{"id":669358,"date":"2026-01-02T16:49:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T16:49:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/669358\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T16:49:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T16:49:19","slug":"steel-druhms-top-tenish-of-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/669358\/","title":{"rendered":"Steel Druhm’s Top Ten(ish) of 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"\"First things first: 2025 was not what I consider a lodestar of great metal. I was much more miserly than usual with my high scores, and though there were a lot of albums I liked, there were not many I truly loved. I had fewer issues curating my Top Ten than usual, with a smaller pool of contenders jockeying for slots. That likely means 2026 will be an overwhelming pornocopia of metal goodness, as flat years are usually followed by market booms. Let\u2019s hope the historic trends continue.<\/p>\n

On the AMG front, we had a great many seasoned staffers bow out and take time away from the site, which is always a sad event, but we got a healthy infusion of new blood, too. Hopefully, the blend of new and old will provide new perspectives, but it\u2019s sure to result in some awful takes, too. We apologize for that in advance. Fear not, though, for I have it on good authority that a few long-absent writers will be making a shocking return in the new year.<\/p>\n

Personally, 2025 was my least productive year in a while as far as the sheer number of reviews churned out. This was mostly due to my taking on the enormous duties of promo sump management, which takes up a significant amount of time weekly. I\u2019ve gotten faster and more efficient at the promo herding over the year, so I hope to push my review production back up to massive aggressive levels in 2026. I love this little blog, and I invest a lot of myself in it each day. It gives me peace and comfort through challenging times, and more importantly, it keeps me off the streets looking for seedy, low-rent metal blogs to write for.<\/p>\n

As I do every year, I want to extend a big thank you to all the readers who grace our pages, comment on our reviews, complain about scores, and generally raise a ruckus. We appreciate you, tolerate you, and continue to do our best to entertain you. Behind the scenes, though, we think you are a bunch of overrating, high-maintenance, diva do-nothings. Keep up the good work and tell your friends about us!<\/p>\n

I\u2019d also like to thank all the old and new staff members and AMG Himself<\/strong> for their efforts to keep AMG the bastion of high opinions that it has become. It\u2019s easy to suffer burnout here, and there are times when the words all seem to blur together, and it becomes a battle to formulate new ways to describe shitty, lo-fi death metal. There\u2019s something highly satisfying about the work, though, and doing it with a bunch of lovable rejects makes it all the more so. We have a good group of misfits here, and though we bicker and argue, we love one another most of the time. Because of all this goodwill and affection, I hope none of them make me sabbaticalize them this year. The wood chipper is still clogged from last year\u2019s bonanza of retirements, and I\u2019m just too busy to take cadavers apart the old-fashioned way. Onward to new horizons we fly!<\/p>\n

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\"\"#ish: Nite<\/strong> \/\/ Cult of the Serpent Sun<\/a> \u2013 Nite<\/strong> is a strange band that challenges me to look past some very one-dimensional vocals to find the beauty in their guitar-driven righteousness. The music they create is so perfectly in my wheelhouse, mixing the classic 80s sound of Mercyful Fate<\/strong> with the burly badassery of Grand Magus<\/strong>, then they slather their compositions with a blackened snarl that rarely shifts or adapts to the epic music. Sometimes it seems this choice holds them back from greatness, but I just kept returning to Cult of the Serpent Sun time and again in 2025. Songs like \u201cCrow (Fear the Night),\u201d \u201cCarry On,\u201d and \u201cThe Winds of Sokar\u201d got spun to death this year, and the guitar work across the album is stellar and so metal it hurts. In a nutshell, I\u2019m hooked on this weird little album despite the shortcomings in the vocal department. Give yourself to the Nite<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"#10. Disembodiment<\/strong>\/\/ Spiral Crypts<\/a> \u2013 One of the death metal albums that really stuck to ribs this year, Spiral Crypts just wouldn\u2019t unstick itself or go away. Disembodiment<\/strong> brings the OSDM hammer down on you with a stinky, putrid sound that rips organs from all the big names to create a shambling monstrosity all their own. It\u2019s Incantation<\/strong> and Autopsy<\/strong> up front, with a vaguely Death<\/strong>-like prog sheen hidden in the back. Yet this won\u2019t impress with techy wanking, because they\u2019re too busy fucking cadavers and eating human flesh. Nasty first wins in the House of Steel<\/strong>, and this shit is gross but so listenable and entertaining. The riffs are slithery, slappy, and powerful, and those vocals are as much like an industrial garbage disposal as you can get without permanent throat disaster. Get yourself some unsanitary napkins and blast this filth really loud. It\u2019s worth the revolting mess.<\/p>\n

