Welcome back to MetalBite's Top 10 Albums of the Month! Thankfully, I was able to have this one out a bit faster, so we're back to our somewhat regular schedule of being about two weeks late. We do try to take some time and actually process the albums we cover here, y'know. Shit doesn't happen overnight.

Anyways, we've got 27 albums to cover, so best to just get right to it.

-Nate

HONORABLE MENTIONS

The Last Of Lucy - Godform
Transcending Obscurity

There's a Brain Drill-esque flavour to the fretboard wizardry, but it's couched in technical restraint and a more aggressive delivery. Godform has a wide range of motion, with ethereal, spiritual clean transitions separating bursts of mathcore and stupid fast drumwork, all the while retaining a certain amount of cohesion. Moksha was a solid release in its own right but they've expanded in every way. They've had a consistent lineup between two releases for the first time in their history, and that really seems to show in how they go deeper in each facet of their sound, got even more techy, and generally just sound more comfortable feeding off each other. It's borderline overstimulating and there's a lot more to dive into, but that just means that I'll be more comfortable listening over and over again.
-Nate

Swampbeast - Offering of Chaos, Lamenting In The Blood Of Man
Translation Loss

I've been eager to hear the follow up to Seven Evils Spawned Of Seven Heads ever since I covered it in the more primitive February 2021 version of these lists - back when it was just me, a shitload of time thanks to COVID, and no other writers helping me (yet). Sure enough, they haven't changed a bit in these three years, offering a dose of blackened, sludgy, hardcore-tinged death metal. This is perhaps a little more ferocious and dissonant, with grooves that get you nodding for a bit, but it rarely gives you the chance to settle into one motif for too long before it turns on a dime. I like this a little better, but I still feel like there's a lot more potential than they've discovered, and it's hard to articulate why. All I can really say at this point is to check this out because they have a really intriguing style, and that I will continue to follow how this band develops because I do believe the best is yet to come.
-Nate

Terminal Nation - Echoes Of The Devil's Den
20 Buck Spin

Perfect death mixed with hardcore. Huge + for the leftist lyrics.
-Raphael

Sentiment Dissolve - The Orwellian Dream
CDN Records

Incredible Canadian tech death! (considering bad Canadian tech death is usually phenomenal, it tells you how good The Orwellian Dream is) Thing is, it's waaay to short! Also, unrelated, but yes, I'm French Canadian, so I know what I'm talking about!
-Raphael

(Nate's note: I'm the vocalist in this band, and no, I didn't pay Raphael to write this. Also, this should obviously be the #1 album of the month, but I've relegated it to honorable mentions so that no one can accuse me of bias.) - Nate

Valfreya - Dawn Of Reckoning
Independent

Starting their career in 09, they played epic melodic black and folk metal. Now, for their third album, they are more epic than ever but play more on the blackened, symphonic death metal end of the spectrum, retaining very little folk metal influences. Grandiose melodies, aggressive metal and a singer doing both angelic and demonic vocals (with a emphasis on the demonic parts) awaits you.
-Raphael

Dodsferd - Wrath
Hypnotic Dirge Records

When you want pissed off black metal, look no further than this Greek group. Since the early 2000s they've had a steady barrage of aggressive, melodic riffing with a spiteful, punkish edge - not in a way that detracts from the "true black metal vibes", though. It's just angry and intense. It brings me back to my teenage days when every black metal band was a new and exciting discovery, a time when every artist in the genre appeared to be a recluse with pure contempt and hatred for the entirety of civilization - and that was still a novel and cool thing to witness.

Though it's a little cleaner than the earlier works that drew me to this band and there's never going to be anything quite as vitrolic as "Hypocritic Shitfuckers Still Breathing" (goated song title, by the way), the added melodic refinement to the guitars and the push and pull between stomping rock beats, d-beats and blasting makes things as good as ever, with perhaps some additional replay value added as a result of the more professional qualities of this release. Through a singular focus and a commitment to writing pissed-off, riffy music every day, Dodsferd has maintained their staying power and relevance over the years.
-Nate

Crawl - Altar Of Disgust
Transcending Obscurity Records

Old school Swedish death with a good dose of crust punk.
-Raphael

From Dying Suns - Calamity
Independent

Vaguely proggy, vaguely techy Quebecois death metal with members who have ties to bands such as Augury, Obliveon, First Fragment and Aeternam. What more do I need to tell you? Bonus points if you like old video games because this has that going on as an underlying theme.
-Nate

Rotting Christ - Pro Xristou
Season Of Mist

When Varathron released their new album The Crimson Temple in December 2023, I had very high hopes that the new album by Rotting Christ would also perform very well, possibly exceeding all the initial expectations. I will admit that I was a bit worried at first, wondering whether they would really provide something that could also be considered as a strong contestant, or perhaps just another generic entry in their discography. Well, come May 24th 2024, the wait was finally put to rest, as the fourteenth full-length album Pro Xristou was finally released via the label Season of Mist, with so much anticipation and excitement coming from the fanbase worldwide. Rotting Christ returns with their epic and melodic Hellenic metal, represented in such a grandiose and cinematic way with a lot of emotions and strong expressionism that flows through the spiritual vocals of Sakis Tolis, epic choirs, simple but heavy riffs, spartan-like drumming and powerful melodies. From the very get-go, this album already starts off so strongly with such a huge introduction that instantly throws you into the scenery of Thomas Cole's painting. Rather than being just your usual collection of songs, this album also feels like an epic poem as well, with a heavily pronounced approach of storytelling through music, where the album's progression feels like transitioning from one chapter to another. Speaking of storytelling through music, judging by the title of each track I'd say that this album is consisted Biblical, mythological and historical themes, which has been a staple of Rotting Christ's music for sometime now, and here they seem to have shown a much more elevated performance in comparison to some of its predecessors like The Heretics from 2019. Stylistically, this album is various in terms of its ideas, ranging from their latest works from Theogonia to The Heretics, but with a touch of some earlier works like A Dead Poem, Sleep Of The Angels and Khronos, showcasing that melodic and extreme gothic-style Hellenic metal with frequent mid-tempo rhythm, alongside the guttural shouting vocals of Sakis Tolis. Some examples like the seventh track 'Pix Lax Dax' and 'Pretty World, Pretty Dies' incorporate a bit of Triarchy of the Lost Lovers elements as well, whilst including some awesome epic choir vocals during the choruses and still staying on track with the overall album template. Aside from the heavy expressionism and storytelling that dictate the musical flow of the album, it is also very atmospheric, which essentially plays a key role in every song and it really makes you picture the event of Goths sacking Rome, just like the painting itself. There is an immense sense of build-up as the album progresses, especially when the songs start off with a short introduction narration by Sakis Tolis that opens up a new chapter in the album's storyline. This element of build-up is very frequent throughout the entire album, and it's essentially preparing you for the climax of the album that awaits towards the very end, especially once you reach the ninth track 'ᛦᚵᛑᚱᛆᛋᛁᛚ (Yggdrasil)' that is like the calm before the storm. As for the album's grand finale with the last track 'Saoirse' (unless you count the bonus tracks 'Primal Resurrection' and 'All For One'), it really is done in such a manner like a major event in this album's chapter that gives this powerful sense of closure before Rome is finally burned down to ashes, presented as a pure cinematic moment that occurs before the credits roll. Songwriting-wise, Rotting Christ always took a very simplistic approach, which stylistically speaking doesn't have too much dynamics or variety, but for the most part it was very effectively carried out and this album is no exception in that regard. Rotting Christ discography has mostly managed to leave me moderately satisfied with the musical approach, but a lot of the times it felt like it was a bit empty or somewhat too much similar by following the same stylistic pattern, however in the case of Pro Xristou, it feels much less like a "template-based" album, and it certainly breaks away from that general issue that has been bugging me quite some time. When Sakis Tolis released the album The Seven Seals of the Apocalypse - (Revelation 6:5-7) of his side project χ ξ ς' in November last year, it had left me concerned that the new Rotting Christ album was going to be along the same line because it sounded way too similar to what had already been done before and heard multiple times over the last 10 or so years. Luckily, my curiosity always gets the best of me and it manages to crush all the doubts I may have, so it's safe to say that I am actually satisfied that Pro Xristou is its own entity that separates itself from the field of lazy and "template-based songwriting, where many of his predecessors would fall victim to that issue. This album really feels like a strong presentation that captures the essence of various events learned through history and mythology, which contributes to the overall dynamic and the essence of the album. The general flow with its narrative style, simple riffing and frequent melodies succeeded at keeping constant attention as to what will happen next, and it certainly gives a grand pay-off at one point where you will definitely come across some intense headbanging moments that are totally worth it. In some ways, Pro Xristou feels like a very well-crafted cinematic soundtrack made by a very respected Hollywood composer that could probably give Hans Zimmer a run for his money, with each song dictating emotions and the general feeling of a certain scene in a movie. Personally, I have to say that Pro Xristou is an overall very solid and strong album that stands out in the band's catalog thanks to its powerful and outstanding band performance. I am very glad that all my initial doubts were put to rest once I finally got the chance to check out this grand and epic album that captures the essence of Hellenic metal and encompasses everything that Rotting Christ is best known for. Over the last few years, we were very lucky to get some awesome albums by the respected Greek bands, with The Crimson Temple by Varathron, Βυσσοδομώντας by The Magus and Pro Xristou by Rotting Christ being some of the key examples that perfectly show that this scene still stands strong with its founding fathers.
-Vlad

Unleash The Archers - Phantoma
Napalm Records

Highly melodic power metal with hints of extremity towards the end. Catchy as fuck!
-Raphael

Ufomammut - Hidden
Neurot Recordings

I eagerly await new Ufomammut albums like no other band in this style - they're a unique mix of consistent and varied, with a different focus on each album that gives you something new to pick apart while immersing yourself in their trademark heavy, trippy abyss.

For a while, they had a very consistent lineup, but they're now a few releases in with a new drummer after the departure of founding member and longtime skin-pounder Vita. It felt as though the band and Levre were still getting used to each other on Fenice - that album explored much more of their psych rock side in a way that they hadn't really done since the Godlike Snake era, and the results were a tad underwhelming. If it was any other band it would have been a fine release, but this is the gods of psychedelic doom metal we're talking about here - I know what they're capable of.

They sound more comfortable on Hidden. The heaviness is back in full force, which combines with their Hawkwind influences to create a thick, intriguing soup. This is Ufomammut at their most versatile and varied in quite a while, simultaneously getting more crushing while keeping it accessible. After a couple of bumps in the road, this is the most inspired they've sounded in almost a decade, and it's got me craving another big psych-doom binge.
-Nate

SIG:AR:TYR - Citadel Of Stars
Hammerheart Records

One of the best things to ever come out of my hometown of London, Ontario - SIG:AR:TYR has, as their label's name suggests, always been a band with strong ties to mid-era Bathory. The musicianship is stronger (let's be real, part of the appeal with Quorthon was that he was able to get a lot of mileage out of a limited skillset ). Citadel Of Stars features intricate shredding solos and more layered, grandiose compositions. Along the way Daemonskald never forgets that less is more when it comes to this stuff. The slow build hooks you in more and more as time goes along, and the folk metal influence feels more serious and Viking-esque as opposed to a Finntroll/Korpiklaani type jig. A very pleasant surprise that came out of the blue with little to no promo behind it - sometimes it's the more understated albums that draw your attention.
-Nate

Dusk - Industrie
Self-Released

Beyond Mysticum, Dodheimsgard, and Aborym, industrial-black metal has rarely been done well, despite the obvious appeal of pairing the despondent gloom of the more horrifying end of the black metal spectrum with the clanging noise of modern, urban alienation. Dusk, perhaps surprisingly from Costa Rica, can be added to the above rollcall, with the release of their fifth full-length, Industrie. The band remain unsigned, although this possibly speaks to the remote nature of the Costa Rican underground metal scene, rather than the quality of an output which would likely see them snapped up by a label such as Scarlet, were they to hail from more European climes. Their isolation is perhaps a good thing when it comes to their music though, adding an intangible otherness to a sound that amorphously moves through passages of ambient noise, to snatches of chugging guitars and disembodied vocals, in a truly unsettling fashion. The plunging bass, and stuttering electronics that punctuate the album betray a synthwave influence, but this doesn't overwhelm an album that is significantly more extreme than Perturbator et al, and Dusk use these influences to create something subtly different, rather than in thrall to those who have come before. The album is completed by a spectacular cover of Mayhem's 'Freezing Moon', possibly the most iconic black metal track of all, which serves to root the band right back into the sub-genre that they periodically stray from, making their allegiance to the cause utterly clear. A fascinating, and intriguing record.
-Benjamin

Necht - The Prophecy Of Karnifor
Independent

Pretty cool symphonic black/death metal. Getting some Anorexia Nervosa vibes - has a haunting, desolate atmosphere while still being pretty riffy. Lots of traditional black metal vibes thrown in there, fans of Emperor and Limbonic Art will likely want to take a look.
-Nate

Riot - Mean Streets
Atomic Fire Records

Riot, one of the highly influential and crucial US heavy metal bands which left a big mark on my life and various other oldschool metalheads around the world. Despite the fact that the band has been around for donkey's years, they are still hungry for swords and tequila like there is no tomorrow. Well, it seems that their seal headed warrior, the mighty Tior, is about to strike once again. Starting out pretty strong with the opening track 'Hail To The Warriors', we are instantly welcomed with powerful heavy metal filled with thunder and steel, striking hard with full force and it promises right from the get-go that there will be plenty of wonderful things to come. Throughout this thrilling joyride, we get a couple of nice tracks worth checking out such as the uplifting heavy banger 'Love Beyond The Grave', the faster killers like 'High Noon' and 'Higher', the epic melodic mid-tempo tune 'Before This Time'. When the turn comes for tracks such as 'Feel The Fire' and 'Open Road', we get a couple of easy rockers that are going for a more catchy and smooth direction, which is a slight stylistic departure from the rest, but nevertheless still welcome additions on this album. An interesting exception on this album comes in the form of the thrashy heavy and somewhat Judas Priest-like 'Mortal Eyes', the ninth track on the album, a very tight and strong song that turned out to be a very pleasant surprise, and it should not be skipped under any circumstances. Overall, you have plenty of stuff here to find where a couple of songs leave a very strong mark, while others still perform quite well despite not leaving that big of a mark in the end. As the journey comes to an end with the final track 'No More', you truly feel like you've reached the point where you just look back at everything and think "I wish I could do it all again". The songwriting on this album is quite simple yet still dynamic in terms of styles and ideas that Riot incorporated, and it's just really difficult not to experience the might and energy of each song as the album goes on. During the entire album, this pretty much feels like one big journey where you experience a turbulent life on the road, driving through the mean streets where you face a lot of peril, while the songs dictate your point of view as a protagonist in this story. The only small issue that I had with this album is that it's a little bit too long, with a total of 12 songs which are all good individually, but a couple of them do feel a bit redundant and just stacked to prolong the album's runtime which really wasn't all that necessary. However, all can be forgiven if you really let go of your mind and just let the songs speak for themselves, constantly pushing you forward to feel the power rising from within. Riot's delivery on this album is very simple yet so on point that it's so difficult to believe that this is an album coming from a band that is turning 50 next year. Mean Streets is a nice album that offers plenty to enjoy and it certainly did manage to make me happy like I was when I heard the band for the first time more than 10 years ago. You can hear that the album comes from the band's motivation to continue going forward, whilst still committing themselves fully to get the best out of their passion and dedication as experienced musicians and artists.
-Vlad

Cognitive - Abhorrence
Metal Blade Records

Did the label tell them they had to amplify the Cattle Decapitation influences or something? That clean singing is downright Travis Ryan-esque. I'd be mad at the ham-fistedness of it if they weren't so god damn effective. Fuck me, Shane Jost is a monster vocalist.

Cognitive has always been a band that's bounced around a bit trying to find their identity. They're a bit techy sometimes, a bit breakdown-y sometimes, existing in that nebulous realm between modern death metal and deathcore while having a bit of crossover appeal for anyone within those fanbases. They've mostly made their name off of being a touring workhorse as opposed to cultivating online hype - not to say they're any less legitimate on record, just something interesting to note, there's more than one way to grow your band after all.

All this is to say that Abhorrence is the first time that they've really got me picking through the layers and discovering the influences within. There's some nods to the aforementioned Cattle Decap, a few moments that are reminiscent of the mighty Ulcerate (check out the closing track), and some flashes of an Archspire styled technical influence with maybe a bit of Hath in there (they do share a drummer, after all). But for the first time perhaps ever, this is more than the sum of its influences - it feels like a Cognitive album, not just a mishmash of other bands. They've finally figured out what they want to be, and this feels like the start of a new musical era for this New Jersey clan.
-Nate

Tzompantli - Beating The Drums Of Ancestral Force
20 Buck Spin

Amazing, phenomenal, unique death/doom filled with indigenous, pre-hispanic Mexican sounds.
-Raphael

METALBITE'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH

10: Nächtlich - Exaltation Of Evil
Deathful Lust Productions

This Toronto-based group first caught my attention when I stumbled on a video of their live performance on youtube. It felt like I was watching a bootleg clip of some forgotten second wave black metal band, and I was surprised I hadn't heard of them before. Then I checked out the full-length that came before this one, and sure enough, they somehow managed to recreate that fertile creative ground of mid-90s raw black metal.

Exaltation Of Evil is a bit more polished and musical, but the production is still absolutely perfect - a hollow-tinny guitar tone barely cuts through over the cymbal-heavy drums, and washed-out, haunting synths add a beautiful texture to the mix. It's got that cult mystique that you can liken to Mutiilation or Grausamkeit - a diamond in the rough of thousands of forgettable raw black metal bands. All simply because they understand what makes the music appealing to so many and are skilled enough to craft something that sucks you into its vortex.

I imagine most hardcore fans of the style are familiar with this band at this point, but even for those who normally don't find much to get out of the style, this will pleasantly surprise you.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

9: Lucifuge - Hexensabbat
Dying Victims Productions

If you've been paying keen attention to the metal newswires, it may not have escaped your attention that apparently Slayer are back, although how permanent this arrangement is remains to be seen. Whatever the future does bring for King, Araya and co, it is doubtful that they will produce any new music as downright evil and entertaining as this slab of thrashing madness from Germany's Lucifuge. Nominally black-thrash, although they lean much more heavily on the latter part of that combination, a little like Abigail or Sabbat (Japan), they elevate their heads-down tremolo abuse with snatches of bright NWOBHM chords, ultimately delivering an exhilarating blend of very early Metallica, Saxon, and Kreator. Fans of Midnight and Hellripper (AKA all discerning metal fans) will drink this down like a cold beer on a summer afternoon, and although it may be slightly lacking in the grim layers of filth that might attract a larger black metal crowd, it still contains considerable cross-genre appeal. Highlights abound, but 'No Sun Shall Rise' contains the most addictive riffage to be found on Hexensabbat, taking the crown among stiff competition. Cutting the final two tracks would sharpen its edge even further, but regardless, Hexensabbat is an absolute blast, and the best album of its type released so far in 2024.
-Benjamin

Last year I was tasked to write an announcement for a new single that teased the release of Monoliths Of Wrath, the fifth full-length album by the German black/thrash metal band Lucifuge. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to check it out because it was one hell of a year that just kept spawning numerous awesome releases from all corners of the world. However, a year after its release, Lucifuge would announce its return once again, this time with the sixth full-length album Hexensabbat, with the release date of May 24th, 2024, once again published by Dying Victims Productions. I saw this as a good opportunity to redeem myself with all I've got, so I figured that it would be wise of me to take a look at Hexensabbat and see what devilish delights it has to offer. Relentless, blasphemous, barbaric and bewitching, those four words exactly describe how this album kicks off so strongly, without mercy and without hesitation. From the very first second, it is blackened thrashing and bashing in pure and raw German thrash metal fashion, ripping everything apart with wicked and heavy guitar riffs, banging drumming and harsh guttural vocals. As the album progresses, the riffs get heavier and more intense, and the drumming gets even crazier when fast double-bass drumming and blast beats come to play, wrecking everything apart and setting the whole world of fire. Along the way you are in for a nice thrill-ride, where you come to realize that there are nice moments that showcase something more than meets the eye. Those examples are the fourth track 'The Court Of The Profane' which incorporates a bit of heavy metal before jumping back into action with black-thrashing, alongside the Judas Priest style lead on the start of the fifth track 'Into Eternal Sleep'. The intense power and the unholy aggression of Hexensabbat guarantees that all those self-pleasuring witches will be bathing in goat sperm and priest's blood, under the great demon's footstep. It's very clear that the album keeps that constant flow, but the more undeniable fact is that the material gets stronger and more engaging around the second half, showcasing more punk and rock 'n roll driven moments that amp it up to 10. The songwriting on Hexensabbat is moderately dynamic with its tempo changes and simple yet effective ideas thrown in to rock it out even harder. Although the album relies heavily on one template that is used all-throughout, the stylistic consistency works pretty well in my opinion, keeping that even flow going from one song to another without you ever losing interest or shifting attention. I liked the fact that it always keeps you on edge for what is to come next, while still hungry for more power and violence in the music, and it certainly doesn't fail to deliver all of that. Although for the most part it is instrumentally on the thrash and speed metal part, along with a couple of heavy metal moments, there were some moments where it went more towards the classic black metal direction like on the tracks 'They Come In Legions' and 'Cursed To Eternity'. Like many people know, I am a sucker for very simple but powerful black/thrash metal albums who have a simple goal to crush, kill and destroy, and Hexensabbat does all of it. It's an awesome album of its kind that certainly pleases the basic needs of oldschool maniacs, leaving you satisfied for a good ol' headbanging journey without pretentiousness and without bullshit. If you are a fan of bands like Ketzer, Bewitcher and Barbarian, you should definitely check out Hexensabbat by Lucifuge.
-Vlad

MetalBite's Rating: 8.6/10

8: Gatecreeper - Dark Superstition
Nuclear Blast

A friend of mine disparagingly referred to Gatecreeper as "Fisher Price death metal" which I…do understand, in a way. Starting with Deserted, they've leaned into their "stadium death metal" approach, trimming the fat and using death metal's simplest elements to get the point across. Mid-tempo is the name of the game - there are blasting sections, but they're mostly during transitory moments. The majority of this album is centered around chest-pumping, old-fashioned, four-on-the-floor rock beats. Dark Superstition adds an extra dollop of melody, too, and it all makes for something that still sounds big and thick, but is perhaps unusually accessible for the genre. Defeated Sanity this is definitely not. Hell, even when you compare this to something a little closer like Entombed, this is definitely streamlined.

But here's the thing - straightforward as this album is, it nonetheless delivers a really effective punch. This is the first time I can really say that, too. Deserted was underwhelming, as they were still figuring out how to mesh the stadium vibe with their Swedeath ripoff roots and a touch of hardcore. Who would have thought that adding in a splash of Edge of Sanity/Amorphis would be the glue that held it all together? It reminds me of the best moments of the Danish thrash/melodeath/power metal band Mercenary. Both bands have this big dick swagger to their music where every chord, every drumbeat drives its way into your brain with confidence and impact. Even though they don't sound similar at all - although they're not as far off as you might think, either especially when you take out the vocals - the energy is hard to deny. Don't be a coward, just admit you like dumb stadium death metal and bang your head!
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.7/10

7: Esodic - De Facto De Jure
Independent

The fact that this is only a 4-song ep, is a crime against humanity! In the sense that it leaves me wanting SO much more. Their blend of death/thrash and traditional middle eastern music is so unbelievably well done, it's mind-blowingly. I cannot wait for the full album and, by that, I mean it's going to be physically draining to wait!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

6: Coldborn - The Unwritten Pages Of Death
Final Sacrifice Records

Somewhere around last year, an acquaintance of mine had bought an LP of a black metal band that neither of us had heard before, while he was on his trip to Belgium, where the band originates from. The LP that he held in his hands was Lingering Voidwards by Coldborn from Flanders, a one-man band formed by Norgaath of bands like Enthroned, Grimfaug and Nightbringer. Eventually, I decided to check out Colborn, and to my surprise it was actually a nice discovery, although my interest in the band still wasn't that big afterwards. Some time has passed and I had initially forgotten about Coldborn, especially since the band's first album Lingering Voidwards was released back in 2016 and nothing really came out since, but come Spring of 2024, everything would change. Coldborn has returned with the second full-length album The Unwritten Pages Of Death, with the release date of May 10th, 2024 via the label Final Sacrifice Records. Although I was surprised to see the band come back with a new album after a while, I still wasn't that excited to check it out, but I figured that it would be nice to give it a chance regardless. Little did I know what awaits me, and I have to say that nothing could closely prepare me for this nocturnal odyssey that stood amidst the cold dark. If you are willing to know what it is that I have stumbled upon, be sure to stay awhile and listen. The opening of this album is truly, like the title suggests, 'Foreboding', setting the stage for the nocturnal horror that will swallow the world in cobalt colored darkness. As the opening introduction ends, ghoulish black metal emerges from the death-defying halls of the underworld on the second track 'Silenced Is The Choir Of Euphoria', devouring at full speed. The atmospheric output of Coldborn is filled with dread and horror, expressed through symphonic keyboards, pianos, relentless riffs and occasional somber melodies, which along with the dynamic drums and blood-curdling harsh vocals manage to convey more than just chaos and death. What will definitely manage to sink in your head is the fact that there is a strong sense of musical crescendo with a powerful build-up that prepares you for something grand and important that's about to happen. In the case of this album, never does this musical build-up give you a sense of false hope or an incredibly lackluster delivery, because every next section that comes to turn truly represents a big event or crucial chapter in the album's journey. Every song is guilty of this carry-over formula, and I absolutely adore it because it really keeps you on edge and wanting to follow along as the album progresses. People would often argue that contemporary black metal simply cannot have moments of musical exposition, but the examples like the fourth track 'The Antechamber Of Eternal Sleep' and 'Harps Of Death Chiming Reverberant' showcase exactly that, proving that what was once lost can be regained, while also proving wrong all those who constantly doubt and moan. The album progression is so strong and effective that you just always end up surprised with all that you've just experienced, going on this strong emotional and mesmerizing rollercoaster that snatches you instantly. Once the music crawls right underneath your skin, you will be possessed by black metal all the way through, holding your attention up until the epic finale of the last track on the album, 'A Spectral Dance Of Midnight Sorrow', a lycanthropic serenade that presents such a powerful yet bittersweet conclusion that leaves you simultaneously satisfied and a bit sad to realize that this wonderful journey came to an end. Coldborn's dynamic songwriting contains a variety of ideas in the riffs, each conveying a different set of emotions and unique form of atmosphere. A lot of the times it feels quite nocturnal and gothic, at times incredibly epic and grand, or emotional and melancholic, with each song being fulfilling and exceptional in some way, and leaving no room for empty, soulless and uninspiring moments. I really like a lot of the somber and suspenseful moments on this album, especially on 'Cornucopia Hungers For More', that gives this feeling of an epic odyssey covered in black and shrouded in mystery. The fact that this entire album was written by one person is truly amazing, because a lot of the time it felt like the ideas that were incorporated were brainstormed by at least 4 to 5 people who were equally passionate and dedicated to achieve a great purpose. Norgaath obviously knows what works best in black metal and how to use every aspect of that subgenre properly and effectively, to the point where you just can't fault him for doing anything he does, especially the way he does things. During my listening, a lot of the times I felt as if some elements of Coldborn's music have a lot of common with bands such as Enthroned, Emperor, Dissection, Diabolic Masquerade, Odium, Limbonic Art, Obtained Enslavement, and various notable 90's black metal bands, and it's not just in terms of influence, but also in the way of expressing emotions and the overall songwriting execution. I must admit that The Unwritten Pages Of Death turned out much better than I initially expected, because the final result managed to leave me without words and pleasantly surprised. Sure, it is a black metal album like any other, but at the same time, it is a wonderfully master crafted work that checks all the marks for me, and I am sure it will do the same for any other fan of 90's black metal. It is hard to express what this album does to you and it's simply not enough to say that it's great, because it took you on this whole journey unexpectedly and brought you back thinking "I want to do it all over again, again and again". For fans of Enthroned, Odium and Limbonic Art, you must check out this album, because you are in for a real treat.
-Vlad

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

5: Svneatr - Never Return
Prosthetic Records

B. C. black metal that is atmospheric, melodic and progressive. Jampacked with influences from death to classic heavy metal.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

4: Hemotoxin - When Time Becomes Loss
Pulverised Records

If, like this writer, you were left a little cold by the last Horrendous album, but still crave that old-school technical death metal feeling, you could do a whole lot worse than throwing your attention in the direction of the new Hemotoxin album. The Pittsburgh ragers' fourth full-length is a relentless onslaught of dextrous melodic runs and pummelling rhythms, crowned by the excellent Schuldiner-style rasp of the domineering Michael Chavez. While it would be disingenuous to suggest that there is anything particularly new happening here, what really counts is the universally high calibre of music made by a band who have been in the game for long enough to know exactly how to expertly inject dynamics and satisfying details into their intricate mix of beauty and brutality. Tracks such as the wondrous 'Call From The Abyss' instinctively seem to judge the right moment to double a lead guitar line with a celestial harmony, or transition the drum part from a quicksilver blast to a two-step mosh for optimum effect, and it is these touches that elevate a superb album to the heights that it reaches. As the fretless bass of 'Conscious Descent' snakes its way sinuously around the guitars, the cosmic death-heads that have previously gorged themselves immobile on a diet of Cynic, Sadist and the more contemporary joys of Revocation are undoubtedly grinning, sated once more, even before the courageously jazzy guitar solo leads us willingly into another dimension altogether. When Time Become Loss is utterly outstanding, and the dizzying array of ideas promises enough longevity to keep listeners satisfied until the next glorious hit.
-Benjamin

MetalBite's Rating: 9.1/10

3: Nadsvest - Slovo Meseca I Krvi
Soulseller Records

In the Serbian black metal scene, one band that came out of nowhere and became a very pleasant surprise, was none other than Nadsvest. Back in 2019, when the band released their debut EP Kolo Ognja I Železa, they presented their music that is very much along the same line as Malokarpatan and Negative Plane, that brought back the elements of oldschool European black metal before the second wave template. Nadsvest's arrival was a very pleasant welcome, and the feedback they got from the EP was overwhelmingly positive, but a while has passed since then, and for 5 years there were no talks of a new album. However, things would change once the band would finally resurface out of nowhere when the first new single 'Vihori Boja' was uploaded on Soulseller Records' official YouTube channel, teasing their brand-new output in the form of their first full-length album Slovo Meseca I Krvi, with the release date of May 17th, 2024. With so much anticipation and excitement from the local fanbase, as well as black metal fans worldwide, they had much to live up to, especially since they had recently signed to a very respected label such as Soulseller Records, which has a roster of so many great black metal bands. And now without further ado, it's time to explore the letter of moon and blood that foretold the return of the lycanthropic beast, as I take a look at their debut full-length album Slovo Meseca I Krvi. As the drums begin dictating a heavy marching rhythm, harsh guttural uttering and aggressive riffs join in to unite their rusty blades and raise all hell. The first track 'Vihori Boja' sets up the mood perfectly by building such a strong and ominous foundation, filled with atmosphere, bestial energy and dark Gregorian chants that summon the shadows of the abyss. Fast drumming and synthesizers finally come to play on the second track 'Ponori Adski', adding an extra devilish flavor to the already merciless destruction, and as the riffs become more interesting, you know for sure that this is where the fun really begins. As the album progresses from one track to another, it manages to get gradually darker and more intense, keeping the listener on the edge of his seat, especially with the clean guitar intro and drum buildup of the third track 'Vaznesenje Zveri', where the witching hour strikes as the bells begin to toll. There is a strong ominous presence in the music of Nadsvest, that manages to convey a death-defying and almost lycanthropic atmosphere with their tight riffing, which is constantly being carried over from one song to another, all until the very end. The smooth flow of the album is so superb that it builds up to the big moment at the end, and it totally delivers once it reaches the conclusion with the finale of the last track 'Trijumf Silnika - Smrt Sveta'. The finale of the song has a very gothic vibe thanks to the particular use of synthesizers that are very reminiscent of Popol Vuh's Brüder des Schattens that was used for Werner Herzog's Nosferatu. The songwriting is dynamic as hell, with frequent tempo changes and different ideas thrown in this mixture to expand it and spice things up. Some of those ideas include occasional guitar melodies, epic chant vocals and various drum patterns that altogether make the song more outstanding. Their performance is so bestial and full of rage that the bloody vocal performance of S. just makes the instrumentation even more intense and enraged that it's borderline "war metal" at times. I like that this album takes the already strong foundation of their first EP Kolo Ognja I Železa and reshapes it completely by giving more edge to the riffs, while still maintaining that dark age atmosphere which was a strong element of their music. They continue their tradition of incorporating Serbian dark folklore elements in their music and lyrics, as the lyrical themes deal with the black arts through the lens of the darker aspects of Serbian folklore, whereas the album's concept is an epic poem exploring the stages in the process of awakening the primal werewolf force in the warrior, the triumph of the spirit and the ultimate sacrifice of the flesh. Throughout this album, you will a lot of influences coming from bands such as Tormentor, Master's Hammer, Root, Malokarpatan, Negative Plane, Bathory, Mortuary Drape, with a little bit of Sarcofago, Beherit and Blasphemy thrown in for good measure. Ever since their debut with the Kolo Ognja I Železa EP from 2019, it was obvious that Nadsvest's songs were predominantly influenced by Master's Hammer early material, ranging from their demos to their studio albums Ritual and Jilemnický okultista, and you can still hear a lot of those elements, especially on the fifth track 'Od Meseca I Krvi'. I like the fact that there is not a single bit of generic "norsecore" black metal, or any predominantly second wave black metal instances at all, because a lot of it focuses on that overlooked aspect of black metal music that had an entirely different atmosphere, heavily inspired by dark European folklore, with lots of other esoteric and occult elements to raise the intensity in the overall band performance. While still on the subject of their pre-second wave elements, they even incorporate those "reverse blast beats" that a lot of 80's Brazilian extreme metal bands used in their cult classic albums, very much in the style of Sarcofago's ex-drummer D.D. Crazy. I was very surprised with this album how it turned out in the end, because after purchasing their Kolo Ognja I Železa EP and listening it on repeat two years ago, I was not sure what to expect as a follow-up to that and I wasn't even certain if it would ever come to happen. Luckily, the final result that is Slovo Meseca I Krvi is a wonderful black metal product that is faithful to their musical roots, which also succeeds in strengthening the foundation that Nadsvest successfully built back in 2019. I am not sure what I expected, but this one mean badass werewolf of an album certainly managed to exceed all my expectations. If you still haven't taken the time to check out Nadsvest, then what the hell are you waiting for? Go check out their EP first and then make sure to immediately jump into this horrific thrill-ride that will sink its fangs in your neck on a full-moon night.
-Vlad

MetalBite's Rating: 9.1/10

2: Adversarial - Solitude With The Eternal...
Dark Descent Records

Without question one of Ontario's finest exports. Without fail, this power trio strikes the perfect balance between delicate artistry and total chaos, all whole having some of the sickest riffwork in the business. They're too elegant and composed to be war metal, too visceral and menacing to be black metal, and a bit too melodic and blast-beat heavy to be straight-up death metal, but somehow sit in a tasty niche between those three that is all their own, and that they have refined over time. Whereas previous releases had the clear potential and maintained some of the strongest riffwork in the business, their albums usually had an achilles heel - maybe the snare was just too overpowering, maybe the songs themselves were a bit too inconsistent, or in the case of their Prophetic Plain EP and the split with Antediluvian, there just wasn't enough material to sink your teeth into.

Solitude With The Eternal is the first album that truly does not have a caveat. It's 31 minutes of pure blastbeat porn and masterful riffwork with no breaks in between. It goes just long enough to keep you satiated and it ends right before it would start to get exhausting. Normally, bands that just hammer away at one motif for a whole album get tiring, but Adversarial has finally mastered the art of creating a push-and-pull within the riffs themselves while maintaining the onslaught, and the drumwork rotates between triplets and hammer blasts in a way that varies up the feel. The little pauses and count-ins before they start shredding your face with speed are delicious. There have been very few albums this year that get me going to the point where I want to listen over and over again, but this is definitely one of them and I'll be damned if this isn't in my top 5 albums of the year when all is said and done.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 9.2/10

1: Hellbutcher - Hellbutcher
Metal Blade Records

When the news broke out back in 2022 that the legendary Swedish black/thrash metal band Nifelheim was going on an indefinite break, it really made a lot of people very sad about the fact, including myself. Nifelheim has been one of my favorite bands for a long time, and to this day it is still one of my favorite black/thrash metal bands that fuel the teenage anger within. However, come 2024, the tides would turn when Hellbutcher, the band of Nifelheim vocalist and founding member Per "Hellbutcher" Gustavsson, announced the release of the self-titled debut album Hellbutcher on May 31st, 2024 via Metal Blade Records. When the music video for the first single 'The Sword Of Wrath' was released on YouTube, this came out like a lightning bolt out of the blue, highly unexpected but most welcome, and if you ask me, the anticipation for this one could not have been higher. This brought back hope to all the loyal and crazed fans worldwide, with many of them saying "Nifelheim Lives On!", and rightfully so. Now that the Servants of Darkness have returned, with an even more diabolical Devil's Force, it's time to take a look at the debut album of Hellbutcher! Coming down at you with all the might and glory, Hellbutcher strikes with its Sword of Wrath at such incredibly devilish and cruel force, hitting you harder and heavier than a hammer on the anvil. The album has barely begun and we are already in for some insane action filled with black-thrashing madness, especially with the second track 'Perdition' which is very much in the spirit of 90's Nifelheim, 1985/1986 era Kreator and early Bathory, and fucking hell this is one unholy and diabolical song that would certainly give bands like Marduk and Dark Funeral a run for their money. A track with a title that perfectly summarizes the essence of this album is definitely 'Violent Destruction', and this album definitely gives you plenty of that and then some, never failing to deliver on the absolute bloodbath and merciless death-ripping. Inferno and mayhem rise even more as the album progresses, going even stronger with pedal to the metal, providing excellent examples such as 'Hordes Of A Horned God' which introduces some wicked 80's heavy metal elements blended in with the black-thrashing extravaganza, and a bit of some devilish rock and roll on 'Death's Rider', which carries a bit of Motörhead and Venom in its overdriven and distorted DNA. This album means serious business all the way through, it's simply impossible not to get 'Possessed By The Devil's Flames' as the title of the sixth track suggests, and no matter if you are more than halfway through the album, it just does not slow down at any given moment, because it's fueled with 'Satan's Power' from start to finish and all you experience is the pure essence of 'Inferno's Rage'. The more this album gives in, the deeper it sinks its fangs into your neck like a vampire in the deep hearts of Transylvania, taking you even further through the bowels of darkness, all the way to the deep tracts of hell to meet the Envoy of Lucifer. Although the most dominant factor on this album is the black/thrash metal aspect, amped up with Hellbutcher's harsh shrieking vocals, but even more spiced up with nice additions that lean towards a heavy/speed metal-oriented direction, which does not break away from the established template in the slightest bit. The great thing about this album is that it keeps you on edge all the way through, with your attention and curiosity high at all levels, wondering what delight may come next and then burst out of the wall with a complete "in your face" fashion. The songwriting of Hellbutcher is similar to that of Nifelheim in terms of its simplistic approach of oldschool black/thrash metal, handing out a variety of awesome ideas that will keep the listener entertained, but also leave a room for something more engaging like a powerful guitar solo or a nice melody for example. I think that you would have to be a complete jackass to think that this album cannot deliver great riffs from beginning to end, because it really does, and I was actually surprised a couple of times as well, especially with 'Perdition' which was a killer from the moment it began. Although bands in this branch would often entertain me, rarely do any newer bands manage to really amaze or surprise me with their riffs and songs, but in the case of Hellbutcher, they really did it and they do it well, because every riff and every song on here sounds so fresh, that you just can't even think to call it generic, repetitive, boring or one-dimensional. There is just way too many headbanging moments on this album that it's simply impossible to choose your favorite one or the ones that stand out the most, because every song is great in its own way and you don't even know where to look when you are so hyped up and bloodthirsty. For real, is there anything about this album that I don't like? Well, that would be a bit of a hard guess I suppose, and probably unfair of me to say, but the only thing that I can really criticize this album is the fact that it isn't a bit longer. Don't get me wrong, it does manage to deliver all the goods in its total of 33 minutes of runtime and it surely pleases the appetite of every black/thrash maniac out there, but when it was all over, I was left craving for more and I just couldn't help it but listen to the entire thing again. It's great for an album to have such a strong comeback quality to it that it makes you want to instantly listen to it again, and it definitely shows just how strong the entire journey is. After listening to Hellbutcher's self-titled debut, I can say with absolute certainty and no regret whatsoever, that this album proves that Nifelheim indeed lives on! It's an ultimate "all killer no filler" experience that brings out everything I came looking for, and even more to what one would expect. I think that this album made me remember what it was like hearing Nifelheim for the first time 10 years ago when I was in my early teens, slowly diving into the black/thrash territory where you are guaranteed to find some good old fashioned musical violence, and I have never looked back since. As a Nifelheim fan looking for nothing more than some blood, fire and death, this album provides all of it, and I am sure that all the other fans feel the same way as I do. If you still haven't checked it out yet, what the bloody hell are you waiting for you muppet?! Stop whatever you are doing right now and jump straight into this delightfully devilish black/thrash metal masterpiece of 2024.
-Vlad

MetalBite's Rating: 9.8/10

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Welcome back to MetalBite's top 10 Albums of the Month! Now is prime release season, where it's not uncommon for multiple big names to all drop albums on the same day. But which of them will make our list, and which will be dethroned by the underground gems? Find out below.

-Nate

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Spirit Adrift - Infinite Illumination
20 Buck Spin

Though this band was always a media darling, initially spawning as a Gatecreeper side-project and getting endless coverage from Decibel since day 1, I always simultaneously found them underrated in a way. Maybe I just didn't know a lot of people that talked about them. Very much a band greater than the sum of their parts - they're hooky without relying on pop tropes, accessible with exploratory songwriting, and a dash of mysticism accents their atmosphere.

"Infinite Illumation" is a more reserved, pensive, but no less powerful addition to a very strong back catalogue - a worthy swansong for a band that made a big mark in a short time.
-Nate

Creme Flesh - For Your Ass Only
Comatose Music

The chunkiness of the slams is only matched by the hilarity of the song titles. Maybe it's the dirty movie puns going to my head but the operative word I would use to describe this album is "creamy".
-Nate

Angine De Poitrine - Vol. II
Independent

First of all, no this is not metal, but this is weird proggy math rock that I'm sure many metalheads will absolutely love and since they went super mega viral in the past weeks, I feel a sense of pride, watching these two Québécois boys conquer the world! Ew, my nationalist side is peaking its head, I feel weird! Anyhow, the juxtaposition between their goofy appearance and their super complex music is mesmerizing! Guitarist Khn de Poitrine and drummer Klek de Poitrine create a fantastical microtonal sonic universe that sounds unlike anything out there. With an incredibly tight drumming performance, filled with odd time signatures and Klek's bass and guitar, juggling with his feet, putting one bass riff on loop and then doing something else on his guitar, with many additional frets that gives those rich quarter tones. They create an endlessly replayable experience, fun for everyone from 5 to 95 years old!
-Raphael

Vomitory - In Death Throes
Metal Blade Records

Wow, I was stunned when I heard this. Vomitory decided to reinvent themselves with duelling polyrhythms, sprawling, multi-genre song structures with influences ranging from jazz to trip-hop and even dark ambient mixed in…

...lol just kidding this is more Swedish death metal, exactly like everything else they've done for 40 years.
-Nate

Green Carnation - A Dark Poem, Part II: Sanguis
Season Of Mist

"Leaves Of Yesteryear" was my 2020 AOTY (a significant feat considering I was listening to a ton of music then because of the COVID lockdowns), and though Green Carnation has been fairly active since then, nothing has quite scratched the itch in the same way. The hooks don't quite hook as much, and the sprawling prog epics need to feel more grounded, even without the same level of multi-genre ambition as their "Light Of Day, Day Of Darkness" era. Nonetheless, Kjetil Nordhus is a seriously underrated singer and they've refined their sound into something glossy and easy for prog fans to get into. Hard band to dislike.
-Nate

Muerto - Eclipsed Realms
Transcending Obscurity Records

Staying in Mexico for a raw, dark and atmospheric experience, this time using black metal as a template to talk about death (the band moniker literally translates into 'dead'.) Penny Smitten (Penelope Matamoros) offers a savage performance, with a reverb filled raspy scream, she also does ethereal soft cleans that offers a nice vibe shift and keeps the album dynamic. The resulting atmosphere created by the slow and sometimes faster music, tremolo picking and slow blast beats included, is thick and embracing, like a fog of darkness, for fans of doomy atmospheric black.
-Raphael

Pure Wrath - Bleak Days Ahead
Debemur Morti

This has a different flavour to it - this ornate, gilded touch that is no less emotionally resonant, but adds a certain air of triumphant antiquity. Perhaps it's the regional dialect, given the mastermind behind this band is Indonesian? I'm not familiar with any other bands with the same style from the same location, so I have no frame of reference.

Nonetheless, this is a satisfying album that will stand out if you're well acquainted with the style, and should satiate fans of atmo-folk-black such as Saor and Harakiri Of The Sky all the same.
-Nate

Demon Spell - Blessed Be The Dark
Dying Victims Productions

Italy produces such quality metal it's crazy, it must be the amazing food that inspires people. On a more serious note, if you're a fan of the occult, catchy riffs and King Diamond-esque theatrical falsetto signing, Demon Spell concocted a hell of a fun album for you! With that organic sounding, perfect Dying Victims production, it sounds like a warm and soft blanket of sounds, for fans of true traditional heavy metal.
-Raphael

Volcandra - Beyond The Will Of Mortals
Prosthetic Records

You know who I miss? Skeletonwitch. They had a clunky, but incredibly effective mixture of blackened-melo-death-thrash that was just fun enough to be easy on the ears but just intense and intricate enough to keep you coming back over multiple listens. I'm not saying Volcandra is going to scratch that itch, but they'll at least get your mind off the fact that it's been eight years since their last full-length.

"Beyond The Will Of Mortals" dials back the thrash influence and adds more Dissection-esque meloblack, but there's still enough interplay between the influences to give the "riff soup" vibe that makes Beyond the Permafrost so enduring. Dave Palenske opts for a more mid-range vocal tone which is a bit jarring at first because you're expecting a higher rasp, but his control and enunciation is excellent and it helps to give a recognizable flavour. Volcandra carefully toes the line between atmospheric elegance and banging your head against the stage, and the diversity between songs makes it so that every possible iteration of the genre mosaic is explored. Feels like this band is slept on a bit, and with this being their fourth release in six years, they're clearly working their asses off to try and change that.
-Nate

Necroccultus - The Afterdeath Blackness
Terror From Hell Records

Is there something more comforting than cavernous death metal? The heavy riffs, the reverb filled demonic growls and fast dynamic drums. The answer is no. Early Blood Incantation and Tomb Mold are obvious comparisons you can make but these Mexican boys are such good musicians, they make every song stand out with them even slowing down to doomy territories, making the 33 minutes just go by so fast you'll want to hit replay as soon as it ends. Impeccable death metal to help you traverse this darkest timeline.
-Raphael

Pig's Blood - Destroying The Spirit
Dark Descent Records

I don't usually gravitate to a lot of war metal because it all blurs together in a mass of indistinguishable noise after a while. Occasionally there will be a band that separates themselves from the mass, and Pig's Blood do this via tasteful restraint (the drums in particular use stops/cymbal chokes really effectively), clear production (you can still sound bestial with it - who knew?) and a versatile songwriting toolbox. Not every band in this style can be Teitanblood, and the sooner bands in this style understand that, the sooner I'll listen to them.
-Nate

METALBITE'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH

10: Non Est Deus - Blessings And Curses
Noisebringer Records

I'm a huge Noise fan, whether it be with his main project Kanonenfieber, or Leiþa and the subject of this review; Non Est Deus. He's the kind of artist I just vibe with, I see something done by Noise, I know I'll love it! For this album, his 5th release for the Non Est Deus project, you only have to look at the superb artwork by Tuomas Koivurinne to know what you're in for. The clear demarcation between heaven and hell and the demons dragging the angel down below is a striking visual that illustrates perfectly what Noise has to say, heaven and hell are not that separate from each other… Musically, Noise creates this mix between heaven and hell, it's extremely melodic but with a touch of blasphemous energy in the form of aggressive black metal. There's nothing new on "Blessings And Curses", but then again, I'm here for Noise and that's what I'm getting!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.4/10

9: Vargrav - Dimension: Daemonium
Werwolf Records

Vagrav for me was always the logical evolution of Emperor's opus magnum "In The Nightside Eclipse". A lot of keyboards and atmosphere makes the songs stand out, and rhe result surrounds the listener in ghoulish mystery. The vocals add an extra touch of grim evilness, with occasional chants similar to what Emperor did in "Ablaze Upon The Nocturnal Realms". It's fine as a progressive intermezzo, but hopefully it's not a focal point on future songs. But tracks like "Moonfrost Storms" or "Bleeding Galaxies", pull me right back in and keep the spirit of symphonic black metal alive, showing there is potential in the genre past Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir. The last track "Unveil The Enslavement Of Lunar Prophecies" is powerful, epic, almost cinematic song - in spirit of the early 90s. The production sounds quite dynamic and powerful, maybe the drums could sound a little bit more thunderous but that is me nitpicking.
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

8: Inferi - Heaven Wept
The Artisan Era

Aside from being a long-time fan and follower, I was also curious to see how the introduction of guitarist Sanjay Kumar was going to augment Inferi's sound. While Malcolm Pugh is almost certainly the mastermind behind this band, one shouldn't dismiss the contributions of Mike Low, who was in the band for more than a decade since the "Path Of Apotheosis" era.

