Here are 20 metal albums that stood out to us in different ways and kept us coming back. This list is, of course, just a snapshot of the music that crossed our paths this year and reflects our own tastes. If you have favorites of your own, feel free to share them in the comments.
With that, on to the albums. Hope you find something new to love here.
[1–10, in no particular order]
DEAFHEAVEN – LONELY PEOPLE WITH POWER
Quick Take: It’s not hard to imagine this earning cult status in the years to come. Blistering black-metal momentum collides with aching atmosphere, making it one of Deafheaven’s most gripping releases to date.
| From: San Francisco, California, United States RIYL/FFO: Post-Black Metal, Blackgaze, Black Metal Mood/Sound: Atmospheric, Heavy, Cathartic Standout Tracks: “Winona,” “Amethyst,” “Doberman,” “The Marvelous Orange Tree” |
Listen: Spotify
Playlist Companion: Post-Black Metal & Blackgaze
CULT BURIAL – COLLAPSE OF PATTERN, REVERENCE OF DUST
Quick Take: Collapse of Pattern, Reverence of Dust takes Cult Burial’s black/death/doom blend and pushes it into truly hostile territory, all jagged riffs and crashing drums wrapped in thick, oppressive atmosphere. An essential listen if you want your extremity genuinely unsettling.
| From: London, United Kingdom RIYL/FFO: Blackened Death Metal, Death-Doom Mood/Sound: Harsh, Dissonant, Dark Standout Tracks: “Collapse,” “Vincula,” “Aether,” “Mire” |
BLUT AUS NORD – ETHEREAL HORIZONS
Quick Take: Black metal beamed in from orbit: bright, layered guitars constantly folding over themselves, steady, heartbeat-like drums, and a cool, cosmic glow hanging over every track. Wild to hear something this close to a masterpiece from a band three decades deep.
| From: Mondeville, Normandie, France RIYL/FFO: Atmospheric Black Metal, Melodic Black Metal, Post-Black Metal Mood/Sound: Atmospheric, Heavy, Cosmic, Transcendent Standout Tracks: “Shadows Breathe First,” “The Fall Opens The Sky,” “The End Becomes Grace” |
Listen: Spotify | Bandcamp
Playlist Companions: Atmospheric Black Metal | Post-Black Metal & Blackgaze
DECLINE OF THE I – WILHELM
Quick Take: Equal parts visceral and thought-provoking, Wilhelm is another stellar release from the vibrant French metal scene. The album stitches together blast-driven surges, symphonic swells, electronic flickers, and fractured spoken passages into one suffocating mass.
| From: Paris, France RIYL/FFO: Black Metal, Post-Black Metal, Avant-Garde Metal Mood/Sound: Dense, Heavy, Dissonant, Eclectic Standout Tracks: “L’ Alliance Des Rats,” “Entwined Conondrum” |
Listen: Spotify | Bandcamp
Playlist Companion: Post-Black Metal & Blackgaze
THE CALLOUS DAOBOYS – I DON’T WANT TO SEE YOU IN HEAVEN
Quick Take: Pure overstimulation in album form: mathcore chaos, metalcore heft, pop-bright hooks, and constant left turns packed into one record. It’s wild and funny, the kind of album you replay just to catch what slipped by on the first pass.
| From: Atlanta, Georgia, United States RIYL/FFO: Mathcore, Metalcore, Avant-Garde Metal Mood/Sound: Complex, Quirky, Energetic, Chaotic, Eclectic Standout Tracks: “Full Moon Guidance,” “Schizophrenia Legacy,” “Distracted By The Mona Lisa,” “III. Country Song in Reverse” |
Listen: Spotify | Bandcamp
Playlist Companion: Chaotic Hardcore & Mathcore
THIS GIFT IS A CURSE – HEIR
Quick Take: Mixing blackened death, sludge, and hardcore into one choking cloud of noise, Heir is an absolute gem from the more unhinged corners of metal.
| From: Stockholm, Sweden RIYL/FFO: Blackened Hardcore, Blackened Death Metal, Sludgecore Mood/Sound: Intense, Crushing, Blistering Standout Tracks: “Ascension,” “No Sun, Nor Moon,” “Void Bringer,” “Kingdom” |
Listen: Spotify | Bandcamp
Playlist Companion: Blackened Hardcore, Sludgecore & Crust
AN ABSTRACT ILLUSION – THE SLEEPING CITY
Quick Take: An ambitious, emotionally charged prog-death album that actually lives up to its big concept. The Sleeping City takes a progressive death/black metal core and wraps it in luminous ’80s sci-fi synths, shimmering keys, and airy strings, turning each track into its own little film.
