AOTY 2025 (Part Three)
Honorable Mentions (The "Full-Lengths" Edition)
I previously wanted to write a bit highlighting some of the Southern California bands churning out strong releases this year; but the greater part of them were listed on the “EPs, Demos, & Splits,” already. (Save a few that I will likely mention in their own piece, along with some to follow in the remainder these lists.)
As much as I wanted to condense my list down to a favorable top 10, I felt that not mentioning a chunk of releases was bordering on criminal. So because there’s no rules to this, we’re going with an honorable 20, and an top 20 to follow.
Abmut, ‘Sempiternal Realm of Solitary Spirits”
Consumed by the Flames Productions
Black Metal (Chile)
Bidirna Dhamani, “Ojash”
Independent
Black/Death Metal (India)
Black Witchcraft, “Stare Into the Blackest Depths of Hell”
Under the Sign of Garazel Productions
Black Metal (Poland)
Cénotaphe, “Chimères”
Ancien Culte
Black Metal (France)
Destruction Ritual, “Providence”
Norma Evangelium Diaboli
Black Metal (France)
Effroi, “Eerie Passage”
Amor Fati Productions
Black Metal (Belgium)
Grole, “Come Here at Your Peril”
Tour De Garde
Black Metal (Canada)
Hell & Mizmor, “Alluvion”
Gilead Media
Sludge/Doom Metal (US)
Kaevum, “Ultra”
Darker Than Black Records
Black Metal (Norway)
Kêres, “Skryer of the Lighthouse”
Final Agony Records
Black Metal (Finland)
Kommodus, “A Foetal Wolf in Stained Glass”
Independent
Raw Black Metal (Australia)
Kūka’ilimoku, “Creation Chant”
GoatowaRex
Raw Black Metal/Punk (US)
Kveldstimer, “The Cursed Oak”
Independent
Black Metal (US)
Kyrkogård, “Fatal Empathy”
Independent
Black Doom Metal (US)
Naked Whipper, “Chapel Defilement”
Iron Bonehead Productions
Black Metal/Grindcore (Germany)
Sodality, “Benediction, Part II”
Norma Evangelium Diaboli
Black Metal (Poland)
Spellgate, “Spellgate”
Independent
Atmospheric Black Metal (Finland)
Teitanblood, “From the Visceral Abyss”
Norma Evangelium Diaboli
Black/Death Metal (Spain)
Vespéral, “La mort de l’âme”
Independent
Black Metal (Canada)
Черновство (Black Witchcraft), “Единство (Unity)”
Frozen Visions
Black Metal Ambient (Russia)