"Heaven Wept" trades grandiosity for ominous discordance. Something about Low's riffwork felt more upbeat, like a colorful, intricate fight scene, whereas Kumar's playing is that same scene, but gorier and at night. I swapped back and forth between "Heaven Wept" and "Vile Genesis" a few times to make sure my ears weren't deceiving me. "Heaven Wept" uses more unusual, dissonant chord shapes and the symphonics give more of a Carach Angren symph-black undertone. It's still Inferi, but I sense a subtle shift in the same direction Vale Of Pnath went in with their new album. Certainly not to the same extent, this is still tech-death, they didn't dive headfirst into a new genre change - but I still need more time to tell if I'm fully on board. Perhaps Inferi felt they said everything they could with the specific niche of epic-melo-tech-death they had cultivated for themselves, but they did it better than anyone else, so the change is a bit jarring.

Nonetheless, this is still an incredibly intricate, layered work from one of the forerunners of their genre. Every musician paces their contemporaries. Stevie Boiser's range, tone and lyricism is as good as it's ever been, Spencer Moore's drumming is both technical and tasty and a great swansong before he moved over to Archspire, the solo tradeoffs between Pugh and Kumar are immaculate. There's a reason I knew I was going to be writing about this before I heard a note, but when you set the bar high, the unfortunate side effect is it opens you up to more possibilities for nitpicking. I'm not saying don't check this album out, but I wouldn't say it's my favorite Inferi album and I'm giving a justification of sorts for that.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

7: Reeking Aura - On The Promise Of The Moon
Profound Lore

I was having a hard time pinning this down, and then it hit me - it sounds like 90s melodeath. Early At the Gates (pre-Terminal Spirit Disease) feels like a fair comparison, and I would be very surprised if Edge of Sanity wasn't a frequent reference point. Compared to "Blood & Bonemeal", the quasi-blackened tremolo has been amped up. Despite Big Will's iconic low gurgles adding a streak of brutality, there's a certain etheric calmness to this album that makes it unique. Melodic brutal blackened death metal with atmospheric and progressive tinges? Sure, let's go with that.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

6: Bewitched - Diabolical Death Mass
Osmose Productions

Fuck yeah!!! Forget the half-baked "Rise Of The Antichrist" (still had some cool riffs) and REALLY forget the not even luke-warm "Spiritual Warfare" (one of the biggest disappointments in the history of black-thrash metal) - "Diabolical Death Mass" is totally different. This is a direct continuation of the first two albums "Diabolical Desecration" and "Pentagram Prayer". Fast aggressive riffing, cool Celtic Frost ugh-screams and thunderous drums plus the mandatory "a baby is screaming, let's sacrifice it to Lucifer"-intro. Each track kicks ass and there is no filler. All the songs breathe the spirit of the first two albums (sometimes too closely, if you are being critical) and out comes a furious black-thrash inferno. "(Fear The) Revenge Of The Ripper" continues the story of "Blade Of The Ripper", and you can clearly hear that Bewitched wanted to go back to their roots. Fantastic. To say this has no evolution is a slight exaggeration though. Sometimes you hear some classic heavy metal riffs here and there, making this album even more enjoyable.
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

5: Cnoc An Tursa – A Cry For The Slain
Apocalyptic Witchcraft Recordings

Another month, another superior UK black metal release. Nearly a full decade after it's predecessor, Cnoc An Tursa's third album is surely the record of the band's career, an album that draws all elements of their sound into a majestic and coherent whole. As the intro gives way to the unfeasibly addictive and unpronounceable for non-Gaelic speakers 'The Caoineag', the dazzling melodies conjure a kind of magic that has rarely been heard since the Wintersun debut, complex but not technical, weaving winsome Scottish folk sounds into their ultra-melodic tapestry, but without diluting their thunderously heavy attack. Saor and Fuath (both of whom boast extensive connections to Cnoc An Tursa, hardly surprising considering the bijou size of the Scottish black metal scene) are obvious comparisons, but a more apposite reference point is actually Fen's Monuments To Absence, which harnessed similarly glorious guitar lines to overwhelming effect, despite drawing on folk traditions from a different part of the UK. "A Cry For The Slain" also recalls the glory days of the heavier end of the Scandinavian folk-metal explosion of the 2000s, evoking a constant feeling of awe and wonder that cannot but fill one's heart with strength and resolve. Highlights abound, not least the spectacular 'Alba In My Heart', but most impressively, the quality simply does not drop below outstanding at any point during what is nothing less than the best British album released thus far in 2026.
-Benjamin

MetalBite's Rating: 8.8/10

4: VoidChaser - Interstellar I
Independent

Heartwarming melodies, heavy groovy riffs, a touch of extremity and impressively tight musicianship, all things to expect on Montréal's VoidChaser first full-length album. It's a refreshing take on progressive metal, taking influences from every corner of what is arguably the most diverse metal genre out there. From Dream Theater to Opeth and TesseracT, progressive metal is much more of a way of writing, playing and thinking about music, then it is a cohesive sound. In true progressive fashion, VoidChaser does not bother with staying in a well-defined box. High pitched soaring clean vocals are sometimes cut by harsh screams. Melodic choruses (that will touch your soul) are a regular occurrence and so are the djent, groovy polymeters and syncopated power chord chugs, with that distinct palm muted technique. They can take off with a shredding solo but it's not an unending flow of technical prowess just for the sake of showing off, rather, they are placed sparingly throughout the 49 minutes journey through space. I'm a simple man, you give me solos and I'm happy (even if I would've taken more!) If you like prog, of every variety, VoidChaser is here for you.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

3: At The Gates - The Ghost Of A Future Dead
Century Media Records

Everything ends eventually. Way too early this time with the heartbreaking death of the charismatic Tomas Lindberg. But the band (especially him) wanted to leave a swansong, already knowing that it might be the last effort.

Tompa's vocals sound as raspy and desperate as ever, and musically not too much has changed. The song writing became a little bit more accessible and there is more influence from their back catalogue. "In Dark Distortion" is a mid-tempo stomper with a brutal refrain and some fantastic guitar solos. With "The Unfathomable" is a callback to their early works. The instrumentals are quite similar to what they did in the early 90s on "The Red In The Sky Is Ours" or "With Fear I Kiss The Burning Darkness". With "The Phantom Gospel" and the aforementioned "Interstellar Death" they move forward to "Terminal Spirit Disease" and it is quite welcoming that they go back to the roots.

With "Förgängligheten" they have composed a very sad instrumental that you might grab you in a very emotional moment but this is just the intermezzo for "Black Hole Emission" with "Slaughter Of The Soul"-vibes - it works like "Nausea" from that album. Great melancholic riffwork.

When I heard "The Ghost of a Future Dead" for the first time I had a very bad day. For these days it might not be the right choice. This album eats you, this album leaves you breathless and reveals our mortality. I wish it were only the lyrics and not the circumstances surrounding this album. There are way too many people who should have died much earlier and a lot who should be alive instead. Tompa was one of them. You and the band will always be in my heart, thank you for many memories. Rest in peace, At The Gates!!
-Michael

Last September, we lost one of metal's most influential voices, Tomas Lindberg, so when I learned he had recorded vocals for the next At The Gates album, it was a small dose of healing balm for the giant wound that the grief left. The fact that Tomas chose the name, "The Ghost Of A Future Dead" while undergoing cancer treatment, likely knowing his ultimate fate, gives so much more weight and a deeper meaning to his final work. At The Gates went back to the classics, after exploring their progressive side on "The Nightmare Of Being", they went back to their roots, shorter songs, thrash drumming and those riffs, truly no band had more impact on modern metal and no one writes riffs like them, the whole album is "Blinded By Fear" levels of songwriting. Tomas looked like such an amazing person, he worked as a social studies teacher for middle school and high school, teaching the next generation, he also had a darker side and writing while sick made his words even more powerful: "And our celestial slumber In feverish, aeons blind Through our cold and formless death Crawling with blasphemous life". I think it's a fitting farewell for a truly great artist and I don't know if the band will continue without his unique voice but for now, Rest In Power Tomas, we will continue to cherish all of your work, forever!
-Raphael

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MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

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2: Ordh - Blind In Abyssal Realms
Pulverised Records

Ordh is what resulted when four guys primarily playing sludge and stoner doom, decided to play death metal. As they decided to pull the plug (get it? They play death metal now… sorry, no jokes!) on their previous band Barishi, Graham Brooks and Dylan Blake had already the idea for a new progressive death metal project. They now felt they could explore these new influences, being older and wiser has its perks! Having a good idea of what they wanted to do, they pitched their ideas to the mythical artist Paolo Girardi, "something vaguely cave-ish" they said, explaining their vision to Paolo. The result is a pure Paolo masterpiece, an infernal spiral of demons inside a cave full of the undead, and with that, the rest of the album was composed with that painting as inspiration. I swear some of the swirling complex riffs are exactly that painting but in sonic form! The level of musicianship and songwriting is awe-inspiring! Think of albums like "Blackwater Park" or Blood Incantation's 2024 "Absolute Elsewhere". Pacing wise, the entire album is a buildup of longer songs, culminating with the song "Blind In Abyssal Realms" a 12-minute epic that starts slowly, building tension during the first four minutes and then releasing a whirlwind of blast beats, riffs and solos, to then again going almost quiet. And then unleashing many solos from the depths of hell. Small detail, I would've put the last song in the beginning and just end the album with the 12 minutes epic but hey, what do I know, I'm just a dumb guy on the internet!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

1: Archspire - Too Fast To Die
Independent

Archspire have attained immortality with their new album. They add incredibly catchy melodies to their signature insanely fast and technical wall of sound, making it almost accessible. Emphasis on the word almost, creating their own unique brand of highly addictive and fun technical death metal. Full review at https://metalbite.com/album/63368/archspire-too-fast-to-die
-Raphael

The most noticeable change from "Bleed The Future" is the new drummer. Spencer Moore is certainly a capable replacement in a genre where that's exceptionally hard to find, but I'd be lying if I didn't miss Prewett's feel a little bit. Something about his cymbal grooves and how he mixed up his feet and gravity blasting to create memorable patterns is impossible to recreate, as much as you can tell Moore is trying to.

That being said, I can't get too hung up on the lack of Prewett because he's not coming back, and when I hold this up side to side, I think I prefer it to "Bleed The Future" by a hair. Oli's leveled up yet again with his vocal speed and dexterity - he went from going stupid fast with occasional moments of "how the hell does he do that" to frequently sounding inhuman. Just when you think he doesn't have another gear, he unlocks it. The riff style and songwriting sounds the most…Archspire-y - they have their signature flavour and they keep hammering on it. Where a band like Defeated Sanity uses convulsing drum patterns and constantly shifting textures to create head-spinning technicality, Archspire packs a ton of notes in, but there's not much grooving outside 4/4 - they stay firmly put in the fast lane, with an occasional breakdown/slam for the pit kids. The side effect of this is that the music is catchy enough that it nearly warps back around to pop levels of hookiness.

I don't have as much to say about this as I thought I would. Keep in mind Archspire is arguably my favorite active band, and Relentless Mutation is in my top 3 albums of all time. I thought this would inspire a self-indulgent brick of text, but I guess there are only so many times a band can blow your mind with speed and intensity. We know what Archspire is at this point, so the band has shifted their attention to writing memorable songs that will become live staples.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 9.1/10

As always, thanks for stopping by. View all the past lists for this year here:

March 2026
February 2026
January 2026

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Welcome back to MetalBite's Top 10 Albums of the Month. You don't actually read this part, do you? You're probably just skipping down to whatever we said about your favorite album, or perhaps seeing where stuff got ranked. I get it, this isn't important. So I'll just cut it off here

-Nate

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Temple Of Void - The Crawl
Relapse Records

Detroit's death/doom titans are back with The Crawl, their 5th album and without losing any weight to their sound, they add a fair amount of melody, the frequent solos offer a nice contrast, like rays of warm sunlight piercing through big black clouds. I guess the black clouds in this analogy would be Mike Erdody's positively demonic vocal performance and the slow and menacing riffs. The album opens with a high energy solo, giving you a taste of what's to come. But they still know how to do a traditional, slow and heavy as a glacier Temple Of Void banger. Single "The Crawl" is a reminder of that, with a vocal performance that gives shivers, it's that heavy! The rest of the album plays with melodies and vibe shifts, with at times more upbeat tempos, clean ethereal sounding guitar leads and the occasional keyboards that adds interesting melodic layers within this still always heavy death/doom. This is a fantastic sounding album, the bass is thick, the guitars sound bright when they need to but also, as crushing as ever! Recorded and mixed by Converge's Kurt Ballou and mastered by Bradley Boatright, it's one of the best sounding records this year, perfect if you want an entry point in the wonderful world of death/doom.
-Raphael

Decipher - θελημα (Thelema)
Transcending Obscurity

In all honesty, when I see black metal promos come through my inbox, it's a skip almost all of the time. The sheer volume of passable but unextraordinary black metal that is out there is simply overwhelming and I don't know who - aside from the most hardcore genre obsessives - would have time to listen to it all, much less digest it enough for a review. It's to the point where it has to be something from a band I already know (or is associated with one), or from a label I trust, or something that a lot of people are recommending.

Decipher, of course, is one of the few in a sea of thousands that is worth your time - doubly so because they have the seal of approval from Transcending Obscurity and anything they put out is at least worth a cursory listen. This is, by all accounts and descriptors, a straightforward black metal album, but this Greek group has prepared a tantalizing riff collection from ingredients that include some of their countrymen (Macabre Omen, Varathron), as well as hint of the aggressive melodicism of Mgla and Spectral Wound. That they share a bassist with Dephosphorus, another favorite of mine from the Greek scene, is just the icing on the cake. Even if you're burnt out of the genre (as I feel I am), this is still worth your time.
-Nate

No/Más - No Peace
Redefining Darkness Records

No/Más is a pure creation of our times, sometimes the sheer violence we see everyday, the genocide of Gaza, brainless goons sieging towns and killing kind-hearted normal people, the destruction of ancient cities and the killing of innocent school children, sometimes, we need to let all this violence out! No/Más does it by blending grindcore, hardcore and death metal to a devastating effect. It spews violence back at you but in the most satisfying and productive way possible. The social message is still part of the backbone of this band, with songs like "Ley Indígena" (indigenous rights/law), "Overthrow" or "Leech" painting an honest reflection of the systems we live under, it's a shame I can't find the lyrics anywhere!

If you like grindcore with a strong political message, No/Más is here for us, oh and of course, FUCK ICE.
-Raphael

The Listener - Where Hatred Reigns Supreme
Independent

A biting, yet emotionally resonant mix that is primarily black metal, but with shades of crusty metalcore and even a slight Southern twang (check out "Endless"). The vocals are piercing, underscoring the cathartic energy - I can see connoisseurs of mid-00s Deathwish Inc material and modern punky black metal (think Dodsrit) getting a good amount of spins out of this. It's an eclectic mix, but the songwriting flows and is cohesive.
-Nate

Mordeo - Mordeo
Hypaethral Records/Shove Record/Forever Never Ends Record

"At its core, Mordeo exists to reflect the ugliness of the present moment and turn it into something communal, loud, and impossible to tune out." The mix of raw, fast and ultra-aggressive crust with slow, crushing sludge and doom with a bit of noise in between the tracks is just that, impossible to tune out! It's the most pissed off music I've heard in a while, but have you seen the world right now? Everyday is a fresh new hell concocted by the orange amerikanischer Führer and its rabid dog, genociding Iran, Palestine and Lebanon. This is ugly music, but this is precisely what makes it authentic and the perfect soundtrack for our time! Fuck bigots and fuck fascism!
-Raphael

Foetorem - Incongruous Forms Of Evergrowing Rot
Everlasting Spew

Demark is a somewhat unheralded extreme metal hotbed. Everything I hear out of that small but mighty nation has a powerful crunch - like their own flavour of the signature Swedish HM-2 sound - an insatiable bounce, and a viscous heaviness with a slow-but-not-quite-doom aura to it. Undergang, Phrenelith, Chaotian, Sulphurous - all of them attacking your earbuds from a different angle, with that same Danish flair.

What strikes me in particular about Foetorem is their ability to weave clarity and more melodic threads in without sacrificing any weight. The riffs are remarkably easy to sink your teeth into for a band that's closer to Rippikoulu than Bolt Thrower, and the songwriting builds into them in a way that inspires stank-faced head bobbing. The maturity and depth to their sound suggests seasoned veterans - but there don't seem to be a ton of connections to other established bands (that I'm aware of). I guess it just goes to show it's never too late to start a new band and write your next masterpiece.
-Nate

Blackbraid - Nocturnal Womb
Wolf Mountain Productions

Blackbraid is an unstoppable force of metal, since 2022's amazing debut, "Blackbraid I", Sgah'gahsowáh has released three full lengths and two EPs, one with his new band, Petrichor, a much darker and raw version of his signature atmospheric sound, and now this EP which consists of two songs that were cut from "Blackbraid III" and an acoustic version of a song from the first album. I get why the songs were cut, they are much darker than the overall vibes of III, not Petrichor levels of dark but still, it would not have fit within. And the folk acoustic piece is a nice way to end this release. Since 2022 I see music made by Jon, I click play and I'm happy, I always thank him for his gift and will continue to be a loyal fan forever.
-Raphael

Türböwitch - Under Haunted Skies
Time To Kill Records

A clean production but dirty in all the right places, the blackened speed punks make melodic and catchy riffs while singing about, among others, anti-posers, alcohol, metal, Satan, hate, chaos, horror, just regular passions and hobbies. Not taking themselves too seriously but being serious musicians is sometimes tough to balance but these Hungarian boys manage it effortlessly. The album opens with a spooky, horror movie sounding intro and then wastes no time and gives you filthy blackened speed punk goodness but with a big emphasis on melody. Catchy riffs, epic soloing and melodic leads occupy a big part of the album but they're not afraid to throw in gang vocals, fast punk vibes and the occasional burst of extremity with tremolo riffs and blast beats. In short, this album is fun from beginning to end, I mean, how can you not smile when you hear a cowbell and shredding solos?
-Raphael

Bosse-de-Nage - Hidden Fires Burn Hottest
The Flenser

First album by this band in eight years. As someone who was enamoured with "All Fours" when it came out, this was a pleasant surprise. The band has tenuous connections to black metal explored by way of modern post-hardcore. The moaning shouts, languishing and despondent delivery, and an overt rejection of traditional themes makes this an easy target of ire for anyone who hated on hipsters in 2010. For everyone else, the mix of sounds is unusual and compelling, the drumming is excellent (Harry Cantwell may be one of the most underrated I've heard in terms of how well he ties everything together with his beat selection) and the lyrical content is incredibly dense and complex, informed by postmodernism and absurdism with multiple layers I'm probably missing with my puny and primitive brain. Once again, I have been made firmly aware of the fact that The Flenser does not miss.
-Nate

Aggressive Perfector - Come Creeping Fiends
Dying Victims Productions

Aggressive Perfector is the other project of three of the four guys of England's blackened band Wode. I remember 2021's Burn in Many Mirrors had made my AOTY list. With this project, Wode's main vocalists, M. Czerwoniuk, takes backing vocal duties as Mr.666 and the guitarist and back vocalist, D. Shaw, takes the main vocalist job under the name Dan Chainsaw. Musically, they offer us gritty and dirty speed metal with just a touch of extremity with blackened vocals. It's fast, full of infectious melodies and chorus and a superb drum performance by T. Horrocks, dynamic and technical! And love when they crank up the black metal node just a tad on the song Return of the Axe. In short, great musicians, great songwriting and great production, what more can you want!
-Raphael

Cogadh - Kingmaker
Independent

Black metal with some vaguely folksy tinges but not to the point where you could categorize it as folk/black. Piercing shrieks reminiscent of Dodsferd without the vitriolic aggression. It's got a good amount of rawness but there's something about it that makes it a cut above the literal mountain of black metal that gets released on a daily basis. Maybe it's the drums, which are not especially complex but are written to serve the songs well? Perhaps it's Ira Lehtovaara's natural ear for melody? Hard to say, but I do find myself coming back to it when I would normally search elsewhere.
-Nate

Egregore - It Echoes In The Wild
20 Buck Spin

Vancouver's raw and theatrical blackened force released it's second album on March 20th and it's both over the top and simultaneously strip back to the purest expression of extreme metal. It's dissonant, offering whirlwinds of evil sounding riffs, punctuated with gloomy synths but throws in a heroic sounding solo in this mix that enhances the contrasting nature of this music. Shredding solos are followed by delicate acoustic guitars before swallowing you in a full blackened attack, tremolo picking and blast beats included. They also can make you headbang until your neck is hurting, watch out for that riff on the song "Corsairs Of The Daath Gulf". Even their use of clean vocals sounds evil, they sound both haunting and ethereal. If you're seeking originality, raw aggression, excellent musicianship and songwriting, Egregore is the band you need!
-Raphael

Winterfylleth - The Unyielding Season
Napalm Records

Winterfylleth have been operating at the top of the UK black metal tree for the best part of 20 years now, becoming incrementally more successful, but without ever quite achieving the level of commercial success that some of their international peers have enjoyed during that same period. Perhaps the Mancunians had also become a little too comfortable, and the albums a little too formulaic, their initially startling blend of stirring melody and atmospheric black metal gradually losing its rough edges, with the quality plateauing since the brilliance of "The Dark Hereafter" in 2016. Maybe the band themselves sensed this, and it seems that the move from longtime label, Candlelight Records, has been a catalyst for a rekindling of the Winterfylleth fire. From the opening track of "The Unyielding Season" we sense a renewed fury and ferocity that is most invigorating. Tempos are pushed harder, with less reliance on mid-tempo bombast, and the result is the most complete and compelling statement that they have made for a very long time. 'Echoes In The Fire' and 'Perdition's Flame' are especially magnificent, with Chris Naughton's imperious vocals dominating the former, and the growing influence of Mark Deeks coming to the fore on the latter, with tasteful synths contributing to a grandiose arrangement that demonstrates a capacity for development that has been suppressed for too long. Two folky instrumentals in the second half of the record detrimentally affect the overall balance, as does a rather unnecessary Paradise Lost cover. 'Enchantment' is a great track played well, but while Winterfylleth's acknowledgement of their compatriots is welcome, it feels a little incongruous next to the black metal attack of the rest of the album. Such quibbles count for relatively little though, given the overall quality here, and the joy at hearing an excellent band revitalised.
-Benjamin

Cryptworm - Infectious Pathological Waste
Me Saco Un Ojo

This English group is very bouncy. Usually oldschool-inspired bands try to maintain a more serious vibe, but Cryptworm is much more distilled and straightforward - almost like if Demilich was being covered by a bunch of hardcore kids. I use the term "oldschool inspired" as well, because I wouldn't call this OSDM. There's clearly cues taken from Autopsy, incantation and Demigod, but the presentation is modern - it's almost like the third generation of "traditional" death metal - you can draw a more direct line to bands like Undergang and Altered Dead than the forefathers of the genre. Whatever you wanna call it, it's grimy, gory fun.
-Nate

METALBITE'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH

10: Transilvania - Magic Posthuma
Invictus Productions

If, like this listener, you sometimes find yourself musing on the disappointment caused by the creeping homogenisation of heavy metal over time, a band as singular and individual as the Austrian black-thrashers Transilvania prove that not all is lost. There is an art to creating this kind of arcane metal, which is both overtly weird and off-kilter, but nevertheless completely natural, the work of a band that have not made a single calculated decision in their career. This is not the self-consciously wacky maximalism of Solefald, or even the more elegant eclecticism of Arcturus, but a band following their instincts and intuition in whichever direction it happens to pull them, whether that is the Negative Plane playing Slayer stylings of 'Thrall', or 'Tuberculosis Reigns', which sees Transilvania covering De Mysteriis Dom Satanas from 1984. There is something incredibly refreshing about how full of life Transilvania sound here, unleashing an album full of dynamic peaks and troughs, the thrust of the guitars and clattering of the drums an organic polar opposite to the flat and processed tones of so much 21st century metal. This is an album for the metal fan that totally buys into the pure sword and sorcery escapism that the genre can represent, who conjures imaginary worlds of wonder based on a glance at the cover art of At The Heart Of Winter, and who likes to get drunk and headbang until they fall over. Buy this album, and join the heavy metal resistance!
-Benjamin

MetalBite's Rating: 8.7/10

9: Hellripper - Coronach
Century Media Records

Oh, hell fucking yeah, a new Hellripper record is always such a joyous event, 2023's "Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags" was one of my favorite albums of that year, so you could say I had high expectation for "Coronach". James McBain, the man, the myth, the legend once again did not disappoint! The record opens with a pure banger, no time to waste, "Hunderprest" goes right to the jugular with a flurry of speed metal riffs sprinkled with that raw extremity that is the Hellripper trademark. If you love solos, James is as impressive as ever, getting a boost in production, now being on Century Media Records and he deserves every bit. He still flexes his creative muscle here, across the 8 tracks, the 45 minutes sees him play with contrasts, aggressive blackened speed gets cut by an acoustic guitar picking, his shrieking blackened screams gets cut by the occasional deep growls and even some clean vocals! But just in one song though, he experiments but never in an excessive way so you always get what you came for in the first place, high energy, fast and aggressive black speed.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.8/10

8: Gluttony - Eulogy To Blasphemy
F.D.A. Records

Long-running Swedish death metal group delivers another album full of no-frills ass-kicking. Full review here.
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

7: Antrisch - Expedition III: Renitenzpfad
AOP Records

German black metal institution Antrisch is taking us to a trip to the New World and its cruelties, be it the strange nature and the danger that came with it to the Conquistadores or the cruelties they committed to the American natives during the conquering of the continent. Lyrically the album is a highly interesting thing, also the cover and booklet really turned out great and so is the music. If you know "Expedition II: Die Passage" you know what you have to expect musically. Harsh black metal with a lot of atmospheric parts paired with very emotional, hateful vocals which might be compared best to Kanonenfieber. But I guess that Antrisch aren't that polarizing as their countrymen are. This is really some interesting black metal with a very different lyrical approach.
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

6: Zerre - Rotting On A Golden Throne
Dying Victims Productions

Zerre from Germany aren't new in the scene but I guess like I not too many people were aware of them. Kicking off a brutal mixture of hardcore and trash, the guys are quite similar to bands such as Power Trip or Enforced. A lot of Slayer vibes shine through but vocal-wise it is much more hardcore than anything else. But brutality is only one facet on their forth studio album. Also focusing on cool catchy melodies they are also groovy as fuck. And if you can't get enough from "Rotting On A Golden Throne" you also should check its predecessor "Scorched Souls" which offers more or less the same thrash inferno. That one is probably one of the best thrash albums in 26.
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

5: Growth - Under The Under
Wild Thing Records

I'll begin this review with the band's own words; "healing, is not gentle. It is an ugly process. Chaotic, disorienting and often more confronting than the pain that preceded it." I immediately was hooked, before even listening, being severely disabled with a chronic disease, I more than just relate, I live this quote everyday, for the past 20 years! And then I pressed play and we are hit with a full wall of sound, no intro, straight to death metal fury! We can clearly hear some common DNA with their New Zealand cousins, that slight dissonance and atmosphere that is Ulcerate's trademark, but they have distinct progressive elements that remind me more of Gojira. "Remember Me As Fire" has a section of cool syncopated breakdowns that makes you move every time. Lyrically the band speaks of the process of healing, a messy process, filled with highs but, more often than not, many many lows, has the band puts it: "thought I had already fallen as far as I could go, A shimmer and a misstep, then came the long below" Sometimes using clean vocals, they use them for maximum emotional release but, blastbeats and heavy breakdowns also build on and release tension. Like Gojira, every note and every burst of extremity are deliberately placed in a tasteful way. Speaking of the French boys, the song "Pain Is Never Far Away" has a section reminding me of one of the heaviest moments of "Flying Whales". If you are a fan of, like mentioned before, Gojira, Ulcerate or Psycroptic, drop everything you're doing and listen to "Under The Under" right now!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

4: Neurosis - An Undying Love For A Burning World
Neurot Recordings

In 2019, Neurosis fired original vocalist Scott Kelly for reasons we would only learn later. Turns out he was kind of a monster, abusing his wife and kids. This was a shock for long-time fans of the band; he was such a big part of the sound that the future of Neurosis was uncertain at best. Now in 2026, ten years after the excellent "Fires Within Fires", they return with new vocalist, none other than Aaron Turner (Sumac, Old Man Gloom, House of Low Culture, ex- Isis) and they prove that no one can equal their mastery of their particular brand of sludge and post-metal.

Always experimenting with sounds, textures and contrasts, it's not rare that a quiet synth instrumental is followed by a devastatingly heavy sludge riff. Being already a legend of the genre, Aaron offers a masterful performance, sounding surprisingly close to Kelly, it makes the change of vocalists feel seamlessly natural. I love the varied vocal styles, deep growls, aethereal cleans and gang vocals, makes for a very dynamic performance. The music can be soft and delicate at times and crushing the next second. The album is an hour long but grabs your attention from beginning to end. Performance wise, the band shows us they are far above on top, with an excellent rhythm section, the drums are complex, subtle and powerful at the same time, the bass is a rich and a thick blanket for your ears and finally, the guitars are soft and airy or devastatingly heavy! Lyrically they paint a brutally honest picture of humanity and the destruction of both ourselves and the environment; "Low, sick and tired Know they are mining our minds", "True wealth between our fingers slips As we count the dead", "Flow rivers are dying Plow fruitless and barren Ghosts drinking the ocean dry". Just perfect lyricism, beautiful yet harsh, exactly like their music.

"An Undying Love For A Burning World" was recorded in at Studio Litho in Seattle by Scott Evans, known for his production work with Kowloon Walled City, Sumac and Great Falls, followed by mixing at Antisleep Audio in Oakland, the album sounds deeply personal, organic and rich in layers. Truly a monumental work from a band that has no equals and is 40 years in their career!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

3: Mega Colossus - Watch Out!
Cruz Del Sur Music

I randomly stumbled over Mega Colossus but I have to say that I instantly fell in love with that band. "Watch Out!" is a fantastic piece of heavy metal when you have a bad day or need some stuff to get you in the mood. Kicking off with a sligh dissonant and dragging intro, the album quickly turns into some fast / mid-tempo heavy metal album with a lot of breaks and something I would call "positive melodies". Here everything fits perfect and with "Good Hunting" (no, not "Good Will Hunting") they have written a great band anthem. If you love bands like Maiden, Enforcer or Angel With, this band is the right thing for you. Watch out for the album!
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 9.5/10

2: Cruel Force - Haneda
Shadow Kingdom Records

With "Dawn Of The Axe", one of my favorite black-thrash albums in 2023 the Germany took us to the myths of the ancient Aztecs, "Haneda" is revealing some myths of the ancient Babylon now. Fortunaltely Cruels Force's music isn't that erratic as their lyrical concepts and so we get a straight continuation of "Dawn Of The Axe": hyper fast thrash attacks (with some more or less blackish elements) combined with some traditional heavy metal riffs. This combination works out damn well and a song like "Sword Of Iron" with its great guitar solo (almost Yngwie Malmsteen-like) is just fantastic.
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 9.5/10

1: Gutvoid - Liminal Shrines
Profound Lore Records

Hailing from the traditional territory of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples, aka Toronto, Canada, Gutvoid's music sit at the crossroads of many different musical currents. Deeply rooted in filthy old school death metal, they take this sound and add doomy textures and tempos, but the progressive elements are what makes their sound truly unique. With the amount of talent in this band, it's no wonder it sounds this good! First, on guitars, Daniel Bonofiglio, (Gutvoid, Intestinal Hex, Fumes, Internal Infestation, Grotesque Mass), owner of Dystonic Sounds and Fortress Audio Electronics Inc., next up, a true Canadian death metal legend guitarist/vocalist Brendan Dean (Alucard, Body Asphyxiation Science, Fathomless Ritual, Fumes, Pukewraith, Simulacra, to name a few), completing this incredible line up is Justin Boehm on bass and D.W. Lee on drums. The pacing of this album is just perfect; it begins with a short doomy instrumental that leads to three shorter songs (and by shorter, I mean like 7 minutes) that truly summons the OSDM influences but filled with complex riffs and drums, technical solos and melodic leads. The last two songs are where they truly let their creative genius out, clocking in at 12 minutes, both songs take their time to build up and show all the songwriting talent they have. Shredding solos are contrasted with slow and ominous death/doom, with expert drumming. The last song, "Chasm Of Displaced Souls" opens with some of the most satisfying chugs, with a slight dissonance, it must be insane to hear live! The song goes through many changes, it gets quieter, with clean and ethereal guitars and when the distortion kicks back in, it's so so satisfying! If you like death metal, any kind of death metal, you will find something to like on "Liminal Shrines", truly a spectacular offering that keeps on giving on every listen!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 9.5/10

Thanks for stopping by. Check out our lists for February 2026 and January 2026 while you still have time to catch up on what's been good this year with relative ease.

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Welcome back to MetalBite's top 10 albums of the month! Yes, we're putting out April's list in June. I have a lot of reasons why that's the case, but I won't bore you with the apology tour. We're here, and this list is massive. Hope you find something to check out you weren't already familiar with.

-Nate

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Darkthrone - It Beckons Us All.......
Peaceville Records

Just as all their latest releases, Darkthrone once again utilizes their well-crafted black metal with a lot of heavy, speed and doom metal elements mixed in together, all of which flow through the heavy mid-tempo riffs and drums, with Nocturno Culto's vocals in Tom G. Warrior style giving the extra edge. Overall, the direction that they go with on this album is definitely familiar thanks to their previous efforts since Arctic Thunder, but they also added more atmosphere and progression to their songs, especially the psychedelic moments on 'Black Dawn Affiliation', which is also backed up with epic singing vocals by Fenriz during the song's finale. Darkthrone's songwriting is heavily dynamic with its variety of ideas which come from all angles, always leaving plenty of room to include more than one could imagine, while still maintaining the overall heaviness in the music and keep it structurally polished without too much substance all at once. So far, I like the effort of It Beckons Us All far better than Astral Fortress, especially since it doesn't feel lacklustre, rushed or insufficient in terms of its delivery, and sometimes I did occasionally think that I was going for a good thrill-ride. The final track in particular stands out in that regard, always keeping me on edge as to what may happen next, especially when things get slow and quiet, and then striking hard with this musical crescendo like it's a suspenseful horror movie scene. Personally, even though many prefer the earlier efforts of Darkthrone, I generally adore the direction that they've been going with for the last 4-5 albums, because they just keep expanding in every way possible, because you never know what to expect. Honestly, even though I didn't grasp It Beckons Us All as much as I wanted to, I still think that it performed better than Astral Fortress, because overall it was much more consistent and well-thought-out, giving a very satisfying end result that just works. I think that after 4 albums, Darkthrone has a more focused musical direction with a variety of styles and ideas that could be considered suitable for people like myself who aren't limited to strictly one genre/subgenre, because there is plenty of that for everyone. This year is certainly coming together nicely with all these Norwegian metal releases, starting with Coffin Storm's Arcana Rising, to Khold's Du Dømmes Til Død and Darkthrone's It Beckons Us All, all the way to Sarke's Endo Feight which is due to be released on June 21st this year. I guess nothing can stop these dedicated and experienced veterans in the Norwegian metal scene, who are always active and successful in their unique craft of extreme metal.
-Vlad

Witch Vomit - Funeral Sanctum
20 Buck Spin

Expert osdm that is cavernous, brutal and quite modern sounding at the same time.
-Raphael

Tyr - Battle Ballads
Metal Blade

Man, remember when this Faroese group was a "progressive/folk" band? Tyr is a completely different entity now. Once they realized on By The Light Of The Northern Star that they could write fist-pumping viking anthems and get the same reaction from their fanbase, they went that route and that weird sub-section of the metal populace that thinks Amon Amarth is the be all end all of the genre ate that shit up.

All that being said, this is fun as hell. It toes the line between cheese and power, never sounding too serious or too ham-fisted in its delivery. It's catchy like the plague yet somehow never falls into Alestorm levels of campiness. Try all you want, you can't really hate this. Just admit you like pop metal and crank this shit real loud.
-Nate

Oceans Of Night - Mindstorm
Independent

Mindstorm kicks things off with the opening track 'Servants Of Shadow / New Dawn', a very synthwave style song fused with progressive metal that incorporates the traditional odd-tempo rhythm and guitar melodies, setting the stage for the album's grand journey. Once the turn comes for the second track 'Before The Fall', the vocals join alongside the established instrumentation, making things even more interesting from here on out. There are a lot of those familiar Dream Theater-like moments that express various emotions through multiple stages within the band's performance, while succeeding to constantly stay on track with progression and the dynamic flow. Something you will definitely manage to notice is that the soundtrack has a bit of a soundtrack quality to it, often reminding you of some cult classic Japanese video games where you hear tons of progressive elements in the music, and if it weren't for the vocals, you could easily turn each composition on the album into a soundtrack for a video game level or perhaps a stage of the level. Even the synth work on the album is very much in that same league, as opposed to attempting to completely copy the work of Jordan Rudess. What is also significant about the instrumentation is that next to its overall progression, it's the fact that songs aren't all about the predominant technical moments, maybe apart from the sixth track 'Obelisk' that is much more challenging than the rest. A couple of notable standouts on the album are the tracks 'Mindstorm' and 'Distant', which are the only two tracks on the album that has female lead vocals and it definitely expands the vast musical horizon which was previously established. As is the tradition with progressive metal, the songwriting is always dynamic and packed with various ideas, with each conveying a vast range of emotions at once, while managing to hold your attention from beginning to end. What I appreciate about Oceans Of Night is that they focus a lot on creating a genuine feeling through their music, unlike many other contemporary progressive metal bands that heavily insist on incorporating technicality in their music, that doesn't necessarily convey emotions or even have a sense of plausible musicality. I really adore the overall musicality on this album, especially because it doesn't feel like a bunch of complex ideas thrown together that can make everything sound like an improvisation rather than an actual song with a sense of musical progression. Although I am not a big fan of modern progressive metal, I did actually end up liking this album quite a lot. It's undeniable that Oceans Of Night definitely has a strong background, and with this new album they successfully strengthened the foundation of their music. This album is a fine example of an effective use of superb progression and experienced songwriting, that doesn't make you lose interest and it can definitely mesmerize you as you listen to it. If you are into contemporary progressive metal bands, you should definitely check out Mindstorm by Oceans Of Night.
-Vlad

High On Fire - Cometh The Storm
MNRK Heavy

What can I say, just high quality, heavy as fuck, sludge/stoner/doom. Matt Pike is on top of his game!
-Raphael

Witchtrap - Hungry As The Beast
Dirty Sound Records

With relentless and blood-pulsing energy, Witchtrap commences its black thrash attack from the very get-go, with the title of the first track loudly stating that this hungry beast is 'Built For The Kill'. The chorus of the second track that says "I am Hungry as The Beast, so pay the price" is a perfect tagline of this album that tells you exactly what you're about to face from here on out. It's all a matter of devilish rock and roll that flows through the fast riffing and drumming, with unholy rage coming out of the harsh vocals by Burning Axe Ripper, altogether creating a very effective killing machine full of speed, testosterone and 'Ruthless Aggression', just as the title of the third track suggests. The only example on this album that is a stylistic departure is the seventh track 'Invocation' for its primary use of mid-tempo rhythm in a somewhat traditional heavy metal fashion, as opposed to the established thrash metal direction that is the strongest factor of Witchtrap's music. There will be more instances of mid-tempo rhythm in the following track 'Cauldron Of Abominations', but for the most part the song maintains the primary style of black/thrash metal. The overall songwriting that Witchtrap incorporated for this album is quite simple and straightforward with its standard oldschool black/thrash metal, but nevertheless it's very on point and effective throughout the entire album, where you don't feel the balls drop as the album progresses. Despite the riffs mostly sounding all too familiar and typical for this kind of subgenre, it's undeniable that they are incredibly headbanging catchy and tight all the way through, keeping that strong punch in the guts and relentless force all the way to the very last track 'Lightning Attack'. Those who are not very familiar with Witchtrap will notice that their music draws a lot of influence from 80's thrash metal acts, primarily the teutonic thrash metal examples such as Kreator, Sodom, Destruction, Violent Force and Exumer, who have also been key to the development of significant black/thrash metal bands like Aura Noir, Cruel Force and Deathhammer. The general drive of the album is consistent and it will definitely make sure to keep you engaged from start to finish without losing any interest, but that all depends on the matter whether you are here to search for a needle in a haystack, or just looking for some good old fashioned ultra-violence.
-Vlad

Tonnerre - La Nuit Sauvage
Cruz Del Sur Music

Fronted by Annick Giroux (also from the great québécois heavy/doom band, Cauchemar) comes La Nuit Sauvage (the wild night), from her other band Tonnerre, a classic hard rock album about a magical night in the woods, around a campfire.
-Raphael

Selbst - Despondency Chord Progressions
Debemur Morti

Venezuelan (now living in Chile) one man band Selbst offers us an impressive, beautiful and mature album. Packed with dissonant melodies and melancholic atmospheres, it's finding beauty in sadness and despair. It's peak post-black metal!
-Raphael

Antheraea - The Failure I Am
Independent

Somber, yet aggressive and riffy. Gaerea appears to be an influence, although there's a more traditional black metal feeling - not a lot of post-rock in this, although that's by no means a bad thig, it wouldn't really fit well with the despondent anger. The mid-ranged shouts are a bit of an acquired taste, but they mesh well once you give them a bit of time. From what I can tell, this is more of a side project, which is really a shame, because I do think they're really on to something, with shades of Mgla and Dissection permeating a cathartic, vitriolic musical base.
-Nate

Antichrist Siege Machine - Vengeance Of Eternal Fire
Profound Lore

It's war metal, you know what you're in for, but I must say, something about this hits a little better than the rest of the crop, or even ASM's previous albums. This duo is really good at creating a push and pull within the confines of the style, and it should appeal to more than just the subgenre fanatics.
-Nate

Beholder - Dualisme
Avantgarde Music

Québec black metalers of Beholder offers us raw and aggressive black metal with many influences sprinkled all around. Whether it be a thrash riff or a doomy passage, it will always sound clear, organic and pure evil!
-Raphael

The Crypt - Victory Through Chaos
Independent

US extreme metal band The Crypt from Fish Creek, Wisconsin have returned once again, hungrier and angrier than before. Their recent EP Throne To The Setting Sun which was released back in January left me wondering what will come out next from the band's vault, especially since they keep switching genres with each following release, but I was thinking that they would hopefully go back to their good old death metal direction. Their independent seventh full-length album Victory Through Chaos was released on April 27th 2024, showcasing that the band was indeed going back to their primitive and chaotic extreme roots. Along the way you will hear a lot of headbanging tunes that will definitely leave a strong impression when the first note hits, but I can still guarantee that you will not be prepared for the madness that awaits. In case you ask yourselves why, it's because this album is packed with ideas from all angles, molding this enormous pile into a one colossal collection that's full of psychedelic atmosphere, progression, technicality, death-thrashing and then some. The fourth track in particular, 'Princess In Mourning', turned out to be a very big surprise with its maniacal screaming vocals and slow rhythmic output which create a heavy atmospheric and melancholic feeling altogether. We also have some insanely aggressive and technical death metal going on, starting from the fifth track 'Ninghizzida' which utilizes some over the top blast beats, headbanging insane riffs, shredding guitar solos, carrying some of that flavor over to the following tracks 'Lunar Blood', 'Virgin Sacrifices' and 'Fire Walk With Me'. We've also got one nice instrumental on this album, that being 'Dim At Noon', a very progressive and structurally complex track with plenty of guitar and bass solo work going on top of the riffs. The Crypt always had a very strong, dynamic and complex songwriting, constantly shifting with its variety of ideas but always managing to stay on track. Whenever it comes to the next work of The Crypt, I am always on the edge of my seat wondering what will come next, and that's not just in terms of the overall musical direction with each following album due to switching back and forth with subgenres, but also in terms of what each song on the album will throw at you out of nowhere. Their music definitely has a heavy surprise factor about it, leaving you open to your imagination and wondering about multiple possibilities where it will go from here on out, and it's great because it's not predictable from the very get-go and you would often end up experiencing something entirely different. After their recent EP Throne To The Setting Sun, I didn't know what to expect because that is one of the great things about The Crypt because they always make you wonder what's going to happen on the next album, although I was lucky enough to have guessed that Victory Through Chaos was going be the return to the wicked and ominous death metal. It's a very fine album that was worth the time and it certainly didn't disappoint, especially with all the goodies that you can find in their music, keeping you engaged and excited all the way through. Although I still think it would be hard to top the great performance with their previous full-length album Истребитель from 2023, nevertheless, Victory Through Chaos is a nice continuation in The Crypt's dark saga.
-Vlad

Benighted - Ekbom
Season Of Mist

Nothing new from these long-running French stalwarts, but nothing needs to be either. Kevin Paradis is an absolute machine, and his style feels more "at home" with Benighted than it does in the jillion other session projects he's done. The riffing is still a blitz of modern death metal with a blackened edge, and a tinge of deathcore (without fully taking the plunge into that pool). Julien Truchan is still one of the most versatile vocalists in the game. The structuring on this is a tad more punchy and memorable than the two previous full-lengths, neither of which left a huge impression on me. Call it recency bias or whatever, but I do get the sense Ekbom is going to stick around a little longer.
-Nate

Castle Rat - Into The Realm
King Volume Records

Beyond awesome, old-school doom/stoner rock with modern production and a particularly great imagery of epic, medieval warriors and fantasy.
-Raphael

Ischemic - Condemned To The Breaking Wheel
Independent

Been following these bleak doomsters for a while, and I can confidently say this is their best album. Maybe it's the addition of a second guitarist, maybe it's the fact that the multi-talented Mrudul Kamble is their best drummer yet, maybe it's the more blackened edge on this release over any of their other ones, but this has a lot of drudging, churning grooves that slowly unfold into melodic catharses. I actually follow the rise and fall of songs a bit more here, the layers coalesce into one another and give me something more to unpack, whereas with previous releases by this band, I enjoyed it, but didn't often feel the compulsion to dig further.
-Nate

Replicant - Infinite Mortality
Transcending Obscurity

Delightfully tasty dissonance with a certain despondent edge to it. I prefer it just a hair to the previous album, though that one was really solid as well - there's just a bit more skronk, a wider range of motion, and a little bit more oomph put into the shrieking. Is the shrill clamor turning people off? These folks should be a lot bigger than they are.
-Nate

Deicide - Banished By Sin
Reigning Phoenix Music

Once again Deicide invites us on a blasphemous trip to Florida. The cover is kinda shabby, but the originals kick ass - old-school death metal that calls back to their early 2000s era. I don't agree that the influences reach back to Legion era, but Banished By Sin still has a lot of catchy and evil tracks on it. Glen Benton sounds sinister and powerful as ever, and the guitar work is well executed. Don't expect any surprises but if you like Deicide you'll get what you came for.
-Nate

Dool - The Shape Of Fluidity
Prophecy Productions

Now here's an unexpected one, Dutch dark rock band Dool. The band combines progressive, post and dark rock with a heavy and doomish kind of metal. Reminds me a bit of Katatonia. Lead vocalist Raven was born intersex but doctors chose they would live their life as a girl, which understandably, caused a lot of pain and confusion. It's much later in life that Raven decided to reclaim that which others have tried so hard to take away from them. With that comes new joys and freedom. It's all of these powerful and complex emotions that are released on The Shape Of Fluidity and it gives an impressive and compelling work of art.
-Raphael

Tarot - Glimpse Of The Dawn
Cruz Del Sur Music

Impressive hard rock à la deep purple, injected with a good dose of classic heavy metal. With galloping melodies, super catchy chorus and crazy solos it's perfectly old school but still sounds like it was recorded in the 21st century.
-Raphael

METALBITE'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH

10: Dvne - Voidkind
Metal Blade Records

Fuck, I hate including Dvne in lists like this. I love them - they're one of my favorite newer discoveries ever since Etemen Aenka became a staple in my life, but their records are the kind of things that take a couple shroom trips and a few months to fully reveal their intricacies to you. I'm at least a little more familiar with their sound now, but Voidkind is another one of those that just has so many peaks and valleys that I can't properly articulate how good it is now, or how good it's going to be later. As it stands, this could be my album of the year…or it could stay where it is right now. One thing I know for sure is that it's definitely worth your time.
-Nate

Powerful, emotional, heavy, soft, ethereal, mesmerizing, complex. It's prog that not only focuses on technical prowess but with beautiful post-metal atmospheres, all while being bone crushingly heavy.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: ???/10

9: Uttertomb - Nebulas Of Self-Desecration
Pulverized Records

Chilean death metal of the Dead Congregation/Incantation variety - that old-school styled, unflinching commitment to creating a swirling, chasmic void darkness is present. There isn't a single inviting melody and the haunting clean breaks are strategically placed gaps between two sections of crushing chords, bruising tremolos or doom-tinged descents. This is my favorite kind of death metal - it doesn't have to reinvent anything to push the genre forward. You can always clearly identify the influences present, but nonetheless Uttertomb manages to mix in their own personality and identity.

