovan Wolfington Stop Breathing |
| HEY THIS IS CATCHY |
| Dotzd Fantasia |
| DragonForce Inhuman Rampage |
| DragonForce Sonic Firestorm |
| DragonForce Valley of the Damned |
| Drastus Serpent's Chalice - Materia Prima |
| Dressed In Streams The Search for Blood |
| Dressed In Streams Dressed In Streams |
| Dressed In Streams Azad Hind |
| Dressed In Streams Swaraj: or, "Self Rule" |
| Drowning the Light The Blood Of The Ancients |
| Drowning the Light The Fading Rays Of The Sun |
| Drowning the Light The Serpents Reign |
| Drowning the Light Oceans of Eternity |
| Despite being one of the most inconsistent black metal musicians in previous years, Azgorh has since become a fairly strong force within the genre; the quality of the music has improved greatly, and in turn, Drowning The Light's popularity has deservedly soared. This is some top-notch atmospheric black metal, complete with all the recently great melodic choices that have made the past few DTL releases worthwhile. |
| Drowning the Light From the Abyss |
| Drowning The Light continue to get better. Each song has a "special" something that makes it memorable. |
| Drowning the Light The Vampire Cipher |
| Drowning the Light Cursed Below the Waves |
Azgorh's newest album explores the deepest and darkest depths of the ocean without the losing
blackened melodicism his recent records have exuded so effortlessly. |
| Drowning The Light/Acherontas Drowning the Light/Acherontas |
| Hailing from Australia (Drowning The Light) and Greece (Acherontas) respectfully, both bands play a raw, majestic form of atmospheric black metal. Acherontas provides a more harsh yet melodic approach while Drowning the Light adds the perfect amount of keyboard atmospherics to match their almost equally as scathing approach. Although only 2 songs long, this is split recommended to anyone. |
| Drowning The Light/Circle of Ouroborus Moonflares |
| Drowning The Virgin Silence Beneath The Sulfur Sky |
| Dunnock Little Stories Told By Ghosts |
| Dystopia Na! Syklus |
| Eigenlicht Sacral Regicide |
| Hellenic inspired black metal from Washington. Really fucking awesome stuff. |
| Eighteen Visions Obsession |
| Eighteen Visions Yesterday Is Time Killed |
| Eighteen Visions XVIII |
| XVIII sounds like the forgotten child of Until the Ink Runs Out and Vanity, and I am not complaining one bit. |
| Eighteen Visions Lifeless |
| Eighteen Visions Inferno |
| After their redemptive come back with XVIII, Eighteen Visions continue to impress with their post-reunion material; Inferno is everything and more a fan of the band could want. Recalling their Until the Ink Runs Out while downtuning to acquiesce with the modern standard for "heavy", Inferno is chock full of skronky riffs, heart-racing breakdowns, and enough movie samples to satisfy any cinephile. This isn't even mentioning how great James sounds, as the vocalist provides perhaps his best performance yet. This release just proves Eighteen Visions is here to stay, and honestly, I am too. |
| Eithel Sirion Misanthropic Spheres of Damnation |
| El-Ahrairah The Blessing |
| Elegiac Black Clouds of War |
| Em Dath Rir The First Demonstration |
| Emarosa Versus |
| Emarosa Emarosa |
| Emarosa Peach Club |
| This is what pop rock should sound like. |
| Empire of Hate Visions of A Better Time |
| Encoffination O Hell, Shine In Thy Whited Sepulchres |
| Engraved Before The Tales |
| Unlike much of modern melodeath which comes of as generic and uninspired, Engraved's demo 1995 is a true marriage of original death metal stylings and epic melodies. Backed by a truly fitting muddy production, this demo features some great, downtuned riffs, excellent guttural vocals and great, classic metal inspired melodies. |
| Enslaved Vertebrae |
| Enslaved Below the Lights |
| Enslaved Eld |
| Enslaved Monumension |
| Enslaved Frost |
| Epheles Je Suis Autrefois |
| These french black metal veterans just don't know how to make a bad album |
| Erraunt The Portent |
| Eructation 1992 Demo |
| Eructation The Fumes of Putrefaction (1992-1995) |
| Escalator Demo |
| Escape the Fate Dying Is Your Latest Fashion |
| Esoctrilihum Inhüma |
| Delving further into the hellish chasms he excavated earlier this year on Pandaemorthium, Esoctrilihum is back for his second full-length of the year, Inhu?ma, an all-around more visceral and haunting experience in cavernous black/death metal. Showing slight leaps in sophistication only lends to making this experience more harrowing as if darkness itself manifested consciousness and is intent on casting your soul into diabolical inferno. |
| Esoctrilihum Eternity Of Shaog |
| Eterna Rovina Monolito |
| Eternal Fortress Enchanted Woods of Sorrow |
| Exalted Eyes Rolled Back |
| Excellent punk influenced black metal EP. Fast, chaotic yet still extremely catchy and lots of fun. Although it is truly a shame this is EP is so short (only two songs), one thing it does for sure is make you want to check out the band's back catalog as well as get you excited for future material. Awesome. |
| Exhumation (GR) Seas of Eternal Silence |
| Exoto Carnival of Souls |
| Face the Rail Face the Rail |
| Faceless Burial Multiversal Abattoir |
| Failures Failures |
| Fallen Christ Abduction Ritual |
| Father Befouled Revulsion of Seraphic Grace |
| Fell Voices Fell Voices |
| Feminazgul No Dawn for Men |
| The new Feminazgl record, No Dawn For Men is an incredible achievement of progressive, feminist black metal. Although I appreciated the concept of their previous album The Age of Men is Over, more than I necessarily appreciated the music (it was absolutely fine, just nothing to write home about), No Dawn For Men sees both elements in fine form. It has that lo-fi grit common to raw(er) black metal, yet melodically it adheres closer to post-black metal, employing wave after wave of uplifting tremolo riffage. There's a very pronounced orchestral/atmospheric element present throughout as well, which only serves to further bolster the already impressive and beautiful music created by the more "traditional" instrumentals. From start to finish this record is a win and highly recommended. |
| Fief IV |
| Fief III |
| Fields of Mildew Fields of Mildew |
| Fields of Mildew self-titled album is definitely one of my favorite releases of 2015; distributed by Fallow Field, but neither black metal or power electronics, Fields of Mildew is stirring, lo-fi folk of the highest caliber. Consisting of only guitars and vocals, whoever is behind Fields of Mildew is quite adept at creating despondent, yet beautiful melodies. Recommended. |
| Fire In The Cave Fire In the Cave |
| Firebird No. 3 |
| Firehouse Firehouse |
| Firnglow A Long Awaited Presence |
| Forest Mysticism Forest Mysticism |
| Forest Mysticism Demo Collection (2006-2011) |
| Forest Mysticism Hearken |
Forest Mysticism's second demo was one of my first experiences with raw music, and it
changed the way I saw black metal. Unfortunately, as a side project of Australian
mastermind D, leader of Woods of Desolation, Grey Waters, etc... Forest Mysticism offered
sparse material until recently. It's not as beautifully under-produced as his demos but
it's still super melodic and wondrous atmospheric black metal with some slight folk
elements thrown in for good measure. |
| Forest Mysticism/Larmes d'Hivers Blood of the Woodland/The Fall of Autumn |
| Forest Mysticism/Runespell Wandering Forlorn |
| Forest of Grey Crypsis |
| Cascadian black metal with a more progressive slant, not relying on repetition as much as adventurousness. |
| Foret D'Hiver La Fin Du Monde |
| Forgotten Spell Desecrated, Decayed and Still Holy |
| Forgotten Spell The Necromancer Demo |
| Four Year Strong It's Our Time |
| Frameworks Small Victories |
| Frontier Demo |
| Hailing from Massachusetts, Frontier plays a form of modern black metal with slight "post" influences. Everything from the instrumentals to the vocals are top notch. Definitely a band to look out for. |
| Fuath I |
| Funebre Children of the Scorn |
| Funereal Presence Achatius |
| Furdidurke November 2005 Rehearsal |
| Furdidurke Native |
| Furdidurke Furdidurke |
| GARDSGHASTR Slit Throat Requiem |
| Garroted Of Damnation and Abyssal Terrors |
| Gauche (AUS) Siesta Cinema |
| Gaunt Demo |
| Ghâsh / Marunata / Dreamshift / A Light in the Dark Colors of the Mind |
Post-black metal as a whole may be tired, played-out and for the most part boring, but this split
featuring four new(er) post-black metal bands somehow isn't. |
| GHOSTEMANE N/O/I/S/E |
| Glossolalia Gold in the Throat |
| God Forbid IV: Constitution of Treason |
| God Macabre The Winterlong |
The Winterlong is an album that was released in 1993 and was (for the most part) forgotten.
Thankfully, some denizen of the late 2000's blogspot scene was also a collector of obscure Swedish
OSDM and uploaded it to their site or it may have remained gone forever. Since then the album has
rightfully gained a cult following and status as an un(der)heralded *classic* of that famed scene,
a fine example of the then burgeoning movement that's so fondly remembered today. |
| Gorephilia Ascend to Chaos |
| Gorephilia Severed Monolith |
| Gorephilia Embodiment of Death |
| Grand Mood Final Urge To March |
| Taking cues from their contemporaries Cirrhus and Furdidurke, Grand Mood were a short-lived raw black metal/punk band that released this solitary demo in 2011. Able to conjure galloping black metal melodies with a raucous punk stomp, it's truly a shame this band called it quits after only one, excellent tape. They could have gone on to do great things. |
| Green Day American Idiot |
| Grinning Death's Head Black Sun Rising |
| When you listen to Grinning Death's Head, you pretty much know what you expect: dirty and disgusting blackened punk reminiscent of Bone Awl. And yes, while they certainly recall the aforementioned kings of black punk -most bands in the genre do- honestly, they do it much better. Grinning Death's Head always manage to imbue destructive grooves into their four chord mayhem, creating music that is equal parts devastating, and catchy. Black Sun Rising is undoubtedly one of their strongest efforts, and an essential of the blackened punk genre. |
| Grogaldr Illness Unto the Womb of Spirit |
| Guidelines Rules of the Sife |
| Gutter Instinct Heirs of Sisyphus |
| Haapoja Haapoja |
| Hagetisse The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin |
| Hallow Hallow |
| An album based upon paintings by Mark McCoy, it is a great combination of black metal and noise |
| Happy Particles Under Sleeping Waves |
| Hate Eternal Phoenix Amongst The Ashes |
| Haunter (USA-TX) Sacramental Death Qualia |
| Haust Ride The Relapse |
| Havukruunu Uinuos Syomein Sota |
| Haxanu Snare of All Salvation |
| Häresie Häresie |
| He Is Legend 91025 |
| He Is Legend few |
| Heart on My Sleeve Blood Is Not Thicker Than Wine |
| Great dynamic screamo EP from this year; catchy, fun and played with tons of emotion, this simple yet striking EP would be a great listen to for anyone |
| Heart on My Sleeve Stand by, We're Going In For Life |
| Heavy Weather/The Hope and the Failure Split |
| Never thought I would see The Hope and The Failure release a new song, but all I can say is THANK FUCK THEY DID. Their ability write genuinely heartbreaking screamo hasn't diminished one bit. The music is wonderfully dynamic and Ina sounds fantastic. Heavy Weather's track is also just killer. The melodic depth it has is incredible. Damn, this split is good. |
| Heinali And Matt Finney Aint No Night |
| Hellacaust Disgust |
| Hellacaust put thrash, death and black metal into a blender, spice it up with some punk attitude and serve it cold. Riffs, voKILLS and blasphemy, this album has it all. |
| Heretoir Existenz |
| Heretoir The Circle |
| Hexis XI |
| Grim and hateful hardcore with strong as balls black metal influences |
| HIM Love Metal |
| Himelvaruwe Hemelpoort |
| Himelvaruwe Het Onkenbare |
| Himelvaruwe Zwaluwenvesting |
| Hinterlandt Sollbruchstelle |
| Hooded Menace Fulfill the Curse |
| Horrid Cross Demo II |
| Horrified (UK) Allure Of The Fallen |
| Occupying a space between early American old-school death metal and early Somberlain-era Dissection, Horrified recreate and expand on a sound that is rarely, if ever touched on. It's atmospheric and melodic without sacrificing bestial brutality, cleanly played without ditching some extreme metal sloppiness, and overall just contains very strong individual songs. Recommended. |
| House of Atreus From the Madness of Ixion |
| Argohslent-y melodic death metal courtesy of Iron Bonehead. Though it?s worship of the aforementioned band is fairly blatant, they?re definitely not the worst melodeath act to imitate. |
| How to Destroy Angels Welcome Oblivion |
| Hwwauoch Hwwauoch |
This is one of the eeriest albums I've heard all year; it's like listening to Portal in the vacuum
of space, if that vacuum was always blasting horror movie soundtracks. |
| Hyperdontia Nexus of Teeth |
| I Have Dreams Three Days 'Til Christmas |
| I See Stars Digital Renegade |
| IDYLLS Farewell All Joy |
| Immolation Failures for Gods |
| Immortal Battles in the North |
| Immortal At the Heart of Winter |
| Immortal Pure Holocaust |
| Immortalis Indicium De Mortuis |
| Impetigo Horror Of The Zombies |
| Impetuous Ritual Relentless Execution of Ceremonial Excrescence |
| Imynvokad Tongues of Death |
| Extra melancholic raw black metal that constantly straddles between clean picked sections of pure dissonance and coldly melodic yet churning tremolo picked riffs of epic proportions. Either way, win. |
| In This Moment The Dream |
| Incursus Incursus |
| Deeply inspired by early Norwegian black metal, Incursus' debut EP is two songs of raw, hateful black metal. Backed by a fitting murky production, this USBM knows how to bring the kvlt. |
| Inearthed Implosion Of Heaven |
| Inearthed Shining |
| Inferi (USA) Revenant |
This album reminds of what it felt like when I was first getting into extreme metal. Of course
jaded old me has a few gripes (vocals), but this is a fun and adventurous album filled with
stellar playing, exciting songs, and great energy. |
| Infernum (Norway) Livael-Itu |
| Innards I've Lost Everything |
| Inquisition Obscure Verses for the Multiverse |
| Into Eternity The Scattering of Ashes |
| Iron Maiden The Number of the Beast |
| Iron Maiden Piece of Mind |
| Iron Maiden Somewhere in Time |
| Irrwisch Irrwisch |
| Isenordal/Void Omnia Split |
| A record like this will help remind how expansive and diverse black metal can be. |
| Ithaca The Language of Injury |
| Ives Abandon |
| Iwrestledabearonce Iwrestledabearonce |
| Ixachitlan Eagle, Quetzal, and Condor |
| Je Suis Le Petit Chevalier Tropical Malady |
| Jesse Barrera Love In Technicolor |
| shameless radio pop that somehow never made it on the radio. stupid, cliched, catchy and just fun fun fun. the type of album you sit back and enjoy not over analyze |
| Johnny Truant In the Library of Horrific Events |
| Jordablod The Cabinet of Numinous Song |
| Judas Iscariot An Ancient Starry Sky |
| Judas Iscariot's long lost album, An Ancient Starry Night was meant to be released in 1998, but pushed aside in favor of releasing his seminal Heaven In Flames record. Thankfully unearthed by Akhenaten's recent Judas Iscariot reissue campaign, it's reassuring that the first new JI material in almost two decades was recorded in the band's prime, and should stand as another worthy addition to the Judas Iscariot canon. |
| Jute Gyte Birefringence |
| Jute Gyte may be the most singularly innovative black metal act in the last decade. Rising from the crudity of normal raw black metal fare, his microtonal assault is as vicious as it is cerebral, elevating the genre beyond the blunt primitivity of his peers. |
| Kaatayra Só Quem Viu o Relâmpago à Sua Direita Sabe |
| Kaffaljidhma III |
| Kaleikr Heart of Lead |
| Kallathon Before Drifting into the Abyss |
| Kallathon/Blue Hummingbird on the Left Camino de Guerra |
| Kaonashi Why Did You Do It? |
| One of the most exciting metalcore bands around today. |
| Kato Buried With The Rain |
| Kerasphorus Cloven Hooves at the Holocaust Dawn |
| Cloven Hooves At The Holocaust Dawn maybe the more polished alternative to the likes of Diocletian or Father Befouled, but Kerasphorus are still every bit as aggressive as their fellow black death/bands as their first and only release displays really enjoyable, if not standard blackened death metal with some awesome riffs at times. |
| Kerasphorus Necronaut |
| Kerasphorus Kerasphorus |
| King Apathy Eine Momentaufnahme - Der Rest ist nur Einsamkeit |
| King Apathy The Elk |
| Knockout Kid Manic |
| Kommodus One Thousand Years of the Wolf (demo) |
| Kommodus From the Ashes of Empire (demo) |
| Kommodus An Imperial Sun Rises (demo) |
| Kommodus Kommodus |
| Korgonthurus Kuolleestasyntynyt |
| Korpsånd An Introduction to the New Wave of DKBM |
| Krabathor Cool Mortification |
| Old school death metal from the Czech Republic with experimental and thrash influences aka FUCKING OWNS. |
| Krampusnacht Krampusnacht |
| Christmas music in the key of HELL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
| Krypts Open the Crypt |
| Excellent old-school styled death metal from Finland. Well produced, well-written this band has a great future ahead of them. |
| Krypts Cadaver Circulation |
| Kuxan Suum Kinich Ahau |
| Kuxan Suum Kuxan Suum |
| Another project of Eduardo Ramirez (Volahn, Axeman, etc...), Kuxan Suum is the manifestation of Ramirez's desire to blend psychedelic elements with raw black metal. The result is a resounding success, as the two tracks here "Kinich Ahau" and "Principle of Harmonic Resonance" are excellent examples of progressive, forward-thinking black metal that never loses sight of its bestial roots. |
| Kvelgeyst Alkahest |
| L'Acephale L’Acephale |
| L.A. Guns LA Guns |
| La Dispute Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair |
| La Torture des Tenebres Civilization Is the Tomb of Our Noble Gods |
| La Torture des Tenebres IV - Memoirs of a Machine Girl |
| One of the best black metal/noise fusions I've ever heard. The noise elements usually take precedence, but you can always feel the elements of black metal pulsating underneath the cacophony of static. Surprisingly melodic at times, and very palatable given its abrasiveness. |
| Lamp of Murmuur Thunder Vigil and Ecstasy |
| Lamp of Murmuur Melancholy Howls in Ceremonial Penitence |
| Lamp of Murmuur Chasing The Path Of The Hidden Master |
| Lampir Demo III |
| lastletters From Her to Here |
| What first drew me to lastletters. was the album cover for From Her to Here and what kept me coming back was the music. The melodies here resonate strongly and thanks to the more straightforward structuring of the songs (akin to melodic hardcore) they are super effective. Vocally, the screams here are typical of the genre but amazing nonetheless; literally cracking with passion, when lyrics like "We?ll always be a part of something greater than this, something real, and I can feel it now" , not only do you pay attention, you relate, something that just makes the EP all the more enjoyable. lastletters. have made a super enjoyable release with From Her to Here and are definitely a band to keep an eye on |
| Le Kraken Exalt |
| Leper End Progress |
| While black metal/crust punk and ska seem like genre's that would never mesh together well, Leper does a great job of successfully integrating these influences into burst of intense, great music. Diverse and fun, this album deserves more attention. |
| letlive. The Blackest Beautiful |
| life (USA-TX) demo 2 |
| life (USA-TX) demo 3 |
| Light of the Morning Star Nocta |
| Limbonic Art Promo 1995 [Demo] |
| Linkin Park Meteora |
| Liquicity Escapism 4 |
| Another great DnB compilation from the Netherlands based label, Liquicity. The line-up for this one is particularly sick, featuring staples as Feint, Dualistic, Nymfo, and the almighty Ramses B. Ranging from pump-up tracks to pieces of pure atmospheric transcendence, there is no escape from the good vibes once this badboi gets started. |
| Long Live Nothing Long Live Nothing |
| Lord Snow Lord Snow |
| Lord Snow SHADOWMARKS |
| Loss of Self Twelve Minutes |
| Lothric Adversarial Light |
| Very good straightforward black metal with a melodic twist. |
| Lugubrum Albino de Congo |
| Lykotonon Only Our Eyes Are Alive |
| black/death metal from members of wayfarer and blood incantation? yes please |
| Machine Head The Blackening |
| Machinemade God Masked |
| Mahumodo Waves |
| Maleficentt Night of the Crimson Stars |
| ManBearPig Ruined Emo |
| Maneskygge untitled |
There's black metal that attempts to achieve a chill through their music, and black metal
that attempts to achieve a chill through their production; M�neskygge is the latter, and
the tempest it conjures throughout its sole untitled full-length is cold enough to leave
you teeth chattering. There's an odd beauty to the harshness, and the though the
production could not be any rawer, it's a surprisingly listenable experience. With summer
quick approaching, this blizzardous album is the perfect tool to combat the oncoming
heat-wave. |
| Maneskygge untitled mmxix |
| Maquahuitl At the Altar of Mictlampa |
| Martire Martire |
