Fantastic list with lots of stuff I also loved and some key things I missed that I want to check out.

Wonderbox Metal End of Year List – Best Metal of 2025 wp.me/p3zRmN-hJh It's time to find out what the best #metal albums of 2025 were. Find something new to adore! #blackmetal #doom #deathmetal #postmetal #grindcore #metalsky

Dimholt – Metaform (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hJ3 A very enjoyable and satisfying slice of well-crafted black #metal. Highly recommended for fans of the style #blackmetal #metalsky

Martröð – Draumsýnir Eldsins (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hIT A raging thunderstorm, punctuated by moments of tense calm and corrupt beauty. It’s an album of maddening complexity and slithering insidious darkness #metal #blackmetal #metalsky

Rotten Sound – Mass Extinction (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hIx If high quality, readily enjoyable #grindcore mayhem is your thing, then this is for you. Essential listening. What’s not to like? GRRIIIIINNNDDDDDDDDDDD! #grind #metal #metalsky

Argus Megere – Cerburea Apusului (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hHU If you have a taste for multifaceted, progressive/folk-influenced atmospheric black #metal, then this must surely be high on the agenda for you #blackmetal #metalsky

Jours Pâles – Résonances (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hIo The guiding artist behind Jours Pâles has managed to imbue this music with a spirit all of its own, and I can’t help fall for Jours Pâles anew every time I hear something new from the band #metal #blackmetal #metalsky

Vin de Mia Trix – This Landscape Is Alive (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hHJ An exceptional album of #doom #metal worldbuilding #metalsky

Enthroned – Ashspawn (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hIJ A new, high quality, very enjoyable slice of blackened darkness from Enthroned #metal #blackmetal #metalsky

Doubtsower – The Past Melts Away with a Sneer (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hHC This is a superlative work of underground #doom #metal. For connoisseurs of the style, this is an utterly essential listen #metalsky

Flowers of Rust – Crude Exhibitions of the Soul (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hIb If you like your #blackgaze raw and violent, yet to still shine with jagged lustre, then Crude Exhibitions of the Soul is for you #metal #postblackmetal #metalsky

Phobocosm – Gateway (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hI3 This is death #metal as an otherworldly invasion force #deathmetal #metalsky

Blut Aus Nord – Ethereal Horizons (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hHi The songs offer up a hallucinatory experience, a psychedelic journey into otherworldly landscapes and vast, spacious blackened dreamscapes #metal #blackmetal #metalsky

All Seeing Eyes – We Are the Revolution (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hGv We Are the Revolution scratches a very specific itch that’s hard to reach. I mean, what’s not to like? Songs, character, charisma, personality? All Seeing Eyes deliver the goods #metal #powermetal #progressivemetal #metalsky

Voidceremony – Abditum (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hHr Voidceremony have presented us with a surprisingly captivating and compelling version of their death #metal insanity. It’s tech death, recognisably so, but manages to do its own thing within this crowded style #deathmetal #techdeath #metalsky

Old Night – Mediterranean Melancholy (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hH5 The well-crafted songs are vibrantly melancholic, existing as three-dimensional exemplars of #doom #metal majesty #metalsky

Civil Service – Dark /// (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hGU A warm and welcoming post-rock style that is absolutely of the genre, yet is also simply better than the output of the average post-rock act #rock #postrock #metalsky

Depravity – Bestial Possession (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hDV As far as death #metal goes, I love Depravity’s commitment to savage intensity and blasting fury, but I’m also pleased that they still find time amidst the carnage to inject their music with meaty substance #deathmetal #metalsky

1914 – Viribus Unitis (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hGD 1914 have continued their upward trend, producing what is quite possibly their best work yet #metal #deathmetal #doom #deathdoom #metalsky

The Hyena Kill – Collapse (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hEW A strong record, especially when it has the time to get under your skin. The songs are well-written and would have been perfectly at home in the 90s, but retain The Hyena Kill’s core personality #rock #shoegaze #alternative #metalsky

Lamp of Murmuur – The Dreaming Prince in Ecstasy (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hEn The icy riffs, symphonic keyboards, and cutthroat screams all conspire to create something greater than the sum of its parts #metal #blackmetal #metalsky

Chairmaker – Leviathan Carcass (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hEN A feast of #grindcore with a side order of absolute destruction. Devastatingly good fun. Assuming you like having your head repeatedly stamped on over and over and over and over again #metal #metalsky

Bell Witch and Aerial Ruin – Stygian Bough Volume II (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hE5 Another excellent record from Bell Witch and Aerial Ruin. If #doom #metal is your thing, and you like your music glacial, atmospheric, emotive, and drawn out, then this is for you #metalsky

Damnation Festival 2025 – BEC Arena, Manchester – 08/11/25-09/11/25 (Live Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hFt This edition is the festival’s twentieth year and sees Damnation bigger and arguably better than ever before #metal #metalsky

Beastwars – The Ship // The Sea (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hCG Beastwars are one of the best in the business, and these new tracks showcase just how much business is booming #metal #sludgemetal #stonermetal #heavymetal #metalsky

Qrixkuor – The Womb of the World (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hDx For fans of black/death underground extremity, this is an essential listen #metal #deathmetal #blackmetal #metalsky