Although it's the band's first full-length, they've taken their time to properly marinate and refine, with 14 years of activity and a handful of EPs under their belt already. This certainly doesn't feel like a new and inexperienced band - they know exactly what they want to be, and this is the kind of album that sounds like it was almost a decade in the making. It's evident through the attention to detail in the progression and the atmosphere it evokes.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.6/10

8: Engulfed - Unearthly Litanies Of Despair
Me Saco Un Ojo / Dark Descent

Mustafa Gürcalioğlu is the fucking RIFF KING. Just when I think this motherfucker has shown us all his tricks he reinvents the wheel again at least once per year. Engulfed has always been the most Swedeathy of his many projects, and on this new album he leans into that melody a little bit more while, of course, never sacrificing that ineffable mix between groovy, crushing and pummeling that has become firmly cemented in my heart. Am I a fanboy? You better fucking believe it. Holy dick balls this guy is good at guitar.

FFO Hyperdontia, Diabolizer, Decaying Purity, and drinking Mustafa's bathwater in an effort to write a single riff with a trace of the magic that lines his entire discography.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.6/10

7: Atrae Bilis - Aumicide
20 Buck Spin

It took me a minute to come around to this group, but once it clicked I became enamored with their unique take on tech death. They don't have the speed of Archspire nor the noodles of Inferi or Dark Matter Secret - they go the Soreption/Zenith Passage route of groovy tech with a dash of Ulcerate's organic delivery. They twist and contort an off-kilter rhythmic feel into something that's downright smooth, and makes you headbang at a convoluted pulse - Aumicide should not be this catchy. Once you get used to the style, no one really sounds like them, and I could have made that claim even on the album before this.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.7/10

6: My Dying Bride - A Mortal Binding
Nuclear Blast Records

This was a great surprise for me. I never thought that My Dying Bride would fully go back to their roots. But with A Mortal Binding they created a wonderful mixture between Turn Loose The Swans and The Angel And The Dark River that doesn't sound calculated or forced. This album is what I would have loved to hear after their 1995 release instead of that boring Like Gods Of The Sun. A Mortal Binding combines the very well-aged death metal approach they had many years ago with more depressive, violin-based tunes after that. Great stuff for some melancholic hours. It is just a shame that the band is more or less on hold now because of their exhausting song-writing process.
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

5: Voha - Majestic Nightsky Symphonies
Void Wanderer Productions

This album introduces a big departure from Voha's earlier works, as it takes a more symphonic black metal approach, equivalent to that of bands such as Emperor, early Dimmu Borgir, Odium, Diabolic Masquerade, Limbonic Art, Obtained Enslavement, combined with the melodic black metal elements of Old Man's Child, Sacramentum and Vinterland. The misanthropic atmosphere of Voha's music has shifted towards a more epic and cosmic style with all the ambience and symphonics that dominate alongside the primary black metal aspect, which in itself is structurally more complex and richer, as it creates this incredibly mesmerizing effect that possesses you from the very get-go. The mesmerizing quality of Voha's music is present throughout the entire album, keeping it strong and consistent from one track to another, without missing a beat or feeling a bit thinned out after a while. You can probably tell that the atmosphere is definitely the biggest highlight aside from all those symphonies and melodies, with a couple of ambient moments on the album that serve as interludes and nicely transition to the next chapter. This whole album feels like an epic journey with such a strong cinematic quality and classical music vibe, full of emotional roller coasters that hit hard, especially on the sixth track 'Crimson Tears' which nicely builds up the grand finale of the album that is concluded with the outro track 'And The Stardust I Shall Become'. The songwriting is very dynamic and well-thought-out with its overall complexity in the song arrangement, making every song stand out in its own way. Even though it's a risky decision to change stylistically, Voha's transition from classic black metal towards symphonic black metal worked out really well for me, and I was so stunned how drastically different it is compared to the predecessors Celestial Winter Sadness and Tama EP. I personally consider it to be a welcome change that works so much better due to being able to express more emotions and also create this layer of imagination that lives within the listener's mind, almost like some sort of storytelling through music that creates powerful images as you listen to the songs. When I first heard 'Raven Cry', I suddenly felt like nothing else mattered in that moment besides the music, but that was just a taste of what is to come, because after that it gradually gets stronger and more interesting. I have a feeling that a lot of people will draw comparisons to Emperor's magnificent debut In The Nightside Eclipse due to the style, atmosphere and the cover art, and although it would be understandable, considering its significant similarities, I think it's probably a bit to surface level thinking because an approach such as this goes way deeper than that, due to the fact that Majestic Nightsky Symphonies takes a lot of queues from various symphonic, as well as melodic black metal bands with a classical musical background. Every musician is a composer, but not necessarily a classical music type of composer, however in the case of Grof Vragovzov, he seems to have a bit of those classical composer influences that have greatly inspired his riffs, melodies and especially the keyboard sections. My experience with this album is so hard to describe because I was simply left without words once it was all over, but I could say that the words "majestic" and "symphonic" are definitely close to describing my journey. This album is exactly as the title suggests, a nice collection of Majestic Nightsky Symphonies that are equally epic and wonderful from start to finish, represented in a very oldschool 90's black metal style but in a more contemporary form. Voha made such a comeback that unexpectedly came out even greater than I could have ever imagined, and it also expanded the band's sound so well to the point where you just can't think of anything better that would take its place. Despite the troubles that Voha has faced before the album's release, I think that it turned out to be a case of "no pain no gain", where suffering is necessary in order to achieve something, or as I say it from my personal standpoint, boiling hot water always makes a fine tea. If you were lucky to tune in to this album's premiere via Black Metal Promotion, then I am most certain that many of you enjoyed it, but in case you haven't heard it yet, then you should definitely check it out as soon as possible. In the end, the dark lord has triumphantly reclaimed his stellar throne.
-Vlad

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

4: Attic - Return Of The Witchfinder
Ván Records

From the very get-go, whispers and haunting tales set the mood of the album, in a faithful ghostly fashion, followed by spooky and occult heavy metal that immediately screams out in pure King Diamond/Mercyful Fate style. Heavy banging guitar riffs, superb melodies, spectacular solos, relentless drumming and King Diamond styled vocals of Meister Cagliostro, all dominate throughout the entire album, while leaving open space to include other interesting bits like the surprising blast beats on the tracks 'Hailstorm And Tempest' and 'Synodus Horrenda', clean guitar sections and horrific organ keyboards. While being completely immersed in the album, you will feel that it has a powerful and fluent progression as it goes from one track to another, with a strong emphasis on the storytelling aspect with concepts that include demons, rituals, witch burning and other occult horror themes. The horror elements contribute a lot to the atmospheric side of Attic's music, creating an aura that will definitely evoke images of these horrific events in your head as you just let yourself go. It's got such a powerful transition between tracks, that once it reaches the conclusion with the final song 'Synodus Horrenda', it simply gives you this sense of epic closure where you are satisfied with the journey you just embraced. The songwriting is undoubtedly dynamic all the way through and each song is filled with plenty of progression, providing a very fun rollercoaster of ideas in this thrillride. With everything this album has to offer, from the music to the stories, as well as the awesome choruses, it is simply impossible to not be engaged from start to finish, especially since the album has such a strong mesmerizing quality to it. These fun inclusions such as blast beats and borderline black metal moments have proven to be incredibly effective by expanding the band's sound and keeping you constantly on edge. Attic is just unmistakable in their game because they just continue being a great successor to Mercyful Fate/King Diamond's style and sound, checking all the marks that this band satisfies the requirements. Whether you prefer Attic over Portrait, or the other way around, you just can't deny that both bands manage to take all the best elements of Mercyful Fate and King Diamond, and then effectively incorporate them in their albums, while both of them still remain in their own unique realm. From what I have come to expect from the Return Of The Witchfinder, I have to say that this is indeed a magnificent album that checks all the marks for me. To put it shortly, it's an "all killer no filler" album with lots of great stuff to be found, and not a desperate and lazy rip-off attempt of King Diamond and Mercyful Fate. It is definitely a faithful spiritual successor to both bands, but also a great exemplary album on its own. Attic has without a doubt nailed this one, and I am very pleased with the end result.
-Vlad

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

3: Cistvaen - At Light's Demise
Self-Released

There's been something stirring in the heart of Albion for some time, as the UK black metal scene continues to thrive, with high quality new acts appearing regularly. Cistvaen are no exception, following their 2021 EP with a debut album simply dripping in atmosphere and majestic melodies. Other than a short interlude, the tracks fully utilise their lengthy run-times, with the band's occasionally languid approach to their craft allowing sufficient time to envelop the listener in folk-derived melodies and lush textures, seditiously inviting us to draw nearer, before spitefully revealing the dark heart at the centre of the band's music, with cantankerous passages of coruscating blasts separating flesh from bone, before grinding what's left to ashes. For context, Wolves In The Throne Room and Winterfylleth are the most obvious comparators, although Cistvaen are typically more visceral than the latter, and one can detect a dash of the almost punk fervour of Downfall Of Gaia, and the delicate melodies of Alcest too, but there is nothing here that is too familiar for comfort. The magnificent basslines that bubble under and through each track also set them apart – James Mardon's performance is spectacular, and a clear point of difference in a treble-obsessed sub-genre. For a relatively callow band to display the kind of unassailable confidence in their music that Cistvaen obviously possess is highly impressive, but not altogether surprising, given the universal excellence across seven enthralling tracks. Cistvaen sing of the Light's Demise, but their future is bright indeed.
-Benjamin

MetalBite's Rating: 9.1/10

2: Satanic North - Satanic North
Reaper Entertainment

Vocalist Petri Lindroos and drummer Janne Parviainen from Ensiferum have a new battlefield with Satanic North. And as you can clearly see in the name, this ain't no Nickelback cover band. Although they are from Finland, they take more from the Swedish and Norwegian scenes of the 90s, with some old Immortal, Dark Funeral, The Abyss in there. In a few tracks, some punky Impaled Nazarene shines through (maybe because of the vocals, which are reminiscent of Mika Luttinen). Drums are a little bit tinny but I suppose it fits the vibe. "Battles in the North" and "Blizzard Beasts" are the biggest influences, which is not a terrible choice at all. Lyrically you get the whole Satanic nine yards, no cliché is left out. This is an excellent, blast heavy old school black metal blitz.
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 9.5/10

1: Vulture - Sentinels
Metal Blade Records

From the very first track 'Scream From The Abattoir', this ravenous beast is already screaming for vengeance with violence and force, striking hard with all they got. Not even a moment of thought and you already hear that the Vulture is hungry for blood, as the raw energy with furious speed, melody and headbanging action dominates throughout their riffs, screaming vocals and tight drumming. The single 'Unhallowed & Forgotten' still remains one of the strongest and memorable tracks on this album that perfectly teased the upcoming devastation, but despite being a brilliant album teaser, it certainly isn't anywhere near as good as what you are about to witness. As the album goes in motion with all the speed/thrash metal murder, you will notice that their songs are packed with some 80's metal influences, ranging from Accept to 80's Metallica to Exciter and Agent Steel, as well as many other quintessential 80's heavy, thrash or speed metal. The best examples that showcase the aforementioned influences are 'Transylvania/ Realm Of The Impaler', 'Draw Your Blades', 'Gargoyles' and 'Oathbreaker', all of which are excellent tracks that shed even more royal blood on the chess board. A wise man said, "Where There's a Whip (There Is a Way)", and so does the sixth track on this album make its way to be one of the outstanding destroyers that causes absolute whiplash from your intense headbanging. This album has plenty of surprising bits, with one example being instrumental track 'Der Tod Trägt Schwarzes Leder' that showcases a more classical music direction that jumps straight into 'Death Row' to continue ripping its way through. There is no denying that this album is just packed with excellent killer songs that rock out with absolute glory in any possible tempo, be it slow or fast, and they leave no head unbanged. The album flows so smoothly and yet so heavy at the same time, with every track building up the excitement to the very last bit, leading to the grand finale 'Sentinels (Heavier Than Time)', a superb conclusion to this magnificent experience that no one could predict. Vulture's dynamic and rich songwriting has always relied on traditional elements from heavy, speed and thrash metal, with a strong effort to take everything great about their music to its absolute peak. They certainly went ahead of their way to continue producing excellence and aggression through musical simplicity, with adrenaline flowing through every song while succeeding to keep maximum attention at all times. Truth be told, there is nothing about this album that kills the mood or breaks concentration, because it's all so focused and consistent with its fluent transition from one track to another. All three maniacal string players with their crimson BC Rich Ironbirds dominate with the drums and vocals that they simply refuse to give the listener a break, because an album such as this is not meant to be an easy ride. If you can't take the heat, then go home! This album is "all killer no filler" and I had no doubt about Sentinels whatsoever, because Vulture always managed to surpass all my expectations. Their task was very simple, conquer and deliver, and so they did! When the time is right, check out their new album Sentinels, because every track and every second of music matters from start to finish, no skipping allowed!
-Vlad

German speed metal at it's finest! The energy is unmatched and almost makes me want to get on a bike and ride at full speed with the wind in my hair. (and I actually hate moterbikes)
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 9.7/10

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Welcome back to MetalBite's Top 10 Albums of the Month! Feels a bit top-heavy, but there's still some monumental stuff that will certainly be scattered among many an AOTY list by December. Let's give it a look.

-Nate

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Converge - Love Is Not Enough
Epitaph

Converge is a band I've always liked but don't have extensive knowledge about. I, of course, love Jane Doe, a monumental mathcore milestone that changed metalcore. I haven't kept up with them lately, although I liked 2017 The Dusk In Us. Since 1994 Converge have been there, pushing hardcore and metalcore to new heights and 32 years later they still have a lot to say and are still has angry and energetic as ever! Musically to the point, they strip back their sound to the pure essence of what Converge is, the first half is all short hardcore bangers, fast, angry and with that subtle sludge metal weight. Lyrically always pertinent, some lyrics on the song "Love Is Not Enough" are direct in their assessment of the human experience, even if a bit pessimistic to my taste but hey, have you seen the world right now, can't say they're wrong! "Don't trust a soul if it does not fall, We learn nothing without gaping wounds, We must grow to stomach the taste of our own blood, We have to accept that love is not enough". In the second half, they experiment more with generally longer songs, and they explore a wide range of influences, a more confidently sludge sound, an ambient interlude, a very punk and post-hardcore sounding song and an infectious melodic riffing on "We Were Never the Same". It's cool to see old bands still with a fire burning inside, making music that's still relevant and of incredible quality. Respect!
-Raphael

Necrofier - Transcend Into Oblivion
Metal Blade Records

First I'm hearing of this group, although they seem to have taken the short track to being an established band - the members are clearly scene veterans, they've been on a bigger-name label (Season of Mist) since their debut, and that doesn't happen if you don't already have some in roads. The band is riff-focused, aggressive meloblack - Watain and Necrophobic are good immediate comparables, with perhaps a bit of a thrashy edge as well - Goatwhore without any of the NOLA sludge. I mostly know Texas for being home to a lot of brutal death metal, so it's good to know that it's a fertile region for other styles of extreme metal as well.
-Nate

Mors Verum - Canvas
Transcending Obscurity Records

Dissonant progressive death metal band from Canada/India Mors Verum offers a clearly Gorguts inspire death metal but with a bit more focus on groove and maybe a bit less chaotic, with a lot of pauses on the chaos to focus on lush atmospheres, which makes the dissonance stand out and makes it even more satisfying. They aren't scared to throw in a little melody here and there also, whether it be with a solo or in a riff. This makes for a perfect entry in the disso death genre and will hopefully be the gateway for more!
-Raphael

Die Like Gentlemen - Die Like Gentlemen
Independent

Do you like weed? Do you like excellent musicianship and creative songwriting? This Portland, Oregon crew can help you with that (weed sold separately). Their love for Black Sabbath is obvious, though they incorporate many other influences, progressive rock being an obvious one but with a sludgy edge. I think vocally is where it will make or break for people, it wouldn't be out of place in a folk metal outfit, I get old sea shanty vibes sometimes, but the guy still can sing, it's a powerful performance! They can write memorable songs, listen to "Because I Said So", right from the beginning they hook you with an unconventional riff and the solos are great, they pop out of the low rumble and are impactful. There are bluesy influences seeping in in every song and offers a nice change of pace from the harder hitting moments. Very fun album with an impeccable sounding production!
-Raphael

Ashbringer - Subglacial
Bolverk Collective

Following this band's transition from a prodigious atmo-black band beyond their years with the albums Vacant and Yūgen - both released when the core members were still teenagers - to expanding into lush, vibrant post-metal with Absolution, to adding more gritty post-hardcore with We Came Here To Grieve, and now Subglacial - an that, as a more matured outfit, sprinkles in elements from each era of their career, presenting them in a raw and authentic light. There isn't much in the way of effects being used, forcing the musical ideas to carry the song almost entirely on their own. That would be an issue if any of that was lacking, but Ashbringer has an impeccable sense of melody and an uncommon ability to demonstrate weighty, soulful emotions - they can do a lot with a little, and the intentionally barebones delivery only serves to highlight that. Every note of a simple solo, each strummed acoustic chord, each reverb-absent vocal line, somehow resonates more because of how thin everything sounds. I haven't quite heard much like it, and it's a bit of a gamble, but it pays off. I've always been a fan of this group, but I've always had qualms with the production job (perhaps a side effect of head honcho Nick Stanger doing most of the engineering and mixing, the endowment effect is a real thing) - but now they've finally got the right balance.
-Nate

Olhava - Memorial
Avantgarde Music

In contrast to Ashbringer, who use a very raw, thin skeleton to unmask potent emotions, Olhava takes the opposite route to complete immersion by layering repetitive elements atop one other and stretching them out to the point where you lose yourself in a single riff. It'll be on in the background, but suddenly this feeling of being immersed in a winter storm envelops you. Paysage D'Hiver with a more modern sheen to the production is a fair comparison.
-Nate

METALBITE'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH

10: Winter Eternal - Unveiled Nightsky
Hells Headbangers

There is something reassuring about the continued existence of orthodox melodic black metal bands that have developed over time to become masters of their craft. While the sub-genre finds its tendrils reaching into ever more distant territories, it is equally important that some act as a backstop against the total transformation of black metal, reinstating and reinforcing its core sounds and values. Winter Eternal are one such band, ostensibly the work of a single individual (Soulreaper), reaching their fifth album after 15 years of existence. Although the band hail from Greece, a nation that boasts a very singular take on black metal, there is very little trace of classic Hellenic melody here, Winter Eternal instead taking as their starting point the combination of majesty and fury that one would typically find in Scandinavia, with Sacramentum and Taake being obvious touchpoints. While the tempo rarely drops below a raging blast, Winter Eternal fully understand the value of restraint. There is nothing cluttered about the song arrangements, and the way in which the sublime melodies are given the space to wrap themselves around the listener's consciousness greatly enhances their power. 'Nurtured By The Night' and 'The Deceiver's Tale' are wonderful highlights, the bittersweet guitar lines creating the kind of sonic alchemy that elevates Unveiled Nightsky above the mediocre Norsecore that still abounds in the underground. And at thirty minutes, Winter Eternal have created a perfectly balanced record that never threatens to tip over into tedium, and leaving the enraptured listener wanting more.
-Benjamin

MetalBite's Rating: 8.1/10

9: Exhumed - Red Asphalt
Relapse Records

According to Statistics Canada, on average 1887 people die each year on the roads and 137 000 get injured. California's deathgrind giants, Exhumed, used this grim and gory but universal fact of our car dependent, dystopian capitalistic hellhole, to give us their latest album Red Asphalt. With a perfect, gore cover art by vocalist and bassist Ross Sewage, you know this is going to sound good and boy does it! If you like Carcass you will feel right at home. The dueling vocals of Matt Harvey and Ross Sewage, one a high scream and the other a low death growl gives great dynamics, and I absolutely love it when they both sing at the same time! The songs are usually short and to the point, no fat anywhere and the soloing is absolutely epic! Sebastian Phillips and Matt Harvey are the stars on this, the heroic solos that pop up everywhere are a great contrast to the dirty grind infused death metal. Honestly, I can't find anything bad about this album, it's heavy, fast, very guitar forward and it just sounds perfect. Mixed by Scott Evans and mastered by Leon del Muerte, it's a top-quality sounding album. For fans of Carcass and honestly, just metal in general.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.3/10

8: D.D.T. - In The Name Of God
Productions TSO

I'm so happy to be doing a review for this legendary Québécois band, legendary not for their discography, they only made a few demos and an EP, they automatically have this status because they are the first metal band of la belle province! And except for a few live performances on youtube, I never really had the chance to hear them properly. They now have a proper release for these songs they wrote in 1986-1987 and we finally can experience them, and let me tell you, it's a pure heavy metal delight! First let's talk about the band, originally formed of Pierre "Pete" Tougas on bass and backing vocals, François "Frank" Tougas on vocals, Paul "Moko" Tougas, on guitars and backing vocals, Sylvain "Syd" D'Arcy on drums and Denis Côté on guitars and backing vocals. The line up changed a bit when Syd and Denis left and Richard "PePe" Perusse joined on drums. If the name Tougas seems familiar (spoiler alert for the #1 of this top ten), it's because Pierre's son is the one and only, Phil Tougas of Worm, Chthe'ilist and so much more. I don't know what is going on in this family, everyone is a talented musician! Anyway, on to what matters, the music! The album is comprised of 8 tracks, 28 minutes, it's a short one but not a single second is wasted. The riffs are king, with that classic 80s heavy metal sound, songs are built around it, to emphasize it, the almighty riff. With excellent creative soloing, a fat bass sound and a great drumming performance, comfortable with fast double kick and slower groovier tempos. Frank's able to let out powerful falsetto screams that pair super well with the melodic, bright guitars. They also use gang vocals, pairing well with Frank's lower register. This album was such a joy to listen to, it automatically puts you in a good mood and I truly hope the band will continue and release new music!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.4/10

7: Burning Path - Burning Path
Dying Victims Productions

You're in a convertible, wind in the hair, on the seaside and Burning Path is playing at max volume. That is the feeling you will have during this nostalgia filled 40 minutes of just pure heavy metal fun. Born from the ashes of Chile's Lucifer's Hammer, Burning Path is a phoenix made of pure good vibes, classic metal with plenty of heroic solos and infectious riffs, I guarantee many will be stuck on a loop in your head but for me it's the song "Chasing The Future", omg I'm obsessed by that riff! Those 2 boys, Hypnos on bass, guitars, keyboards and Titán on vocals, guitars, drums just know how to write a good song, balancing catchiness and great musicianship. The guitars are king, bright and melodic, the shredding solos are always the highlight. Vocally, Titán summons his inner Geddy Lee, which is particularly fitting with those bright guitars and on the last song, "The Darkness That Will Last", they channel a bit of prog rock influences, making a longer song and using a bit more complex drum patterns. Listening to this record makes me think, can summer just fucking arrive already!!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

6: Incandescence - Hors Temps
Profound Lore Records

Incandescence is Philippe Boucher's black metal project, you might know Philippe from his other bands, Beyond Creation, Dissimulator and his project with another legendary Phil, Chthe'ilist! Also, get hyped because Phil teased that Chthe'ilist will be releasing something soon and according to him and I quote "it's more sickening, eerie and HEAVIER."

Anyway, back to the other Philippe, with Incandescence he plays everything, drums, guitars, bass and Louis-Paul Gauvreau (famous for signing a Necrophagist song on Québec's version of The Voice) takes vocal duties. Black metal is not a genre that really focuses on drums so the fact a tech death drummer has a black metal project makes this pretty unique. It's a melodic kind of black metal but always sounding so evil! Louis-Paul's reverb filled vocals gives this a raw quality that adds to the atmosphere. He has a pretty dynamic vocal style, whaling, shrieking screams and lower grunts mixes seamlessly, think of Grutle Kjellson's approach. Instrumentally Philippe is such an impressive musician, has comfortable on guitar, bass and drums, there's some earworm riffs on here, particularly on the last song, "Inexorable deterioration". I again am in the impossibility of finding anything bad on here, it's a perfect black metal album, if you like the Immortal brand of black, you will love this very much.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

5: Fossilization - Advent Of Wounds
Everlasting Spew

It's hard to quantify the atmosphere a piece of music has. Yes, that is ironic to say in a review of music where that is precisely what you're supposed to do, but it's inherently faulty to measure emotion in numbers, and how one person experiences something is going to be different than others. But at the same time, there are bands that have better luck embedding themselves in the memory of avid listeners. Dead Congregation is revered by many, but pound for pound they're equal to the hordes of other modern atmospheric death/doom bands that get a fraction of the attention. Void Rot and Escarnium are a couple of others that have that elusive essence that conjures imagery in your brain. Everlasting Spew has a particular ear for it, and Fossilization is one of their premier exports, a band who they have worked with over multiple releases dating back to their initial EP in 2020.

Over these years, the band, fitting to their moniker, has solidified their core sound, deepening the indentations and refining their formula to maximum impact. While they have always shown a strong ability to stack layers to create a chasmic, vacuous density, they have grown increasingly adept at using subtle nuances to maximize the force of impact. They can start off with a faster, more aggressive section, yet the immediate chaos that ensues does not reveal their hand - they use clever trickery to slow things to a middling pace, maybe even a crawl for a moment, before jolting you back to attention with more pummeling death metal. All good music is the product of push and pull, building tension and releasing it, and this is well understood on this album - but the pathway to it is more jagged, taking you by surprise and leaving you eager to hear where it takes you next, even if you're well versed in the style. As I alluded to in the first paragraph, the difference between a great band and a mediocre one is all in the songwriting - and Fossilization is a great band. They create something that feels novel using the exact same building blocks a a thousand others.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

4: Phendrana - Cathexis
Independent

Phendrana is one of the best maps of the cult GameCube game Metroid Prime but that's not what I'll be talking about today, no it's the one-man musical project of Anuar Salum from Mexico. Anuar (Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Keyboards, Piano, Orchestration, Songwriting, Lyrics) is one hell of a talented musician and this album is filled with atmosphere, progressive song structures and that warmness associated with the blackgaze genre. When the second song begins you are immediately hit with a nostalgic feeling, Opeth clearly being an influence, and he plays with different eras, in the same song you go from Damnation to Orchid. The song "Cathexis" features varied vocals and instrumentation, beautiful female vocals are accompanied by a flute and later a saxophone, which is one of my favorite nontraditional instruments to add in metal! The third song is a straight progressive black metal banger with powerful dynamics and with so much beauty. For the fourth and last song of this incredible work, we have an 18-minute progressive epic journey through sheer heaviness, subtle atmospheres, warm and emotive melodies and tight musicianship. All in all this is a fantastic and creative work from a talented musician. In this dystopian hellhole we live in, it's moments like this that is important to hold on to, I am able to connect deeply with the work from a guy in Mexico, of half Syrian and half Lebanese descent, and feel that I understand the emotions he was trying to convey, which is a such beautiful thing and something we need to remember, we are all connected and borders are a made up concept.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.6/10

3: Slaughterday - Dread Emperor
Testimony Records

This powerhouse of German death metal delivers another satisying riff feast to add to their very consistent discography. Full review by Michael here.
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

2: Cryptic Shift - Overspace & Supertime
Metal Blade Records

British progressive death metallers Cryptic Shift have certainly taken their time to follow-up their excellent debut Visitations From Enceladus, a sci-fi inspired debut that propelled them to the pinnacle of the UK death metal pile, creating a level of expectation around the band that has hung heavy for the last six years. The move to US giant Metal Blade has done nothing to reduce the anticipation, with Cryptic Shift potentially on the brink of the kind of breakthrough that has always proven a step too far for many of their compatriots. Impressively, the band have chosen not to dilute the complexity of their assault, and have instead crafted a work of dizzying ambition. Where the previous album was built around the lengthy opener, 'Moonbelt Immolator', Cryptic Shift have gone one better this time, with twin centrepieces 'Stratocumulus Evergaol' and the title track clocking in at 29 and 20 minutes respectively. This album requires and rewards extreme concentration. While there is no shortage of absolutely stunning riffs to be found here, the arrangements rarely gratify the listener with a return visit. Cryptic Shift favour a linear approach to songwriting, forever rushing through infinite space in search of the edge of the universe, never looking back to Earth. Across the five tracks that comprise the album, the band cycle through a mind-boggling array of ideas, from the kind of clean, jazzy dissonance that Pestilence experimented with on Spheres, to Voivod / Vektor-style thrash, and angular Morbid Angel-style grinding death. The mind-melting lead guitars twist and spiral like Allen Holdsworth guesting on a late-period Death record, and the way in which the band explore a range of textures and tones ensures that on a purely sonic level, the album is always intriguing. It is possible that Overspace & Supertime could make the same impact as Blood Incantation's Absolute Elsewhere in 2024, reinforcing the incursion of avant-garde death metal into the mainstream. Cryptic Shift don't quite pull from as wide a spectrum of non-metal influences as the Americans, but nevertheless, the ability to execute such an expansive vision is the same. Whether Cryptic Shift enjoy the same level of crossover success is yet to be determined, but this album may come to be regarded as a landmark for many years to come, irrespective of any commercial success.
-Benjamin

Nothing is bigger than the vast expanse of space, although Cryptic Shift's Overspace & Supertime certainly comes close! Clocking in at a whopping 79 minutes, I must admit I went in with certain apprehensions. But, after sitting through the entire thing, I can honestly say that this is such well composed music that time just flies by, keeping you captivated through the end.

There is so much going on, all the time, every part is played with a near superhuman level of technicality, weaving in unsettling atmospheres, smooth jazzy parts, interesting melodic textures, technical brutality and weird alien noises, all that sounding both mechanical and incredibly organic at the same time. "Cryogenically Frozen" opens this epic journey, sounding like every technical riff waking up, unfrozen one at a time. You know a band means business when a few seconds after the beginning, you get a solo! Then, "Stratocumulus Evergaol" a 29-minute monster, that could have been a standalone EP, throws you in a whirlwind of technical riffing, fast thrash, a la Voivod, with all that dissonant goodness, influences also ranging from Atheist, Cynic and of course, Death. This song feels like a voyage through space, it's at moments fast, with a hundred notes flying everywhere, like you are traversing an asteroid belt, at times it becomes slow and quiet, making you feel like you are alone in the vastness of space and then everything kicks back on overdrive! The end of the song feels like entering a planet's atmosphere and when you think it's safe, everything becomes quiet, suddenly, crazy fast drums, a bass solo, technical riffs and then, unsettling silence. And we are only two songs in. The level of care for details, the humongous lore, the musicianship, all weaved in each other, is astonishing. One example of this is that every solo, guitar or bass, has its own title, all linked to the lore. On "Hyperspace Topography" for example, a solo is named "Anxietous Voyage In The Seas Of Jollity" and it has many dissonant notes, combined with short bursts of blast beats, emulating the feeling of anxiety perfectly. This is but one example of how music, lyrics and lore are all interconnected and the album is so massive that there is an overwhelming number of them.

A 79-minute album is not usually one you come back for the full experience, but Overspace & Supertime demands that you do and each time, you will discover so many new things. This is an impressive prog, tech, death, thrash odyssey that will leave a mark in your mind and in the big and expansive world of metal!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 9.2/10

1: Worm - Necropalace
Century Media Records

Picture this, two sexy vampires, waltzing in the dark halls of a great castle. Now, if I asked you what music was playing in the background, well, Necropalace is exactly that soundtrack; dark, melodic, grandiose and crushing. Worm has been around for a few years already, perfecting their brand of cinematic death/doom with blackened edges and in 2021, after the excellent Foreverglade the band would become a duo when the one and only, the musical prodigy and pride of Québec, Phil Tougas joined forces with Phantom Slaughter under the name Wroth Septentrion. Phil brought his distinct style to the sound of Worm, and it created something truly unique and epic, a milestone in all of metal.

On this album, Worm embraces the symphonic black metal sound, which was always there, but never fully out in the open like this and it complements Phil's neoclassical guitar prowess so well. These rich layers of melodies are mixed with some truly heavy moments. Evil tremolos and blast beats are used, intertwined with these symphonic elements, for a truly vampiric sounding result. Then, everything slows down, Phantom Slaughter lets out a deep, cavernous guttural growl that is felt deep in the guts with the drums slowing to a near funeral doom level. These tempo changes contrast the faster blackened parts to perfection and are some of the most satisfying sections of this album. And then there's Phil. The writing was done by him and Phantom Slaughter, sometimes even in the back of a van during the decibel tour. The recording was apparently a challenge, he had to play his solos while suffering acute tendonitis in his hand. Like the true legend he is, he played through the pain and the result is monumental. There is so many memorable moments and truly infectious melodies everywhere on this masterpiece that the hour and three minutes runtime feels like 20 minutes max. I swear, Einstein was so right, time is truly relative. From the first notes of "Gates To The Shadowzone", with the sound of thunder in the background, the orchestration coming in, with Phil's Timpani and then the neoclassical soloing, it's a great little sample of what is to come. "Neropalace" begins right after and this part will be engraved in your brain to the level of obsession, one of the many instances of the melodies that will replay in your mind, over and over again. You then blink and the last song begins and you're like; what!? Already? But you went through so many scrumptious solos, delectable death/doom heavy moments, nostalgia filled sounds and instrumentation, taking you back to the best of 90s Dimmu Borgir or Cradle of Filth, and despite this you still feel hungry for more! And then, "Witchmoon - The Infernal Masquerade", a 14-minute juggernaut, containing dangerous numbers of the best soloing your ears will have the privilege of hearing. The over 3 minutes of Phil and Marty Friedman soloing together is probably the most metal experience you'll ever have.

What to say more (a lot, stay tuned for a more in-depth review), this album demonstrates what metal can be, with so many genres and influences, all packaged and flowing seamlessly together, it's an impressive achievement that will be talked about in the history books of metal for sure. There is now a before and after Necropalace.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 10/10

Thanks for stopping by! Check out our list for January 2026 while you still have the time and space to get caught up on sick riffs from this year.

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

Welcome back to MetalBite's top 10 albums of the month! As you might expect, now that spring is here, the floodgates are open and we're back to desperately trying to give shout-outs to all the music worth listening to out there. Some seriously good shit missed the cut for the Top 10. Make sure you dig into the honorable mentions too, because a lot of the time there's very little separating them from the albums that "made the list" in terms of quality. Let's get freaky!

-Nate

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Rites Of Regress - Dust
Third Eye Temple

Norwegian/Polish band Rites Of Regress displays a very somber but also teeth-grinding heavy blackened doom metal with a heavily distorted aura surrounding it, expressed through its doomy guitar riffs, slow but commanding and banging drums, and heavily distorted harsh vocals. The songs really have that ominous vibe which dictates the forthcoming darkest hour where nothing is real but death and horror, and only true fear knows what it awaits. It's hard to summarize how I feel about this album, because on the one hand I liked it very much, but on the other hand I wished that we could have gotten a bit more out of it, with maybe just a couple more tracks that could have expanded the tracklist. However, despite all that I have just said, that doesn't mean that this album isn't great on its own, because it certainly did a very good job at presenting an attractive piece of work that should definitely be carried over to the band's future releases that could potentially offer more.
-Vlad

Pestilential Shadows - Devil's Hammer
Northern Silence

I'll admit I didn't spend as much time with this as I wanted to (I've been in more of a tech death and death/doom mood than a black metal mood lately) but this is worth a mention given how I fell in love with Revenant, the preceding album to this one. This is a bit more active and aggressive, almost feeling like a different band at times, but I get the sense that this Aussie group tries their best to never write the same album twice while still keeping the base sound they've developed over the years. They've still got a keen ear for melody and a sense of how to generate atmosphere through great riffwork as opposed to forcing ethereal synths on top of mediocrity.
-Nate

Haunt - Dreamers
Independent

Haunt yet again rides and dominates with some incredibly catchy bangers full of heaviness, melody and strength of steel, with powerful and emotional vocals by Trevor William Church which add a lot of emotion and more dimension to the music. The songs express so many personal feelings which are mixed with themes of supernatural and fantasy, while keeping constant track on rocking out with all heavy metal power and glory. Interesting thing about Haunt and how Trevor writes every new material is that it feels like each track on the album was meant to be a hit song or a heavy metal anthem, mostly due to the uplifting spirit that flows through every chorus and every riff. Haunt's overall musical simplicity truly manages to remain expressive and effective throughout the entirety of the album, while also leaving plenty of space for new ideas that have not been used before or not to a certain extent. If one could ever find anything to fault about their work, it is only because they just can't enjoy simple things and are probably looking for a needle in a haystack. I think I enjoyed Dreamers more than Golden Arm, mostly due to the fact that it has plenty of likeable stuff on here and then some, but I still think that it's not really worth comparing their albums because they are mostly staying faithful to their oldschool heavy metal songwriting formula. I feel like Haunt only wishes to expand their story by adding new chapters with every album that comes out, without leaving the fans feeling empty or unimpressed in the end, which I think deserves immense support and respect from those who swear in the name of "New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal".
-Vlad

Skeletal Remains - Fragments Of The Ageless
Century Media Records

Skeletal Remains evolved in a very interesting way. Their early material had Asphyx and early Death written all over it, and gradually fine-tuned their material to be even more hateful and aggressive. This has culminated in this, their 5th full-length album, a relentless and brutal beast that leaves no room for breath. Gone are the Death references, gone are the Dutch trademarks now there is only super heavy riffing and lots of late Vincent/early Steve Tucker era Morbid Angel worship. The guitar solos also call to these influences, and the result is a very unpleasant and uncompromising album that is heavy as fuck and relentlessly beats you down without mercy.
-Michael

Fathomless Ritual - Hymns For The Lesser Gods
Transcending Obscurity Records

Brendan Dean is turning into the weirdo Canadian version of Rogga Johansson real quick. Besides this project, which he did everything except for the artwork for (drum programming, mixing/mastering, you name it), he also has Gutvoid, Pukewraith and Fumes as current creative outlets (among a handful of others), and also had brief stints in Pronostic and Brought by Pain on bass in the early 2010s. Unlike Rogga, he's more selective and diverse with his creative outlets - although it definitely seems like his preferred go-to nowadays is old-school death metal with hints of doomy, psychedelic atmospheres.

Fathomless Ritual has a couple things that make it stand out from Dean's other work, even on cursory listens - the general vibe is noticeably more uptempo, with less deliberate crawling, and the Demilich vibes are a distinct and definitive part of this album. It's got that delicious bounce that we've come to know and love. Cryptworm and Dead and Dripping are good comparisons - it's good to see that bands taking influence from Nespithe are now common enough that there's almost a new sub-subgenre of death metal forming. It's fun, but always maintains enough obtuse weirdness to keep it from becoming too hokey.

There's not a ton of variety - Hymns For The Lesser Gods finds a niche and sticks to it for the entire duration. It will be interesting to see if there's enough ideas behind Fathomless Ritual to expand and develop further on a second album, or if Dean will just get bored and move onto another project. Regardless, it executes well, does what it needs to and if you're a fan of any of the bands I mentioned above you'll almost certainly enjoy this.
-Nate

Severoth - Шляхом Світла
Avantgarde Music

One of my favorite newer one man atmoblack projects. This one is a bit more dreamy and a bit less soul-crushing than the previous album, with the drums buried more in the mix this time around. I do prefer Vsesvit (the album that got me into the project) a bit more, but this is still a fine piece of work that's great for studying, chilling, being carried off into alternate realms etc.
-Nate

Coffin Storm - Arcana Rising
Peaceville Records

Coffin Storm does indeed provide a lot of wicked heavy and doom metal elements consisted of solid catchy riffing enriched with guitar melodies, with drums in a slower tempo and epic singing vocals by Fenriz that were often incorporated in Isengard and also a couple of Darkthrone songs in the later era, particularly The Underground Resistance. Although on first-hand it may sound a bit too familiar, with there being a strong resemblance to Darkthrone's recent works with the heavy and doom-laden style since Old Star, regardless of the fact you will manage to hear hear a lot of influences throughout the entire album, coming from bands such as Manilla Road, Pentagram, Candlemass, Witchfinder General, Saint Vitus, mid-tempo elements of Celtic Frost, Metallica and Kreator, as well as musical nods to early Paradise Lost & Cathedral. There is a strong emphasis on simplicity in the band's songwriting, but still quite dynamic with all the tempo changes and transitions between each section. All of the songs stand out in their own way thanks to the incredibly heavy riffing that is without a doubt the biggest highlight of this album. Overall, Arcana Rising is very enjoyable and very pleasant to listen to from start to finish, presenting itself as a nice and charming love letter to the 80's classics. The three Norwegian metal titans have proven successful in their mission to unite their forces and create one powerful spell that will bewitch the excited fans, and I am very glad to see Coffin Storm proving itself to be a one nasty son of a bitch.
-Vlad

Apogean - Cyberstrictive
The Artisan Era

Nice Zenith Passage style grooves, always love it when bands have some of those, and this at least has a bit more chonk than some of the more recent Artisan Era releases. Mac Smith is a monster vocalist and adds a bit of flair to anything he's a part of. I do wish this was like 10-20bpm faster a lot of the time, but it's nonetheless solid enough to get a passing grade from this tech-head.
Bonus points for these dudes being local to my home province, hopefully I can play a show with em at some point!
-Nate

Volcandra - The Way Of Ancients
Prosthetic Records

Really solid melodic black metal with hints of death metal and thrash scattered about, sort of like Skeletonwitch but with more "elegant sword'n'sorcery" instead of "thrash nerd after six beers" vibes. They've always had enough surface appeal in their riffs, that's why Prosthetic took notice, but sometimes it felt a little disjointed - like they were including every good idea that they had. The Way Of Ancients feels more like a full album, they trimmed the fat without getting any less riffy and it helps to highlight the individual talents of each member. The guitarists are tight and have a wider range of motion, and drummer Mike Hargrave and vocalist Dave Palenske are seriously underrated given what they bring to the table. They'll never dominate a song, but always do exactly what it needs to. The faster skinwork is tight and tasty, and Palenske's diction and enunciation has always been incredibly sharp, and it's only underscored more here.

I'm still waiting for that moment where this hits me right in my soul and forces me to sing the praises of Volcandra to everyone I know, but that being said, they're doing everything right. It's going to come. I'll keep following this band diligently because I know they're on the verge of a true breakout - it took Artificial Brain a few albums before I finally felt like they hit that point, even though they were always very good.
-Nate

Civerous - Maze Envy
20 Buck Spin

There's been a lot of really good death/doom this year. Where Spectral Voice slow drips a cubic mile of lead until it completely crushes and disintegrates you, Civerous is much more of a "meat grinder" style of death/doom - more actively churning, can stop on a dime to go from the speedy moments into a crushing breakdown and then back again, and don't take as long to get to the point, but lead you on into listening to the full song through a series of interesting garnishes. The album title is fitting, the songs are constructed in a very maze-like manner - confounding yet cohesive and with a lot of attention to detail. Above all, they have that flavour to their riffing that's just impossibly heavy, eschewing all melodiousness during the more active moments to underscore the beauty in the clean breaks like 'Endless Symmetry' or the emotive surge in 'Labyrinth Charm'.
-Nate

Bruce Dickinson - The Mandrake Project
BMG

From the get-go, the album already starts out pretty strong with 'Afterglow Of Ragnarok' that has already served its purpose as a fine album teaser, but the following 'Many Doors To Hell' and 'Rain On The Graves' is where you truly start to feel like this album is going somewhere and you don't know where to exactly, because each of these songs has its own identity and sort of surprise factor that really makes you wonder what comes next. There is a big sense of storytelling and chapter progression as the album goes, presented in this turbulent ride to the strange and alien world created by the visionary mastermind within Bruce himself. This album has a lot of various ideas that enriched the songwriting and made it feel quite dynamic and unexpecting, bouncing back and forth with themes of mythology, occultism and personal subjects, making every song shine on its own while also transforming the album into a big turbulent rollercoaster. This joyride certainly has a lot of interesting moments that a listener can embrace with all their heart, which goes far out from what one could expect after hearing the singles 'Afterglow Of Ragnarok' and 'Rain On The Graves'. Those singles have done a pretty good job as album teasers, but they didn't exactly give away what the album sounds like because of the stylistic differences between songs, and that has often been the case of Bruce Dickinson's solo work with a lot of variety and experimenting. Overall, The Mandrake Project turned out to be a very interesting and enjoyable output that exceeded all my expectations. Looking back at the album catalog of Bruce Dickinson's solo work, I have to say that I never ended up feeling disappointed or unamused, and so comes this new album to rightfully take its place among his predecessors.
-Vlad

Gottmaschine - Kyberneth
Independent

Gottmaschine once again unloads all the cannons with commanding blackened death metal in a strong military fashion which burst into flame with rapid-fire blast beats with frequent double-bass drumming, tremolo picking riffs and harsh growling vocals that altogether form a great symphony of destruction on the battlefields. Their songwriting remains mostly similar to that of their previous self-titled debut album, however by expanding it further with a couple of these interesting inclusions they did a good job at making everything just a bit more dynamic and engaging. All the songs are very enjoyable to listen to, with each song feeling like a dangerous weapon or a call to arms that is filled with marching and stomping, altogether leaving no prisoners behind. Surprised to say, this EP does feel like a standalone expansion to their self-titled debut that sticks to the musical and thematic formula of its predecessor, showing a great deal of potential for things that may come in the future. It is very much a "Panzer Division Marduk" driven experience but in a much more contemporary direction that takes its work seriously without ridiculing and without pretentiousness. If you haven't yet heard the band Gottmaschine, I suggest that you check out their self-titled debut album and then jump straight into Kyberneth.
-Vlad

Hideous Divinity - Unextinct
Century Media Records

The speed of this album is pummeling and blistering, as you have likely come to expect from Hideous Divinity, but on Unextinct there's a wider scope and range of motion which highlights the band's growth as songwriters, all the while retaining their vicious, intense core. It's an overwhelming album with a lot of little quirks and rabbit holes that are going to take some more time for me to explore. I missed their last North American tour, these dudes need to come back very very soon!!!
-Nate

Dodsrit - Nocturnal Will
Wolves Of Hades / Argento Records

A little-known fact about my taste is that the album Imperivm by Ictus is one of my all time favorites, and one of maybe four or five albums I would be comfortable giving a perfect 10/10 score. That melodic black/death/crust sound is so uniquely riffy and invigorating, and I find myself gravitating to anything that comes anywhere close to it. Cue Dodsrit.

Their sound is more rooted in black metal, but still has that same triumphant, call-to-action feeling that makes you want to gather all the homies and start a revolution. There's an underlining of positivity that emanates through this, in a way that is antithetic to the way black meal typically presents itself, but the extremity of the music doesn't suffer for it. It's just heaviness used to achieve a different end goal, underscoring its power. Sometimes when bands go this route, the major key moments muffle the impact, but Nocturnal Will doesn't have this problem.
-Nate

Midnight - Hellish Expectations
Metal Blade Records

Without warning and without hesitation, all hell breaks loose from the very get-go as the d-beat and devilish rock 'n roll driven energy bursts out the wall with fucking speed and darkness. Midnight strikes hard from the very start as the first couple of tracks already show that this means business and that business is good, especially with the badass and hellfire fueled bangers like the third and fourth track, with such simple titles that speak out loud that Athenar's game is indeed 'Masked And Deadly' and that you are nothing but a 'Slave Of The Blade'. The simple but solid songwriting of Athenar on this album has proven to be incredibly effective from start to finish, providing tons of enjoyable moments with a lot of punk rock, heavy metal, rock and roll, black and speed metal that mercilessly sets the stage on fire. All of the songs shine with consistent energy and aggression that wastes no time for any fancy tricks or antics that bands waste their time and effort to please the audience, because Midnight keeps things straight to the point with every song banging left and right. Despite the album being just over 25 minutes long, it is simply impossible not to get immersed into it because there is just way too many fun and enjoyable stuff here that can't go unnoticed and ignored, especially if you are a one hellish rock and roll soldier that the devil himself enlisted with every right in his army. Midnight has triumphed and fulfilled everything that we've come to expect from the beast that is Hellish Expectations. Straight to the point, blasphemous, fucking speed and darkness, all the way through! There is nothing more that I can say other than the fact that Hellish Expectations is yet another worthy entry in the band's discography.
-Vlad

Brodequin - Harbinger Of Woe
Season Of Mist

This might be the best production job Brodequin's ever had. Not that the "death by snare ping" didn't have its charm, but man, when everything is properly and professionally balanced, it just highlights how nasty these brutal speedfreaks really are. New drummer Brennan Shackleford is an absolute monster, and it sounds like the Bailey brothers haven't missed a beat despite the 20-year gap between full-lengths.
-Nate

Black Absinthe - On Earth Or In Hell
Independent

I try not to plug local metal bands unless they actually turn my crank. Between playing in metal bands and booking shows myself, I come into contact with a lot of them, and most of them are swell dudes with solid tunes - but for the purposes of reviewing, I need to be a little bit pickier. There are tons of bands that are passable and don't do anything wrong, but the style just isn't something I'd go out of my way to listen to. As such, I focus my writing energy on things that objectively tickle my fancy, personal connections or not - that way, if I AM hyping something up, you can trust my word that it's actually legit.

This is definitely the case with this Toronto-based group, which is extra impressive because they inhabit a genre (modern trad metal) that I'm choosy about on the best of days even when it comes to the heavy hitters. I need some solid hooks, a little bit of bite, and the occasional dash of extreme metal sensibility so it can compete with all the uber-heavy junk that takes up most of my brainspace. That's a rare combination, but Black Absinthe checks all those boxes with aplomb.