| Released in 1991 by Dominator Records, the Martire EP was the first official release from this unknown Australian horde. While the earlier songs on the EP definitely accentuate the band's love for black metal, as the record progresses the band begins to reveal their knack for creating sick and twisted death metal, with tons of awesome riffs and great, technical instrumentation intertwined with black metal's ferocity. The vocals in particular really stood out to me with vocalist/guitarist Vince Feleppa providing screeches suitably spawned from hell. Overall a great EP that definitely comes recommended!rFun Fact: This band also features members of Mournful Congregation and Portal, and while Martire definitely has (well had) a sound of their own, this should reassure you that the quality is nothing less than exceptional. |
| Marunata Dernieres Reminscences |
| Alongside the Pale?s s/t EP, this is one of best post-black metal releases of the year. |
| Mayhem Chimera |
| Me and Mark Me and Mark |
| Megadeth The System Has Failed |
| The System Has Failed is the perfect interim Megadeth album; somewhere in between their more commercial oriented route and the overtly technical thrash they began with, The System Has Failed does not only hints at once was and will be, but in itself is a great addition to the Megadeth discography. |
| Megadeth Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! |
| Megadeth Rust in Peace |
| Megadeth Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? |
| Metallica Garage Inc. |
| Miasmatic Necrosis Apex Profane |
| I'm a sucker for any kind of Reek of Putrefaction/Symphonies of Sickness-era Carcass worship, and it just so happens that Miasmatic Necrosis do this kind of death/goregrind very well. The riffs are sharp and clean but with a healthy respect for the violence of old school gore, and the pitchshifted vokills are a great throwback to the late 80's/early 90's scene. The band also have their own inherent weirdness, which adds to the appeal and makes it their despite the obvious homage to the genre greats. |
| microcosmys / La Torture des Ténèbres The Gods Themselves |
| Misericordia (RUS) The Microbiological Revolution |
| Misery Signals Controller |
| Misery Signals Of Malice and the Magnum Heart |
| Misfits American Psycho |
| Mister Heavenly Out of Love |
| Misthyrming Algleymi |
| The only word that comes to mind when listening to this is ?triumphant?. |
| Mizmor Yodh |
| One of the most dense, challenging, and ultimately rewarding albums I've listened to this year. As a combination of black metal, drone, and doom, there is a lot to digest here, and to be honest it isn't easy. Not one track falls under the 10 minute mark, and there are many layers of music to dig through. However, the depth makes this release come alive, and the dichotomy of slow churn and blistering rampage is utilized here at its best. This is daunting and horrifying, but gorgeous and wondrous within the same breadth. It's an album that thrives on contrasts, with each opposing section accentuating the strengths of the other. Yodh was meticulously constructed, and I recommend you listen to it with the same attention to detail, because if you do, you'll be richly rewarded with an excellent album. |
| Mizmor Cairn |
| When I listen to this record, I don't feel like I have a Cairn the world. |
| Mom Jeans. best buds |
| Monomakh MMXII |
| Monvment I |
| Morbid Angel Domination |
| Morbid Angel Formulas Fatal to the Flesh |
| Morbid Angel Gateways to Annihilation |
| Morbus Chron Sweven |
| Morgue Eroded Thoughts |
| Mors Atra Crucis I |
| Mortespermia CCCXXXIII |
| With bands like Mortespermia, it's pretty easy to be dismissive at first glance. As a Brazilian bedroom black metal project featuring sloppy playing, ear-torturing production and just a general amateurishness, CCCXXXIII's first impression isn't very flattering. The second and third impressions go down much better. As it turns out, Mortespermia is much more than meets the eye. From punk-y to atmospheric, straightforward to nuanced, CCCXXXIII is a surprisingly diverse yet cohesive piece of raw black metal. There are so many unexpected twists and turns throughout, whether it be the jolting bursts of melody or the odd shapes and phrases Grim summons out of his guitar. It has a very endearing kitsch quality about it, much like their forebears Hellhammer. Not everyone while get this or appreciate it, but this release is highly recommended to black metal fans entrenched in the rawer side of the genre. |
| Mother Love Bone Apple |
| Motley Crue Theatre of Pain |
| Motley Crue Dr. Feelgood |
| Motley Crue New Tattoo |
| Mr Twin Sister Mr Twin Sister |
| Mutilated by Zombies Scripts of Anguish |
| My Chemical Romance The Black Parade |
| Nameless Coyote Devoured by the Swirling Night |
| Nameless Coyote Blood Moon |
| Nan Elmoth Void Serpent |
| Napalm Death From Enslavement to Obliteration |
| Naphobia Of Hell |
| More overlooked Floridian death metal, Of Hell Naphobia's only full-length album is played in the style of most United States based OSDM bands, meaning there are few things you can automatically guess about whats in store you when listening to this record; uber technical instrumentation, a pace almost too fast to follow, and great production values. Naphobia didn't stray from any formulas but rather just put their heart into perfecting one, making for a great performance by all the group's members. Of Hell is plain and simple incredibly solid from start to finish, and if you can't take my word for it, take it from Chuck Schuldiner and Gene Hoglan two death metal luminaries that wouldn't ever waste their precious time guesting on an album that didn't offer anything but the best. |
| Níedgedál MMXV |
| Originally recorded in 2015 but not released until March of this year, Nedgedl's MMXV is a collection of "pagan" folk hymns; essentially a fusion of traditional, Nordic folk with ambient and splash of dungeon synth. It's a beautiful release, as gentle guitar licks meet with airy, atmospheric keys to create something that sounds personal even as underlying soundscape continues to expand. I was really surprised by how good this was. |
| Necrot Mortal |
| Nekrasov Lust of Consciousness |
| Nembrionic Psycho One Hundred |
| Death/grind that focuses much more on the death aspects of the music, Nembrionic delivers both deliciously crunchy riffs and enjoyably primal grind riffs along with an overall great instrumental delivery. Featuring a great production that no doubt helped the band give a more dense, well-structured performance, Psycho One Hundred is another fantastic slice of Dutch death metal heaven. |
| Neon Trees Habits |
| Nevermore This Godless Endeavor |
| Nietzu Submersion |
| Night's Threshold Deep Within The Night |
| Noctivago III |
| Nocturnal Blood True Spirit of Old |
| SATANS HARDS |
| Nokturnel Nothing But Hatred |
| Obituary Slowly We Rot |
| Obliteration Cenotaph Obscure |
| Obliti Devoravit Obliti Devoravit |
| Obliti Devoravit O.D. |
| Obskuritatem U Kraljevstvu Mrtvih... |
| There's a quantifiable difference between bands that can evoke the sound of classic 90's Norwegian BM and bands that can evoke the feeing of it; Obskuritatem are certainly the latter. |
| Occelensbrigg The Quest for Star Mountain |
| Odz Manouk/Tukaaria Split |
| Of Feather and Bone Bestial Hymns of Perversion |
| Offenbarung Manifestus |
| Old Nick Forest of Grief |
| Old Nick The Night Of The Ambush . . . |
| Opeth Orchid |
| Order From Chaos An Ending In Fire |
| Ordrhein Atavism |
| Ornamental Headpiece Masks of Ash |
| Orrery Nine Odes to Oblivion |
| Orth Ano Kato |
| Burping voKILLZ in addition to some prime old school tech death metal goodness |
| Orth Feed The Flames |
Orth were a criminally underrated German death metal that existed for a relatively scant 9-10
year period between 1991-2000. Why underrated? First would have to be the insane musicality
the band displayed throughout their only 2 LPs, Ano Kato, released in 1995 and Feed the
Flames, released in 2000. Even for a death metal band, the technicality was off the charts and
in some ways could be considered tech death, though instead of mindless sweeping and uber-
sterile production standards, remained true to classic old school death metal-isms. The second
factor would be Johannes Dimou croaked vocals which were eerily similar to the amphibious
gutturals of Demilich vocalist Antti Boman. Unfortunately these two traits didn't earn Orth
any lasting popularity or allegiances, but the duo of albums we were left should quench
anyone's thirst for quality and relatively unknown OSDM. |
| Ossuarium Living Tomb |
| Our Place of Worship is Silence The Embodiment of Hate |
| Outer Heaven Realms Of Eternal Decay |
| Pandiscordian Necrogenesis Outer Supernal |
Black metal should always strive to be the pinnacle of extremity in music - whether through
atmosphere, instrumentation, ideals, or any other medium - and the unorthodoxy of Pandiscordian
Necrogenesis certainly provides another worthy effort in the genre's well-established canon of
boundary pushing. Each track from this project is completely improvised, with sole member
Ephemeral Domignostika recording guitars, drums, and vocals, simultaneously. It would be comical,
but the end product Outer Supernal is nothing to laugh about. Raw black metal itself has the
undeserved connotation of being a mindless vociferation of unlistenable noise but it's projects
like this that exhibit it has the potential to transcend the stigma that it's the talentless
wasteland of a genre outliers misunderstand it to be. |
| Panopticon On the Subject of Mortality |
| Panopticon's already well established awesomeness + shoegaze influences = EVEN MORE AWESOMENESS |
| Panopticon The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness |
| This will need a few listens to really nail down feelings, but initial thoughts are this is very good. The production is grainier enough to appease raw(er) black metal fans but textured enough for dynamicism to thrive. The music is loud, bombastic, and grand but unlike other symphonic or orchestral black metal acts, Austin is able to imbue a small-town, folksy charm that makes the added atmosphere feel more like a call home than ostentatious embellishment. His ear for melody is second to none and it's nice to see that his standards haven't dropped after 10+ years of doing this. r**haven't listened to the folk/country side yet, but excited to |
| Panopticon The Crescendo of Dusk |
| While both the title track and "The Labyrinth" match the quality of the respective albums they were originally composed for, it takes only a cursory listen to The Crescendo of Dusk to deduce that these two songs were somehow made to be packaged together. |
| Panopticon/Vestiges Split |
| I won't even try to deny that I'm a huge Panopticon fanboy. That being said, I wasn't a huge fan of his two releases, which to me just seemed a bit by the numbers. This split returns to A's exploration of post-rock and shoegaze, and it is easily his most successful fusion of the two so far. Beautiful melodies coupled with pained barks and an entrancing atmosphere make his two songs here essential to any fan of his work so far. Honesty, I often forget to praise Vestiges, but they do an excellent job here as well, contributing only one song but it's epic as hell. |
| Panopticon/Wheels Within Wheels II |
| Haven't heard Wheels Within Wheels side yet but Panopticon's side was so fucking impressive, WWW could literally have recorded themselves taking wet shits and I still would still rate this a 4.5. |
| Pantheon I Worlds I Create |
| Paramore Riot! |
| Paramore After Laughter |
| Pathologist Putrefactive and Cadaverous Odes About Necroticism |
| If you ever find yourself wanting another Symphonies of Sickness-era Carcass album, look no further than Pathologist's putrid and puke-inducing debut. |
| Paul Travis Braille |
| Paysage d'Hiver Im Wald |
| Peaking Lights Imaginary Falcons |
| Penance Stare Scrying |
| Penance Stare's first album Scrying is a filthy juxtaposition of blackgaze, dark wave, and shoegaze elements. The addition of electronics and their cold mechanicalism piercing through the gritty production and thick tremolos adds a certain detachment from humanity to the overall sound, a sensation that at times is legitimately frightening. As a one-women project ELN's vision for Penance Stare is single-minded and executed with tunnel vision, a dedicated that in this case pays off beautifully. |
| Pensees Nocturnes Grotesque |
| Generally 'sophisticated" and "black metal" are never mentioned in the same sentence, yet with Pensees Nocturne's Grotesque the band brings a certain level of refinement that the genre overall could use. |
| Pensees Nocturnes Vacuum |
| Pentatonix Pentatonix |
| Petrine Cross Centuries of August |
| Pharmacist Medical Renditions of Grinding Decomposition |
| Pissmoon/Carrion of Orgy Pissmoon/Carrion of Orgy |
| Planks The Darkest of Grays |
| Planks Funeral Mouth |
| Portal ION |
This album is so antithetical. They've finally removed all the murk that was shrouding their
sound, and yet I found this easily the most challenging Portal record to sit through. I feel like
my mind was constantly struggling to keep up with all their technical aerobics. Ultimately though,
the struggle made it so much more of a rewarding listen. |
| Pretty Little Flower Devious Persecution And Wholesale Slaughter |
| Profanatica Sickened By Holy Host |
| It's good to see that after twenty two years the original black metal band is still playing by the rules they themselves set so long ago - Profanatica doesn't play to please the fans, they don't play to please the critics, they play because they genuinely love to create some of the most crude and simplistic black metal racket to ever exist. Sickened By Holy Host is one of the band's best releases yet. |
| Profetus The Sadness Of Time Passing |
| Prosanctus Inferi Pandemonic Ululations of Vesperic... |
| Probably the best black/death metal release from last year |
| Prosanctus Inferi Sacreligious Desecration In Excelsis |
| Although most days I prefer their full-length, Prosanctus Inferi's first demo is absolute descent into hell; spawning riffs of pure malevolence, choking with its conjuration of a thick, stifling and ever so tangible atmosphere and battering with an assaulting percussive performance, Sacrilegious Desecration In Excelsis is more than just music, it's a ritualistic satanic journey from which there may be no return. Listen at your own risk. |
| Proscription Conduit |
| Pyrrhon Abscess Time |
| Qrixkuor Three Devils Dance |
| Radiohead OK Computer |
| Raspberry Bulbs Before The Age Of Mirrors |
| Rational Animals Bock Rock Parade |
| Reactor (CH) The Tribunal Above |
| Rebel Wizard Voluptuous Worship of Rapture and Response |
| Reel Big Fish Turn the Radio Off |
| Reel Big Fish Why Do They Rock So Hard? |
| Reflux The Illusion Of Democracy |
| Rehashed Rehashed Demo |
| Hardcore and thrash metal combo that maintains a contain stream of unbridled aggression. Great riffs, awesome vokillz and overall just good vibes this album is fun as it is dangerous. |
| Reka II |
| Reka I |
| Revenant Prophecies of a Dying World |
| Revenant Marquis/Lamp of Murmuur Revenant Marquis/Lamp of Murmuur |
| Lamp of Murmuur and Revenant Marquis are both bands that could be classified as raw black metal, yet their sounds exist on two opposites ends of the spectrum; the former revels in tradition, imbuing their music with wintry mysticism and icy ambiance reminiscent of the classics but with an undeniably modern twist. The latter deconstructs black metal, sifting through its base elements and using its most terrifying devices to craft their abstract and insanity-inducing blackened fervor. Their pairing - while odd at first glance - makes for a great combination, displaying two of black metal's most promising young acts and the diversity that can still be found within the genre. |
| Revenge (CAN) Triumph.Genocide.Antichrist |
| Revenge (CAN) Victory.Intolerance.Mastery |
| Revenge (CAN) Infiltration.Downfall.Death |
| Revenge (CAN) Scum.Collapse.Eradication |
| Hailing from the same lineage as famed blackened blasphemers such as Angelcorpse and Order From Chaos, Revenge has always been one of the best blackened death metal groups around; fourth full-length album Scum.Collapse.Eradication solidifies this as the band continues to purvey some of the most vile and wretched music to grace this earth. |
| Rhinocervs RH01 |
| Rhinocervs RH-12 |
| Rhinocervs RH-13 |
| Ripped to Shreds 埋葬 |
| Rites of Thy Degringolade Totality |
| Rites of Thy Degringolade The Caryatid |
| Rites of Thy Degringolade An Ode To Sin |
| Ritual Necromancy Oath of the Abyss |
| Ritual Necromancy Disinterred Horror |
| Roanoke Beautiful People |
| Wow, this is some REALLY fantastic stuff |
| Rose Kemp Golden Shroud |
| Sacramental Blood Ternion Demonarchy |
| Sacriphyx The Western Front |
| Sadness (USA) Circle of Veins |
| Sainte Marie des Loups Sainte Marie des Loups |
| A monumental slab of blackened filth that evokes aged and odious antiquity; listening feels like unearthing an ancient artifact that will corrupt your soul by runtimes end. |
| Sainte Marie des Loups Funérailles de feu |
| Sallow Moth The Larval Hope |
| Salvation (USA) Mortality Interactions |
| Salvation's second full-length is a definite step-up from their already impressive debut, containing more even more aggression, more demonic shrieks courtesy of vocalist Adis and even more buzzed out hardcore riffs. Raw but still catchy as fuck, Mortality Interactions is a fantastic and unique hardcore gem from last year. |
| Sanctum On The Horizon |
| Sanguine Relic The Essence of Eternity's Despair |
| Saor Aura |
| Sarcophagus For We... Who Are Consumed by the Darkness |
| Scorched (USA-DE) Ecliptic Butchery |
| Scraps Aaargh! |
| French hardcore styled after Japanese hardcore that rules |
| Sectioned (Death Metal) Purulent Reality |
| I somehow forgot about this. Sectioned is a UK based death metal band who takes a feather out of Benediction and Bolt Thrower's mid-paced cap. It's decidedly old-school, and rife with melody la Vital Remains; sparse and effective. Recommended. The heavier parts are exactly original, but they are damn memorable. Don't let the fact I forgot about this fool you; I'm just kinda dumb. This is worth checking out. |
| Sen Deni No More |
| Another great example of post-rock infused screamo, Belarus's own Sen Deni create very captivating songs with overflowing amounts of emotion. From faster paced sections with bright and blissful powerchord assaults to beautiful clean interludes, Sen Deni isn't reinventing the wheel whatsoever but they rule just the same. |
| Sen Deni письма |
| Senses Fail The Fire |
| Senses Fail Life Is Not a Waiting Room |
| Senses Fail From the Depths of Dreams |
| Senses Fail If There Is Light, It Will Find You |
| Sepsism Distorting the Mortal Visage |
| Septage Septic Decadence |
| Sepulcher Panoptic Horror |
| Sequestered Keep The Vale of Ruined Towers |
| Serpent Column Mirror In Darkness |
Mirror in Darkness is another fine example of 2019 black metal. Serpent Column's sole member
Theophonos manages to conjure a maelstrom of music that is simultaneously chaotic and tempered.
There are obvious odes to other dissonance dominated black metal like Deathspell Omega or
Suffering Hour, as well as a spastic energy that exudes the electricity of post-hardcore. That
combination along with some well placed and powerful melodies makes Serpent Column's newest one to
look out for. |
| Serpent Column Kathodos |
| Kathodos sees Serpent Column at their most straightforward yet, distilling the best parts of melody and chaos to create an album that excels at both. |
| Serpentine Dominion Serpentine Dominion |
| Seven Sisters Of Sleep Seven Sisters of Sleep |
| Sexdrome Grown Younger |
| Sexdrome On What Draw |
| Shadows Fall The Art of Balance |
| Shataan Weigh Of The Wolf |
| After War Cry Lament (which I loved), Shataan have steadily been going downhill; certainly nothing they released was bad, but couldn't compare to their first demo. Weigh of the Wolf absolutely does. His fusion of black metal and psychedelic (with some slight, surprising, and welcome hints of surf rock) has never sounded better than it does here. It's melodic, raw, catchy, and offensive all at once. The bass in particular steals the show, taking a prominent role and bouncing around all over the place. Great album with thought-provoking lyrics. |
| Shikari 1999 - 2003 |
| Shining (SWE) I - Within Deep Dark Chambers |
| Shining (SWE) II - Livets Andhallplats |
| Shining (SWE) IV - The Eerie Cold |
| Shinki Chen Shinki Chen and his Friends |
| Siberian Hell Sounds/Convulsing Split |
| interesting split between two bands that approach black metal in completely different ways |
| Sickening Gore Destructive Reality |
| Sigh Scorn Defeat |
| Sigh Heir to Despair |
| Sinmara Hvísl Stjarnanna |
Based on the tracks available, this album should be amazing. "Crimson Stars" is particularly
fantastic; the riffs have this majestic yet dark melodicism about them. It? gorgeous with a sense
tension, a pretty thrilling combo. It definitely has that DsO quality inherent to the
Icelandic scene but repurposed into something uplifting. There's really not much else to say at
this point other than I am super excited for the whole thing to come out.
