Stuck in the Filter: October 2025âs Angry Misses
By Kenstrosity
They say itâs going to be a harsh winter this year. They always say that, and itâs almost never true, at least not from where Iâve set up camp. However, no matter the weather I am a harsh taskmaster, doling out grueling hours, no pay or benefits, and probably the worst coffee on the planet to my dutiful minions. It takes a special kind of person, motivated by pure unadulterated greed to ravenously scour the filter for dusty, almost-forgotten gems like they do.
But we are thankful for them for being exactly that! And we also benefit, in the form of quality(ish) chunks of glimmery, shimmery metal. BEHOLD!
Kenstrosityâs Riffy Representation
Xaoc // Repulsive Summoning [October 31, 2025 â Edgewood Arsenal Records]
Xaocâs history is one of the more confusing Iâve encountered in my time writing for this blog. After breaking up in 2008, a new lineup spawned in 2022 to record and release Proxime Mortis from the ashes of songs written pre-breakup, supported by Edgewood Arsenal. At some point this year, two more members spawned in anticipation of this new slab Repulsive Summoning. But the bandâs labeled as Split Up already on Metallum? I donât understand whatâs going on there, but at least I can say that Repulsive Summoning is a turbo banger! These riffs are bonkers, full of verve and swagger, brimming with groove and muscularity. A happy mix of Vomitory and Dormant Ordeal, this Virginian outfit know how to throw down. Highlights like âAve Solva Coagula,â âAntima Samskara,â âThe Great Perfected Ones,â and the entire âDegenerate Eraâ three-part suite reduce my body into a fine slurry by the grinding, vicious power of their riffs alone. But the rabid growls, ballistic percussion, and meaty guitar tones contain more than enough fuel to propel those riffs across this tight and thunderous 35-minute runtime. Itâs a simple record, built to beat me down and leave me broken and bloodied, but itâs also an effortlessly memorable affair that leaves me wanting more despite the mounting medical bills. Donât sleep on Xaoc!
Andy-War-Hallâs Succulent Surplus
Canvas of Silence // As the World Tree Fell [October 31st, 2025 â Rockshots Records]
Finnish symphonic metallers Canvas of Silence describe themselves as âprog-influenced chorus metal,â and that description goes far in outlining their debut As the World Tree Fell. Their core sound resembles a progged-out Nightwish moonlighting as a melodeath band, committing ludicrous bombast on symphonic-heavy cuts like âThe Great Unknownâ and âWayfarerâ amidst a sharp Gothenburg riff attack in âWatching the World Tree Fallâ and âDrown.â Canvas of Silence mete out a balanced approach of light and dark sounds between Theocracyesque prog-power (âOne With the Wind,â âHumanimalâ) and Madder Mortem-like gothic twists (âDrown,â âAnthem for Ashesâ), all reined in by the commanding vocal presence of singer Loimu Satakieli.1 Sitting somewhere between Anette Olzon (ex-Nightwish, The Dark Element) and Agnete Kierkevaag (Madder Mortem), her impassioned and heavily-layered singing turns As the World Tree Fell into a smörgĂ„sbord of lush, catchy and anthemic tunes of an uplifting, sing-along nature. Optimism permeates As the World Tree Fell, felt at a fever pitch on the enormous choral bridge of âHumanimalâ and the folky power metal jaunt of âOne With the Wind.â Even on lyrically dark/mournful passages like âWayfarerâ and âGarden of the Fallen,â Canvas of Silence deliver soaring, hopeful crescendos that at times reach Fellowship levels of good cheer. Canvas of Silence can craft sincerely beautiful moments, and though As the World Tree Fellâs production can be sterile and overly loud2 I am nothing but excited to see what these Finns can cook up next.
Spicie Forrestâs Punky Proferrings
Violent Testimony // Aggravate [October 17th, 2025 â Horror Pain Gore Death Productions]
Do you wish there was more grind in your life? Well, Cheyenne, Wyomingâs Violent Testimony just assumed you would. Combining the punky flair of Napalm Death with the lead foot ethos of early Pig Destroyer and Cattle Decapitation, debut LP Aggravate is 26 minutes of delicious grindy goodness. From the opening salvo of âGod Complex Massacreâ to the final detonations of âHit Nâ Run,â Violent Testimony shows absolutely no restraint. D.N.âs Gatling drums mow down everything in their path while T.W.âs serpentine bass clears the chaff and flattens any obstruction. Shrapnel propelled by N.Y.âs brutish, breakneck riffing can be seen burying itself in concrete walls, still quivering (âRider in the Night,â âPsychotic Episodeâ). Caustic growls and vitriolic screams tear from T.W.âs throat at mach fuck (âFlashbang Celebration,â âObligatory Manifestation of Infinite Grindâ). With only two tracks exceeding the two-minute mark, Violent Testimony screams their piece with as much sound and fury as possible before moving on and picking their next bone with the system. This keeps Aggravate a lean, densely-packed offering. If you need to get pissed off right now and even the fastest death metal is too slow, Violent Testimony is all too happy to decimate the opposition with you.