The clean vocals delivered with grit and punch, with a solid natural timbre and great production values helping to staple them into memory. The songs don't really follow traditional structures and stray away from repeating choruses and motifs, but I still wouldn't call it prog metal because there's a spirited, punkish attitude that bleeds through each riff . It's kind of like Skull Fist got a bit heavier and thrashier. There's a dash of Maiden minus the falsettos and overt theatrics, a dash of Testament without fully plunging into being thrash. The solos have a jammy 70s vibe to them, the verses feel decidedly 80s - but On Earth Or In Hell still has enough unique twists and turns to have it keep up with modern heavy metal without sounding dated.

Seriously impressive and hella underrated - with a little more press and exposure, these guys could be touring with Spirit Adrift or something.
-Nate

Khold – Du Dømmes Til Død
Soulseller Records

In a surprising turn of events, Khold really hits the note with a strong groove in their doom-laden black metal that sets the mood straight for the entire album. Just like with the other band Tulus, Khold's music dominates primarily with groovy black 'n roll that is quite dynamic with its tempo changes and styles that vary between songs, at times getting heavier and more unsettling as the album slowly progresses. For people who say that slow can't be heavy or that these bands need to play faster if they are gonna play black metal, the fifth track 'Lædel' throws in some in your face d-beats that just add more flavor to the ominous doomy moments on the album, alongside with the atmospheric/industrial synths in the chorus that give an additional layer to the band's sound. Khold's performance has always been much more intense than that of Tulus, more oriented towards pure aggression and punchiness than catchiness and simplicity. The songwriting contains a lot of dynamic tempo changes that fluently switch between fast and slow throughout the entirety, with a lot of grooves in the riffs and drums that are even more amped up with Gard's tight harsh vocals. The highlight of this album is that you can really just sit back and enjoy the ride, where you can just get entirely immersed in the band's performance while still paying close attention as to what comes next. The stylistic consistency all throughout gives plenty of space to follow along without losing focus on the music, and as a black metal band they truly manage to keep you on edge as the tradition requires. This album has a lot of anger and frustration expressed through black metal, as well as excellence in the band's performance that gradually becomes heavier and heavier each time a new song comes up. Truly an awesome album that should not be overlooked if you are into groovy and rock and roll driven black metal.
-Vlad

METALBITE'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH

10: Vorga - Beyond The Palest Star
Transcending Obscurity

One of my favorite TO exports for sure - it's hard to find black metal that toes the line between catchiness and atmosphere the way that Vorga can. They love midpaced, driving riffs, which just so happen to be my favorite as well. Striving Towards Oblivion was pretty close to a top 10 album the year that came out - it still has that je ne sais quois that keeps me coming back for the occasional go-around, so I was especially excited for the new one.

The only problem with a band releasing a stellar, addictive album is that they have to follow it up with one as equally stellar and addictive. Thing is, Beyond The Palest Star is more of a slow burn - it's only by the third or fourth listen that I've started to appreciate it more. The songs take a bit longer to develop, and Vorga plays more with the space they create by doing that, making for a more immersive, entrancing sound - but it forces you to pay attention to it. They've always had the modern cosmic theme, and I find this release digs into that a bit more fully - to put it one way, it sounds more like the album cover looks this time around. Whether you like that more than the previous album is mostly up to personal preference, but either way, it sounds like Vorag have settled into their own niche of riffy space black metal, developing a sound that is all their own.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.3/10

9: Verwoed - The Mother
Wolves Of Hades /Argento

Verwoed, like many of the best contemporary black metal acts, hail from The Netherlands, whose combination of relaxed liberal democracy and drug decriminalisation has strangely produced a seemingly endless production line of weird and extreme music. The Mother is the band's fourth official release, and second full-length, and offers the listener a powerful and immersive experience, a little heavier on atmosphere than riffs, but compelling in its post-industrial darkness. The insistent melodies that layer themselves, brick by brick, upon the propulsive foundations of droning minor chords have the same kind of hypnotic effect that Akhlys achieve, and the mesmeric nature of their music, most obvious on the superb title track pulls us closer than we might like to the eldritch abyss that confronts us unbidden. As the record progresses, 'The Child' provides a richer harmonic palate, expanding the bands horizons into almost Opethian territories, and this approach finds an excellent accommodation with the chunky Funeral Mist-like riffs that run through the excellent 'The Madman's Dance'. The variety found on the record might be confusing to some listeners, as Verwoed alternate between oppressive dissonance and progressive majesty, but for this one, at least, The Mother is a benevolent parent indeed.
-Benjamin

MetalBite's Rating: 8.3/10 (for now)

8: Messiah - Christus Hypercubus
High Roller Records

This surprised me a bit - I like Messiah, but this is killer. The songwriting is much tighter and catchier than their last album Mont Fracmont and in my opinion this is one of the best albums in their career.
'Once Upon A Time…Nothing' is one of the fastest songs they've ever written and it's a real brutal death-thrash bastard with super aggressive vocals. With the Slayer vibes, this is probably one of the best songs they've done since Rotten Perish. 'Soul Observatory' is pure thrash with the only death metal influence being in the vocals. The riffing is simple but very effective and this is one of the catchiest tracks with some atmospheric twists and turns. There is an acoustic part that suddenly drops the thrash, providing a great contrasting effect. Last but not least 'Venus Baroness I' and 'Venus Baroness II' are some really groovy closers. Rousing melodies with great hooks, they mix up some heavy thrash and death elements to a galloping tempo and so these two tracks feel much shorter than their 11 minute runtime - a hallmark of a great album. Lots of great tracks to explore here – check out Christus Hypercubus and you won't be disappointed!
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.3/10

7: Carrion Vael - Cannibals Anonymous
Unique Leader

I'll try to be as objective as possible in my assessment of this - forgive me for the self-indulgent masturbation that is to follow, but Carrion Vael will forever have a special place in my heart - I was literally their vocalist for four days. Right before their Canadian tour with Aepoch (who are all good friends of mine), their main guy Travis had some health concerns and had to bow out of the tour less than a week before it would begin, and as such I was presented with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I learned the lyrics to six songs in four days (it helped that I was a big fan of Abhorrent Obsessions, since the entire set was off that album) and played some of the coolest shows I've ever played in my life with some of the sickest musicians I've ever shared a stage with. One of those shows was a double set (with my own band opening the show) in a sold out room of 200+ people. I hope that isn't my musical peak, but it wouldn't be so bad if it was because holy fuck that was some next level shit.

Anyways, enough with the personal anecdote. Wonderful dudes, phenomenal musicians, it's near impossible for me to not have a bit of bias when I listen to this but I'll try my best.

As you might imagine, I was excited to see the homies were droppin some of that brand new sauce. On previous albums, they could be considered something of a Black Dahlia Murder worship band with a few more notes, but as time goes on they've added a great deal more nuance and identity to their music - it was starting to develop on Abhorrent Obsessions, and it's evolving even more on Cannibals Anonymous. I particularly notice a bit of a blackened edge coming out more on this record - 'Augusta's Dead' has a chorus riff that brings it to mind, and the garnishes of clean vocals and synths - more prevalent and blended into the fabric this time around - only accent that vibe. I don't think Cradle of Filth was an influence because this sounds nothing like them, but the atmosphere that comes out of it has some parallels, if that makes sense.

Travis has augmented his vocal delivery accordingly - he still has the fast, choppy lines that I loved from the previous record (I have a huge soft spot for fast vocalists in general), but they're a bit more spaced out and there's a lot more emphasis on his highs, only adding to the blackened edge. While this doesn't have the same immediate appeal that Abhorrent Obsessions does, I do find that the more I listen to this, the more I hear the Carrion Vael I know and love - just more mature, fleshed out and multifaceted.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.4/10

6: Necrophobic - In The Twilight Grey
Century Media Records

Necrophobic have diversified even more on their tenth album. They've always had their fair share of melody since Darkside but on In The Twilight Grey there's a lot more traditional heavy metal influences. The skeleton is still death/black metal, but the innards of the guitarwork are calling to the 80s. The limited edition of this album even has a W.A.S.P. cover.

Although it is hard to name standout tracks because it's all so good, my personal faves are 'Clavis Inferni' (which is a typical Necrophobic song), 'Shadow Of The Darkest Night' because of its gloomy atmosphere and guitar work and 'Stormcrow' with a super epic part in it. If you like the aforementioned Darkside, this will be an easy one to get into.
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

5: Early Moods - A Sinner's Past
RidingEasy Records

Rarely do I take a chance to check out newer metal bands, especially that of the doom metal branch, however my friend Zmaj from Pustoš recently recommended checking out the US band Early Moods. Once I finally decided to give it a listen, I was not remotely ready to face what awaits me. From the get-go, the shadows slowly arise as the somber mood is set with the oldschool doom metal output that Early Moods incorporates. Their songs consist of traditional elements that include heavy catchy riffs, mid-tempo drums and melodic singing vocals that are like preachings of a true doomsayer or a crazed madman. Aside from the standard riff ideas and doom metal song templates, there are a handful of exceptional moments on this album that provide a nice element of surprise to the music, going from superb melodic guitar work to the harsh and almost black metal-like vocals on the second track 'Blood Offerings'. Throughout the entire album, you will hear a lot of musical influences coming from various genre-defining bands such as 70's Black Sabbath, Pentagram, Witchfinder General and Saint Vitus, along with many significant others that played a crucial role in the development of doom metal. The driving force of the music isn't just the solid riff work, but it's also the strong suspenseful atmosphere created through the music, very much like in a 70's horror movie where something frightening is about to happen and you are just not ready to face it. As the album progresses from one track to another, you truly feel like this is just moving one step closer towards an apocalyptic event with each song, as the riffs get heavier and the tone of the album gradually darker. Even though doom metal is considered to be less dynamic than other metal subgenres, Early Moods surpasses that limit with the strong use of dynamic arrangements where songs consist of smooth transitions between every section, all the while building up the anticipation of the current song, as well as the next one. This is perhaps the biggest highlight, as I was quite often left on the edge of my seat wondering what may come next and I was not disappointed. The best example I could give you regarding these build-ups is the third self-titled track 'A Sinner's Past' which has a slow section that prepares you for the heavy and catchy galloping finale of the song. Their songs are certainly packed with heavy doomy riffs, but the inclusion of melodies, bluesy guitar solos and clean guitar sections, really make the songs feel rich and powerful. Each time a new song comes up, I always think to myself that there is no way that it's going to get heavier, but yet it always manages to outsmart me once it comes to play. This album turned out to be such a big and pleasant surprise that surpassed all my expectations and simply left me without words. A Sinner's Past is an exemplary album which proves that doom metal albums can still be catchy, heavy, and incredibly imaginative at the same time. It's simple yet effective, slow yet heavy, but most importantly, dark and foreboding throughout its entirety. I consider this album as a spiritual grandchild of Black Sabbath's Vol 4. that rocks out in all its glory, and you should definitely check it out. Big thanks to my friend Zmaj for recommending this album, because it was indeed worth it!
-Vlad

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

4: Givre - Le Cloitre
Eisenwald

I don't always include albums in this column that autoplay when I'm listening to albums on YouTube - it's very infrequent that something catches my attention like this did. Leave it to the fertile QCBM scene to impress me time and time again.

This is simultaneously delicate and beautiful, harrowing and despondent, and even a little bit groovy at times. It cycles through a wide range of modern black metal textures, but songs are not a haphazard mishmash of ideas, they're full of direction and purpose. The lyrical topic is really cool - it seems we've reached that point where Catholicism is metal now? To quote their bandcamp -

"the lyrics are taken from the hagiographies of six saint women and explores freely their relation to god through suffering, from the symbolic poetry of Hildegard Von Bingen (1098-1179) to the disturbing and factual depictions of Marthe Robin (1902-1981)".

I suppose it's still about pain and suffering, but through a very unique lens. Granted, I can't understand what they're saying, but the music is lined with a certain poetic mystique that feels guided by the lyrical content. In other words - this is true fuckin' black metal. It has that rich fantasy and aura of boundless expression that reminds me why I fell in love with the genre in the first place.

How the hell does this band have less than 1,000 followers on each of their socials? This is astounding, and might be my favourite black metal album of the year so far.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

3: Wounds - Ruin
Everlasting Spew Records

Oh me oh my these riffs are tasty. Bits of Zenith Passage and Spawn of Possession line the fabric of this guitarwork, and even though there's a high level of skill and intricacy, the band works in tandem to make sure the songs are easy to remember and gives you enough tasty licks to keep coming back. 'Doom Incarnate' and 'In The Maw Of The Beast' is the catchiest one-two punch I've heard in tech death since Datalysium. Arkaik and Soreption are good comparisons to make, because Wounds' riffs also sound easy to play but any guitarist will tell you otherwise.

I can't say a ton about this even though it's probably been my most listened to album of the month - the riffs are just really fucking good, this is exactly what I want to hear in my tech-death, and if you know me you know i'm on that shit like a kid on ice cream. It's perfect bread and butter listening for me - when I don't know what to put on, I go with this.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.6/10

2: Devastatiӧn - Rise Of The Dead
Empire Records

Devastatiӧn's Rise Of The Dead, the band's third album, is basic, primitive and totally unoriginal. It's also the most fun I've had this month, as eleven tracks of riotous black-thrash fly by, a dark blur of leather, studs, and bullet belts. The Belgians are taking things a tiny bit more seriously this time round, judging by an album title that, as generic as it is, shows a modicum of maturity not present on the release of 2015's Pussy Juice Blues (this writer feels slightly unclean just typing that), but thankfully their music remains a sloppy mix of Abigail, Merciless, early Destruction and pretty much no low end whatsoever. It would be easy to dismiss Devastatiӧn as pointless throwbacks, were it not for the fact that hitting the optimum point between first-wave black metal and thrash requires a surprising precision of calibration, and on this point at least, Devastatiӧn's collective IQ is somewhere between Hawking and Einstein. Virtually every track, the savage 'Necronomicon' being a prime example, is built around a thrilling speed-metal riff, with a judicious use of tremolo passages and NWOBHM inflections seamlessly merging into an exhilarating blast of adrenaline. Although snatches of keyboard add sinister atmosphere, and a dash of early Enslaved to the mix, there is little in the way of sophistication to be found here. Instead, Devastatiӧn plough through 40 minutes of mayhem with total conviction and true belief in the might of heavy metal, standing triumphant amid the ruins of good taste.
-Benjamin

MetalBite's Rating: 8.6/10

1: Devastator - Conjurers Of Cruelty
Listenable Records

Devastator's Conjurers Of Cruelty is simply put an uncompromising and merciless black/thrash attack with headbanging heavy tremolo riffs with some black rock and roll here and there, dynamic drumming that incorporates standard thrash metal beats and walk breaking double-bass drumming, along with some sick harsh singing vocals. Instances of some punk rock energy are evident on the third track 'Black Witchery', combined with the predominant black-thrashing that is the centerfold of this album. This album really does not take a break from ultra headbanging moments, as it really starts ripping on 'Walpurgisnacht' with d-beat drumming and riffing that's ripping it all the way through like hot knife through steel, while also throwing in some amazing guitar solos. Beside the established musical formula, they also found some space to use a bit of eerie atmospheric black metal with open string chords, evident on 'Deathspell Defloration', which on the first half breaks away from the overall album template by incorporating a slower tempo, until it decides to kick the chair and go back into action on the other half of the song. Other great banger tunes on this album that will really get your blood boiling and quench your bloodthirst is the eight track 'Bestial Rites', 'Sharpen The Blade', 'Rabid Morbid Death' and 'Ritual Abuse (Evil Never Dies)' which has some amazing acoustic guitar parts in a very flamenco-like fashion. The songwriting on this album is quite dynamic, pushing the black/thrash metal performance beyond its limits and making every second count, down to every last riff that leaves no prisoners breathing. During my listening, I often felt that this album is like a love child of Watain and Aura Noir in terms of the overall execution and the atmosphere, or perhaps a perfect combination of album such as "Lawless Darkness", "Envoy of Lucifer", "With Primeval Force", "Power from Hell" and "Black Thrash Attack", with some icing on the cake and cherry on the top to spice things up even more. As a friend of mine would say out loud from his guts "METAL PIZDA TI MATERINA", this is exactly how I would sum up this album as a whole. From the moment I pressed play, I knew there was no turning back and it instantly hit me with the title track, headbanging like a bloody maniac hungry for some speed and fucking darkness. This was one of my most highly anticipated albums that I couldn't wait to give it a listen, and I am so glad that I did. While I was listening to this album, I often felt like I was taken back in time when I first heard other black/thrash metal masterpieces like Nifelheim's self-titled debut, Aura Noir's "Black Thrash Attack", Ketzer's "Satan's Boundaries Unchained' and Desaster's "Tyrants Of The Netherworld", and I would definitely say Conjurers Of Cruelty deserves to share a spot with those aforementioned albums. Devastator made one beast of an album that will be very difficult to top by any other album within the same subgenre, especially since this one went all in by saying "give them hell" and so they did. I always said that in the black/thrash metal movement, there is simply no space for pretentiousness and hipster mentality in this kind of subgenre, because it is all about pure aggression, hate and destruction. Be sure to check out Conjurers Of Cruelty, this album is an "all killer no filler", and just a superb work of extreme metal art.
-Vlad

MetalBite's Rating: 8.8/10

Thank you as always for stopping by. No, I didn't intentionally put Devastation and Devastator next to each other as the top two albums of the month, but it's pretty funny that it turned out that way.

Check out past lists from this year here:

February 2024

January 2024

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

Welcome back to MetalBite's Top 10 Albums of the Month! This is a momentous occasion for this column because January 2026 marks the AOTM's 5 year anniversary. This started out as a time killer in the heat of the pandemic, and I kept it going - with the help of some additional foot soldiers - because there's more music out there than you can possibly consume, and someone needs to sort through it all. It saves you time and gives an extra platform for great bands to be heard, and hopefully those are things we can all get behind. Let's see if we can keep it going for another five years!

-Nate

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Serpent Column - Aion Of Strife
Independent

I can't decide whether this album consists of 200 riffs or one riff. It's a winding staircase of notes that feels very fluid and ouroboric - you can't tell where one motif ends and another begins. The vocals are so buried and hazy they only really exist in the periphery of your mind, and the drums provide some indicators of vibe shifts, but even with those flagpoles and the song divisions, this feels like an endless stream of uplifting, vaguely black metal-esque guitar work with a melancholic tinge. The intricacies are fun to pick apart, but you can also throw this on in the background and it functions just as well.

This project is apparently no more, according to metal-archives, which is a shame. I've enjoyed everything I've heard from it, but I suppose this is as good a note to end on as any.
-Nate

Archvile King - Aux Heures Désespérées
Les Acteurs De l'Ombre Productions

Archvile King is the solo project from French musician Baurus. On his first album, À La Ruine, he played a riff central thrash infused black metal. On this new album, he sheds a lot of the thrash elements to play a more pure, straight black metal attack, even though you can still hear a bit of thrash and heavy metal influences, making this a very melodic experience even if he's much more savage than before. It sounds extra evil with a touch of medieval melodies and atmospheres, provided by the occasional synth, acoustic guitars and general riffs. If you're a fan of knights and castle, and aggressive but melodic black metal, this will scratch your itch.
-Raphael

Stabbing - Eon Of Obscenity
Century Media

My expectations for this were astronomically high - Stabbing is one of my favorite new bands, period. They are the cream of the crop in modern brutal death metal. However, they had a schism and replaced their drummer and bassist, and that coupled with the astronomically high expectations they set for themselves with their past work and the jump to a major metal label gave Eon Of Obscenity an impossible bar to clear. Bridget's guttural are as putrid and nasty as ever, and Marvin Ruiz still has his impeccable ability to bring you to climax via snaking low-end grooves and pinch harmonics, but I definitely feel the absence of drummer Rene Martinez on this. He had a way of matching the riff impeccably and the ping on his snare would immediately staple passages into your skull. The new guy is capable and tight, but he lacks a certain je ne sais quois, a distinct personality in his playing. There are no shortage of guys that can play fast out there, but the second you hear Rene's drumming you immediately know it's him.

At risk of this turning into a review consisting of me lavishing praise on this band's ex-drummer, I'll cut it here. This band is still a mandatory listen for any fans of the style, and I'm very happy to see them making their mark in the wider "mainstream underground" of extreme metal - they deserve all the new fans that Century Media will bring them. If this is a band's worst album, that in itself is a pretty ringing endorsement of their oeuvre.
-Nate

Kreator - Krushers Of The World
Nuclear Blast Records

Kreator continue their evolution from thrash to more power metal. There are some brutal, faster tracks like "Barbarian" or "Deathscream" but most of the songs are highly melodic and catchy. Fortunately, there are no ill-conceived experiments like "Midnight Sun" from the last album - the focus is more on metal. Since the glorious comeback Violent Revolution they haven't changed too much in their style - the melodies just have more space in their compositions. As such, this should appeal to fans of their more recent work.
-Michael

Barbarian - Reek Of God
Dying Victims Productions

ATTENTION, you are about to listen to a Barbarian LP! Expect dirty, dark and raw blackened speed and thrash metal, full of blasphemy and fun riffs! It's a compact 36 minutes that will keep you entertained and bopping your head the entire time. The riffs are simple yet played expertly, the bass is so thick, with that old school dying victim production that makes every drum hit, every slap of the bass sound so real and authentic. Special mention goes to the fun and creative solos! Italy's finest primitive blackened speed and thrash band strikes again, for fans of everything old school with a good dose of darkness.
-Raphael

Eximperitus - Meritoriousness Of Equanimity
Willowtip

A meditative take on tech-death. Maybe it's the frequent and entrancing interludes, maybe it's the surprisingly organic and streamlined performance by Davide Billia, but something about this feels oddly…calming in a way that tech/brutal death generally doesn't. Like anything else that Willowtip puts out, this is an automatic listen for any fans of extreme progressive music.
-Nate

Hagetisse – To Wither Beneath Thy Radiance
Void Wanderer Productions

This entire review could simply contain a list of the many, many projects that Dutch savant Maurice de Jong has unleashed on the world, and anyone familiar with the formidably high quality of many of these acts would likely be persuaded to investigate Hagetisse further, purely on the basis of the man's track record. Although de Jong is primarily known for the terrifying black ambient of Gnaw Their Tongues, much of his most recent work has been rather more conventionally metallic, and Hagetisse is no exception. To Wither Beneath Thy Radiance sees de Jong in 90s black metal mode, and although the album demonstrates some symphonic touches, it is the dense, complex arrangements of Abigor or Obtained Enslavement that Hagetisse are most reminiscent of, as opposed to the more spacious majesty of Emperor of early Dimmu Borgir that modern symphonic bands more frequently use as touchpoints. The synths retain a subtle distance, each song driven by the sophisticated fury of layers of tremolo lines, and the frenzied jackhammer attack of the, presumably electronic, blasting drum battery, which reaches a Mardukian level of ferocity on the opening title track, and rarely drops below lightspeed from that point forward. Hagetisse are yet another project that sees this one-man record collection / Rogga Johansson rival turn his hand to a very specific extreme metal sub-genre, and once again, the results are unerringly high class.
-Benjamin

Invictus - Nocturnal Visions
Memento Mori / Me Saco un Ojo / Iron Fortress

Sometimes, all you need is the simple things in life, a meat and potatoes death metal album, cooked up by three talented Japanese musicians and voilà! With Invictus second record we get a healthy serving of riffs, balanced by great solos and that murky dark cave atmosphere. The bass tone is truly nasty; it's a constant low rumble that gives extra weight to everything but is frequently contrasted by a short and creative solo that brings a bit of melody to the song. This is three super talented musicians that bring a lot of technique to the playing, while never going to tech death territories. For the vocals, if you don't like a rather one note death growl, you might not enjoy it but overall, it doesn't really bother me, think of Frank Mullen from Suffocation. This is a fun and compact old school death metal album, with a modern production, that is sure to keep you warm and fill you up nicely for the cold and dark season.
-Raphael

METALBITE'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH

10: Karloff - Revered By Death
Dying Victims Productions

Germany's dirty black metal punks are releasing their second album, Revered By Death, on Dying Victims. It's 30 minutes of to the point and satisfying black metal punk with plenty of memorable hooks, small flairs of extremity and a perfect production, sounding clear and yet, has that irresistible dirty punk quality, boosting its authentic quality! The only small complaint I have is the four minute atmospheric instrumental right in the middle, it affects the flow and always cuts the momentum of the album but other than that, it's a hell of a fun album, scratching that punk metal itch nicely.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.3/10

9: Ectovoid - In Unreality's Coffin
Everlasting Spew

Old-school death metal with members of Father Befouled, Metaphobic and Seraphic Entombment - are the same six guys trying to monopolize Everlasting Spew's roster or what?

This gives an immediate gut punch, which is refreshing in a style that often takes a few listens and careful digestion to properly grow on you. One thing that sets this apart (in a good way) is how polished this sounds - it's easy to use a grimy exterior to mask a lack of riffs, but Ectovoid have done the opposite, giving the gripping sense of melody more opportunities to stand out. It's still got a putrid, morbid bounce the same way that Autopsy does, but it's really…smooth. Clearly composed by seasoned veterans. The songwriting is carefully crafted, which is the undercurrent making everything impactful.Very surprised this is my first time hearing about this band, considering they've been active for 16 years.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.4/10

8: Deathraiser - Forged In Hatred
Xtreem Music

Now this is my favourite kind of thrash, Brazilians have something special that makes their particular brand of thrash extremely satisfying! This album is raw, fast, aggressive and with an impressive level of technicality and musicianship! Every riff sounds evil, with a touch of melody and the solos! Oh my god, if you like solos you'll be served. Each of them is well composed, each telling a different story while being amazingly fast. The drums sound sharp and huge, and even the bass takes its place sometimes. Vocally, Thiago spits out an angry scream that conveys the rage and urgency of the lyrics in a perfect way. Being thrash, they have that direct, "here's what's fucked up" quality: "Controlling all the leaders, There's no future Enslaving society Money traps", I guess everywhere in the world, It's more of the same… One line made me think of the orange amerikanischer Führer and his sect of red hat wearing followers: "Led to - a tragedy No excuses for whose spread the lies From the cradle of the ignorance To thousand lives sacrificed". So here you go, Brazilian thrash still reigns supreme as the best the genre has to offer, starting the year with a banger!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

7: Denominate - Restoration
Dusktone

Brutal, complex, atmospheric, emotive, thought provoking are all appropriate ways to describe this album. The band expertly blends progressive complexity with a keen sense of melodicism and a rich atmosphere. The drumming performance is always dynamic, going from fast and hard-hitting double kick bass drum, a short blastbeat here and there but he can also play with such delicate fitness and plays with off-beat tempos. You will hear that Gojira is definitely an influence, especially on the song "The Cistern" where the Magma influence is palpable, but I also hear everything from Black Crown Initiate to Amorphis and Opeth, but always with that familiar Finish melodic element. If you are looking for a technical musical performance, without going full technical noodling say, a la Archspire and want something more laid back that also focuses on atmosphere and melody, Denominate is the perfect band for you!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

6: Carrion Vael - Slay Utterly
Unique Leader

Any time these Indiana boys put out some fresh meat, you know I'm gonna be all over it. They are revving up and releasing music at a fairly solid pace - this came out just under two years after Cannibals Anonymous, but if anything, the breakneck writing speed only seems to have the band gelling as a unit. New drummer Matt Behner (Aethereus, Year of Desolation) is the perfect fit for the band's sound. I can appreciate the incredible skill of Kevin Paradis (the session drummer for the last album), but there's something to be said for having a drummer that plays live with you and has some insight into the writing process - and you can hear it.

Carrion Vael is doing everything they can to eschew the constant comparisons to the Black Dahlia Murder they must get constantly. There's subtle infusions of symphonic elements and clean singing and tastefully-placed breakdowns that flirt with deathcore but never quite take her home for the full nelson. Arobatic, Obscura/Inferi riffing and hyperfast typewriter kicks give a technical flourish, but remain grounded in a melodic death metal. Four albums in, it's evident that they are more comfortable in their style than ever, and the result is a blitz of catchy ass music that has enough skill to hang with modern contemporaries but still gives you a whiff of late 00s nostalgia.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

5: Wildhunt - Aletheia
Jawbreaker Records

Austrian thrash, from a band with a somewhat mediocre name? With these omens, one could be forgiven for overlooking Wildhunt, but this would be a grave and self-defeating error indeed. Wildhunt specialise in the kind of thrash that seems to have been quietly omitted from the various comebacks that the sub-genre has made over the years. If they instead chose a path of crossover party-thrash, Sodom-aping black/thrash, or a Vektor-style tech overload, there might well be an obvious audience in waiting for Wildhunt, but their moderately technical melodic thrash with US power metal overtones is perhaps a more difficult proposition, but all the more enjoyable for the way that it stands out from the contemporary crowd. Across a wonderfully concise seven tracks, Wildhunt perfectly balance bangable Bay Area chuggery, labyrinthine duelling leads that wouldn't be out of place on Rust In Peace, and soaring clean vocals that bring shades of Eternal Champion and even Helloween. The outstanding closing track 'Sole Voyage' ends proceedings on a high note, eleven minutes of scything crunch, plus a bossa-nova break that really shouldn't work, but somehow, like Sabbath on 'Symptom Of The Universe' it is the wildcard element that brings the song to an altogether higher plane. Aletheia is a high-class metal album that could have been released in virtually any era, and from this listener, that is a high compliment indeed.
-Benjamin

Opening with a fantastic instrumental that slowly builds up and showcases the fantastic guitar work of singer Wolfgang Elwitschger and of Julian Malkmus! What truly makes this Austrian heavy thrash band stand out is the creative song writing and the insane levels of technical musicianship. The albums second and first full song, 'The Holy Pale', a song about Vlad the Impaler, will take you on an epic journey of flawless instrumentation and a bewitching vocal performance with plenty of grand harmonies. You will experience heavy riffs, a precise rhythm section and an over one-minute technical and extremely melodic solo. The album flows seamlessly, with each song telling epic tales of love and nightmare, until you reach the title track, which has the catchiest chorus of the entire album and then, Wildhunt decides to end on a high note, the 11 minutes and 30 seconds prog epic, 'Sole Voyage'! With a solo at the beginning, before any vocals, you know the band means business! The little Latin inspired instrumental works surprisingly well to cut the song in two halves, the second being particularly epic! Aletheia is an impressive work of art, from the first quiet acoustic notes to the grandiose closing movement, it will grab your attention and never let go. Special shout out to Lena Richter for the amazing cover art!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.7/10

4: Megadeth - Megadeth
BLKIIBLK Records

It has finally come to an end with Megadave and his band. There aren't too many albums that came out in the last couple of years with this much buzz surrounding them, and it's certainly a love-it-or-hate-it affair. For me, it's the former - I was floored when I listened to it for the first time and it has held up on repeated spins. The songs really kick ass, even the slower ones like "Hey God" or "Another Bad Day". "Tipping Point" is a great guitar lesson. The lyrics may be not the best but everything else is surprisingly stellar. Also Dave's vocal performance is fine - he has sung worse. The only weaker track is "Ride The Lightning" where the vocals are really weak and the song sound quite sterile. But this must have been on purpose - like a friend of mine said, it would be great to see Dave's reaction when he realizes "Ride The Lightning" is the best track on Megadeth. Love it or leave it!
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

3: The Ruins Of Beverast - Templeschlaf
Van Records

It doesn't seem like this album got a ton of press - but that could just be because the passion project of Alexander von Meilenwald is established enough that this doesn't need much of an extra promo push. The fans know what they're getting and probably pre-ordered this without hearing a note - it's rare that a band this multi-faceted has such a guaranteed quality standard. Especially a one-man band. But this is not your buddy's basement black metal project.

Templeschlaf leans less towards the broodic, gothic doom and more towards more standard black metal, but that's putting it way too concisely. There are still all the same elements we've come to expect from this band woven into an elegant tapestry - but this album feels more aggressive than the last couple. Perhaps von Meilenwald revisited some of his old Nagelfar records? Who knows.

One thing that The Ruins Of Beverast makes very evident: if you're in a one-man band, drums should be your primary instrument. After all, a band is only as strong as their drummer, and the rhythmic intricacies and additional textures are a big component of what sets this band apart from the scores of other extreme metal soloists. That and this ineffable atmosphere that is so unbelievably rare for music to capture - it feels corny to say, but von Meilenwald taps into a different dimension when creating that most of us wish we could access.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

2: Skulld - Abyss Calls To Abyss
Time to Kill Records

The call of the void, despair calls more despair, with the band's description: "Antifascist, feminist, occult death metal punk from Italy.", you now have my full attention! Is this just an interesting gimmick or is there a solid musical backbone to accompany it all? Spoiler alert, the answer is a resounding yes! They took a lot of different genres, death metal, punk, crust and hardcore and created something sounding both new and old school. This is the kind of album that works both as a full listen and as individual songs, everyone being strong enough to be a single! Every moment of the 34 minutes is memorable, from the super satisfying breakdowns of "The Blink", the tremolo and blast beat heavy "Wear The Night As A Velvet Cloack", the pure and raw feminine energy of "Mother Death" and the epic solo of "Sacred Fire" closing the album, at no point do they take their feet of the accelerator. Combining occultism and feminism, "magic as resistance, vengeance, and revolution"! Connection to nature, the ancestors, cyclical wisdom, spiritual practices and rituals, dance journeying, intuition, and altered sates of consciousness, all elements of shamanic old knowledge, to enact positive change, is a really fucking cool concept. "Each song delves deep into the essence of being, merging ancestral ritualism, female mythology, social critique, and archetypal symbolism into a single, cohesive vision" on top of a polished mix of genres, a homogenous and impactful musical piece, makes for an instant classic. Put that with an original oil painting by Roberto Toderico as a cover and voilà, the perfect record to release all your anger and at the same time, makes you ponder about the patriarchal structure of our society, truly inspiring stuff!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

1: Exxûl – Sealed Into None
Productions TSO

It seems to happen with some regularity that this listener is turned onto a spectacular new band, only to discover that the band concerned is yet another project from the fertile mind of Phil Tougas. Chthe'ilist, Atramentus, Worm and Zeicrydeus have all caught my attention in recent years, and the latest in this increasingly impressive roster is Exxûl. One might wonder why Tougas doesn't simply house all of his ideas within a single incarnation – after all, fellow Canuck Devin Townsend mostly releases his output under his own name now, despite the eclectic nature of his music. It is, however, clear that Tougas meticulously ensures that each of his bands stands alone as a coherent entity, even if they effectively exist in the same thematic universe, with lyrical content that ties some of the bands together. Furthermore, each band exists as a love letter to a particular sub-genre, and the impact of this might be diluted if it was a single band moving itinerantly from one sound to another. After tackling funeral doom, Hellenic black metal and cavernous death metal, with Exxûl, Tougas embarks on surely his most outrageously obscure journey yet, landing on a combination of Candlemass-style doom and grandiloquent US power metal. Thomas Karam (or Stargazer, to give him his Exxûl name) from Noor does a staggering job on lead vocals, delivering a finely wrought performance somewhere between Messiah Marcolin and early Geoff Tate, and his virtuosity is matched at every step by Tougas's neo-classical lead guitar, with some utterly spellbinding legato runs lighting up 'Blighted Deity' and the epic closer 'The Screaming Tower' in particular. The whole album is perfectly judged, moving from lumbering epic doom to chugging Manowar / Doomsword passages with outstanding fluidity, and huge personality. If there is a criticism to be levelled at Exxûl, it is that it Tougas doesn't really synthesise his influences into something new, content to essentially pay tribute to metal as it once was. However, when it is done with this level of care and skill, producing a result as arcane and authentic as Exxûl, one has to conclude that it simply doesn't matter. Mercyful Fate next Phil?
-Benjamin

As if releasing one of the best albums of last year, the magnificent and completely unique work of art that is La Grande Hérésie and playing guitar on the new Worm record was not enough, Philippe Tougas decided to drop another record without notice, with a new band. It's a genre bending, once again, as is Phil's habit. This man can play any genre and any instrument, but he is, first and foremost, a guitarist. Exxûl's sound can be described as epic doom with a lot of power metal. This album is full of duality, going from slow doomy tempos to fast double kick drums and of course, plenty of flashy solos, which is Phil's speciality, to the delight of my ears and every metalhead that enjoys guitars, so probably like 99.9% of us. The album is 45 minutes long but goes by so fast, there's not a dull moment anywhere. Everything sounds incredible, production wise it's organic, crystal clear and rich in textures. Of course, Phil surrounded himself with la crème de la crème of musicians, on vocals, Thomas Karam brings his Candlemass type of epic doom vocals with incredible falsettos. The way he harmonises his powerful voice with Phil's technical and melodic solos is beyond satisfying! Rhythm section wise, Guyot Begin-Benoit's drum and Antoine Daigneault's bass play off each other and combine to give a very dynamic performance. François Bilodeau's ambient keyboards gives an irresistible gloomy atmosphere and adds a rich layer of melodies. And Phil, my god, is it a thing to talk about musical soulmates? From the atmospheric and truly disgusting tech death of Chthe'ilist, to the classical infused tech wizardry of First Fragment, passing by the everything metal of Zeicrydeus, his new gig in Worm and now, the epic Exxûl. I'm in love with everything this man touches! His solos are both technical and always with an exquisite melodic phrasing. This album sounds new and familiar; Phil's touch is everywhere and once again, he created pure magic. An epic doom record with power metal and even a touch of darkness that comes out in the form of a short blast beat here and a cold riff there. Talking about AOTY in January is silly but this album is that good.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 9.3/10

Thanks for stopping by! To celebrate this five-year birthday, dig into our archives: Here's all of our previous AOTM columns for the past 5 years. Happy hunting!

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Welcome to MetalBite's Top 10 albums of the month! December tends to be a quiet month for new releases as most people are typically just catching up on everything they heard that year, but that doesn't mean you should sleep on these albums. In modern times when there is a never-ending deluge of new music, having the chance to take a breather and pay attention to the music you listen to is becoming an increasingly valuable luxury.

Anyways, get your fix of new music. Happy new year, here's to a prosperous and riff-filled 2026.

-Nate

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Cryoxyd - This World We Live In…
Dolorem Records

After 25 years (!!!), this French group has put out their first full-length album. Granted, most of the lineup has been overhauled since the band's inception and there was a long period of inactivity, but nonetheless, it's heartwarming to see this album finally come to fruition. Never give up on your dreams.

Contained within is lean, meaty death metal riffage with a futuristic touch (mostly in the drum work) and throaty rasps that bring John Tardy and Martin Van Drunen to mind. The compositions are concise, and naturally generate atmosphere without forcing it. Though they are late bloomers, this is a well-developed debut that hints at a bright future for the band…ironically, via depicting a desolate, mechanical dystopia.
-Nate

Sepulchral - Beneath The Shroud
Soulseller Records

This Spanish band makes some truly nasty and satisfying old school death metal. It's riff worship of the "Scream Bloody Gore" variety, with a lot of thrash influences, without going full death/thrash. I like the short but very creative solos (although, being a fan of tech death, I would have taken much more solos) and the subtle and tasteful uses of blast beats. They even slow down sometimes, for a nice death/doom vibe. Vocally, it's a traditional reverb drenched growl that sounds like it's coming from a deep murky cave. We even get a short drum solo near the end. In the end it's nothing new, but just well executed, comfort OSDM to warm your soul.
-Raphael

Blood Red Throne - Slitskin
Soulseller Records

These guys are the Norwegian Cannibal Corpse - you know exactly what you're getting with every new album and you don't care because it gives exactly what you need. The perfect "bread and butter" listening for any death metal fan. Don't know what to put on? Blood Red Throne will do the trick no matter your current mood.

If I could note any differences between Slitskin and their earlier work, this seems more polished and groovy, but that's a hairsplitting distinction to make. If you like BRT, you'll like this album. Normally I do not champion assembly line consistency this readily and appreciate when a band evolves and experiments, but there are a few notable exceptions where I'd rather the band just keep making solid music and not fix what isn't broken. This is one of them. No bullshit, no frills - just death metal.
-Nate

Burning Death - Burning Death
Caligari Records

Burning Death, hailing from Braz… no wait, Nashville, Tennessee, play the extreme style of thrash metal, inspired by "teutonic blasphemies, early Slayer, Sabbat (Japan), and South American legions" and it's 30 minutes of punches to the face and it feels good! If you're in the mood for classic blackened death/thrash with a modern production, this ticks all the boxes.
-Raphael

METALBITE'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH

10: Darvaza - We Are Him
Terratur Possessions

We are him, he is us. The Devil is in all of us, isn't he? Darvaza certainly evoke him with their cold, orthodox black metal. As you can see on the cover, less is more here. No ambient experiments - "We Are Him" is frostbitten and dragging black metal. Don't expect any melodious warmth in the seven songs, this isn't for the Dimmu Borgir/Cradle of Filth crowd - there is only pure hatred and Devil worship. Transilvanian Hunger is a better comparable. Listen to this and uncover your dark side.
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 8/10

9: Rotten Sound - Mass Extinction
Season Of Mist

This is a short, compact and precise grindcore EP by Finnish legends that is musically tight and devastating. With lyrics about the environmental scam that is recycling, to slave labor in rare earth mines used to make batteries and just a very dark outlook of humanity, it's designed to pump you up and thrash your surroundings, basically what grindcore is supposed to do.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8/10

8: Nemorous - What Remains When Hope Has Failed
Bindrune Recordings

The loss (no pun intended) of Wodensthrone was a bitter blow for the UK black metal scene, but the silver lining is the existence of Nemorous, who have risen like a phoenix from the ashes of that much-missed band. With just 2021's self-titled EP to their name so far, their debut album has been gestating for what seems like an age, but the results show that they were right to take their time, and the diligent work that has been poured into an immaculately well-crafted record is palpable. The bleakly-titled What Remains When Hope Has Failed is very much at the atmospheric end of the black metal spectrum, but enough feral intensity is retained to offset the passages of twinkling post-rock prettiness, and maintain the deep connection to the band's roots. While this will no doubt be of interest to fans of Wiegedood, Ellende, and Necronautical, Nemorous's real point of difference is the subtle way in which they weave unconventional synth layers throughout their music. The string and woodwind tones that are used position this some distance from bombastic symphonic metal, recalling instead the way in which Panopticon have integrated traditional folk instruments into their attack, and some of the more unconventional harmonic choices even approach Arcturus territory at points. Not unlike last year's Saor album, Nemorous leave the best song until last, the triumphant chord progression of the title track delivering the kind of transcendental wonder that Vemod specialise in, creating a majestic apex for the album. This is a very good debut, and if Nemorous can harness more regularly the kind of alchemy that they are so clearly capable of, they may yet become a truly spectacular proposition.
-Benjamin

MetalBite's Rating: 8.1/10

7: Zero State - Shadow Realm
Independent

Hardcore bands cosplaying as OSDM is all the rage these days, but I'm not averse to the trend because you've still gotta have a nasty guitar tone and some sick riffs to keep it legit - they've just maximized the crossover appeal. Zero State has enough simplicity to keep the meatheads moving, but their hearts are clearly set on recreating the vibes of Dismember, Cannibal Corpse, Entombed and early Gatecreeper. Having seen them live, I know it's only a matter of time before they break through to bigger audiences - they have the sound, they have the stage presence, they're doing everything right. It's all about to fall into place. You heard it here first.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.1/10

6: Chaos Over Cosmos - The Hypercosmic Paradox
Independent

Who doesn't like fast, technical guitar work, intense vocals, and a strong cosmic atmosphere? Polish musician extraordinaire, Rafał Bowman asks this question and if the answer is yes, then strapped in for the ride! What a fun album to close out the year, done by a truly talented musician and with the most insane solos you'll ever hear. If you've never heard of Chaos Over Cosmos and you love prog, what are you doing?
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.2/10

5: Sun Of The Suns - Entanglement
Scarlet Records

Oh hey, I thought Fallujah already put out an album this year. Also didn't realize they changed their name and relocated to Italy!

In all seriousness, this should be an easy album to get into for modern prog death fans. Very similar ethereal vibes, and the frequent use of chugs will satiate Rivers of Nihil fanboys. Any deathcore influence is off-kilter and diluted enough that this probably won't appeal to straight-up hardcore kids, but there's still an occasional moment where a mosh pit would be warranted in a live setting.

The beauty of metal, to me, is that for a band the size of Fallujah that's hitting Billboard with their new album, there's at least a dozen bands like Sun Of The Suns that are musically just as good, and you might even prefer them - they just aren't as well-marketed or weren't the first to do it.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.3/10

4: Weft - The Splintered Oar
Bindrune Recordings

Charlie Anderson is a Texas musician that is best known for playing the violin live for Panopticon. He is now finally releasing his first solo material, doing everything from vocals, guitars, bass, violin, synth, piano to percussion and oh boy, what a debut it is! You can hear some similarities with Panopticon, with folk and atmospheric black metal but his composition style is much more progressive, complex song structures, going from extremely aggressive black metal to quiet folk violins, incorporating dissonance and odd rhythm structures. He has such a great voice, harsh piercing shrieks, guttural death growls and soulful cleans. The album ends with the prog epic "Dream Of Oaks" which is a wild ride through americana, prog, black and death metal. Perfect album for the cold winter months.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.3/10

3: Phantom Corporation - Time And Tide
Supreme Chaos Records

Kicking off with some casual thrash riffs, soon the full inferno unfolds with "Time And Tide". This is the logical step after their furious debut "Fallout" and a heavy punch in the face. The German quintet is offering a relentless mixture of crust, grind, thrash and punk - they know how to grab the listener by the balls. Everything is in place and there are no unnecessary diversions. Vocalist Leif Jensen shouts and screams as if he is possessed by some evil spirits and the riffs are like a chainsaw cutting fresh bones.

"Time And Tide" is crazy brutal shit and might cause you to forget about the screaming orange toddler threatening and terrorizing everybody because he cannot find his little prick in his pampers.
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

2: Fleshvessel - Obstinancy: Sisyphean Dreams Unfolded
I, Voidhanger Records

Something about each of the main band members being credited with half a dozen instruments each and then Gwyn Hoetzer only playing the flute got a chuckle out of me.

Anyways, this is some real off the wall shit. "everything but the kitchen sink" metal. You never know what it's going to throw at you next, but it's not a grating or uncomfortable fabric. Weirdness for its own sake can be tiring, but this has a certain elegance to it that keeps me coming back.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

1: Lychgate - Precipice
Debemur Morti Productions

In some respects, Lychgate's label have done them a disservice by releasing their fourth album in December, the month typically being taken up by lists naughty, nice, and, of course, best albums of the year. Precipice is good enough to be on all three, an imposing slice of avant-garde death metal that punishes and delights in equal measure, sometimes simultaneously. Lychgate are the sound of death metal had it evolved in the wake of an apocalyptic nuclear meltdown, like the flora and fauna that grew in the shadow of Chernobyl after the humans had abandoned the Soviet hellscape. It's recognisable, but only just. There are reference points: latter-day Gorguts are the most obvious, but there are elements of Ulcerate, Dodecahedron, Morbid Angel and even Prometheus-era Emperor in the dissonant miasma that the band conjure. Lychgate, however, are no one's imitator. Forging their own hellish path, led by Greg Chandler from Esoteric, another group of fearless sonic adventurers, the band can rely on virtuoso instrumental skill, but utilize it only in service of the song. The album reaches twin peaks on the wonderful 'Hive Of Parasites', which moves almost imperceptibly from a jazzy mid-section to a terrifying coda, with interlocking counterpoint melodies weaving their way through each other until the final denouement, and then the penultimate track 'Anagnorisis', a grandiose slab of post-metal, featuring dizzying work on the bass from former To-Mera and Haken maestro Tom MacLean, as well as the catchiest riff on the entire album, as if to prove that Lychgate are capable of dropping into something more conventional if they so wish. This writer simply wishes that every album were as ambitious and impressive as this outstanding release.
-Benjamin

MetalBite's Rating: 8.9/10

As always, thank you for stopping by. This concludes 2025, and if you ever want to do a deep dive on new metal from this year, you can view all the lists for past months below:

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

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

Welcome back to MetalBite's Top 10 Albums of the Month!
February was comparatively a lighter month, but there were still a handful of landmark albums by some of the bigger names in the "mainstream underground". Like always, though, we've got a handpicked list of the goods. Let's cut the shit and get to it because the end of March is already around the corner!

-Nate

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Kolac - Kolac
Pest Records

After 10 years, the Serbian black metal band Kolac returns with their third self-titled album Kolac with plenty of awesome, catchy and blasphemous bangers filled with raw energy and aggression. The songs on the new album have a lot of heavy and thrash metal influences mixed in with black metal, while also switching their lyrical themes from blasphemy to the dark ages and various methods of medieval torture. It's got everything that I expected to get from their new album and then some, which in my eyes is a very solid work of black metal that surpasses its predecessors and strikes harder than ever before.
-Vlad

Atoll - Inhuman Implants
Unique Leader

Didn't this band just put out an album? Yep, just checked - this came out only six months after its predecessor, which was also an honorable mention. That's impressive on its own, and it's equally as impressive that this Phoenix, AZ -based group continues to sculpt their identity of pummeling, slammy brutal death metal. There's no drastic overhauls in their sound, but the refinement of what's already there is noticeable. The slams sound even thicker, the rare traces of melody even more confounding and intricate, and the squealing vocals even more beastly and viscous. There's a jovial bounce that permeates through, and titles like 'Gay For God' and 'Missionary Opposition' hint at a tongue-in-cheek vibe that's common in the genre. Atoll is quickly rising up the ranks of brutal death metal workhorses and it's about time you take notice!
-Nate

Night Slasher - Night Slasher
Sliptrick Records

Lithuanian black/thrash/speed metal band Night Slasher released their self-titled debut album that just slashes all the way through and completely annihilates every dead man walking. It's got a very strong post-apocalyptic feel to it that is certainly amped up with the band's intense and heavy performance, with such skull-crushing bangers that are like jackhammers and bulldozers. As I've said before, if you are into bands like Midnight and Hellripper, you really need to check this one out because it is one bad motherfucker from the Baltic region.
-Vlad

METALBITE'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH

10: Chapel Of Disease - Echoes Of Light
Pathologically Explicit Recordings

Huh, well this is definitely different. On the one hand, it's nice to see Chapel Of Disease is back, as their distinct brand of vaguely proggy death/thrash was sorely missed, but on the other hand you can barely consider this the same band. The tendencies they had are still kind of there, but only in occasional whispers, and the majority of this has been replaced with occult rock in the vein of The Devil's Blood and Year of the Goat - although the snarling harsh vocals are still there. It makes me wonder if this is partially why the band split up in the first place - perhaps the band was tired of their old approach and wanted to try a new direction, or maybe a couple of the guys were undecided at first and then came around in time.