Edit: Listened, and the rest of the album is amazing. Strikes an amazing balance between melody
and maelstrom. |
| Sinmara Aphotic Womb |
| Six Brew Bantha Six Brew Bantha |
| Skagos Ast |
| Skaphe Skáphe³ |
| Skeletal Remains Devouring Mortality |
| Skeletal Remains The Entombment of Chaos |
| Comparing this to Blood Incantation is a weird choice, as they are high-minded prog influenced DM & this is clearly an ode to the more visceral, brutal style of DM coming out in the late 80's/early 90's. And they do it well to boot! Need more listens to solidify a rating but this is good! |
| Skid Row (US) Slave to the Grind |
| Slayer Hell Awaits |
| Sleepwalker Sleepwalker |
| Sleepwalker 2010 Tour CD-R |
| Sleepwalker follow up their excellent first demo with something a bit more experimental this time around, throwing in dashes of drone into their already slick combination of black metal, post-rock and shoegaze. |
| Sleepwalkers (JPN) 一期一会 |
| Slipknot Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. |
| Slipknot Disasterpieces |
| Soilwork Stabbing the Drama |
| Sorrow Plagues/De La Nostalgie/Elderwind/Dreams of Nature Mater Natura Excelsa Split |
| Spirals Spirals |
| Spirit Possession 2020 Demo |
| Spirit Possession Spirit Possession |
| Spite Extreme Wing Non dvcor, dvco |
| Sport Colors |
| SQRM Rodeo |
| rSQRM have always confounded me. Even to this day - 9 years after the release of their last album - I was never able to place whether they were cerebral hardcore deconstructionists or noisy hardcore savages. I've always preferred to believe the former; that their cover, a miserable clown, was some kind of cynical commentary on the state of happy-go-lucky hardcore. Or perhaps it's just a teaser of the misery in store for all those who listen? I guess I'll never REALLY know if SQRM is as subversive as I want them to be, but what I can tell you is Rodeo, their sophomore and final effort, is one of the most disgusting, sludgy, and filthy slabs of hardcore I've ever heard. Oscillating between noisy half-tempo dirges and near powerviolence bouts of aggression, SQRM's schizophrenic assault corrodes your mind until you feel as insane as the music portrays itself to be. In the middle of the bedlam stands front man Tony P., feverishly yelling lines of lunacy like "I'M A FUCKING FREAK, SPIT ON ME", further cementing the band's commitment to their uber-negative, self-deprecating style of hardcore. For me, Rodeo still feels like a fresh if not absolutely vile take on the genre, with SQRM feeding you a palate cleanser of dirt and Clozapine while they convulse in the corner. |
| Stone Sour Come What(ever) May |
| Strigoii The Oldest of Blood |
| Stygian Obsession Form is Void |
| Sum 41 All Killer No Filler |
| Sum 41 Does This Look Infected? |
| Sum 41 Chuck |
| Summoning Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame |
| Sump Autumn Blood |
| Sump Taken Dead |
| Surgeon (PHL) Beast of Light |
| If Children of Bodom and Cradle of Filth had a baby together and it listened to Dream Theater but only gleaned the important parts, it would sound like this. I don't know this is pretty diverse, but it's good as hell. |
| Svavelvinter Mörkrets Tid |
| Christian lvestam?s of Scar Symmetry has a new band it rules. It?s more sci-fi melodic death metal and it definitely has some bite. As per usual Christian sounds awesome.r |
| Svrm За Смертю |
| Svrm голод |
| Talvihorros Let Us Be Thankful We Have Commerce |
| Tanpopo Crisis Millennium Flower |
| Tau Tau Eyelids |
| Holy shit i don't like this electro bullshit pop shit generally but this is really good |
| Taut Fantasty Mapped In Blood |
| Tawny Peaks Tawny Peaks |
| Tenebrae in Perpetuum L'Eterno Maligno Silenzio |
| In essence Tenebrae in Perpetuum is the manifestation of true black metal; high pitched shrieked vocals, repetitive, tremolo picked guitar chords and quite the sinister atmosphere are all staples of the band's sound and of course the genre yet Tenebrae In Perpetuum seems to add just the perfect amount of odds and ends to raise this album above a good portion of the genres other practitioners |
| Terzij de Horde A Rage of Rapture Against the Dying of Light |
| Tevlo/Veela Icy Love EP |
| 2016 has been a great year for Veela. Finally making a comeback after a few years of reduced output, her releases this year have all been fantastic and this is no exception. A more "pop" oriented release, her collaboration with fellow electronic vocalist/producer Tevlo is an extremely fun, and oftentimes sexy release. The production in particular is sleek and sharp, and the don't even get me started on the hooks. Each of the three tracks has its own flavor, making it easy to revisit time and again. |
| Thangorodrim Akallabêth |
| The 1975 I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It |
| The Bad Form No More Neo No Wave |
| The Black Twilight Circle Worship Black Twilight |
| The Black Twilight Circle Desert Dances and Serpent Sermons |
| where did my review for this go ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? |
| The Buttertones Buttertones |
| The Cancer Kids The Possible Dream |
| Thrashcore that doesn't pull any punches. Violent, spastic chaotic, The Cancer Kids play one of hardcore's most visceral sub-genres a brimming energy that is nothing less than awe-inspiring |
| The Chronicles of Israfel Starborn, Tome I |
| The Color Morale We All Have Demons |
| The Devil Wears Prada Plagues |
| The Devil's Blood The Time Of No Time Evermore |
| Fucking awesome occult rock that sounds like it come out in 1969 |
| The Haunting Presence The Haunting Presence (II) |
| Assuming I'm rating the right one (because this band has no less than three separate self-titled releases) The Haunting Presence's most recent effort is their best yet. First listens show how talented THP is at creating completely bestial and brutalizing blackened death metal; further listening reveals how well constructed these songs actually are. THP has been creating music like this for some time now under one moniker or another; first Nocturnal Blood, now this, so his craft has naturally gotten better with time. This collection of songs are not only just aggressive bursts of metallic violence, but they perfectly capture the oppressive atmosphere a lot of music in the vein lacks. |
| The Lion's Daughter Shame On Us All |
| The Mausoleums Blackened Fawns Cleanse the Earth With Fire |
| The Offspring Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace |
| In reality, Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace isn't too different from The Offspring's past releases; sure, there some minor kinks to their same patented formula, what would you expect from this twenty some odd year old punk band? The same damn catchy albums they have producing throughout their career. |
| The Offspring Americana |
| GIVE IT TO ME BABY, UN HUNH UN HUNH! GIVE IT TO ME BABY, UN HUNH UN HUNH! |
| The Offspring The Offspring |
| The Offspring Greatest Hits |
| The Rosebuds Sand + Silence |
| The Speed of Sound in Seawater Blue Version |
| The Speed of Sound in Seawater Underwater Tell Each Other Secrets |
| Following up the superb Red Version, Underwater Tell Each Other Secrets is stylistically a return to the math-rock oriented approach of their debut Blue Version while keeping the sugary sweet vocal harmonies of Red Version. Just like everything this band has done, this album rules fucking hard and is highly recommended to the world. |
| The Stalin STOP JAP |
| The Strokes The New Abnormal |
| The Tidal Sleep The Tidal Sleep |
| The True Werwolf Devil Crisis |
| The Veils Total Depravity |
| The Venus De Melos Fatty |
| I absolutely love this. It's like The Speed of Sound in Seawater, but more noodle-y and also more poppy. Love love love love it. |
| The Wonder Years Suburbia I've Given You All and Now I'm Nothing |
| This Gift Is A Curse A Throne of Ash |
| Threnos By Blood and By Earth |
| The often uncredited beginners of the Cascadian black metal scene, Threnos was around long enough only to put out one release but it really fucking ruled. |
| Tilian Pearson Material Me |
| Tilian Pearson The Skeptic |
| Timeghoul Tumultuous Travelings |
| Timeghoul Panaramic Twilight |
| Timeghoul Complete Discography |
| I don't remember which label decided to do this, but whoever it was obviously pays keen attention to metal blogs -- this band's two demos have been posted quite a few times in the past few months. Really unique and individual death metal, this awesome release offers the chance for people to own a physical copy of previously rare material. |
| Tiny Hawks People Without End |
| Tiny Hawks Fingers Become Bridges |
| Tiny Moving Parts This Couch Is Long & Full of Friendship |
| Tiny Moving Parts Swell |
| this their best |
| Tomb Mold Manor of Infinite Forms |
| Torchlight The Long Quest |
| Tormentor Anno Domini |
It's hard to call anything "essential" anymore, but if you're a fan of black metal and even only
peripherally interested in its culture and history, Anno Domini is an important album to
experience. Its forward-thinking compositions completely belie the fact that it originally
released in 1988, as even today the songs feel relevant. It's no surprise that Norway's fledgling
black metal scene gravitated towards this underrated monolith; it's now more than 30 years later,
we've pulled back the layers of black metal, and yet this still exudes such an alluring and unique
mysticism. Definitely recommended for extreme metal fans. |
| Torture Chain Mountains of Hate |
| Torture Chain Wasting Syndrome |
| Trha Nvenlanëg |
| Triangulum / El-Ahrairah Triangulum / El-Ahrairah |
| Tristengrav II - Nychavgé |
| Triumvir Foul Urine of Abomination |
| Trivium Shogun |
| Turpitude Brume hiémale |
| Raw, melodic, and surprisingly dense black metal from Quebec. There is great depth of sound that only furthers to enhance the already wondrous melodies heard here. |
| Tyrannus The Warden |
| Following the awesome Black Sun, The Warden is more noisy and dirty and dungeon synth, this time with an emphasis on melody that takes it to a brand new level. |
| Tyrannus Storm Empress |
| Ulcerate The Destroyers of All |
| Ulver Bergtatt - Et eeventyr i 5 capitler |
| Ulver The Assassination of Julius Caesar |
| Undead Creep The Ever-Burning Torch |
| Undeath Lesions of a Different Kind |
| Underoath Cries of the Past |
| Underoath Act of Depression |
| Unearth The Oncoming Storm |
| Unfun Caroline |
| Unreqvited Empathica |
| Unsacred Where The Light Dims |
| As blackened hardcore/crust becomes a more prevalent trend in music more and more bands continue to show just how far and how interesting this newfound genre can be taken. |
| Ur Pale Water Tombs & Crimson Horizons |
| Ur Pale Crystal Waves Orchestra |
| Unsurprisingly epic nautical themed dungeon synth. For a second release of the year, this is quite good. |
| Utred Sovereign |
| Utumno Across the Horizon |
| Valdrin Effigy Of Nightmares |
| Valkyrie (CAN) Valkyrie |
| An amazing folk album a truly elusive American group; epic yet serene the band's keen sense of melody and dynamics makes this relatively short demo a real pleasure. |
| Vanhelgd Deimos Sanktuarium |
| Vanum Ageless Fire |
| Various Artists Odour of Dust and Rot |
| Various Artists (Metal) Mater Natura Excelsa |
| Vasaeleth Crypt Born & Tethered To Ruin |
| Vassafor To the Death |
| Vastum Orificial Purge |
| Vastum/Spectral Voice Split |
| Veela 2233 |
| Vegas Martyrs Harlot Widow |
| Veins Veins |
| Venom Prison Samsara |
| This album is crazy good. It unites mid-aughts -core intensity with visceral flashes of OSDM but isn?t afraid to use melody as an accent to the chaos. This feels nostalgic and new at the same time, an interesting sensation I recommend everyone tries at least once to find. |
| Verheerer Maltrér |
| Verwustung Beyond The Watercolor Sunset, We Feel New Life |
| amazing amazing amazing amazing amazing amazing amazing amazing |
| Vilkacis Beyond the Mortal Gate |
| Violent Ends Black Moon |
| Void Eater III |
| Void Prayer Stillbirth from the Psychotic Void |
| Void Prayer The Grandiose Return to the Void |
| Volahn El Tigre del Sur |
| Volahn/Xaxamatza Gods of Pandemonium |
| Vortex of End In Satan and Plutonium We Trust |
| Vouna Vouna |
| Vous Autres Champ du Sang |
| Vreid V |
| I can't really say I was ever a particularly huge fan of Vreid before, but with the excellence of V, the Norwegian based black metal band has definitely sparked my interest. 9 tracks, of scathing yet melodic black metal composed with a refined edge that never fails to impress, V is an extremely dynamic record that will hold your interest till the end. Harboring a welcome display of modest technical ability, Vreid's amazing instrumentation varies in all sorts of things, tempo, aggression etc... but one thing that remains consistent throughout all the music's various incarnations is the fact that Vreid has crafted a black metal album that will both please the fans of old and gain the band many legions of basement dwelling trolls anew. |
| Vual To End All Life |
| Wake Devouring Ruin |
| Wampyric Rites Demo II |
| Wampyric Rites ...In The Desolate Forest of Eternity |
| Wampyric Rites Reflections Of A Frostbitten Moon |
| Throughout 2019 Ecuador's Wampyric Rites has proven to be one of the most enigmatic and prolific black metal acts in the scene today, reveling in his obscurity while rapidly deploying new releases with each being a marked improvement on the last. Reflections Of A Frostbitten Moon is his best and most mature effort to date, a wonderful piece of black metal that balances ghoulish melodies and esoteric atmospheres to create an album that exudes pure necrotic ecstasy |
| War Hungry War Hungry |
| There's no denying that this Wilkes-Barre based hardcore unit has a lot going on for them; from crushing hardcore riffs, balls to the wall thrash breakdowns and just an overall great sense of songwriting, War Hungry's debut album is pretty spectacular. Imagine a more intense Corrosion of Conformity and you're halfway to what these guys sound like. |
| Warmoon Lord Burning Banners of the Funereal War |
| Warthog Exterminate Me |
| Weak Teeth What a Plague You Are |
| Weakling Dead as Dreams |
| Weapon From The Devil's Tomb |
| There must of have been something in the water during 2010 because the amount of black/death releases that ruled seemed to raise exponentially during that time, which of course, was when Weapon released From The Devil's Tomb; more heavily emphasizing their death metal upbringing's, From The Devil's Tomb has awesome riffs, devilish vocals and ridiculously shredding solos, just about everything a black/death fan would need. |
| Wednesday 13 Transylvania 90210 |
| White Wolves Kommando Our Empire of Shadows |
| White Wolves Kommando Black Metal Resistance |
| William Fitzsimmons Lions |
| The album will probably be a 4/5 but his beard 5/5 all day. |
| Wilsumnes Upon the Altar of Sacrificial Blood |
| Winter Dust Existence |
| Witch In Her Tomb Witch In Her Tomb |
| Witch Ripper Witch Ripper |
| Witchcraft (Hun) Carpathian Fire |
| Witchcraft play a formed of traditional second wave black metal and they do it right; buzzing guitars, necro vocals and a filthy production the band could easily be confused for any of the original Norwegian black metal bands during their prime. Mixing the typical Darkthrone-esque droning guitar lines with little specks of melody, Carpathian Fire is a straight up great black metal album. |
| Witches Moon The Rock House |
| Witches Moon An Olde Goat's Game of Stars |
| With the End in Mind Thresholder |
| Woe A Spell For The Death Of Man |
| Wombripper Macabre Melodies |
| World Untouched By Mankind The Forests Are Old With Grief |
| Xazraug Unsympathetic Empyrean |
| xLESIONSx Tired of Being Pushed Around and Told Just What To |
| Sludgy, crusty, and powerviolent hardcore from members of black metal bands At Dusk and Nan Elmoth. It's another killer release from Pacific Threnodies. |
| Yellow Eyes Immersion Trench Reverie |
| Yellow Eyes Sick With Bloom |
| Yellow Swans Going Places |
| Yellow Swans At All Ends |
| 3.5 great |
| I Am the Trireme St. Vitus Dance |
| Progressive extreme metal that's a bit wank-y but not without some stellar moments. Errs on the side of black metal at times. |
| Jawcen Canto De Lejos |
| 1349 The Infernal Pathway |
| 1914 The Blind Leading the Blind |
| A Continent Named Coma Removal of Thorns |
| A Day to Remember Homesick |
| A Day to Remember For Those Who Have Heart |
| A Day to Remember And Their Name Was Treason |
| A Letter for Carmilla Coffin |
| I'm not completely sure how I feel about this album. It's frantic, hurried, and carries a decidedly gothic tone than most dungeon synth. There's something very unsettling and foreboding about Coffin, like the hair-raising sensation one might get walking down a dark, candlelight hallway with the feeling of something or someone trailing just behind. |
| A Lot Like Birds No Place |
| i kind of wish i didnt like these guys just so i could call them "a lot like turds" |
| A Pregnant Light Broken Play |
| A Pregnant Light I and I |
| A Pregnant Light You Cannot Pour From An Empty Vessel |
| A Thorn For Every Heart Things Aren't So Beautiful Now |
| slaps |
| Abhorrence (FIN) Vulgar Necrolatry |
| Absence of Dawn And the Sun is Fading... |
| When one is listening to Absence of Dawn's sole demo release, And The Sun Is Fading... a feeling of lost potential cannot help but to be had; while the band certainly portrays a fair amount of talent, whether it be in their harmonized guitar lines or the sporadically used keyboard embellishments, it always seems like they are capable of more. Perhaps better vocals and a cleaner production (the one heard is thin, stale and lifeless) could of made this a classic release. |
| Absum Purgatoire 2007-2009 |
| Absurd Existence Silence |
| Acephalix Interminable Night |
| Acheulean Forests The Enchantment |
| Acousmatic Hate Acousmatic Hate |
| Acualli Pact Of Possession |
| Acualli/The Haunting Presence Transform With Limitless Will |
| Adema Insomniac's Dream |
| This is a 3.5 for "Immortal" alone. That song is a classic and could literally be put on an album with complete shit **cough** this **cough** and the record would still be a STRONG 3.5. |
| Adema Kill the Headlights |
| Adema Planets |
| Adversarial All Idols Fall Before the Hammer |
| Adverso Descent |
| Adzalaan Into Vermilion Mirrors |
| Aerosols 3rd 7" |
| Aeviterne Sireless |
| Agatus Dawn of Martyrdom |
| Much like the other bands in Hellenic black metal's first wave Agatus does not carry the rawness that was common in most 90's black metal; instead the band concentrates on a mid-tempo pace and elegant keyboard arrangements. Not as fierce as their Norwegian counterparts yet still a great album and worth checking out, especially if new to the genre. |
| Agraceful The Great I Am |
| Aguynguerran Horde Of The Antichrist |
| Delving much further into the roots of black metal then their 2009 full-length, Hordes of the Antichrist is still an above average black metal demo |
| Airs Adore |
| Discarding almost all traces of their 'blackgaze' past, Airs new shoegaze/indie rock direction actually makes them a band worth mention. Richly atmospheric, Airs dreamy soundscapes are absolutely beautiful, punctuated by at times intense drumming and soothing vocals. Some black metal elements remain but perfectly fit into the new aesthetic the band has created for themselves. Yeah, you want this. |
| Airs A Left Turn At Happiness |
| Akasha/Unrest Vibrations of Love and Hate |
| I haven't heard the Unrest side, but Akasha's brims with that same punk influenced black metal energy that occupied their full-length from earlier this year. |
| Akatharsia No Generation Without Corruption |
| Akitsa Credo |
| Another slice of raw and uncompromising Quebecois black metal from this Canadian duo. |
| Aksumite The Gleam of Wetted Lips |
| Aksumite Miserable Mentor |
| Akth Ganaheth From the Cursed Glades |
| Akurazbrukk Demo II |
| Alesana On Frail Wings of Vanity and Wax |
| Alioth Channeling Unclean Spirits |
| All That Remains Behind Silence and Solitude |
| All That Remains This Darkened Heart |
| Alluring Alluring |
| Alruna Relieving the Altar |
| Altar Of Gore Demo |
| Altar Of Gore Obscure & Obscene Gods |
| Alter Bridge One Day Remains |
| American Violate and Control |
| Anagnorisis Peripeteia |
| Haven't listened to these guys since Overton Trees, but on a first listen this is really great. The melodic parts are especially impressive and a bit unexpected as times, which for a black metal album is rare these days. I expect my rating to go up in time. |
| Ancestors (Black Metal) II |
| Ancestors (Black Metal) I |
| Ancestors (Black Metal) In Death |
| Ancestors (Black Metal) III |
| Anchor Recovery |
| Ancient Morass Bog Barrow |
| Ancient Morass / Rosicrucianism Ancient Morass / Rosicrucianism |
| ANCST Ghosts of the Timeless Void |
| A seamless and energetic combination of black/death/crust that barrels forward so quickly you'll be gasping for air to keep up. |