\"\"#9. Helstar<\/strong> \/\/ The Devil\u2019s Masquerade<\/a> \u2013 I grew up loving Helstar<\/strong>, and their Burning Star and Remnants of War albums were in constant rotation during my high school years. They\u2019ve had an up-and-down career since 1989\u2019s Nosterfatu, so them hitting their stride again in 2025 on The Devil\u2019s Masquerade was a huge thrill for Yours Steely<\/strong>. Their textbook blend of US power metal and prog burns bright once more, with nods to thrash mixed in liberally for added asskickery as the guitars shred and impress. Vocal legend James Rivera still sounds enormous and powerful, and the songcraft is shockingly good and consistent. Certain moments scream classic Helstar<\/strong> while also hinting at Rivera\u2019s criminally underrated Destiny\u2019s End<\/strong> project, and there are several nods to prime Nevermore<\/strong> as well. The Devil\u2019s Masquerade does the Helstar<\/strong> legacy proud, and it\u2019s easily the best thing they\u2019ve done since Nosferatu. Let this one in for a bite.<\/p>\n

\"\"#8. Brainstorm<\/strong> \/\/ Plague of Rats<\/a> \u2013 Brainstorm<\/strong> have been one of, if not the most reliable metal acts of the last few decades. Album after album brings a muscular, burly blend of classic metal and power, and time after time they kill it with massive anthems and sick hooks you just can\u2019t shake. Plague of Rats follows the great Wall of Skulls and almost equals it in terms of memorable songs and metal magic. Andy B. Franck continues to be one of the best vocalists in all of metal, and when given tremendous songs to work with like \u201cGaruda (Eater Of Snakes),\u201d The Shepherd Girl (Gitavoginda),\u201d and \u201cBeyond Enemy Lines,\u201d you get molten metal gold. The writing is rock solid with several Songs o\u2019 the Year contenders, and the riffs and vocals are a thing of savage beauty. I love these guys more than I love red meat and hobo wine (almost).<\/p>\n

\"\"#7. Under Ruins<\/strong> \/\/ Age of the Void<\/a> \u2013 Formed by members of the highly underappreciated Lansfear<\/strong> and the cheesy King Diamond<\/strong> wannabes, Them<\/strong>, Under Ruins<\/strong> bring a polished, super slick form of epic power metal to the party on their Age of the Void debut. What makes their sound so immediate for me is how it ranges from Manowar<\/strong>-esque chest-thumping anthems to massive epic metal like Atlantean Kodex<\/strong>, and on to old-timey prog metal akin to the early days of Fates Warning<\/strong>, with some other interesting stops along the way. It\u2019s enough like Lansfear<\/strong> to hook me in, but Under Ruins<\/strong> operate with a much broader vision and scope. \u201cWhispered Curses, Woe Unleashed\u201d is my Song o\u2019 the Year, full of melancholic emotion but still bringing the thunder in the way vintage Tad Morose<\/strong> and Pryamaze<\/strong> did. The chorus has been ringing through my head all year, and I can\u2019t escape it. Nor should you. Get under these ruins.<\/p>\n

\"\"#6. Ambush<\/strong> \/\/ Evil in All Dimensions<\/a> \u2013 When traditional and power metal are done properly, they can kick your ass and provide a massive jolt of fun at the same time. That\u2019s exactly what Sweden\u2019s Ambush<\/strong> does all over Evil in All Dimensions. Taking equal measurements of trad and power, they craft rip-roaring anthems to thunder, fire, steel, and make sure the hooks are plentiful. I defy you to blast the title track, \u201cMaskirovka,\u201d or \u201cBending the Steel\u201d and not feel a rush of power in your veins. The riffs are pure 80s magic, and let me just mention Oskar Jacobsson\u2019s vocals, because they are HUGE. This shit is 100% balls-to-the-walls energy; the songs have legs and demand repeat spins. This is one of the most infectious albums of 2025, and I think I may have underrated it a tad. Get your sack to the partition, pronto.<\/p>\n

\"\"#5. Anchorite<\/strong> \/\/ Realm of Ruin <\/a>\u2013 Taking the classic doom template of Candlemass<\/strong> and Solitude Aeternus<\/strong> and injecting it with the burly machismo of trve metal usually works, and in the case of Anchorite<\/strong>\u2019s Realm of Ruin, it works extra hard! Beefy riffs drive the material to epic heights as doomy harmonies decorate the war wagon. Over the top of it all, Leo Stivala delivers strident, commanding vocals to embiggen the spirit. Cuts like the massive \u201cThe Lighthouse Chronicles\u201d merge Paradise Lost<\/strong> with Crypt Sermon<\/strong> and deliver emotional doom with a touch of Nevermore<\/strong>\u2019s moody power. Standout \u201cThe Apostate\u2019s Prayer\u201d is a top moment of 2025, and Stivala soars to grand heights, carrying the listener along with him, and \u201cKingdom Undone\u201d brings in a touch of power metal with grand results and a killer chorus. A surprisingly varied and nuanced album, and one of the top doom platters of the year.<\/p>\n

