THE TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH should be self-explanatory, an ordered ranking of ten albums that’d resonated most throughout this month. If you’re new to the site, the tendency is heavy and/or surreal music. Choices are selected based on temporal immersion, personal connection, impressive style, point of view, aesthetics and with consideration for the lasting value of each selection. All choices are ultimately personal and come without consideration for populism, nepotism, cronyism, or any outside factors including perceived “relevance”. Writing about music is a passion I afford as much time as is manageable and I am grateful to have so much to choose from. Thank you.

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I. This month on MystificationZine.com included 28 longform album reviews, 15 video reviews/features, and 12 short reviews. As much as I try to cover there is a vast, vast number of overlooked releases that are yet worth seeking out. Take this as a jumping off point for your own exploration and let me know what you find.

II. In 2025 written reviews will now have a video component which will post at the bottom of each review or feature, typically updating every week or two. If you enjoy these please consider following on YouTube. We are hovering around 1330+ subscribers and hoping to reach the 2,000 mark in 2025. New video types will begin to surface in the second half of the year, not just reviews.

III. As always I’d like to express my gratitude for the bands, labels and PR firms who choose to work with me. Thank you.

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#10
ARTIST:	DEHUMAN REIGN
TITLE:	Dawn of a Malefic Dominion
RECORD LABEL(S):	F.D.A. Records

There were about ten other releases from July I’d considered for the number ten spot and I’d ultimately picked yet another death metal album for the sake of Dehuman Reign‘s focus on the riff. If you’re a fan of early-to-mid 90’s Vader and a more brutal era for death metal in general the immediacy of this record should satisfy though the vocals have their own character which I’d found almost bears an Angelcorpse-esque quality worth returning to. Normally I’d attempt more variety on a ten item listen for the sake of it but this month death metal was the major spectacle and force overall.

“Bearing down upon their third-portal’d realm with uncountable winged monstrosity in tow Berlin, Germany-based death metal quintet DEHUMAN REIGN return for a thrashing third full-length album which further escalates their command over the ‘old school’ death metal craft. ‘Dawn of a Malefic Dominion‘ persists on an impossible plane of existence where their work retains the canon of the early 90’s yet manifests decades worth of permutation scaled back to thrashed n’ blasted spectacle, recreating the sensation of old per the listening experience and extending the reach of their own voice within tradition. The result is intense, erratic within the bounds of sense and set aflame by worthy riffcraft throughout.“

>> FULL STREAM <<

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#9
ARTIST:	DEPHOSPHORUS
TITLE:	Planetoktonos
RECORD LABEL(S):	Nerve Altar, 7 Degrees, Selfmadegod

Dephosphorus put on another great showing here with a short and thrillingly possessed deathgrind record, once again managing a memorable result via inspiration taken from noise rock/post-hardcore and black metal among other interests. Beyond the adrenaline of their actions there is depth of meaning set behind each song, allowing for a purposeful exploration to form in mind as ‘Planetoktonos‘ reveals itself in waves. While I’d loved ‘Sublimation‘ several years back this album might be even more of a stunner thanks to the haste with which they’ve delivered it.

“Envisioning an expansion of human consciousness which is directly responsive to the racing-speed of technological advancement and acts as a steward to an ailing primordial biome reveals one key surface level vulnerability of golden age science fictive reasoning: The ripple effect of transhumanist reinvention ultimately manifests a doomed existence for the unthinking, incapable majority no matter the scale of world building. A limited scope yet broad impact power fantasy inevitably builds an ivory tower around the imagined tech (and a killswitch for it) at the center of most space operas for the sake of a readership who, in most cases, seeks exceptionalist escapism above all else. In the case of Athens, Greece-based deathgrind quartet DEPHOSPHORUS continued musing upon the repercussions of impractical technological advancement acts to broaden and blur the suggested directorial lens away from dry heroism toward the existential dread, philosophical insight and outright surrealism available to the transhumanist fictive experience. While the half hour span of their fifth full-length album, ‘Planetoktonos‘, takes inspiration from recent literature for its general themes they’ve inserted their own experiences and convictions unto an altogether unique sound which again gloms grindcore, death metal and post-hardcore into heady yet volatile concoct.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#8
ARTIST:	DÉCRYPTAL
TITLE:	Simulacre
RECORD LABEL(S):	Me Saco Un Ojo, Rotted Life

