November is Doom- The Top 10 Sludge Albums of 2025

The world might not have come to an end this year, but the Doomsday Clock keeps ticking closer to that fateful day, as Sludge should. After I sort through the top 10 albums in each genre, I use those lists to compile the top 10 albums of 2025. The very fact that these bands made it on the list speaks to how great these albums are, so it's not a slight that the number 8 album is above the 9th; there is something that gives it an edge that makes me want to listen to it more. After all, we can try to look cool and pick the hippest bands for a list, but at the end of the day, what makes an album the best is that it makes you want more, and you look forward to listening to it again. You can find your next favorite on this list, and I have included links to reviews of these albums if you want to check out the audio on these guys. Anyway, here are the top 10 Sludge albums of 2025

10-Faetooth- "Labyrinthine" 

This Los Angeles-based band plays a darkly melodic and sludge-influenced brand of gloomy hard rock. More metallic in their intentions than Chelsea Wolfe, but they employ an ethereal, melancholic sound with many layers. I like the melancoly pciture it paints. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/11/november-is-doom-faetooth-labyrinthine.html

 

9-In the Company of Serpents-'A Crack in Everything.' 

The Denver band is always very organic, and this album holds a similar warmth, perhaps a more jammed-out feel when it comes to the songwriting. Great guitar playing embodies these songs, so if you are into guitars, this album is for you. The vocals are a throaty bellow that rides the groove, but are more of an obligatory standard; when the vocals employ more purpose, they take on more of a Tom Waits feel. More aggressive than stoner rock putting them here, 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/07/in-company-of-serpents-crack-in.html
 

 

8-Negative 13-"Recover What You Can." 

A demonstration of what happens when punks try to play Doom. There is some rock n roll syncopation in play at times, a crust punk ambiance that haunts the songs. Sonically interesting in a manner not unlike, say, Amebix. The vocals are a gruff bark but still hold purpose and do not diminish the songwriting. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/01/negative-13-recover-what-you-can.html

7-False Gods- "Lost in Darkness and Distance." 

Both of their previous albums impressed us here, as this band continues to blend hardcore with sludge in an emotionally visceral manner. However, the hard-core side of the equation is not as prevalent as the band's more metal leanings this time around. The songwriting has continued to mature, the opener tracker is higher energy with a darker tension running through it that brings earlier Neurosis to mind, but it is catchier than bombastic in how it hits.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/05/false-gods-lost-in-darkness-and-distance.html

 

 

6-Fister- "Graceless" 

One of my favorite extreme sludge bands is back. They focus on crushing violence this time around with the mammoth crunch that opens this album. The vocals hacked up from the pits of their charred lungs with convincing aggression. The lumber of the riff trudging with weighty chugs is impressive by anyone's standards. They expand their atmospheric side and overall dynamic range on this album. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/09/fister-graceless.html

 

5-Katla- "Scandinavian Pain." 

The grit and the grime of this band have more in common with sludge than doom. There is a hint of black metal, but they are of the same venomous ilk as, say, Fistula. Not expecting this sort of thing to crawl out of Denmark, but here we are. Their overdriven lumber is a great deal of fun. They have a nasty attitude, which is where a lot of their charm comes from

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/03/katla-scandinavian-pain.html

 

4-Mares of Thrace- "Loss" 

The fourth album from this Canadian band. They play a fairly caustic version of sludge that snarls with a more brooding, angular desperation than Eyehategod. They are more introspective and not as entrenched in punk, as there are moody melodic sections. The theme of this album is the stages of grief.  An intense yet thoughtful album. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/05/mares-of-thrace-loss.html
 

 

  

3-CROP- "SSRI" 

This Kentucky band is on the heavier side of grunge that intersects with sludge. The vocals are the kind of pained screaming Kurt Cobain threw himself into on "Bleach".There are more melodic sections even on the jarring opening track; they are just delivered in a more sludged-out noise rock fashion. They did an excellent job of setting their misery to music. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/08/crop-ssri.html

2-Kazea- "I, Ancestral." 

This unique trio from Sweden quickly held my The vocals are somewhat Pink Floyd-like in their breathy execution, and the album ranges from a more.  experimental, neo-folk strum to the stomp you expect from sludge,

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/03/kazea-i-ancestral.html

 

1-Rwake -"The Return of the Magik." 

The Arkansas-based band is back after 13 years. A more melodic expanse of sound brings elements of Southern rock to the forefront of the opening track as guitar solos cascade around it. Brittany Fugate's scathing vocals provide a counterpoint to the lower, ominous vocal tones of Chris Terry. They bring a menacing thunder with metallic riffing, as well as contrast it with really tasteful guitar work. They ripped the hardest when it came to sludge this year. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/02/rwake-return-of-magik.html

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In the Company of Serpents : "A Crack in Everything"

 

This band always scores a 9 here, which puts them in the upper tiers of doom/ sludge bands. They are always very organic, and this album holds a similar warmth, perhaps a more jammed-out feel when it comes to the songwriting. Great guitar playing embodies these songs, so if you are into guitars, this album is for you. The vocals are a throaty bellow that rides the groove but are more of an obligatory standard. They have more purpose on the second, though the verse finds them doing more of a Tom Waits thing. 

I know these guys are from Denver, which explains why they sound like a more southern take on sludge, it is because they smoke of ton of weed. They are often now more like a more sludged-out version of Clutch in the blues-infused way the songs groove. "Endless Well" finds their apocalyptic boogie dancing in a similar place to the other songs. "Buzzard Logic' finds things getting a little darker. The darker vibes are what lean this toward doom, where the bombastic fuzzed-out wall of guitars is more in line with sludge. On this one, the song roars long with the vocals, to create a heavy song, but not the album's best song. 

