Memories of Old – Never Stop Believing [Things You Might Have Missed 2025] By ClarkKent

Sneaking in at the end of a crowded 2025, Memories of Old released their sophomore record, Never Stop Believing, hoping to fill a Fellowship-sized hole in your heart. Last we saw them in 2020, Emya gave their debut a glowing review, praising vocalist Tommy Johansson and saying the band sounded as if they’d “been playing together for decades.” As you might say in the sports world, Emya may have jinxed them. Since releasing The Zeramin Game, three of the five band members have departed, including Johansson, and it’s taken five years to put together a follow-up. Such high turnover usually spells disaster, and it might also explain the quiet release and lack of a promo. However, both new and remaining members took Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” to heart and want to remind their fans to Never Stop Believing.

It’s clear this new iteration of Memories of Old takes their inspiration from the cheerful style of Fellowship. The record just oozes positivity, from the album title to the lyrical content to the uplifting guitars and synths. Further, new vocalist Noah Simmons sounds a lot like Matthew Corry, with a higher register than your typical power metal vocalist. He just sounds so cheerful every time he sings, and these good vibes are infectious. Songs thrum with energy thanks to the galloping blast beats and the frequent, and often dynamic, solos that invigorate each tune. It’s pure bliss from start to the final track, “Journey to the Stars,” where the band takes us to a place where “angels fly through the sky.” If you’re allergic to this level of optimism, steer clear of Never Stop Believing. For the rest of you, adventure on!

Never Stop Believing by Memories Of Old

Memories of Old excel at not just the good cheer, but also the songwriting and storytelling. Anchored by its catchy chorus “Guardians of the Kingdom” displays these strengths as it methodically builds up from a slower pace to something that has you primed and pumped for battle. There’s a variety on Never Stop Believing that keeps it fresh without sacrificing the character of the band. The muscular, heavy “Memories of Old” takes a page out of the Manowar playbook with an adrenaline-fueled bass drum beat and the second catchiest chorus on the record. Meanwhile, “After the Storm” has a synth that could fit right in with a Trans-Siberian Orchestra holiday hit, followed by a chorus that mixes disco with ABBA pop beats. “Life Begins Again,” the lone ballad, begins with an intro reminiscent of a Mötley Crüe ballad before diving into the tears-of-joy weepies. Memories of Old delivers 55 minutes of symphonic power metal that’s sure to bring out the innocent, joyful child in you.1

In a year that had mid to really good cheesy power metal, with few outstanding acts, Memories of Old stands apart. The vision of the remaining founding members, Billy Jeffs and Anthony Thompson, held together during a period of immense change for the band. I imagine that these guys can put out another set of bangers with some extra time together. Maybe next time they’ll send us the promo so I don’t have to wait to stumble upon this by mistake again.2

Tracks to Check Out: “Never Stop Believing,” “Guardians of the Kingdom,” “Fly Away Together,” “After the Storm”

#2025 #ABBA #EnglishMetal #Fellowship #Journey #LimbMusic #Manowar #MemoriesOfOld #MotleyCrue #NeverStopBelieving #PowerMetal #SymphonicMetal #SymphonicPowerMetal #ThingsYouMightHaveMissed2025 #TransSiberianOrchestra #TYMHM

Opia – I Welcome Thee, Eternal Sleep [Things You Might Have Missed 2025] By ClarkKent

This stunning debut comes to us via members from across the globe—from England to Spain to Czechia to Brazil. Despite somewhat limited experience between them, the sextet plays like they’ve been jamming together for decades. They bring an eclectic range of styles from their previous and current bands, from black metal to scatological heavy metal to melodic doom to gothic metal, in order to craft a gentle yet brutal piece of gothic doom metal. I would like to give a warm welcome to Opia and their powerful debut album, I Welcome Thee, Eternal Sleep.

Opia deftly balances the gentle with the crushingly heavy, resulting in a record of beautiful melancholy that would make My Dying Bride and Swallow the Sun proud. They achieve this with a dichotomy of soft arpeggios and heavy riffs, of tender cleans and harsh growls. This dichotomy amplifies the melancholic power of the music, and there’s an undeniable satisfaction when a song suddenly grows loud and brutal following a softer stretch. We hear this on tracks like “Days Gone By,” which opens with some nifty fretwork before exploding into heavier riffs. Opia flexes their true muscle on masterpieces like “Man Proposes, God Disposes” and “Silence,” where Tereza Rohelova’s cleans croon a melancholic melody before delving into such despairing heaviness that it’ll have you aching from the hurt. The similarly astonishing “The Eye” flips the melodic element on its head with a chorus where Rohelova’s growls deliver the beauty over top a soaring keyboard part.