Kostnatění – Přílišnost (Excess) (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hEA An album that’s dense and is sure to be difficult to penetrate for many, but if you have a taste for extreme #metal with a multifaceted personality, then this is for you #blackmetal #industrial #deathmetal #metalsky

Pupil Slicer – Fleshwork (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hDG In this review I’ll make the case that this is peak Pupil Slicer so far #metal #hardcore #metalsky

Yellow Eyes – Confusion Gate (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hEe A remarkable, engrossing piece of work. Yellow Eyes are tenacious in their quest for intimate aggression and spectral darkness #metal #blackmetal #metalsky

Waldgeflüster – Knochengesänge II (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hDf Knochengesänge II reveals a different facet of Waldgeflüster, one that’s a well-crafted, well-rendered album in its own right #metal #blackmetal #doom #folk #metalsky

Waldgeflüster - Knochengesänge (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hCF Aggressive, but textured, with rich layers of expressive strings and melodic colour. The songwriting is strong, and the quality of the material is high throughout #metal #blackmetal #metalsky

Thron – Vurias (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hDW Thron have taken risks in places, but they have paid off handsomely. Vurias offers a lot more than your average, bog standard, run of the mill black #metal album #blackmetal #metalsky

Sunken – Lykke (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hC5 A superlative achievement, an expression of supreme black #metal art. It is powered by an emotional substance that fuels the music to ever greater heights of potency #blackmetal #atmosphericblackmetal #metalsky

Miasmata – Subterrania (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hCQ Subterrania speaks to my love of black #metal, but also of heavy metal thunder. The artist behind Miasmata has created a cracking record in Subterrania #blackmetal #heavymetal #blackenedheavymetal #metalsky

Primitive Man – Observance (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hDo Primitive Man have summoned a predator that swims in the band’s usual polluted waters, but also travels wider, into newly discovered oceans of filth. Observance is devastatingly good #metal #doom #sludge #metalsky

Arallu – DMoon – From the Ancient World (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hBO A contemporary spin on an ancient vision. If you are familiar with the original album at all, then think of this as the definitive, expanded, enhanced version. Less raw, more refined, and severely potent #metal #blackmetal #metalsky

Believe in Nothing – Rot (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hCh In short, Believe in Nothing have crafted a journey into the abyss, a journey worth taking if this sort of nightmare darkness appeals. Delivered with passionate intensity, Rot is very, very good #metal #sludge #doom #metalsky

Black Soul Horde – Symphony of Chaos (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hCz High energy and packed with dynamic songwriting #metal #heavymetal #powermetal #metalsky

Barren Path – Grieving (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hCr This is elite level #grindcore. Grieving is superb #metal #grind #deathgrind #metalsky

Space Witch – Mountains of Neptune (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hBW As soon as Mountains of Neptune starts, with an immense #doom riff, it’s instantly charismatic. You just know this is going to be very, very good #metal #doommetal #metalsky

Afsky – Fællesskab (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hBf Fællesskab has managed to take the quintessential core of Afsky's music and delivered it in fully rendered form across six black #metal songs that are, quite simply, great #blackmetal #metalsky

Irr – Remains Remain (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hAW Irr have their cake and eat it, as they unleash a collection of tracks that pulse with punishing intensity, but never sacrifice their emotive core #metal #blackmetal #metalsky

Dawnwalker – The Between (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hBy The Between is once again Dawnwalker as I love them – bold, expressive, highly emotive, and filled with depth and substance. The Between is an essential listen for anyone into the progressive #rock and #metal styles #metalsky

Scorching Tomb – Ossuary (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hBq It surely can’t be long before we see Scorching Tomb’s name plastered around all over the place, as there are far weaker bands out there with much higher profiles. Until then, stick on Ossuary and get ready to destroy #metal #deathmetal #metalsky

Drofnosura – Ritual of Split Tongues (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hB5 The sound of two planets being picked up and ground together by an uncaring celestial evil #metal #doom #sludge #postmetal #metalsky

Mastiff – For All the Dead Dreams (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hAE Once again, Mastiff deliver the goods and then stomp them flat. For All the Dead Dreams is another satisfying and enjoyable slab of nastiness from Mastiff. Heavy up your day with this brutal treat #metal #hardcore #sludge #metalsky

Conjurer – Unself (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hAn Unself is the most accomplished and advanced collection of songs that Conjurer have given us so far, and that’s saying something given their track record #metal #postmetal #sludgemetal #metalsky

Psychonaut – World Maker (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hAO A album of post-metal resplendence, post-rock beauty, and progressive layers, World Maker is an essential listen for any fan of contemporary heavy music that has scope and breadth of appeal #metal #postmetal #postrock #progressivemetal #metalsky

Check out Eternal Immurement by Irr for your Saturday black/death #metal needs - www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDGe... #blackmetal #deathmetal #metalsky

Dysylumn – Abstraction (Review) wp.me/p3zRmN-hz0 Abstraction has shocked me with its arcane vigour. Dysylumn’s new record is a triumph of blackened emotion, and a record to be savoured over time #metal #blackmetal #metalsky