Decembers Top 10 Albums

It's time for December's top 10 albums. Staying abreast of the month's highlights may help casual
Readers catch up on what they missed and explore these artists. I am not writing brief summaries of them; I am simply linking to the reviews. Inclusion here does not mean that these albums have been released this month, but it is a list of new  albums I have enjoyed the most. December is more about me catching up with what I have missed, so this list reflects that. This month, it ranges from neo-folk to punk. Perhaps you will find your new favorite among them. Here are the Top 10 albums of  December.

10-Ter Ziele-"Embodiment of Death" 

Blackened Sludge

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/12/ter-ziele-embodiment-of-death.html

9-Rebecca Black - "Salvation." 

Pop

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/12/rebecca-black-salvation.html

8-nghtcrwlr-'OZ" 

Electronic

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/12/nghtcrwlr-oz.html

7-Pupil Slicer- "Fleshwork"

Experimental Hardcore

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/12/pupil-slicer-fleshwork.html

6-Grandson-"Inertia" 

nu-metal

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/12/grandson-inertia.html

5-School Drugs-"Funeral Arrangements."

Punk

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/12/school-drugs-funeral-arrangements.html

4-Wardruna-"Birna" 

Pagan Neo-Folk

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/12/wardruna-birna.html

3-Chokecherry-"Ripe Fruit Rots and Falls." 

Alternative Rock

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/12/chokecherry-ripe-fruit-rots-and-falls.html

2-Pool Kids- "Easier Said Than Done." 

Pop

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/12/pool-kids-easier-said-than-done.html

1-Home front- "Watch it Die" 

Punk 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/12/home-front-watch-it-die.html

pst666

Terzij de Horde : "Our Breath Is Not Ours Alone"

 

I don't review many straight-up in-your-face black metal albums that are just old school second wave blasting, but this came recommended. There is more of a chilling, droning atmosphere to the buzz of the opening track, where the second song grinds into a more aggressive buzz that is more feral in nature. They do shift from this into more deliberate accents and some dissonant chord phrashing to make things sonically heavy and chaotic, so the arrangement takes enough turns and is more intricate than the opening track, which is not where I thought it was going. 

I appreciate the bleak density of " A Hammer to the Great Matter of Birth and Death." It hangs on the droning tremolo-picked guitars, but opens up to create more ambiance rather than just riding a static tension; the fact that the drummer knows when to back off helps them with the overall dynamics. They seem to lock into a more relentless shimmer of chords on " The All-Consuming Work of the Soul's Foreclosing." This becomes more of a solid wall of sound with some punches buried within the din, but not enough to create hooks, until they thrash into a more syncopated section to provide some contrast.

They do slow back down to a more deliberate throb with "Justice is Not Enough..." The vocals are exclaimed in a little more of a hardcore cadence at first. The last song moves more likea hard-core song, and the accent of the vocals brings this out, with the cascading guitar lines the only black metal element, though there are layers of guitar to make this a big part of their sound. It does buzz back to life after a spoken work part with the vocals phrashing, reminding me of Deafheaven, the way it sits against the guitars. Overall, I like what they are doing here I will give this an 8.5. 

pst665

2025 Metal State of the Union

 

This year for the  State of the Union, I am breaking it down by the top 10 lists of the metal sub-genres that had enough demand to warrant a Top 10 list, as I included thrash in its own seperate list. This provides an overview of where the best content originates, rather than what is being promoted to you by labels. So we are jsut looking at the cream of the crop from the various genres. 

 When it comes to bands getting a buzz, I will be inclined to review them even if it's not something I would normally listen to, because let's be real, those bands will draw new readers, and I am not just talking into a void here. I got  7 million new readers this year, so it seems to be working, and my work with other publications and sites is bringing more folks to come check out what I have been doing here, so thank you for every minute of your life you have given to my words. I hope I've offered you perspectives that do not just toe the line of the media's current narrative. Thank you once again for spending time with me here to analyze these stats and perhaps give you a glance at Metal's state this year, which might give a glimpse into its future.

Black Metal 

These countries had two entries on the Top 10 Black Metal albums of the year for 2025

Germany, America, and Sweden-2

The American bands came from California and Washington

The Number one spot went to a French band

Ironically, Ukraine and Russia both earned spots on the top 10 list, so war is inspiring, and there are still studios open and recording bands, well, black metal should be hateful, so that makes sense.

 

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-top-10-black-metal-albums-of-2025.html

 Death Metal 

America continues to dominate when it comes to death metal, with four bands in the top ten, the only country to score multiple entries in this genre. with an Ohio band taking the top spot and the other bands hailing from Wisconsin, New York, and Oregon

Canada, Poland, the Netherlands, Sweden, the UK, and New Zealand all had representation this year. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-top-10-death-metal-albums-of-2025.html

  Thrash

America retains the top spot with a 50 percent margin, and three of the five were from California, whose San Francisco Bay Area sound was the genre's most defining, so metal sticks to tradition. Nevada and  New York also clocked in an entry apiece. 

