The time has come, the year has gone. What an amazing year for music. Making my top 10 albums for this year was very difficult, there was some last minute movement going on below the top 3, and day by day things can change, but I’m just gonna go with my gut. The top 3 have been locked for a while. I joined Decibel Warfare late in the year, some of these will have a link to reviews I have up already, but I am going to include some thoughts for each album on this list. I must w

Label: Napalm Records Release Date: October 31st, 2025 Symphonic Power Death/Black Metal, whatever the fuck you wanna call this. Utopie the 4th album (produced by Dan fuckin Swanö), released on Halloween, by French band Aephanemer, was my first experience with the band. I loved every damn second of it. All 6120 of them. Utopie is packed with orchestral grandeur, the sharp bite of melodic death metal, lush polyphonic musical texture, blood curdling screams you’d find on a blac

We've got a strong neoclassical presence this week, fronting mostly melodic approaches (and one quite the opposite), from Aephanemer, Burned In Effigy, Howling Giant, Outlaw and Primitive Man. There's more melodic stuff from the big names, but also crushing heaviness:  Aviana –  Void Avatar –  Don't Go In The Forest Chat Pile + Hayden Pedigo –  In the Earth Again Despised Icon –  Shadow Work King 810 –  Rustbelt Numetal 2 Smash Into Pieces – ARMAHEAVEN Spite –  New World Kill