the Top 10 Black Metal Albums of 2025 ... so far

This was set in motion two years ago when too many journalists tried to erroneously hail hot garbage as the best black metal album of the year. This compelled me to set things straight, as such a claim is disrespectful to the genre; therefore,
I decided to uphold this mid-year tradition. Just sounding good from a production standpoint is not going to make the cut, since studio magic alone is not what black metal is about. Though I am not looking for something to sound like trash in the name of being cvlt either. I am also not paying homage to bands that are just press darlings for whatever social reason of the day might be. After all, Blackbraid continues to show what he got right about Native representation is being an alcoholic. I want bands who are effective at creating darkness, so with that said, here are the top 10 Black Metal Albums of 2025 ...so far.

10- Ritualmord- "This is Not Lifelover" 

Lifelover's remains turned to Hypothermia and Kall. This comes from the guitarist who formed Hypothermia. This was where the songs that were too experimental for that project as they continued to evolve as musicians. This is the first full-length of the project following three EPS. The mood is similar to what they have done before, even if they are not using the typical sonic building blocks of black metal to get there.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/01/ritualmord-this-is-not-lifelover.html

9- Void of Hope- "Proof of Existence" 

Finland's black metal scene is expanding beyond the raw black metal bands like Horna. It is also cool that depressive black metal is making more of a comeback. It's dark and more emotive than the normal blasting black metal that wants to sound like Darkthrone when even Darkthrone doesn't sound like the band they are trying to imitate anymore. The vocals have a nasty howl. The music carries a very deliberate throb.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/02/black-metal-history-month-void-of-hope.html

8-Karg- "Maroduer" 

The band's 9th album finds attitude propelling the aggressive tendencies, and even in how the atmosphere is approached. The vocals are not screamed but shouted in a forceful yet pained manner. More melodic and angular than what I expect from any metal coming out of Germany

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/02/black-metal-history-month-karg-maroduer.html

7-Grima- "Nightshade" 

The theme of this album is to honor Taiga, the spirit of the Siberian forest. If these guys are from Siberia, I can only wonder what it's like getting to band practice, as it's pretty harsh there. This is their 6th album, so they have been doing this a while, and it's apparent in how things flow in their playing.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/02/black-metal-history-month-grima.html

6-Abigail Williams - "A Void Within Existence"

 Abigail Williams is one of the rare American Black Metal bands that has stood the test of time as a legitimate representation of its genre, with a sonic darkness on par with their European counterparts. This album effectively captures the darkness that this project embodies. The atmosphere brought by the guitar hits the sweet spot of making things sonically heavier.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/05/abigail-williams-void-within-existence.html

5-Morast- "Fentanyl"

This is what black metal should be. Darkness and misery forged into music. It carries a dreadful throb, that is not what you might think of as depressive black metal, but they succeeded in capturing the despair of junkie in a manner so real we have not heard it since mid-2000s Nachtmystium. I did not know fentanyl was big in Germany, but it's spread worldwide now, as I am sure the trailer parks of Europe in the Eastern Block are spreading it like roaches. 

 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/02/black-metal-history-month-morast.html

4-Void of Hope- "Proof of Existence" 

Finland's black metal scene is expanding beyond the raw black metal bands like Horna. It is also cool that depressive black metal is making more of a comeback. It's dark and more emotive than the normal blasting black metal that wants to sound like Darkthrone when even Darkthrone doesn't sound like the band they are trying to imitate anymore. The vocals have a nasty howl. The music carries a very deliberate throb.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/02/black-metal-history-month-void-of-hope.html

3-Deafheaven- "Lonely People With Power" 

The band continues to balance out the varied elements of their discography, right down to the deliberate chug that the song transitions into. Having made their way onto the rock festival circuit, you had to wonder how much playing with big mainstream bands would influence them. Truth be told, when I saw them at Rockville, there was little compromise on their part to win anybody over. 6 albums into their career, I think it is safe to say if they were going to sell out, they would have by now.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/03/deafheaven-lonely-people-with-power.html

2-Hexvessel- "Nocturne" 

Seven albums into their legacy, this Finnish band continues to ebb and flow with both neo-folk and black metal in their veins. In some way, this picks up where "Polar Veil" left off; in other ways, it expands upon it, with more layered voices that sound like the hippie choir persona of their folk era, now haunting this album, and finds a more balanced blend of those melodic folk textures.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/05/hexvessel-nocturne.html

1-NITE- "the Cult of the Serpent Sun" 

The third album from this San Francisco metal band. They walk a line between black metal and traditional metal. I can hear where Tribulation might have occupied a similar sonic space at one time if they had not turned into a goth band. If you want a classic metal-sounding album that is just not reheating leftovers but is writhing with an inner darkness, this album is for you. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/01/nite-cult-of-serpent-sun.html

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Ritualmord : "This is Not Lifelover"

Lifelover's remains turned to Hypothermia and Kall. This comes from the guitarist who formed Hypothermia. This was where the songs that were too experimental for that project as they continued to evolve as musicians. This is the first full-length of the project following three EPS. The mood is similar to what they have done before, even if they are not using black metal to get there.  After an ambient intro piece, it gets into "Stonerpop" which is the first proper song working off a woozy ambiance. The vocals are spoken and grow increasingly agitated as the song progresses. This song is followed by another atmospheric interlude. 

"Spar" is the next actual song. Though it lingers in an experimental morass of sound. It's a kind of fog-enveloped post-rock when it manages to come together. They kept the depressive part of depressive black metal and dug so deeply that it almost accomplishes the same thing. "Tjara" is the first song that crosses over into metal, and it's more of a post-doom. Though tormented cries are uttered from it to stay on brand for these guys. Harrowing intensity is certainly a phrase you could use to describe this with. "Tid' is more of a swath of post-rock sound with samples over it. Due to the experimental nature of Lifelover for a long time, I assumed they were from France when they were from Sweden. 

"Andetag" is more tortured mumbling, crying out from the dense ambiance. This continues to be the formula, though a more metallic backbone begins to form in the song that follows it. Though it shimmers in more of a post-rock fashion. "Slutna ogon" has more of an industrial clang to it, though it's much heavier on the atmosphere rather than finding these guys trying to be Ministry.  'Se Mig" shimmers with an even more opaque ambiance. "Var vantan..." has more melody to the guitars. Most of the songs have a more minimalist approach than what you expect from a project that evolved out of a black metal band. The strum does become fuller once they slowly build the dynamics. The vocals go into more of the pained weeping Lifelover made famous.

 If you were to ask me if this is more of a post-rock album or a black metal album, I would have to say it has more in common with early Mogwai, than early Darkthrone, and the last song only further proves this point. I will give this album a 9, and see how it grows on me. They are great at what they do, but what they do also comes with the expectations they respectfully toy with this regard. I was going to wait to publish this in Black Metal History Month since it does not drop until March 8th , but since this is not black metal, I'll go ahead and put it out there. 

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