It is inevitable that when death metal overflows with some regularity of releases on any given year I’ll end up making the argument that an album intending to be its own idealized vision of pure and unadulterated form can often carry more obvious, lasting value than a more original (or abstract) counterpart. This is true of Decryptal‘s debut as it isn’t wildly original yet ‘Simulacre‘ is a convincing and well above-average death metal release which speaks to the effect of elite bands like Funebrarum and Cruciamentum. That said, well, there isn’t that much to say about their work beyond the pure enjoyment of it.

“Incepted through inward-curling waves of cryptic infestation all creeping tendrils of verminous forms coalesce unto cratered summoning pool, a dread fueled font used to conjure morbid and unreal death metal by the hands of Québecois quartet DÉCRYPTAL on this impressive debut full-length album. Engaging the wyrding shards of the mind’s muscle memory for the ancient and obscure ‘Simulacre‘ both completes the thought and corrects the hand beyond the band’s first demo, engaging in more elaborately shaped pieces which rely on rhythmic nuance old-and-new to fuel their standing interest. Classicist in its face value expression yet adventurous in its frameless ‘new old school’ result this debut communicates believable obsession with death metal’s conjuration of the unseen and unknowable horrors below and beyond, an appropriate tone for the supernatural terror which creeps through each of its eight corridors.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#7
ARTIST:	FLOATING
TITLE:	Hesitating Lights
RECORD LABEL(S):	Transcending Obscurity Records

Upon their return Swedish duo Floating revive their general modus in combination of gothic rock/post-punk and avant-garde death metal while applying polished production values and a different ratio of forms. Here I think the band make a better argument for their death metal side as deeper in its interest of gnarled, sometimes technical riffcraft. As a huge fan of their first LP this second one is admirably developed, extending the feeling of their prior work while finding even more tuneful moments which justify their hybrid beyond experimentation.

“Speaking to the intrusive dilemma resultant of isolation through niche points of sub-genre suffusion Uppsala, Sweden-based progressive death metal duo FLOATING once again bring surrealist cinematic atmosphere and caustic angst to their collection of 80’s gothic rock and 90’s death metal texturing on this sophomore full-length album. For those seeking a progression in the shaping and linkage of forms suggested by their debut ‘Hesitating Lights‘ will make perfect sense, an easier flowing yet still unpredictive expression of dismayed singularity. Streamlined yet not polished to grotesque sheen this second pass rethinks the ratio of their inherent combination, reconstituting the struggle of avant-garde death metal while yet appealing to their more-than skin deep interest in maudlin, deadpan post-punk rock and in the process creates an alternative to the quasi-tradition of Swedish “dark metal” popularized in the late 90’s.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#6
ARTIST:	MALFORMED
TITLE:	Confinement of Flesh
RECORD LABEL(S):	Dark Descent Records, Extremely Rotten Productions

Malformed have riffs and they can shred. This is enough for the band’s debut LP to stand out in a sea of low effort death metal circa 2025 but hey, they can write pretty damned engaging songs too. No one would blame you for rolling past a virtually unknown band like this these days thinking you’ve got them pegged but per my own experience this record cut my head off and booted it down field from the first listen. If you can imagine a Florida/Finland inspired crossbreed from the mid-90’s they pretty much pull it off here but they do so with a record that sounds kinda like ‘Tomb of the Mutilated‘ when the riffs start to fire off.

