Best of Extreme Metal 2025

Accurately assigning genres and styles seems impossible for many of these bands, so don't trust my attributions. I chose 29 albums that fall somewhat within these categories:
  • Death Metal / Blackened Death
  • Black Metal - Chaos / Dissonant / Avant-garde
  • Black Metal - Classic / Atmospheric / Other
  • Doom / Sludge / Grindcore
  • The Unidentifiable Rest
Then again, it's probably better for the reader to just roll the dice.

Death Metal / Blackened Death

Band Album Style & Notes
Ancient Death Ego Dissolution Progressive / technical death metal.
Maybe the most technical death metal on the list. Impressive proggy parts; plus the cover looks like a reinterpretation of Obituary's "Cause of Death" with more Lovecraft.
Filth Time To Rot Old-school death metal.
Primitive and unforgiving with a few uplifting moments. One of the albums I've returned to surprisingly often in recent months. Brain rot?
Floating Hesitating Lights Progressive death metal, drifts into darker post-punk.
At first, I was a bit skeptical, but now I appreciate the style. Take "The Waking", for example: strong on the riff and proggy elements, and then it switches, to something like a more depressing Cure song–and then partly back again. Neat!
Sallow Moth Mossbane Lantern Progressive / technical / brutal death metal, some sci-fi oddness.
Technical and surprisingly playful genre variations, with something to discover everywhere, even in the quieter corners. A release I enjoyed very much; plus it has these grunting vocals coming deep from the bowels...

Black Metal - Chaos / Dissonant / Avant-garde

Band Album Style & Notes
Blut Aus Nord Ethereal Horizons Progressive / experimental black metal.
Has more of a cosmic feel and is more symphonic than some of Blut Aus Nord's more psychedelic releases from previous years. Probably not my favorite of theirs, but as with all their releases, it's still better than just about anything else.
Death Obvious Death Obvious Avant-garde death / black / doom metal.
Something new from... Finland! As is customary with those proud Northerners, it's pretty demented and insane stuff. The madness of "Total Heavenly Desolation" had a tight grip on me.
Esoctrilihum Ghostigmatah - Spiritual Rites Of The Psychopomp Abxulöm Mystical avant-garde black metal
Yey, another one of my favorites of last year. Complex black/death amalgam. At times, it reaches very weird symphonic heights - yet, it doesn't fail to suck you back into some nightmarish netherworld.
Grey Aura Zwart Vierkant: Slotstuk Avant-garde black metal
Sadly missed out them when I was at Roadburn this year. Chaotic & abrasive; to me, they also have a similar vibe to Dødheimsgard's crazier phases–nothing but the highest compliment, of course.
Imperial Triumphant Goldstar Avant-garde / experimental / jazz metal.
The well-known Art Deco virtuosos from New York with their version of Metropolis, I guess. Freewheeling, highly unpredictable stuff. As usual, overwhelming; don't be put off by the self-indulgent style. The reward is a properly challenging listen.
QRIXKUOR The Womb Of The World Experimental / symphonic black metal.
The disordered madness and far-off echoing sound evoke a pretty hellish atmosphere. Well. done.
Smiqra Rɡyaɡ̇dźé! Avant-garde / jazz (black) metal.
Mathcore chaos from China. It's probably not really black metal; it has more of a free jazz feel to it. And it's definitely absolutely insane.
Teitanblood From The Visceral Abyss Chaotic black / war metal.
A demanding, chaotic firestorm; vocals from the depths of hell. I enjoyed the buildup of "Sepulchral Carrion God". Good stuff.
Veilburner Longing For Triumph, Reeking Of Tragedy Progressive / avant-garde black metal.
A very weird one indeed. Starting with its cover... Labyrinthine stuff. At best (take "That Which Crypts Howls Grandeur"), I was reminded of the some of the greatest aggressive experimental works of recent years, such as Morkera, the disorienting qualities of Thantifaxath, and sometimes of the crazier parts of Dødheimsgard. In any case, it grew on me; probably one of the best releases of last year.