| ANCST Celestial |
| Andeis Servants of the Cold Night |
| Andres (USA-CA) Heroes, Villains, and all that Jazz |
| Angelcorpse Exterminate |
| Antediluvian Revelations in Excrement |
| Antediluvian λόγος |
| Antediluvian Primeval Cyclical Catastrophism |
| Anthrax State of Euphoria |
| Anthrax Spreading the Disease |
| Anthrax Among the Living |
| Antichrist (Canada) Sacrament of Blood |
| Anubi Kai pilnaties akis uzmerks Mirtis |
| Apocalypse Command Abyss Fiend of Darkness |
| Apostate (FIN) Flight of the Halycon |
| Appalachian Terror Unit Armageddon Won't Be Brought By Gods... |
| APS (FL) Acrimonious Spiritual Provocation |
| Arcane Cavern Sorcery of Chaos |
| Arcane Cavern really put the dungeon in dungeon synth. Adopting the pensive droning of dark ambient, Sorcery of Chaos drags out the torture, embellishing long drawn out notes more than than usual DS tinkering. |
| Arch Enemy War Eternal |
I never understood this irrational contempt aimed at this album; it's easily one of their best
since the Liiva era. It's breaks free from the rinse and repeat formula every album since Wages of
Sin was bound to and dips its toes in the chaos that made the first three AE albums classic. Sure,
there are a few standard tracks, but there's also a palpable energy and excitement that up to this
point, had long since been lost. |
| Archaic Malign Omnis Incursio Infernalis Adversarii |
| Archgoat The Light-Devouring Darkness |
| On a first listen this is good if not standard blackened death. As per usual the faster moments are a bit monotonous but the slower sections are groovy and great. |
| Archgoat The Luciferian Crown |
| Archivist Triumvirate |
| Ares Kingdom Return to Dust |
| Death/thrash from former members of legendary blackened death band Order From Chaos - as expected it's not as good as the fellows past endeavors but it's still pretty good. |
| Arkhtinn VI |
| Arktika Symmetry |
| Arktika's second full-length is hit or miss - while some melodies really break through, there are times where this becomes a bit stale and lifeless. However, it is definitely more good than bad and the second half is inarguably solid. |
| Arms Like Yours .Architect. |
| Army Of The Pharaohs Ritual Of Battle |
| Arnor All Eyes to the Frontline |
| Ars Magna Umbrae Lunar Ascension |
| Arthedain Infernal Cadence of the Desolate |
| Artifex Pereo Passengers |
| ARTS Graveside Summoning |
| Asagraum Potestas Magicum Diaboli |
| Ascended Dead Abhorrent Manifestation |
| Ashdautas Shadow Plays of Grief and Pain |
| Ashen Chalice Gdje sva srca gore |
| Ashen Chalice Spells Of Eternal Sleep Guide Us Towards The Cask |
| Ashen Chalice Wounds of Obliterated Souls |
| Ashen Chalice Kada Postanemo Pepeo, Kada Prihvatimo Smrt |
| Ashen Chalice/La Torture des ténèbres Ashen Chalice / La Torture des ténèbres |
| Aspbergers/1984 Split |
| Aspergillum Aspergillum |
| Asphyxia (IRL) Conflagration |
| Assault Assault Demo |
| An amazing gem from the Japanese hardcore scene. Crossover influenced hardcore with an extra metal edge, Assault skillfully cross speedy hardcore with breakneck thrash influenced guitars and traditional Japanese style hardcore vocals. While this already makes for a great album, Assault don't stop there; adding elements of emo to the formula, the Assault demo carries a certain sense of melody and dynamics that is sure to captivate all who listen. |
| At the Gates Slaughter of the Soul |
| Atreyu A Death-Grip on Yesterday |
| Attack Attack! (US) Attack Attack! (Deluxe Reissue) |
| AUM Om Ah Hum Vajra Guru Padma Siddhi Hum |
| Aurum Nephilim Genus Ab Inferno |
| Auspicium Here Is No Heaven |
| Autophagy Demo |
| Autopsy The Headless Ritual |
| In tribute to Sodom, the original OSDM band. |
| Avenged Sevenfold City of Evil |
| Avenged Sevenfold Nightmare |
| Avulsed Eminence in Putresence |
| Avzhia The Key of Throne |
| Axeman Arrive |
| Axis of Despair Contempt for Man |
| Axis Of Light/Death Fortress Split |
| Ayyur The Lunatic Creature |
| Azarath In Extremis |
| Azelisassath Evil Manifestations Against Mankind |
| Azelisassath Past Times of Eternal Downfall |
| Óreiða Óreiða |
| Ûkcheânsâlâwit Tekipuk |
| Bael Deathly Pale |
| Balmog Vacvvm |
| Balrog [FRA] The Shadow and the Flame |
| Baptists Baptists |
| Baptists Bushcraft |
| Barus Drowned |
| Basmu Black Sorcery From Within Arcane Caverns |
| Basmu VVitchblood |
| Bastard Priest Merciless Insane Death |
| Batilda January 2014 |
| Batushka Panihida |
| Baume Les Années Décapitées |
| Bedsore Hypnagogic Hallucinations |
| Before Their Eyes Before Their Eyes |
| Although not an overtly distinctive band, Before Their Eyes' first album is nonetheless a very enjoyable modern post-hardcore release; the vocals may be a bit iffy at times (mostly the screams) but overall the band can write a good hook and does have some pretty interesting guitar-work. Nothing too spectacular, Before Their Eyes is a fun listen and easily the band's best work. |
| Beheat Gorum de Mentheurd Beheat Gorum de Mentheurd |
| Beheat Gorum de Mentheurd/Downward Beheat Gorum de Mentheurd vs. Downward |
| One experimental black metal artist meets a dungeon synth artist to create a surprisingly cohesive piece of music |
| Behezael DEMO MMXX |
| Beltez Exiled, Punished...Rejected |
| Benighted In Sodom Do Not Go Gently Into That Good Night |
| Bilmuri wet milk |
| Birkabein Land der ewigen Nacht |
| The sole demo from members of Old Pagan and Grausamkeit, Land Der Ewigen Nacht is a low-fi atmospheric black metal gem. Packed with raw and hateful guitars mixed with majestic keyboard embellishments this demo will make you wish the project stayed together. |
| Black Beasts II |
| Black Earth (ESP) Diagrams of a Hidden Order |
| Black Kirin Nanking Massacre |
| Despite its penchant for attracting basement-dwelling purists who preach genre rigidity, extreme metal has always thrived on the invitation of varying cultural elements to expand and broaden it's borders. Melding melodic death metal with their homegrown Chinese operatic and folk influences, Black Kirin has created an album that is identifiably melodeath while also celebrating their colorful heritage. |
| Black Magick SS Kaleidoscope Dreams |
| Black Spirit In a Vortex to the Infinite Night |
| Black Spirit Behind the Light That Fades |
| Blackstar Barbed Wire Soul |
| Taking off from where Swansong left off, Barbed Wire Soul is a completely successful venture into "death'n'roll" . |
| Blasphemous Degradation Sulphuric Alchemy |
| Blasphemy Fallen Angel of Doom |
| Bleachers Strange Desire |
| Blink-182 Buddha |
| Blink-182 Nine |
| I want to hate Nine, but it's honestly very difficult; as an album that battles between rclassic blink-isms and the the post-Neighborhoods uber-pop they've pursuing since Tom's rdeparture and California was released in 2016, there are moments strewn throughout that rremind me why I love this band's back catalog, but possibly even more that just make me scratch rmy head. I suppose I will take that as a win however, not outright hating a new blink-182 in 2019. |
| Blitzgeist Ritual Magic |
| Blood Chalice Sepulchral Chants of Self-Destruction |
| Blood Spore Fungal Warfare Upon All Life |
| Bloodsoaked Necrovoid Demo I |
| Blue Hummingbird On The Left Bloodflower |
| One of the Black Twilight Circle's newest acquisitions, Blue Hummingbird onn the Left forsakes the often atmospheric playing of their fellow inductees, playing a rawer form of black metal with crust and thrash influences. With lyrical themes centered upon Mexican Nationalism and Huitzilopochtli War Culture, Blue Hummingbird on the Left is certainly a fun, quick listen to energetic raw black metal. Oh and did I mention the flute playing? |
| Blue Hummingbird On The Left Atl Tlachinolli |
| A great album, but still a bit disappointing. They overuse the echo effect on the vocals, making them feel more comical than warlike. Musically, they excel at crafting compelling black/death metal when compared to their peers, but it pales in comparison to their own earlier work. I know I'm being picky, and overall this is a solid effort, but I've come to expect more from Volahn and the BTC at this point. |
| BLURR THROWER Les Avatars du Vide |
| Body Void Ruins |
| Bog Body Through the Burial Bog |
| Bolt Thrower Realm of Chaos |
| Book Of Sand Occult Anarchist Propaganda |
| Bookakee Ignominies |
| Melodic tech death with some very progressive elements and zany vocals |
| Borda's Rope Across the Black Deltaruin |
| Boreal Decay Paranoia Ensues Within the Dark Yukon Wilderness |
| Boreal Decay Dommagedda |
| Borknagar Epic |
| Bosse-de-Nage Further Still |
| Botanist Ecosystem |
| Breaking Benjamin So Cold |
| Breaking Benjamin Dark Before Dawn |
| Bring Me the Horizon This Is What the Edge of Your Seat Was Made For |
| Bring Me the Horizon Count Your Blessings |
| Broadway Kingdoms |
| Buckethead Inbred Mountain |
| Buckethead Bucketheadland |
| Buckethead Day of the Robot |
| Buckethead Monsters & Robots |
| Buckethead Funnel Weaver |
| Buckethead Bermuda Triangle |
| Buckethead Kaleidoscalp |
| Buckethead Crime Slunk Scene |
| Buckethead Clockunwise |
| Buckethead A Real Diamond In The Rough |
| Built on Secrets Reflections |
| Bullet For My Valentine The Poison |
| Burden of a Day OneOneThousand |
| Burial Invocation Rituals of the Grotesque |
| Burial Rites Crawling Christ |
| Burn in Silence Angel Maker |
| Burning Apparition of the Master Demo |
| Burzum Umskiptar |
| This album is actually really good, I don't know what you are being faggots about. Varg still shows he has plenty of spark left and compared to other modern black metal, this album actually stands out quite a bit. A return to grace for black metal's most controversial figure. |
| Byyrth Echoes From The Seven Blood Caves |
| Cabal Midian |
| Like his original band, Killjoy's (RIP) post-Necrophagia project Cabal and their 1990 effort Midian was an amalgam of the then fledgling death metal genre and thrash's more established sound. Most of the music errs on the side of the latter, but you'd have to be deaf to miss the bits of tremolo guitar and guttural vocals that went on to define the former. |
| Cadaver Dog Cadaver Dog |
| Cadaver Dog Dying Breed |
| Caina Gentle Illness |
| Calques Civilizing |
| Cannibal Corpse Eaten Back to Life |
| Capital Lights Rhythm N Moves |
| Cara Neir Part I / Part II |
| Cara Neir Perpetual Despair is the Human Condition |
| Carcass Surgical Steel |
| Okay so this sucks. |
| Cardi B Invasion of Privacy |
| Cardi B gets the cocktail of genuine and bombastic juusst right on her debut LP and the result is absolutely delicious. |
| Carpe Noctem Vitrun |
| Carved Cross Demo II |
| Carved Cross Futile Reflections of a Failed Existence |
| Exceedingly raw black metal from Australia. Brings the kvlt. |
| Castle of Purity Castle of Purity |
| Caustic Vomit Festering Odes to Deformity |
| Caveman Cult Supremacia Primordial |
| Cavernus Non Omnis Moriar |
| Celeste Animale(s) |
| Celestial Bodies Spit Forth From Chaos |
| Celestial Conjuration Demo II |
| Cemetary An Evil Shade of Grey |
| Cenotaphe Monte Verità |
| Cenotaphe Empyrée |
| Cerebral Rot Odious Descent Into Decay |
| Cerebral Rot Spewing Purulence |
| Cerekloth Pandemonium Prayers |
| Cerekloth In the Midst of Life We Are In Death |
| Champagne Colored Cars Champagne Colored Cars EP |
| Chaos Echoes Mouvement |
| Charnel Altar Demo |
| Charnel Oubliette I |
| Children of Bodom Trashed, Lost & Strungout |
| Children of Bodom Chaos Ridden Years - Stockholm Knockout |
| Children of Bodom Halo of Blood |
| Chrome Waves Chrome Waves |
| Chthe'ilist Passage Into the Xexanotth |
| CHVRCHES The Bones of What You Believe |
| CIORAN Bestiale Battito Divino |
| Circle of Despair Untitled |
| Circle of Ouroborus/Crooked Necks Ruins of Resurrection |
| Cirrhus 2008 Demo |
| Cirrhus Promo 2012 |
| Cirrhus/Eunuch Split |
| Cist The Frozen Casket |
| I don't think I would blame anyone who has mistaken Cist as a band lost in time; the first time I listened to this demo, I could have sworn it was released anywhere from 1988-1992. Turns out, I was only 30ish years off the mark. For anyone who loves the classic riff'n'gore of early Death and/or Pestilence, don't skip this. |
| Civilized Chopping Block |
| Another Youth Attack! banger. Hardcore is very formulaic, and the YA! brand even moreso, but there's little denying the power and aggression that seemingly each of their bands comes equipped with. |
| Clair Cassis Clair Cassis II |
| Clandestine Blaze City Of Slaughter |
| Clandestine Blaze Tranquility Of Death |
| Clikatat Ikatowi Orchestrated and Conducted By |
| Coffin Rot Coffin Rot (demo) |
| Coffin Rot/Molder Coffin Rot/Molder |
| Cogs and Sprockets The Black Friday EP |
| Eleven songs, four minutes, DO THE FUCKING MATH. Grinds your face in harder than I grind your mom every night of the week. |
| Coldworld Autumn |
| Overall this album is great, but it has the nasty tendency to drag. The more repetitive parts are an obvious weakness, and more plodding sections are tedious to sit through. However, when it all comes together (which is quite frequently) Autumn can be truly magnificent. |
| Colors Palindromes |
| Conducting from the Grave When Legends Become Dust |
| Conjurer (UK) Mire |
| Conqueror War Cult Supremacy |
| Consolation Stahlplaat |
| Convictions Hope for the Broken |
| Cornigr Relics of Inner War |
| Corpsessed Abysmal Thresholds |
| Cosmovore Into the Necrosphere |
| Coughs Secret Passage |
| Cradle of Filth From the Cradle to Enslave |
| Cradle of Filth Bitter Suites to Succubi |
| Cradle of Filth Live Bait for the Dead |
| Cradle of Filth Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder |
| Craft Total Soul Rape |
| Craven Idol Ethereal Altars |
| Crawl/Leviathan CRAWL/LVTHN |
| Eerie black metal and a nice piece of work from Levithan in particular. |
| Crebain Nachtkrieg |
| Nachtkrieg is a great release. Some cool riffs, great ideas and decent musicianship all guarantee that. Bearing that in mind why is it only great? It seems that sole member Ancalagon The Black (lol) cannot exactly decide which form of black metal to be. DSBM one song, old school the next, there is certain inconsistency that bogs down the quality of this demo. Oh and the vocals suck. |
| Credo Quia Absurdum Carmina Absurda |
| Creepmime Shadows |
| Is it just me or does a lot of quality death metal come out of the Netherlands? Creepmime is yet another great Dutch act that on their first full-length, Shadows, combines murky old school death metal with lurching doom metal also throwing in some classic metal inspired melodies and some uber technical moments. |
| Crowhurst III |
| Crowning Funeral Designs |
| Cruciamentum Paradise Envenomed |
| Cruentare Ius cruentationis / Mazhar aether |
| Crusty Old Toad Turn People Into Food |
| Cry of the Afflicted The Unveiling |
| Csejthe L'Horreur De Čachtice |
| Culture Shock (CO) Culture Shock |
| Curved Blade / Pâlemort At the Bottom of the Hourglass / Vision d’une ère |
| Dads American Radass (This Is Important) |
| Dai-ichi Dai-ichi |
| Damezumari No Hugging, No Learning |
| Dammerfarben Im Abendrot |
| Dammerfarben do the whole melodic/folk black metal thing right for the most part -- they never get overly cheesy with folk melodies and overall I'm a big fan of the clean interludes on this album. That being said the songs often feel as they never end and theRE is a lot of similarity between the songs "heavier" sections. |
| Danny Worsnop Shades Of Blue |
| Very good, catchy, blues rock with some soul influences thrown in for good measure. Danny is an understandably divisive figure in modern rock, but his vocal talents seem irrefutable, especially after the display he puts on here. |
| Dark Doom Echoes |
| Dark/Light Kill Some Time |
| Really fun pop-punk with a myriad of different influences stretching from the 60's to now |
| Darkest Hour So Sedated, So Secure |
| Darkest Hour The Mark of the Judas |
| Darklord Symphony Satanikka |
| Coming from the Australian underground Darklord combines brutal and intense death metal with symphonic black metal, an unlikely mixture and proves to be quite successful thanks to the great execution of the band. Aside from the heavy use of symphonic elements (which actually doesn't come across as TOO cheesy) the also makes frequent use of neoclassical elements within their songs, especially in the guitar solos. Overall a good record if you don't mind lots of keyboards. |
| Darkthrone Soulside Journey |
| Darkthrone Total Death |
| Darkthrone Ravishing Grimness |
| Darkthrone Hate Them |
| Darkthrone Sardonic Wrath |
| Darkthrone Circle the Wagons |
| Darkthrone Goatlord |
| Darkthrone Old Star |
| Dawn Treader Post Mortem |
| De Aphelium Sprungen Ur Lust |
| Dead Moon Temple Ænigmasólvoid |
| Dead To A Dying World Elegy |
| Deafheaven Roads to Judah |
| Deafheaven New Bermuda |
| new ber muda |
| Deafheaven Ordinary Corrupt Human Love |
| ordrinarrycrorrruptrhumranlrove |
| Death Angel Killing Season |
| Deathspell Omega The Synarchy of Molten Bones |
| Deathwomb Moonless Night Sacraments |
| Decapitated The Negation |
| Defacement Deviant |
| Deiquisitor Downfall of the Apostates |
| Deletere De Horae Leprae |
| Deletere Per Aspera ad Pestilentiam |
| Demented Ted Promises Impure |
| Demonic Sacrifice Enter the Realm of Pure Darkness |
| The first and only album by death metallers Demonic Sacrifice, Enter the Realm of Pure Darkness has a distinctly New York feel; miasmatic production, almost comically guttural vocals, and touch of hardcore influence. Like Malevolent Creation, Morpheus Descends, and Banished/Baphomet, Demonic Sacrifice are uber rhythmic, preferring decomposing breakdowns over absolute speed and technicality (though those elements are present as well). As far as death metal goes, you won't many albums catchier than this that still ooze madness and malice. |
| Demonical Death Infernal |
| This is pretty great stuff. These guys and Entrails seem to be doing a decent job at reviving the swedish sound |
| Deogen The Endless Black Shadows of Abyss |
| Deorc Weg The Forlorn Cold of Ages |
| Departures When Losing Everything Is Everything You Wanted |
| Depths Above Ex Nihilo |
| Descompasso MMXVIII |
| Desecresy The Mortal Horizon |
| Desolate Shrine Deliverance From The Godless Void |
| Despondent Moon A Spectral Descent |
| Destruktor Nailed |
| Devil's Dung Devil's Dung |
| Another one of Mark McCoy's one-off black metal projects (this time featuring Dominick Fernow of Ash Pool, Em Dath Rir, Vegas Martyrs, etc..), Devil's Dung play a mean brand of raw black metal that is poorly produced and sloppy but enjoyable and genuine nonetheless. Black metal was never meant to be perfect and this "mess" of an album perfectly demonstrates how mistake filled black metal can still make the above average cut. |
| DevilDriver DevilDriver |
| DevilDriver The Last Kind Words |
| DevilDriver Pray for Villains |
| Devotee Grey Metal |
| Devouring Ghost Devouring Ghost |
| The latest project of Mark McCoy explores the realm of stripped down raw black metal and chilling minimal ambient works. It's certainly nothing ground-breaking, and hearkens back to the Norse black metal of yore, but it is enjoyable all the same. |
| Devouring Star The Arteries of Heresy |
| Dimmu Borgir Spiritual Black Dimensions |
| Diocletian War of All Against All |
| Dire Omen Formless Fire Embodied |
| Disequilibrium Material Substratum |
| Disequilibrium Hyperalgesia |
| Disgrace (FIN) Debts of God |
| Disgusted Geist Reign of Enthrallment |
| Disma Towards the Megalith |
| Dispirit Enantiodromian Birth |
| Disthory Perfidia y Obito |
| What happens when you mix Discharge with Bathory... DISTHORY |
| Disturbed Ten Thousand Fists |
| Doctor Livingstone Trimphus Haeretici |
| Dodsengel Interequinox |
| Doja Cat Hot Pink |
| Dolorvotre Dolorvotre |
| Domains Sinister Ceremonies |
| Dommedagssalme Terra |
| Doom Formation Definition of Evil |
| Doth Datura Wrightii |
| DragonForce Maximum Overload |
| Drastus La Croix de Sang |
| Draugsol Volaða Land |
| Dreams of the Drowned Dreams of the Drowned I |
| Drenglyndr Blade And Honour |
| Drop Dead, Gorgeous In Vogue |
| Dross I & II |
| Drowning the Light Catacombs of Blood |
| Drowning the Light Through The Noose of Existence |
| Drowning the Light An Alignment of Dead Stars |
| Drowning the Light A Pact With Madness |
| Drowning the Light Of Celtic Blood & Satanic Pride |
| Drowning the Light A World Long Dead |
| Drowning the Light To The End Of Time |
| Drowning the Light 06/06/06 It Begins Here... |
| Drowning the Light Paradise Slaves |
| Damnnnnnn, Drowning The Light! Back at it again w/the romantic, melodic, and raw black metal! |
| Drowning the Light A Gleam in the Eye of Set |
| Drowning the Light/Empire of Tharaphita Path of the Old Lunar Cult Empire |
| Drudkh They Often See Dreams About The Spring |
| DSKNT PhSPHR Entropy |
| Dua Lipa Future Nostalgia |
| Dunnock Only Coming Up Twice |