| From: Luleå, Sweden RIYL/FFO: Progressive Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Neo-Prog Mood/Sound: Hazy, Atmospheric, Eclectic Standout Tracks: “Like A Geyser Ever Erupting,” “Blackmurmur,” “Emmett” |
Listen: Spotify | Bandcamp
Playlist Companion: Progressive Metal [w/ heavy atmospherics]
KARDASHEV – ALUNEA
Quick Take: Another stunning release from the pioneers of deathgaze. All at once you get crushing low-end, intricate prog runs, and genuinely gorgeous, floaty passages.
| From: Tempe, Arizona, United States RIYL/FFO: Deathgaze, Progressive Death Metal, Post-metal Mood/Sound: Atmospheric, Heavy, Cathartic, Expansive Standout Tracks: “Reunion,” “Seed Of The Night,” “Speak Silence,” “Edge Of Forever” |
Listen: Spotify | Bandcamp
Playlist Companion: Post-Death Metal & Deathgaze
RIVERS OF NIHIL – RIVERS OF NIHIL
Quick Take: Rivers of Nihil feels like a tight showcase of everything the band does best: proggy twists, death metal intensity, and those sensual sax flourishes that instantly set them apart, all framed by a thicker, moodier atmosphere than before.
| From: Reading, Pennsylvania, United States RIYL/FFO: Progressive Metal, Death Metal Mood/Sound: Heavy, Melodic, Technical Standout Tracks: “House Of Light,” “Evidence,” “The Logical End,” “The Sub-Orbital Blues” |
Listen: Spotify | Bandcamp
Playlist Companions: Progressive Metal [w/ heavy atmospherics] | Metal with Saxophone
SHADOW OF INTENT – IMPERIUM DELIRIUM
Quick Take: Imperium Delirium is Shadow of Intent in full war-machine mode: huge, cinematic deathcore with techy riffing and melodeath leads set against towering symphonic backdrops. Brutal and theatrical in all the right ways.
| From: West Hartford, Connecticut, United States RIYL/FFO: Deathcore, Melodic Death Metal, Symphonic Metal Mood/Sound: Dense, Technical, Brutal Standout Tracks: “Infinity Of Horrors,” “Prepare To Die,” “The Facets Of Propaganda,” “No Matter The Cost” |
Listen: Spotify | Bandcamp
Playlist Companions: Deathcore & Heavy Metalcore | Melodic / Technical Death Metal
[11–20, in no particular order]
VILDHJARTA – + DÄR SKOGEN SJUNGER UNDER EVIGHETENS GRANAR +
Quick Take: Slow builds. Sudden drops. Riffs that feel like they’re collapsing in on themselves. This album thrives on discomfort, rewarding listeners who are willing to sit with its weight instead of expecting constant payoff.
| From: Hudiksvall, Sweden RIYL/FFO: Progressive Metal, Thall Mood/Sound: Angular, Dissonant, Punchy Standout Tracks: “+ Sargasso +,” “Kristallfågel +,” “ + Den Spanska Känslan +” |
Listen: Spotify | Bandcamp
Playlist Companion: Progressive Metal [w/ heavy atmospherics]
AUTREST – BURNING EMBERS, FORGOTTEN WOLVES
Quick Take: Remarkable nature-steeped atmospheric black metal with a real emotional core. Drifting between misty melodies, harsher storms, and reflective acoustic/ambient passages, Burning Embers, Forgotten Wolves feels less like a “project” and more like one long walk through memory, grief, and wild places.
| From: Parobé, Brazil RIYL/FFO: Atmospheric Black Metal, Folk Metal, Post-Black Metal Mood/Sound: Dense, Atmospheric Standout Tracks: “Forgotten Wolves,” “Ruins Of The Lost,” “ Resonance” |
Listen: Spotify | Bandcamp
Playlist Companions: Atmospheric Black Metal | Post-Black Metal & Blackgaze
FRAYLE – HERETICS & LULLABIES
Quick Take: A beautifully eerie, mood-first release, with thick, sludgy heaviness sitting beneath the soft, ghostly vocals of Gwyn Strang.
| From: Cleveland, Ohio, United States RIYL/FFO: Gothic Metal, Doomgaze, Sludge Metal Mood/Sound: Atmospheric, Haunting, Shadowy Standout Tracks: “Souvenirs Of Your Betrayal,” “Boo,” “Glass Blown Heart” |
Listen: Spotify | Bandcamp
Playlist Companions: Doomgaze | Atmospheric Metal [Doom, Drone, Sludge, Post]
CONJURER – UNSELF
Quick Take: This is Conjurer at their most direct and personal. From suffocating slow-burn passages to sudden, towering climaxes, Unself delivers an emotionally raw gut-punch that should resonate with anyone on the atmospheric end of doom, sludge, or post-metal.