“An eyeless, shrieking abomination mutated several generations beyond a long forgotten contamination event now wrestles away from the captivity of its own torturous, everliving wretchedness as Helsinki, Finland-based death metal quartet MALFORMED present a soundtrack to the sloughing of flesh and howling rip of transcendental gore on this pro-level debut full-length album. Aiming for total extinction ‘Confinement of Flesh‘ rips itself apart sinew-from-bone in portraying a realm cursed with despairing minds and decayed senses which generally avoids the too-typical tropes of ‘new old school’ death metal slop via prime guitar work and a respectable stack of riffs throughout. Though they’ve not yet outpaced the estranged furor of classics with this record the standard achieved here is choice and should readily appeal to pure death metal skulls attuned to mid-90’s European and North American death metal.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#5
ARTIST:	HAXPROCESS
TITLE:	Beyond What Eyes Can See
RECORD LABEL(S):	Transcending Obscurity Records

This second LP from young death metal troupe Haxprocess is that much more focused than before as these folks present an ‘old school’ inspired vision of progressive death metal which drops some of its rocking flair and picks up a bit of ‘Formulas Fatal to the Flesh‘ fire along the way. Though their work isn’t memorable for any given “single” or specific riff the experience on tap is admirable in its flow state as all accumulates into broader-gestured statement beyond the usual “salad” which typically plagues revisionist/throwback prog-death.

“Pillars of geologic carnage left behind by unimaginable beings ring and radiate with shades of creeping darkness, transmitting a state of massive dementia felt under the obscuring hand of unknowable possessors who’d cast their guidance directly toward Jacksonville, Florida-based progressive death metal quartet HAXPROCESS who’d now deign to explore the pandemonium of the mind in this warped, vexing second chapter. Throngs of riff woven by minds set to consume in hungered access of the unknown feature as the central purpose of ‘Beyond What Eyes Can See‘, an album which takes one step closer to the unreal in creation of threads which seek continuous and elevated consciousness via rhythmic excess. Or, in more practical terms we find a sense of exploration and fascination of another order within these four longform progressive death metal pieces as these fairly young troops source an imaginative voice which thoroughly avoids the attention-deficit lax of modern death metal slop. Practiced but not perfectionist and presented without any shortcuts in sight these folks may not bring abject brutality within their offerings though their work smacks of idealism and determined craft in a realm otherwise dominated by the opportune and unthinking.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#4
ARTIST:	CANCERBERO
TITLE:	Sempiternal Decay
RECORD LABEL(S):	Memento Mori

Here on their third LP Chilean death metal band Cancerbero strip their late 80’s/early 90’s death metal craft back to its most basal efficacy, an ‘old school’ styled record which speaks to the origins of the species directly. In the process they’ve tapped into a current which lines up with the original thrashing intent of the band. The result is more primitive but more-or-less continues where the previous LP left off in terms of intensity and classics-inspired action, riff-obsessed stuff front to back. If you like this record you should also check out Mortual‘s album ‘Altar of Brutality‘ from this month as it echoes many of the same tenets with likewise impressive skill.

“Down into the fires of Hell we follow the trail of an obscure cult named as Concepción, Chile-based death metal quartet CANCERBERO all of whom carry the mark of the Ancient Ones pressed upon their true old school death-thrashing skulls per this unthinkable return for a third full-length album. In calling back to the diabolic age of late 80’s thrash ’til death sensibilities ‘Sempiternal Decay‘ is both an extension of this band’s origins and a third-stage lease on life long after death. For a band that never was in their first life and only found their way beyond resurrection this new material feels like an appropriate lightning strike back at the locus of inspiration, a record which is as irreverent and ruthless as the extreme thrash that’d shocked them to life back in the day.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#3
ARTIST:	ARKHAAIK
TITLE:	Uihtis
RECORD LABEL(S):	Eisenwald

This second LP from Arkhaaik marks the first release I’ve heard from the newly reinforced Jünger Tumilon collective (formerly known as the Helvetic Underground Committee) and I’ve been blown away by the quality of this release, not only the musicianship and the production values/render applied but the inventive expressivity of their craft. Yes, certain movements should recall other exceptional bands as things center around the riff but with ‘Uihtis‘ they’ve fully expanded into their own voice and it’d unquestionably spoken to me on both primal and intellectual planes. Per my own experience this record only continues to ripen in mind beyond the review process, a class act through and through… and one I’d not expected after the cryptic distanced hand of their debut.