| Dwalin The Fall of Gondolin |
| Dwalin does justice to the fabled grandeur of the great Elven Kingdom of Gondolin, realm of Turgon, Lord of Nevrast, King of Gondolin, Lord of the House of the King, High King of the oldor. |
| Echtra BardO |
| Cascadian black metal auteur Echtra returns with his first album in five years, a devastating statement of anxiety inducing atmosphere, harrowing doom, and otherworldly black metal. |
| Ectoplasma Cavern Of Foul Unbeings |
| Edasi Horror Movie |
| Eidola Degeneraterra |
| Well fuck me, this rules. |
| Eidola To Speak, To Listen |
| Ein Entropie |
| Elegiac Thirst for Vengeance |
| Ella Mai Ella Mai |
| Ellende Lebensnehmer |
| Ellorsith Orbhàis |
| This feels like wintry death metal, and I absolutely dig the crap out of it. |
| Embers Shadows |
| Embra Abjection |
| Enbilulugugal Offerings to Curlyton |
| Raw and noisy USBM from the genre's resident pervertor of convention. |
| End Times Descension |
| Engulfed Engulfed in Obscurity |
| Enisum Seasons Of Desolation |
| Enon Chapel Enon Chapel |
| Meghan Wood (Crown of Asteria, Iarnvidgur) and Balan (Palace of Worms, Botanist, Ordo Obsidium) get together and write an album about Jack the Ripper with musical influences from Ildjarn, Bone Awl, Cult of Daath, Les Legions Noire, and The Black Twilight Circle. This didn't even stand a chance of being bad. |
| Enshroud Demo IV |
| Enshroud The Emergence of Crawling Shadows That Lurk Within |
| Enshroud Demo II |
| Enslaved Ruun |
| Enslaved Blodhemn |
| Ensnared Inimicus Generis Humani |
| Entrails (SWE) The Tomb Awaits |
| I probably like this more than I should but there is something about Entrails no-deviation Swedish death metal sound that inspires me; everything here is run of mill, but who says that's such a bad thing? |
| Entrancement Demo I |
| Entropy Created Consciousness Impressions of the Morning Star |
| Entsetzlich Tormentous Lamentations |
| Eosphoros Eosphoros |
| Epheles Les Anges de la derniere Scene |
| Eroded (JPN) IN |
| Erosion (CAN) Maximum Suffering |
| Erythrite Throne Call of the Northern Moon |
| Along with Witches Moon and Wamypric Rites, Erythrite Throne is another prolific yet enigmatic entity dedicated to conjuring nearly unlistenable raw and blackened hymns. |
| Esoctrilihum Pandaemorthium |
| Esoctrilihum The Telluric Ashes of the Ö Vrth Immemorial Gods |
| Designed to fit between their charnel sophomore album Pandaemorthium and the blackened necromancy of Inhu?ma, The Telluric Ashes of the O? Vrth Immemorial Gods bends together neanderthalic barbism with celestial mysticism to create a piece that bridges the gap between the two periods, but more importantly, stands as a testament to the power these disparities have when masterfully strewn together. |
| Esoctrilihum F'htansg |
| Esoteric A Pyrrhic Existence |
| Estuarine Sic Erat Scriptum |
| Jazzy blackened death experi-metal? |
| Eterna Rovina Observer |
| Eternity Forever Fantasy |
Definitely not bad, but "Fantasy" and "Letting Go" were the highlights off this and I've already played them to the
point of exhaustion. Hopefully an LP yields some more consistent fare. |
| Evaporated Sores Ulcerous Dimensions |
| Evilfeast Elegies of the Stellar Wind |
| Execration (NOR) Odes Of The Occult |
| Exeloume Fairytale of Perversion |
| Exoto A Thousand Dreams Ago |
| Extremity Coffin Birth |
| Eye of Solitude Canto III |
| Eye of Solitude Sui Caedere |
| F45.2 Parasitosis |
| F45.2 Bromosis |
| Faceless Burial Speciation |
| Faceless Entity In Via ad Nusquam |
| Failures Decline And Fall |
| Faith No More The Real Thing |
| Falaise My Endless Immensity |
| Falaise A Place I Don't Belong To |
| Fall Out Boy Infinity on High |
| Falling in Reverse The Drug in Me Is You |
| Falling in Reverse Fashionably Late |
| False Hunger |
| False Lives Demo |
| Famous Last Words Pick Your Poison |
| These guys may be doing that whole dancey metalcore stuff but hey, it's catchy. We can't be looking for serious music all the time, and during those off times when you need a little brevity, this is a fun little EP that is pretty easily enjoyable. |
| Fatal FE Transfornation |
| What the hell? A trance influenced post-hardcore band that actually doesn't completely suck, in fact actually rules quite a bit. Fail Emotions display a much higher level of technicality than some of their contemporaries that they manage to perfectly weave in and out in-between swathes of frisky, danceable electronica fun. The vocals are heavily autotuned but the band still pulls them off in style, juxtaposing the extremely commercial production technique against harsh screams and screeches. |
| Father Befouled Morbid Destitution of Covenant |
| There is a lot of Incantation worship that goes on these days, and these guys plain and simple do it without much deviance. Good thing Incantation rules or these guys would be in trouble. |
| Father Befouled Desolate Gods |
| At this point, Father Befouled do Incantation better than Incantation. |
| Femacoffin Demo 2013 |
| Fit for an Autopsy The Sea of Tragic Beasts |
| FKJ French Kiwi Juice |
| Flail Flail |
| Flail Dying Embers to Coldening Coals |
| Fless Frenzied Bloodlust Underneath a Black Moon |
| Fluisteraars/Turia De Oord |
| Foothill Roots Nature Resonates (demo) |
| I was expecting a black/folk metal album, but was instead surprised by raggedy and raw black metal with an excellent backdrop of an atmosphere. Excited to see what else this band does. |
| Forests Spending Eternity In A Japanese Convenience Store |
| Forges Forges |
| Four Year Strong Enemy of the World |
| Foxtails III |
| Fugitive Wizard Extorris Magus Chapter I |
| Fugitive Wizard Extorris Magus Chapter II |
| Fugitive Wizard Extorris Magus Chapter III |
| Fuming Mouth The Grand Descent |
| fun. Aim and Ignite |
| Funeral Altar Demo V |
| Funeral Chic Hatred Swarm |
| Funeral Chic Superstition |
| Funerary Temple / Nihil Invocation Occult Longing for the Essence |
| Funereum Re Velatio |
| I'm usually not a fan of melodic death/doom, but Re-Velatio is pretty great. They are bit heavy-handed on the atmospherics, but overall the incorporation of synthesizers is pretty well done, and the addition of clean, female vocals is a nice fit. Nothing groud-breaking, but well done nonetheless. |
| Furze The Presence... |
| Garden of Silence Demo 92 |
| Gaylord The Black Metal Scene Needs To Be Destroyed |
| Göden Beyond Darkness |
| Geheimnisvoll Venomous Sorcery Through Hidden Darkness |
| Ghash Goat |
| The production leaves much to be desired, but as far as post-black metal goes, one of the more original offerings I've heard recently. |
| Ghost (POL) The Lost of Mercy |
| Old school death/doom that fucking slays. RIFFS RIFFS RIFFS. |
| GHOSTEMANE Hexada |
I genuinely don't understand the disdain for this guy; His trap rap atmospheres conjure up the
same obscure mysticism that was floating over Norway in early 90's: his delivery is smooth, his
voice is different, and his flow is pretty great. Maybe I can't get over the distinct black metal-
ness of this, but I like it. |
| Glaare To Deaf and Day |
| Glencove Anaphoric State |
| Gnaw Their Tongues Kapmeswonden en Haatliederen |
| Gnaw Their Tongues An Eternity Of Suffering, An Eternity Of Pain |
| Goath II. Opposition |
| Golgothan Remains Perverse Offerings To The Void |
| Goodbye To Sleep I Lost You In The Cold |
| This is honestly good as fuck. Sometimes I forget we have a lot of homegrown talent around here. Bump this! |
| Gorephilia/Undergang Split |
| Gothayr The Trial for the Black Sun (Chapter of Ariosophic |
| Very raw and cryptic industrial black metal from this Portuguese entity. More than overtly electronic flourishes, the industrial influences feel like they come more from the cold mechanicalism that is always slinking away in the background. The whole thing feels a satanic ritual recorded in an abandoned steel factory, closed for years due to the unfortunate on-site deaths of its working crew. Even for fans of raw black metal this is trying listen, but the feeling of reward is unmatched when it finally clicks. Raw, minimalistic and haunting, this is an album that will keep you up at night. |
| Grafvolludr Promo 2014 |
| Grandmother Grandmother |
| Grave Dust Pale Hand |
| Grave Miasma Odori Sepulcrorum |
| Grave Miasma Endless Pilgrimage |
| Grave Revelations Echoing Graves |
| Grave Upheaval (untitled) |
| Gravehill The Unchaste, the Profane, & the Wicked |
| Gravewards Ruinous Ensoulment |
| Grógaldr Demo I: Malignant Channelings |
| Grógaldr Demo II: Deviant Masque of the Wraith |
| Griefloss Griefloss |
| Grima Will of the Primordial |
| Grinning Death's Head Demo |
| Although it's not quite as developed as their later releases, Grinning Death's Head premier release is one of the most fun black metal/punk hybrids I've heard. Despite the fact that it's essentially total Bone Awl worship, Grinning Death's Head generally do it better than the blackened punk forefathers. Listen to "Prey" and try not to bob your head... You can't, right? |
| Grinning Death's Head No Afterlife |
| Grizelda War Held In Motion |
| Grob Metanoia |
| Raw black metal with some really wonderful rtouches of melody. The vocals are rparticularly deranged which makes the rcontrast all the more potent. Feels very rauthentic and "old school" without also rfeeling dated or stale. r |
| Grogaldr Demo I: Malignant Channelings |
| Grogaldr Demo II: Deviant Masque of the Wraith |
| Grogaldr/Kommodus Howling Sanguine Triumph |
| Gyibaaw Ancestral War Hymns |
| Gyibaaw is a pretty vicious little number from Canada who like their contemporaries Mitochondrion, Portal and Antediluvian delve deep into blackened death metal. Unbashedly chaotic, Ancestral War Hynms often times feels like it's exploding into seven different directions at once, but at close inspection you can really have nothing but respect for these Canadian metallers. Overall the songwriting is much more intricate than one can tell at first glace. This is superb debut and I expect great things from this blackened death crew. |
| Haenesy/Moondweller Earth and Space |
| Hagzissa They Ride Along |
| Hail Conjurer Carnal Light |
| Hail the Sun Wake |
| Hajduk Кръв |
| Hajduk Свобода |
| Hajduk Природа |
| Hand of Glory/Witchmoon Hand of Glory/Witchmoon |
| Hands Like Houses Ground Dweller |
| Hands of Thieves Feasting on Dark Intentions |
| Hardware Hardware |
| Generally I would stick far away from industrial death metal (because most of it just plain sucks) however when it comes to Mexico's Hardware, I'll make an exception. Calling their keyboard infected brand of extremity "cyber death metal", Hardware ridiculously titled self-created genre actually does take on a life of its own in the hands of these Mexican banditos. Like most demos the production values for this release are pretty abysmal but the band kills it, blasting away squeaky tremolo picked lines and double bass rhythms while being backed by the unique keyboard atmospherics that create some pretty melancholic tones. It's not perfect and sometimes the band does seem a little less inspired as compared to other times, but overall this is an interesting release from the Mexican and 90's death metal scenes for sure. |
| Hate Eternal Upon Desolate Sands |
| Hath Of Rot And Ruin |
| Havohej Table of Uncreation |
| Heads For The Dead Serpent's Curse |
| Hecatomb Horrid Invocations |
| HellHammer Satanic Rites |
| Hellkvlt Mexica Males Antiguos |
| Well, this was a pleasant surprise. Hailing from Mexico (duh), Hellkvlt Mexica eschew the usual war metal delivery of their country for a more unique black/death metal approach. Consisting of sinister free-flowing instrumentation, the music here is disjointed, but in a good way? I don't know, it's actually pretty hard to describe, but it's fucking good, so listen to it. |
| Henbane Vildfaren Og Jagtet |
| Here I Come Falling Oh Grave, Where Is Thy Victory |
| Heretoir Heretoir |
Yeah uhhhhh so this pretty much sucks and your soundoff is too short
8 years later edit: Budgie was right. |
| Hermodr A Realm Reborn |
| Hermodr Forest Sky |
| Hexis/As We Draw/Euglena Split |
| A great release by three up and coming post-hardcore bands, the Hexis/As We Draw/Euglena split very much offers a look into the darker side of the aforementioned genre. While As We Draw and Euglena sprinkle in elements of post-metal to make their songs extra epic, Hexis's contributions dabble in the realm of black metal giving the album a nice sense of diversity. Although there are still some things that could be worked on, these three bands hint here that they just may have some pretty bright futures ahead of them. |
| Hierophant (IT) Great Mother: Holy Monster |
| HIM Razorblade Romance |
| HIM Dark Light |
| Himelvaruwe Het Ondenkbare |
| Himsa Hail Horror |
| Hissing Permanent Destitution |
| Between this and Infernal Coil, you don?t really need that much more dirty af blackened grinding death metal this year. |
| Hopelorn Golden Fields Black Wings |
| Horda Profana Beyond the Boundaries of Death |
| Horna Kuolleiden Kuu |
| I've always been skeptical of Horna, but this is very good. Captures of the essence of pure black metal without feeling like a rehash. |
| Hornet Murmuration Affirmation of Antipathy |
| Horrid Cross Demo III |
| Huata Atavist of Mann |
| HULDER Embraced by Darkness Mysts |
| Hwwauoch Into the Labyrinth of Consciousness |
| Hyperdontia Excreted From The Flesh |
| I Myrkri Drivende i Dødens Æter |
| I See Stars New Demons |
| Iarnvidjur èlègies |
| Iced Earth Something Wicked This Way Comes |
| Ifernach Waqan |
| Ignivomous Contragenesis |
| Illapa Deshonestos y Hechiceros |
| Illapa Lascivo Culto Solar |
| Illkynja Sæti Sálarinnar |
| Immolation Unholy Cult |
| Immolation Harnessing Ruin |
| Immolation Majesty and Decay |
| my cat has a bruise on it's right eye. because i kicked it. oh and yeah the album rules. |
| Immortal Blizzard Beasts |
| Impetuous Ritual Blight Upon Martyred Sentience |
| Imprecation Damnatio ad Bestias |
| In Flames A Sense of Purpose |
| In Flames Come Clarity |
| In Flames Clayman |
| In Flames The Jester Race |
| In Love With A Ghost Healing |
| In Tormentata Quiete In Tormentata Quiete |
| Inarborat Wisdom Sans Words |
| Incarpathia Lost |
| I'm not a deathcore fan by any standards; even the mere mention of the genre sickens me basically. That being said, I love this album. Taking minimal doses of deathcore and combining it with melodic death metal, this US based quintet has released one of the best deathcore EPs there is; and nobody knows about it. |
| Infernal Coil Within a World Forgotten |
| Infernal Conjuration Infernale Metallum Mortis |
| Inferno Requiem Gloomy Night Stories |
| Inferno Requiem Nuwa |
| Inferno Requiem Shanhai |
| Inisans Transition |
| Inje Demo |
| Innumerable Forms Punishment in Flesh |
| Internal Rot Grieving Birth |
| Invocation Spells Spread Cruelty in the Abyss |
| Irksvm Moribund |
| Iron Maiden Powerslave |
| Iron Maiden Fear of the Dark |
| Iron Maiden The X Factor |
| Iron Maiden Virtual XI |
| Iron Maiden Brave New World |
| Iron Maiden A Matter of Life and Death |
| Isenordal Spectral Embrace |
| Issues Issues |
| Istapp Blekinge |
| It Dies Today The Caitiff Choir |
| Ives Burial of the Modernized Soulless |
| Iwrestledabearonce It's All Happening |
| Jackman Bad Intentions |
| Jellyroll Rockheads Wake Up, Music |
| John Frum A Stirring In The Noos |
| Jordablod Upon My Cremation Pyre |
| Jordablod play a more progressive form of black metal that doesn't feel progressive. It's expansive, playful, and colorful while retaining that core black metal feel of nihilism. |
| Junior Beef Junior Beef EP |
| K.F.R. Scriptures of Death |
| Kabexnuv Dzyan |
| Exceedingly raw black metal that will make you rethink listening to it once or twice along the way. Worth the ride overall, though. |
| Kaffaljidhma IV |
| Kalmankantaja Kaski |
| Kalmankantaja Ruumiinvaellus |
| Kalmankantaja Korpi |
| Katharsis Kruzifixxion |
| Katharsis Fourth Reich |
| Kaznaxtheh / Funeral Altar / Obsidian Grave / Megalith Grave Remnants of Sacrificial Perversion |
| Khrysos Anthemon Khrysos Nunaat |
| Originally released in 1998 but re-released this year with 1996's Remembrance, Khrysos Nunaat legitimately sounds Something Wild-era Children of Bodom if they had really embraced the more eccentric sounds they featured on that album. It's very good and a lot of fun. |
| Kids Luv Cops James Skips Graduation Practice |
| Killswitch Engage Killswitch Engage |
| Killswitch Engage Disarm the Descent |
| "Why do you guys keep rating an album WITHOUT listening to it in it's entirety? It hasn't came out yet, it hasn't leaked, so who already rated this as "Classic", "Superb" or anything else is a moron." Yeah, okay, THEY are the morons... |
| King Apathy Wounds |
| Kneel (San Francisco) Infinite Worship, Slaves Eternal |
| Kombat (TX) New Dimensions of Pain |
| Kommodus Will To Dominate All Life (demo) |
| Koreltsak THE MOON IN OUR HEARTS |
| Kortirion Helcaraxë |
| Kosmogyr Eviternity |
| Krallice Wolf |
| Krieg The Isolationist |
| Although they aren't really apparent until a few listens in, there are some very fine moments on this album. One of the more underrated black metal albums of the past few years. |
| Krisiun AssasiNation |
| Although this is a bit repetitive , Krisiun make it work |
| Krolok Flying Above Ancient Ruins |
| Krukh Безглуздість! |
| Krummholz Rooted in Despair |
| Krypts Krypts |
| Krypts Remnants of Expansion |
| Kudlaakh Deepest Regions of Naught |
| Kyte Dead Waves |
| L.A. Guns Cocked & Loaded |
| La Luna Always Already |
| Laere Solve |
| Lamb of God Sacrament |
| Lamentum The Suffering Stature |
| Lampir / Gormanudr Lampir / Gormanudr |
| Lampir/Flešš Lampir/Flešš |
| Lantern (FIN) Lost Paragraphs |
| Lantern (FIN) Dimensions |
| Laster Ons Vrije Fatum |
| Laster Het wassen oog |
| Lathliss Demo II |
| Lecherous Nocturne Occultaclysmic |
| Leichengott Cyrograf |
| Leichengott Ostrza |
| Leper Embarrassed to Be Human |
| Les Discrets Septembre Et Ses Dernières Pensées |
| Lewis Grant Make Me Scared Again |
| Lie in Ruins Demise |
| Finnish kings of deathly sewer metal are back at it and dirty as ever. |
| life (USA-TX) demo |
| Lindow Moss 1st |
| Lindow Moss Seconds to Kill: Council Estate Druidry |
| Linkin Park Hybrid Theory |
| Lipitoare/Enshroud Lipitoare/Enshroud |
| Lizards Have Personalities Snows of Kilimanjaro |
| Lizards Have Personalities/Book Of Caverns Split |
| LLNN Deads |
| Lodge of the Empty Bed Pacta Sunt Servanda |
| Lorem Ipsum Que restera t-il ? |
| Lorna Shore Flesh Coffin |
| Loss of Self Demo |
| Lostprophets Liberation Transmission |
| Lotus Thief Gramarye |
| lovechild In Heaven, Everything is Fine |
| Low Double Negative |
| lowmeninyellowcoats summerdemo'17 |
| Luciation Infernalistic Flames of Luciftias |
| Machine Head The More Things Change... |
| Machine Head The Burning Red |
| Mahr Antelux |
| Mahr Soulmare I |
| Mahr Soulmare II |
| Makrothumia The Rit of Individuation |
| Malefic Sorcery Under the Hammer of the Banished Gods |
| Malevolum Veritas et Violentiam |
| Malicious Intent Under The Shine Of The Ripping Sickle |
| Malignant (USA) Purity Through Putrefaction |
| Malignant Altar Retribution of Jealous Gods |
| Malthusian Below the Hengiform |
| Malthusian Across Deaths |
| Man's Gin Rebellion Hymns |
| Mannequin Pussy Patience |
| Marid V V V V V V V |
| Maroon 5 Songs About Jane |
| Marunata Réminiscence |
| post-black metal that escapes most of the usual post-black trappings |
| Masachist Death March Fury |
| Massive Retaliation Arms of the War God |
| Mastication 1991 Demo |
| Mata Mata Mata Mata |
| Mayhem De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas |
| Mayhem Grand Declaration of War |
| Mayhem Ordo ad Chao |
| Mayhem Deathcrush |
| Megadeth Countdown to Extinction |
| Meillä Oli Vain Yö Mustan Metallin Muistelot |
| Menestrel La Poésie des Temps Jadis |
| Menestrel Le Secret du Sage |
| Merkury Mori Otis |
| Mesarthim .- -... ... . -. -.-. . |
| Very keyboard-saturated atmospheric black metal. That being said, the synth work never feels overdone. This was created with the express purpose to have that element be the most prominent. It creates a beautiful, celestial, and wonder-filled album. It gets a bit repetitive at times, but overall it's very enjoyable. |
| Mesarthim The Degenerate Era |
| Messiah In The Abyss Genocidal Journey |
| Metallica S&M |
| Metallica ...And Justice for All |
| Metallica Master of Puppets |
| Metallica The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-Revisited |
| Mgla With Hearts Toward None |
| Miasmal Miasmal |
| Milumet Myth Is The Womb Which Fact Must Pass |
| Milumet Blood Songs |
| Miscarriage (USA) FUCKING DISGUSTING |
| Misertus Daydream |
| Misery Signals Absent Light |
| Misfits Famous Monsters |
| Mists of Antiquity Before the Dawn of a Noble Age |
| Mitochondrion Parasignosis |
| Is it just me or does this album get a little longer each listen? |
| Mizmor Mishlei |
| Mo'ynoq Dreaming in a Dead Language |
| Mol JORD |
