Life is a wild ride and time has lost all meaning. I was initially planning to wait for physical copies of all my top releases then before I knew it we are in March. So without further preamble here are my top 13 releases of 2025 in no particular order plus a bonus album slightly outside the focus of HarshVocals.com. Narrowing down the list was no easy task as I could have easily written about over 100 different things, not including the stuff I missed/didnt spend much time with, but these have stuck with me the most.
Onyxblade – Quitessense of the Shadowblade
If you are unfamiliar with Torture Palace and the labels output you may have missed this album. Angeldestructiom von Ravenwing of Brereft Raven (who also released a great ep as Traum this year) along with Einherj and Cerberus have released one of the most instantly captivating BM albums I have heard in a long time. A spoken intro gives way to dirty raw BM with a certain melody that draws the listener in. This is USBM in the vein of Judas Iscariot or more recently the various Taurus projects. A secretive project the music speaks for itself and I will allow it to do so.
Not available on regular streaming services you will have to search out physical copies. The album is posted on YOUTUBE for listening by one of the usual suspects.
Thy Astral Blood – Pure Wounds of the Astral Gates
Hailing from Indonesia and released on the Ancient Horror label this debut demo is one of the years best releases by far. Raw and triumphant BM is blended with a strong sense of melody and sorrow. This gives the music an earnest and impactful sound that belays the crude production. This has an almost inspirational affect and keeps ones coming back for more riffs. The outro is a very interesting Hula-like song. Indonesia is a scene to watch and Thy Astral Blood is at the top.
Physical copies sold out instantly and are hard to find, while not on streaming services the album can be listened to HERE
Pyramids – Pythagoras
Pyramids were a band I listened to alot around ’08-’12, they play a blend of Shoegaze, Post-Metal, and experimental/ambient sounds. No strangers to collaborations, here on Pythagoras they have enlisted Argentinian vocalist Emy Smith. In addition sounds and drumbeats pulled from reggaton are incorporated to surprising effectiveness. The album is quite hard to describe but it is dreamy and tense and downright beautiful. The past few years I have been listening to more and more Latin music and Pythagoras is something I never could have thought of that I absolutely needed in my life.
The album can be streamed and bought from the bands BANDCAMP as well as The Flenser
Degraved – Spectral Realm of Ruin
Degraved have, with their debut album Spectral Realm of Ruin, renewed my interest in just plain good Death Metal. In recent years I have gravitated towards more Dissonant or Black/Death bands so I was very surprised that this got its hooks in me as deep as it did. The album leaps off to a thundering start and is from then on, 33 minutes of pummeling drums, crunchy bass, deep and arid vocals, and dynamic riffs and ripping solos. Fans of Phrenelith, Cosmic Putrefaction and The Chasm will enjoy this alot, they also share a member with Warp Chamber. An album that never bores and is great in headphones or blasted over the speakers. Easily my favorite pure DM album of the year and probably the last few as well, Spectral Realm of Ruin has made a powerful statement.
Various physical and merch options are available from the bands BANDCAMP
Serpent Dweller – Arid Realms Beyond Death
[ADAPTED FROM PREVIOUS REVIEW]
[…]
Serpent Dweller has manifested a hallucinatory meditation on death presented via Raw Black Metal. Intentional and bewildering the music serves as a conduit for the highest veneration of life’s greatest mystery – Death. This review will focus on the music and leave the philosophy and mortal ruminations to the band. Through 8 songs in 45 minutes, the two-piece present BM of a familiar strain accented with streams of melancholy and touches of Funeral Doom to create a sound greater than the sum of its parts.
[…]
Serpent Dweller has created an album that I will be listening to a lot this year. Arid Realms Beyond Death manages to fulfill multiple musical desires and has only become more interesting the more I listen to it. The album is a presentation of the always prescient topic of death and what lies beyond in a very impactful way. The album can currently be bought via BANDCAMP and will be out on tape this year via VICTOMS OF FATE
BANDCAMP for streaming and physical versions can be found domestically through DMs with the bands ig or various distros – good luck hunting!