I Welcome Thee, Eternal Sleep by Opia

As great as the compositions are, the heartfelt performances by all musicians elevate the material. As frontwoman, Rohelova sets the tone with an electrifying performance on the level of My Dying Bride’s Aaron Stainthorpe. Her cleans take on a haunting quality that adds a touch of the gothic, and while her growls don’t reach the muscular tone of Stainthorpe, they are nonetheless effective in setting a tone of brutality. The dual guitar work from Phoenix Griffiths and Dan Tregenna also dazzle. Their fretwork is so effective and creative, whether it’s the mellower arpeggios or crushing riffs, that there’s never a dull moment or a lull. Marcelo Teixeira, behind the kit, is also solid. He swaps between gentle drum and cymbal taps to pummeling blast beats on a dime. He really goes all out on a climatic moment on the finale, “On Death’s Door Part II,” that’ll leave you breathless. Important to setting up the gothic tone is keyboardist Jorge Afonso Rodriguez, who adds melodic depth as well as atmosphere. There’s a depth to the songwriting that opens up rewarding new avenues every time I give the record another spin.

Having been released in late April, I missed out on the opportunity to review I Welcome Thee, Eternal Sleep by just a few weeks. But when I first heard it, I knew it was special enough to save for a TYMHM. A debut this powerful should not be missed, and having spent this extra time with it late in the year, I believe I made a mistake by not including it in my end of year list. This is a promising start for a group who, I hope, continues to craft songs together for a long time to come.

Songs to Check Out: ”Man Proposes, God Disposes,” “The Fade,” “The Eye,” “Silence

#2025 #DoomMetal #EnglishMetal #GothicDoom #GothicMetal #HammerheartRecords #IWelcomeTheeEternalSleep #MyDyingBride #Opia #SwallowTheSun #ThingsYouMightHaveMissed2025 #TYMHM

The Austerity Program – Bible Songs 2 [Things You Might Have Missed 2025] By Samguineous Maximus

Speak to enough musicians in the underground who favor the sonically depraved, and you might hear word of two New Yorkers, who emerge now and then from the doldrums of normal life to unleash their unique brand of sonic chaos upon the unsuspecting masses. I’m talking, of course, about The Austerity Program, the criminally underrated duo of Justin Foley and Thad Calabrese who have delivered some of the greatest noise rock records of the 2000s. Their signature sound of “Big Black meets unhinged mathy industrial” has always been simultaneously entertaining and hideous to behold, but it was 2019’s Bible Songs 1 that took them to another level. The Austerity Program’s songs have always unfolded like twisted fables, but with Bible Songs, their subject matter took on a new gravitas, as the duo rendered the darkest moments of the Old Testament in their sardonic snarl. Bible Songs 1 is a stunning synthesis of literature and music that gives me chills with each listen, so 6 years after the fact, I was a little apprehensive about its sequel being able to live up to my expectations. Bible Songs 2 not only meets them, but exceeds them.

Each song on Bible Songs 2 adapts short Old and New Testament passages, turning some of the Bible’s darkest verses into miniature noise-rock payloads, modernizing the language and maximizing each piece’s impact with deranged noise-rock instrumentation. Foley’s acerbic spoken delivery covers verses about the vicious destruction and suffering of Jerusalem during the Babylonian siege (“Lamentations 4:7—11”), the condemnation of man by God for his failures (“Joshua 7:6—26”), and the ultimate biblical reckoning at the end of days (“Revelation 8:7—13”). Each line is spewed with a sort of sarcastic vitriol that at once recognizes the horror of its subject matter, while also poking fun at its absurdity. Individual lines alternate between exaggerated humor, 1 and cosmic consequence. 2 Through it all, Foley’s personality and keen sense of phrasing contribute to no shortage of incredibly memorable couplets that have stuck with me all year since I first heard them.

