COUNT VLAD'S TOP 60 BLACK METAL ALBUMS OF 2025


 

<growl turning into shriek, drowning and fading away into the void of lonely frozen stars, lightning through the majesty of the night sky above the mighty black forest>: BLACK METAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL.....

Ahhhh, the black metal list! The genre that polarizes the masses, divides them, and is the most diverse of all genres. 2025 was a good year for black metal. There has been a return to the roots after a few years of rainbow Instagram BM posing recorded in the bedrooms... 

Another hectic year for the genre, as well as for music in general (However, I will save this rant for my AOTY list). I could probably include 666 albums easily due to the enormous release schedule, but I shortlisted 94 only from these numerous black metal records released in 2025. Then I selected the final 50. Then I decided to make them 60 at least, or 66, or whatever. So here you are, 60+3 below. The ones that grabbed most of my attention during this already dead and gone year. Then the countless other releases that are out there, and should or shouldn't be mentioned. In my monthly lists here, some of them are present. Others are in your lists. 

Is it a dangerous list, a sketchy one? It consists of a diverse and healthy mix of albums to enjoy if you really follow the genre from the roots, and everything that was happening during Wave 2. Then, all the blends and mixes with other genres, mostly death metal, or the grinding war metal... I put everything that I consider one way or another black metal, because of music, lyrics, or past albums, or everything in one. 

And yes - all the lists are representations of the taste and mood in a certain moment in time, and are subject to change any other day once they are published!

The black metal album of the year? Kaevum. Why? Because it represents everything that black metal was and was created for - underground, raw, aggressive, angry, black, white, dangerous, philosophical, and gatekeeping. I was considering Blut Aus Nord for my No.1 as well, due to the awesome return to more atmospheric (and less swirling industrial) vibes. However, Kaevum is a nostalgic reminder for me from the mid-90s. Period. Then the rest, which I tried to put in some order. Most of them were well hyped by me, and were part of my monthly lists on this blog. So no surprises. Let's see what time will tell us about all of them - which ones are going to pass the test of the years, turning into klassiks. 

For 2025 - this is it. My TOP 60 BLACK METAL ALBUMS list is done. Enjoy!



1. Kaevum - Ultra (YouTube)
2. Blut aus Nord - Ethereal Horizons (Bandcamp)
3. Drudkh - Shadow Play (Spotify)
4. Acherontas - Νekyia - The Necromantic Patterns (Spotify)
5. Sarastus - Agony Eternal (Bandcamp)
6. Sargeist - Flame Within Flame (Spotify)
7. Blood Abscission - I I (Bandcamp)
8. Tenebrae Aeternum - Profana Veritas (Bandcamp)
9. Teitanblood - From the Visceral Abyss (Bandcamp)

10. Esoctrilihum - Ghostigmatah – Spiritual Rites of the Psychopomp Abxulöm (Bandcamp)
11. Nattverd - Tidloes Naadesloes (Bandcamp)
12. Varnheim - Void (Bandcamp)
13. Melancholie - Winterkronieken (Bandcamp)
14. Yellow Eyes - Confusion Gate (Bandcamp)
15. Darvaza - We are Him (Bandcamp)
16. Der Weg einer Freiheit - Innern (Bandcamp)
17. Hexekration Rites - Misanthropic Path Of Carnal Deliverance (Bandcamp)
18. Dysylumn - Abstraction (Bandcamp)

19. Anzv - KUR (Bandcamp)
20. Morast - Fentanyl (Bandcamp)
21. Medico Peste - Aesthetic Of Hunger (Bandcamp)
22. The Ominous Circle - Cloven Tongues of Fire (Bandcamp)
23. Ebony Pendant - Threnodies From The Coldlands (Bandcamp)
24. Ferox Occulta - Daimon (Bandcamp)
25. Arrows - Yearning Arrows; Cloven Suns (Bandcamp)
26. Lychgate - Precipice (Bandcamp)
27. Ad Hominem - Totalitarian Black Metal (YouTube)

28. One of nine - Dawn Of The Iron Shadow (Bandcamp)
29. Bliss of Flesh - Metempsychosis (Bandcamp)
30. Haimad - When Night Rode Across The North (Bandcamp)
31. ...And Oceans - The Regeneration Itinerary (Bandcamp)
32. Sunken - Lykke (Bandcamp)
33. Hadopelagyal - Haematophoryktos (Bandcamp)
34. Hate Forest - Against All Odds (YouTube)
35. Warmoon Lord - Sacrosanct Demonopathy (Bandcamp)
36. Veilburner - Longing for Triumph, Reeking of Tragedy (Bandcamp)