They do sound at home in the new approach, and there is a certain cathartic satisfaction in this music - perhaps this is what they wanted to be all along, and never felt fully comfortable in their own skin until now.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8/10

9: Spectral Voice - Sparagmos
Dark Descent

More of a "slow burn" kind of release, but if death/doom is your thing this will undoubtedly be high up the AOTY list. One thing I've always appreciated about Paul Riedl's projects, whether or not I completely vibe with them, is the attention to detail. Every single aspect of them, whether it's the presentation and aesthetic (apparently the album cover for this is a photo of a model painstakingly crafted through an incredibly obfuscating and complex process), carefully tailored influences (I hear a lot of Evoken, Esoteric and Disembowelment on this in particular) or even just the way the songs slowly unfold into more immersing and cathartic riffwork as the album drags on.

Eroded Corridors Of Unbeing was an incredible album, and though it much more immediately stuck to me than Sparagmos, this is an album that you process in layers over a period of months. If you're a fan of death/doom, you've probably already checked this out - but you should probably familiarize yourself regardless so you can have the inside scoop before it inevitably ends up on everyone's year-end list.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8/10 (for now)

8: Sentry - Sentry
High Roller

If you are unaware of the importance and impact of Manilla Road on heavy metal, it almost goes without saying that an extraordinary world of epic and esoteric work awaits your discovery, and this writer would suggest that you peruse at least some of their discography, before returning to find out whether Sentry are suitable bearers of the eternal flame lit by Mark Shelton so many years ago. Sentry are three quarters of the final line-up of that legendary band, a band which sadly died with its founder on his untimely passing in 2018, and they take the epic-doom and thrash-adjacent chugging of Manilla Road's later output as their basis, albeit with a slightly more modern sheen burnishing the production, together with more conventional vocals than Shelton's off the wall shriek. With tracks such as the insistent 'The Haunting', Sentry will comfortably fit into the current traditional metal scene, somewhere between Candlemass and Doomsword, and it is easy to imagine them occupying the early evening slot at the kind of German and Greek festivals that drop their headliner budgets in the direction of The Atlantean Codex and Grave Digger (old school set). Sentry are at their most compelling when they stretch out a little, the seven minute 'Valkyries (Raise The Hammers)' being a prime example – the main riff displays the pounding qualities of Black Album-era Metallica, but as the track progresses through a more sophisticated instrumental section which adds classic metal guitar harmonies, it is clear pleasing to hear Sentry push their capabilities a little harder. Finishing with an almost too faithful Candlemass cover, this self-titled effort is both a strong start for Sentry, and an affectionate tribute to a band that continue to burn in the hearts of metal fans the world over.
-Benjamin

MetalBite's Rating: 8.1/10

7: Farsot - Life Promised Death
Lupus Lounge

One of the longer-running acts of the Prophecy Productions sub-label, this has a very gradually revealing character. The transitions are smooth, the motifs are repetitive, and the atmosphere is fed to you via a slow breadcrumb trail that barely feels like it exists, but then halfway through you realize you've been locked in for several minutes. The drumming on this is great - a steady stream of rolling double kick and snare placement that feels like it's taking more from rock beats than it is metal (not unlike mid-era, pre-Dekker Agalloch), and it seals you into the riffs easily. There's a lingering discordance to the melodies, never fully diving into the post-black pool but also remaining firmly entrenched in a modern ethos. It's not reinventing the wheel, but it's exploring a very specific tenet of black metal in a thorough and well-composed manner.

Aaand of course this band is German. I've said it before and I'll say it again - most consistent regional scene in extreme metal. Anything I hear out of there, whether a fully established band, a smaller up-and-comer, or something in between - has something about it worth listening to.
-Nate

Life Promised Death is the German black-metallers first album in seven years, and befitting the band's professed grunge influences, it is a bleak listen. With the exception of a few passages, Farsot eschew the out-and-out velocity of some of their peers, favouring a mid-paced churn that recalls a less black 'n' roll Volcano-era Satyricon, with shades of Krallice creeping in at the edges. If the promise of a black metal album indebted to the Seattle scene seems a little gauche, fear not, this record sounds nothing like Nevermind. Farsot have, however, ingested the misery and harmonic structures of grunge, and are able to effectively integrate the downbeat melodicisme of that era into their more extreme sound without replicating the sonics wholesale. The most obvious touchpoints are the Alice In Chains EPs, Jar Of Flies and Sap, and the excellent 'Buoyant Flames' makes good use of finger-picked acoustics and the kind of ghostly harmonies that Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell made such a signature of that band's sound. With Life Promised Death, Farsot reward the listener with a singular, and intriguing take on black metal, which should appeal to those that have come under the spell of the more recent Shining albums, and it is a deft achievement indeed to create something so coherent from a combination of sounds that in the hands of many simply wouldn't work.
-Benjamin

MetalBite's Rating: 8.4/10

6: Eternal Storm - A Giant Bound To Fall
Transcending Obscurity

Anything that gives me Insomnium vibes is bound to hook me - the amount of hours I spent listening to their albums on walks as a moody and depressed teenager was a foundational experience in my musical development. Eternal Storm packs plenty of those somber yet oh so delicious melodies into this album, while also writing songs with an expansive range of motion not unlike Swallow the Sun. Be'lakor is a good comparison too, as there's a good mix of active, riffy sections and drawn out ambiance.

It's rare that you find a band so capable of packing entrancing and accessible moments in without resorting to ham-fisted poppiness, or one that has such careful attention to detail couched in a grandiose sense of scope. Eternal Storm has both in spades, with tons of memorable moments woven throughout the over-an-hour runtime. That length is usually a deterrent, but in this case it serves as a selling point. There's even more tasty riffs to consume!
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

5: Hulder - Verses In Oath
20 Buck Spin

For whatever reason, it took me until this album to dive into Hulder, despite them getting a lot of praise from a lot of different sources, but Verses In Oath hit me straight to the dome. It's rare that black metal can genuinely evoke the spirit of the 90s while still being a viable and interesting listen in its own right, and this checks both those boxes with aplomb. The feral, tonal rasps have a naturally appealing quality and are immediately recognizable, the washed-out keyboards and synths sound mystical and divine (reminiscent of Blut Aus Nord's debut album), and the songs have a natural groove supplemented by one of the best session dudes in the biz right now (Charlie Koryn). The title track gets stuck in my head as soon as I think about it - love the vocal rhythms on that one in particular.

This is an album (and a band) that understands exactly what classic black metal needs to be effective in 2024, reminding me of Nachtlich - more in spirit than style, as they're far more stripped down and raw, while Hulder is elegant and fantastical in the early Satyricon/Emperor sort of vein, with a slight undercurrent of grit.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.7/10

4: Borknagar - Fall
Century Media Records

These Norwegian superstars never slow down, as is evidenced by both Vlad and Michael's glowing reviews of their twelfth album. Do I really need to recommend Borknagar to you? You're browsing an underground metal site, if you haven't heard of them yet I don't really know what to tell you.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

3: Iron Curtain - Savage Dawn
Dying Victims Productions

Speed metal is a thing of the past?! Speed metal is dinosaur rock?! Real speed metal is not around in the 21st century?! BULLSHIT! Spanish band Iron Curtain made a triumphant return with their fifth album Savage Dawn, that is in my opinion the best living proof that speaks in high volumes "SPEED METAL IS NOT DEAD!" Coming from someone who grew up listening to classic and influential bands such as Tank, Raven, Accept, Anvil, Razor, Whiplash, Slayer, Running Wild, Iron Maiden, Grave Digger, Exciter and Destructor among others, Savage Dawn possesses everything that revives the magic of oldschool 80's metal with all the heart and soul put into their music which resulted in a majestic output that breaks all the chains and crushes the skull of those who oppose. So many songs shine with elements of heavy, thrash and speed metal that it is just so unreal, especially when a modern-day band actually managed to create something so effective and outstanding that it gives me the chills. After listening to this album on repeat, I started feeling like I was 15 again and that I never lost all that enthusiasm which made me the man who I am today. Iron Curtain is back heavier than ever, hungrier than ever, and Savage Dawn is their new weapon of ultimate destruction!
-Vlad

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

2: Job For A Cowboy - Moon Healer
Metal Blade Records

Ten years to let the prog-death angle marinate was exactly what Job For A Cowboy needed to make the masterpiece everyone wished Sun Eater was. Perhaps the band just needed to take a break from the Big Boy Tour Circuit and breathe for a bit, maybe the more expansive, multifaceted approach is something that should be handled by more "mature" individuals, but whatever it was, it was the recipe they needed to write their best album yet. Though a groundbreaking band that enjoyed an overwhelming, rapid explosion in popularity in the MySpace era for basically single-handedly creating deathcore, you always got the sense that even by their first full-length album the band wanted to move away from the very sound they helped get huge.

Sun Eater was the moment they finally took the bold step into the music they wanted to create for themselves, but it came with a fair share of flaws - the guitars were too muffled, the vocals were way too loud (a recurring problem throughout their early career) and overall it felt like though the potential was there, it just didn't quite hit the mark. Moon Healer takes all of those qualities and goes "yep, we get it, here's the album you were looking for". It almost feels like a long con to get more people to buy into the prog approach.

The bass lines were still nasty on that one, and here they're even better. Navene Koperweis is hands down the best drummer JFAC has ever had - not to say the previous guys weren't skilled, but something about the way Koperweis plays just fits, especially with the more progressive leanings of their later direction. Instead of songs trying and bunch of things and going nowhere, he supplements them with tasteful fills and just the right amount of off-beat snare placement and speedy blastwork that underscore all of the ideas the way they were meant to. This guy is making a name for himself, and adds to an impressive resume that includes Entheos and Animosity. Each song is full with tasty little moments and a more even balance between the instruments - and lo and behold, Jonny Davy is actually mixed well and not dominating the fuck out of everything! They always mixed him like a deathcore vocalist - which, I mean, fair, he has an immediately recognizable voice and set the template for the mix of low growls and accent highs that most modern vocalists in the style employ, but now that he's actually a little bit more sifted in, everything can flow and breathe so much better - and Alan Glassman actually gets some time to be showcased, after years of being perennially underrated.

In summation, this is hands down Job For A Cowboy's best album and after years of somehow being simultaneously overrated and underrated, they've finally come into their own and are getting the proper recognition they deserve - not for accidentally inventing deathcore, but by establishing themselves as one of the finest veteran death metal bands making the rounds.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

1: Necrowretch - Swords Of Dajjal
Season Of Mist

Swords Of Dajjal was an album that I accidentally came across and UNHOLY SHIT, I was not ready for what awaits me. By far one of the most intense and extreme albums in the black/death metal branch that can be described by one of their songs, TOTAL OBLITERATION! Swords Of Dajjal delivers with every track until the very last one, without ever catching a break or dropping its balls, just constantly bashing the non-believers in the face like a very merciless and violent beast that is. This album is a great example that showcases what extreme metal should be like and you will see for yourselves that there is plenty to be found here. What really got me hooked about this album is the fact that despite its consistent style and songwriting, it actually manages to get even heavier as it progresses from one track to another, and it's absolutely magnificent. Fans of bands such as Trivax, Xalpen and Necrophobic to name a few, should definitely check out this insane son of a bitch that is Swords Of Dajjal.
-Vlad

MetalBite's Rating: 9.5/10

Thanks as always for stopping by. Be sure to check out January's list so you can stay on top of 2024 releases while it's still manageable. Spring tends to be when the floodgates open!

January 2024

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

Welcome back to MetalBite's Top 10 albums of the month! November is a chaotic time of the year for releases and it's easy to miss great stuff in the midst of putting together your year-end lists right before the music industry goes into a brief hibernation. Or maybe there weren't enough good albums for you to fill your list out. You're empirically wrong, but either way - this should help you catch up. Happy holidays!

-Nate

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Glorious Depravity - Death Never Sleeps
Transcending Obscurity Records

Prepare for a nice slice of New York death metal, the kind influenced ever so slightly by hardcore, that is brutal but still has something to say and can be truly funny! Take the opening track for example, "Slaughter The Gerontocrats", with an impeccable instrumentation of fast thrashing riffs coupled with fast blastbeats you hear those lyrics: "Slaughter the gerontocrats Rip their ancient guts out Our hordes descending on the Hamptons and Florida, We hunt them down at the golf courses and country clubs". It's a "creative" way to deal with the gerontocracy… Moving on, Death metal can be funny but also thoughtful. I give you "Carnage At The Margins": "Hails, gentlemen, I bear the board's congratulations, We've shipped the product, Despite our resource limitations, Our end users, Typically retain their limbs, And what's a little, Carnage at the margins?" illustrating the cold and detached nature of the military industrial complex, it's only numbers, more wars = line goes up = good, who cares about a few dead children. Musically you have a typical death metal that sounds old school but with a super modern production. Everything sounds crystal clear and crisp, beware for your neck because there are a lot of headbangable moments!
-Raphael

Suffering - Things Seen But Always Hiddens
Apocalyptic Witchcraft Recordings

Since the release of their first, difficult to procure, album 11, Suffering have been slowly percolating in the British underground, with members coming and going, seemingly waiting for the perfect moment to strike once more. And as UK black metal continuing to thrive, with festivals such as Fortress and Cosmic Void attracting both bands and fans from all over the world, now is as good a time as any to release Things Seen But Always Hidden. Of course, none of the advantageous timing would count for anything if the record was not as fiercely magnificent as it is, but thankfully Suffering have used the past decade well, creating something that is surely likely to see them substantially increase their audience, both at home and abroad. Suffering's brand of black metal has clearly graduated from the Darkthrone / Marduk school of ascetic and monochromatic intensity, but they avoid falling into the trap marked 'generic Norsecore' via an array of individual touches that demonstrate the many-stringed bow that they wield so menacingly, as well as the truly unhinged vocals of Sturmgeist Fornicator Insultus. The pitch-black doom of 'Behind The Green Door' shows a mastery of slower tempos to rival Dragged Into Sunlight, and the elements of post-rock and progressive metal that adorn 'Enthralled' and 'The Chamber Of Breathtaking Delights' suggest a band that could even follow in Akercocke's footsteps, with some of the virtuoso technicality replaced by a devotion to conjuring fearful atmosphere. One senses that Suffering are only likely to get better from here, but this is still a highly impressive milestone on a journey that is only just beginning.
-Benjamin

Dead And Dripping - Nefarious Scintillations
Transcending Obscurity

This band is establishing themselves as one of extreme metal's more prolific acts, this being their fourth album in six years. That's common for one-man bands, but often there's a lower bar for quality when the volume of content is higher which is not the case here. This is one of the best Demilich worship acts running, mostly because they keep it weird. I can't fully embrace bands like Morbific and Cryptworm because while they have the riff style down, they lose the atmosphere in the process of streamlining their songwriting to make it punchier. Dead And Dripping bring some of their own color to the process, which helps it to stand as its own product. Nefarious Scintillations has a guitar tone with a glistening sheen, like it was recorded in a steel container - mixed with the warped, alien phrasing and snakelike structuring, it sounds like a cyborg struggling to break free from its robotic limitations in a quest to regain a fully human form.
-Nate

Voidceremony - Abditum
20 Buck Spin

I feel like this didn't get talked about a ton despite it once again being another masterful mix of old-school death metal, prog and nasty Damon good basslines from this star-studded band. Maybe everyone's just used to it and it's par for the course at this point?
-Nate

Phobocosm - Gateway
Dark Descent Records

Montréal's dark death metal crew gives us their fourth full length, and what is dark death metal one might ask? I would describe their sound as existing somewhere at the intersection of death, death/doom and dissonant death, à la Gorguts. The album opens with a slow build up of tremolo picking and slowly incorporates drums and more dissonant chords. The speed picks up a bit, with fast kick drums but overall, the song keeps it slow with heavy chugging riffs. I love the uneasy atmosphere throughout the whole song and album. Vocally, Etienne Bayard has a deep guttural growl and always keeps a slow vocal cadence giving a maximum apocalyptical effect when paired with dissonant guitars. This is a short album, seven tracks and 36 min, that would be perfect, but the thing is, there are three short instrumentals, so you essentially only get four tracks. Nevertheless, they play the perfect style of death metal, dark, heavy and almost meditative, it's a great addition to their discography!
-Raphael

Wayd - Reinvent
Independent

I really enjoy this band's 2001 album Barriers - they have a take on death metal that is easily enjoyable but still seems to defy all conventions. This is their first album in 17 years and no one seems to have caught on? Damn. Gotta give them a little love here.
-Nate

Morbikon - Lost Within The Astral Crypts
Tankcrimes

This album is so fun! Hailing from Richmond, Virginia, Morbikon plays that Dissection worship kind of black metal, super melodic with incredibly catchy riffs! You'll definitely want to dance to that main riff on "Flames That Bind And Shadows Cast"! What sets them apart is the thrash infused riffs and rhythms, think of Skeletonwitch. The dueling guitar harmonies and the solos are so satisfying, it's a guitar worship kind of album. But bass lovers fear not, you even get a small solo on "Sworn To The Beheaded King". This is an excellent 43 minutes of pure melodic and thrashing black metal that goes by in an instant.
-Raphael

Demon King - Death Knell
The Artisan Era

Funny enough, Demon King was part of one of the first pieces I ever wrote for MetalBite about five years ago, so not covering them when they finally drop their debut full-length would be sacrilege - plus, they still obliterate as much as they did back then. They still have incredibly hooky riffs drilled into your head at lightning speed and with surgical precision, but there is additional garnish and restraint to warrant the extra runtime. This is Inferi's blackened brother, and though a lot of tech bands claim to have a fair amount of influence from them, not many of them came up in the same circles - but Demon King did.

Any time you get a chance to hear Jack Blackburn blasturbating (blacksturbating?) on an album, that's a lovely treat as well - although he isn't their live drummer going forward. I do have it on good authority that their current guy (Ethan Schomaker) is like an early 20s Blackburn with even more piss and vinegar. Watch the fuck out.
-Nate

Speedclaw - Stardust
Dying Victims Productions

Croatia's speed metal warriors offer us their first album and it's a masterclass of pure and raw heavy and speed metal. Everything is fast and melodic built on a strong rhythm section, Silvano Ćosić's bass is center in the mix providing its low rumble accompanied by a superb drum performance by Dorian Perušić, always fast and full of energy. The twin guitars of Luka Jurišić and Luka Hrelja give us plenty of melodic harmonies that pair well with Silvano's powerful yet super melodic voice. Production wise, you can hear every instrument, every note clearly and it sounds crisp and completely organic. I feel I say this all the time, but Dying Victims makes the best sounding records, period.
-Raphael

METALBITE'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH

T-10: Ildaruni - Divinum Sanguinem
Black Lion Records

Armenian black metal band Ildaruni shows us their evolution by offering an album that is ferocious, grandiose and atmospheric. Their pagan roots are still present, giving an epic feel to the record, with folky melodies, beautiful choirs singing on "Arcane Sermon" or the bagpipes intro of "Forged With Glaive And Blood". Turns out, Armenian bagpipes are a thing, they're called Parkapzuk and made from sheep or lamb skin, the more you know! The production is insanely good; it makes the atmosphere clean and gives the heavy and aggressive parts that much more weight. This is a black metal gem in 2025, give them a listen and you'll be conquered!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.4/10

T-10: Ophidian Memory - Seraphim
Independent

Melodic death metal was my first love, what got me into metal, and I will always love the early 2000's classics, Children of Bodom, Kalmah or the 90's In Flames, Dark Tranquility and At The Gates (Rest In Power Tomas Lindberg). I haven't kept up to date as much with the modern melodeath scene, but I think I found a modern gem here. When you press play, you will probably wonder where is the melodic? At first, it's standard death méetal but being a 10-minute song, the melody takes it's time but comes in different ways, a more acoustic passage, ethereal cleans and melodic soloing are all part of the 10 minutes. Accompanied with excellent heavy riffing and plenty of tastefully placed blastbeats, it seriously reminds me of the glorious 90s melodeath era. This one-man band is the project of Blake Lamoureux, musician extraordinaire who does everything, every instrument including drum programming, producing, recording and mixing, whatever you do, Blake's coming for your job! But seriously, what an impressive artist! This album is a melodic death metal gem, do not skip it.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.4/10

9: Fessus - Subcutaneous Tomb
Darkness Shall Rise Productions

Hailing from the beautiful red Vienna, comes a disgusting and vile piece of pure, old school death metal that pays tribute to the genre while still sounding new and fresh. First, the beautiful cover, a clear homage to the legendary Considered Dead from the heroes of my hometown, Gorguts. From the moment you press play, you hear a few dissonant guitar notes and then the double kick drums start to blast and from there, it's 36 minutes of expertly crafted OSDM. They're experts at any flavor of death metal, the slow and cavernous, the technical soloing, the fast and blastbeat filled, always creating that wonderful dark cave atmosphere. This thing is produced and mixed to perfection, every growl sounds deep and monstrous, every dissonant note, every hit on the drums sound rich and organic. If you crave pure old school death metal, do not skip this one.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.4/10

8: Blut Aus Nord - Ethereal Horizons
Debemur Morti Productions

Blut Aus Nord is not a band that I have a deep knowledge about; I was struck by the pure chaos of 2022's Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses, a pure mindfuck of an album (positive). So, I approached Ethereal Horizons expecting the same. In short, I was not expecting this, a relatively peaceful and atmospheric journey in space. Being a 31-year-old project, they underwent many changes, stylistically incorporating many sounds and influences. On Ethereal Horizons I can hear their distinctive chaotic sound but washed in a superb atmosphere, making the dissonance feel beautiful. You get everything from otherworldly cleans to black metal shrieks with blastbeats. I can almost hear some industrial influences while never stepping in fully industrial territories, it's a nice nod to their earlier career. So, if you want an out of this world black metal experience, 31 years in, Blut Aus Nord proves they stand above in their own category.
-Raphael

Sixteen albums into a long and impressively varied career, Blut Aus Nord have become bizarrely consistent for a band that habitually take the kind of risks with their sound that the majority of bands simply would not countenance. While other bands run out of ideas and retreat 'back to their roots' with a fraction of the discography that the Frenchmen boast, Vindsval's crew push on, sometimes exploring the outer reaches of progressive black metal, and sometimes consolidating their previous gains. Ethereal Horizons falls into the latter category, and while it may not offer the kind of groundbreaking experience that MoRT or The Work Which Transforms God did in their day, it is still a mighty and sophisticated work of black metal art. The nearest comparison, at least in feel, is Dødheimsgard's masterful Black Medium Current. This doesn't quite scale the same heights, but the approach is similar. Although elements of the album recall other bands – the chiming lead guitar lines threading their way through 'Shadows Breathe First' like mid-period Alcest, for example – there is something totally singular about the way in which Blut Aus Nord operate, and however expansive they may be on songs such as the 11 minute closer, 'The End Becomes Grace', intense black metal remains at the heart of their sound. The startling nature of Blut Aus Nord has been dulled somewhat by time, but the superior quality of their work remains.
-Benjamin

MetalBite's Rating: 8.4/10

7: Fear Connection - Where Suffering Remains
Neckbreaker Records

This is a logical step after their debut Progeny Of A Social Disease. Gloomy death metal with some more melodic parts, creating a dense and threatening atmosphere. All ten tracks are very unique and entertaining, each one with different influences. Some Bolt Thrower here, a little bit of At The Gates there, sometimes some cool old Death-memorial-riffs and a lot of thrash and sometimes punk ("The Devil's Dance"). Smart song-writing keeps you interested to the last second. Only the title track puzzles me. Why? It's an instrumental. I don't like them too much - just a personal bone I pick (anybody who wants to tell me that reviews are objective has a screw loose). It is good, but it might have been even better with vocals - we will never know. If you are into melodeath this is a must have!
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

6: Mezzrow - Embrace The Awakening
ROAR! / Rock Of Angels Records

In almost 40 years of existence, this is only the band's third album, although they were on hold for a while. Cool that they are back on the stage again and putting out more music two years after Summon Thy Demons. They've shaken off the rust quickly - Embrace The Awakening is very fresh and full of anger. Ass-kicking thrash metal which sometimes reminds me of "The Evolution Of Chaos" by Heathen. No modernity, just a great mixture of melodies and heaviness. Best example for this might be "Sleeping Cataclysm", a fucking killer song with great riffs. The only possible criticism I have is the runtime. This is 37 minutes but feels half as long. Need a 50 minute follow up album, please!
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

5: Terror Corpse - Ash Eclipses Flesh
Dark Descent Records

Dobber Beverly, better known for his work in Oceans of Slumber, has a new project, a pure death metal band with grindcore influences that shows how versatile of a drummer he is. The core of their sound is a cavernous style death metal that is extremely dynamic, one second, it's a slow and oppressive riff, almost doom and the next it explodes with a lightspeed grinding blastbeat, showing the inhuman technical abilities of Dobber. He's really front and center in every song with tasty fills and he shines on every level, fast, slow, mid paced, he does it all. The bass is perfectly audible and complements the heavy riffs perfectly. Vocally expect the deepest low growls with the occasional high pitch screams sprinkled here and there. Another impressive accomplishment is ending the album with a cover I really like, their rendition of "Into The Crypts Of Rays" of Celtic Frost is both faithful to the original but also feels new. This is an incredibly promising new project, and I hope they continue to make amazing music for a long time!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.6/10

4: Kostnateni - Excess
Willowtip Records

While I've always had an objective appreciation for the unusual stylings of this Ameri-czech project, their previous works were something I liked the idea of, but found it difficult to vibe on a visceral level. I can only say that now because Excess is finally the one that makes it click. I think it's the drum performance, which adds a layer of straightforward intensity that not only drives the weirdness into your skull, but also gives it more texture and definition. This is like Deathspell Omega for slam bros and I am here for it.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.6/10

3: Dysentery - Dejection Chrysalis
Comatose Music

Snare goes ping. Vocals go gurgle gurgle eeee. Every moment of this is tailored to inspire spin kicks and moshing, but without ever touching beatdown/deathcore levels of simplicity - there's enough speed and snaking riff movement to satiate a brutal death metal fan. This is my first time discovering this band but they've been in business since the mid-00s, this being their first album in ten years and their fourth full length. Not sure why I have never seen anyone mention them before this because they go HARD.

A lot of the death metal in the Northeastern USA has this mix of subtle hardcore influences, heavy technical prowess and outright brutality that is just so insatiably delicious. Also I cannot overstate how awesome that snare tone is. Slaaaaaaam
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.7/10

2: Bell Witch & Aerial Ruin - Stygian Bough: Vol 2
Profound Lore Records

I remember the first time I've listened to Mirror Reaper, since I was never a huge fan of funeral doom, it took me until 2020 to finally give it a spin and you know, the feeling of listening to something and knowing you can't go back before, this album is so impactful that it now holds a special place in your heart instantly! I honestly kind of get this feeling with Stygian Bough: Vol 2, the mix of glacial, slow and heavy funeral doom with the arial and soothing clean vocals of Erik Moggridge aka Aerial Ruin, gives a surreal and ethereal feeling that will take you on a 58-minute transcendent journey that will fly by in a blink of an eye. The star remains the drumming of Jesse Shreibman, the super slow tempo creates a satisfying anticipation at every hit of the kit. He also shows off his technical skills with fast and precise fills. Also, the guitar solo at the very end of the record is so fast, a very rare shred moment for funeral doom. The production and the mixing on this album are phenomenal, it sounds clear, every hit on the drums sounds huge and organic, truly one of the best sounding albums of 2025.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.8/10

1: Qrixkuor - The Womb Of The World
Invictus Productions

Heavy metal typically makes great claims for its ability to scare and frighten, adopting as it does, the aesthetic and thematic trappings of the darker side of life, the musical equivalent of the horror films that so often go hand-in-hand with this music, at least in terms of the cultural interests of much of its audience. Despite this, it is rare to encounter an album that is truly terrifying, something that stays with the listener once the music has gone, an ineffable infection insidiously eating away at one's cognition, a body decaying from the core. In The Womb Of The World, Qrixkuor have created a record that stands with Khanate's Things Viral, or Today Is The Day's Sadness Will Prevail, a truly unsettling piece of work. Across four lengthy tracks (although where any one of them starts and finishes is difficult to say) the band create a sinister soundscape that combines dank, cavernous death metal with classical instrumentation, and layers of cacophonous voices that are close enough to sense, but just too far away to ever quite grasp, a wisp of smoke forever evading capture. The use of strings in particular is a masterstroke – the spiralling arrangements are fully embedded into songs, as much a part of their attack as the guitars, as opposed to the symphonic harmony that more conventional bands would utilise them for. The Womb Of The World is a white-hot fever dream that feels like it could immolate at any moment, but not before it triggers drawling madness in those who are brave enough to listen to it.
-Benjamin

One of the strangest death metal albums of the year. From the hallucinogenic cover, cryptic song titles and the sick music, everything is really mysterious. Vocals sound like early Bolt Thrower, a bit more whispered, and the instruments are a ferocious cacophony enriched with some odd string soundscapes. Musically it is a homage to some brutal black and death metal bands back from the 90s, cold, dark and barbaric. Nothing is beautiful nor aesthetic, there is just sheer blackness to find. If this is the womb we all come from I don't want to be born.
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 9.4/10

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

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

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

Welcome back to MetalBite's Top 10 albums of the month! This list marks the three year anniversary of this column, when I (Nate) had a bunch of short reviews written for 10 bands in January 2021, stricken by boredom with the ongoing pandemic, and wanted to lump them all together and rank them because it's fun to nerd out like that.

Life got busier, but nonetheless we haven't missed a month in three years yet. Our lists are bigger than ever before - it used to be a struggle to think of 10 albums worth hearing in a given month all on my own, but now it's not uncommon for 20-30 albums per month to get write-ups, relegating tons of gems into the Honorable Mentions section. That's in no small part to our growing cabal of writers - we now have three additional regulars in Michael, Benjamin and Vlad feeding you the goods, all with different specialty genres and little overlap in taste, despite being obsessive metal freaks through and through. We've also had a handful of sporadic contributors fade in and out through the years, including TheOneNeverSeen and Felix among others i'm probably forgetting.

We've gotten thanks and gratitude from countless bands, both those well-known and dwelling in obscurity, and lots of label and media shout-out as well. We don't do this for the accolades, though, and we're definitely not doing it for the money - it's all for the love of the music and our desire to make the bands we adore more known and heard.

Thank you for being here and joining us for the ride, wherever or whoever you are. Heavy metal reigns supreme!!!

-Nate

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Resin Tomb - Cerebral Purgatory
Transcending Obscurity

This is heavy, viscous and abrasive all at once, owing to drawing from multiple wells of dissonant death metal, sludge and even a bit of grind/crust. Early Wake is not a terrible comparison, any Australian band that plays with dissonance is gonna have a bit of Ulcerate in there, and it's got that meaty, amelodic weight that Transcending Obscurity has a fondness for, as evidenced by bands like Warcrab, Jupiterian and Lurk on their roster. This sounds raw, but only in emotion, not in tone - the drum production in particular is thick as shit and beats every gnashing, buzzing riff into your brain with incomparable force.
-Nate

Fantasma - Abomination Of Human Pestilence
Narbentage Produktionen

If you like German black metal bands like Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult, then you might like the new coming two-piece band Fantasma as well. Fantasma returned 2 years after its debut with a new demo Abomination Of Human Pestilence that provides very misanthropic but atmospheric black metal that conveys a very macabre plague-infested vibe with an ominous feeling of evil presence. When a new coming black metal band comes out with a demo such as this, one could only wonder what awaits us when the time comes for a full-length album, which will definitely continue to incorporate songwriting that will once again call upon the reaper from the gloomy heavens.
-Vlad

Abhoria - Depths
Prosthetic Records

Good modern melodic black metal. I could use a few more earworm riffs to solidify these in my memory, but there's nothing that feels shoehorned in or out of place. Not much I can say about this beyond that, worth a listen if you bump Dissection or other Prosthetic meloblack/death like Volcandra, Fires in the Distance, Nixil or Tomarum.
-Nate

Knoll - As Spoken
Independent

This feels like the first band that has managed to capture the same essence as Full of Hell - the vocalist is a dead ringer for Dylan Walker, with a similar wet, prickly tone to his high, and the band takes a similar approach of adding heavier death metal and noise elements to a grindcore base to make their music sound claustrophobic, violent, and with a certain esoteric, evil undertone that both groups seem to relish in.

The perfect opener for a cryptic dissodeath band live, which is why it's no surprise Thanitfaxath tapped them for a run of shows happening as we speak (mid-February). This sounds lik a nightmare in all the best ways.
-Nate

Vipassi - Lightless
Season Of Mist

Some really nice bass tones on this. Covers a lot of ground, kind of like an instrumental version of later Fallujah if you removed the deathcore tendencies. Ne Obliviscaris fans will get a good amount of mileage out of this, too (and not just because the two bands share a guitarist). It's got some heavier tendencies than Scale the Summit, but should still satisfy people who go for that type of sound, if that makes sense. If you like the idea of extreme metal but hate the vocals, this is probably right up your alley.
-Nate

Savaged - Night Stealer
No Remorse Records

I guess there is just no escaping from traditional heavy metal excellence, is there? In the case of the Spanish band Savaged and their debut album Night Stealer, we have yet another very enjoyable heavy metal album with hints of speed metal here and there, providing a powerful and melodic work all throughout. Just like with the band Show N Tell, all the songs on this album scream 80's, and this is something made for the fans who just want some good old-fashioned heavy metal that will steal your soul the moment you press play.
-Vlad

Saevus Finis - Facilis Descensus Averno
Transcending Obscurity

Dissonant death combines with Deathspell Omega -esque black metal to create a layered, weighty album that will take a few good listens to full peel back the layers. If you're looking for the chasm-styled hole that Abyssal leaves in you mixed with the tense tightrope walk that Nightmarer pulls off, this will check both boxes with aplomb. Full track premiere here.
-Nate

Carnal Savagery - Into The Abysmal Void
Moribund Records

One of Sweden's most prolific exports, Carnal Savagery are back with their fifth album since April 2020. Again they offer us a lot of traditional HM-2 sounds without any compromise. Groovy riffs in the vein of Dismember, Entombed or Unleashed are in abundance and make for some good old fashioned chainsaw fun. Of course the lyrics aren't talking about flowers (unless they're decaying and maggot-infested, I suppose), but did you expect anything else? Into The Abysmal Void also features some tasty guest solos by Sebastian Ramstedt (Necrophobic) in 'Stench Of Burnt Decay' and 'Limb By Limb'.

If "Like An Everflowing Stream" or "Clandestine" are the death metal bibles to you, Into The Abysmal Void will be a good supplementary sermon. Amen!
-Michael

Xion - Between Shadows And Gods
Dalapop

Although I doubt that I will once again experience the kind of warm feeling I had towards thrash metal, that still doesn't mean that I can't enjoy what it has to offer. Thanks to my friend Andjela, she introduced me to the Swedish thrashers Xion, who have released their debut full-length album Between Shadows And Gods that is all about the pumped adrenaline aggression and headbanging from start to finish. With an album such as this, I believe that the band Xion deserves to be in the ranks of modern thrash metal names such as Havok or Warbringer.
-Vlad

Upon Stone - Dead Mother Moon
Century Media Records

If you still swear upon the first two releases by In Flames or 90s-era At The Gates, this is a must-have for you. Upon Stone resurrect the old spirit of these two albums perfectly. Harsh death metal vocals paired with catchy riffs and some folk-ish melodies make the album a very interesting one for those who miss the classic Gothenburg melodeath days. Some songs are a bit more straightforward, but that just leaves room to expand on future albums. For a debut, Dead Mother Moon is very solid.
-Michael

Engulf - The Dying Planet Weeps
Everlasting Spew

One-man death metal with a nice helping of atmosphere, capable drum programming that's barely noticeable as such, and a nice John Tardy inflection to the vocals. You should know better than to doubt anything that comes out of Everlasting Spew at this point.
-Nate

Deconsekrated - Ascension In The Altar Of Condemned
Iron, Blood And Death Corporation

The South American metal scene always tends to provide some of the most extreme death and black metal bands, and in the case of very extreme and brooding death metal, Deconsekrated from Chile is no exception. Their debut album Ascension In The Altar Of Condemned is an offspring of an eldritch being that was conceived from the foulest semen, proving that death metal in the modern world can still sound morbid, intimidating and evil. Modern day brutal death metal bands who like to flex their muscles should not mess with South American death metal bands, because these ones are natural born killers.
-Vlad

Stuporous - Asylum's Lament
Void Wanderer Productions / War Production

Blackened-doom can be a tough beast to tame. Attempting to capture the sinister evil at the heart of black metal, with limited recourse to the visceral thrill of the speeding guitars and drums, it can easily descend into background music. Perhaps due to the deep black metal history of prime mover Floris Velthuis, the man at the helm of the good ship Stuporous, the Dutch trio never threaten to fall into this trap, their debut instead bringing a lush depth and complex harmonic approach to extreme doom, transporting the listener into eldritch, sylvan realms of glorious misery. The use of brass isn't totally novel in metal, but the addition of a French horn to the instrumentation here certainly sets them apart from other bands, and is deftly incorporated into the layers of guitars in a way that never seems forced, reminiscent of Tribunal's cello lines, or Skepticism's pipe organ, and both of those bands, in addition to the obvious influence of My Dying Bride, are good reference points for Stuporous. Like the famously jovial UK crew, Stuporous are equally as adept when they dial-up the velocity, which they do with great skill on the superb 'Never Let Me Go', and sparingly and effectively elsewhere. The jarringly upbeat 'Distorted Echoes' is perhaps a misstep, but overall, Asylum's Lament is a fine debut that promises much, and mostly delivers.
-Benjamin

Drowned - Procul His
Sepulchral Voice

Out of nowhere, this low-key but highly regarded death/doom act releases their first album in 10 years. I haven't seen much buzz about this (not nearly as much as Spectral Voice, anyways) but there's a lot of the same key elements at play that make this good. There's a rigid adherence to the old ways of death metal reimagined in a modern lens - not reinventing the wheel, but Drowned still add their own touch to things that keeps the style moving forward. I've always thought that if you want high-caliber underground metal, Germany is your best stop. Even the third and fourth-stringers in the style are worth your attention - doubly so when the band has been active for over 30 years and has connections to Necros Christos, The Ruins of Beverast and Sijjin.

Their quality over quantity approach works well and is evident in the atmosphere that drips forth - every riff, drumbeat and vocal line seems to be carefully cultivated to maintain the occult atmosphere. The musicianship is far from mindblowing - the blastbeats are never overly speedy and rely on traditional drumming techniques, the leads and solos are more of the slow, feelsy kind rather than the shreddy kind - but this doesn't have to be flashy to get its message across. The chemistry and shared vision between the members serves these songs well enough to get by. You get the sense that every single one of these exclusively listen to the dankest OSDM and absolutely nothing else, lest they spoil their musical broth.
-Nate

Show N Tell - The Ritual Has Begun
No Remorse Records

If there is a fact about me and traditional heavy metal music, it's that I just simply can't get enough of it. Show N Tell's debut album The Ritual Has Begun gave us plenty of heavy bangers and catchy tunes, that vary between pure speed metal and rocking out heavy metal. This album is pretty simple in its structure, yet that simplicity is highly effective, showing that its execution is not a misfire, not by a longshot.
-Vlad

Madder Mortem - Old Eyes, New Heart
Dark Essence Records

Madder Mortem return in 2024, with their seventh full-length, and are presumably wondering as they must with every release, whether this will be the one that sees them finally grow their cult following into the kind of wider success that the quality of their progressive metal surely deserves. In Old Eyes, New Heart, the Norwegians have authored another excellent entry into a stellar back catalogue, and their existing audience will no doubt clutch the band even closer to their heart, safe in the knowledge that they, at least, have acknowledged the ongoing brilliance of Madder Mortem in good time. Once more, the band continue their gradual refinement of a sound that has allowed them to carve an ever deeper niche since at least 2003's Deadlands. Juddering djent-adjacent riffs share space with gargantuan choruses that soar eternally on the wings of Agnete Kirkevaag's never less then bewitching voice, and often, Madder Mortem are the spellbinding equal of The Gathering, or Amorphis's more gentle moments. It is reassuring indeed to find the band maintaining their customary high standard, which they do effortlessly with another set of unforgettable songs. The eyes may be old, but this heart now beats just a little bit harder.
-Benjamin

Master - Saints Dispelled
Hammerheart Records

Paul Speckmann is back with his 15th Master album. Can we expect anything new? No, not really. Saints Dispelled mixes up death, thrash and heavy metal with a healthy dose of D-beats, making for an entertaining listen with those old school vibes. Not every Master album is a home run, admittedly, but I can confidently say this is one of the band's best albums. Right from the start you have that straight-to-the-face, punchy immediacy, and the songs being punkish at their core makes for a very catchy listen. Mr. Speckmann turned 60 last year, but he still sounds as pissed and aggressive as he was in 1990. To quote an Accept song from 93 – 'Sick, Dirty And Mean'!
-Michale

Saxon - Hell, Fire And Damnation
Silver Lining Music

Heavy metal legends Saxon return with a strong album that can be shortly summarized with the song 'Fire And Steel'. Hell, Fire And Damnation is a very monstrous and awesome album from start to finish, in my opinion it is miles better than Carpe Diem, which is no surprise considering the fact that the band's lineup was updated when Brian Tatler stepped in the shoes of longtime guitarist Paul Quinn. This album reminded me why I loved Saxon so much in my teenage days when I would do nothing but blast NWOBHM classics at full volume, and I think that I'll be coming back to Hell, Fire And Damnation more often throughout this year, and many years to come.
-Vlad

Cognizance - Phantazein
Willowtip

These English-based folks have steadily been putting out some of the nastier technical melodeath in recent years. They're not flashy at the level of Inferi, nor technical at the level of Archspire, but they live in the same ballpark, executing well and always writing to serve the song. The verse riffs and solos are incredibly tasty, but they don't lean on them too hard, instead keeping your chops primed for the next one while smoothly transitioning between those themes with relatively simple bridges. Metal-archives suggests a deathcore influence, but I think that's just because their sound is firmly planted in modern death metal archetypes - maybe their earlier stuff had a bit more of a Faceless thing going on? There's also a heavier bites to the less techy grooves that hints at that - but it's little more than a mere hint. As a whole, this is definitely a band you marvel at more than mosh to live. It helps having Obscura's current drummer adding that proggy flavour to the mix as well. Willowtip is starting off the year strong!
-Nate

METALBITE'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH

10: Into The Ashes - Consumed By The Negative Dimension
Pathologically Explicit Recordings

Old school brutal death metal is becoming more and more codified as a sound as the early releases of bands like Deeds of Flesh, Gorgasm and Disavowed fade further into the rearview mirror. We're now at the point where these late 90s-early 2000s albums could be considered "retro" (feel old yet?) and as such it seems like niche boutique labels like Comatose, New Standard Elite and Pathologically Explicit are rolling out another wave of bands in this style. There's a lot of bands in this general realm of sound - the members of Into The Ashes alone have like two dozen current and former projects between them - but few of them are able to stand out and properly recreate the essence of what made the blastbeat-saturated hyper-brutality so groovy and tasty.

As you might guess based on its inclusion on this AOTM list, Consumed by the Negative Dimension has exactly the qualities it needs to separate itself from the pack. Snaking low end riffs, drumming that's fast and blast heavy but never overwhelming and impossible to follow, a healthy, throaty low rasp - it's almost like the folks involved have decades of experience making this music behind them or something. Oscar Ortega has a keen ear for brutal death metal and even though each member of the band is in a different country, they're all seasoned enough musicians and understand the end goal well enough that it sounds like they're in the same room. 2023 was stacked with brutal death metal: Nithing, Molested Divinity, Dead and Dripping, Paroxysm Unit and Wormhole were all comfortably within my top 20 for the year, and 2024 is already well on its way to be right there with it.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

9: Exocrine - Legend
Season Of Mist

Everyone knows it takes tech-death bands forever to write and release new music, so the fact that Exocrine has put out six albums in nine years is stupefying and absolutely unfair. There's no way a band this prolific should consistently be putting out material this high quality.

I'll admit I glossed over the past couple works, but they just keep announcing new albums and now they've got me doing a whole deep dive and wondering why I overlooked them before. This is extremely tasty and groovy - the riffing reminds me a lot of Archspire (they do a lot of those stuttering dual guitar trade-offs that Dean and Tobi love), while the catchiness and memorability is bringing Gorod to mind, but as much as I can make those comparisons, this has a flavour all its own, with garnishes of gritty cleans and brass instruments giving a little extra something to mull over. It's amazing how quickly 38 minutes go by when this is on, with not a second wasted but also careful attention paid to emphasize different layers at different times so as to not completely overstimulate.

Exocrine have firmly cemented themselves in the upper class of French death metal right in the midst of their creative apex, and show no signs of slowing down any time soon. Get these dudes on a North American tour pronto!
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.6/10

8: Vemod - The Deepening
Prophecy Productions

With The Deepening, Vemod are awarded the trophy that definitely exists for the most Prophecy album ever to be released on Prophecy. It is no criticism of the utter majesty that it contains, but the Norwegian's second full-length sounds exactly as one would expect. It is a testament to the enduring nature of their atmospheric take on black metal, that twelve years after their similarly excellent debut, they have not dated in any way. The Deepening looks and sounds totally contemporary, and maintains Vemod's supremacy within a crowded scene. From its first moments, the album envelops the listener in a cocoon of tragic beauty, waves of ringing chords inducing a melancholic joy and yearning in the heart of the listener, a feeling that remains for the entirety of a wonderful record. Less accomplished practitioners of this brand of black metal, which certainly approaches the borderlands of post-, and on occasion encroaches on its territory, are often adept at conjuring beauty, but little else. Vemod, on the other hand, not unlike Afsky, access a wider and more primal emotional range, and utilise greater dynamic extremes, which makes for a significantly more profound listening experience. The coup de grace is applied by the stunning title track, which closes the album via sixteen minutes of dramatic and sweeping minor chords, huge swells of sound rising from the depths, before dissipating back into the void from whence it came. Magical.
-Benjamin

At long last, Norwegian black metal band Vemod has finally released their new album The Deepening, 12 years since the release of their debut Venter På Stormene. It's a very mesmerizing work of black metal that will hypnotize you from the first track and make you transcend into the fog, possibly wandering on a cold mountain in a lonely midday, gazing at the grey skies. It is a very deep album in terms of its musical output, with many songs conveying emotions that reflect on man's instinct of escapism, fleeing into mother nature, and this the kind of vibe that you will get from The Deepening.
-Vlad

MetalBite's Rating: 8.9/10

7: Sacrofuck - Święta Krew
Godz Ov War Productions

Polish death metal Sacrofuck came in with their second full-length album Święta Krew like a reaper with the scythe, striking hard with full force. This album is raw, primitive and absolutely insane from start to finish, with every song annihilating, leaving no man walking nor breathing. Everything about this album screams musical brutality, and what it has to offer is just the kind of death metal that I've always been a big fan of. Should you decide to check out this beast of an album, be prepared, because you are about to witness some merciless death metal annihilation.
-Vlad

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

6: Soulcarrion - Enthrone Death
Godz Ov War Productions

Another polish death metal album by Godz ov War Productions to make it on this list? I guess I must have been craving this sort of death metal for so many years. Soulcarrion's second full-length Enthrone Death is an incredibly brutal, satanic and atmospheric death metal album that has a handful of diabolic and morbid songs that possess some form of Lovecraftian feel to them. From one song to another, it's like an eldritch being that slowly evolves into becoming a great beast that will devour the earth to the last man walking. What people call brutal death metal these days, should really reconsider by giving this album a listen, because they will discover something truly horrifying, grotesque and yet so beautiful.
-Vlad

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

5: Prognan - Sjene Nad Balkanom
Independent

Last year, Prognan had a successful return with their first full-length Naši životi Više ne postoje, which was met with overwhelmingly positive reviews from fans and critics in the Balkans and across the globe. However, the band would once again prove triumphant with their follow-up album Sjene Nad Balkanom, that not only takes everything that was great about the previous album, but they also manage to elevate it and surpass it in every way possible. The album has a heavy emotional rollercoaster with a powerful but gloomy storytelling from start to finish, with a dynamic curve that has a strong grasp that doesn't let go. This time, their cinematic elements blended with black metal are executed wonderfully, and you will also experience a couple of surprising moments on this album which you should witness for yourself.
-Vlad

MetalBite's Rating: 9.1/10

4: Vitriol - Suffer & Become
Century Media Records

This has been getting praised pretty incessantly by most metal media outlets, and I'm here today to tell you why that hype is completely justified and then some.