Bible Songs 2 by The Austerity Program

Bible Songs 2 features exclusively guitar, bass, and a drum machine, yet The Austerity Program uses this sparse palette to create expansive canvases that both excite and disturb. Calabrese’s bass provides the record’s most recognizable element, a chunky, mid-pushed growl reminiscent of imperial-era Ministry or The Jesus Lizard, forming the backbone of most songs alongside the band’s signature drum machine grooves. That drum machine feels uncanny in its force and precision, functioning less like traditional percussion and more like an inhuman engine driving each track forward. Foley’s guitar operates primarily as a shrill, siren-like effect, recontextualizing riffs, adding rhythmic accents, and pushing the music into the liminal space between noise and composition. These elements converge across six tracks built on hypnotic, repeating rhythms that expand and contract between subdued chaos and total aural devastation. “Judges 19:22—29” and “Luke 3:4—9” exemplify this, but there are also more even-tempered pieces like the bass-led “Joshua 7:6—26,” the slow-build of “Zephaniah 3:1—7,” or the sonic journey of “Lamentations 4:7—11.” This is all in preparation for the closer “Revelation 8:7—13,” whose urgent tremolo riffs, inhuman snare patterns, and final burst of dissonance convincingly soundtrack the end of days. 3

Bible Songs 2 is an absolute triumph of a record. It builds on the immense strengths The Austerity Program has demonstrated in the past and weaponizes their unique brand of unsettling noise rock for a set of timely compositions that showcase just how powerful the combination of music and a fully-realized subject matter can be. It’s one of my favorite records of the year, and I’ll be quoting notable lines and blasting it for years to come.

Tracks to Check Out: “Lamentations 4:7—11,” “Judges 19:22—29,” “Joshua 7:6—26,” “Revelation 8:7—13”

#2025 #AmericanMetal #BibleSongs2 #BigBlack #ControlledBurnRecords #Experimental #Industrial #Mathcore #Ministry #NoiseRock #TheAusterityProgram #TheJesusLizard #ThingsYouMayHaveMissed2025 #TYMHM

Amalekim – Shir Hashirim [Things You Might Have Missed 2025] By Baguette of Bodom

You may be wondering what on earth I am doing willingly touching a black metal album, let alone complimenting one. Well, you know what they say: never let them know your next move. Mysterious Polish-Italian collective Amalekim garnered praise in these hallowed halls with their 2023 release Avodah Zarah, our own Thus Spoke calling it a highlight during a weaker year for the genre. Naturally, I disliked the album, which tends to be a good sign for the average black metal fan. I was nevertheless surprised to see Shir Hashirim released to little fanfare or label promotion after such a positive reception 18 months prior. One look at the ‘melodic’ prefix reactivated my optimist instincts; maybe Amalekim was worth another shot. Two years is a long time in music, let alone fleeting personal tastes.

Not much has necessarily changed with Amalekim’s vicious formula, but the refinements are significant. The core of the band’s sound still lies in the realms of early Gaerea but is also distinctly its own thing altogether. And contrary to Gaerea’s recent development,1 Amalekim isn’t planning to go metalcore any time soon. No, Shir Hashirim further improves on the band’s best qualities while retaining their identity, offering relentless speed and riffs for days (“Chant II: Shir Hashirim,” “Chant IV: Sodot HaYekum”). It’s what I like to call ‘violently melodic’ for all the right reasons, both the intense drumming by Ktulak and the demonic vocals of Mróz enhancing the spite present in the dueling guitars. Most importantly, Amalekim never lets their foot off the gas pedal on their mission to create hauntingly aggressive yet beautifully melodic music.

Shir Hashirim by Amalekim

Shir Hashirim’s success comes from its subversion of common black metal tropes without abandoning them. Gone is the overreliance on standard tremolo and blast beat abuse that I previously took issue with. Those elements are both still key to the album, but in a much more appealing and bite-sized, fresh context (“Chant III: Mesharet HaShilton,” “Chant VIII: Mishteh Malkhuti”). Amalekim’s songwriting has evolved into a much more varied beast with plenty of creative drum and riff patterns to show for it. It almost feels like there’s a bunch of death metal DNA in the band’s songwriting this time (“Chant VI: Tisha Daltot”); in this way, I could see it being the blackened mirror image of Dormant Ordeal’s newest. Where Shir Hashirim improves over Dormant Ordeal’s excellent release is the wonderfully warm and roomy production, a complete opposite of what many others in this scene go for. It once again shows that your album doesn’t need to be crushed or lo-fi to sound brutal—great production simply makes the performance all the more powerful and unyielding.