Switzerland captured the number one spot. 

Canada came in at a distant second place with two bands in the Ten, and Scandinavians Sweden and Finland proving they can also thrash. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-top-10-thrash-albums-of-2025.html

Metal Core/Nu-Metal 

America came in first, taking half the top ten thanks to albums from Arizona, Texas, Florida, California, and Oregon

The Top album was from a Canadian band

France took the number two spot with two bands making it, while Russia and Brazil both only have one entry. 

These are from the mainstream metal top 10, which is a blend of the more commercial-oriented metalcore bands, as the more deathcore-like bands are on the extreme list. 

. https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-top-10-mainstream-metal-albums-of.html

Prog Metal

America took the top spot with three bands, from New York, North Carolina, and the number one spot went to a band from Georgia.

Norway and France tied for second place with two bands apiece. 

Germany, Italy, and Sweden all had entries as well. 

If this seems like an odd mix keep in mind I stay away from the bands who call themselves prog jsut for the sake of wanking. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-top-10-progressive-albums-of-2025.html

Hardcore

This year not a wide reach when it came to hardcore, with America laying the smack down with six of the ten entries, three of them from New York,  which should not be a surprise; the rest hailed from Missouri, Idaho, and  New Jersey, which took the top spot

The Uk has three bands and Canada, one.

 The rising tide of European hardcore we saw last year came and went. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-top-10-hardcore-albums-of-2025.html

 

SLUDGE

America held the bulk of the entries this year, thanks to bands from California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, New York, Missouri, Kentucky, with Arkansas taking the top spot. 

Other countries that ranked in the top 10 include Denmark, Canada, and Sweden

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/11/november-is-doom-top-10-sludge-albums.html

Grindcore/Deathcore and other extreme sub-genres

America took the top spot with  Pennsylvania capturing two slots, Virginia, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, and a band from New York taking the top spot. 

Other countries included the Netherlands, Spain, and Austrailia

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-top-10-extreme-metal-albums-of-2025.html

Doom

America has the most entries, with half of them.  California, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, 

The UK came in second with 2.    Then a band from France took the number one spot. Bands from

Poland and Finland also scored spots in the top 10. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/11/november-is-doom-top-10-doom-albums-of.html

 

Industrial

America Dominates with California leading the way, boasting three entries and securing the number one spot, while projects are making big noise in New York, Illinois, and Texas. 

Also, bands from the UK. Canada and Switzerland made the list. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-top-10-industrial-albums-of-2025.html

Hair Metal / Hard Rock 

America- took the top ranking here with a band now based in Arizona at number one, and  California earned four spots, 4. Kentucky was also in the race. 

 The UK and Sweden tied for 2, with each country contributing two bands.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/12/top-10-hard-rock-albums-of-2025.html

The Top 10 By Country ( by Volume) 

1-America 

2-the UK-

3-Sweden-

4-Canada-

5-France-

6-Germany-

7-Norway

8-Switzerland

9-Finland

10-Russia

The top 10 States with the most metal bands pumping out albums 

1-California 

2-New York

 

3-Pennsylvainia 

4-New Jersey 

5-Oregon 

6-Arizona -

7-Ohio

8-Texas

9-Georgia

10-Missouri 

Thanks for reading, please "like" and share on social media to give music a voice 

https://www.facebook.com/abysmalhymns

pst664

Ter Ziele : "Embodiment of Death"

 

This band from the Netherlands brings plenty of sonic anguish on their debut album. The first song carries a gut-pounding throb that snarls with a more wretched sludge feel. They show their more melodic side on the third track with a melodic guitar opening the over 12-minute track as the vocals drop down to more of a mid-range rasp. They recapture the tortured intensity of the first song with a slower, more deliberate build, which tells me they are interested in dynamics and actually writing songs rather than just attacking my eardrums. You can almsot make out the lyrics on this one. It builds into a more furious black metal mood.

Then things drop way down with "This Mortal Coil," which simmers before kicking into a proper song. But when it does, there is a great deal of intention set in the powerful punches that ring out. The drums create more of a groove here, but the guitar allows atmosphere to build more organically. The vocals scowl with a great deal of venom, but I do not judge a sound by vocals alone. 

The album closer "As, Long as I Breathe, I am to Suffer" comes to life with a more doom-tinged lumber. Sludge is in the Doom family, so this makes sense. In fact, I have always thought of it as what happens when punks try to play doom. I think punk is in the family tree of black metal, so that makes sense as well. Blackened sludge would be a fair description if we were going to fit these guys into a sub-genre. Things break down to a rumble of a bass line. They build it up from there with the screamed vocal going even further into throat-shredding agony. I will give this album a 9, as I enjoyed the mood they created and writhes with their emotions in a manner I can believe. 

pst663

Lamp of Murmur : "The Dreaming Prince in Ecstasy"

 There are still a few black metal projects that are not called "problematic" and given a pass by the music press; this is one of them, so it's time to see if this album lives up to the hype. The synth sounds are rather high in the mix to tone down the charging of the gates; most bands like this do. The vocals are gurgled with ample effects dripping. The chorus to the first song reminds me of Dimmu, but with a lo-fi feel. 'Hategate' is even more riff-oriented, and the guitars have a bigger sound, despite some of the other elements, like the vocals, which did not receive as muhc love in post-production and are just a garbled frequency. 