Vitriol was already a group that was becoming increasingly notorious for their intense live performances, devastatingly crushing extreme metal, and Kyle Rasmussen's guitarface in playthrough videos, and now they have a new album that takes all of those qualities and expands on them, creating an album that's more multifaceted than to Bathe From The Throat Of Cowardice - yet somehow Suffer & Become is no less extreme, despite more leaning on higher-register melody. It's even more intense because of the increasing number of avenues this Portland-based group uses to pummel you. That no is accomplished with no small thanks to Matt Kilner, whose solo project Nithing was a top-5 AOTY in 2023 - this guy is the real deal, and one of my favorite current blasturbators, with an incredible groove and texture to his playing while still being focused on fuckin' SPEED above everything else. His impossibly skilled work is a huge part of why this is able to capture so many different textures and themes.

The main reason why Suffer & Become is going to get a lot of praise from a really long time, though, is that it somehow pushes the envelope of extremity in an era where it often feels like death/black metal had said everything it possibly can. There is something so…pure about the anger and emotion displayed on this - a visceral intensity you feel much more accurately than it can be described. The tremolo riffing feels like it's lifting your organs out of your body, the production's added clarity giving more weight to the intentional bends, solos and pinch harmonics while the venomous snarls and throaty growls urge the riffs forward in a warlike fashion.

It's rare that an album gives me that same giddy feeling I had when I was first getting into death and black metal - you know, when you first "got it" and unlocked a whole new map of musical ideas that expressed those intense teenage emotions you never had a proper outlet for. It felt like there were no limits to what death metal could do - much like it feels like there's no true ceiling to how far Vitriol can take the unmistakably powerful essence they've tapped into. This is an early AOTY candidate for sure, and something you need to check out if you're even remotely interested in extreme music. Believe the hype.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 9.1/10

3: Dissimulator - Lower Form Resistance
20 Buck Spin

Dissimulator are the new band from Chthe'ilist and Atramentus members Antoine Daigenault and Claude Leduc, and impressively, they are the equal of these phenomenal acts, without sounding anything like them. Dissimulator's chosen form of metal is a furious take on technical thrash – Vektor with the lysergic psychedelic edge replaced by a biomechanical concept - and their debut, Lower Form Resistance manages to achieve what many bands in the genre grapple with, but fail to master, creating music that is a catchy and memorable as it is warped. They unselfconsciously celebrate a form of metal that evokes serious nostalgia in anyone that bemoans the lack of weird progressive thrash and tech-death of the type that seemed to abound during a short stretch of the early 1990s. The chunky low-E chugging, dizzying flurries of fleet-fingered modal runs, and stabs of jazzy dissonance cannot help but recall Voivod, Coroner and Atheist, but the most appealing aspect of Dissimulator's debut is the way in way the band's technical flair at no point becomes the dominating element of their attack, with the visceral thrill and excitement of thrash sacrificed at the altar of self-indulgent experimentation. Lower Form Resistance is not groundbreaking, but it is an almost flawless, and ingeniously addictive, take on technical thrash, breathing new life into a niche sub-genre, and immediately places the band within the exalted company that they clearly revere.
-Benjamin

MetalBite's Rating: 9.3/10

2: Oathbringer - Tales Of Valor
RTR Records

Oathbringer's debut Tales Of Glory was one of the biggest and highly anticipated albums in the Serbian metal scene, and that was met with very positive feedback from the NWOTHM fanbase, as well as music critics. Now the time has come to once again witness the epic saga, with their second full-length album Tales Of Valor. Whilst the last album hinted more towards melody and epic tunes, this one has a bit more of an aggressive output with even heavier bangers that strike like a Warhammer to your skull. Fans often debate whether Tales Of Valor is better than Tales Of Glory, and I think it is simply impossible to conclude that discussion, however I think we can all agree that Oathbringer started out strong and are still going strong, especially now since they expanded to a five-piece. Like I said already, Tales Of Valor to me is like the video game Diablo 2, it has a lot of the same things as its predecessor, but it is a sequel that is much sharper around the edges.
-Vlad

MetalBite's Rating: 9.4/10

1: Lucifer - V
Nuclear Blast Records

Kicking off with a sweet lick that brings "Children Of The Grave" to mind, Lucifer introduce their 5th full-length album. This group is the brainchild of Johanna Andersson (The Oath, Vinterkrieg), and her partner in crime Nicke Andersson, whom you might recognize as the classic Entombed drummer. Apart from the great, catchy riffs, Johanna's siren vocals grip you immediately. On V you can feel the 70s hard rock / heavy metal vibe everywhere, especially in the more rousing tracks like 'At The Mortuary', but each song comes with a healthy dose of morbidity and sadness. Like Sabbath, Lucifer are often influenced by a more bluesy sound (like in 'The Dead Don't Speak'). When all is said and done I feel pretty confident calling this the hard rock/heavy metal AOTY, even though we're only in January - this is that flawless and timeless.
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 9.5/10

As always, thanks for stopping by. Comment to let us know what we missed, check out December 2023's AOTM list to get sucked into a rabbit hole of monthly choice cuts, and never stop supporting metal!!

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

-Nate

HONORABLE MENTIONS

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

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

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

Illusive Key - Consume Us
Amor Fati Productions

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

Pillory - Old Soul
Independent

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

Yellow Eyes - Confusion Gate
Gilead Media

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

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

Impermanence - Anicca
Satanath Records

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

Drofnosura - Ritual Of Split Tongues
Transcending Obscurity

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

Bonginator - Retrodeath
Testimony Records

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

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

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

Ultra Raptor - Fossilized
Fighter Records

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

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

Silent Tombs - Mourning Hymns From Beyond
Personal Records

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

An Abstract Illusion - The Sleeping City
Willowtip Records

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

Despised Icon - Shadow Work
Nuclear Blast

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

Valdur - Guilded Abyss
Bloody Mountain Records

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

Morgue - Terre De Cauchemars
Ascension Records

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

METALBITE'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH

10: Tombs - Feral Darkness
Redefining Darkness Records

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

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

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

MetalBite's Rating: 8.4/10

9: Dead Heat - Process Of Elimination
Metal Blade Records

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

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

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

8: Morke - To Carry On
True Cult Records

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

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

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

7: Coroner - Dissonance Theory
Century Media Records

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

MetalBite's Rating: 8.6/10

6: Psychonaut - World Maker
Pelagic Records

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

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

MetalBite's Rating: 8.6/10

5: Heteropsy - Embalming
Caligari Records

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

MetalBite's Rating: 8.7/10

4: Blaze - Out Through The Door
No Remorse Records

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

MetalBite's Rating: 8.8/10

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

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

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

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

2: Agriculture - The Spiritual Sound
The Flenser

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

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

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

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

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

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

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

MetalBite's Rating: 9.1/10

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

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

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

Welcome back to MetalBite's Top 10 Albums of the Month! It was a bit of a thin month and we were all collectively recovering from our holiday hangovers, so this is coming out horrendously late, but never fear, we've still got a bit of love to give to those neglected December releases that tend to get shunned from year-end lists. Let's cut the shit and get to it.

-Nate

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Dwelling Below - Dwelling Below
Transcending Obscurity

If you're familiar with Acausal Intrusion, who offer some delightfully weird, angular death/black metal, this will likely appeal to you as well - and not just because it's the same guys behind Dwelling Below. The winding tower of nightmarish soundscapes, carefully tense dissonance and barely organized chaos still takes shape here. The musicians involved are ridiculously prolific - Jared Moran alone has dozens of projects to his name, and though some of them are inevitably similar, Dwelling Below retains its own distinct character, mostly owing to the drudging death/doom and restrained leadwork that pops up in songs such as 'Emergence Sublimation'. Recommended if you hate anything melodic.
-Nate

Embryonic Devourment - Prime Specimens
Desidarius Recordings

I'm not sure why Unique Leader dropped these guys - maybe they didn't want to put out another album so soon after the one before it or something? I can't claim to fully understand the inner machinations and motivations of record labels.

It also surprises me because this reminds me more of Deeds of Flesh than anyone else on their active roster. This is stupidly technical, with constant scatterings of discordant (but cleanly played) guitar leads, a constant maelstrom of rapid-fire drumming, shifting time signatures and snaking motifs, and a general "fuck you, try and make sense of this" vibe that it puts onto the listener, with constant curveballs. They definitely didn't go over-budget on the production job, as the drums in particular are notably clicky and thin, with the vocals being reduced to a background trace, but on the flipside it does highlight just how ridiculous the riffs and drum patterns are. If you're the type that isn't too persnickety about your albums having the thickest guitar tone possible, you'll get into this fine.

New guitarist Donnie Small seems to have reinvigorated this band - he must have some hand in writing, as they've composed two full-lengths since he joined in 2021 when their last full-length had come out eight years before that. Perhaps this signals a new, abundantly productive era of this band - which I'm here for, because Embryonic Devourment play a style of technical brutal death that's been neglected in the internet metalsphere in recent years - even the very label that helped to establish the style seems to be turning its back on it.
-Nate

Winterhorde - Neptunian
Noble Demon

I first became acquainted with this grandiose, all-encompassing progressive extreme metal group through their album Maestro, which still makes its way into my listening rotation every now and then despite me being pretty picky about albums in the style. They just nailed everything they attempted on that album: soaring, elegant clean vocals, powerful and flowing structures that covered a wide breadth of textures and emotions, and a general air of classines and intelligence that makes you refer to an album as being "composed" rather than "written". It feels like the kind of thing I actually wouldn't mind hearing in a proper old-school concert hall with a full backing orchestra (doesn't mean other bands should try - I'm looking at you, Sepultura…)

Neptunian has the difficult task of following up a masterpiece, and to throw an extra curveball into the mix, there's been a huge lineup overhaul in recent years, with a new drummer, guitarist, clean vocalist and keyboardist all providing contributions. The end result is, admittedly, not quite hitting the mark the same way Maestro did for me - there's just too many new cooks in the kitchen that aren't fully acquainted to the recipe yet - but by the same token, the folks that have been here since the beginning have been doing this for over 20 years and know what they want Winterhorde to be at this point. The approach changes a bit as well because to my knowledge, unlike the previous release, Neptunian isn't a concept album - or at least doesn't have prevalent themes that span multiple tracks, which does actually affect how long I want to listen to it.

It's hard to not compare Neptunian to the masterpiece that came before it, but it's still a very strong and capable extreme prog album by a very underrated band, so I'm still comfortable recommending you check this out - even if it's not typically the style of music you're drawn to.
-NateXXXXX

Devil's Reef - The Droste Observer
The Artisan Era

There's a couple of neat little quirks about this - the gritty cleans are Alluvial-esque and provide nice contrast, and there's a surprising amount of slow builds and more midpaced, textural riffs (not quite djenty, but definitely hinting at it) that break up the flashy finger-fucker riffs, but even with those present, I find The Droste Observer struggles to separate itself from the "Artisan Era" sound that is becoming more and more typical with each new release by the label. I don't know if it's the production job, the riff selection or what, but I find this tough to distinguish from bands like The Ritual Aura, Aronious, Dessiderium, Apogean and Inanimate Existence. I suppose if you eat bands up in that style, though, you're almost guaranteed gonna like this. Being the tech-head I am, this is still a solid album and all, I'd just like a few more curveballs along the lines of Warforged and Greylotus to come out of TAE going forward.
-Nate

METALBITE'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH

10: Cryptworm - Oozing Radioactive Vomition
Me Saco un Ojo / Pulverised / Extremely Rotten

Us death metal folk are simple creatures. Give us some Demilich worship, skank beats and gurgles and you'll get all our disposable income without any protest or concern. Innovation is overrated - it can be just as effective to do a deep dive in a well of ideas that hasn't been completely saturated yet. Even if it is in a well-established genre, it doesn't really matter as long as the end result is a ton of fun to listen to, and that's definitely the case with Oozing Radioactive Vomition.

There's a bounciness to this, somewhat owing to the rubbery guitar tone and the wet yet papery snare tone, and it creates entrancing, catchy vibes that hit you right away and stick around even long after the album is done playing. Oozing Radioactive Vomition is more developed and has a fuller production than its predecessor, Spewing Mephitic Putridity - but with less than two years between the two albums, the end goal is still very clearly the same - catchy old-school inspired grooves with a sickening bounce. Demilicious!
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.2/10

9: Revulsed - Cerebral Contamination
Everlasting Spew

I always look forward to the more technical albums that this label puts out - not that I'm not a fan of the cavernous death/doom they're a bit more partial to, but because the more techy albums are less common and usually have a little extra something going on that holds your attention. Fractal Generator, Goratory, Serocs, Engulf - and now Revulsed, who have the rare distinction of being one of those bands that you can legitimately compare to Defeated Sanity, standing out among the countless bands will cite them as an influence. A younger, more spirited Suffocation isn't the worst comparison either - this is snaking, obtuse, and eschews prominent melody in place of confounding patterns, pinch harmonics and a thick low end to add just a dash of slam into the mix. The more you examine the intricacies of this, the more it reveals its surprises to you - I've given this a month to marinate and with each listen I feel like new things pop out of the riffs I didn't hear before.

I listen to every Everlasting Spew album that comes out, and this is just another album in a long list of entries that perfectly exemplifies why. They give killer niche bands the attention they deserve.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.2/10

8: Nornir - Skuld
Northern Silence

For those who find latter-day Marduk just that little bit weak and experimental, Nornir's second full-length Skuld should provide a satisfying alternative. The Germans tear through just under an hour of savage black metal in furious style, offering the listener practically everything one could ask for from classic-sounding, orthodox black metal. The minor key melodies are as cold, grim and frostbitten as a trudge across the Arctic circle, the occasional flourishes of triumphant twin lead guitars provide just enough variation, and the vocals deliver the kind of wild-eyed, other-worldly domineering presence that Gaahl or Hoest would be more than happy with. While one can hear a significant amount of the aforementioned Marduk, and also At The Heart Of Winter-era Immortal in Nornir's sound – not least in the frequent and linear combination of galloping chugs with single note tremolos to generate a stately mid-tempo march – there is enough of the band's own personality shining through on tracks such as the superb 'Hel's Postulate' to ensure that this is not a simple retread of that which has come many times before. A worthy release, concluding 2023 in fine style.
-Benjamin

MetalBite's Rating: 8.3/10

7: Cruciamentum - Obsidian Refractions
Profound Lore

*Note - this did technically come out in November, but it was late November, we missed it in that AOTM list, and it's the kind of thing that takes time to marinate anyways. It's my list, I'll do whatever the fuck I want, if you don't like it you can suck it.

This English (now international) group was part of a small group of flagship bands that signaled a new direction of death metal some time in the late 00s/early 2010s. I remember it with a decent amount of clarity, as that was around the time I was fully immersing my earbuds in underground metal. People were sick of modern tech-death and deathcore's oversaturation, and were reflexively turning to up and comers that reminded them more of the bands like Immolation, Incantation and Morbid Angel that got them into the genre in the first place. Dead Congregation, Disma, Grave Miasma, Funebrarum and Ignivomous could all be considered part of this "new wave of old school death metal" to one degree or another.

It started as a underrated, up-and-coming rebirth, turned popular and trendy as the heavy hitter labels started to take notice, and settled into a well-populated niche with the growth of labels exclusively dedicated to the sound - Memento Mori, Dark Descent and Me Saco un Ojo were all established in 2009-2010. Amidst the rise and proliferation of the style, Cruciamentum has quietly remained one of the best representatives of cavernous death metal, despite only having one EP, one full-length and a handful of scattered singles prior to this album.

Their riffing has always been visceral and energetic, thoroughly maintaining the cavernous atmosphere but never revealing too much too quickly, with ominous, purposeful, slow-build songwriting. Each riff is carefully thought out - not only in its own composition, but how it ties into the songs and the album on a larger scale. Though they avoid ever giving you any saccharine patterns to taste, the motifs of a song like 'Scorn Manifestation' are guaranteed to get any death metal fan's head nodding.

Despite some lineup overhaul, they transitioned into Obsidian Refractions carefully and made sure that the new contributors got the vibe before they did anything rash. There's a new second guitarist and vocalist/bassist, and both of them mesh seamlessly into the band fabric. Simply put, Cruciamentum knows how to write pure fucking death metal of the highest caliber. No genre splicing, no compromise, no adherence to trends - just steadily pushing the genre forward through grade-A riffing, well-thought out compositions and an unflinching commitment to hellish darkness.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

6: Demoncy - Black Star Gnosis
Dark Descent

It is something of a curiosity that, originating from the primordial soup of 1980s extreme metal, the strain of black metal that has come to define the genre in the minds of many is typically the blasting and sometimes symphonic tremolo attack of the Norwegian and Swedish bands of the mid-1990s. Demoncy, a name perhaps referenced more often than listened to, make a cogent argument for their brand of black metal as being a truer, more devoutly satanic mode of delivery than the technical wizardry of Scandinavia, favouring instead the kind of churning filth, and pulverising low-end found throughout the spectacular and bleak violence of Black Star Gnosis. The most obvious reference points are Von, Beherit and Profanatica / Havohej, but although the band share something with all of these legends, as well as war metal more generally, they conjure a hell of their own across nine tracks, which mix metallic brutality with black ambient soundscapes. Demoncy hit considerably harder than one might expect, with the feral aggression of tracks such as 'Ipsissimus Of Shadows' verging on old-school death metal at times, bolstered by a thick and tar-like low-end, a stark contrast to the treble-heavy screed of much primitive black metal. The band take the linear, chromatic approach to riffing of classic Von as a starting point, but what they do with it is deeper and arguably more disturbing, with Ixithra's rasping whisper an authentically terrifying voice that exudes filth and depravity. There should always be a place for the kind of single-minded horror that Demoncy are so adept at conjuring, and Black Star Gnosis is more than good enough to ensure that this will be the case for at least a little while longer.
-Benjamin

MetalBite's Rating: 8.6/10

5: Vargrav - The Nighthold
Werwolf Records

The Nighthold manages to fulfill the high expectations, which were briefly teased with the Encircle The Spectral Dimension EP. It is a fine album that is worth listening from start to finish, without ever losing track of what is going on and always being on the edge of your seats wondering what is going to happen next. Like I said before, Vargrav stands the test of time, and The Nighthold is both like a fine wine and a living proof that they indeed deserved their status of worship.
-Vlad (full review here)

MetalBite's Rating: 8.7/10

4: Varathron - The Crimson Temple
20 Buck Spin

Not one, not two, but three MetalBite writers reviewed this, the seventh album from one of the forefathers of Greek black metal. That's a sure sign this is worth checking out, and it's always impressive when a band can still remain this attention-grabbing this late in their career.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.8/10

3: Bull Of Apis Bull Of Bronze - The Fractal Ouroboros
Independent

This is a more developed album than the promising, intriguing full length Offerings Of Flesh And Gold - the production feels fuller and warmer, the songs aren't afraid to hold a theme for a few minutes at a time, and the bridges between the disparate parts feel more cohesive. For the uninitiated, Bull Of Apis Bull Of Bronze is modern anti-fascist black metal with a high-minded, ritualistic bent - think Ash Borer and Skagos if they were more inspired by the ill effects of capitalism than the lush landscapes of Cascadia.

My ADHD-ridden brain doesn't often gravitate to 1+ hour-long albums, but this band is a notable exception. Partially because atmo-black warrants it, but also because of the way this band doesn't have to do a lot to hold your attention. Even the ominous choral effects in the breaks between songs hint at a greater purpose and keep you interested in what's going to happen next. The stark and stoic ritualism meshes perfectly with long streams of vaguely discordant tremolo. It brings you back to that feeling when you were first getting into black metal and every band seemed to be made up of esoteric recluses who held seances on a weekly basis.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.8/10

2: Phobocosm - Foreordained
Dark Descent Records

This sounds like death. That should be more common than it is in a genre called DEATH metal, but turns out it's not a given a band is going to be able to channel an acute sensation of your imminent demise, even in a genre almost entirely focused on doing that. Phobocosm always sounded like they had the right idea, but never quite got the execution down on Deprived and Bringer Of Drought. Those are solid, interesting albums, but I always get the sensation when listening to them that the best is yet to come - the Quebec voidgazers have long been trying to find the proper tools to convey their otherworldly inspirations, and it's only on Foreordained that I feel that all-consuming completeness in their sound. It sounds like they finally developed the right chemistry and are creating the music they always wanted to for themselves.

The vocals are a subterranean, cavernous rumble that ritually urges the riffs forth, which themselves are sustained tremolos that give you a taste of melody, but never the full piece of pie. Each song is a long, treacherous march that builds to a climax with a slow trickle, and once you finally reach the summit, there's an all-consuming totality to the layers of noise and a cathartic release that feels like the last gasp from your lungs before all goes dark. There's an element of beauty to it, but it's also legitimately unsettling because you feel like you're coming to terms with your mortality in audio form. Simply put, this is not easy to do, much less so when you want to retain an element of musicality to go with it.

I can't really say that I enjoy Foreordained - it's more that I brave the experience of it. I get nervous to start, but once I do, I know i'm locked in for the ride, and I come out of the album a more focused and realized individual. That might sound pretentious as fuck, but I don't care. Listen for yourself and see what I mean.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

1: Geistaz'ika – Midnatsbøn Ved Djævelens Port
Signal Rex

Denmark's Geistaz'ika's second album, Midnatsbøn Ved Djævelens Port, is an enthralling and captivating work. The brief, folky introduction gives little indication of the forthcoming blizzard of blasting drums and trebly guitars that will ensue, but it serves to set the tone beautifully, immediately evoking the classic strains of Ulver and Abigor, while also bringing a medieval feel and sensibility to the band's sonic palette. The first metallic track, 'Bestaenkt Af Syndens Vievand' takes this feel and runs with it through forest and fjord, mesmerising with its epic length and balance of brutality and melody. It is a sound not unfamiliar to fans of key second-wave acts such as Setherial, early Enslaved, and Blut Aus Nord, but the unorthodox interplay between the expected black metal elements and a number of other compositional touches elevates their music well above conventional Norsecore. In particular, the off-kilter production that occasionally prioritises the chanting of the Moonsorrow-like clean vocals, together with the insertion of sometimes incongruous synth and string sounds is especially pleasing, and showcases the fascinating spectacle of a band that cannot quite control the elemental forces with which they are working. Geistaz'ika have found a real niche here, offering thoroughly memorable and majestic black metal, delivered with an utterly esoteric approach, with rich rewards in store for those who choose to venture deep enough to find them.
-Benjamin

MetalBite's Rating: 9.1/10

Thanks for sticking with us and stopping by. If you're interested in catching up on 2023 releases, the links to all the previous AOTM lists are below:

November 2023

October 2023

September 2023

August 2023

July 2023

June 2023

May 2023

April 2023

March 2023

February 2023

January 2023

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

Welcome back to MetalBite's Top 10 Albums of the Month! We're oh so very close to being caught up. Only one month behind, right on time for the deluge of albums that are certain to be out in the next few months as album-of-the-year season approaches…will it ever end? Probably not. We hope not. As long as we have working brains and fingers, we'll continue to champion and platform real music created by real artists to combat the encroaching wave of AI-generated nonsense…anyways, I'm about to trail off into a tangential rant, so let's just get to the reviews!

-Nate

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Demiurgon - Miasmatic Deathless Chamber
Transcending Obscurity

Ferocious yet precise and calculated death metal that doesn't lean exclusively to one specific subset of the genre. It's technical, groovy, old-school, new-school, even atmospheric at times - a soup of all the things that make this music something I'll never get tired of. They waste no time in getting straight to the point, and know how to make it effectively - not that I expected any less from seasoned veterans of the Italian extreme metal scene.
-Nate

Last Retch - Abject Cruelty
Time To Kill Records

Hailing from the mysterious, decaying and faraway lands of Hamilton and St Catharines, Ontario, Canada, Last Retch plays a delicious kind of old school, caveman death metal where the riff is king. I would advise you to stay away if you have any kind of stiff neck because your head will move, this is a guarantee. So, whenever you feel tired, crushed by the weight of modern life under late-stage capitalism, put this short but extremely well composed death metal album to soothe your alienation and just headbang your anxiety away and reconnect with real life.
-Raphael

Ancient Thrones - Melancholia
Independent

A cohesive, but still multifaceted mishmash of black/death metal with some symphonic garnishes. The meat of the album is melodic while maintaining aggression, and the extra frills provide additional contrast and roundedness without coming off as hokey or overblown - this isn't anywhere near Dimmu Borgir / Carach Angren stylistically, though you may be able to hear occasional references to them. Another good comparison would be the underrated Vimur - Melancholia is riff-focused, meaty and technically proficient without being overblown. Very much "meat and potatoes" black metal if you get my drift. Also, bonus points for having a drummer/lead vocalist, one of the most impressive double-duty combinations - especially because these fellas play live. Would love the chance to see them come down to my neck of the woods in Ontario!
-Nate

Green Carnation - A Dark Poem Part 1: The Shores Of Melancholia
Season Of Mist

As much as I love this band - Leaves Of Yesteryear was my favorite album of 2020, and I could listen to Kjetil Nordhus's voice for years on end - A Dark Poem simply did not resonate with me as much. It's a solid album by a talented band, and I would absolutely dive into their back catalog if you haven't already - but these songs just aren't compelling me to listen on repeat the same way their predecessor did. Maybe it's just a matter of time.
-Nate

Fauna - Ochre & Ash
Prophecy Productions

Fauna are an ambient-leaning Cascadian black metal band from Washington State, affiliated with Wolves In The Throne Room, releasing their fourth full-length on Prophecy and, to be honest, that is probably enough information for the average black metal fan to determine whether they need to buy this record with the change left from their Fire In The Mountains ticket, or whether they should hold fire and blow their salary on another Blasphemy live album from the Nuclear War Now! webstore instead. For those who may be sitting on the (sturdy Pacific Northwestern timber) fence though, Ochre & Ash is a challenging and punishing slab of bleak, discordant black metal, not unlike the much-missed Altar Of Plagues, shot through with an industrial bleakness and creeping horror, enhanced by the ambient interludes that are so crucial to the structure of the album. Much of the record is a downbeat dirge, orthodox black metal transposed into a post-metal setting, which creates an unbearable tension that is nevertheless captivating in its desolate beauty. It is as if the band have deconstructed Weakling's Dead As Dreams, and rebuilt it from scrapyard debris. Perhaps Fauna is an ironic name, as nothing living emerges from this suffocating, but compelling and hypnotic record.
-Benjamin

Unaligned - A Form Beyond
Transcending Obscurity

Tasty tech in that Inferi/Demon King/Eschaton realm, with a handful of more established names sprinkled about - couple guys from Demon King and Fleshbore, one of the more prolific machinegun-for-hire drummers in Jack Blackburn, and the core of the project also being the main drivers behind Withered Throne. It's hard to tell if this is a supergroup side-project or if Unaligned has now become the main band, but it doesn't really matter much. If you dig songs with fifty acrobatic finger-twisting riffs, a proficient speed broken up by quasi-jazzy interludes, and you're the type that will gladly eat up anything The Artisan Era puts out (this was even mastered by Mike Low!), you're not going to be disappointed here. I do find myself waiting for that moment where they really set themselves apart from the pack and establish a distinct, unique identity - but for a debut, Unaligned has certainly proven they can hang, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they evolve and develop in the future.
-Nate

Firmament - For Centuries Alive
Dying Victims Productions

Firmament is a classic heavy metal band from Germany that truly stands out by their absolute mastery of melody. They write gorgeous melodies that are deeply catchy and sound absolutely magical. The harmonizing twin guitars of Philipp Meyer and Tom Michalik paired with the powerful and melodic voice of Marco Herrmann creates the kind of magic every heavy metal band only wishes they could create. And to top this already perfect sundae, this rhythm section man, holy hell, just listen to the intro of "An Anthem For The Spotless Mind", the delicate drums, the subtle bass lines, it's so tasty! Once again, Dying Victims Productions showing the world how music should sound!
-Raphael

Siege Column - Sulphur Omega
Nuclear War Now!

If you follow this AOTM column and pay attention to who is writing the entries (bold of me to think we have fans/regulars, but I've been wrong before!), you may have noticed my proclivity for modern, maximalist styles of metal - tech death, grandiose, atmospheric black metal, dense dissonant/avant-garde stuff. That is where the majority of my listening time generally lies - especially when it comes to new releases - but that doesn't mean I don't also dabble in stripped down, grimy metalpunk. I'm actually on a big Motorhead kick right now, and fundamentally believe that metal is about the power of the riff first, and everything else comes second. Bands like Bolt Thrower, Bathory and Venom are mandatory listening for anyone getting into metal (even though I'm personally not a huge fan of the latter). I appreciate the more primitive, old-school roots of this style as much as anyone, but as someone who listens to a LOT of new music, it becomes increasingly difficult to hear something that hits me in a novel and unique way within the confines of a style I've heard countless times. I get that black/thrash/speed/old school styled metalpunk is all about keeping it true and not reinventing the wheel, and there's a reason bands continue to play in this style - it works. But you've got to wade through significantly more mediocrity to get to the gems, and I simply just don't have the time to sift through the rubble these days.

The point of this probably-too-long preamble is that when I do stumble across a band that stands out like Siege Column, you should definitely pay more attention because I am much more picky with this stuff. At first, I wasn't sure what makes this better - it's fast, straight-and-to-the-point black/speed/death/thrash/whatever - raw and oldschool and reminiscent of a time when subgenres weren't clearly defined and everyone was just trying to write the nastiest, most evil music possible within more restrictive confines. But something about them hooks you in - there's enough variety that you don't know exactly what angle the riff will hit you from next, and it's always groovy, blistering and most importantly, engaging. The drums are organic, fit the riffs well, and show just enough technical prowess to elevate the guitarwork. It's rough and nasty on the surface, and you can just bang your head to it like a brainless maniac - but it rewards the more you peek under its layers, there's a surprising amount of elegance and compositional depth to be found.

I had to see who was behind this album and when I saw that it was a Joe Aversario project, everything made sense. He fronted Death Fortress, one of my favorite black metal bands of the 2010s, and has also been involved with a long list of bands including Abazagorath and Altar of Gore, both worth checking out. Simply put - this is a guy who knows what he's doing. No wonder Siege Column stands head and shoulders above the riffraff.
-Nate

METALBITE'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH

T-10: Novembers Doom - Major Arcana
Prophecy Productions

I'd say I have an on/off relationship with Novembers Doom, I fell in love with 2007, The Novella Reservoir, and more or less forgot about them until 2017 Hamartia! Their distinctive use of minor chords and heavy down tuned guitars with Paul Kuhr wonderfully savage growled vocals is such an effective mix. Throughout their long career they always managed to blend the dark, heavy and sad with expertly crafted melodies. And on Major Arcana they revisit all their strengths. With the sad, but hell of catchy, "Major Arcana" or the dark and brutal "Ravenous", they show they haven't lost any fuel throughout the years. This is the perfect record for the beginning of the cold and dark season.
-Raphael

You'd think this band would release more of their albums in November (fun fact: they've only done that 3 times in their career, and this is their 12th full-length album) But Major Arcana also works well to signal the unavoidable arrival of the fall. Sad, gloomy melodies and desperate and sonorous vocals (both sung and growled) invite a melancholic journey. Once again Novembers Doom manages to create this atmosphere where sadness and hope goes hand in hand because you never get the feeling to retreat into a dark corner to cry out shamelessly. There is always a riff or vocal line that picks you back up. A strong doom record by a very consistent band.
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.4/10

T-10: Faetooth - Labyrinthine
The Flenser

Self labeled as "fairy doom", this L.A. band is known for blending soft vocals, airy textures, contrasted with heavy down tuned chugs with the occasional screamed vocals. Think of the dynamics of bands like Alcest, but extremely slow and contemplative. It is the perfect autumn record with standout tracks like the eerie "Iron Gate", mixing ethereal and soft clean vocals with a slow and heavy riff, the super atmospheric and cathartic "Hole", the sludgy and shoegazy "White Noise" or the beautiful and moody doom of "October". Truly an outstanding doom record!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.4/10

9: Igorrr - Amen
Metal Blade Records

Gautier Serre, the mastermind behind the eclectic musical project Igorrr is back with it's 5th album Amen and how I've never given proper attention to this band before is beyond me. By now, after listening to Amen a couple of times, I see it! I am now a massive fan. If you somehow never listened to Igorrr, let me try to explain. They blend black and death metal with distinct breakcore elements and a multitude of sounds and influences, notably, classical, with piano, violins, a choir, classical guitar and Lili Refrain providing her magnificent operatic vocals. The album opens with "Daemoni", a crazy mix of metal with an industrial feel, injected with a live choir (recorded in a church for maximal impact), classical guitars and towards the end, savage blackened death vocals. Next is "Headbutt", with classical piano playing with a blastbeat over it. The breakcore elements are like little glitches spread here and there (think of Code Orange's Underneath) and the choir is heavily present throughout, making everything so epic. To end the song, he recorded an excavator crushing a piano. There is so many memorable moments, the baglama and violins of "Blastbeat Falafel", the freaking recorder on "Mustard Mucous", or the added snare hitting on a blacksmith's anvil with a giant hammer on "Pure Disproportionate Black And White Nihilism". The amount of care this guy puts in his music is inspiring, everything is live recordings, and he works with so many people, making real art. In a world plagued with AI slop, Igorrr shows us that real art will never go away, there will always be an audience craving it, demanding it!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

8: Christ Agony - Anthems
Deformeathing Productions

Almost 10 years after their latest album "Legacy", this Polish blackened death group is back with six super heavy, forward-moving songs. Kicking off quite slowly with the opener "Empire Of Twilight", this captures the listener with building tension, sinister vocals, catchy, brutal riffing and pummeling drums. "Anthems" is diverse and interesting because it connects traditional death-black stuff with more innovative sounds (like a didgeridoo introducing "Throne Of Eternal Silence") and it makes the 46 minute runtime fly by. Not that this blasts with inhuman warp 10 speed the entire time - it's more like a finely tuned steamroller grinding everything in sight.
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

7: Castle Rat - The Bestiary
King Volume Records

Let's get this out of the way now, yes, Riley Pinkerton is an incredibly attractive woman but is that the only appeal for the band? First of all, sexist question, she plays rhythm guitar, she sings, writes songs, makes her own jewelry and costumes. She's the whole package but also, Madeline Wright, the fifth member of the band, plays the role of The Rat Reaperess and only does on stage performances. I say only, but it's an important role that adds to the whole experience. So, I guess, sorry for being a misogynist pig. Anyhow, yes, the themes of sorcery and medieval fantasy is a bit gimmicky but it's metal, so it's kind of all a gimmick and I'm here for it! Musically they pick up where Into The Realm left off with their fuzzy doom metal/rock but everything is bigger, literally, clocking in at a whopping 49 minutes, it means more riffs, more infectious chorus, more solos and just, more Riley! Let's be clear, more Riley is never too much. She has such a powerful voice, and she even tries something new, on the song "Siren: The Pull Of Promise" in the break before the epic solo, she lets out a powerful "HUGH" for a devastating effect! Speaking of solos, The Count (Franco Vittore) goes crazy on this album, even more than on Into The Realm. I swear, everything is bigger and better, Riley can come up with the biggest earworms, like the song "Wizard: Crystal Heart", you merely think about it and voilà, it'll play on loop in your head for days! Expect a few surprises, like the strings on "Crystal Cave: Enshrined" and the crazy crescendo at the end of "Sun Song: Behold The Flame". All in all this is a superb album and just pure fun, if you like doom, don't skip this one.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

6: Paradise Lost - Ascension
Nuclear Blast Records

This one is a bit bittersweet, after the absolute masterpiece that was Obsidian, I had high hopes for the new Paradise Lost. After they open the album with what is objectively one of their best songs ever, "Serpent On The Cross", and the supremely catchy "Tyrants Serenade" the album has such a good opening, but unfortunately at around halfway through, the album takes a weird, almost commercial turn with Nick Holmes using a weird kind of vocals. Now that I've heard some critics referring to them as "James Hetfield" vocals, I can't unhear it and it spoils the experience a bit. But the good parts are so good, it makes this album absolutely worth it!

Hopefully this isn't a farewell album, as much as the title might suggest it…
-Raphael

Ascension sounds like a retrospective of Paradise Lost's entire discography. "Serpent On The Cross" is a straight-up death-doom track in line with their early years. "Salvation" continues in the same direction with its heaviness and ugly vocals. Guest vocalist Alan Averill (Primordial) also does a great job to enhance the atmosphere. "Lay A Wreath Upon The World" sounds like a forgotten track from Symbol Of Life. Occasional synths, female vocals and some high-pitched vocal lines make for a smooth and easy listen. With "Sirens" we have a continuation of Shades Of God - That one has the cool vibes from "Mortals Watch The Day". Ascension is like a box of Quality Street: a lot of different stuff and quite tasty (and unlike Quality Street there's no fucking gross orange chocolates).
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

5: Der Weg Einer Freiheit - Inner
Season Of Mist

One of the best and most consistent modern European black metal bands - there are shades of the post-black style, but it's closer to Wolves In The Throne Room or Gaerea than it is Krallice and Deafheaven. The only reason I would consider applying the "post" tag is because the cathartic and uplifting guitar work is simply too far removed from the Scandinavian second-wave sound. There's no direct influences from post-rock or post-hardcore.

DWEF's previous album Noktvrn leaned more towards a bleak, brooding and ominous approach, and Innern releases the tension that album built. The melodic essence of this album is pure, delicate yet piercing, and almost spiritual in nature - like feeling a warm embrace as you ascend into the stars, slowly becoming one with the cosmos. Tobias Schuler continues to absolutely kill it on drums - legitimately one of the most underrated drummers in black metal. He's not the fastest you've ever heard (although he can certainly keep up with most) but his beat selection is always exactly what it needs to be, emphasizing the riffs in a way that makes them stick into your brain, with delicious cymbal placement and excellent dynamics.

Even though I've been following this band since Finisterre - still one of my favorite albums of that year - I have a tendency to underrate them. They don't typically come to mind when I'm thinking of the best newer black metal bands. They're not particularly flashy or original, they're just really, really good at what they do, and they never miss. It's about time we start considering Der Weg Einer Freiheit among the heavy hitters - myself included.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.7/10

4: Violator - Unholy Retribution
Kill Again Records

Since its beginning, thrash metal has always been connected in some ways to the political landscape, it's a vehicle used to speak truth to power and express frustrations with the way the world works, or rather, doesn't work. When combined with rich, complex, crazy fast and aggressive music and voilà, you have a recipe for a timeless form of art. It is now 2025 and for the last two years, the barbarism continues to reach new heights. Gaza has become worse than hell, with estimates reaching 600 000 deaths and the west bank is being carved out and leaving smaller Bantustans for the Palestinians to live in, constantly attacked by psychopathic settlers or the Israeli Occupying Force. It's these conditions that awakened Brasília's thrashing warriors, Violator, after 12 years of slumber. Good thrash can look at the world and correctly point out that, shit is fucked up, great thrash tells you why. Violator is of the great variety: "Obliterate the dissident, Persecute to destroy, Fascism is a capitalism paranoid, Tyrants of behaviors of pure insecurity". This album is 41 minutes of pure thrash riffs, with hyperactive drums, a fat bass tone and aggressive, shouted/singing vocals that are perfectly audible, think of James Heidfield but… good. Which is perfect because every word is so impactful: "Born in chains, Colonized!, See your land, Occupied!, Time to retrieve, Time to regain, Time to resist, Time for revenge!, Generations, Hummiliated!, Pacification, Devastated!, Apartheid by religion, Integration as a sin". This perfectly summarized explainer of what is happening in Palestine comes from the song "Chapel Of The Sick", one of the highlights of this record. The more I listen to Unholy Retribution the more I'm impressed and find small details I like, this is thrash the way it's supposed to be; riff worship, crazy fast with deep lyrics, and a raw organic sounding production!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.8/10

3: Achathras - A Darkness Of The Ancient Past
Cult Never Dies

Achathras may be a new name in black metal, but the release of their debut album on the selective Cult Never Dies, together with clandestine whispers about the identity of their members, mean that expectations are higher than one might reasonably expect. As the dreamy synth intro gives way to the furious explosion of tremolo guitars and rolling double-bass rhythms that propel the majestic "Anointed With Moonfire" inexorably forward, Achathras prove themselves more than capable of surpassing this listener's lofty hopes. Although the trio are capable of impressive velocity when required, A Darkness Of The Ancient Past is at its best when the band luxuriate in mid-tempo grandiosity, recalling the best of early Dimmu Borgir, Satyricon, and Gehenna, with neo-classical guitar figures adding opulent layers of sophistication. Through the Iron Maiden-meets-Dissection of "Emanation Of Chaos", to the inspirational climax of album highlight "The Despiser Triumphant", Achathras capture the feel of a lost classic, unearthed, allowing the listener to relive the feeling of sheer awe and wonder that symphonic black metal once-evoked, before its early-2000s saturation point. For all of its thrills, and there are many, some might argue that Achathras do little more than evoke nostalgia in those desperate to feel it, and this is undeniably part of the band's appeal. However, like Stormkeep before them, when the band are capable of executing to such a monstrously high standard as they do here, such overly self-conscious criticisms inevitably fall away, leaving just the music itself, indestructible and eternal.
-Benjamin

MetalBite's Rating: 8.9/10

2: Revocation - New Gods, New Masters
Metal Blade Records

Man, what an album! First, the magnificent Paolo Girardi cover alone makes this album worth it! But it would not be Revocation without David Davidson and he keeps getting better with years, like an extreme metal fine wine. On New Gods, New Masters they went in a decisively more prog territory, and it suits them perfectly. On the title track for example, it's filled with tempo changes and a special attention to atmosphere, but, in a true David fashion, the solo still shreds. "Sarcophagi Of The Soul" has a super fun and catchy but technical riff, showing the delicate balance between technicality and musicality Revocation are the masters of. "Confines Of Infinity" features the demonic growls of Travis Ryan and has slow and original "caveman chugs", plus all the traditional tech wizardry. "Dystopian Vermin" and "Despiritualized" are more traditional tech death and thrash offerings with outstanding guitar, bass and drum playing. I'm not usually the biggest instrumental track fan, but holy hell, "The All Seeing" (feat. Gilad Hekselman) is such a great piece, with its syncopated drum beats and the incredible solo, I don't miss the vocals at all! The album closes with the prog and tech masterpiece "Buried Epoch" (featuring the legend of Sherbrooke, Luc Lemay). The track goes through many tempo changes, technical riffs and impressive soloing and has an end of the world atmosphere, which closes the album perfectly. Revocation does no wrong, hail David Davidson and every member of the band, Revocation, forever the best.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

1: Between The Buried And Me - The Blue Nowhere
InsideOut Music

Between The Buried And Me have a special place in my heart, as a fan of anything prog, it doesn't get any better than this band. With their new offering The Blue Nowhere, they once again push their experimentation to the limits. The album opens with one of their catchiest songs to date, "Things We Tell Ourselves In The Dark". The song is brilliantly constructed, it begins with a truly funky and 80s pop style song that quickly goes into the incredibly catchy chorus and when it ends, the middle part is a testament to the musical genius of every member of the band, you go through a multitude of musical journeys, technical riffing, short blastbeat bursts, funky bass lines, a heavy breakdown, slower grooves, all culminating in the infectious chorus playing for a second time and ending the song. For the next 50 minutes, it's pure BTBAM insanity. "God Terror" has a kind of electro intro, building up in a crazy crescendo. This track is pure avant garde craziness, with odd melodies, odd percussion, an absolutely crazy heavy breakdowns and ends with weird atmospheric synths. "Slow Paranoia" is a grandiose avant garde masterpiece with that circus feeling intertwined with loud and aggressive metal. The track features a long list of guest musicians and instruments. Are you ready? Susan Mandel on the cello, Adam Kramer on the viola, Taya Ricker on violin, Carmen Granger on violin, Baron Thor Young on the bassoon, Kate Serbinowski on clarinet, Isabel Aviles on flute, Ger Vang on the oboe, and Ray Hearne on tuba. Then, when you're feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything, enters "The Blue Nowhere" a relatively shorter song (by BTBAM standards) opening with a soft symphonic arrangement, the wailing electric guitars soon joins and finally the drums and bass, all leading to the emotional main riff, with Tommy Rogers's soft and vulnerable vocals. The song follows a pretty straight forward verse-chorus-verse-chorus structure and boy, that chorus is so touching, it makes me emotional each time. And finally, the album ends with "Beautifully Human", following their tradition of ending the albums on an emotionally charged and grandiose note, with songs like "Human Is Hell (Another One With Love)" or "White Walls". So, it might not be my favorite BTBAM album, but they once again showed the world that they have an endless well of creativity and every album they make ends up being a masterpiece, this one is no different!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

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

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

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

Hello fellow girls and boys of the MetalBite community! The year 2023 was full of metal releases of various subgenres from all corners of the world, which certainly proves that it was quite a busy year, but nonetheless a very fun and exciting one. Along with these awesome albums that came out, there were many great shows to attend to and also some announcements from bands about their new albums. We truly hope that you enjoyed this year of 2023 in general, as well with all the albums that came out, and we believe that 2024 will possibly be even better with all the upcoming shows and releases. Without any further delay, here are our personal picks for top 23 best releases of 2023. Enjoy and stay metal!