Shir Hashirim is the first black metal record in ages to catch my interest, and one of the best albums of the year at that. Violent, melodic, and extremely fast all at once, its 38-minute package of eight chants simply leaves me wanting to immediately replay the experience all over again. It’s tight and consistent in a way few other records this year are, and its form of melodic fury makes the album unintentionally catchy. Amalekim’s oppressive and angry atmosphere should satiate the usual suspects, but the breakneck pace and no-nonsense songwriting on Shir Hashirim are sure to appeal to a wider audience as well.

Track to Check Out: “Chant II: Shir Hashirim,” “Chant IV: Sodot HaYekum,” and “Chant VII: Haka’as HaNachash.”

#2025 #Amalekim #AvantgardeMusic #BlackMetal #DormantOrdeal #Gaerea #ItalianMetal #MelodicBlackMetal #PolishMetal #ShirHashirim #ThingsYouMightHaveMissed2025 #TYMHM

Species – Changelings [Things You Might Have Missed 2025] By Grin Reaper

About once a year, I find a technical thrash album I utterly adore. 2023 graced me with Xoth, and 2024’s Dissimulator debut was my favorite album of the year. In 2025, the premiere thrash platter belongs to Warsaw, Poland’s Species. Unfairly or not, thrash is an oft-maligned genre accused of being unserious and trite or stale and stuck in the past. On Changelings, Species’ sophomore offering, the band nimbly threads the needle between paying homage to thrash’s heyday while shaping a fresh sound that’s enchanting yet familiar.

Changelings confidently walks the elusive path between influence and originality. From the opening moments of “Inspirit Creation,” Species treats listeners to hooks stretched taut between early Testament pluck (think “Burnt Offering”) and Countdown and Youthanasia-era Megadeth. It’s a curious combination, as The Legacy has a distinctly unpolished edge, while early-to-mid-90s Megadeth condenses the sheer technicality of Rust in Peace into glossy, efficient leads. Changelings takes the above reference points and channels the grit and chops of bands like Chemical Breath and Obliveon1 to economically distill its riffcraft into thrashy white lightning. The tight musicianship and melody-countermelody tandem of guitar and bass smack of Rush, Cynic, and Mekong Delta, but don’t let all the influences fool you. Species evokes these bands and others, but Changelings is no mere retread. The album glimmers with invention, where each track possesses its own devilishly charming character and mood.

Changelings by Species

Following in the footsteps of esteemed power trios like Rush and Coroner, Species exhibits an acumen for composing dense and exciting music that feels natural and organic. Though bursting with talent, no moment on Changelings serves to grandstand Species’ technical wizardry. Guitarist Michał Kępka wends his way through the album, unleashing snazzy flourishes and palm-muted muscle as songs demand. His licks are sharp and precise, yet Kępka imbues an improvisational aura to his axework that keeps the music alluringly unpredictable (“The Essence,” “Terror Unknown”). Bassist Piotr Drobina delights as he plays beside Kępka while laying down vocals. It’s an impressive feat, considering the ground he covers on the bottom end. From octave hopping (“Born of Stitch and Flesh”) to beefy bass power chords (“Inspirit Creation”), Drobina is the perfect complement to Kępka for Species’ give-and-take stringed approach. Meanwhile, Przemysław Hampelski provides the rhythmic foundation for the band. He’s not as overtly ostentatious as Peart or Hoglan, but Hampelski impresses throughout Changelings, from laying down the groove-laced intro of “The Essence” to the simmering timekeeping on “Born of Stitch and Flesh.” All told, Species constructs an intricate musical experience where distinct ideas meld together to navigate an undeniably engaging aural exploit.

In a year where thrash’s harvest produced scant high-quality yields, Species delivered a cash crop of bangers.2 Changelings’ magic stems from the band’s penchant to zag when I expect them to zig. Finding moments to subvert listeners’ expectations keeps momentum and interest high, such as when the musical tension builds to an assumed climax, only to break to an understated solo before lurching back into high-intensity fulfillment. Species dazzles in this space, ever on the prowl to sink their claws further into your sonic psyche. In an efficient forty minutes, Changelings carves out an undeniable and relevant voice in a genre plagued by criticisms of stagnation and lack of innovation. If you crave music with originality, brawn, and fun, Species is a mandatory destination in your 2025 tour of metal.