Thirsting Ampoule – Transmigration of the Nashamot
Thirsting Ampuole is one of many projects of an individual, here credited as Ethůuliasur, who maintains the ever unique and depraved Elf Eggs label. The labels output is different variations of Raw black metal and are all linked by shared member Ethůuliasur. Of their many releases in 2025 Thirsting Ampule’s full length was most anticipated after two very interesting demos in 2024. Not easy to categorize, the music here is best described as Black/Death/Dissonant or, War Metal draped in a murky darkness unlike anything else. Drums are rapid artillery providing a pounding and disorientating base for the music. Guitars are played frenetically and at ever increasing intensities. Moments of relief showcase the Bass Guitar or electronics and highlight the manic nature of the music. Vocals are a range between deep howling and whispers, always befitting the music and atmosphere. While Transmigration of the Nashamot is not the easiest initial listen for people outside the Raw BM milieu, however, it is a worthwhile challenge and unfolds much the same way a good Jazz project does. Indeed, War Jazz is a good mishmash genre title for this project.
Available for digital streaming and purchase HERE physical copies can be found for those who care to look.
Volahn – Popul Vuh
Lead project of the Black Twilight Circle(BTC), Volahn play dizzying black metal telling the stories of Pre-Spanish societies in the Americas, primarily Nahuatl and Mayan. This release sees a focus on the K’iche text Popul Vuh, which is a historical recounting of the people and their mythology. The K’iche promarily resided in modern day Guatemala and several southern Mexican states. Volahn is a solo project of Eduardo Ramirez, who is the Leader of the BTC. Volahn play a style of BM that is almost wholly unique to the BTC, spinning frantic BM accompanied by traditional intrumentation. Riff heavy and ever moving, Popul Vuh sounds like it on the verge of eruption. Songs seem to move towards an ever more tumultuous cacophony and coalesce into divine moments of bliss. At 54 minutes long Popol Vuh is best experienced as a whole and does not overstay its welcome.
BANDCAMP for streaming and digital purchase. Physical media is currently in production via NWN although no word on release date as of yet
Gates of Dawn – III
Psychedelia and Black Metal aren’t traditionally considered a fitting match. However bands like Blut Aus Nord and …. Oransi Pazuzu have shown that this is indeed a match made in some sort of nightmare. Gates of Dawn channel these energies funneled through a Jam Band lense a la Grateful Dead. Their previous album II was one of my favorites of 2023. At that time a solo project of TN, here with III, Gates of Dawn has expanded to a full band and makes excellent use of the additional manpower. III is less synth focused and much more robust and full sounding than previous output. III is best listened too as a whole and is an easy commitment at 35 minutes. Unexpected elements surprise the listener and, through repeat listens, the album opens up and becomes a strangely recognizable space to live in. The album sounds great in headphones, on the stereo, the car etc just play it loud!
Physical copies are sold out from the label but some may be floating around the distros somewhere…
Parthenoid – S/T
Werguild continues their total domination of the BM scene with their 2025 releases. While the labels entire 2025 output is fantastic and thought provoking (full lengths from Astral Gauze, Tatterdamelion, Runeblade a Split and a Comp were released this year) Parthenoid captivated me and captured my attention to such a degree it quickly became a daily morning listen. Here Krieger is on Guitar duty and is joined by Thresholder on vocals and Figment on drums duty. From this configuration arises mid paced, sorrowful Raw BM with painfully anguished vocals. The Demo consists of two tracks, most of it being one piece. “The war for Earth” begins in earnest and quickly picks up strength. A brief ambient interlude reminiscent of the calm before a large event or final battle pierces the song before giving rise to a triumphant return. Now utterly heartbroken Thresholder cries out “GIVE ME MY WORLD BACK” over Krieger’s mesmerizing guitar work and Figments relentless battery. A short ambient track “Phyrric Victory” closes the Demo and one is hard pressed not to reply it over and over.