| Monarque Jusqu'à la Mort |
| Mons Veneris Deathbringer |
| Monstrosity The Passage of Existence |
| Not many OSDM bands can still shred this hard in 2018. As someone who has never really listened to Monstrosity before, this has me psyched to check out their previous material. Seems like it?s generally considered to be better than this - and this kills - so I?m sure I?m in for a treat. |
| MooM Third EP |
| Morbid Angel Kingdoms Disdained |
| Morbosidad Muerte de Cristo en Golgota |
| Mord'A'Stigmata Dreams of Quiet Places |
| Mordicus Dances from Left |
| Morir Morir |
| Morrow (UK) Fallow |
| Mortiferum Disgorged From Psychotic Depths |
| Mortuous Through Wilderness |
| Moss Upon The Skull In Vengeful Reverence |
| Mossen Thee Knoweth Nay Apparition? |
| Motley Crue Girls, Girls, Girls |
| Motley Crue Generation Swine |
| Motley Crue Saints of Los Angeles |
| Mourning Forest Au Coeur de l'Ombre |
| Mrakobes (Мракобес) Мракобес |
| Muknal CN-22 |
| One of the weaker bands to come from Crepsculo Negro but these guys are still pretty good |
| Munn Selbstmordwald |
| Muse Showbiz |
| Muse Origin of Symmetry |
| Muse Black Holes & Revelations |
| My Purest Heart For You A Heart Worth Violence |
| Mylingar Döda Drömmar |
| Mylingar Döda Själar |
| Mystagogue And The Darkness Was Cast Out Into The Wilderness |
| Mystifier The World Is So Good That Who Made It Doesn't Live |
| Nachtgeist Void |
| Nachtlich Nachtlich |
| Nader Sadek In the Flesh |
| Nails Abandon All Life |
| Napalm Death Scum |
| Narrows Painted |
| Natural Law Slump |
| Modern hardcore that still recalls the genres classic elements, Natural Law are loud, fast, dirty and they don't even give a fuck. |
| Nächtlich Nächtlich |
| Nächtlich The Third Coming |
| Necrodeus Womb of Sathanas |
| Necropanther Necropanther |
| Necros Christos Doom of the Occult |
| Necrotic Mutation The Realm of Human Illusions |
| Nefarious Spirit / Void Prayer Nefarious Spirit / Void Prayer |
| Nekros Manteia Deus Otiosus |
| Night Verses Into the Vanishing Light |
| Night's Threshold Boundless Evil |
| Nightfucker Nightfucker |
| Nightwish Dark Passion Play |
| Nihil Invocation The Valleys Green and Journeys Mourned |
| Nihil Invocation Furthering the Depth of Lucid Madness |
| Nihil Invocation / Nyctophilia Season of the Purest Decay |
| Nihilifer Subterfacto.declive |
| Cavernous blackened death metal draped in occult robes and with hell in its eyes. |
| Nimbifer Demo I |
| Nine Inch Nails Hesitation Marks |
| No Age Snares Like A Haircut |
| Noctambulist Atmospheres of Desolation |
| Nocturnal Blood Nocturnal Cruxifictions |
| Nocturnal Blood Invocation of Spirits |
| NOFX Wolves in Wolves' Clothing |
| Noose Rot The Creeping Unknown |
| Nortt Endeligt |
| Notches High Speed Crimes |
| Really endearing pop-punk with an emphasis on PUNK. It's fuzzed out, sloppy, catchy, energetic, and loads of fun. |
| Nusquama Horizon Ontheemt |
| Nyctophilia Dwelling in the Fullmoon Light |
| NyreDolk Demo |
| NyreDolk Indebrændt |
| Oath of Cruelty Summary Execution At Dawn |
| Obituary The End Complete |
| Obolus (US) Lament |
| Occelensbrigg The Cosmic Winter State (demo) |
| Occelensbrigg / Spiral Staircase Occelensbrigg/Spiral Staircase |
| October Fall A Season in Hell |
| Odinsgoat Datura |
| Of Feather and Bone Sulfuric Disintegration |
| Of Mice and Men The Flood |
| Coming off an average debut album, the departure (and subsequent rejoining) of the ever controversial Austin Carlile, Of Mice & Men have still managed to overcome all their trials and tribulations to craft a modern post-hardcore album that is actually worth giving a damn over; more creative song-writing, better instrumentals and with Shayley Bourget's soaring vocals taking more precedence than seen before, Of Mice & Men are a band that is well on their way to some well-deserved success. |
| Old Nick Flying Ointment |
| Old Nick Haunted Loom!!! |
| Old Nick Witch Of The Northern Vill |
| Old Nick Curse of the Lock Master |
| Old Nick Witch Lymph |
| Old Nick The Vanitous Specter |
| Old Tower Drachenblut |
| Old Tower The Rise of the Specter |
| Old Tower Ruination, the New Dawn Cometh |
| Old Witch Come Mourning Come |
| Opeth Watershed |
| Opeth Blackwater Park |
| Opeth In Cauda Venenum |
| Order From Chaos Dawn Bringer |
| Orgy of Carrion Blood Washed Away the Grave Purity |
| Orgy of Carrion Obscured Ceremonies Under Hell Moon |
| Orgy of Carrion Everlasting Blood Of Night |
| Orgy of Carrion Perverse Homage to the Rotting Divine |
| Orgy of Carrion Hymns Of Melancholic Violence And Plague |
| Ossa Coronata Ander Lant |
| Ossaert Bedehuis |
| Ostraca / Flesh Born Faces of the Moving Year |
| Oubliette (USA-TN) The Passage |
| Outre-Tombe Nécrovortex |
| P.L.F. Jackhammering Deathblow Of Nightmarish Trepidation |
| P.L.F./Incinerated Split |
| Pa Vesh En Pyrefication |
| Pale Pale |
| Palisades I'm Not Dying Today |
| Palisades Palisades |
| Pandiscordian Necrogenesis Eigenwelt |
| Pandiscordian Necrogenesis Elohim Glowing Bile |
| Panic! at the Disco Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! |
| years later and i still cant get over the fact they passed on the name panic! at the discoteca |
| Panopticon Kentucky |
| Panopticon/Lake of Blood Split |
| Pantheist Pantheist |
| Paragon Impure To Gaius |
| This shit is fucking intense. Raw as fuck, dissonant as anything, there is literally nothing accessible about this album. And I love it. |
| Paragon Impure Sade |
| Paralysis (USA-LA) Patrons Of The Dark |
| Parkway Drive Killing with a Smile |
| Pathology The Time of Great Purification |
| I am generally not a fan of brutal death metal at all but fuck this is really good. I think the main reason I enjoy it so much is because everything from the riffs to the vocals are extremely reminiscent of Abominable Putridity |
| Paysage d'Hiver/Lunar Aurora Split |
| Penance Stare House of Bastet |
| Pendragon (US) Morgana |
| Pendragon (US) Uther |
| Pensees Nocturnes Ceci est de la musique |
| This could very well be my black metal album of the year; retaining the strong yet tasteful use of symphonic and theatrical elements, Pensees Nocturnes 2011 release sees sole member Vaerohn not only mustering truly impressive atmospheric backdrops but also adding much more bite to the bands brand of avant-garde black metal. And while Vaerohn easily proves himself to be a truly awe-inspiring multi-instrumentalist he also conjures one hell of a hoarse wail, the perfect type of vocals to accompany an album that is just drench in melancholy. Fucking recommended. |
| Perverse Homage/Hatework Häretischer Kreis |
| Petrification Hollow of the Void |
| Petrine Cross Demo |
| Phlebotomized Preach Eternal Gospels |
| Pierce the Veil Selfish Machines |
| Plague (GR) Portraits of Mind |
| Plague Rider Rhizome |
| Ploertendoder / Cancriculus Ploertendoder / Cancriculus |
| Poppy I Disagree |
Even for Poppy the move into metal was a turn of unexpected turn of events, one that she's
masterfully manipulated into a victory. She built on the rejection of expectations with a
very solid set of songs that delve heavily into nu-metal, metalcore, and industrial metal
territory, very much seizing upon the late 90's revival zeitgeist that's permeated the underground
metal scene while also infusing the music with her typical pop infectiousness and trademarked
oddity. |
| Portal Vexovoid |
| Portrayal of Guilt Suffering is a Gift |
| Portrayal of Guilt/Soft Kill Split |
| Pouya The South Got Something To Say |
| PRECARIA, DEATHSPIRAL OF INHERITED SUFFERING and DOMINUS IRA Metamorphosphoros |
| Pretty Little Flower Ultimate Whirlwind of Incineration |
| Fuck bitches and listen to P.L.F. |
| Primitive Warfare Primitive Warfare |
| Prison Suicide 2016 Demo |
| Five minute long hardcore demo from Colloquial Sound Recordings. Nothing fancy, just an absolutely ripping release that's tons of fun. |
| Prison Suicide Prison Suicide (II) |
| Prison Suicide nets Colloquial Sound Records another great release. |
| Proclamation Nether Tombs of Abaddon |
| Profanatica Disgusting Blasphemies Against God |
| Profanatica is all about the blasphemy; decrying religion at almost every chance they get, if any devout Catholic heard a minute of their 2010 opus Disgusting Blasphemies Against God (or even just heard the title) they would probably declare some sort of Armageddon warning. Musically, the band plays a pretty raw form of black metal, yet nothing really new. Definintely more enjoyable when in a certain mood, yet for the most part this is just another average black metal release with above average lyrics of blasphemy. |
| Profanatica The Curling Flame of Blasphemy |
| Well, it's definitely a Profanatica record |
| Profanatica Putrescence of... aka As Tears of Blood Stain the |
| Profanatica Rotting Incarnation of God |
| Profane Congregation/Grave Grave Revelations / Profane Congregation |
| Profane Order Tightened Noose of Sanctimony |
| Prosanctus Inferi Red Streams of Flesh |
| Prosanctus Inferi Pulpit Sycophants |
| After a six-year silence, I was worried they had died an innocuous death, but luckily I was wrong; they are alive, kicking, and gearing up for the release of a new album entitled Hypnotic Blood Art (release date TBA). It would seem Pulpit Sycophants a demo that has so far only been released via Youtube, consists of rough versions of this upcoming full-length. Despite their being incomplete, the material on Pulpit Sycophants is impressive nonetheless, and seems to hint at the band returning to the bestial and crude blackened death metal they wielded on their earlier releases like Pandemonic Ululations of Vesperic Palpitation. Despite my love for their last record Noctambulous Jaws Within Sempiternal Night and its more pronounced death metal influence, I am still very much looking forward to what's coming next. r |
| Pseudogod Deathwomb Catechesis |
| Psychic Blood Autumn Curses |
| Psycroptic The Scepter of the Ancients |
| Puce Mary Rubber Therapy |
| Pulchra Morte Divina Autem et Aniles |
| Evoking the morbid grandiosity of the "The Peaceville Three" (Paradise Lost, Anathema, My Dying Bride) Pulchra Morte's debut album Divina Autem et Aniles hearkens back to the gothic death/doom sound of the early 90's British metal scene, uniting melody and chaos in an unholy matrimony. |
| Pulczesar Pulczesar |
| Pure Wrath Sempiternal Wisdom |
| Purgatorial Blue Flame Choir of Nosferatu |
| Push Over Demo |
| Putrefiance Demo 2018 |
| Question Reflections of the Void |
| Raat (IN) Ashen |
| Ragana and Thou Let Our Names Be Forgotten |
| Rahu Caput Draconis |
| Ratt Out of the Cellar |
| Ravachol Great Moments in the Void |
| Raw Nerve Nervous Habits |
| A great tape by another great Youth Attack! hardcore band. I wonder how long until it's too trendy to like any YA! bands and we are all forced to ignore their consistent brilliance. |
| Rebel Wizard Triumph of Gloom |
| Redwood Hill Ender |
| Reeking Nightshade Within the Effulgence of the Moon |
| Reel Big Fish Everything Sucks |
| Remete (AUS) Forgotten Aura (demo) |
| The second new black metal project from D. of Woods of Desolation. Instrumental black metal with a focus on grand melodies and an overall lax atmosphere. The lack of vocals hinders it slightly, but it still remains fairly compelling. |
| Remete (AUS) The Winter Silence |
| Respire Denouement |
| Revenant Marquis Polterngeyst |
| Revenant Marquis Youth In Ribbons |
| Reverorum Ib Malacht Im Ra Distare Summum Soveris Seris Vas innoble |
| Rhinocervs RH-14 |
| Rhinocervs RH-15 |
| Rhinocervs RH-16 |
| Ride for Revenge Sinking The Song |
| Rietas Vaikainen - Demo MMXX |
| Ringare Under Pale Moon |
| Ringare Where Cold Dwells And Winter Once Lay |
| Ringare Sorrow Befell |
| Masterminded by one man black metal auteur Alex Poole, Ringare's newest demo Sorrow Befell is an impressive display of Summoning-esque bombast filtered through the structure of more typical atmospheric black metal. The result is a terrifyingly immersive piece of work to lose yourself in. |
| Ripped to Shreds 魔經 - Demon Scriptures |
| Rites of Thy Degringolade Totalitys Commad |
| Rites of Thy Degringolade The Blade Philosophical |
| It's hard to find an apt descriptor for The Blade Philosophical; if I could think of one, it would be something like Morbid Angel meets Deathspell Omega. |
| Roman Cross Make Graves the Home of Men |
| Roman Master The Basilisk |
| Rome Hero Foxes 18 Summers |
| Rotted Remains Rotted Remains |
| Rotting Sky Sedation |
| Ruin Lust Choir Of Babel |
| Ruminations Rehersal Demo |
| Runemagick Into Desolate Realms |
| Runespell Voice of Opprobrium |
| Rx Bandits Mandala |
| S H R I E K I N G Let The Galaxy Burn |
| Sacred Son Arthurian Catacombs |
| Sacrilegious Crown Flagellated Temple |
| Sadness (USA) Alluring the distant eye |
| Sadness (USA) I want to be there |
| Sael The Sixth Extinction |
| Sallow II: Corpses and Ruins |
| Sallow play of a very modern form of classic black metal; it's cold, unforgiving, aggressive, and evocative of an assailing winter tempest. Every once in a while they will have a brilliant moment -each track has at least one or two - but as whole, this is standard black metal brought to you by a band that has yet to unlock their true potential. |
| Saltas Currents |
| Saltas Parasites |
| Salvaticus Hidden Manna |
| Salvation (USA) Of Unforgiving Wind |
| Uber aggressive buzzed out hardcore from Pennsylvania. |
| Salvation (USA) House of the Beating Hell |
| A part of the Youth Attack! music conglomerate, Philadelphia's Salvation have been releasing great and seriously moody hardcore since 2009 with the release of their debut album, Of Unforgiving Wind. Seemingly at odds with the sheer violence of their first album (and sophomore effort, Mortality Interactions) Salvation's latest EP shows the band paying more attention to detail, crafting a set of songs that may lack their previous aggression but more than makes up for it with their obviously more thoughtful compositions. House of the Beating Hell is still very much a Salvation release, but it is easily their most mature to date. |
| Sanguine Eagle Shores of Avarice |
| Sanguine Moon What Shadows Once Hid... |
| What Shadows Once Hid... feels legitimately frightening. It's build-up of distorted ambiance rumbling below mysterious chants and foreboding euphoria creates an uncomfortable yet oddly enjoyable tension. |
| Sans Ami Sans Ami |
| Sargeist Unbound |
| I?ve never been a huge Sargeist fan but this is really good, super melodic and icy black metal. I need to give props to the production too, it?s the perfect combination of clean and chaotic. |
| Sargeist/Drowning the Light Crimson Wine/As the Blood Flows On... |
| Sarr Ávitun |
| Really euphoric atmospheric black metal with palpably agonizing howls. |
| Satyr of Solitude Demo I |
| Satyr of Solitude Tree of Contemplation |
| Scar Symmetry Pitch Black Progress |
| Scar Symmetry Symmetric in Design |
| Scar Symmetry Holographic Universe |
| Sceptical Schizo Sceptical Schizo |
| Scythe Lore Through the Mausoleums of Man |
| Seagraves Weight of the World |
| Secret Creation Holding My Carrot |
| Secret Creation Bye Bye Bunny |
| Sectioned (Death Metal) Elme |
| Infusing elements of old school death metal with elements of thrash and even black metal, Sectioned's Elme is a competent excursion into realms of (slightly) experimental black metal. Fast riffs, excellent vocals and some pretty cool song-writing this album doesn't come highly recommended, but recommended nonetheless. |
| Seether Disclaimer |
| Sejr Demo |
| Senses Fail From The Depths Of Dreams (2019) |
| It's a bit jarring to heard versions of these songs after 17 years of growing up with the originals, but overall From The Depths of Dreams is a fun little release, if not just a bit kitschy. While I appreciate some of the added elements - mostly backing vocals - the actual production sounds really awful and plastic. It saps a bit of the genuity the original version thrives on. However, Buddy sounds really good and I don't mind his improved voice singing out some of my all time favorite Senses Fail melodies/lyrics. Recommended for people who won't take this too seriously. |
| Septulchu Food For Moloch |
| Sequestered Keep Wandering Far |
| Serpent Column Endless Detainment |
| Serum Dreg Lustful Vengeance |
| Sexdrome Sexdrome |
| Shaolin Finger Jabb Santa Maria Powerviolence |
| No holds barred, female fronted powerviolence that absolutely rips. Also the song titles are actually pretty funny. |
| Shark Bait/Adaje Split |
| Shining (SWE) III - Angst, Självdestruktivitetens Emissarie |
| Shizune Shizune |
| Shyy/... The Path Toward Forgetfulness |
| A release between two bands that are arguably some of the better groups from the shoegazing black metal pool, The Path Towards Forgetfulness has some pretty glaring errors but overall is an extremely enjoyable listen. Although they have received much more attention, Shyy is easily the weaker band here, creating two decent songs that have more in common with straightforward indie but definitely get their vocal style from shoegaze. ... on the other hand (yes, the name of the band is "...") create three completely entrancing pieces which if honestly had been by themselves would have made for an excellent demo/EP. The songs transition beautifully from more depressive black metal sections (which are actually wonderfully done) to clean vocal driven shoegaze dreamfests. Definitely a band to look for, if these songs are any indication, this band will do great things on future releases. |
| Sickness (Finland) Nidus Diaboli |
| Siege Column Inferno Deathpassion |
| SiFulan Desolate |
| Sigh Ghastly Funeral Theatre |
| Sigh Infidel Art |
| Sigh Gallows Gallery |
| Silent Civilian Rebirth of the Temple |
| Sinat Hinam Sinat Hinam |
| Black metal influenced crust punk from Israel. Thick murky guitars that swap between simpler crust punk lines, tremolo picked guitar and classic metal inspired passages Sinat Hinam is heavy, pounding and passionate crust that doesn't hold anything back |
| Sinmara Within the Weaves of Infinity |
| Icelandic black metal has been all the rage the last few years, and it's really not hard to see why; twisting, cavernous, and more aggressive, there is a certain magic that Icelandic BM and by extension, Sinmara, have in spades. Eerily melodic at times, the dichotomy of DsO-esque cacophony and cold, frozen harmony are well-representing throughout, creating excellent and contrasting counterpoints. A dense, but thoroughly enjoyable listen.r |
| Sista Sekunden Aldras Med Stil |
| Sixx:A.M. This Is Gonna Hurt |
| Mainstream rock that isn't embarrassing to listen to. We all knew Sixx:A.M. would make this album, an album that further propels their burgeoning mainstream sound but it's so damn catchy who cares if there's little to no substance to be found here? Great vocals, catchy melodies and surprisingly solid instrumentation This is Gonna Hurt continues Sixx:A.M.'s hot-streak of writing awesome modern rock records. |
| Skaphe and Wormlust Kosmískur Hryllingur |
| Skid Row (US) Subhuman Race |
| Skravl En Higen mod Tilintetgørelsen |
| Skrawl Nil (demo) |
| Skullcrush Visions of the Firestorm Eclipse |
| Sky Eats Airplane Everything Perfect on the Wrong Day |
| Slaegt Ildsvanger |
| Slave House Taste In Pain |
| Sleeping Village Fragments |
| Slipknot 9.0: Live |
| Slithering Decay Demo 2018 |
| Slowly Building Weapons Sunbirds |
| Smash Mouth Smash Mouth |
| Soker Tilflukt The Dark Woods of Sorrow |
| Solipsism (AUS) Whispering to the Strange |
| Sonne Adam Transformation |
| Sorcier Des Glaces Sorcier Des Glaces |
| Spectral Lore and Mare Cognitum Wanderers: Astrology of the Nine |
| Spectral Lore/Jute Gyte Helian |
| Spiral Staircase/Disequilibrium In the Scrying House / Fungal Growth Adorning Tree |
| Spite (USA-NY) Antimoshiach |
| Starless Domain EOS |
| State Faults Clairvoyant |
| Static-X Start a War |
| Staurophagia Sacrifice of the Wind |
| Stellar Descent Cycles of Life |
| Still Remains Ceasing to Breathe |
| Stone Sour Stone Sour |
| Stygiofilia Barren Crops of Heavenly Deception |
| Subdued Torment & Torture |
| Suffering Hour Dwell |
| What even is this? |
| Sugartown Cabaret The First Time I Lost The Road Map |
| Sugartown Cabaret Beyond Foam |
| Suicide Nation (USA-AZ) Suicide Nation |
| Sulphur Aeon The Scythe Of Cosmic Chaos |
| Summoning Minas Morgul |
| Summoning Dol Guldur |
| Summoning Oath Bound |
| Summoning With Doom We Come |
| There is something off about the production that stops this from feeling as euphoric and grandiose as it should. It's a shame, this is some of their most interesting work in a while. |
| Sump Demo |
| Superfruit Future Friends - Part Two |
| Svalbard When I Die, Will I Get Better? |
As far as competency goes, there are few bands who can do it like Svalbard; over their relatively
short career they've consistently released high-caliber material. When I Die, Will I Get
Better? is no different, and again the band impresses with their shoegazing hardcore flavor.