Uaar // Galger og Brann [October 17th, 2025 â Fysisk Format Records]
Hailing from Oslo, Norway, crust outfit Uaar celebrates their tenth birthday by releasing their debut LP. Galger og Brann, which means âGallows and Fireâ in Norwegian, expands on the foundations laid by established acts like Skitsystem and Tragedy. With one foot firmly planted in black metal and the other in hardcore, Uaar unleashes a cacophony of rage unfettered. D-beats abound, courtesy of Truls Friesl Berg, creating a frantic, enraged atmosphere. Dag Schaug Carlsenâs blackened rasps are so cold they burn, matching the evil pall hanging over tracks like âGaleĂ„sâ and âDen siste.â Post-flecked, Ancsty tendencies (âAlt Skal Brenne,â âOveraltâ) peek through the feral hardcore riffage (âHĂ„pet forsvinnerâ) of guitarists Erik Berg Friesl and Jon Schaug Carlsen, while bassist Stian S. Evensen provides the muscle to convince you these guys arenât screwing around. Uaar is well-versed in their base genres, alternating between and mixing black metal and hardcore effortlessly. The occasional blues-tinged heavy metal leadâas in âOveraltâ and âDolkenââkeep Galger og Brann from being a one-note affair. With a dearth of standout blackened hardcore releases this year, Uaarâs Galger og Brann is a welcomeâif lateâaddition to the list.
Scorching Tomb // Ossuary [October 24th, 2025 â Time to Kill Records]
Iâll be honest, Iâve never considered Montreal, Canada, to be prime death metal territory. Luckily, Scorching Tomb doesnât care what I think. Debut LP Ossuary is an aural violation born of Tren-induced hardcore aggression and filthy old school death metal. With a guitar tone (Philippe Lelbanc) like sandpaper and a bass like swallowing gravel (Miguel Lepage), Scorching Tomb plays in the same cesspools as Bloodgutter and Rotpit. We normally associate melted faces with guitar solos, but that honor belongs to whatever corrosive noises issue forth from vocalist Vincent Patrick Lajeunesseâs guts. Drummer Ămile Savard loves a blast beat, often detonating them in short bursts to support an already bone-breaking assault (âFeel the Bladeâ). âStalagmite3 Impalementâ and âSanctum of Bones (Ossuary)â are particularly savage, with tetanus-inflicting riffs and bloodthirsty screams threatening to drag you into the crypt to be used for meal prep. On âSkullcrush,â Sanguisugaboggâs Devin Swank perfectly matches Scorching Tombâs vile depravity, cementing them as a promising new act in the scene. Ossuary is raging, muscle-bound, caveman death metal drowned in a vat of viscera and sewage, and it tastes incredible.
ClarkKentâs Gratifying Goodies
Sutratma // Adrift [October 3rd, 2025 â Self-Release]
While I didnât purposely seek out more doom during my self-imposed month of picking only doom promos, Sutratmaâs fifth full-length, Adrift, ranks as one of the better doom albums I listened to in November. This California four-piece has been writing funeral doom for 15 years, and it shows in their ability to craft effective melancholic slow-burns that strike a balance between melody and crushingly heavy. Adrift impresses straight out the gate with the piano-drenched âWind and Sea.â This song nicely melds the sorrowful softness of the piano with punishing guitar riffs and impressive growls. Just like stalwarts My Dying Bride, Sutratma mixes growls with cleans, and Daniel Lariosâs cleans effectively hit you right in the feels while the growls take on a more despairing note. Thereâs plenty of variety from song to song, with organs stealing the show on âGuiding Starâ and a lovely melody on âThe Great Bereaverâ that builds up to a moving finale. Just like with Oromet, thereâs a serenity to the music that is calming, and the skilled songwriting and musicianship lends a poignancy to it all. With the frenzy of list season upon us, itâs nice to have something like this to remind us that itâs okay to just slow downâeven when an angry ape is berating you for more content.