BENJAMIN'S TOP 23 ALBUMS OF 2023

23. Superterrestrial - The Fathomless Decay
22. Kerrigan - Blood Moon
21. Katatonia - Sky Void Of Stars
20. Ahab - The Coral Tombs
19. Enslaved - Heimdal
18. Smallpox Aroma - Festering Embryos Of Logical Corruption
17. Mork - Dypet
16. Conjureth - The Parasitic Chambers
15. Khanate - To Be Cruel
14. Owdwyr - Receptor
13. Vision Master - Sceptre
12. Urne - A Feast On Sorrow
11. Imperial Crystalline Entombment - Ancient Glacial Resurgence
10. Schavot - Kronieken Uit De Nevel
9. Laster - Andermans Mijne
8. Spirit Possession - Of The Sign…
7. Mutoid Man - Mutants
6. Thy Darkened Shade - Liber Lvcifer II - Mahapralaya
5. Majesties - Vast Reaches Unclaimed
4. Afsky - Om Hundrede Ar
3. Hellripper - Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags
2. Fen - Monuments To Absence
1. Dodheimsgard - Black Medium Current

NATE'S TOP 23 ALBUMS OF 2023

23. Whore Of Bethlehem - Ritual Of Homicide
22: Phobocosm - Foreordained
21: The Circle - Of Awakening
20: The Zenith Passage - Datalysium
19: Paroxysm Unit - Fragmentation // Stratagem
18: Dead And Dripping - Blackened Cerebral Rifts
17: Green Lung - This Heathen Land
16: Thantifaxath - Hive Mind Narcosis
15: Crystal Coffin - The Curse Of Immortality
14: Omnivortex - Circulate
13: None - Inevitable
12: Serpent Of Old - Ensemble Under The Dark Sun
11: Wormhole - Almost Human
10: Wretched Fate - Carnal Heresy
9: Nothingness - Supraliminal
8: Katatonia - Sky Void Of Stars
7: Aodon - Portraits
6: Molested Divinity - The Primordial
5: Xoth - Exogalactic
4: Nithing - Agonal Hymns
3: Tideless - Eye Of Water
2: Carnosus - Visions Of Infinihility
1: They Grieve - To Which I Bore Witness

FELIX'S TOP 23 ALBUMS OF 2023

23. Gama Bomb - Bats
22. Délétère - Songes D'une Nuit Souillée
21. Atronos - Erwachen
20. Sad - Black Metal Craft
19. Mezzrow - Summon Thy Demons
18. Azaghal - Alttarimme On Luista Tehty
17. Violent Sin - Serpent's Call
16. Immortal - War Against All
15. Nattverd - I Helvetes Forakt
14. Old - Dawn Of Darkness
13. Riffobia - Riffobia
12. Frozen Dawn - The Decline Of The Enlightened Gods
11. Shakma - On Tenebrous Wings
10. Necrodeath - Singin' In The Pain
9. Infinity - The Untamed Hunger
8. Körgull The Exterminator - Built To Kill
7. Baxaxaxa - De Vermis Mysteriis
6. War Curse - Confessions
5. Tsjuder - Helvegr
4. Mavorim - Ab Amitia Pulsae
3. Cruel Force - At The Dawn Of The Axe
2. Vomitory - All Heads Are Gonna Roll
1. Marduk - Memento Mori

MICHAEL'S TOP 23 ALBUMS OF 2023

23. Lucifer Star Machine - Satanic Age
22: Schavot - Kronieken Uit De Nevel
21: Tygers Of Pan Tang - Bloodlines
20: Sorcerer - Reign Of The Reaper
19: Enslaved - Heimdal
18: Asinhell - Impii Hora
17: Cruel Force - Dawn Of The Axe
16: Cruciamentum - Obsidian Refractions
15: Phantom Corporation - Fallout
14: Temple Of Dread - Beyond Acheron
13: Frozen Soul - Glacial Domination
12: Thron - Dust
11: Aegrus - Invoking The Abysmal Night
10: Cannibal Corpse - Chaos Horrific
9: Marduk - Memento Mori
8: Memoriam - Rise To Power
7: The Night Eternal - Fatale
6. Frozen Dawn - The Decline Of The Enlightened Gods
5. Comaniac - None For All
4. Master's Call - A Journey For The Damned
3. Tsjuder - Helvegr
2. Sulphur Aeon - Seven Crowns And Seven Seals
1. Alice Cooper - Road

VLADIMIR'S TOP 23 ALBUMS OF 2023

23. Vomitory - All Heads Are Gonna Roll
22. Tulus - Fandens Kall
21. Praznina - Čovek Koji Nije
20. Heavy Load - Riders Of The Ancient Storm
19. Tribulation - Hamartia
18. Thulcandra - Hail The Abyss
17. Dødheimsgard - Black Medium Current
16. Arnaut Pavle - Transylvanian Glare
15. Mortuary Drape - Black Mirror
14. Mork - Dypet
13. Tailgunner - Guns For Hire
12. KK's Priest – The Sinner Rides Again
11. Lamp Of Murmuur - Saturnian Bloodstorm
10. Mephorash - Krystl-Ah
9. Strahor - Gde Vukovi Zavijaju
8. Varathron - The Crimson Temple
7. Destructor - Blood, Bone, And Fire
6. Valdrin - Throne Of The Lunar Soul
5. Cirith Ungol - Dark Parade
4. Trivax - Eloah Burns Out
3. Malokarpatan - Vertumnus Caesar
2. Hellripper - Warlocks Grim And Withered Hags
1. Enforcer - Nostalgia

CARL'S TOP 23 ALBUMS OF 2023

23. The Domestics - Eastanglian Hardcore
22. Putrid Yell - Consuming Aberration
21. Rotten Sound - Apocalypse
20. Ascended Dead - Evenfall Of The Apocalypse
19. Pustilence - Beliefs Of Dead
18. Excrescence - Inescapable Anatomical Deterioration
17. Urosepsis - Exploratory Autopsy
16. The Beast Conde Massacre - Dismantling The Corrupt Oligarchs
15. Vomitvulva - Vomit Vulva
14. Azijnpisser - Cold Cuts
13. Depraved Murder - Unethical Terrestial Collapse
12. Atonement - Sadistic Invaders
11. Simbiose/Visions Of War - Split EP
10. Profane Order - One Nightmare Unto Another
9. Drudge - Demo 2023
8. Torture Rack - Primeval Onslaught
7. Vault - Dissolved In Radioactive Sludge
6. Travolta - Disco Violence Up Yours!
5. Limbsplitter - Grisly Exploitations
4. Hellcrash - Demonic Assassination
3. Frozen Soul - Glacial Domination
2. Bad Anxiety - Demonstration II
1. Verpest - Misantropie Nabij

MACIEK'S TOP 23 ALBUMS OF 2023

23. Unfelled - Pall Of Endless Perdition
22. Sodomisery - Mazzaroth
21. Rivers Ablaze - Omnipresence
20. Realize - Two Human Minutes
19. Prong - State Of Emergency
18. Predatory Void - Seven Keys To The Discomfort Of Being
17. Nexorum - Tongue Of Thorns
16. Mystic Circle - Erzdämon
15. Memoriam - Rise To Power
14. Mélancolia - HissThroughRottenTeeth
13. Malice Divine - Everlasting Ascendancy
12. Krieg - Ruiner
11. King - Fury And Death
10. Hinayana - Shatter And Fall
9. Henget - Beyond North Star
8. Grá - Lycaon
7. Foretoken - Triumphs
6. Fires In The Distance - Air Not Meant For Us
5. Fange - Privation
4. Chronicle - Where Chaos Thrives
3. Carnifex - Necromanteum
2. ...And Oceans - As In Gardens, So In Tombs
1. Alkaloid - Numen

RAPHAEL'S TOP 23 ALBUMS OF 2023

23. Vastum - Inward To Gethsemane
22. Scar Symmetry - The Singularity (Phase II - Xenotaph)
21. Smoulder - Violent Creed Of Vengeance
20. Svalbard - The Weight Of The Mask
19. Sorcerer - Reign Of The Reaper
18. Katatonia - Sky Void Of Stars
17. Kalmah - Kalmah
16. Hellripper - Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags
15. Xoth - Exogalactic
14. Dawn Of Ouroboros - Velvet Incandescence
13. Alkaloid - Numen
12. Ne Obliviscaris - Exul
11. Horrendous - Ontological Mysterium
10. Crypta - Shades Of Sorrow
9. Vintersea - Woven Into Ashes
8. Enslaved - Heimdal
7. Blackbraid - Blackbraid II
6. Tomb Mold - The Enduring Spirit
5. Myrkur - Spine
4. Sanguine Glacialis - Maladaptive Daydreaming
3. Insomnium - Anno 1696 / Songs Of The Dusk
2. Cattle Decapitation - Terrasite
1. TesseracT - War Of Being

BREXAUL'S TOP 23 ALBUMS OF 2023

23. In Flames - Foregone
22. Flight - Echoes Of Journey's Past
21. Immortal - War Against All
20. Tanith - Voyage
19. Tower Hill - Death Stalker
18. Receiver - Whispers Of Lore
17. Mdxx - Mdxx
16. Jag Panzer - The Hallowed
15. Heavy Load - Riders Of The Ancient Storm
14. Gatekeeper - From Western Shores
13. Legendry - Time Immortal Wept
12. The Night Eternal - Fatale
11. Angra - Cycles Of Pain
10. Blood Star - First Sighting
9. Protean Shield - Protean Shield
8. Lamp Of Murmuur - Saturnian Bloodstorm
7. Solitary Sabred - Temple Of The Serpent
6. Wytch Hazel - Sacrament
5. Wings Of Steel - Gates Of Twilight
4. Triumpher - Storming The Walls
3. Air Raid - Fatal Encounter
2. Cirith Ungol - Dark Parade
1. Sacred Outcry - Towers Of Gold

ONENEVERSEEN'S TOP 23 ALBUMS OF 2023

23. Suffocation - Hymns From The Apocrypha
22. Cannibal Corpse - Chaos Horrific
21. Lankester Merrin - Dark Mother Rises
20. Theocracy - Mosaic
19. Begotten - To The Dreary End
18. Autopsy - Ashes, Organs, Blood And Crypts
17. Median Omega - Insolence
16. None - Inevitable
15. Xasthur - Inevitably Dark
14. Sorry… - Self Inflicted Razor Cutting
13. Necrotted - Imperium
12. Mental Cruelty - Zwielicht
11. Geistaz'ika - Midnatsbøn Ved Djævelens Port
10. Scars Of Oblivion - Misanthropy
9. Mutual Hostility - Inhuman Anguish
8. Nordicwinter - This Mournful Dawn
7. Austere - Corrosion Of Hearts
6. Gyrdleah - Spellbinder
5. Lotan - Lotan
4. Cattle Decapitation - Terrasite
3. Tardigrade Inferno - Burn The Circus
2. Aara - Triade III: Nyx
1. Dying Fetus - Make Them Beg For Death

AREK'S TOP 23 ALBUMS OF 2023

23. False Fed - Let Them Eat Fake
22. Primal Fear - Code Red
21. Kaunis Kuolematon - Mielenvalta
20. Sermon - Of Golden Verse
19. Apotheus - Ergo Atlas
18. Phlebotomized - Clouds Of Confusion
17. Karras - We Poison Their Young
16. Ershetu - Xibalba
15. Sulphur Aeon - Seven Crowns And Seven Seals
14. Vomitory - All Heads Are Gonna Roll
13. Cruciamentum - Obsidian Refractions
12. Embr - Embr
11. Godflesh - Purge
10. Gravefields - Tetragrammaton
9. Popiór - Pomarlisko
8. Rotten Sound - Apocalypse
7. Totenmesse - Fiktionlust
6. Aset - Astral Rape
5. Dødheimsgard - Black Medium Current
4. Bodyfarm - Ultimate Abomination
3. Shining - Shining
2. Angerot - The Profound Recreant
1. Cattle Decapitation - Terrasite

FERNANDO'S TOP 23 ALBUMS OF 2023

23. House Of Harm - Playground
22. ††† (Crosses) - Goodnight, God Bless, I Love U, Delete.
21. Grave Pleasures - Plagueboys
20. Raspberry Bulbs - The World Is Empty, The Heart Is Full
19. Maggot Heart - Hunger
18. Foreign Body - Fixed
17. Fotocrime - Accelerated
16. Malokarpatan - Vertumnus Caesar
15. Sól An Varma - Sól An Varma
14. False Fed - Let Them Eat Fake
13. Valravn - The Awakening
12. Mortuary Drape - Black Mirror
11. Taake - Et Hav Av Avstand
10. Veriluola - Cascades Of Crimson Cruor
9. Varathron - The Crimson Temple
8. Spirit Possession - Of The Sign...
7. Xalpen - The Curse Of Kwányep
6. The Magus - Βυσσοδομώντας
5. Häxanu - Totenpass
4. Korgonthurus - Jumalhaaska
3. Uada - Crepuscule Natura
2. Minenwerfer - Feuerwalze
1. Lathe Of Heaven - Bound By Naked Skies

ADAM'S TOP 23 ALBUMS OF 2023

23. Beyond the Black - Beyond The Black
22. Tribunal - The Weight Of Remembrance
21. Hypno5e - Sheol
20. Soen - Memorial
19. Primordial - How It Ends
18. The Ocean - Holocene
17. Enslaved - Heimdal
16. Periphery - Periphery V: Djent Is Not A Genre
15. Shores Of Null - The Loss Of Beauty
14. Anachronism - Meanders
13. ...And Oceans - As In Gardens, So In Tombs
12. Delain - Dark Waters
11. Alase - A Matter Of Time
10. Pronostic - Chaotic Upheaval
9. Carnosus - Visions Of Infinihility
8. Fires In The Distance - Air Not Meant For Us
7. Obituary - Dying Of Everything
6. Insomnium - Anno 1696
5. Haken - Fauna
4. Katatonia - Sky Void Of Stars
3. Riverside - ID.Entity
2. Sermon - Of Golden Verse
1. Ne Obliviscaris - Exul

VES'S TOP 23 ALBUMS OF 2023

23. TDK - Nemesta
22. Afterbirth - In But Not Of
21. Odz Manouk - Bosoragazan (Բոսորագազան)
20. Trhä - Rhejde Qhaominvac Tla Aglhaonamëc
19. Moonlight Sorcery - Horned Lord Of The Thorned Castle
18. Horrendous - Ontological Mysterium
17. Aara - Triade III: Nyx
16. Tomb Mold - The Enduring Spirit
15. Gridlink - Coronet Juniper
14. 兀突骨 (Gotsu Totsu Kotsu) - 黄泉ガヘリ (Back From The Underworld)
13. Autopsy - Ashes, Organs, Blood And Crypts
12. Afsky - Om Hundrede År
11. Quasarborn - Novo Oružje Protiv Bola
10. King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard - PetroDragonic Apocalypse; Or, Dawn Of Eternal Night: An Annihilation Of Planet Earth And The Beginning Of Merciless Damnation
9. Blut Aus Nord - Disharmonium - Nahab
8. Dødheimsgard - Black Medium Current
7. Valdrin - Throne Of The Lunar Soul
6. Lathe Of Heaven - Bound By Naked Skies
5. Majesties - Vast Reaches Unclaimed
4. Panopticon - The Rime Of Memory
3. Hellripper - Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags
2. Morkera - Aggravations
1. Thantifaxath - Hive Mind Narcosis

Welcome back to MetalBite's Top 10 Albums of the Month! Is it just me or was it relatively quiet for new releases? A calm before the Album-of-the-year storm, perhaps? Maybe it's just that the big-bill bands held off putting out new stuff. Maybe we just have a proclivity here for the darker recesses of the underground. Whatever the case, we've got the goods down below.

-Nate

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Harvested - Dysthymia
Independent

Really tight no frills modern death metal with a lot of Soreption-esque groove to it. At first, it doesn't seem like anything special but then you listen for a bit, a few riffs sink their claws into you, and you can't find any major faults even with careful scrutiny. Not everything has to be avant-garde or experimental to be effective, after all.
-Nate

Call Of Charon - Tales Of Tragedy
Massacre Records

The first time I listened to Call Of Charon's new album was right after the new Signs of the Swarm, which is not bad but falls in the overproduced and formulaic kind of deathcore I'm not the biggest fan of and the difference was stark. Call Of Charon's brand of deathcore is a more organic and "Slaughter of the Soul" riffs inspired kind of deathcore, which was very welcome for my ears. If you crave a more "old school" and honest deathcore sound, Call Of Charon's got you covered!
-Raphael

Finnr's Cane - Finnr's Cane
Nordvis Produktion

For a small, isolated city, Sudbury has a surprisingly fertile metal scene - although a majority of the bands are studio projects from the same half-dozen guys. Fractal Generator, Wolven Ancestry, Symbotic Growth, and now this little atmospheric black metal project has revived itself after a few years of inactivity.

I am unsure if this was also the case on previous albums, but this eponymous work features no bass guitar, instead using cellos and keyboards to provide an extra layer of depth and contrast to the cold, treble-heavy guitar. Sometimes, the rock beat style pacing brings Lifelover to mind, though I wouldn't classify this as DSBM - there's certainly a sorrowful undercurrent, but it emerges out of something more intentionally colorful and lush - almost as to highlight the beauty in decay, like when the season turns to autumn and leaves lose their green pigment for a final scenic flourish. The literal mountain of dime-a-dozen black metal bands out there has left me pretty jaded in regards to the genre, so when I do hear something that can stand with some of the atmospheric beacons that made me fall in love with the genre (Agalloch, Alcest, Solstafir, early Ulver), it's cause for celebration.
-Nate

Centuries Of Decay - A Monument To Oblivion
Independent

Nice vaguely proggy, vaguely melodic death metal from my neck of the woods. Bit of a "kitchen sink metal" vibe going on where it pulls from a smattering of different styles and vibes - good stuff if you enjoy Rivers of Nihil, Black Crown Initiate and stuff of that ilk. Very professionally played and produced, especially for a band that's doing things completely independently.
-Nate

Cancer Void - First Metastasis
Me Saco Un Ojo Records

That spooky, synth filled intro sets the mood perfectly for this incredibly fun and highly well composed OSDM EP. Again, I'm judging by the cover, but have you seen this disgustingly beautiful art by Prague artist serus, you just know the music will be good! This is four OSDM songs crafted to perfection with monstrous vocals, precise riffs, fat meaty bass and great drumming. And considering it's their first release, stay vigilant for Cancer Void, I hope they continue developing their irresistible brand of malignant death metal.
-Raphael

Rhabdomyolysis - Visceral Lesion
Inherited Production

Snare goes ping, vocals go gurgle gurgle, guitar goes bzzzzzz. Me likey.
-Nate

The Prophecy²³ - Mosh O'Clock
Massacre Records

On their Instagram page, The Prophecy²³ describes their sound with a simple equation: Thrash+Death+Punk = Fresh Metal. Fresh is indeed a great way to describe their eclectic sound. One minute it's a punk anthem and the next, a savage death/thrash ragger and both elements blend seamlessly together to create a fun, summer vibes album. Not taking themselves to seriously with songs like "Ready To Get Wasted Again" or "Chill 'Em All", they still have a more serious side, as evident from songs like "Fresh Metal Fights Fascism" or "Work Eat Sleep Repeat" bringing a good dose of social commentary amidst all this fun.
-Raphael

Imperishable - Revelation In Purity
Everlasting Spew

When's the last time you saw an album with Derek Roddy on it? To be fair, according to his metal-archive page, he is active in a smattering of different bands in the Florida region. However, it's a lot of stuff that seems to be primarily studio projects and not the type of stuff that's into heavy touring. Gone are the days where it seems like every big bill extreme metal band that wants a fast drummer got him on board.

That's what makes this album by Imperishable such a pleasant surprise. Not only is Roddy showing that he can still kill it as an established veteran, but he's joined by top-tier talent from Nile and Olkoth to unify a worthy supergroup. There's plenty of overwhelming, dense blastbeat sections but there's a surprising amount of curveballs and diversions to balance it out (did I hear a clean vocal section in there?) while still keeping a steady mix of untainted death metal inspired by both old and new-school facets of the genre. This is undoubtedly the work of skilled, experienced musicians that know how to make something unique and compelling without showing off in a ham-fisted tension. In a word: this is meaty.
-Nate

Desaster - Kill All Idols
Metal Blade Records

Germany's blackened thrash icons, Desaster, are here with their 10th album, Kill All Idols, hopefully not talking about themselves! Since this is a new band for me, I can't compare with the rest of their discography, but this album is 40 min of polished thrash, while still retaining a blackened atmosphere, making for a perfect sounding album! It features dynamic songwriting, oscillating between mid tempo thrash to furious and fast black metal. Never forgetting melody, they always incorporate catchy riffs here and there, making for an overall fun but still kvlt and trve experience!
-Raphael

METALBITE'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH

10: In Mourning - The Immortal
Supreme Chaos Records

I do not understand why this band does not get heralded among the greats of expansive, proggy melodeath - they have the hooks, they have the rich, flowing song structures that weave elaborate tapestries, they have the crunchy groove riffs that the genre is known for with an extra bit of musicality thrown in, they don't have a bad album - why this band isn't as big as, say, Insomnium or Omnium Gatherum is a mystery to me (although they are touring with the latter, so maybe I'm underestimating their pedigree a bit). Either way, if you don't know them already - get familiar.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.1/10

9: Obvurt - An Alternate Dimension
Brutal Mind

We all know that no one techs like Quebec! Obvurt's story is one of adversity overcome with unusual avenues to success. If you don't know the backstory, frontman/mastermind Phillippe Drouin played in another QCDM band called Unbreakable Hatred, who were solid, well-established, worked with Unique Leader, all that fun stuff - and then Drouin got in a car accident rendering his unable to play guitar in the way he had learned to over the course of decades. Most folks would throw in the towel at that point, but Drouin is not most folks. He re-learned guitar left handed, even employing the dual-neck guitar a la Michael Angelo Batio on some occasions, started a new band (even enlisting the help of some old friends and scene veterans, Sam Santiago and Olivier Pinard, for his band's first EP) and gained a modicum of viral fame when his new project played their debut show for the elementary school Drouin works at as a music teacher. Not by any means a traditional path, but an inspiring one nonetheless.

An Alternate Dimension might be my favorite Obvurt album yet - perhaps it's the abundance of tasty Gorod-esque tapping licks. Leaning more into that stuff as opposed to percussive chugging is where this band really gets the chance to showcase Drouin's augmented talents. Enzo Roussel's active bass work sounds like he took some lessons from Forest Lapointe, and Dany Araya's drumwork is grounded and groovy with enough speedy flourishes to keep up with the flurry of notes. When tech-death still maintains a catchiness and groove amidst the jumble of notes, that's when it can be particularly effective and even ensnare the minds of those that aren't immersed in the style, and Obvurt very successfully does that here. Worth a look from any tech-heads, but I think prog fans and even more classic brutal death fiends will get some mileage out of this as well.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.1/10

8: Thorn - Nebulous Womb Of Eternity
Transcending Obscurity Records

For a death/doom album, it has an interesting beginning. The second you press play, you get hit in the face with full-on, high-speed death metal with the doom slowly creeping in, with extremely satisfying chugs and a slow, ominous solo towards the end, bringing a lot of atmosphere. The album brings groovy riffs, occasional atmosphere filled interludes, soft whispers, like voices in your head and unsettling noises just makes you feel more claustrophobic. The album ends on a high note with the title track, 7 and a half minutes of slow and heavy death/doom that transports you in a dark and moldy cave where escape is impossible. Although I preferred their last album, 2023 Evergloom, this is still a solid offering for fans of dark and crushing metal.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.2/10

7: Devolver - Non Compos Mentis
Independent

The first thing that drew me in was the beautiful cover art done by the legendary Travis Smith at Seempieces (who worked with Opeth, Katatonia and Death, to name a few) and that they are from Alberta (support local music, and please don't leave us! For people not taped in Canadian politics drama, there is a movement for Alberta to leave Canada and yes, I see the irony of a dude from Québec saying that) Anyway, musically, this album is pure comfort food in sonic waves. They play the kind of melodic metalcore that was big in the 2000's. Melodic death style riffs, plenty of catchy and emotional chorus, satisfying breakdowns and technical solos, I swear, to say these guys are virtuoso, is an understatement. The fact this is an independent release blows my mind, I can't wait to see where these guys go from here!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.2/10

6: Hedonist - Scapulimancy
Southern Lord Recordings

For apocalyptic death metal band Hedonist's first album, they offer us a large portion of Bolt Thrower style heavy riffs, a disgusting (positive) guitar tone, à la Entombed, an incredible reverb filled and monstrous vocal performance. AJ summons the deepest growls a human can conjure and the most piercing screams imaginable. Musically engaging from beginning to end, each song has its own flavor of grimace inducing riffs and an overall dirty (again, positive), crust punk attitude. Featuring members from legendary Canadian blackened crust band Iskra, no wonder you feel this authentic atmosphere and raw emotions, or maybe I'm just biased.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.3/10

5: Cemetery - Thoughts On Life... And Death
Independent

Formed all the way back in 1986, these guys went through many stylistic and band name changes before resurrecting Cemetry in 2017 and going back to a Death inspired progressive death metal sound. Thoughts On Life... And Death is a concept album about a totalitarian regime and its oppressive nature on regular people. (absolutely no modern example of this right now…) As written on their bancamp page: "Across nine intense tracks, the album explores themes of fear, manipulation, psychological isolation, and the final struggle for dignity in the face of dehumanization." Musically the band demonstrates their immense talent and experience, offering an OSDM experience that is completely modern with progressive compositions and virtuoso playing. Their music is everything at once, brutal and aggressive, complex yet atmospheric, sometimes fast and other times slower and doom infused but the crazy, technical solos are always lurking around every corner. Again, an impressive independent release with a magnificent artwork by Silvio Fiorese, this is what makes metal special, no AI slop, just pure raw artistic talent!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.4/10

4: Defacement - Doomed
Avantgarde / Total Dissonance Worship

Dissodeath's inherently abrasive nature means that bands in the style have to do something extra to stand out - there has to be an integration of softer melody to balance out the inherently entropy, or you just need to throw some completely unexpected, scary shit into the mix - which is harder than it should be, because everyone in the style is trying to do that.

Defacement already stood out with their previous release, Duality, with the key to them standing out among the herd being the heart-wrenching emotion they could inject into their cacophony. There was all of the hair-raising tension that this realm allows, but there was a certain eerie beauty once you peeled back the layers. It's what made it one of my top 25 albums of the year for 2024.

Barely a year later, they've already put forth another 40 minutes of equally dense music - AND they've evolved significantly from the previous release Duality. There's still moments of somber catharsis ("Unexplainable"), but immediately following that, they slowly plunge into an all-encompassing abyss that can bring Obscura-era Gorguts to mind ("Worthless"). This is less of an album that jumps out at you, requiring careful examination to get the same mileage out of it as the previous release - but there's been no compromises on the quality front, even with the quick turnaround from the previous album. Was definitely exciting and surprising to see that Defacement already had something new out - they're fast becoming one of the most intriguing and "need to know" bands in the realm of dissonant extreme metal. Get on board while the bandwagon still has room.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.4/10

3: Victim Of Fire - The Old Lie
Southern Lord Recordings

Victim Of Fire have succeeded in blending 90's style Swedish melodic death with a good dose of crust punk for that authentic raw aggression. Already with the first song I was sold, meaty riffs, fast paced and d-beat filled drumming with an equal injection of melody and rawness, but the break before the solo of the second song, "Apocalyptic Inclination", was it for me. A recording of Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1961 farewell address, about the dangers of the influence of the military industrial complex. Looking at the state of the world in 2025, safe to say he was 100% right! The album ends with an interesting cover of "Aces High", both faithful to the original, yet transforming it completely into a Victim Of Fire song. Ending with a cover is not my favorite, I would've much better liked them to end it with the epic, 7 min. long "Disharmonist" but hey! What do I know, I'm just one dumb guy on the internet.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

2: Malevich - Under A Gilded Sun
Church Road Records

One of my favorite new discoveries of the past few months was this band's 2019 release, Our Hollow. A mix of black metal, aggressive screamo, sludgy post-metal and a tinge of post-hardcore, it sucked me in immediately and kept me wondering how they would merge the elements present - and they nailed everything they tried. Tough to pin down, but it all coalesces into a potent, emotional broth that drips genuine atmosphere from its edges. This won't be something you're into if you only listen to second-wave BM worship or think any death metal after 1993 is inherently inferior. For the rest of us, Malevich is something special, and a buried gem in the realms of modern extreme metal.

Seeing they had a new album on deck was an equally pleasant surprise. Under A Gilded Sun shows more willingness to play with space and explore some of the softer sides of their sound. There's less maniacal aggression, but more dynamics. Not to say this doesn't have its share of moments that make the hair on the back of your neck stand up - their signature tonal, agonizing screech gets me every time. But the moments where they do let the ambiance slowly drift into your consciousness really show off their incredible chemistry and how each member knows exactly what to contribute to Malevich's multifaceted sound. The conclusive title track, which start off very minimal and slowly adds layers until a powerful, static force completely envelops you, is a noteworthy example of this, and one of many highlights of another powerful, compelling release from one of my new favorite bands. Don't sleep on this.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.7/10

1: Blackbraid – Blackbraid III
Independent

It's been three years since the world has been blessed by the creative genius of Jon S. Krieger aka Sgah'gahsowáh (a Mohawk name meaning "the witch hawk") and his project Blackbraid. Three years, three albums, that have propelled Jon to the top of the American and worldwide metal scene. I've been a massive day one fan and I'm so happy to see his well-deserved success. His third album is everything I wished his first and second album was. Blackbraid I was a nice introduction to his sonic world but was too short, Blackbraid II was much longer, perhaps a bit too long, and saw him experiment a bit with different styles, to varying degrees of success and now, I feel like he almost reached perfection with Blackbraid III. The fact that all this evolution happened in just three years is mind-blowing!

The album begins with a short instrumental, setting the mood with a soft acoustic guitar picking, over the sound of a fire, that ends with distortion kicking in leading to the next song. A fast blastbeat, a sadness filled riff, and his savage scream combine and send chills down my spine. The track follows a familiar structure, cleverly combining lyrics and music, to create a whole experience. While striking the toms rhythmically, he screams with passion: "The imminence of fate on the horizon, The drums of war on the wind". The track ends with a fast solo and a long, epic scream, summoning the eagles to rise and carry us to the silence of death.

"The Dying Breath Of A Sacred Stag" softly enters with a sad, acoustic guitar melody, that transforms with distortion and drums slowly kicking in, getting progressively faster and then, from the sacred forest of the ancestors, comes a powerful scream accompanied by a short tapping riff that cracks up the energy to 11. The song being kind of long, 7 min 45 sec, it is constructed in such a way that there are enough repetitions, making the melody get planted in your head and has a good meditative quality, it's surprisingly relaxing. It ends on a fade out, just as it began, with that sad melody on acoustic guitar. Speaking of sadness, I would say it is the main theme of this album, the melodies, the lyrics, it combines to leave us reflecting on our own mortality.

I think "God Of Black Blood" might be my favorite song, although it can change depending on the day. Every song has its own life and mood, but the simple blackened, stomping rhythm combined with his powerful voice always pumps me up! And in the middle of this brutality, the soft and soothing sound of a traditional flute appears, as if sent from the heavens to heal our hearts. But it only makes a quick appearance, and the cold brutality comes back. Towards the end, he drops an incredible shredding solo, just because he can!

To top it all, the beautiful Adam Burke cover, with border art by Adrian Baxter makes for, hands down, the best album cover of the year! And with Neil Schneider handling the recording, mixing and mastering, everything sounds balanced, polished but organic. Blackbraid's ascension to the top of the black and general metal scene is an inspiring sight, the resilience, after surviving some of the worst crimes humanity has committed, being still here, with a burning desire to live and I feel so lucky to be able to witness it. Speaking of crimes against humanity, I'll end with an obligatory Free Palestine and never lose hope!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 9.9/10

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

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

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

Welcome back to MetalBite's Top 10 Albums of the Month! Yes this is several months late. There's no big reason why - shit just gets busy. Anyways, here's July, and we'll get caught up real soon for ya.

-Nate

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Abigail Williams - A Void Within Existence
Agonia Records

I remember, back in 08, when I heard Into The Ashes, I immediately loved it, the mix of symphonic black and metalcore, it was super original, at that time at least. Nowadays, not so much, let's say, with the many Lorna Shores of the world. Anyway, I must admit that I have not followed the band since, so I went in with an open mind. With an entirely new line up, except the main man, Ken Sorceron, they now have a sound closer to melodic black with a good dose of atmosphere. But I could still hear remnants of the "core" sound, mainly in the main riff of the song "Talk To Your Sleep", with its almost djent sound. But the song still contains cool atmospheric passages. There are also plenty of cool solos, great orchestration, furious blastbeats and a great vocal performance. They do not do anything new and for fans of black, they will probably be turned off by the polished production and the clean vocals of the last song but all in all, this was a pleasant experience, I probably won't listen to it a lot for the rest of the year but still, it's a good album.
-Raphael

Crimson Shadows - Whispers Of War
Independent

Well ain't this more fun than a barrel of monkeys. Crimson Shadows has some fairly high pedigree attached to their name - they won the Wacken Metal Battle in 2013 which got them on Napalm Records, their blend of uptempo melodeath mixed with exuberant leads and clean singing choruses has just enough crossover appeal to appease extreme metal nerds and power metal dorks alike, they've toured with some high-profile bands and they share members with Lutharo, who are becoming a more known band in their own right that's blown up enough to get on the Big Band Tour Circuit in Europe. But Whispers Of War marks a new, daring frontier for the band in the sense they've opted to go the independent route and DIY several aspects of the album release. It's a tough path, but perhaps because they've grown through more traditional channels over the years, they figured they'd get more money in their pocket with this option.

If this album isn't a success, it's not based on a lack of musical merit. There's an overwhelming amount of STUFF that flies out at you, with dueling solos and leads, a versatile vocal performances that balances wailing vocals, mid-ranges growls and high rasps well, overlapping them at various points so you never fully expect what's next, and brisk rhythms full of double-bass that underscore and amplify music that's already overflowing with energy. I can't say this is my go-to style of metal, but it's got enough intensity to satisfy my extremophile tendencies and it's a ton of fun. Worth a look.
-Nate

Recorruptor - Sorrow Will Drown Us All
Time To Kill

Recorruptor provides an answer to the perpetually confounding question: how many kick drum hits can you fit on a single album? Good gracious the amount of foot-tappin' frenzies on this thing is overwhelming (but ultimately satisfying for us speedfreaks).

Sorrow Will Drown Us All sits in an interesting middle ground, sandwiched between death metal styles in a way that is not experimental, but avoids categorization nonetheless. There's crushing, midpaced sections that resemble breakdowns, but this isn't deathcore or slam. There's an ominous, atmospheric touch, and some nasty, snarling high rasps, but to attribute a "blackened" tag to this would be erroneous. There's enough stripped-down intensity that you can't really consider this tech, but it's just too pulverizing and intense to land in the realms melodeath either.

At the end of the day, this is just punishing, startlingly effective death metal that will appeal to you, no matter what specific flavour you usually prefer.
-Nate

Imperial Crystalline Entombment - Abominable Astral Summoning
Debemur Morti

Furious, apocalyptic, and undoubtedly frosty black metal. Mid-90s Immortal is a good comparable, albeit with less sloppy charm and more calculated precision. Perhaps a strange thing to listen to in summertime, but it might trick you into feeling a chill if your A/C is broken.
-Nate

METALBITE'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH

10: Disembodiment - Spiral Crypts
Everlasting Spew Records

My small hometown has a pretty good metal scene and has produced, what is maybe the greatest death metal band, ever, the mighty Gorguts, the pride of Sherbrooke! So, here comes Disembodiment, created in 2020 with guys from another great death metal band from Sherbrooke, Oath Div. 666, but here they opted to go with a filthier brand of death metal, flirting with goregrind and groovy death/doom, they create a truly disgusting and raw experience that still feels fresh while melting your face with heaviness. Plus, the truly disgustingly beautiful cover art by Slimeweaver is the gore cherry on top.
-Raphael

On the surface, this is just another slab of filthy, primitive, death metal - which is, of course, not a bad thing on its own - but a bit of careful listening reveals surprises within the oddly labyrinthine arrangements, howling shrieks that pierce through the murk, and additional layers of complexity and artistic refinement that gives Disembodiment an edge among the Human Centipede-esque line of Bolt Thrower clones that recycle the riffs, but somehow miss the essence that makes them so enduring. In staunch opposition to modern trends, there's very little direct hardcore influence here, so this also isn't another deathcore band doing OSDM cosplay either. Nonetheless, there's still plenty of obscenely heavy grooves here so you can get your freak on in the pit.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8/10

9: Shadecrown - 0
Inverse Records

Finnish melodic death/doom. The end. Ok, I'll go a bit more in detail then that: get ready to be enveloped in melancholic melodies that will pull on your heart strings, for fans of Swallow The Sun, Insomnium or Officium Triste. This particular brand of Finnish metal perfectly encapsulates feelings of sadness and grief and 0 does it so well, mid paced melodic death metal that is often sad but in the most beautiful way, sometimes hopeful, sometimes dense, dark and heavy but never forgetting the melody. Often using strings to accentuate the beautiful melancholy, solos are always filled with purpose and Jari "Jarska" Hokka's vocal performance is the perfect low guttural growls intertwined with higher raspy growls, making the vocals not suffer from being one note and boring. Add in occasional cleans, both male and female, and you have the perfect mix of varied vocals typical for the genre. This is an album enjoyable from beginning to end, best enjoyed in a complete listen.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8/10

8: Dephosphorus - Planetoktonos
Selfmadegod

More people need to know about this buried Greek treasure. Heaps of blackened intensity within a grindcore base, underscored with d-beats, a delicious shrieky vocal performance, and a tinge of esoteric emotion. Best enjoyed with a medium dose of shrooms and walk through the midnight stars. Early Oathbreaker is a decent comparison, but there's no underlying delicate beauty within Dephosphorus - once you peel back the decadent layers, there's nothing but unrelenting terror. Perhaps it's a metaphor for the infinite horrors of our massive cosmos? Maybe I'm just reading into it too much. Anyways, this bangs.
-Nate

Dephosphorus calls their unique musical style "astrogrind" and it gives a pretty good idea of how they sound. Inspired by The Expanse novel series by James S.A. Corey, they create "a vision of a sustainable future where humanity not only survives but thrives in harmony with its biosphere—and even with AI". And to tie these cool lyrics, they play a savage mix of death, black and grindcore coupled with a few screeching electronic sounds, made by an EBow, that gives a great cybernetic feel to the music. Overall, it's a record that feels fresh and has a great feel of urgency, plus the cover is so sick, courtesy of Graphic No Jutsu.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8/10

7: As The Sea Parts - Psychosis
Independent

Hailing from the small town of Woodbridge Virginia, As The Sea Parts released a demo in 1995, playing the genre newly created by In Flames, At The Gates, Dark Tranquility and Carcass, then, pretty much nothing, until this year, as they released their first full length album. Psychosis is a true early Gothenburg worship, with meaty riffs, super melodic leads and solos and a funky bass that pops out in the mix. Sometimes approaching doom territories, without going full death/doom, they expertly craft a raw and heavy sound, yet still full of gorgeous melodies. The cover art by the legendary Mark Riddick was the first thing that drew my attention and I'm so glad I judged a book by its cover!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.3/10

6: Temptress - Catch The Endless Dawn
Dying Victims Productions

Temptress is a heavy metal band from Italy, composed of three veterans of the Italian metal scene and for their first full length they crafted an album that is the epitome of what great heavy metal should be. Good headbanging riffs, infectious chorus, great solos, all of that with a perfect sounding production! It sounds organic, the cymbals are crisp, the bass is fat, the guitars are bright, and the vocals are full of reverb for that extra epic feeling. An overall perfect heavy metal album.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.3/10

5: Ba'al - The Fine Line Between Heaven And Here
Road To Masochist Record

There is a fine line between heaven and hell, and we live directly on it. The music of Ba'al also sits directly on that line, full of warm atmospheres and emotional build ups, but at times cold, harsh and even downright hellishly heavy. Think of Agalloch but instead of folk metal elements, it's super low and heavy sludge metal that crushes your soul. Vocally Joe Stamps navigates between piercing shrieks, low growls and tranquil cleans following the many roller coasters of this emotionally charged piece of music.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.4/10

4: Impureza - Alcázares
Season Of Mist

What do you get when four French metalheads (three of them of Spanish descent) form a metal band? If you said flamenco infused death metal, you are correct! In what is the definitive metal album of the summer, you'll be mesmerized by the warm and captivating melodies of flamenco intertwined by ferocious and highly technical death metal. Honestly, these boys are absolute musical virtuoso, not only playing death metal of the highest quality separated by a few flamenco interludes but actually fusing their riffs with flamenco style scales and often cutting songs with traditional acoustic guitars, bass, percussion and Esteban Martin's magnificent clean vocals. Also, all the lyrics are of course sung in Spanish giving it extra authenticity.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

3: Floating - Hesitating Lights
Transcending Obscurity

Death metal merged with post-punk seems like one of those haphazard hybrid projects where a band jams disparate sounds together in a feeble attempt to seem novel, but this avoids that pitfall. It's a bit unnerving how well the catchy deathrock motifs work with an extreme metal backdrop - and that bass! It cuts through the mix like a machete slicing butter, grounding and driving the melodies, even when things get closer to Morbus Chron than the softer moments of Edge of Sanity. In Sweden, where the Entombed clones run rampant, I can only imagine the natives are longing for some freshness to be injected into the style - and Floating does that, not just for their home country, but in the wider realms of death metal as a whole.

Seriously, though, I can't overstate how the bass makes this album. It creates this funky groove you never wanna stop boppin' to.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

2: Mawiza - Ül
Season Of Mist

Ül is the second album by indigenous groove metal band Mawiza and already they are making big waves in the metal scene. Coming from what is present day Chile, they are part of the Mapuche nation, they proudly display their culture, singing exclusively in Mapuzungun, the Mapuche language and it gives the music such a different feeling and matches to perfection with the equally original music. Their style can be generally described as groove metal but done in a completely original way, incorporating different and eclectic sounds that makes it feel truly unique. Honestly, the closest thing that comes to mind would be Magma era Gojira which makes sense giving that the last song features guest vocals from Joe Duplantier. If you want a truly refreshing metal experience do not miss out on Mawiza, a powerful experience, blending modern music with ancestral indigenous sounds for what is a pretty perfect album!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.6/10

1: Philosophobia - The Constant Void
Sensory Records

I love progressive metal so much, but I can be a bit picky, it needs to strike the perfect balance between highly technical playing, songwriting, melody, musicality and it needs to touch me emotionally. Philosophobia hits all of those and more! Clearly inspired by the greats of prog, like Dream Theater, this international group of talented musicians pushes prog metal to new highs. They nail pretty much all aspects of prog, it is highly complex music without forgetting to add emotion, with grandiose choruses that explode with emotions and a magnificent vocal performance by Domenic Papaemmanouil. His voice can be soft and vulnerable, soaring high and epic or even harsh with a good dose of extremity. But even their instrumental song follows the same structures and tells an emotional and epic story, no words needed. Another element they put everywhere, is their impeccable sense of atmosphere, with various keyboard sounds, from synth to piano. They finish the album with a 20-minute epic, truly taking their time and incorporating every element of their songwriting in one monumental closer. This is thoughtful music filled with emotive and complex shapes, I can't wait to see where this band goes, it's an essential for all prog fans! Plus, that cover art from Björn Gooßes at Killustrations is visually striking and thought provoking, a perfect representation of their sound.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

Thanks for stopping by! We'll get caught up real soon - we haven't missed a month in 4 years of doing this and we're not about to start, despite the backlog. In the meantime, check out our AOTM lists from previous months here:

June 2025
May 2025
April 2025
March 2025
February 2025
January 2025

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

Welcome back to MetalBite's Top 10 Albums of the Month! In the midst of the ubiquitous year-end lists, we like to keep plugging away at our regularly scheduled column in order to give the same appreciation to albums released in November/December as we do the rest of the calendar year. Gotta make sure we don't let bands/albums fly under the radar because they chose to release an album against the grain of the "industry standard", so to speak. The less we let Spotify wrapped playlists and promo/tour cycles determine what we listen to, the better off we'll all be for it.

Despite November being a thin month for sheer volume of releases, what that means for us reviewers is less white noise distracting us from letting the albums we really like sink in. For that reason, I think this is the best time to discover new albums and check out new releases - lines up well with putting together your AOTY list as well. Plus it's not like we ever had a shortage of the good shit here at MetalBite, where seasoned metal nerds tirelessly dig through harsh and unforgiving sounds to bring you the cream of the heavy crop. We still found 25 albums out in November you should hear.

Let's get it!

-Nate

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Rascal - Lost Beyond Reason
Ossuary Records

Polish speed metal band Rascal has managed to put out a banger of an album that rocks out at full speed ahead from start to finish. Their debut full-length album Lost Beyond Reason is a result of teenage anger mixed with love for all things oldschool in terms of metal, with wild and catchy guitar riffs, powerful solos, high pitch vocals and wall breaking drums, which are pumped up with an extra dose of steroids that make everything go crazier. Their previous EP Headed Towards Destruction was already a fine piece of work, but this album surpasses it in every way possible. Every song is a heavy speed metal attack that goes right in your face and basically says "Death to all who oppose". Fans of oldschool heavy and speed metal should not miss this one, because this album will get your adrenaline going.
-Vlad

Panopticon - The Rime Of Memory
Bindrune

This is good - it's fuckin' Panopticon, if you're a modern black metal fan and haven't heard Kentucky, you're seriously missing the boat. Their style and approach is great, worth familiarizing yourself with if you're a known Agalloch worshiper the way I am.

However, I do feel Austin Lunn's prolific nature gets in the way of creating truly memorable albums nowadays. It doesn't feel like it's been very long since their previous album, and even though I was fairly high on that one, it didn't make its way into my regular rotation and it's hard to even recall what the songs sounded like at this point. Am I just over-saturated with music with all the promos I get? It's hard to tell, but typically if music does something that stands out or catches my attention, I'll come back to it.

These past couple of releases have just kinda felt…there. Fine to listen to while they're playing, but nothing in them grabs you by the scruff of the neck and demands you hear them again. Also, over an hour and 15 minutes? Austin, my brother in Christ, Trim the fat - I promise you'll be able to cut out a repetition or two and the songs will be better for it. I was surprised this was so high on Decibel's Top 40 - it's solid but has no one at that magazine heard Panopticon before or something? It feels like more of a "legacy award" that it does a decision made based solely on the quality of this album alone. Anyways, enough of my ranting, this is still a good album and worth a listen for fans of the style (Agalloch, Wolves in the Throne Room, Falls of Rauros etc).
-Nate

Mêlée Des Aurores - Aube Cannibale
Sepulchral Productions

QCBM is alive and well, and by the sounds of this album, beginning to expand its horizons and move into harrowing, dissonant directions. This is more Phobocosm and Portal than it is Forteresse - a winding stairway that continues to lead downward into nightmare after nightmare. I'll admit I wasn't expecting this kind of sonic assault going in, but color me impressed and intrigued. It's rare that black metal can evoke a real sense of danger and give you the sense that the people behind the music are fundamentally disturbed individuals the way this does.

Aube Cannibale feels more in the spirit of 90s black metal than bands who try to recreate those albums note for note, if that makes sense…the attitude is there more than anything. To put it another way, this is like the Abruptum of the QCBM scene - harsh, discordant, as much about creating a work of art as it is about giving a big "fuck you, I dare you to sit through this" to the listener.
-Vlad

Délétère - Songes D'une Nuit Souillée
Sepulchral Productions

If the new Melee des Aurores was too scary for you, this is a more predictable slice of music from the genre. Not to say it's any less effective. Délétère have always been one of the more underrated bands from this scene. They don't reinvent the well, but they execute well. In reality, it's the quality of the second and third-stringers like these folks that drives the subgenre's success and notoriety.
-Nate

Sombre Héritage - Inter Duo Mundi
Sepulchral Productions

Jesus, not one, not two, but THREE QCBM albums all released on the same day? This is too much to keep up with.

Sombre Héritage is the most melodic and accessible of the three, so if you're looking for a gateway in the genre or just some no-bullshit hard hitting black metal riffs, this will fulfill either urge.
-Nate

Plague Rider - Intensities
Transcending Obscurity

Tense and chaotic tech death that brings to mind Atheist and Pestilence for older influences, mixed with a bit of modern mathcore a la KEN Mode and Psyopus. The influences I mentioned don't even really sound like this - Plague Rider is their own thing, an easy "get into it" for all the avant-garde/dissoheads out there, and even if you're not normally into that, this is one of those albums that is an interesting listen no matter what your "home base" genre is, as album released on Transcending Obscurity typically are.
-Nate

Morne - Engraved With Pain
Metal Blade Records

I saw Morne live (Quebec Deathfest, 2019) and I still think about that set to this day. Morne is like Neurosis in that they don't play a ton of notes and don't clutter their songs up with a bunch of stuff - but what remains is incredibly powerful, purposeful music. Live, I was taken aback with how songs so simple could grow into something so powerful. The drummer wasn't doing anything super complex, the vocalist doesn't have the most piercing and inhuman tone you've ever heard, the guitarist are not household names/shredding virtuosos - but despite all this, everyone knows their place, each musician works in sync to deliver the powerful atmosphere, and over the years Morne has slowly developed into a sound all their own - one that mixes crust punk, post-rock and doom in a way no other group I've heard has. You wonder why a soft-spoken, simple band such as this has gotten to work with a bunch of cool labels over the years (Profound Lore, Armageddon Label, and now Metal Blade) but then you hear one song and all doubts immediately leave your mind. No one sounds like Morne.

The new album is more polished, with smoother songwriting and buildups in addition to a more rounded, professional production job (as one would expect with the transition to the big label). Fortunately, Metal Blade knows better than to tinker with the sound of such an idiosyncratic band, so you can tell this is the same group. I find this doesn't have the same immediate grab as Asylum and To the Night Unknown did for me, but as is the case with anything this band puts out, the potential to grow on you is massive.

Because of the slow-burn, grower nature of this band, it's too early to properly rate this album right now, hence why it is relegated to honorable mentions. However, don't be surprised if I'm revisiting this next year and retroactively calling it one of the best albums of 2023 (that's basically what happened with Etemen Aenka by Dvne in '21).
-Nate

Morbid Sacrifice – Ceremonial Blood Worship
Godz Ov War Productions

Italian Death/Black Metal band Morbid Sacrifice has returned after 2 years with their second full-length album Ceremonial Blood Worship, which from the very get-go proved that it is a major step forward from their previous album Communion Of The Unholy. The band has improved their songwriting to make it feel more menacing and threatening at the same time, while still relying heavily on the standard war metal approach to the music. It also includes a cover of Sodom's "Conjuration" as the fifth track on this album, which in my opinion is very well executed in its own way without straying far off from the original. If you are searching for anything blasphemous and unholy, give this album a go and do not hesitate to shout "ÖUGH!" when feeling like it.
-Vlad

Aeternus - Philosopher
Agonia Records

I don't think anything this long-running group does will usurp their first two albums - but to be fair, those are minor classics in Norwegian black metal. I didn't actually realize that Aeternus has quietly been plugging away - they've never split up or gone on hold, steadily releasing six more albums between 2000 and now (this is their seventh in that timeframe). I always thought they were one of those oldschool bands that never got the proper attention when they were active only to be dug up by the internet 10-15 years later.

Anyhow, they clearly haven't missed a beat if the sound of Philosopher is anything to go by. They've still got their core sound of heavy, groovy black metal riffing with a solid low-end and a hair of death metal influence. They are true to tradition without being obvious about it, but not using said genre conventions as a crutch in lieu of writing good songs. Get your monthly dose of Norwegian black metal from some of the OGs!
-Nate

Lvctvs - Sobredósis De Pensamiento Fúnebre
Independent

As I mentioned many times before, I am not a fan of depressive black metal at all, I just couldn't find anything about it that really fits my taste. But there have been exceptions where I do kind of like what I am hearing, and one of them is the Venezuelan band Lvctvs, which had already released one album this year, that being the second full-length La Réproba Mazmorra De Mi Ser, however I will be focusing on the third album Sobredósis De Pensamiento Fúnebre which has a strong narrative focusing on the moments before embracing death. The simple but atmospheric musical output is nicely built up with the philosophy behind the concept of the album, which succeeds at giving the songwriting a richer feeling that saves it from other DSBM bands which are very one-dimensional and uninspiring. If you are a DSBM fan by any chance, I suggest that you give this one a try and see what you will experience.
-Vlad

Suffocation - Hymns From The Apocrypha
Nuclear Blast

Ricky Myers is great and a worthy replacement for the legendary Frank Mullen, and the new album is a bit more streamlined and easy to follow, in the trend of their more recent releases - but this is still has that devastating gut punch we've all come to know and love from Suffocation. Full review by Michael here.