"Until Death Darkens Our Door' is like a depressive Tom Waits folk ballad run through Nick Cave's perspective. They close things out in a more bombastic metallic fashion for "Ghosts in the Periphery." It feels different than the previous albums, the songwriting is at times more focused, but overall I think this earns a 9, as well, which is certainly among the better albums of this genre, matured and more melodic but still heavy enough for old fans.

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Gothtober - Bleakheart : "Dream Griever"

 

Formed by JP from In the Company of Serpents, this project also includes singer Kelly Shilling from Dreadnaught. I could have saved this for November's month long tribute to doom, but despite it's dreaery pace it falls in the middle ground of doom gaze with the emphasis on sonic shadows. The first song the sund really grabs you. The cleaner guitar tones . The equally brooding and ethereal vocals , which certainly help it seal the deal when it comes to appealling to goth culture, in a way not unlike that of Chelsea Wolfe. Though Wolfe does what is being done here with a more emotional darkness.Kelly's vocals are more languid and detached. 

After the impressive sound summoned with the first song, I have to ask on the second 'this is cool but can you write a song?" . There is not a clear cut answer to this until "the Visitor" . Where the second song droned in a manner almost too much like the first song, "the Visitor" offers a greater range of dynamics. It builds up and distortion kicks in, so there is more punch. I do not need this to be heavy, if it goes there that is just an added bonus. "the Dead Moon" kinda falls back into the comfort of the drone. They do kick in a little on the climax of the song, but moving at almost a funeral doom pace , the drag feels like the first two songs with the cool piano embellishments giving it some manner of identity. 

If the pacing of songs that are 7 minutes can drag then I am a little worried going into the almost 12 minute title track. Four minutes in it picks up into more of a doomy lumber. It is one of the album's more metallic moment. The vocals do not form melodies that really draw you in instead servings at atmospheric layers . Sure she is singing lyrics . But they drift.Aside from being more metallic this song does not offfering a great deal we have not already hear in the first four songs. It is stil pleasing to the ears. Despite needing to expand the dynamic range and putting a little more hook in the melodies , this is well done and I will give it an 8.5 .

In the Company of Serpents : " Lux"

This is not our first ride with the Denver band who continues to evolve. They have an even more massive sound they slam into your ear drums with some rather punishing sludge. Sometimes they hit you with an almost thrash like speed. The things take a turn down the dark wild west on " the Chasm at the Mouth of the All". It has a cool slithering groove but until they kick into the metal at the one minute mark seems like a wild departure from what they hit you with on the first two songs. The vocals were more of a dry howl on the first two songs , then they get Nick Cave here with a low whispery baritone. The clean guitar tones are very organic. This album is very well produced all the guitar tones are dialed into the max be they fuzzed out with distortion of acoustic. This only aids in the albums dynamic range.

The bellow of  throaty vocals falls some where between a growl and singing on "Lightchild". It owes a great deal of the sound to the more groove laden moments of later Neurosis. Think "Given to the Rising". There is some rock swagger in the variations of the chug employed here. For this type of riffy metal it's very well thought out and not just pulling riffs out of their ass. They add more attack to the chugs that take on more of a gallop with "Archonic Manipulations " . The vocals are more of an after thought here. They focus is clearly on the guitar as the drum lag behind the wall of distortion hurtling at you. They use an atmospheric interlude to segue into the western strum of acoustic guitar of " Prima Materia" . This builds up into a very groove minded take on jimmy sludge.

Perhaps not as many jammed out guitar heroics as the previous album, it feels more aggressive and the songs are more focused. The more country and blues based sections feel more organic here and work in a fluid way with the songs. Not a huge departure from their past sound, it is more refined and the dynamics feel like they are going further into the direction in which they have leaned toward in the past. I will give this one a 9. It's really well done and might cross the band over into the metal mainstream as fans of bands like Mastodon, can find plenty to grab onto here. This album comes out May 15th

In the Company of Serpents: "Ain-Soph Aur"

This is not my first time checking this band out though it is the first time that have graced our blog here.   They have returned with doom tinged sludge to hammer you with in a manner that still has melody and attention to detail in the song writing. Judging from the opening track perhaps even more so than what we have heard from them previously. After repeat listens it's clear these guys are taking it to the next level.  There is a more fluid momentum that engages you with the vocals not just limiting themselves to the typical sludge bellow as they start of sung in more of a  throaty yet hushed baritone similar to what Neurosis uses at times. The lower roar does not wait to long to chime in. The riffs wind around the drums in an angular groove that is sinewy and forward thinking. Not only the first song cover a wide range of dynamics but this is the tone of the album as a whole going from a more oppressive doom sound to the band finding themselves  in more of a blue boogie groove by the time we get to the last song.

We begin to seem them break away from the obvious metal direction on the more Nick Cave like "Crucible" which sounds like something from the Twin Peaks soundtrack. The raspy croon of the vocals is a wink towards Scott Kelly for sure. it does build into a more gloomy form of sludge. "Merkabah" is dark but not metal. The acoustic guitars on this one sound great. The vocals are still in the smoky croon, so it keeps a similar feel to the previous song. The album is brought to it's climax with "Limitless Light" which takes a much more straight forward path towards sludge. It rides the line between sludge and doom with the down trodden lethargy the riff throbs with, but the underlying empowerment of aggression in it's mood is what tips the scales in the direction of sludge.  You could also ask the simple question does this fall more in line with "Through Sliver and Blood" or  "Turn Loose the Swans".

They are very effective and hammering you with the weight of their heaviness and managed to throw a twist of blues into it.I'll give this one a 9 as I think they get the job done and this album really takes it to the next level the last song is pretty cool but not as awesome as the first so keeps it from being a perfect ten, but worth your time if you like sludge for sure.
ITCOS Teaser from Frank Guerra Productions on Vimeo.



3.7