Tracks to Check Out: “Inspirit Creation,” “The Essence,” “Born of Stitch and Flesh,” “Biological Masterpiece”

#20BuckSpin #2025 #Changelings #ChemicalBreath #Coroner #Cynic #Dissimulator #Megadeth #MekongDelta #Obliveon #PolishMetal #Rush #Species #TechnicalThrashMetal #Testament #ThingsYouMightHaveMissed2025 #ThrashMetal #TYMHM #Xoth

Panopticon – Songs of Hiraeth [Things You Might Have Missed 2025] By Thus Spoke

I spent so long this summer submerged in Panopticon’s discography, once I came back up, I was overwhelmed by the amount of things I’d missed or needed to get a headstart on. Consequently, I didn’t spend a huge amount of time with Songs of Hiraeth when it first dropped; I listened, loved it, made a note to TYMHM it, and moved on. It was only as Autumn started to turn into Winter and the seasonal chill reminded me of not just my end-of-year writing obligations, but the snowy wildernesses of Northern America (and Northern Europe, where much of Songs of Hiraeth was conceived). I’m not necessarily suggesting that the shorter days and the colder temperatures made the music sound better—I spent a significant chunk of my ranking-preparation listening in the south of France, and it sounded excellent as always then. But in some way, mine, the environment’s, and the album’s auras aligned, and everything was set for Songs of Hiraeth to reach full power.

Comprised of songs composed between 2009 and 2011,1 the album is a window into a hidden alternate microcosm within Panopticon’s discography. But it’s one that lays bare seeds of growth that were carried on into the actual, later sound and spirit. Slow, dreamy, gazelike soundscapes (“The Road to Bergen,” “The White Mountain View,”), and syrupy, forlorn guitars shrouded in atmosphere (“A Letter,” “The Eulogy”), express the later music’s gentler, more often reflective aspect that plays as significant a role as the raw black metal.2 You can also see the gradual maturity in experimentation, with transitions between that folk-tinged softness and wintry fury more natural than on the debut, and Collapse, albeit still less ethereally perfect than they would become (“From Bergen to Jotunheimen,” “The White Mountain View”).

Songs Of Hiraeth by Panopticon

Possibly the most brilliant thing about Songs of Hiraeth, however, is that it gets better as it goes on.3 This is not to say that the earlier parts aren’t good—they are; the solemn, then triumphant atmo-black of “The White Mountain View” could compete with any later fan-favourite and is really lovely. But from the first tumbling rollovers of “The End is Drawing Near” onwards, something shifts. The blackened ardour goes from a hum to a storm, and the mournful melodies pitch into urgency (“The End is Drawing Near,” “A Letter”), before they cascade down with exquisite sadness (“A Letter,” “The Eulogy”). That bewitching liquidity to the reverb-soaked tremolos—which was present from Panopticon, and which only grew in sublimity over time—dominates these three final songs. In them–particularly closing duo “A Letter,” and “The Eulogy”—you can hear and feel the heart of their creator beating in the expressive, pleasantly audible drumwork, the transcendent soaring of the guitars, and the literal grief and pain in the lyrics he screams into the haze.

2025 has been the year of Panopticon for me, with a discography deep-dive, two albums, and a surprise EP that knocked me off my feet.4 This has only sharpened my perception of the music’s strange magic: although my mind knows, my body forgets between listening sessions, just how good it is. Songs of Hiraeth is not just a coincidental window into the past; it’s another immersive offering of vulnerability revealed at a very specific time—just as crucial as the harrowing Laurentian Blue—and it is, as everything Panopticon creates, fantastic.

Songs to Check Out: ”The White Mountain View,” “The End is Drawing Near,” “A Letter,” “The Eulogy”

#2025 #AmericanMetal #AtmosphericBlackMetal #BlackMetal #Folk #Panopticon #PostBlackMetal #ThingsYouMightHaveMissed #TYMHM

Sallow Moth – Mossbane Lantern [Things You Might Have Missed 2025] By Grin Reaper

I don’t know if Garry Brents is the busiest person in metal, but he’s active enough that I worry for his work-life balance. In 2025 alone, Brents cranked out releases for multiple projects, including Sallow Moth’s latest platter, Mossbane Lantern. This is death metal for purveyors of the unrepentantly weird, especially those who indulge in sci-fi and fantasy. From a storytelling perspective, Mossbane Lantern takes an anthological approach in describing experiences that assorted characters have with the titular artifact.1 To capture these events through song, Brents casts a wide, chaotic net of sounds and influences. While it doesn’t fit neatly under either technical or brutal death metal, Mossbane Lantern cherry picks elements of each and infuses them with enough avant-garde, proggy nuttiness to trigger an allergic reaction. All told, Sallow Moth establishes a firmly singular take on death metal.