Left Cross - Upon Desecrated Altars
Profound Lore

Upon Desecrated Altars is the second album from Richmond, Virginia quintet Left Cross, and unsurprisingly for a release on the ever-dependable Profound Lore, it is a high-quality slab of sickness. Featuring S.B. from Antichrist Siege Machine, Left Cross offer a similarly unhinged and bestial mode of delivery, but with the black metal elements of that band eliminated in favour of pure death metal savagery. Imagine Revenge or Conqueror playing slightly doomy, cavernous death metal in Stockholm, and you won't be too far away from the overwhelming torrent of pure filth that Left Cross fling in the listener's direction. This is not to say that the album is in any way murky – despite favouring a low-end attack, the production is sharp and clear, and this accentuates the impact of each and every chromatic tremolo riff, snaking its reptilian way through a barrage of double-bass, and snapping snare. It's difficult to pick highlights from an album that derives its power from the relentlessness of its forward motion, rather than its variety, but 'Pyramid Of Conquered Skulls' is as good as its title, and 'Celestial Wound' also closes out the album in fine fashion, with a brief mid-tempo section providing sweet respite before the final blitzkrieg concludes a monstrous album. Upon Desecrated Altars is the aural equivalent of being repeatedly assaulted by a blow that you see coming, but are nonetheless powerless to evade.
-Benjamin

Warcrab - The Howling Silence
Transcending Obscurity

It's like High on Fire listened to a bunch of Bolt Thrower and decided they wanted to be a death metal band now. The Howling Science is groovy and bluesy, but with a really heavy, ominous edge that gets you clutching the invisible snowglobes during holiday season. This is music written by, and for, guys with footlong beards - just look at this band photo.
-Nate

NecroticGoreBeast - Repugnant
Comatose Music

Hits a nice little sweet spot between slam and tech-death that should satisfy any brutality fiends out there. They're from Quebec and the production job is from a guy that has worked with Analepsy and Organectomy. If those two sentences didn't give you a good idea of what this sounds like already, you're probably not the target audience for this.
-Nate

Kvelgeyst - Blut, Mich Und Thranen
Eisenwald

This Swiss group is quietly one of the coolest newer black metal bands emerging onto the scene. I got the promo for their previous full length, Alkahest, when it came out, but it got buried because I downloaded a bunch of other albums at the same time. I forgot about it until months later when it randomly started playing in the background on shuffle, and it kept hitting me with riffs that piqued my curiosity and got me dialed in. One of those "who the hell is this, this is sick, why am I not familiar with it" moments if you know what I mean.

I like the approach they have to black metal -they have a certain playful obscurity to them a la Dutch weirdos Laster (who have a great album of their own out this year) mixed with the stripped-down, pukish delivery of Peste Noire. They're understated in their eccentricities, never forcing you to pay attention but always drawing you back in with interesting melodic approaches and intelligent song construction. Eisenwald's a sure bet for some solid black metal no matter what, but this got more time in my rotation than any of their other releases this year.
-Nate

METALBITE'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH

10: Convocation - No Dawn For The Caligious Night
Everlasting Spew

If you're going to check out a newer funeral doom band, your odds for success are much higher if the band is from Finland. That region has this knack for dragging you into a cavernous pit of despair as an ominous dark cloud swirls and forms above you. Convocation has touches of the wistful, delicate melancholy of Skepticism mixed with the crushing weight of Tyranny and Catacombs. Like all good funeral doom, they never fully reveal what they're about right away, but give you a slow drip of choral ambience, somber violins, deep, resonant growls, and a guitar tone that sounds like a cubic mile of lead slowly approaching your field of vision like some sort of massive alien spacecraft. Make sure you listen to this with enough time to it sink in - you won't get the full effect with a single song, but throw No Dawn For The Calignious Night on for at least 20 minutes and you'll find yourself wondering why you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders. In a good way.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.2/10

9: Diabolic Night - Beneath The Crimson Prophecy
High Roller Records

After a suitably portentous intro, Diabolic Night's follow-up to 2019's Beyond The Realm explodes into life with 'Tales Of Past & Mystery', and rarely lets up across eight tracks of high-class black-thrash. There is something wonderfully wild and ragged about the Germans' sound, which variously recalls Darkthrone, Spectral Wound, and Midnight, albeit with just a hint of classic metal creeping into the baroque phrasing of the short and sweet guitar leads. Like much of the best of this dark corner of the metal universe, Diabolic Night's music doesn't waste too much time worrying about how it should be categorised – some of the tracks are fairly straightforward thrash ('Vicious Assault'), while others display a more old-school black metal approach ('The Sacred Scriptures'), and although the feel differs a little from track to track, the album as a whole evokes that glorious period of the early-to-mid 1980s, when black, thrash, and death metal were more closely interlinked than perhaps they are today. Indeed, the brilliant 'Voyage To Fortune' even has the audacity to incorporate a section of near-Helloween speed metal, as if to remind the listener of the full heritage of Teutonic heaviness, and it's to their credit that it doesn't sound even slightly out of place. Beneath The Crimson Prophecy probably has a slightly limited appeal – it's not terribly progressive, and it's certainly not cutting edge, but for a certain breed of headbanger, it is a nostalgic treat not to be missed.
-Benjamin

MetalBite's Rating: 8.3/10

8: Night Crowned - Tales
Noble Demon Records

This is an "inverted supergroup" of sorts - members have ties to more established bands like Nightrage, The Unguided and Dark Funeral, but they're connected more as live fill-ins as opposed to core members who have substantial songwriting input. Night Crowned seems to be the project where drummer Janne Jeloma and guitarist/keyboardist Henric Liljesand put the majority of their ideas and creative energy - their "main band", so to speak.

I give this introduction because it helps to give context for why this band immediately grabs your attention - one riff in and you can tell they've been around the block. You can also instantly hear why the drummer got tapped for Dark Funeral. He's got serious chops but always makes his beats catchy enough to give it that "stadium black metal" vibe. The immediacy and catchiness of their riffing quickly becomes apparent - this is like the black metal version of Wretched Fate. Tales does not experiment or change anything about the Swedish meloblack formula and it's a better album for it. It thrives on hitting that sweet spot of fast sugary tremolo riffs with enough bite to prevent cheesiness and enough flair to stick in your head. They know what they're good at and play to their strengths, and it's one of my favorite black metal releases this year primarily because they know better than to try stuff they're not good at.

Night Crowned is relatively under the radar, but it's about time they start getting mentioned among the forerunners of melodic black metal because they're right up there with the best of their contemporaries.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.4/10

7: Dyssebeia - Garden Of Stillborn Idols
Transcending Obscurity

This is honestly what I wanted the new Stortregn album to sound like. I thought there were some similarities in sound, and sure enough, Dyssebeia actually has the same drummer and bassist. Compared to the mind melting blitz of Finitude, though, Garden Of Stillborn Idols is a more restrained, even atmospheric affair - much closer to Insomnium than Inferi, but the more sparse moments help to bridge the gaps and make the more technical moments stand out.

It sometimes feels like "melodeath influence" is a huge faux pas for bands nowadays - the only way you'll get critical acclaim is if you rigidly adhere to the 90s style influences (example: that new Majesties album). This album is a great example of how to properly use modern melodeath in your guitarwork without it feeling stale or predictable. Songs like 'Retriubtion' and 'Sacrificed On The Threshold' have great push and pull, heaps of gorgeous melody and enough intricacy in the more uptempo moments that let you know these fellas could play way more complicated music if they want to - they just choose to write to serve the song more than to showcase their chops. And oh man am I ever happy they took that route. This rules.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.4/10

6: Green Lung - This Heathen Land
Nuclear Blast

On the back of a sensational live show, good enough to transform this cynical, agnostic listener into a true believer almost instantly, Green Lung's third album This Heathen Land might just mark the point at which the band will cease to be an underground phenomenon spoken of in hushed tones, and flourish into their seemingly inevitable future status of credible mainstream band, with main stage festival appearances and high profile support slots within their grasp. Their doom-laden take on classic metal, which positions them somewhere within a triangle that points simultaneously at Black Sabbath, Rainbow and Ghost, is not particularly ground-breaking or cutting edge, but there will always be a seat at the table for great songs, executed brilliantly, and This Heathen Land has songs in spades. Seemingly recognising the uniqueness and perfect timing of their opportunity, Green Lung have also delivered a beautifully realised and coherent quasi-concept album, which leans into a theme which sees the band telling mystical tales of olde, occult Albion. A musty, pastoral, 'Wicker Man' horror atmosphere pervades every track, and it suits them, lending a timeless sheen to a sound which is less obviously retro than it could so easily be. This is most satisfyingly apparent on the brilliant 'One For Sorrow', the centrepiece of the album, musically closer to mid-period Ozzy Osbourne than the more Sabbathian sound that typifies much of the record, and the dragging tempo and soaring leads bring a stately majesty, enhanced by one of the numerous unforgettable choruses that litter a memorable album. This Heathen Land feels like a true statement release from a band who know that their time is now, and do not want to waste a second.
-Benjamin

MetalBite's Rating: 8.7/10

5: Mephorash - Krystl-Ah
Shadow Records

Boy was this album a pleasant surprise or what. Swedish black metal band Mephorash has put out another great album that is both epic and cinematic with its complex songwriting that conveys so much atmosphere and emotions from one song to another. The band continues to incorporate a lot of esoteric and occult elements in their music but with a bigger emphasis on storytelling through music, which is where this album stands out. You can hear that they put so much blood and sweat with all they got and the result of their effort is a worthy successor to their previous album Shem Ha Mephorash that was already quite successful back in 2020. It is still debatable whether this album is better than Shem Ha Mephorash or not, but it is without a doubt a great continuation of that album which still shines on its own.
-Vlad

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

4: Vastum - Inward To Gethesmane
20 Buck Spin

Compared to Orificial Purge, which was the band's most polished and delicate album, Inward To Gethesmane is a grimier, more focused affair, hellbent on creating a sickly and menacing atmosphere. It's got our boy Michael raving - this is the most inspired and fresh the band has sounded in years. Full review here.

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

3: Destructor - Blood, Bone And Fire
Shadow Kingdom Records

US thrash/heavy metal veterans Destructor return with their badass wall-breaking fifth album Blood, Bone, And Fire, which in all its might and glory basically oozes with blood, bone and fire. The riffs and the songs in general still sound as fresh and strong as if the band is still young and wild as they were back in 1985 when they released their cult debut Maximum Destruction. I was expecting that this album would sound heavy, but I did not expect it to sound so heavy to the point where it literally turned into maximum destruction (pun intended). So many older heavy and thrash metal bands simply fail to create anything inspiring, but Destructor is a very notable exception that deserves both endless praise and support from oldschool fans. I strongly believe that my teenage thrasher from many years ago would have definitely banged his head against the wall to this album and probably left a big hole in the bedroom as a testament to my craze and excitement.
-Vlad

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

2: Xoth - Exogalactic
Independent

Perhaps the most whimsical record I've gotten familiar with this year. It's just so…bouncy? It's really funny listening to this right after a crushing emotional experience a la None or Godspeed You! Black Emperor. It sounds like the riffs are yelling "wheeeeee this is so fun!!!".

That being said, when it comes to the quality of the songs on Exogalactic there is nothing here to laugh at. The band draws from various tenets of metal including modern death, thrash, melodeath, black metal, power metal, 80s speed metal - the base elements and how they mix them is similar to Slugdge. They then add a colorful, cosmic touch that sounds like Rings of Saturn if they were primarily influenced by Voivod instead of deathcore. It's a cartoony depiction of space, for sure - this is not the suffocating despondency of Darkspace or even the somber, delicate introspection of Midnight Odyssey - but it works incredibly well with Xoth's boisterous energy and natural sense of humor.

I missed the boat on their previous release, but Exogalactic convinced me to give it a listen, and sure enough it's really good too. I'd say the newer release is a bit more refined and simultaneously more adventurous, but Interdimensional Invocations is absolutely worth your time as well and I'm a bit mad I missed out until now.

I knew there was a band from the 90s that had almost identical themes and a very similar approach to style blending, and for a while it was eluding me - but it hit me like a ton of bricks while I was writing this. Xoth is, without any doubt, the spiritual successor to Bal-Sagoth. Both bands end their name with the same three letters (which I also just realized) and that only cements this Seattle group in my head as the offspring of the English sci-fi storytellers. Anyways, Bal-Sagoth is fucking dope and very few bands sound like them, so this is only further insistence you check Exogalactic out.

Also, Bal-Sagoth was put on hold in 2013 and Xoth formed in 2014…just saying…
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

1: Valdrin - Throne Of The Lunar Soul
Blood Harvest

I had two words to say about this album when I heard it: HOLY SHIT! I did not expect to stumble upon something so beautiful that is on the same level of greatness as Moonlight Sorcery's Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle from two months ago. This work is coming from a US melodic black metal band Valdrin whose music is heavily influenced by classic Swedish melodic black metal bands from the 90s and it shows. Their fourth full-length album Throne Of The Lunar Soul is an epic fantastic tale covered in gold, shining in all its glory with melodic black metal majesty. There is so much progression and complexity throughout every song with strong emphasis on storytelling through music, which was wonderfully executed. Despite its 1 hour and 13 minute long run, this album keeps your attention going and the adrenaline flowing, pulling off a risky move that only few bands ever succeed at doing. If the cover art itself does not convince you that you should definitely give this album a try, then I don't know what will, because it is truly a modern-day masterwork for fans of Dissection, Sacramentum, Unanimated, Dawn and Vinterland.
-Vlad

MetalBite's Rating: 9.2/10

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If you're still hungry for more music, view all the previous AOTM lists from 2023 below:

October 2023

September 2023

August 2023

July 2023

June 2023

May 2023

April 2023

March 2023

February 2023

January 2023

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Welcome back to MetalBite's Top 10 Albums of the Month! We're in the season of a torrential downpour of new releases. We'll get caught up eventually so that we're releasing these lists closer to the end of the month, as we've been in a state of constantly being behind for the past few months. When will that happen? Your guess is a good as mine. But at least it gives us a bit of extra time to sit on new releases and sift through what we really want to include on here.

As an aside - you may or may not have noticed our Facebook page got taken down. We're not sure why and when it's going to go up again. In the meantime, if you can follow the new MetalBite Facebook page to help get us back to where we were before, that would be greatly appreciated. If you follow/consume the content of these lists, this helps to demonstrate that, and you also get notices of when new one-off reviews go up as well!

Anyhow, on to what you're really here for. Cheers y'all.

-Nate

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Drawn And Quartered - Lord Of Two Horns
Nuclear Winter Records

I love me some death metal that just fuckin blasts constantly. Is this a multi-faceted album that incorporates disparate influences to create a genre-defying masterpiece? Fuck no. Does it need to be in order to be effective? Also fuck no.
-Nate

Inhuman Condition - Mind Trap
Listenable Insanity Records

There are no big surprises on Inhuman Condition's third full-length album. Most of the songs rely on catchy mid-tempo grooves that sound more like 90s Florideath than some of the recent output from the active bands of that era. But there are also some tracks that diverge from this formula. "Science Of Discontent" is a more dissonant track (not like Deathspell Omega or Portal, though), showing growth and an attempt to break free from the confines of their sound. Apart from that, they integrate cool breaks and twists with the deep growls and the 90s-style guitars. Even with these extra frills, though, this is still what this band has always been - solid 90s styled old school metal.
-Michael

Dark Matter Secret - New Matter
The Artisan Era

TAE has been quiet lately - I know they've been holding off on signing any new bands for a while now, but even their current roster seems unusually quiet. I guess with the multitude of other ventures the label heads have on the go, they haven't left much time to release other albums.

Dark Matter Secret is one of the OGs, though - they were, if I'm not mistaken, one of the first Artisan Era bands that weren't directly affiliated with Malcolm Pugh. Their instrumental, narrative, proggy tech death has a flavour to it that bands like Obscura and Beyond Creation have in spurts, but where those bands might have some heavier, crushing sections, Dark Matter Secret add EVEN MORE SOLOS.

That's not to say the band is an Yngwie Malmsteen-esque one dimensional shredfest - they understand the necessity of playing with space and using some sections to build tension and develop the soundscape, even with the lack of vocals removing a layer of immersion. New Matter is perhaps even more focused on draw long out a story and exploring textures within the prog-death realm as opposed to just making you go "fuck that must be hard to play" all the time. Usually instrumental albums are the kind of thing you can throw on in the background while you're doing something else, but New Matter constantly demands your attention - just when you start to get too comfortable, they snap you out of it with some wicked shredding. They're clearly overflowing with talent - that was evident on Perfect World Creation - but on New Matter they tell you a story that keeps you hooked through the ebbs and flows.
-Nate

Katatonia - Nightmares As Extensions Of The Waking State
Napalm Records

This record seems to be divisive among fans and honestly, I understand! With bands as mighty as Katatonia, fans have decades of flawless material that obviously drastically increase expectations! First of all, by no means is this a bad album, it's just I expected more… But no worries, there are still incredible songs on here, songs like "Lilac" and "Temporal" are classic Katatonia, a catchy and emotional chorus with Jonas Renkse's immediately recognizable voice that is both commanding and full of vulnerability. The guitars are still great, often soft and a bit in the background but can get super heavy in an instant. The song "Thrice" is an interesting example. It begins the album with approximately three chords that are super heavy and full of distortion and literally four seconds later, everything becomes quiet and a few guitar notes accompany Jonas' soft voice. That feeling of incompleteness is very unsettling but becomes so satisfying with multiple listens. "Wind Of No Change" is another interesting composition, with that infectious groove, courtesy of the incredible rhythm section that is Niklas and Daniel! Paired with the gothic choir, you'll have the lines: "we lay in sin, and sing praise hail Satan." stuck on repeat in your head, guarantied! In the end though, the lack of numerous distinct and memorable songs, with notable exceptions, hurts the album a little but I think it's another solid addition to Katatonia's discography, just not among the strongest.
-Raphael

Creeping Fear - Realm Of The Impaled
Dolorem Records

This is a comparatively groovier and more restrained album than 2021's Hategod Triumph, but all the hallmarks of that album are still there. A dash of blackened tremolo, vitriolic death/thrash (more of the former than the latter), and yet another passionate, uniquely piercing vocal performance from one of the most underrated shriek-growlers out there, Clement Ducouret. There's the occasional point where they flirt with more atmospheric bridges ("Demonic Ascent") but by and large this is no frills black/death/thrash/whatever. They've always been solid, and I've said it before and will say it again - the vocalist turns a solid-but-forgettable album into a must-listen, elevating everything around him.
-Nate

Morbyda - Under The Spell
Dying Victims Productions

Fast but not overly crazy, full of mesmerizing evil atmospheres, giving ode to metal legends of the past but with an impeccable sounding modern production, Morbyda takes us on an unforgettable journey across the best of blackened heavy metal! With a vocal performance drenched in reverb that often goes from clear high pitched aaaaaaaahs, to raspy shrieks for those extra evil sounds. The guitar leads are always melodic and the solos, holy hell the solos, from mid pace to crazy fast, if you crave metal jam packed with technical solos full of emotions and character, Morbyda is here for you.
-Raphael

Patristic - Catechesis
Willowtip Records

There's a lot packed into this one and it's hard to describe. It's got an esoteric grandiosity that brings Schammasch to mind, with a lot of big buildups into sustained blastbeat sections courtesy of a spirited, relatively unproven speedfreak drummer in his mid-20s. This is a side project of Enrico Schettino, the main Hideous Divinity songwriter - seemingly an avenue to explore occult black metal while keeping his main project intact. You can tell it's from a similar mind, as Patristic also has a strong sense of continuity and flow while covering a lot of different textures. There's lots of dissonance and mysticism that should appeal to fans of Aosoth and Deathspell Omega - this sounds far too complex and intricate to be considered a side-project. There's more going on here than in most people's main bands.
-Nate

Angel Of Damnation - Ethereal Blasphemy
Dying Victims Productions

Germany's Angel Of Damnation is doom metal in its purest form, a grandiose sadness, the sheer heaviness of the riff and slow grooves that weigh a ton. The Sabbath worship that never ever gets old, pump that shit in my veins 24/7! And that pristine Dying Victims Production! Crystal clear, every cymbal hit sits perfect in the mix, the snare, every melodic guitar notes and that low rumble from hell. The songs being fairly long gives room for the song writing, for beautifully creative moments, like the string arrangements on the last song, the unfortunately a little cringingly named, Anal Worship of the Goatlord. So yes, this is pure, traditional doom that does not invent anything new, but does the old to perfection.
-Raphael

Zeicrydeus - La Grande Heresie
The Stygian Oath

Everyone's favorite extreme metal polymath is back, this time deciding to venture into…old school Hellenic black metal with ripping bass lines? and it's got Charlie Koryn on session drums? Can't pass this one up. As someone who is a similarly obsessive genre nerd and sees pre-second wave black metal like Master's Hammer, early Rotting Christ, Varathron and Root as criminally underrated, this is an incredibly authentic recreation that takes you straight to 1991. I haven't always vibed with Phil Tougas' other side excursions (Atramentus was a bit of a miss imo) but this one hit the spot real nice.
-Nate

Sodom - The Arsonist
Steamhammer

Musically, not too much has changed since Sodom's last album, "Genesis XIX". There are no melodic, catchy tracks like "The Harpooneer" or "Occult Perpetrator" here - this iteration of Sodom focuses on brutal riffs and uncompromising heaviness. It's not quite as brutal as their flirtations with death metal back in 1992 on "Tapping The Vein", but this is still a blunt, relentless thrashing straight to the face. "The Arsonist" is a lesson in powerful thrash without any experiments or compromises. As always, the production is professional and it's impossible to find a fault with it. What is missing is a real standout, anthem track, but that's just me being nitpicky. To sum it up, this is a really good Sodom album for their twilight years.
-Michael

METALBITE'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH

10: Putridity - Morbid Ataraxia
Willowtip Records

These disgusting Italians are established masters of brutality, standing at the musical edge of a style that has long been little more than a gross-out contest. It's all about who can be the fastest, the most cacophonous, the heaviest, who can get the closest to white noise while still retaining some qualities that make things musical.

How exactly does Putridity remain so cutting-edge? it's not like there aren't plenty of bands in a similar ballpark. There's something about their obsessive fixation with pummeling the listener that is uniquely tantalizing. Take Malignancy, strip away some of the technicality and replace it with a slurry of never-ending blastbeats and low-end guitar spasms. The only signal you have that one riff has ended and another has begun is the squealing pinch harmonics. Dynamics? Restraint? those get in the way of blastbeats and punch harmonics.

That's not to say there's not moments where they dial things back a bit - it might be a standalone bass part that lasts for literally one second, or a sample to bookend a song, but they pull back for just long enough to remind you how immersive they are - something about how they stack layers of sound has a way of keeping you engaged and entertained, even though it's the same thing for 34 minutes straight. Maybe it's the absurd skills of drummer Cedric Malebogia. Maybe it's the thick yet roomy production that lets everything be heard but still hits you like a brick. Whatever it is, it all comes together to give you that giddy feeling of boundlessness, pushing the limits of musical intensity the way that this type of music is meant to.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.2/10

9: ByoNoiseGenerator - Subnormal Dives
Transcending Obscurity Records

This one caught me by surprise, usually, a full album of brutal death is a bit much to digest. But here comes ByoNoiseGenerator from Russia, saying hold my beer, sit down and listen. They seamlessly blend crushing brutal death with a grindcore edge but then throw in more dissonance and when this disgusting whirlwind of brutality is almost too much to handle, it abruptly changes into smooth jazz to sooth your ears, but not for long, the brutality is never far! Clocking in at an extremely lean 22 minutes, there is absolutely no fat on this, every note is impactful, from the grinding blastbeats, the chunky brutal chugs and the smooth saxophone, everything works to give you a coherent experience! Who knew all that I needed to enjoy brutal death was smooth jazz interwoven with pure brutal chaos!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.2/10

8: Fallujah - Xenotaph
Nuclear Blast Records

Fallujah's signature tech death sound is a meditative experience, a journey through sound waves that is full of lush atmospheres, bursts of technical brutality and progressive song structures. Since Kyle Schaefer took on the role of vocalist, he really brings Fallujah to new heights, his growls are the perfect blend of cavernous but with enough variety that they don't feel one note. And on Xenotaph, he pushes even further, frequently using soft and angelic cleans that fit the dynamics of this band to perfection. Despite many line-up changes and a few misses here and there, Scott Carstairs's vision is probably responsible for the band remaining fairly constant sounding throughout the years. This album feels like a culmination of the band's entire career, with even nods to their debut, The Harvest Wombs! It's also their shortest work since The Flesh Prevails and in many ways this album feels like it, not necessarily a complete reinvention, but a refinement, a distillation of everything that makes them unique! Let's hope this line up persists, I can't wait to see where they go from here.
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.4/10

7: Nightbearer - Defiance
Testimony Records

Opening with a beautiful classic guitar short piece, the distortion soon ramps up and a powerful scream on top of a full speed blastbeat rips your eardrum, sucking you in their unique sonic world, a sound deeply rooted in the greats of 90s Swedish death, the glory of the Boss HM-2 chainsaw tone but they take this as a base and push it forward with Gothenburg style riffing and ethereal leads that transport you in deepest corners of space and just when you feel safe, hypnotized by the majesty of the pillars of creation, groovy rhythmic chugs drags you back in reality and makes you headbang furiously. Thematically based on the book trilogy His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman it revolves around the need of humanity's emancipation from oppression by religion. Throughout these 47 min you'll traverse many influences ranging from a blackened blastbeat here and there, doomier passages and always with an impeccable sense of melody. I do not know what is in the water in Germany but they keep releasing top quality death metal over and over, keep em coming!
-Raphael

Wow, this is quite a massive improvement on the last album. Defiance is littered with super cool riffs and melodies, and would have been a highlight during the mid-90s heyday of Swedish melodic death metal. You can hear these traditional influences in every pore but the Germans have added intriguing touches and eruptive outbursts that verge on black-death territory. Although super melodic, Defiance never gets kitschy or boring. Hopefully this will boost Nightbearer's popularity!
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.4/10

6: Austere - The Stillness Of Dissolution
Prophecy Productions

Having a look at the cover, you see mummified hands reaching out to something. Perhaps it's grasping for the good old days when Katatonia were still exciting and Paradise Lost kicked ass with some good riffs (instead of shit like "One Second")? "The Stillness Of Dissolution" is a nice follow-up to Katatonia's "Brave Murder Day" mixed with some Draconian Times-era Paradise Lost riffs. Altogether this is a very entertaining, slightly depressing, breathtaking trip into the mid-nineties when gothic metal was still in its infancy and not as played out as it is now.
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

5: Fer De Lance - Fires On The Mountainside
Cruz Del Sur Music

The word epic is often used to describe metal, from various horizons but Chicago's Fer De Lance took that moniker and decided to push it to the max! I hear influences ranging from Blind Guardian, to Sabbath and later era Bathory. Rich vocal layers, grandiose and often folky instrumentation and the occasional touch of extremity in the form of raspy harsh vocals, this album is varied but always incredibly, epic. The songs in themselves are always relatively long and hitting that mid-tempo pace giving ample time to build-up and explode in emotional highs! The folk metal elements are everywhere, even throwing some middle eastern scales in the last song. I strongly recommend for fans of everything epic and folk, Fer De Lance's cinematic approach to songwriting will transport you in a world full of grandiose battles where men die with sword in hand and become legends in the halls of Valhalla!
-Raphael

Fer De Lance (French for 'spearhead', although the band themselves are American) play the sort of rugged, resolutely anti-trend heavy metal of which this particular writer cannot get enough, at least when it's composed and played as well as this. Some may suggest that Fires On The Mountainside is old-fashioned, but timeless is a more appropriate adjective for a record that sounds less like it's been recorded to tape, and more as if it's been carved from granite. If Doomsword, The Atlantean Codex and Sacred Outcry make you feel like an indomitable warrior ready to dominate all-comers in apocalyptic battles for honour (and if they don't, it's possible that heavy metal just isn't the genre for you), Fer De Lance will almost certainly stir your blood, raise your blade, and send you headlong unto the melée. The epic, Eastern-tinged 'Death Thrives (Where Walls Divide)' and 'Children Of The Sky And Sea' stand out a little more than the rest, but the overall quality is uniformly spectacular, and the fairly lean run-time means that despite the band's expansive sound, the album holds the attention until the final triumphant note.
-Benjamin

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

4: Cryptopsy - An Insatiable Violence
Season Of Mist

None So Vile must be my all-time favorite death metal album, not even close. Being a metalhead from the beautiful province of Québec, Cryptopsy always enjoyed a legendary status, the pride of our nation! (except for the one rule, we never talk about The Unspoken King) All that to say that the last album was the band making a statement, we are back boys and An Insatiable Violence is even stronger! As an ex-drummer-ish, I remember watching youtube videos of Flo Mounier teaching various methods of doing blastbeats, double pedal techniques and being in awe of the light years separating me from a drummer like him. In terms of performance, I can definitely say, it's the best every member has ever been! Flo seamlessly goes from superhuman gravity blasts to neck crushing groovy and brutal breaks, his performance places him at the very top of extreme metal drummers. Matt McGachy's vocals are as demonic as ever, bringing a lot of dynamics to a genre that often lacks in this department (brutal death). His low guttural grunts are as impactful as his high piercing shrieks. Olivier Pinard quitted Cattle Decapitation to focus on his main role, providing technical bass lines to the madness of Cryptopsy, that are both subtle and impactful. Christian Donaldson brings the fast and technical riffs and occasional solos. In this dizzying assault, the band never forgets to focus on the macabre atmosphere of uneasiness. Clocking in at just 34 minutes, this album is an easy no skip and has endless replayability. VIVE LE QUÉBEC BRUTAL!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

3: Noise Trail Immersion – Tutta La Morte In Un Solo Punto
I, Voidhanger Records

Like much of the best contemporary extreme music, Italian quintet Noise Trail Immersion (a fitting name), are not especially easy to categorise. Sitting somewhere in the middle of a Venn Diagram that would include post-metal, black metal, and post-hardcore, they make a difficult, but utterly compelling noise, with the emphasis on noise. Much of their dissonant cacophony resembles early Dillinger Escape Plan played at the wrong speed, and Pyrrhon and even Krallice are similarly reasonable reference points. This kind of thing is very easy to get wrong – the lack of obvious hooks and digestible melodies require vigilant attention from the listener, but Noise Trail Immersion succeed in fashioning intriguing structures and rhythms from apparently scattershot components haphazardly joined, and over the course of the album, something wonderful emerges from the wreckage of the bent and broken remains of music that represent their building blocks. Unpleasant in all the right ways, one hopes that the newly-secured backing of the excellent I, Voidhanger Records will see the band receive the attention that the quality of their music deserves.
-Benjamin

MetalBite's Rating: 8.6/10

2: Heaven Shall Burn - Heimat
Century Media Records

Thanks to Michael's excellent review, (go check his reviews, they're always insightful and so well written) I learned that "Heimat" can sometimes mean homeland or that refers to the German Race, which is usually not interpreted in the best way by the better of what humanity has to offer. The album is a strong statement of where the band stands, an answer to the question: which side are you on? A bit of my history with Heaven Shall Burn, they are an important band in my musical journey; their 2008 album "Iconoclast" had such an impact on young 17-year-old me! Back then, a song like Endzeit blew me away. That short string instrumental that immediately explodes in one of the most savage screams! Chills every time! The fact they always embraced their "core" influences was a big draw and made me get into more extreme forms of metal. So, in 2025, I feel like their strong anti-fascist messaging is now needed more than ever, with the spectacular fall of the "neoliberal world order" we are currently living through.

But politics aside (although, politics is a constant on the album so it will come back), how does the album sound? For fans of 2000's melodic death, this will be pure nostalgia filled joy! It's aggressive but filled with memorable melodies and has that hardcore authenticity and raw sounding energy. The album starts with a truly beautiful and emotional instrumental intro, those violin and cello does something to my cold heart, it makes you vulnerable and then; 'War Is The Father Of All' begins with an epic build up, drum rolls and choir included. The funky bass lines lead to groovy riffs and melodic leads that say "I love you In Flames". Also, the breakdowns on this one will make you headbang until your neck hurts. Lyrically already impactful, the lines: "Obliteration, Atrocities unbound, Kneel to the only one, For no man is mightier than the sword, Unerasable, It dwells within us", made me think of the military industrial complex that has overtaken what little influence we "common mortals" can have on the decisions our states take, with no regards for life. He then goes on to say: "Your gods are going down in flames, They're all material and nothing shall remain" highlighting the real reasons for all this carnage, behind religion or race, most wars are about control of the material world. That's my silly interpretation at least. The album continues with a flow of pure melodic death ragger until we get to song number five, the aptly named 'Empowerment'. Melodious punk vibes emanate from this one, filling me with hope and the will to fight! Accompanying classic melodeath leads are the line: "The time has come to choose your side, You stand or fall before their eyes, Conquer your fears, come face to face with the enemy". A song that tells you like it is, a modern Florence Reece composition, choose your side today! Another lyric that hits hard, this time from 'A Whisper From Above': "I had to walk among the brutes, and I felt nothing but disgust, Leading a double life amidst our murderous enemies, My downright lie, a bold disguise in the cruelest of all times, To save a few of the doomed". It perfectly describes reality nowadays. The mask we need to wear to go on business as usual, while watching the holocaust livestreamed on our phone. For the past 20 months and much earlier even, seeing people around you basically parroting our leader's discourse against immigrants or Palestine, can feel lonely but musicians can make us feel a bit more united with their message. To convey this message, we are transported back in time with In Flames worship leads, fast double kick drum, a tasteful short blastbeat and pure Gothenburg breaks.

Everything on this album flows in a coherent manner, even the Killswitch Engage cover is both a faithful adaptation, with guest vocal Jesse Leach, but still adds a Heaven Shall Burn twist of extremity. The heavy moments feel huge, the melodies are everywhere and impactful, down to the three instrumentals that cut the album perfectly, Marcus Bischoff's vocal performance is as savage as ever, the musicianship and song writing are on another level! This is a superb work of art with a message more important than ever, resist fascism at all cost! Let me just finish with their words: "Good or evil, there's nothing in between, I could not deny myself, We upheld life in the realm of the dead."
-Raphael

While they were heavily influenced by Bolt Thrower, Entombed or Earth Crisis on their previous albums, Heaven Shall Burn have added some extra melody here. The songs are still aggressive and kick-ass, but the guitar leads are sometimes more like Lunar Strain-era In Flames. A good example is "Confounder", a super-groovy melo-death track. There are some Bolt Thrower blast beat attacks sprinkled in occasionally. "Heimat" is a great piece of music that I refuse to call metalcore. There are more death metal parts in here than so-called death metal bands nowadays. And apart from the music the band once again has released a significant statement against racism which seems to be of growing importance in these times.
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.7/10

1: Turian - Blood Quantum Blues
Wise Blood Records

One thing I love the most in life is discovering new music. Usually it goes like this, I open a promo email, read a bit about the band, listen to a few songs and see if it clicks. Well, with Turian, it instantly clicked! Trying to describe their sound the most summarized possible, they play an eclectic brand of metallic hardcore, reminiscent of bands like Code Orange, they do have a lot of industrial influences, but it goes broader than that. I hear everything from electronic to post-hardcore to noise rock and a touch of alternative metal.

By the music alone Turian conquered my heart, but it was only the beginning! Fronted by Vern Metztli-Moon, they had this to say about the album "As a Yaqui Indian, this album is about my ancestors, acknowledging their unheard grief and our transcendental connection to one another". Now, if it wasn't evident before, I absolutely adore what I lovingly refer to as "woke-DEI" metal, which is basically any music that deeply engages with political subjects and/or features the point of view of any marginalized individuals. After reading the lyrics I was incredibly pleased, they mix engaging music with deep lyrics that often approaches truly heavy subject matters but often with a catchy beat that makes you want to move! In an interview with Belgian Jasper on youtube, Vern had this to say about performing these deeply personal and meaningful songs night after night: "I think I was ready for that, taking on that role you know, I think actually being able to have the outlet to scream about it and write songs about it, make people listen to the anger I have about it. I feel like it's a productive way of expressing that, like it needs to come out you know. I think that it's meditative and it's not as heavy or taxing emotionally as one would maybe think." The role they are talking about is to be the voice of their ancestors and I could not think of a better way to do that than screaming their lungs out with sick breakdowns!

Now, on to the meat of it all, the album begins with the song 'Spill', which is a straightforward hardcore banger! It's fast, quite complex, with a good dose of dissonance, yet super catchy at the same time. Speaking of catchy, the next song, called 'Chemical Bath', is definitely a highlight! Layers of keyboards are supporting heavy riffs and angry screams. I think the first lyrics that made me instantly fall in love with the band is this line: "Zyklon b chemical bath, Nazis copied the U.S., Corrupted by power hungry hatred you possess, Your spirits will never rest" because yes, this is a historical "fun" fact, Hitler was a big big fan of the US and how they treated black, indigenous or people from Mexico. Reading a bit more, I learned that the song was inspired by the story of Carmelita Torres, a young 17-year-old woman from Mexico that refused, at the border, to go through the humiliating process of completely stripping down and being doused in a mix of kerosene and vinegar. One of my favorite moments on the album is when Vern says: "Dirty, lousy, destitute, Drenching us with insecticide, Treating us like vermin", then the music stops and they yell "YOU ARE THE PARASITE" followed by an upbeat, almost dance breakdown. Back to Carmelita Torres, her brave refusal inspired thousands more and the event was called the 1917 Bath Riots. Last memorable line from the song: Medicalized violence, Racist policies, Your foremen and your fucking sentries, WON'T QUELL THE RIOTING. What an incredibly memorable line! Rest in power Carmelita! Anyway, my final thought on this is, ABOLISH ICE!

Moving on, 'Divine Child (No One's Daughter)' is an alternative metal infused banger that makes me think of Deftones every time. 'Burden of the Blood' is another incredibly heavy song, both musically and lyrically. The line "Burden of the blood, Ancestral repressed grief, A century of memories, Transposed crushing me" makes my eyes water every time. The weight of being a genocide survivor is unfathomable; it must take such courage to even just think about all the ramifications. I have such immense respect for people that tackle such a thing. Speaking of, another incredibly impactful line on the song 'Blood Quantum Blues': "Delusion, drunk on bigotry, Fuck your manifest destiny, Fuck your ordained divinity, Fuck you, You ain't killing me". Being severely disabled, I can totally empathize with this, the feeling you get when the broader society tries to erase your very existence, Fuck you, You ain't killing me, indeed! One of the most powerful moments is when Vern repeats "Indians. Don't. Vanish." on the backdrop of a build up that eventually explodes with the sickest breakdown, chills every time!

Turian has created something truly special, a rich tapestry of influences and sounds used to convey powerful messages. I truly hope this album propels them to fame; their voice is a necessity in these unprecedented times where fascism grows everyday that passes!
-Raphael

MetalBite's Rating: 9/10

Thank you for checking these lists out! Catch up on what’s what in 2025 by going through our past AOTM columns below:

May 2025
April 2025
March 2025
February 2025
January 2025

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Welcome back to MetalBite's Top 10 Albums of the Month! Last push before the holiday slowdown but still lots of time to drastically alter your album of the year list based on some unbelievably good, game-changer kind of album that came out of nowhere. Let's see if we've got any of those that came out in October! (spoiler: we definitely do)

-Nate

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Sorcerer - Reign Of The Reaper
Metal Blade Records

The fourth album from this well-regarded Swedish epic doom group has a lot more of what the last release was missing, in case you lost the plot back in 2020.
Full review by Michael here

Sepulchral Curse - Abhorrent Dimensions
Transcending Obscurity

If the phrase "Finnish death metal" makes your heart skip a beat you've already pre-ordered this, but even if you think that scene lacks distinct and varied bands (a valid complaint once you get past the occasional outlier like Demilich), this should still grab your attention. It's hard to describe exactly why this has more staying power than half of Dark Descent's roster, perhaps more the production of several little things coming together as opposed to one big factor. The production on this is excellent, which helps - it's clean yet crunchy, highlighting the strengths of the riffing and grooves. Although this doesn't blend genres or throw in any unusual influences, each riff has an identity of its own and you can really tell this group has been nitpicky and selective when refining their craft.

Abhorrent Dimensions reminds me a lot of Desolate Shrine if they capitalized on their potential. That group always has a massive and larger than life sound that feels like it should have less build and more release, whereas Sepulchral Curse use potent, crushing catharses to punctuate their songs frequently - often multiple times per track - and it makes for a more digestible and memorable listen at the end of the day.
-Nate

MoshPit - Mogu (EP)
Independent

Serbia's new coming crossover thrash/hardcore punk band MoshPit Mošorin has introduced themselves with a self-released debut EP Mogu on October 4th, and in just a couple of days later they had their first gig on the Zlo Fest festival in SKCNS Fabrika. Their gig certainly did their EP justice, and they successfully proved that they're capable of composing and performing catchy and entertaining songs with themes of social issues. Although this EP shows that band has potential, hopefully their full-length album will turn out an even bigger banger that will make punks and thrashers mosh. MoshPit? MOGU!
-Vlad

Autopsy - Ashes, Organs, Blood And Crypts
Peaceville Records

More of the same from the masters - sickly, putrid death metal where the stench seems to fill your nostrils long after the album starts playing.
Full review by Michael here

Smokecastle - Stardust (EP)
Independent

Another new coming band which appeared out of nowhere in the Serbian metal scene is Smokecastle from Belgrade, which dabbles in very occult doom/stoner/sludge metal. They self-released their debut EP Stardust on October 17th, and the output is nothing short of amazing. The songs are rich with incredibly dark, suspenseful and atmospheric riffs with a Lovecraftian and esoteric vibes, which is definitely blessed with some kind of magic. If you are into doom, stoner and sludge metal, you should probably check this one because it might be perfect for you.
-Vlad

Comaniac - None For All
Metalworld

Traditional American thrash meets technical influence to create a thoroughly interesting listen.
Full review by Michael here

Tower Hill - Deathstalker
No Remorse Records

Canadian heavy metal band Tower Hill have come out with their debut full-length album, released on October 27th via No Remorse Records, providing plenty of awesome bangers with plenty of catchiness and stylistic consistency. Although the songs aren't exceptional or memorable, they are still quite enjoyable and definitely a worthy listen by all means. There have been a lot of NWOTHM bands with themes of war, mythology and fantasy, and Tower Hill fits with the rest like a glove. If you are a fellow heavy metal fan thirsting for sword and sorcery, look no further than Tower Hill's Deathstalker.
-Vlad

Body Void - Atrocity Machine
Prosthetic Records

Nightmarish, cacophonous and genuinely unsettling - it's hard for bands to hit all of these qualities while still remaining somewhat musical, but Body Void has this uncanny knack for beating you senseless with noise only to leave you begging for more.
-Nate

Stortregn - Finitude
The Artisan Era

Perhaps one of my most anticipated album of this year - the previous album, Impermanence, is a 5-star riff buffet with all the bells and whistles, garnishes - this band is everything I want a technical melodic death metal band to be, with the tasteful restraint of Omnivortex, the melodic runs of Inferi and nods to the larger-than-life song structures of Fallujah and Rivers of Nihil.

This feels like their speediest and most technical effort yet, but it comes at the expense of the elegance and majesty of the previous album that made it a top 5 album of the year for 2021. Maybe they felt like they had to keep up with all the ridiculously talented bands on this label? It's still the same band I fell in love with and they did pivot to focus on a style I do like, but it feels like they're trying to do too much and jumping into new ideas too fast, and in the process, losing their identity. I still very much want you to get into this band, but with the caveat that I'd suggest you check out their earlier works first.
-Nate

Endseeker - Global Worming
Metal Blade Records

Tried and true HM-2 worship like always, but there's an extra groovy edge to this particular album that makes it especially worth your time.
Full review by Michael here

Heretoir - Nightsphere
Northern Silence Productions

I've always maintained that Germany is one of the most fertile region for metal scenes, and it's consistent no matter the style. You name a subgenre of metal and you can always find a German band that is a strong representation of it, if not one of the best bands from the style. That is very much true for Heretoir, one of the longest-runnning post-black metal bands who have never quite been the most prominent or popular band in the style - perhaps because this is only their third full-length since 2006 - but each of their releases is a great listen that manages to simultaneously venture down the style's most uplifting and harrowing avenues.
-Nate

Eradikated - Descendants
Indie Recordings

Eradikated is a new Swedish band coming at you fast and furious. They play an interesting mixture between old Slayer and newer thrash they created with Descendants a very interesting and entertaining album. They're versatile and they make 42 minutes go by very quick.. They have the fast chugging, some aggressive hardcore touches, and it's fair to say that if Slayer was in their prime today they'd probably sound something like this.. This is pretty good stuff for a debut album and this group has great potential to make themselves a name in the scene.
-Michael

Doro - Conqueress - Forever Strong And Proud
Nuclear Blast

Doro has always been an excellent vocalist with enduring passion and love for heavy metal music, and her latest output is no exception. Her fourteenth full-length album Conqueress - Forever Strong And Proud, released on October 29th via Nuclear Blast, provides a pocketful of awesome songs with lots of amazing ideas from riffs, solos and even guest vocal appearances from Rob Halford on two tracks. Doro is still worthy of her Metal Queen status, and just like her new album, she remains Forever Strong and Proud.
-Vlad

Praznina - Čovek Koji Nije
Independent

Serbian one-man black metal project Praznina had quite the journey with the previous EP's Podsvesno Mrtav and Nedostižni Zenit, but once October 28th came, the band self-released its first full-length album Čovek Koji Nije, which is a brilliant expansion to his previous works in terms of excellent songwriting and musical expression. Even though it seems like a typical Mgla black metal type band to many people, the songs of Praznina have much more esoteric vibes with its own unique philosophy of personal nature. If you are fans of bands such as Mgla, Uada, Groza, Gaerea and others, consider taking your time to check out Praznina's first full-length album. Hopefully we won't wait long for this album to receive a physical release from the label Hammer of Damnation.
-Vlad

Sorry... - Self Inflicted Razor Cutting
Tragedy Productions

One of the most consistent DSBM pieces this year and in the band's history, Self Inflicted Razor Cutting sure leaves a cutting on the listener's heart with the sharp razor of its hopeless flow. Feelings of melancholy, helplessness and frailty remain persistent throughout the album just like the band's experiments like Void's uneven vocal techniques and a new bassist's work offering some memorable passages. Yet another solid release for lonely evenings and uncertain days.
-TheOneNeverSeen

Diabolic Night - Beneath The Crimson Prophecy
High Roller Records

Continuing where they left off with Beyond The Realm, Christhunter and Heavy Steeler deliver some old-school black-thrash in the vein of Cruel Force, old Sodom, Kreator or Destruction. They bring their own flair to it via a pairing with atmospheric keyboards and some more "medieval" flair in 'Starlit Skies' (a huge homage to German legends Desaster). The guitars and the drums retain that nostalgic 80s vibe all the while. Although it took me several listens to get into the album, I have eventually come to declare this a worthy piece of Teutonic Steel!
-Michael

Heavy Load - Riders Of The Ancient Storm
No Remorse Records

The founding fathers of Swedish heavy metal, better known as Heavy Load, have returned 40 years since their previous album Stronger Than Evil. Their fourth album Riders Of The Ancient Storm was released on October 9th via No Remorse Records, and on that day onwards, fans of oldschool heavy metal have been blessed with all the might and glory. There are so many great songs on this album, the best examples being 'Ride The Night', 'Angel Dark', 'Walhalla Warriors' and 'Raven Is Calling'. This album marks a triumphant return to form for a veteran heavy metal band, just as it was with Cirith Ungol's Forever Black in 2020.
-Vlad

Mortuary Drape - Black Mirror
Peaceville Records

Italy has had a significant number of everlasting wicked and macabre bands like Necrodeath, Bulldozer and Schizo, and Mortuary Drape is no exception. Three days before All Hallow's Eve, they released their sixth full-length album Black Mirror via Peaceville Records, continuing their unholy tradition of black magic, necromancy and occultism that has been the quintessential DNA of their music for decades. The songs are quite nocturnal and macabre, as you would expect from a band such as Mortuary Drape, and at no given moment did the band drop their ball on this new album, not by a longshot. There have been so many great black metal releases of this year, and Black Mirror is no exception. Definitely one of the best and perhaps one of the most wicked black metal albums that have come out this year.
-Vlad

METALBITE'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH

10: Afterbirth - In But Not Of
Willowtip Records

It starts out much like a typical Afterbirth album (if that is even something that can truly be claimed), but at around the seventh track it takes a turn into something a little more sludgy, proggy, and restrained, that retains some of the tendencies and characteristics of the first half of the album. It's sort of reminiscent of Defeated Sanity's self-split, where the two parts of the album have their own flavour but still sound like the same band. It almost sounds like Afterbirth parroted some Artificial Brain motifs - Angels Feast on Flies kind of gives me that impression.

It was a clever choice by the band to front-load the album with the brutal death styled-stuff, because this gives new fans a ton to enjoy while offering a really compelling and unique exploration into new realms - all in just 35 minutes!
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

9: Wayfarer - American Gothic
Century Media Records

Ameircan Gothic strikes a nice mixture between traditional black metal, Americana music and some more ambient tunes. Wayfarer creates a dense, oppressive atmosphere that allows the listener to dive into some wild west imagery, breathing in the dusty air of the prairies. They set the vibe with their distinct spaghetti Western riffing (except in the purest black metal song 'Black Plumes Over God's Country') and will get the attention of more open-minded fans looking for something different. but they always find a smart way to build in their harsh, tremolo-peppered black metal. American Gothic is another highlight for this already notorious Colorado group.
-Michael

MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10

8: Crystal Coffin - The Curse Of Immortality
Independent

The Starway Eternal, the previous album by this BC-based power trio, was on heavy rotation for me and placed in my personal AOTY list, so I eagerly awaited their next release. Crystal Coffin has a style that's simple yet effective - long stretches of steady midpaced riffing with futuristic, cosmic flousihes in the soloing and keyboards. The lyrical concept provides an additional distinct element, and the band has a knack for getting the most out of a few sparse elements, holding your attention by locking you into a groove and then adding frills and subtleties to string you along. This album doesn't have the same immediate punch to the riffs that some of the song on The Starway Eternal did, but it's a richer and more satisfying "full album experience". You really feel the ebb and flow of the story while each track builds to something even greater.
-Nate

MetalBite's Rating: 8.6/10

7: Laster - Andermans Mijne
Prophecy Productions