My only gripe is that it feels so familiar, just another attempt of a sound that's been
circulating throughout the metal/hardcore underground for the last decade. In some ways it feels
dirty to dock this hardworking band points because of the honesty and integrity that comes through
in their music, but there were definitely a few points across these 8 tracks where my mind
wandered into "been there, done that" territory. |
| Svartidaudi Revelations Of The Red Sword |
I'm giving the benefit of the doubt that Revelations of the Red Sword will grow on me. The
band's hesitation to commit to either a wholly melodic or wholly chaotic sound stifles their
potential. It's not that they have to fully commit either, but there's a palpable sense of
uncertainty present, hanging over their tortured instrumentals just as much as the occult
atmosphere they're trying to curate. This is me being a bit harsh however, as this is overall a
very enjoyable listen. Guitars twist and wind at their own volition to create forms of diabolical
splendor while Sturla howls incantations of infernal damnation as if he were the mouth of Satan
itself. Despite its few flaws Revelations of the Red Sword is the soundtrack to calamity,
and a worthy follow-up to the ever-esteemed efforts of Flesh Cathedral |
| Svrm Згарище |
| Svrm Останнє Сонце |
| Svrm Лихиї вітри стогнуть без упину |
| Svrm Занепад |
SVRM are a Ukrainian blackgaze project formed in 2015 that sounds like Deafheaven if they had
embraced their hardcore/skramz roots, instead of embracing alternative/shoegaze. It would be
reductive to simply cast them as a DFHVN clone though, as the project does provide some
interesting idiosyncrasies of its own, such as some folk interludes and an all around more
atmospheric approach despite the very pronounced sense of urgency their music also exudes. Still,
reductive or not, this is recommended listening for DFHVN fans, Bosse-de-Nage fans, or anyone else
whose developed a taste for skramzy, post-black metal. |
| Swamp Temple/Sinister Tradition Gods Of A Dying Sun |
| Sylvania Ave. In A Day |
| Symptom Opulent Atrocity |
| System of a Down Toxicity |
| System of a Down System of a Down |
| Taphos Come Ethereal Somberness |
| Tebotjf Pronounced "Tee-bot-jeff" |
| Temple Desecration Whirlwinds of Fathomless Chaos |
| Temple Nightside Pillars of Damnation |
| Tennis Cape Dory |
| Terrorizer World Downfall |
| Testament The Formation of Damnation |
| Thangorodrim Gil-Estel |
| The Afterimage Lumière |
| Dance Gavin Dance licks meets Misery Signals' brutality and djentin' rhythms... cool beans. |
| The Atlas Moth The Old Believer |
| The Color Morale Know Hope |
| The Color Morale Desolate Divine |
Leading up to the release of this album I was kind of worried; the past two albums have seen the band
deteriorating at an alarming rate, and based on the pre-release singles, it seemed they like so many others in the
current crop of post-hardcore, had abandoned their "heavier" roots. Fortunately, Desolate Divine proved my
expectations wrong. The ratio of singing to screaming is certainly tipped in the favor of the former, but as usual,
Garrett's soulful croon is a joy to experience. The heavier parts are a bit dialed in, but their sparsity and
placement make them effective, and Mike Honson taking over harsh vocals was an excellent decision. His voice
is nasty and guttural without going too far, a great compliment to the -core aspects. Surprisingly solid. |
| The Devil Wears Prada Dead Throne |
| The Devil Wears Prada With Roots Above and Branches Below |
| The Embers of Tara Realm of Sleep |
| The Gates Of Sinn The Great Sabbath (demo) |
| The Great Old Ones Al Azif |
| The Offspring Ignition |
| The Offspring Conspiracy of One |
| The Offspring Baghdad |
| The Offspring Club Me |
| The Offspring A Piece of Americana |
| The Physics House Band Mercury Fountain |
| The Speed of Sound in Seawater First Contact |
| The Strokes Comedown Machine |
| The Tidal Sleep Four Song EP |
| The Weeknd Starboy |
| You don't have to runnnnnnn I know what you can doooooo |
| The Word Alive Deceiver |
band was much better with mabbitt and you're just kidding yourselfs if you think otherwise
Don't listen to Comatorium., he's putting Bring Me The Horizon on the end of his year list |
| Thecodontion Thecodontia (demo) |
| This Gift Is A Curse This Gift Is A Curse |
| This Station of Life Antithetic |
| Thormesis The Sixth |
| Threnodist The Vomitous Demo |
| Through the Eyes of the Dead Bloodlust |
| Tilian Pearson Future Friends |
| Time, The Valuator How Fleeting, How Fragile |
| thanks kmac2021 |
| Titan (CAN) Burn |
| Todos Caeran After Dark |
| Tomb Mold Cerulean Salvation |
| Tomb Mold Planetary Clairvoyance |
| Torchlight Realms of Oblivion |
| Torso (FIN) Demonic Vomiting |
| Torture Chain Across Great Landscapes to a Legacy of Blood |
| Torture Rack Malefic Humiliation |
| Total Control Henge Beat |
| Totaled Lament |
| Trautonist Ember |
| Trist Dod Past Obtainment |
| Trivium Ember to Inferno |
| Trivium The Crusade |
| Truppensturm Salute to the Iron Emperors |
| Tuman Transylvanian Dreams |
| Turia Degen van licht |
| Twilight Trident Death Rattle |
| Typhoon (USA-OR) Offerings |
| Tyrannus Black Sun (Demo) |
| Tyrannus Ruins |
| Tyrannus Serpentslayer |
| Surprisingly docile release from Tyrannus, Serpentslayer is easily his most "traditional" dungeon synth album to date. It's a bit repetitive, but still has that medieval charm. |
| Tyrannus Flames of Tyranny |
| Tyrant Myst Tyrant Myst |
| Uada Cult of a Dying Sun |
| Ufesas Ufesas |
| Uhtceare El Genocidio Primordial Llevará El Nombre Infinito |
| Ulcerate Vermis |
| Ultar Pantheon MMXIX |
| Ulthar Cosmovore |
| Ulthar Providence |
| Ulvegr Vargkult |
| Un Sentiment |
| unable to fully embrace this happiness The Morning Sun and the End of the World |
| Unbegotten Manifestation |
| Unbirth Fleshforged Columns of Deceit |
| Undercroft Twisted Souls |
| Undergang Misantropologi |
| Undergang Den dobbelte Grav |
| Underoath They're Only Chasing Safety |
| Underoath Disambiguation |
| Undersave Sadistic Iterations... Tales of Mental Rearrangeme |
| Unfelled Beneath Distant Skies |
| One of two brand new projects from D of Woods of Desolation fame, Unfelled is pure atmospheric black metal bliss. Thick and enveloping atmosphere, whispered growls, and strong melodies make this a great, short release. |
| Unholy Vampyric Slaughter Sect Order of the Rose Cross |
| Unholy Vampyric Slaughter Sect Canticle Bound In Spirit-Faith In Vampyric Blood |
| Unreqvited Mosaic I: l'amour et l'ardeur |
| Unreqvited Stars Wept to the Sea |
| Unreqvited has no trouble coming up with gorgeous pieces of orchestrated black metal, but if there's one thing he has yet to get down, it's restraint. Sometimes there's just too much going on. |
| Unreqvited Mosaic II: la déteste et la détresse |
| Ur Pale Sea Synth Ensemble |
| Utzalu The Loins of Repentance |
| blackened as all hell punk |
| V/A (TAS) Tasmania II |
| Vacuus Demo |
| Vacuus II |
| Valaraukar Demonian Abyssal Visions |
| Vanhelgd Temple of Phobos |
The production is absolutely fantastic, but the songwriting is whatever. The songs just don't move at all.
Edit: okay Willie, I see you
Double edit: Okay, this is better than I initially gave it credit for. |
| Vanyar Abandoned |
| raw and epic black metal with a euphoric atmosphere |
| Venenum Trance of Death |
| Vengeance Sorcery Witchdance Rising |
| Venus Star Nigredo Expulsion |
| Vessel of Iniquity Void of Infinite Horror |
| Abyssal black metal that resides in a womb of static and noise. |
| Vetëvrakh Demo IV |
| vhmnt / blsphm vhmnt / blsphm |
| Victory Over The Sun A Tessitura of Transfiguration |
| Viggo Mortensen Intelligence Failure |
| Vigrid Throne of Forest |
| Awesome folk influences black metal with some classic metal influences |
| Vil / Infra / Aspergillum / Tarantula Nebula Presente, pasado y muerte |
| Vile Gash Agonized Corrosion |
| Vilkacis The Fever of War |
| Vilkacis / Turia Split |
| Vintr Drottning |
| Violet Cold Sommermorgen (Pt. I) - Innocence |
| Violet Cold Sommermorgen (Pt. II) - Joy |
| Violet Cold Sommermorgen (Pt. III) - Nostalgia |
| Vital Remains Dechristianize |
| VOËMMR Sombr Moebrd |
| An acolyte of Portugal's Aldebaran Circle, Vommr's Sombr Moebrd upends the traditional black metal experience and lures you into a ritualistic bout of necrotic expression totally unique unto itself. |
| Void Eater II |
| Voidorror / Aspergillum Voidorror / Aspergillum |
| Voidsphere To Await | To Expect |
| Volahn / Blue Hummingbird On The Left Debajo del Simbolo del Sol |
| Volahn/Kallathon Disequilibrium of the Ecliptic Plane |
| Vomit Angel Imprint of Extinction |
| Vosbúð Almannagjá |
| Voyeur's Blood Voyeur's Blood |
| Vrasësimendur Demo I - Vrasëspërtkh Keqen |
| Vucub Cane Frozen Black Hallucinations |
| Vukari Aevum |
| Wall Painted Black Wintergaze |
| Philadelphian dungeon synth/ambient with a windy and winter-y atmosphere and black metal vocals howling in the background. |
| Wampyric Rites Antigua Esencia Astral |
| Wandering Anduin Wandering Anduin |
| Warthog Warthog II |
| We Came As Romans To Plant a Seed |
| Weald and Woe The Fate of Kings and Men |
| Weeping Nimbus Rehearsal MMXVII |
| Welk Sein |
| wellspring iris's room |
| Werendia Småland |
| Werendia Werendia |
| Wet Petals s/t II |
| When Bitter Spring Sleeps/Panopticon Split |
| Whispering Oak Feast of the Warlords |
| Beautifully ethereal dungeon synth that reminds of green pastures and great rolling fields more than dank, wet chambers resting below castles. |
| White Medal Jorviking |
| White Ward Love Exchange Failure |
| White Wolves Kommando Dark Ages Return |
| Wilsumnes Onwards to the Great Darkness |
| Wilt (CAN) Ruin |
| Wintaar Songs of White Wilderness |
| This has been one of the better albums I've found to cool me down throughout this exceedingly hot summer. It's very typical atmospheric black metal but the melodies are nice and WV's vocals have a tortured element not too far way from Varg's. |
| Wintaar The Burialmoon Mist |
| Wintersun Wintersun |
| Wishfield Wishfield |
| Witch Claw Summoning of the Heksevin |
| Witch King Voice Of The Ossuary |
| Witches Moon Azazel Bedazzle |
| Witches Moon The Grim Botanical |
| Witches Moon A Swing of Sickle to Summers Dawn |
| Witches Moon The Womb of Those Whom Fall From Heaven |
| Witches Moon enters the new year on a high note with some quality dungeon synth. |
| Witches Moon A Storm of Golden Mare and Black Cauldron |
| Witches Moon at it again with their second release of the year. The Witch's mixture of dungeon synth and black metal is a bit more unorthodox than most, providing the nostalgic grandeur of the former while enabling the latter to flex its grim eccentricities. The production's vast feel gives him room to explore, and he doesn't take it for granted; each element whether it be a chime of synth or serpentine riff is given enough room to both flourish on its own and compliment each other part at play. Prolificity hasn't gotten in the way of good songwriting, as Witches Moon continues to provide quality and quantity in equal measure. |
| Witches Moon Bed of Hemlock, Sex with Angels |
| Witches Moon brews up another wicked but enjoyable dose of dungeon synth, folk, and metal. |
| Witches Moon Ouroboros Will Stray by the Light of the Milky Way |
| witchface Fryktelig For Alltid |
| Witchface are a bunch of Norwegian punks playing black metal, taking the decade-plus formula of Bone Awl and injecting some of that oddball Scandinavian charm to create something that's at once, familiar and fresh. |
| Woddrea Mylenstede Cwylmendeap |
| Unrepentantly raw black metal that pushes the boundaries of listenable music |
| Woe A Violent Dread |
| Woe, Is Me Number[s] |
| Wolf King Loyal to the Soil |
| Wolfheart Constellation of the Black Light |
| Wolves in the Throne Room Black Cascade |
| Wombripper From The Depths Of Flesh |
| Woods of Desolation Torn Beyond Reason |
| Worm (FL) Gloomlord |
| Wormhole The Weakest Among Us |
| Wotanorden The Hands of Faith |
| Wounds of Recollection You Were A Garden of Empyrean Light |
| Wrath of the Weak Solace |
| Wrath of the Weak Alogon |
| Wrath of the Weak Wrath of the Weak |
| Wreodan Heahl Laecig |
Symphonic black metal has a certain negative connotation amongst the genre's more "elite" listeners (whatever
that means), but there are still some great acts of that variety out there: Wreodan Heahl is one of them. It's
medieval symphonic black metal in the vein of early Dimmu Borgir, and it absolutely slays. The orchestrations are
perfectly done, and the black metal segments are nice and cold, just like they should be. |
| Wretched Empires Bloom |
| Wrevelmoed Demo I |
| Wvnder Precipice |
| Xasthur Nocturnal Poisoning |
| Xavlegbmaofffassssit.... Gore 2.0 |
| I honestly thought Acidic Vaginal Liquid Explosion Generated By Mass Amounts Of Filthy Fecal Fisting And Sadistic Septic Syphilic Sodomy Inside The Infected Maggot Infested Womb Of A Molested Nun Dying Under The Roof Of A Burning Church While A Priest Watches And Ejaculates In Immense Perverse Pleasure Over His First Fresh Fetus would be a one and done gag project, so I was fairly surprised to find Gore 2.0 while skimming through bandcamp. Even more surprising is how legitimately good this album is. Laying off the pure grinding discordance of their debut, Xavleg's second album toys with a melange of styles (death metal, goregrind, beach rock...?) skillfully but without sacrificing the joviality and carefree attitude of its predecessor. It's clear these dudes are still having fun, they've just become a lot more listenable while doing so. |
| XII Boar Beyond the Valley of The Triclops |
| Fucking raucous as fuck rock'n'roll. Heavy-hitting groove riffs, sludgy bass, and throat-shredding vocals for days. Great shit. |
| Yaldabaoth That Which Whets the Saccharine Palate |
| Yellow Eyes Silence Threads the Evening's Cloth |
| Yellow Eyes Hammer of Night |
| Yellow Eyes Stillicide |
| Yellow Eyes The Desert Mourns |
| Yellow Swans Being There |
| Yersinia Pestis (US) Finis Gloriae Mundi |
| Reminiscent of Sweden's burgeoning melodic death/black metal scene of the early 90's, Yersinia Pestis is six tracks of fairly solid extreme metal with enough aggression, melody, and buzzsaw guitar tone to satisfy both newcomers and older fans of the genre alike. |
| Yith Immemorial |
| Ynkleudherhenavogyon Honan Bleydh |
| You Plus Me Rose Ave. |
| YOUWRETCH YOUWRETCH |
| Heavy as shit hardcore that also has some awesome melodic flourishes |
| YOUWRETCH Sympathy Of Wolves |
| Zealot Cult Spiritual Sickness |
| Zealotry At the Nexus of All Stillborn Worlds |
| Zella Day Kicker |
| Zpektraellotaen Possessed by the Loathing Specters at Dawn / In Co |
| Zuriaake 深庭 | Resentment in the Ancient Courtyard |
| ['selvə] D O M A |
| 3.0 good |
| A Letter for Carmilla Lamentation |
| A Pregnant Light Devotion Unlaced |
| A Pregnant Light continue to perfect their own unique sect of underground extremity cutely nicknamed "purple metal", which is essentially melodic hardcore with a tinge of metal. I'll give it to Damian, each release under the APL moniker maintains a very genuine feel, however Devotion Unlaced lacks the teeth of their previous material which is a bit of a let-down. Nonetheless, this is a fairly enjoyable release with a few ear-worms to keep you coming bac |
| Aad Sleck Demonstration II |
| Abandon All Ships Geeving |
| Abduction (UK) A Crown of Curses |
| Abhomine Larvae Offal Swine |
| Abhomine Proselyte Parasite Plague |
| Abstracter Cinereous Incarnate |
| Absurd Existence Anglewings |
| Playing melodic death/doom with a ton of gothic metal influences, Absurd Existence just comes off as a bit boring; sure, they can strike the occasional somber melody at times and are they the worst at what they do? Definitely not, but that still doesn't save Angelwings from being the first-class snooze of an album it is, devoid of anything worth note and full of things that have been done before and done better. |
| Abyssal Vacuum MMXVII |
| Act of Impalement Perdition Cult |
| Adversarial/Antediluvian Initiated in Impiety as Mysteries |
| Aevangelist Matricide in the Temple of Omega |
| Afsky Ofte Jeg Drømmer Mig Død |
| Agalloch Ashes Against the Grain |
| Ahulabrum The Transitivity of Strangeness |
| The Transitivity of Strangeness isn't really an album you get on the first listen; a dark, murky production mixed with fast tremolo picked chords and strange (even for black metal) vocals, the first experience with this album may be enough for some. However, upon repeated listens one begins to strangely appreciate the how intense and fucked up the album really is. Musically nothing revolutionary, but an entertaining listen for those who truly enjoy raw black metal. |
| Akrotheism Law of Seven Deaths |
| Aksumite Self Interference |
| Alcest Écailles De Lune |
| This is a low 3.5. Seriously Ecailles De Lune (Pt.1) is mostly the only song I ever listen too. And generally when I do, I'm only doing it for the last two minutes of the song. But holy fuck, it's pretty epic. But yeah, expecting rating drop to 2.5 in (near) future. |
| Alcest Les Voyages De L'Âme |
| Alcest Shelter |
| Alcest Kodama |
| Alcest Spiritual Instinct |
| Alda Alda |
| Alder Deep Chapter 2: Kobolds, Goblins, Cretins, Fiends |
| All That Remains Overcome |
| Alle Totmachen! Demo 2 |
| Alle Totmachen! Demo I |
| Alter Bridge AB III |
| Anaal Nathrakh In the Constellation of the Black Widow |
| Anthrax Return of the Killer A's |
| Anthrax Sound of White Noise |
| Apocalypse Command Damnation Scythes of Invincible Abomination |
| Another project spawning from the infamous Angelcorpse legacy, Apocalypse Command is certainly a competent project but does little to expand upon or even improve upon their now slightly worn black/death style, ultimately making DSoIA an enjoyable but predictable listen. |
| Arch Enemy Black Earth |
| Arch Enemy Wages of Sin |
| ARTS Thousand Wounds Of War |
| Aryan Rogue Reinrassig |
| As I Lay Dying Shadows Are Security |
| As I Lay Dying Awakened |
| As I Lay Dying Shaped by Fire |
| Asagraum Dawn of Infinite Fire |
| Ascension Under Ether |
| Ashen Chalice Ritual Under the Blackened Moon |
| Asking Alexandria The Black |
| Asking Alexandria From Death to Destiny |
| Asmodee (FRA-Pays de la Loire) Aequilanx |
| Asphyx The Rack |
| Asphyx Deathhammer |
| Aspyhx's Deathhammer is a good album but it's also a slight disappointment considering the high caliber work of the bands past. |
| At the Gates To Drink from the Night Itself |
| Atreyu Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses |
| Atreyu Lead Sails Paper Anchor |
| Attack Attack! (US) Attack Attack! |
| Attack Attack! (US) This Means War |
| Auld Ridge Ascetic Invocation |
| Automobile, Swift Enemy, Enemy |
| Avenged Sevenfold Diamonds in the Rough |
| Avslut Deceptis |
| I've only got one meager listen in, but I would expect to like this more as time goes on. This very much draws on the more mystical and malevolent side of black metal. It also has a surprising amount of low-end, but it doesn't slow down or trip up their blackened leanings. Not bad. |
| Azarath Saint Desecration |
| In 2011 Azarath released their best album, Blasphemers' Maledictions and set the bar incredibly high for future releases; a standard they have unfortunately yet to reach again. Follow-up In Extremis was a good albeit unimpressive record and Saint Desecration follows suit. There is nothing inherently wrong here, but it's nothing that hasn't been peddled ad nauseam by countless blackened death metal acts prior. New vocalist Skullripper does an admirable job picking up where Necrosodom left off and as result is easily the best thing about this record; his guttural incantations have power and presence. However unlike his predecessor, a strong vocal performance is where his meaningful contributions end. In the end though, he is the the most minor offender here, with the other members of the band - all of whom have been in the group for many years - unable to pick up the slack Necrosodom left in his wake. They have settled in a groove well below what we know they are capable of. At the end of the day, this is barely serviceable record performed by musicians who have done much better. |
| Azriel A Will Of Fire |
| slaps |
| Bagg Tussa баґґтусса |
| Bane (Srb) Chaos, Darkness & Emptiness |
| Belial Never Again |
| Belial 3 |
| Belus Apophina |
| Boring USBM that aims for density but only achieves aimlessness. |
| Benthik Zone Via Cosmicam ad Europam ab Gelid Inferis |
| Bergwacht/Seelenlandschaft Waldpfad |
| Black Reaper (CHN) Celestial Descension |
| Dissection worship to the t(remolo). Some tracks extend to be a bit long, and when stretched too far you can start to see the cracks in their songwriting, but overall this is very competent. It's missing that undefinable aura that made Dissection a household name, yet it would still manage to scratch and satisfy someone with the Nodtveidt itch. |
| Black Tide Light From Above |
| Unless you're Helloween and you've just released Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt. 1, playing the bastard child of power metal and thrash, speed metal has never really been the "cool" thing to do. Kind of makes you wonder what the teenage comprised Black Tide were (or weren't) thinking when they recorded Light From Above, a below par, mainstream marketed, speed metal album with tons of hair metal influence to boot. "Warrior of Time" slays and quartet shows technical promise, (especially singer/guitarist Gabriel Garcia pre-puberty) but when it come to songwriting, it's obvious these Miami natives still have a lot of growing up to do. |
| Blessthefall His Last Walk |
| Blink-182 Cheshire Cat |
| Blitzgeist Black Visions in the Moonlit Night |
| Blizzard (AR) Hateful Hymns of an Endless Winter |
| Bound Bible Demo II |
| Bound Bible is another Colloquial Sound Recordings project by Damian Masters. Like their previous effort, Demo 2 is very much standard USBM that doesn't really take any risks but is well executed. It's unlikely to compel you to keep coming back, but it's not bad by any stretch of the imagination, it just lacks, well, imagination. |
| Bovary Mes Racines dans le Désert |
| Breaking Benjamin Aurora |
| Bring Me the Horizon Suicide Season |
| Buckethead Forensic Follies |
| Buckethead Somewhere Over the Slaughterhouse |
| Buckethead Enter the Chicken |
| Buckethead Cyborg Slunks |
| Buckethead Slaughterhouse on the Prairie |
| Buckethead Enter The Chicken (Reissue) |
| Buckethead Kevin's Noodle House |
| Bullet For My Valentine Hand of Blood |
| Burzum Filosofem |
| Byzantine To Release Is to Resolve |
| Caarcrinolas The Egg |
| Cabal (DK) Mark Of Rot |
| Cabal may be a bit more atmospheric than their peers, but their dollar store menace can't cover up how bland the songwriting is. |
| Can Bardd Nature Stays Silent |
| Cancerian Moon Human Transmutation |
| Coming from the house of Bone Awl, bands like Cancerian Moon are an overstocked brand in black metal, however there is something to be admired in their delivery; they beat the shit out of their instruments. Even if it is your usual melange of Darkthrone meets Circle Jerks, the energy really translates. |
| Carly Rae Jepsen Emotion |
| Carved Cross Demo I |
| Celestial Conjuration Demo I |
| Centinex Reborn Through Flames |
| Combining the old school brutality of their previous efforts with a newfound sense of melody, Centinex's Reborn Through Flames is not your best or most original slab of Swedish death metal, but it certainly remains to be an enjoyable listen for all those who enjoy melodeath with some added bite. |
| Ciel Nordique II |
| Cinsera Coryphée |
| Coffinworm IV.I.VIII |
| Converge Beautiful Ruin |
| 4 SONGS. 6 MINUTES. Now THAT'S H A R D C O R E |
| Corpsessed Corpsessed |
| Cradle of Filth Total Fucking Darkness |
| Csejthe La Mort du Prince Noir |
| Dagger Lust VT-XIX || Siege Bondage Adverse to the Godhea |
| Dance Gavin Dance Afterburner |
I'm not sure what I expected from this, but I am happy with the end result. It's everything I want
from the band, with a few sonic twists and turns thrown in. I'm only on my 3rd listen, so it's
still all sinking in, but I'm enjoying this more immediately than I did ArSe, which took a bit
more time for me to really appreciate. I do think the next album will need to step out of the box
a bit more, but I'm fine with the half step forward here.