\"\"#4. Professor Emeritus<\/strong> \/\/ A Land Long Gone<\/a> \u2013 Professor Emeritus<\/strong> may have one of the worst names in the metalverse, but their take on trve epic metal and doom more than make up for that oversight. A Land Long Gone is everything a fan of the trve genre could want, with big, bombastic compositions with hooks, bells, and whistles aplenty. This stuff brings the Manowar<\/strong> to the Candlemass<\/strong> recording session, with big loincloth energy adding to the slow-burning doom power. There are hints of Doomsword<\/strong> and Manilla Road<\/strong> along the road to high adventure, and everything is kept sword-friendly and mighty. \u201cA Corpse\u2019s Dream\u201d is one of my favorite songs of the year, and I love the blending of styles they achieve, and \u201cZosimos\u201d brings in copious Iron Maiden<\/strong> influences to bedazzle the Crypt Sermon<\/strong>-esque doom they deliver with aplomb. This is the kind of Professor I wish I had during my school years, so listen and learn!<\/p>\n

\"The#3. Paradise Lost<\/strong> \/\/ Ascension<\/a> \u2013 I\u2019ve followed Paradise Lost<\/strong> since 1991s Gothic release, and I stuck with them until they became Depeche Lost<\/strong> circa 2000. I came back when they went metal again, and though none of their third-stage albums floored me, I liked them enough to keep buying what they sold. That pattern changed with Ascension, which is every bit as powerful, heavy, and vibrant as their glory days, while showing a maturity and sophistication even the classics lack. Let me just come out and say it: I underrated this album, and for that, I feel some degree of fault. Ascension plays like a grand tour of the varied Paradise Lost<\/strong> eras, but nothing ends up feeling recycled. \u201cSerpent on the Cross\u201d is a killer opener featuring everything I ever loved about the band, and cuts like \u201cTyrants Serenade\u201d and \u201cSalvation\u201d are amongst the best songs of their long-running career. Where I originally felt like the back half of the album was less stellar, I\u2019ve come to love the complete package, and I think this is among the best Paradise Lost<\/strong> albums. Olde dogs can still bite!<\/p>\n

\"\"#2. Fer De Lance<\/strong> \/\/ Fires on the Mountainside<\/a> \u2013 Competing with Anchorite<\/strong> and Professor Emeritus<\/strong> for the best trve doom album of 2025, Fer De Lance<\/strong> brought the biggest sword to the warfield. Fires on the Mountainside has it all; massive trveness, battle-ready classic metal, nods to black and Viking metal, it\u2019s all here and ready for action. Take one listen ot the mammoth title track, and you\u2019ll accumulate more back hair in 7 minutes than you did in all of 2025 as the music takes you from Crypt Sermon<\/strong>-esque classic doom on through Hammerheart era Bathory<\/strong> with touches of folk along the way. This is music for heroes who laugh in the face of death. When the black metal element comes forward, you get gems like \u201cRavens Fly (Dreams of Daidalos),\u201d and when they dial down to the epic doom side, you get monsters like \u201cDeath Thrives (Where Walls Divide)\u201d where vocal maniac MP Papai goes all in, and channels Lost Horizon<\/strong>\u2019s Daniel Heiman. If you spin this thing and don\u2019t gain 2 inches on your biceps, you have Chronic Untrveness Disorder.<\/p>\n

#1. Structure<\/strong> \/\/ Heritage<\/a> \u2013 In a year when I was merely whelmed by much of what I heard, Structure<\/strong> came out of nowhere to drop an industrial earth mover of atmospheric doom on my life. The brainchild of Bram Bijlhout (ex-Officium Triste), <\/strong>Heritage finds him delivering a massive treatise on emotionally harrowing sadness and grief, aided by the killer vocals of Pim Blankenstein (Officium Triste<\/strong>, ex-The 11th Hour<\/strong>). Over the 50 minutes of Heritage, the duo drag you to the heart of sadness, loss, and despair as only thoughtful, well-executed doom can. Yet there are faint rays of light and hope in the inky black, mostly in the form of Bram\u2019s beautiful, delicate guitar work, which weaves ethereal magic through the dour, downtrodden material. Heritage is a very dark album, but it\u2019s rife with genuine beauty too, just as life often is. I\u2019ve spun this thing more than any other 2025 release, and it keeps calling me back to its black womb. There\u2019s something truly special here, and you shouldn\u2019t miss out on experiencing it. This is your Heritage now.<\/p>\n

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Honorable Mentions:<\/strong><\/p>\n