| From: Rugby, United Kingdom RIYL/FFO: Atmospheric Sludge Metal, Post-metal, Blackened Hardcore Mood/Sound: Atmospheric, Heavy, Cathartic Standout Tracks: “All Apart,” “Hang Them In Your Head,” “Let Us Live” |
Listen: Spotify | Bandcamp
Playlist Companions: Post-Metal Essentials | Atmospheric Metal [Doom, Drone, Sludge, Post]
UNPROCESSED – ANGEL
Quick Take: Juggling prog technicality, big pop-minded hooks, and metalcore bite, this is slick modern metal that’s as impressive in the details as it is immediate on first listen. Plus, the bass work is absurdly good.
| From: Wiesbaden, Germany RIYL/FFO: Metalcore, Progressive Metal Mood/Sound: Rhythmic, Energetic, Heavy Standout Tracks: “111,” “Solara,” “Dark, Silent And Complete” |
Listen: Spotify | Bandcamp
Playlist Companions: Progressive Metal [w/ heavy atmospherics] | Metalcore & Metallic Post-Hardcore
IN MOURNING – THE IMMORTAL
Quick Take: One of those rare albums where you can nod along to the riffs and still get a little wrecked by the mood. Across nine tracks, The Immortal threads together driving melodeath, darker progressive turns, and a steady undercurrent of melancholy that gives songs like “Silver Crescent,” “Song of the Cranes,” and “As Long as the Twilight Stays” real staying power.
| From: Falun, Dalarnas län, Sweden RIYL/FFO: Melodic Death Metal, Progressive Metal Mood/Sound: Atmospheric, Dynamic, Melancholic Standout Tracks: “As Long As The Twilight Stays,” “Song Of The Cranes,” “Silver Crescent,” “Staghorn” |
Listen: Spotify | Bandcamp
Playlist Companion: Melodic / Technical Death Metal
PRIMITIVE MAN – OBSERVANCE
Quick Take: Blown-out distortion, feedback that hangs like smoke, and vocals that sound like they’re coming from the bottom of a well, all funneled into one tar-thick, slow-motion collapse. Exactly what you want from this band.
| From: Denver, Colorado, United States RIYL/FFO: Blackened Doom Metal, Sludge Metal Mood/Sound: Gritty, Dark, Bleak, Ominous Standout Tracks: “Transactional,” “Natural Law,” “Water” |
Listen: Spotify | Bandcamp
Playlist Companion: Blackened Doom & Sludge Metal
HERETOIR – SOLASTALGIA
Quick Take: Solastalgia leans into the “sad but soaring” side of post-black: wistful and melodic lines blooming into towering crescendos, with harsh vocals and heavier passages keeping it from ever sliding into pure comfort. It’s gorgeous, heartfelt stuff that lingers longer than most.
| From: Augsburg, Germany RIYL/FFO: Post-Black Metal, Blackgaze, Post-Metal Mood/Sound: Atmospheric, Heavy, Melodic Standout Tracks: “The Ashen Falls,” “Season Of Grief,” “Solastalgia,” “Burial” |
Listen: Spotify | Bandcamp
Playlist Companions: Post-Black Metal & Blackgaze | Post-Metal Essentials
YELLOW EYES – CONFUSION GATE
Quick Take: Eclectic, top-tier black metal. The production is all grit and dust, but underneath that, a tangle of restless, skittering riffs keeps everything feeling alive and haunted.
| From: New York, United States RIYL/FFO: Black Metal Mood/Sound: Heavy, Gritty, Dissonant, Mysterious Standout Tracks: “The Thought Of Death,” “I Fear The Master’s Murmur,” “Suspension Moon” |
Listen: Spotify | Bandcamp
Playlist Companion: Atmospheric Black Metal
BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME – THE BLUE NOWHERE
Quick Take: Riffs that knot and unknot, drums constantly shifting the ground under you, bass and keys filling in bright, strange colors around the edges: The Blue Nowhere is pure maximalist prog-metal in the best sense.
| From: North Carolina, United States RIYL/FFO: Progressive Rock, Mathcore, Avant-Garde Metal Mood/Sound: Complex, Quirky, Energetic, Eclectic Standout Tracks: “God Terror,” “Psychomanteum,” “Slow Paranoia” |
Listen: Spotify | Bandcamp
Playlist Companion: Chaotic Hardcore & Mathcore
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