Though Sallow Moth has consistently embraced the unconventional, Mossbane Lantern ratchets up the stylistic fluidity from previous outings. In particular, the band takes Artificial Brain’s off-kilter, melodic sensibilities and inhuman gutturals, then weds them with Igorrr’s knack for unpredictable stutter-stops and abrupt musical shifts. With this foundation, Brents injects jazz-riddled Ingurgitating Oblivion accents and Cynic aesthetics under accelerated paces, giving Mossbane Lantern so many dimensions that juggling them would be disastrous in less-capable hands. Fear not, for Sallow Moth’s execution achieves the daunting vision laid out, beguiling with wackadoo impishness that’s as sure to bring a smile to your face as make you ask yourself, “What the fuck am I listening to?”2

Mossbane Lantern by Sallow Moth

Listening to Mossbane Lantern without context is a fun and brutal experience, but Sallow Moth’s true magic reveals itself once grounded in its world-building. Without getting too mired in lore, the eponymous Lantern allows users to teleport across distances great and small, though unexpected outcomes occur when the Lantern commingles with varied beings and enchantments. Musically, this allows a common thematic presence in the Mossbane Lantern itself while not strictly adhering to a single story. “Cauldron Brim Neurosilk” and “Runemilk Amulet” portray characters under chemical duress, urgently lurching between techy, fetid death metal and trip-hop, signaling when the pendulum of madness swings. Similarly, “Psionic Battery” and “Aethercave Boots” describe artifacts designed to aid with the Lantern’s use. When side effects emerge, psychedelic embellishments clue listeners in to the events’ warped natures. Through it all, Sallow Moth assaults listeners with fretless (and fretted) bass, guitar squeals, croaks, and more, keeping them off-balance as the music continuously evolves.

Such an absurd concept shouldn’t work this well, but Sallow Moth’s unhinged melting pot of jazzy intonations, bowel-churning gurgles, and genre-bending mayhem makes Mossbane Lantern a can’t-miss romp. As a fan of the bizarre and grotesque within metal, there are few (if any) facets of Mossbane Lantern I haven’t heard before, but the way Sallow Moth chucks the pieces into an industrial-grade blender and sets it to ‘Liquify’ is utterly novel and rewards multiple spins. Some listeners may find the adventure too jarring for their liking, but after spending time with Mossbane Lantern, I don’t find its components haphazard or incidental. Just the opposite—there’s a method to Sallow Moth’s madness, though it requires patience to appreciate. So grab your gear, head for Mossbane Lantern’s light, and prepare to get weird. It’s a trip you don’t want to miss.

Tracks to Check Out: “Icegorger Gauntlets,” “Psionic Battery,” “Cauldron Brim Neurosilk,” “Runemilk Amulet”

#2025 #AmericanMetal #ArtificialBrain #Cynic #DeathMetal #Gonemage #IVoidhangerRecords #Igorrr #IngurgitatingOblivion #MossbaneLantern #ProgressiveDeathMetal #SallowMoth #ThingsYouMightHaveMissed2025 #TYMHM

Moron Police – Pachinko [Things you Might have Missed 2025] By GardensTale

Moron Police is an odd band, if the moniker didn’t give it away. The first few albums were very comedy-oriented, but A Boat on the Sea suddenly saw the band tackling anti-war themes, without giving up the bright melodic sound that draws from progressive rock and anime soundtrack J-rock alike. Production on Pachinko was already on the way when drummer Thore Pettersen died in a car accident. After taking the time to mourn their friend, Moron Police soldiered on, aided by Dillinger Escape Plan drummer Billy Rymer. The result is an astounding album in every regard, an experience unlike anything I’ve heard in years. It’s also a concept album about a dude getting turned into a sentient gambling machine in Tokyo. Huh?