“Crafted to oscillate with the droning wake-and-rest of existence in chase this concept album from Zürich, Switzerland-based atmospheric blackened death/doom metal trio ARKHAAIK brings the challenge of collaborative survival deeper into the singularity driven psyche of extreme metal, intending an inherently organic statement by way of slow-to-doom paced muse upon Bronze Age European subsistence. Conjuring a tribe’s worth of spectacle within these four longform pieces our hunters posit the bloodthirst of a (once great) animal hunting in pack and their irrepressible connection with the cyclic forces of the natural world within this well-evolved sophomore full-length album. The progression of their idiosyncratic style found herein is exciting enough as a step beyond a fairly tentative debut, and a much higher riff count is a bonus, but the real point of admiration to bestow here is their emboldened primal-transcendental character, a vantage point which is (mostly) unique to them and rare regardless.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#2
ARTIST:	ETERNAL DARKNESS
TITLE:	Eternal Darkness
RECORD LABEL(S):	Pulverised Records

From the past comes Eternal Darkness, an ancient legend of the Swedish death metal underground who’d long represented a rare feat of death/doom metal potential left behind. This debut and grand finale of a record delivers exactly what any fan of the sub-genre would want from a band stillborn at their demo stage in the early 90’s, pure death/doom metal which is conscious and capable of each half of that equation. The doom is felt and the death metal supplied as these new original pieces arrive righteously in line with their demo/EP era stuff and their unfinished LP. As a longtime fan I couldn’t have been happier with this final monument to death, a fitting tombstone. Now, how do we convince Crypt of Kerberos to release an album, too?

“Death lands upon the psyche as a blanketing of volcanic ash, a suffocating havoc upon the senses in the present and a potentially enriched landscape for whatever proves strong enough to endure in the future. Summoning both ancient grief and recent loss into one mournfully built pillar of abysmal gloom and tireless introspection Eskilstuna, Sweden-borne death-doom metal quintet ETERNAL DARKNESS chisel a monolithic headstone in representation of their lasting mark left upon the death metal underground per this first (and last) full-length album. Realized thirty-five years beyond their inception with a true sense for authenticity still burning in mind ‘Eternal Darkness‘ is exactly the album obscure pre-’93 demo tape trawlers have been imagining for decades, a revival of the primal instincts of Scandinavian death metal mutation which is yet unperturbed by the diminishing returns successive generations have dealt through the passage of time. Here a sublime argument is made for the timeless effect of death and doom metal in serious combine by way of profound and patiently cut works, each spouting mournful wrath along this exceptionally bleak funeral procession.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#1	Album of the Month
ARTIST:	MENTAL DEVASTATION
TITLE:	The Delusional Mystery of the Self Pt. II
RECORD LABEL(S):	Nube Negra, Witches Brew

Though we aren’t hearing from upper-tier thrash supportive labels like Unspeakable Axe and Blood Harvest much beyond pandemia the flourishing ideation of Chile’s greater thrash metal patronage barrels on by way of high class groups like Mental Devastation. Rather than reinvent themselves for Part 2 of this dual-album concept these folks stick to the tone and temperament of the first entry, locking in similar production values and songcraft so that the two records read as cohesive in their expression. Here they’ve tapped into some deeper fandom of prog-thrash, executing a few surprising or experimental commands amidst a now better defined signature. This is exactly the sort of music I am forever in pursuit of, not only for the sake of its style and high-rate riffcraft but for the listening experience. There is yet nothing else like the extreme focus and direct communication afforded a serious late 80’s style thrash metal album and this is a particularly good one.

“One step beyond the veil of death we trip hard on the edge, plunging down into the dark abyss of a mind tasked with questioning reality, purpose and the illusions available to a determined organismal existence as Villa Alemana, Chile-based thrash metal quartet MENTAL DEVASTATION return for a third full-length album, the second part of their psychic procession through self-dissolution and improbable actualization. Four years beyond the first entry their frontage of introspective, technical thrash metal now plows beyond the breach of ego-death as ‘The Delusional Mystery of the Self – Part II‘ arrives in fittingly snaking and severe threads, a record which balances the beauty of enlightened musicianship with the harshened thrall of a true classics-minded attack via brilliant precision. While existing fans will be stoked to find the high standard of Part I applied and expanded herein the mood and motioning of this record should read as choppier waters, a mind set in careening flight amidst treacherously tightened and bristling rhythms, as the band seal this profound exploration with an equally worthy second chapter.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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