37. Trest - Energumen (Bandcamp)
38. Imha Tarikat - Confessing Darkness (Bandcamp)
39. Havukruunu - Tavastland (Bandcamp)
40. Marrow - Nigredo (Bandcamp)
41. Malakhim - And In Our Hearts the Devil Sings (Bandcamp)
42. Thanatorean - Ekstasis Of Subterranean Currents (Bandcamp)
43. Hierophany - Tenebrario (Bandcamp)
44. Medieval Demon - All Powers of Darkness (Bandcamp)
45. Behemoth - The Shit Ov God (Bandcamp)

46. Nemorous - What Remains When Hope Has Failed (Bandcamp)
47. Gjendød - Svekkelse (Bandcamp)
48. Wythersake - At War With Their Divinity (Bandcamp)
49. Enthroned - Ashspawn (Bandcamp)
50. Marasme - Fel (Bandcamp)
51. Autrest - Burning Embers, Forgotten Wolves (Bandcamp)
52. Endrøm - The Last Swordsman (Bandcamp)
53. Ofermod - Drakosophia (Bandcamp)
54. Hexerei - Realms..... (Bandcamp)

55. Gràb - Kremess (Bandcamp)
56. Summoning Hellgates - Spear of Conquest (Bandcamp)
57. Sumerian Tombs - Age of Eternal Night (Bandcamp)
58. Balmog - Laio (Bandcamp)
59. Colotyphus - The End Of Journey (Bandcamp)
60. Abduction - Existentialismus (Bandcamp)
61. Dephosphorus - Planetoktonos (Bandcamp)
62. Waldgeflüster - Knochengesänge (Bandcamp)
63. Clandestine Blaze - Consecration of the Blood (YouTube)


If you missed my TOP 50 DEATH METAL ALBUMS OF 2025, you can check it here. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MY TOP LIST OF FEBRUARY 2025

Image
February 2025 was a solid month. I listened to many new albums and the selection below only proves there were good ones. A 30-album selection is not happening very often most recently, especially in times of constant flood of new records (of mediocrity).  I tried to make a split in the selection, and there is a kind of top 20 and then another 10 very special mentions. Anyway, it could all be taken as one whole pile of stuff to be checked for those who haven't yet. All these are good and enjoyable albums that differ from the pedestrian release schedule that happens every Friday or every day of the week.  And I keep buying a lot of records, new albums or klassiks, my collection grows and grows. There is one clear album of the month for me. HANGMAN'S CHAIR's Saddiction took all the bells and whistles in February 2025. Soooo good, so melancholic, and so drowning into sadness. Then follows the rest, and the list here is somehow in a particular order this time. As I mentioned abo...
Read more

MY TOP LIST OF APRIL 2025

Image
My notes on the new releases schedule in April 2025 featured too many new albums, and I trimmed everything down to 35 releases, which I decided to include in the present publication. I really wanted to include as many as possible. Not that there weren't more that deserved attention. The 35 below might have the chance to stay with me longer than expected. (probably until next week when another portion of new albums will flood us all 😂).  In fact, April delivered. There are some really good albums that I did enjoy. Of course, everything depends on the mood and the circumstances. There is probably something for everyone below. However, when I thought about the Album of the month, I couldn't decide on a clear favourite. My favourites over the recent years - LIK and Blood Abscission (my love for both is well-known), and even Machine Head, were potential candidates. As a huge MGLA worshiper, I listened to a lot of Varnheim. Tenebrae Aeternum blew me away during a month of listening ...
Read more

MY TOP LIST OF MAY 2025

Image
  I didn't enjoy the May'25 releases that much. Very few caught my attention and I'll continue to listen to them in the future months. Even some of the albums in the list below can't be considered so strong. It is a very heavy list, though, and at this point in time, it was the best I could gather as proof of my enjoyment of the new music. Naturally, most of my choices are black metal and death metal, and some cringeworthy stuff as well. I won't comment much this time, but the first five or six albums will definitely be in my various AOTY lists. The last 4 are here just because of the momentary lapse (lack) of reason and were severely dependent on my mood.  Was there a clear winner of the Album of the Month prize? Not really because every one of the first five albums in this list could be No. 1, depending on the mood. Finally, I decided to put Kaevum on top because this is the way BM should be - UG, raw, straightforward, no trends, no fun and games, no sympho crap, ...
Read more