Black Metal - Classic / Atmospheric / Other

Band Album Style & Notes
Abduction Existentialismus Black metal.
Perhaps the straightest black metal record on the list; maybe more expressive and dramatic in tone though. Sometimes almost too epic in style for me, but still intense overall; the cover reminds me eerily of Meshuggah's Obzen.
Fauna Ochre & Ash Ritualistic atmospheric black metal, some ambient, some funeral doom.
Nice and versatile for one of the "ancient ritual sacrifice" bands. Dares to have long dark ambient passages with animal sounds. The dogs in "Mockers" made me think back (in terror) to Psychic TV's "Sugarmorphoses".
Lazer Throne Tomb Of The Lunar Oracle Atmospheric black metal.
Nice every once in a while to have cosmic black metal lead me with long ambient passages into the void and then fire off some Darkspace-like staccato thunderstorms. This one does the trick.
Patristic Catechesis Atmospheric death / black metal.
So fast and energetic at times that it feels like it might topple over.
Starer Ancient Monuments And Modern Sadness Symphonic / atmospheric black metal.
The music's soaring quality would usually turn me off because of its epic-sounding pathos. In this case, however, I found myself quite captivated as the performance often seemed on the verge of spiraling out of control.
Terzij de Horde Our Breath Is Not Ours Alone Black metal, (post-)hardcore-inflected.
Another band that I came to miss at Roadburn, and later found to be quite nice. "The Shadows of Prefiguration" is a great example of blending punk-influenced black metal with slow, heavy riffs.
Tombs Feral Darkness Atmospheric black metal, some hardcore around the edge.
Very dark. The vocals have a haunting quality, as indeed coming out of some crypt.
Volahn Popol Vuh Atmospheric black metal.
Great release from this California black metal band with a lot of mystical overtones. Very fast, yet still somewhat melodic. I've listened especially to the excellent outro track a lot of times by now. It reminds me of everything that's great about the more classic double bass drum blasting.
Yellow Eyes Confusion Gate Atmospheric black metal with ambient / folk / industrial textures.
Excellent release of an excellent band–one that I was lucky to see three times this year at Roadburn. Very gripping blending of genres. I even like the Wicker-Man-in-the-distance folk aura I get from the cover.

Doom / Sludge / Grindcore

Band Album Style & Notes
Haggus Destination Extinction Grindcore / mincecore / death metal.
Sound directly out of the meat grinder. Here and there, there's also a death metal guitar solo. Overall, pretty demented stuff. Kudos!
Morast Fentanyl Death / doom metal.
Very dark, raw, and bleak. Remember, "there is always an option." I don't think there is with this one.
Weeping Sores The Convalescence Agonies Death / doom metal.
Slow, agonizing doom that sometimes turns into fierce death metal and other times just dissolves into seemingly nothing. Nice, captivating riffs (take "Empty Vessel Hymn").

The Unidentifiable Rest

Band Album Style & Notes
CKRAFT Uncommon Grounds Jazz-fusion / progressive metal.
Very playful, perhaps the most jazzy-feeling record on this list. Sometimes it almost felt like an instrumental version of some sailor's shanty ("Misconstruction Of The Universe"), and at other times, it was disorienting prog.
Neptunian Maximalism Le Sacre Du Soleil Invaincu Avant-garde drone / free jazz / doom-adjacent.
Excellent dark, experimental genre blend with the ghosts of Indian ragas echoing in some far away background. It also made me think of Dark Buddha Rising joining some oriental brass sect.
rýr dislodged Atmospheric post-metal.
Great post-metal from friends in Berlin, walking in the massive footprints of "Omega Massif" and company. Probably, the most captivating release of theirs so far, from the cover design to the final notes of "foiled".
Tesa Interval Instrumental / experimental post-metal.
Terrific band from Riga that I came to see at a great gig in Berlin. Some very noisy segments with some wall of sound washing over you.