Tapes are long sold out but the digital album can be bought HERE
Abriction – Forbidden Bounds
Abriction exist in a similar realm to the newer wave of Ambient BM/Skramz/Gaze that Thrä (and all of Damiens projects) and Coffret de Bijoux inhabit, however they are more firmly in the Screamo and Emoviolence realm. Abriction is Meredith Salvatori accompanied by a live drummer and, for this album, a couple guest vocal spots. The album starts strong and weaves in and out of songs applying various spund touches that give every track a unique feel. Some are straightforward Skramz, others are Blackgazey, while still some are Thrashy or even Electronic forward. All this being said, the album is extremely cohesive and flows naturally encouraging repeat listens.
Physical copies are available via THIRDHOUSE and digitally at their BANDCAMP
Thallid – Eternal Spiritual Conquest
The symbiotic relationship Black Metal and Dungeon Synth is well known to any seasoned listener of either genre. Here is, perhaps, the idyllic manifestation of that relationship. Thallid create essentially Raw Black Metal but with only the tools available to DS creation. Consisting of Lord Bill (Bib among others) playing all intrumentation, and Ukepareeve Enviavuasan (Nachlich, etc) with, consistently, some of the best vocals of anybody today. What we have here is pure absurdity, Synths and Drums take the place of traditional BM instrumentation to shocking success, while UE espouses pure vitriol. Riffs and patterns emerge the more time spent with the album and ultimately there is a unsettling comfort and familiarity to the music. Listening to Thallid is tantamount to listening to old cryptic field recordings or similar esoteric material. At the end im not sure what I have just heard but I know I will be replaying it ASAP.
Various merch items and a CD/LP can be purchased via the Moonworshipper Records BANDCAMP
Aad Sleck – Black Tar
Aad Sleck is purely acrid stomping Black Punk from the depths of the Hotchin Pit. One of the more caustic yet catchy albums of the year you will be surprised at how this one bores its way into the core of your mind. From England, this project is telling the story of the struggle of working class minors at the forefront of the coal industry. Beginning with a sample of someone speaking, the band quickly makes their intention known. At 32 minutes this is an album that has a strong impact on the listener and leaves one feeling its intensity. Similar to other albums on my list this one must simply be experienced.
A digital copy can be purchased via LEGIAN BLOTAN while physical copies are long gone
Числобог – Месяц Карачун
Horrible Room continues to be one of the more cryptic yet consistent labels relasing nothing but mandatory releases. Числобог is Russian for Chislobog who is a Ruso-Pagan god of Time and Numbers. A fitting name for the Punk Pagan BM recorded on Месяц Карачун (12 Months). Fans of other bands Ildjarn or Bone Awl or others in the Eastern Euro scene like their label mates Крюкокрест will love this. A descent into madness, howling, screeched vocals are laid over Raw Punkish BM and a strange assortment of instruments such as what sounds like a Zylophone! And in-between are passages of atmosphere and folkish intrumentals that, at first listen, leave one confounded and whirling. Месяц Карачун is a Demo that opens up more with each listen and a very promising start to a new band.
Streaming on YouTube HERE the LP can be bought from New Era HERE or various distros stateside
Steröid – Chain Mail Commandos
Rocking ass Rock music bordering on Egg Punk and Trad-Metal. Steröid is a side project of Lord Gordith (Quest Master and Gloomy Reflections) and is pure and nonstop fun. The album is replete with songs about driving through the city at night and rocking till dawn. Slightly outside the realm of Harsh Vocals and metal itself, this is almost guaranteed to make anyone a fan. Maybe my most listened too album of 2025, Steröid have wormed their way into my life on the daily.
Some merch and physical copies can be found at the Out of Season WEBSTORE
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