Pachinko by Moron Police

Everything about Pachinko is larger than life. It’s as colorful as its gorgeous cover, full of energy and possessed of an indomitable spirit, a quirky sense of humor, and endless love and compassion. The narrative, which seems to be inspired by isekai anime,1 is merely a vehicle for philosophical ruminations on the nature of life, fate and human connection in a world designed to wear you down to apathy. No two songs are alike or tackle these subjects the same way, and you can get snippets of darker lyrics dressed in bright colors (“King Among Kittens”), pure silly nonsense (‘Meee, I’m a techno boy’ in “Pachinko Pt. 1”) or melancholy reflections on the follies of power (the brilliant “The Apathy of Kings”).

Despite its colorful outer layer, Pachinko is more than just feel-good vibes. It’s a masterwork of both composition and technical wizardry. The melodies are intricate yet catchy, and never go exactly the way you expect. Nor do the songs themselves, because the way they weave together different moods, genres, and tempos is nothing short of staggering. Violins over blastbeats in “Cormorant,” melancholy synthpop in “Okinawa Sky,” jazzy whirlwind intro leading into big band brass for “Alfredo and the Afterlife.” And the title track suite turns it up to eleven for a combined 16 minutes of head-spinning avant-garde genre-hopping madness.

Yet for all this craziness, it’s remarkable how tightly woven and cohesive the hour-long album is. Songs frequently cross-reference each other to really emphasize the album experience, with “Pachinko Pt. 1” even referencing A Boat on the Sea directly. This peaks with the magisterial finale, which effortlessly binds snippets from across the album together into a gorgeous feast of reprise. It doubles as a heartfelt farewell to Thore, whose drums are used for the outro. Moron Police has taken their grief and turned it into a grandiose, madcap celebration of life and friendship with a wink, a smile, and a tear. An instant classic and one of the best albums I’ve heard this decade.

Tracks to Check Out: All of them, front to back.



#2025 #DillingerEscapePlan #Experimental #MightyJamMusicGroup #MoronPolice #NorwegianMetal #Pachinko #ProgressiveRock #ThingsYouMayHaveMissed2025 #TYMHM

Dagdrøm – Schauder [Things You Might Have Missed 2025] By Kenstrosity

To be perfectly honest, I no longer recall when or how exactly I encountered Germany’s Dagdrøm for the first time. There’s a pretty good chance it was a Discordian recommendation, or I discovered it organically while sifting through Bandcamp’s new releases feed. Either way, their debut Schauder regularly circulates on my listening rotation. Weirdly, it received very little fanfare from the commenters or other arenas of metallic discourse that I frequent. It’s a shame, because Schauder remains one of the coolest melodic black metal albums released this year.

Unlike the traditional second wave stylings of Sarastus or the cosmic exuberance of Silent Millenia, Dagdrøm’s style is emotional, propelled by chunky post-metal riffs, and uplifted by hopeful atmosphere. That’s not to say Schauder is happy by any means. While its riffs are groovy and sophisticated and its melodies sparkling and brilliant, the overall tone of the record is one of deep yearning and of grieving. Without access to the lyrics, or any understanding of the German language, I possess very little ability to confirm this, but it’s crystal clear to me that Schauder is a deeply personal work fueled by a bleeding heart and a desperate soul.

Schauder by Dagdrøm

Schauder’s greatest strengths are balance and fluidity. In every aspect of its compositions, clever shifts in texture and tone follow the natural progression of human emotion as they move through phases of love, of pain, of grief, and of remembrance. I listen to highlights like opener proper “Ascheregen,” mid-album heartbreaking duo “Atme” and “Flüsse,” or blistering chills “Tagtraum” and “Freund,” and I revel in sublime transitions that bring ascendant tremolo melodies down to earth with caustic, crushing riffs and thrashing percussive rhythms, the next airy lead launching me back to the stratosphere in short order. These moments reprise themselves two or three times in many songs, but not without evolutionary developments or variations informed by the passages that led them there (see the spine-tingling harmonies introduced in the final moments sending “Flüsse” off). As a consequence of such intentional writing, Schauder flows through its expansive 50 minutes with striking ease and makes repeat spins an effortless endeavor.

Don’t let Schauder’s beauty and smoothness fool you, though. Bursting at the seams with killer riffs of varying approaches, aggressive tempos, and venomous screams, Dagdrøm’s debut is a beast with claws and teeth sharp enough to rend flesh from bone. Early bangers like “Ascheregen” and late album rippers “Ära” and “Kalte Fliesen” handily demonstrate this, reinforcing that a black metal band in touch with their emotions is just as menacing, if not more so, than the aloof, the cold, and the distant. Schauder is none of these things. It’s intimate, vulnerable, and expressive while still delivering energetic, raucous, and compelling songs. That makes it special.