**mehhhhh (9/28/2020) |
| Dark New Day Twelve Year Silence |
| Darkest Hour Godless Prophets and The Migrant Flora |
| Even though the heaviness is a contrived effort after the mainstream inclinations of their last album, the new Darkest Hour is okay, even if it does sound like everything else Kurt Ballou produces. The melodic death metal influence is sorely missing though. |
| Darkthrone Plaguewielder |
| Darkthrone F.O.A.D. |
| Darkthrone Dark Thrones and Black Flags |
| Deathless Marantha Nothing No One Never Everything |
| I honestly don't really know how to describe Deathless Marantha, other than monotone spoken word ramblings over pretty acoustic guitar playing. Damian Masters has a tendency to be a bit artsy, and here is no different. It verges on pretentiousness but the way he builds layer upon layer of melody on each other kind of distracts from the nonsensical bullshit that the lyrics comprise of.r |
| Deep Mountains Deep Mountains |
| Well, this certainly was a huge disappointment. While it has some pretty cool moments this is overall nothing really that special. |
| Deftones Ohms |
| Demoncy Faustian Dawn |
| Demoniac Stormblade |
| Demonical Chaos Manifesto |
| Deorc Weg Ninth Circle Of Despondency |
| Deorc Weg An Astral Tomb |
| Deorc Weg Shallow Graves EP |
| Departure Chandelier Dripping Papal Blood |
| Dephosphorus Impossible Orbits |
| More "astrogrind" from this Greek outfit. Nothing too out of the ordinary as far as grind goes, but the spacey textures make for a nice addition. |
| Der Weg Einer Freiheit Der Weg Einer Freiheit |
| Desolation Realm Desolation Realm |
| Devotee Faith of the Ancients |
| Dieux Des Cimetières Live By The Sword, Or Die By The Sword |
| Dimmu Borgir For All Tid |
| Dimmu Borgir Stormblåst |
| Dimmu Borgir Stormblåst MMV |
| Dimmu Borgir Eonian |
| What makes Eonian so frustrating is that there is some genuinely good material strewn between the rorchestral pomp and cheesy posturing. I think it's better than Abrahadabra, and it does feel rslightly more black metal (as promised), but it's pretty clear that Dimmu has lost sight of their rroots and is more content as a money-hungry symphonic caricature of a black metal group than a rband that actually cares about creating quality content. |
| Disassembled Portals to Decimation |
| Melodic/progressive death metal with a few decent enough moments to just barely scrape by. Album art is atrocious. |
| Discrucior Mundus Subterraneus |
| Disinter Desecrated |
| Death metal with little substance, Desecrated is a good album for a listen if you are in the mood for death metal that isn't trying to be overtly technical; angry, brutal but perhaps most importantly simple, Disinter craft some pretty cool moments but overall Desecrated won't be an album you'll be telling all your friends about. |
| Disturbed Indestructible |
| Dogman In Torment I Die |
| Dolmen Shrine 2020 Rehearsal |
| Drenched/Skulls Monuments of Ancient Death |
| Drowning the Light The Weeping Moon |
| Drowning the Light The Masters Call |
| Drux Vinterstilla |
| Dry Insides Deformity |
| Dubuffet Batrakos |
| Eave Banners to the Moonswept |
| Ecloss Diluvienne |
| Edguy Rocket Ride |
| Eighteen Visions Eighteen Visions |
| Elderwind The Colder The Night |
| this could be a lot better if they strived for a more guitar-oriented sound to match the brilliance and majesty of the keyboard playing |
| Elysian Blaze Cold Walls And Apparitions |
| End These Days Ambivalence |
| Engrossed Promo '18 |
| Enslaved Isa |
| Enter Shikari Take to the Skies |
| Esgaroth Hail Darkness |
| Instrumental melodic black metal with flourishes of symphonic pomp. It's actually pretty well balanced, and though the music is fairly conventional for the genre, it's still catchy with that touch of rough around the edges. |
| Ethicist II |
| Eye of Solitude The Deceit |
| Father Befouled Holy Rotten Blood |
| Feminazgul The Age of Men Is Over |
It's easy to pass on the hilariously titled Feminazgul; you pretty much know it's rife with anti-patriarchal hymns
and other pro-feminine extremisms. But isn't that kind of black metal has always been about? Preaching ideals
whether satanic, naturalistic, or otherwise to their utmost degree? Musically, this record is far from perfect, but I
can't help but admire Margaret Killjoy's sense of defiance and her willingness to shift the black metal paradigm on
it's head for her own purposes. |
| Festerday Iihtallan |
| Fire from the Gods Narrative |
| Flourishing The Sum of All Fossils |
| Forþfæderasþrymcymeúpsprungennes Dark Druidic Folk Rites |
| Forlornd Eru Ilüvatar |
| Foxes (UK) All I Need |
| Foxes (UK) Glorious |
| Funeral For God Deus Mortuus Est |
| Fuvk Almost Tuesday |
| Gash Crossing the Lugubrious Plateau |
| Gevurah Sulphur Soul |
| Ghostbound All Is Phantom |
| Glorior Belli The Apostates |
| Glorious Depravity Ageless Violence |
| Gorillaz The Now Now |
| I listened to this in my office where people are generally pretty stingy about the music and nobody complained, so I guess that counts for something. Perfectly harmless pop album that's great for summer days. |
| Haenesy Mortals |
| Hagzissa Demo 2017 |
| He Is Legend It Hates You |
| Hekate (Italy) The Forest Is Watching |
| Hekate (Italy) Haunted Soul Of The Witch |
| Heresiarch Death Ordinance |
| Blasphemy styled war metal with little to no surprises, but still solid enough to be enjoyable overall. |
| Hermodr Midnight Eclipse |
| His Statue Falls Collisions |
| Horrendous Anareta |
| Hrae þar Sem Skepnur Reika |
| Hypomanie A City In Mono |
| Hypomanie follow up their great She Couldn't Find a Flower, But There Was Snow with an album that isn't bad, but only leaves you wanting to explore the more developed pastures of Hypomanie's contemporaries. Musically more shoegaze with black metal influences, Hypomanie's purely instrumental sophomore effort has moments of body-shuddering beauty (a saving grace, no doubt) but ultimately those moments sparsity coupled with album's overall derivative nature that create what is a mostly dull listening experience, jam packed full of songs that bleed onto the next. |
| I Am King Onehundred |
| I See Stars 3D |
| I See Stars The End of the World Party |
| I See Stars Treehouse |
| Immolation Shadows in the Light |
| Immolation Atonement |
| Immortal Sons of Northern Darkness |
| Immortal Northern Chaos Gods |
| In Fear and Faith In Fear and Faith |
| In This Moment Beautiful Tragedy |
| In This Moment A Star-Crossed Wasteland |
| In Thoth In Thoth |
| Incantation Profane Nexus |
| Infant Annihilator The Elysian Grandeval Galèriarch |
| Iron Blood We Will Change |
| Iron Maiden No Prayer for the Dying |
| Iron Maiden Dance of Death |
| Isgalder To The Hall Of The Stars |
| Iskandr Euprosopon |
| Issues Black Diamonds |
| Issues Beautiful Oblivion |
Beautiful Oblivion is a very *fine* album that furthers Issues evolution into a pop/90's
rock'n'b(?) band. However, the metamorphosis still feels incomplete. There is little cohesion
between the remaining vestiges of heavy, downtuned riffage, and their commitment to a more
straightforward radio-friendly sound. As a result, everything feels a too restrained, caught
between the two eras of Issues without an avenue to lean into its potential. I feel like in
retrospect, this and predecessor, Headspace, will be seen as solid, yet transitory efforts from a
band who went on do something really great. |
| It Dies Today Sirens |
| It Dies Today Lividity |
| Definitely doesn't hold up against It Dies Today's earlier matieral. While even Sirens was a little restrained at times, it fared much better than the pseudo metalcore assault on this album. |
| Jackman Demo 2010 |
| Judecca Awakened By The Stench of the Dead |
| Raw, old-school death metal from Florida; crushing, fast, and of course mentioning Satan at almost every available chance possible, Judecca didn't quite posses the technical skill on their second demo to match most of their peers, but the primal intensity of "Awakened By The Stench of the Dead" is worth commending nonetheless. |
| Kalmankantaja Routamaa |
| Kashyyyk Demo |
| Killswitch Engage Killswitch Engage II |
| kishote KALEIDOSKOP |
| Kolga Demo |
| A huge disappointment considering it's an Austin Lundr project. It's like a stripped down version of Panopticon's material on their second split with Wheels Within Wheels, and even though I loved that album, this is just a shadow of former glories. |
| komarov [UK] KOMAROV |
| Korhadt demo 1 |
| Kwade Droes Kwade Droes |
| Labynkyr/JHAD Split |
| Lampir/Witchmoon Split |
| Lathliss Demo I |
| Les Discrets Virée Nocturne |
| Though I don't enjoy all of it, I have to acknowledge and commend Fursy for his ambition. It doesn't always work; "Capricorni.Virginis.Corvi" is a mess of jumbled percussion, glide guitar, and ethereal vocals with little in the way of cohesion. In his efforts of trying to break from his post-rock/shoegaze roots, he at times overdoes the experimentation. That being said, there are still a few inspired and well-executed moments stemming from that same ambition. Opener "Vire Nocturne" marries Massive Attack-esque trip-hop atmosphere and shoegaze melodies splendidly, creating a gray-colored soundscape filled with melancholy. At the very least, this EP will generate enough curiosity for the upcoming full-length. |
| Liar Liar Cross On Fire Exposed, Barren and Often Windswept |
| Libertin Homologous Avulsion |
| Light This City Stormchaser |
| Light This City Facing The Thousand |
| Liturgy Aesthethica |
| Liturgy of Desecration Traverese the Threshold of Blasphemia |
| As if the cover wasn't indication enough, Liturgy of Desecration's Traverese the Threshold of Blasphemia couldn't be anything other than war metal; seriously, the universe would risk collapse if an album cover and track names like "Anal Parturition of Theotokos" were featured on anything but some bestial black metal warfare. That being said, the Athens based band definitely err more towards the genre's death metal roots, vomiting forth some seriously gnarled tremolo riffage, ear piercing dive bombs, and uber-guttural vocals. It's all stuff we've heard before, but that doesn't impede on the competency in which these stereotypes are executed with. |
| Lord Snow winterhold |
| Love American Love American |
| Machine Head Through the Ashes of Empires |
| Mahria Mahria |
| overrated female fronted screamo say whatttttttttt -- seriously if a guy was doing the vocals chances are nobody would really give two hoots about this. the vocals aren't even that great anyway |
| Managarmr Colossus |
| Master's Hammer Fascinator |
| I haven't even listened to this yet, but preemptive 5 because it's goddamn Master's Hammer. |
| Maylene and the Sons of Disaster III |
| Megadeth Youthanasia |
| Megadeth Cryptic Writings |
| Megadeth Endgame |
| Megadeth United Abominations |
| Megalith Grave/Nihil Invocation Malicious Curses Reached in Drawing Night |
| Metallica Load |
| Mindbleeder Demo 6(66) - Birds of Rot and Anger |
| Moenos Call From The Grave |
| Moonknight Senmorta |
| Morbid Angel Abominations of Desolation |
| Morbid Art The Cult of Flesh |
| Morvunskar Im Angesicht des Abgrunds |
| On their debut EP, Germany's Morvunskar performs fairly straightforward atmospheric black metal with a melodic touch. Nothing to write home about, but nothing to scoff at either. |
| Motley Crue Carnival Of Sins Live |
| Mr Twin Sister Salt |
| Mvrdvrkvltvr Mauled By Savagery |
| Nahadoth Child of Star |
| Nahadoth Chameleon in Nightshadow |
| Nahadoth Necromancy, and other poems |
| Neckbeard Deathcamp White Nationalism is for Basement Dwelling Losers |
| Neckbeard Deathcamp/Gaylord United Antifascist Evil |
| Nigredo Flesh Torn - Spirit Pierced |
| Niteris Our Death, His Monument |
| Nocturnus AD Paradox |
| Nokturnal Mortum The Voice of Steel |
| Normakk Bael |
| Nuit Noire Black Form |
| Obscuring Veil Fleshvoid To Naught |
| Occulted Death Stance Some Things Are Eternal |
| Unbearably raw black metal from the masters, Legion Blotan. |
| Old Tower Stellary Wisdom |
| I'm still quite unsure how to feel about this release. "Deep Within My Somber Castle Halls" starts out creepily, building tension with every passing second. However, just when you truly start to immerse yourself in how haunting and unsettling it all is, the music fades out unceremoniously. As a whole, the song is comprised of four separate parts, crudely stitched together. It makes it difficult to really immerse yourself, the bread and butter of dungeon synth. The title track is what needs more investigation, but I can safely the last few minutes are some of the most beautiful, affecting music I've heard in a while. |
| Ophiolatry Anti-Evangelistic Process |
| Ossa Coronata A Candle |
| Othendara Dae of Nox |
| Paladin (USA) Ascension |
| Panphage Jord |
| Parkway Drive Deep Blue |
| Parkway Drive's latest offering may not be the most original piece of metalcore to date, but it still retains a certain sense of enjoyability thanks to some key riffs and melodies. Also, vocalist is a beast |
| Phalanx (USA-CA) Golden Horde |
| Phantom Spire Golden Messiah |
| Phantom Spire Seven Relics |
| Phobocosm Bringer Of Drought |
| not bad, but definitely not great either |
| Pierce the Veil A Flair for the Dramatic |
| Pissgrave Posthumous Humiliation |
| tfw the album art is more interesting than your music. |
| Portrayal of Guilt Portrayal of Guilt |
| Portrayal of Guilt Let Pain Be Your Guide |
| Post Malone beerbongs and bentleys |
| Preprophecy Season of Sorrows |
| Protector A Shedding of Skin |
| Pure Disgust Pure Disgust LP |
| Real Friends Composure |
| Red (USA) End of Silence |
| Reel Big Fish Cheer Up! |
| Reel Big Fish We're Not Happy 'Till You're Not Happy |
| Reign in Blood Missa Pro Defunctis |
| Remmirath Polis Rouge |
| Rhizome (USA) Demo |
| Pissed-off female fronted hardcore from San Fransisco. Some genuinely catchy moments dispersed throughout the usually vicious hardcore fare. |
| Ripped to Shreds Eight Immortals Feast |
| Rivendell Farewell - The Last Dawn |
| Rivers Like Veins Z iskier srebrnych orszaków |
| Rotted Fumes DEMO MMXVIII |
| Ruined Families Blank Language |
| Sanguine Eagle Storm Mysticism |
| Satyr of Solitude Secret World |
| Seether Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces |
| Sen Deni Secret of the Sea |
| Senses Fail Pull the Thorns from Your Heart |
| I still need to listen to this 10-15 more times before I can rate this accurately, but as far as first listens go, this sounds like choppier version of Renacer. Sure, it's simultaneously their most technical and most ethereal, but it's also their most disjointed. Really hoping this grows on me. |
| Serpent Column Ornuthi Thalassa |
| Shadows Fall Fallout From The War |
| Sheidim Shrines of the Void |
| Shining (SWE) VII: Fodd Forlorare |
| Shylmagoghnar Transience |
| Sigh Scenario IV: Dread Dreams |
| Sigh Hail Horror Hail |
| Slaves Through Art We Are All Equals |
| Slayer Show No Mercy |
| Slayer South of Heaven |
| Slipknot All Hope Is Gone |
| Slipknot .5: The Gray Chapter |
| Smash Mouth Fush Yu Mang |
| Smash Mouth Astro Lounge |
| Sojourner The Shadowed Road |
| Solum Solum |
| Sorry... Failure Years of Neglect Apathy |
| Sparkle The Absurd World |
| Spawn of Possession Incurso |
| Srodek Forfall |
| Another band to incorporate a hefty does of alternative influences into their black metal sound, Srodek occasionally falls flat on their face thanks to ultra repetitive song structures and less than inspired melodies but overall deliver an enjoyable does of post-black metal fun. |
| Stalingrad Stalingrad |
| I have no qualms in saying that part of me likes this only because it's a project of YakNips, who overall, is a very cool dude. The other part of of me legitimately enjoys the rawness and the primitive bashing of the album's slower moments. However, this release as a whole is ruined by the production, which makes the guitar during the faster parts completely undecipherable. |
| Still Remains The Serpent |
| Stillness My Snow Princess |
| Stolas Stolas |
| Suhnopfer Nos Sombres Chapelles |
| Summoning Lugburz |
| Sun Kil Moon Benji |
| Tanpopo Crisis Everything Flows |
| Teitanblood The Baneful Choir |
| Terminal Conquest 2017 Demo |
| The 1975 A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships |
| The Apache Revolver The Midwinter |
| The Black Heart Rebellion Har Nevo |
| The Clearing Path Watershed Between Firmament And The Realm of Hyper |
| The Color Morale Hold On Pain Ends |
| The Devil Wears Prada The Act |
| A very fine album that is maybe a bit too self-indulgent. |
| The Dillinger Escape Plan Dissociation |
| The James Hunter Six Whatever It takes |
| The Offspring Splinter |
| The Speed of Sound in Seawater Acoustics |
| The Sword Age of Winters |
| The Wonder Years The Greatest Generation |
| The Word Alive Empire |
| The Word Alive Dark Matter |
| If The Word Alive and Breaking Benjamin had an illegitimate love-child who listened to djent and then formed a band, it would sound like this. |
| To Destroy A City Go Mirage |
| Todos Caeran Todos Caerán |
| Traveler (MO) Something Blue |
| good, genuine pop-punk. kinda sloppy in an endearing way. |
| Trna Earthcult |
| Troye Sivan Bloom |
| Twitching Tongues Gaining Purpose Through Passionate Hatred |
| Tyrannus Forest of Sempiternal Night |
| Ulver Flowers of Evil |
| This was a struggle to sit through. Not bad, but in comparison to the sheer exuberance of Assassination of Julius Caesar this falls short. |
| Underdark/Antre Underdark/Antre Split |
| Unearth III: In the Eyes of Fire |
| Veldes Flameless |
| Vim Patior Magni Nominis Umbra |
| Violent Hammer Demo 2014 - More Victims |
| Violet Cold Magic Night |
| Violet Cold Noir Kid |
| I finally gave this album a listen and it's very interesting. The more melodious, soaring moments definitely cause my heart to flutter, but the implementation of EDM elements is not done quite as well as it could be, at least in terms of production. Coming up with a dance-y melody really isn't enough to sell electronic music, there needs to be layers and depth of sound. The EDM sections throughout this feel too thin, and amateurish. The potential is in plain view, but the execution to match it isn't quite there yet. Anyway, this is still very solid, and as always, it's nice to see musicians continue to push the boundaries of black metal. |
| Void Rot Descending Pillars |
| Vorash Exhumed Corpses |
| Vox Vocis Star Meissa |
| Vraeck Vergraeck Lehuien Gevlaekt |
| Vucub Cane The Transformation of Holy Water |
| Vucub Cane Eternal Hatred of the Human Race |
| Vukari Divination |
| The definition of middle-of-the-road; the black metal parts are fairly inoffensive and the shoegaze/post-rock parts aren't as gorgeous as one would hope. It's still not bad, but overall this release is just kind of ... there. |
| Weezer The Teal Album |
| Enjoyable, but doesn't really ... (s)teal the show. |
| Whirr Feels Like You |
| 2 1 ratings and the whirrors are BESIDE themselves |
| White Lies Friends |
| White Wolves Kommando White Wolves Power |
| Winterblood (US) L'ingresso |
| Witches Moon Black Moon Kiss |
| Wold Screech Owl |
| Good idea Bulldog go right from listening to Gucci Mane to Wold and have some expectations of possibly liking it |
| Wolf and Bear Everything Is Going Grey |
| Worst Days Someone Has It Worse |
| Wristmeetrazor Misery Never Forgets |
| Xavlegbmaofffassssit.... Gore |
| Yard Boy Promo Tape |
| Ysengrin Initiatio |
| Zeal and Ardor Stranger Fruit |
Zeal and Ardor should certainly be praised for their uniqueness of sound; what they're doing is
wholly original and unprecedented. Unfortunately, the disconnect between their various styles
makes for a jarring listen. Transitions simply don't exist here, haphazardly stitching together
pieces black metal, soul, and gospel into a Frankenstein-esque visage of incongruous limbs. Zeal
and Ardor are on to something, but Stranger Fruits feels like a band unsure of how bridge the gap
between vision and delivery. |
| Zeegang Een morgenstond, door mist verhuld |
| Zohamah Spread My Ashes |