"Reincarnation of a Witch" maintains momentum and features a cool, melodic middle section that works well. The catch with this album seems to be that the bigger, more polished production finds the overall sound more like everyone else, with the heavily effected, garbled vocal as the main thing that sets this apart from the pack, other than there is not much difference between this and any other band that tries to sound like Immortal. The racing thrash of the title track is more middle-of-the-road. The sung vocals do not help this cause. 

The "Twilight Orgasm" section of the title track is much more melodic with some tasty guitar playing. The vocals are more spoken and mixed in the background; the tension makes it the album's best song." The Fall" locks into a predictable Immortal style gallop. Some refined guitar licks crop up in this song; it's apparent he is more of a guitarist than a drummer on this album. If you told me AI was used to help construct this album, I would believe you. The last track is a strummed folk outro that feels like Death in June. I will give this album an 8.5 as it sounds great, but it is not that original. However, an improvement in presentation. 

pst662

Agriculture : "Spiritual Sound"

I have been underwhelmed by what I have heard from this band in the past, but this album has gotten a ton of hype this year, so let's see how it holds up. It is more likea blackened power violence than black metal. There is a heavier sound this time around, and they flip shit around in a zany manner. But there are more riffs, and the bass player is earning their keep. Not as dark as Portrayal of Guilt, but it feels like they are trying to move in that direction. "Flea"  is even weirder but also more melodic, and snarled vocals offset the indie rock heart of the song. 

"Micah" is a raging screamo ditty that lets the momentum carry it away. "The Weight" lives up to its name with an angry sludge feel, bringing a more deliberate heaviness. It's darker and more bleak, but it doesn't really bring anything new to the table. They continue to try and pass off screamo as black metal on "Serenity," and it is where the tedium starts to set in for me. Liturgy did this sort of thing better. It's funny that the reasons the metal crowd shunned Liturgy, they are now embracing this band for. 

The fact that the title track is a thirty-second track of ambient noise says alot about this band. Things continue to take a downward turn with 'Dan's Love Song" which is the most generic noisy shoegazing you can imagine, that borrows too heavily on the woozy sound of My Bloody Valentine. To add insult to injury, they show they are capable of coming up with riffs for "Bodhidharma." However, they fail to follow it up, so songwriting might not be their thing, as cool riffs alone do not a good song make. With "Hallelujah" they kept throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks this time; it's indie folk. The last song finds a more indie rock-like melody, adding to the buzz of the blast beats. They do take more chances on this album, so I understand how some one might get fooled by it , though it is not a black metal album by any stretch of the word. I will give this album an 8; it starts off better than it ends. 

pst661

Wargasm : "What Are You Afraid of ?"

 

This Boston-based thrash band released one of the best thrash albums ever in 1988, titled "Why Play Around?" In some ways, they felt like a cross between Sodom and Coroner, while bringing more groove to the occasion. They were trying to reissue their 4th and final album, "Suicide Notes," but their record label sabotaged this in some way, so here we are with a secret self-release of it. There is less thrash and more groove, as they adapted to the 90s. The vocals are pushed forward in the mix, and the staccato chug of guitar is more mid tempo, though they still resolve things with intersting chords that ring out more sonically. 

"Engine" is even more melodic than the opening track, and it takes a few listens for the change in direction they took here to grow on me. They give things a taunt, thrash, and chug to accent certain passages and lean into it more on "Underground". They seem to be pondering what they do lyrically on this song. The guitar solos are pretty impressive if you are into that kind of thing; they are true to the era of music they are making. The drumming stands out as being very solid and one of their strengths. More naunce than flash. "Meat" feels more like a Pantera song, but it works well for what it is. They throw in some ofthe punk speed that crossover into thrash with "Not Forgiven, Not Forgotten." This gives is more of an old school Metallica mood. 

"Jigsaw Man" carries more weight in the chugged tension that propels it; when they pour on the speed, perhaps it does not carry the same weight. The riffing of the title tracks locks in tighter as things click in the songwriting here. The drummer is really popping off on it.  "Grey Matter" is a short instrumental that feels more like an interlude. It is a clearer picture of where Thrash went in the 90s on "Fire Away."More deliberate, less speed metal momentum. Many of the songs feel like latter-day Metallica as they are recapturing the thrash spirit after reprioritizing their approach to the genre's aggressive attack. I will give it a 9. 

pst660