If you are ever looking to recommend something to me, especially in the ashen realms of black metal, let this be your litmus. Dagdrøm may be new on the scene and they may eschew some of the classic melodic black metal tropes that made the genre a staple, but Schauder is not to be overlooked. You miss this, you miss out!

Tracks to Check Out: “Ascheregen,” “Atme,” “Flüsse,” “Kalte Fliesen”

#2025 #BlackMetal #Dagdrøm #MelodicBlackMetal #Review #Reviews #Sarastus #Schauder #SelfRelease #SelfReleased #SilentMillenia #ThingsYouMightHaveMissed #ThingsYouMightHaveMissed2025 #TYMHM

Sold Soul – Just Like That, I Disappear Entirely [Things You Might Have Missed 2025] By Lavender Larcenist

Blah blah blah, deathcore sucks, blah blah, okay, we got that out of the way. Now, for everyone who likes it, come close and hear about one of the bands doing shit right. Deathcore can be incredibly varied as a genre, and among the hundreds of doggy-doo bands out there, a few break the mold. As someone who listens to a lot of different deathcore groups (judge me, I don’t give a shit), North Carolina’s Sold Soul are out here making progressive deathcore that surprises as much as it crushes your skull. Even if you don’t like Lorna Shore or, like me, find their recent albums incredibly boring, Sold Soul is here for you. Their latest, Just Like That, I Disappear Entirely, is an amalgamation of slamming deathcore, inhuman vocals, raw emotion, and some true surprises. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it avant-garde deathcore, but it is close.

One of the first things I appreciate about Just Like That, I Disappear Entirely, is the lack of repetitive breakdowns. Songs rarely slow to a crawl for chug-time; instead, much of the brutality so inherent to deathcore is found through the thick atmosphere, rich production, and slamming speed. “As Whisper, Or As Bellowing” takes a minute to writhe in its unsettling tone, with high leads and piercing riffs, only to drop into a ripping gallop that calls to mind slam more than deathcore. Stevie O’Shaughnessy’s vocals are varied and powerful, and in another point in this record’s favor, he rarely spends much time gargling into the microphone just for the hell of it. Other than an offhand snort in the opening track, Sold Soul avoids much of the vocal breakdowns that have infected modern deathcore like a plague. In fact, Stevie occasionally busts out unique clean vocals that add to the atmosphere and feel right at home with the rest of the album’s tone. Again, Sold Soul bucks trends by avoiding the typical fry, scream-singing so common in deathcore, or crooning cleans that kill momentum. The clean vocals are used sparingly and feel like an integral part of the album’s core without overstaying their welcome.

Just Like That, I Disappear Entirely by Sold Soul

Just Like That, I Disappear Entirely has a strong emotional core bolstered by the consistent use of stringwork and piano to add to the already dense song structures. In another rarity for deathcore, the production isn’t crushed by the weight of its disparate pieces. Guitars come through clearly, strings have space to breathe, and the vocals don’t overtake the whole mix; you can even hear the bass. “To Spit Contempt on the Tail of Every Uttered Word” features a twangy lead that charges into a blistering, grooving verse bolstered by Stevie’s brutal vocals. One of the rare breakdowns on the album punches you straight in the teeth over and over, and is done as soon as it arrives; nothing on this record overstays its welcome. Before you know it, staccato bass and guest vocals from Kukeille take you on a journey back into the unique lead work and Stevie’s crooning howl.

Just Like That, I Disappear Entirely is rich, dense, and well worth delving into. The string work on “A Lament for an Abandoned Heaven All Us Who Lay Beneath” is downright gorgeous, and, despite the melodramatic song titles, the band isn’t afraid to have a sense of humor, as shown in a snippet of their recording session at the end of the album’s penultimate track. Sold Soul is doing deathcore right, don’t let the genre stop you from enjoying this monolith.

Tracks to Check Out: “For I Can Endure No Longer,” “A Lament for an Abandoned Heaven All Us Who Lay Beneath,” “That Stranger in the Red Suit, and the Many Things He Promised Me.”

#2025 #AmericanMetal #Deathcore #JustLikeThatIDisappearEntirely #LornaShore #SelfReleased #SoldSoul #ThingsYouMightHaveMissed2025 #TYMHM