Starer // Ancient Monuments and Modern Sadness [October 10th, 2025 â Fiadh Productions]
Josh Hines, the one man behind black metal project, Starer, has been very busy. Since forming Starer in 2020, he has released four EPs and now, with the release of Ancient Monuments and Modern Sadness, four LPs. I first became acquainted with this band on 2023âs Wind, Breeze, or Breath and was taken in by Hinesâs aggressively atmospheric take on black metal. Ancient Monuments and Modern Sadness hits the ground running on âI Cry Your Motherâs Bloodâ with some aggressively catchy melodies. The aggression continues on âIl-Kantilenaâ with its icy riffs and pumping blast beats. Meanwhile, âThe Field of Reedsâ combines the black nâ roll of Fell Omen with the fuzzy reverb of atmoblack for a rollicking good time. Hines screams into the void as subdued symphonics add layers of melody, providing a surprising amount of depth to each song. Because of the frenetic pace, the 50-minute runtime flies right by, even as songs like âSong of the Harperâ do their best to vary the tempo. For black metal, the production is lush and gorgeous, giving air to all instruments. The epic, ten-minute finale is the culmination of Hinesâs ability to put together complex and compelling music that both excites by its aggression and dazzles with its atmospherics. Black metal fans should not miss this one.
Grin Reaperâs Haunted Harvest
Black Cross Hotel // Songs for Switches [October 31st, 2025 â Someoddpilot Records]
Three years after dropping their favorably reviewed debut Hex, keys-drenched and industrialized outfit Black Cross Hotel returns bearing Songs for Switches. 80s-inspired synths, mid-paced chugs, and dance-ready grooves pack neatly into forty-one minutes of grubby fun, sure to interest fans of Ministry and Killing Joke, or anyone with a predilection for leather. Where Hex boasted a wider assortment of tempos, Songs for Switches narrows its focus to mid-paced songs with a keener emphasis on keyboard melodies. Averting a direction that could have been limiting, Black Cross Hotel smartly sidesteps this by shaving down song lengths and arranging the tracks for optimal pacing. Individual moments across the album evoke Me and That Man (âEyes from Nowhereâ), Soulfly (âBlood Danceâ), and Joy Division (âTypoâ), casting an eclectic array of sounds into Mount Gloom to forge ten dangerously fun tracks. Though I liked the album at first listen, it took multiple spins for Songs for Switchesâ distilled aesthetic to fully unfurl, and once it did, my appreciation redoubled. With a sinister atmosphere designed as much for pain as pleasure, Black Cross Hotel has readied your room for a night you wonât forget.
Miasmata // Subterrania [October 31st, 2025 â Naturmacht Productions]
Still hawking their distinctive blend of meloblack and heavy metal, Miasmata dropped sophomore platter Subterrania on what was one of the most congested release days of 2025.4 In addition to the recurring influences of Windir (âDie at the Right Timeâ) and Iron Maiden (the intro to âSubterraniaâ smacks of The X Factor), Subterrania adds a dollop of thrash into the mix. Opener âThose Who Cross the Flameâ struts out with a punky riff that wouldnât be out of place on an Anthrax record, while âFull of the Devilâ tastes as much like Testament or Havok as Diamond Head. The beauty of Miasmata, both on debut Unlight: Songs of Earth and Atrophy and Subterrania, is one-man mastermind Mike Wilsonâs aptitude to synthesize a mighty host of influences into a unique sonic palette all his own. As Sharky noted in Unlightâs review, Miasmata has a knack for remarkable restraint. Subterrania clocks under forty minutes, layering slithery riffs upon one another in a way that propels the music in constant motion, shifting and unfolding so organically that the album slips by before you realize itâs over (an especially impressive feat considering the self-titled closerâs near fourteen-minute runtime). If you missed Miasmataâs latest on release day, go rectify that. Donât let Subterrania get lost to the underground.
Dolphin Whispererâs Autumnal Anomoly
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// Đ ĐĐ300119225 [October 28th, 2025 â Self Release]
As if plucked into lucidity from amidst a hazy, proggy machination, Đ ĐĐ30011922 steps into its narrativeâan exploration of a beloved figure in its creatorâs life, including sound clips describing the trials through which she persistedâwith an entrancing stumble. Through an understated math rock lens, tight kit rhythms with a tension-building hi-hat clashes strut against a loud and leading bass voice across 37 minutes of fluid guitar textures. Whether itâs the chunky fusion reminiscent of Hackett-era Gordian Knot, the playful rhythmic post-rock that evokes a band like toe, or the fuzzed-out punctuation that tell a prog tale as â70s King Crimson would, 怹éç
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, also known as Sleepwalker, makes their love of sound as clear as their love of Đ ĐĐ30011922âs inspiration. In a setting this free and detailed, not a single moment of this one-long-song opus passes by without taking a moment to focus on a given performerâs escalation in the drama of the movement. Wielding short guitar solos as segues into popping double-kick trots, spoken word exposition as pedal switch-up opportunities, all leading to a crescendo of bent and bluesy expression, 怹éç
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succeeds in more than just holding an audience captive with their jammy and heartfelt statement. Đ ĐĐ30011922, like the shorter form releases that have graced these halls before, will have you coming back time and time again to explore its sentiments, which feel both traced from a dream yet rooted in rich, earthly tone pleasures.
Saundersâ Slinky Sneaks
Enragement // Extinguish All Existence [October 31st, 2025 â Transcending Obscurity]
The back end of 2025 has thrown down some delightfully vicious, chunkified, and straightforward death metal gems, courtesy of the likes of Depravity, Glorious Depravity and Terror Corpse. Not to be discounted, Finlandâs Enragement dropped their own intense slab of brutal death on fourth LP, Extinguish All Existence. Cutting with any pleasantries, Enragement get down to business, slamming through a tight, burly collection of Americanized death, keenly treading a balance between thuggish beatdowns, chest-busting blasts, slammy, pig-squealing grooves, and more traditional, though deceptively diverse brutal death fare. Despite the certifiably crushing formula deployed, there is an air of accessibility, perhaps attributed to the clean but suitably beefy production job, bludgeoning, addictive grooves and sinister currents of atmospheric melody flowing through the albumâs riff-centric veins. Thrashy, straightforward bursts of fury are tempered by more technical flourishes and an impressively versatile vocal assault. The likes of Devourment, Deeds of Flesh, Dawn of Demise and Benighted are perhaps fitting reference points, however, Enragement blast their own path of uncompromisingly heavy destruction.
Stephen Brodsky // Cut to the Core Vol. 1 [October 3rd, 2025 â Pax Aeturnum]
There are a couple of ways to broach this latest solo endeavor from lovable rogue and Cave In/Mutoid Man mastermind Stephen Brodsky. Brodsky delivers refreshed interpretations of various â90s hardcore songs, reimagined in acoustic form. Those familiar with the original compositions will likely have fun dissecting and comparing the original anthems. While others, such as myself, largely unfamiliar with the originals, can enjoy these polished takes in their reimagined form, without comparison. Over the years, I have developed a strong connection with Brodskyâs works and come to appreciate his softer, acoustic flavorings. The likes of Snapcase, Converge, Texas is the Reason, Threadbare and By the Grace of God are some of the acts covered with typical style, zest, and emotion. Brodskyâs expressive and emotive delivery showcases both a loving appreciation of the material and deeper emotional connection that bleeds through the often darker, melancholic vibes of the acoustic constructions. The collection is remarkably consistent and infectious, highlighted by Brodskyâs crisp and soulful acoustic playing and distinctive singing voice on standout cuts, including âWindowsâ (Snapcase), âBenchwarmerâ (Lincoln), âFissuresâ (By the Grace of God), âFarewell Note to This Cityâ (Converge), and âVoiceâ (Sense Field).
Soul Blind // Red Sky Mourning [October 10th, 2025 â Closed Casket Activities]
Riding a familiar wave of early â00s alt-rock/metal and â90s grungy nostalgia, New Yorkâs Soul Blind emerge with sophomore LP, Red Sky Mourning. Although they tread dangerously close to overt derivation of prominent influences, including Alice in Chains, Deftones, and Helmet, Soul Blind manage to just stay afloat on their own terms. The dreamy melodies, chunky alt metal riffs, and soaring, Cantrell-esque vocal melodies cultivate some earwormy hooks and fuzzy, 90s/â00s feels. Soul Blind possess a knack for writing textured, mildly sludgy, infectious rock ditties, dabbling in shoegazing atmospherics, and sturdier alt metal territories along the way. Soul Blind relish in AIC inspired earworms (âDyno,â âHide Your Evilâ), grittier, more aggressive alt metal fare (âBilly,â âNew York Smokeâ) and airy, indie pop-rock (âThru the Hazeâ). Soul Blind have work to do to stand out from their influences and develop a more unique sound and robust character. However, the signs are positive for better things to come. Red Sky Mourning is a solid throwback album and handy companion piece to the equally nostalgia-inspired album from Bleed earlier in the year.
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