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 25+ longform album reviews, numerous video reviews/features, and 18 short album 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 every week or two. If you enjoy these please consider following on YouTube. We are hovering around 1,340+ subscribers and hoping to reach the 1,500 mark by the end of 2025.

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:	OBSCENUM
TITLE:	In the Depths of Impurity [EP]
RECORD LABEL(S):	Self-Released

Lahti, Finland-based death metal quartet OBSCENUM play pure old school death metal which is downtuned, rapt and cold enough to meet the high standards we’d found in similar Finndeath waves of the late 2000’s. The title track here completely smokes, a wrathful beast of a piece which finds its ugliest gnarl towards the end. I was sold right away on this one per its violent battery and cavernous-but-blazing affect. Loved this one and have been returning to it often since release.

>> FULL STREAM <<

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#9
ARTIST:	GRAVE HEX
TITLE:	Vermian Death
RECORD LABEL(S):	Night Terrors Records, Cavernous Records

Though it’ll always sound sorta stupid when I write it every month I really am looking for “cool” death metal albums that I want to buy the moment I hear (and see) them. Sure, criticism and all that is worthwhile but in the long run the rad stuff that does its own thing and aims for a personalized peak style will always stick best in mind. Grave Hex are a new prospect from the burgeoning next gen of Finndeath but they’re already pinging the right parts of my brain with ‘Vermian Death‘ a short but potent record that sounds cool as shit and never drags its ass.

“[…] approaching a band like Helsinki, Finland-based death metal quartet GRAVE HEX offers no surety that the innards might match their ‘old school’ set outward appearance. In the case of their shorted n’ grime-shined debut full-length album the result is exactingly death metal but a simpler, modern version caked up with slimier hi-fi sounds. The strengths of their work are obvious enough as they’ve achieved an atmospheric yet barbaric ratio which we find in very few of their contemporaries and despite years of iteration. In this way ‘Vermian Death‘ puts a best face (and foot) forward as they deliver a wild sounding but altogether fairly standard ‘new old school’ result with decent potential. Still, there is no denying the impact of a huge guitar sound and a diarrhea inducing bass tone coming together for a brief yet well-arranged introductory statement.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#8
ARTIST:	PORENUT
TITLE:	Výstup k svätej Kunde
RECORD LABEL(S):	Nomad Sky Diaries, Sky Burial

This Slovakian black metal band’ve always been prone to infer conceptual works and themed releases though with this latest LP they’ve put together a complete narrative, a surrealistic/symbolist short story written by the vocalist which is translated into a series of songs. The whole of the experience is both its own complex beast of a performance but also reads like a stage play to some degree, containing parable and nihil in its imaginative realization. Though I’d hesitate to call this a prog-black record and give folks the impression of pretentious ideation the tag perhaps fits closer to avant-garde/experimental black metal in nature as the band’s ouevre and ambitions grow with each release. It is a brilliant, at times vexing release which is actually pretty damned pleasant as a full listen too.

“Earthquakes, body horror, mass spontaneous evisceration and a mountain glowing a mesmerizing shade of blue in the distance frame this imaginative purgatorial quest from Banská Bystrica, Slovakia-based black metal band PORENUT who return for a fourth full-length album intent on enriching their already experimental craft with surrealist storytelling. Staring creation in the gape and musing over the suffering its gushing ichor exudes ‘Výstup k svätej Kunde‘ depicts an unlikely transcendence marked by the violence of setting and protagonist alike on this moody, complexly stated ride. A concept album as well as a true lifting of the veil unto a quasi-progressive tract here we find the band’s long running, ever-evolving ideation achieving its highest point of craft to date.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#7
ARTIST:	ANTHRODYNIA
TITLE:	Unspeakable Horrors Emanating From Within
RECORD LABEL(S):	Nameless Grave Records

Proper death metal riffcraft doesn’t happen by chance, the keen-eared fan will always recognize a musician’s reasonable taste level by the rhythms they’d create and in this sense hits Canadian duo impress not only for their sound but the way they’ve constructed this slightly abstracted take on death/doom metal. In taking inspiration from multiple generations of their suggested niche these folks craft their own ideal in the best tradition, showing some real promise for substantive work in this realm going forward. Otherwise ‘Unspeakable Horrors Emanating from Within‘ was a fairly short record, easy to return to in every case and heavy throughout. Not every song hit but the whole album always did.

“Borne of melancholic exasperation and manifested in disgusted uproar Edmonton, Alberta-based death/doom metal duo ANTHRODYNIA stare through the face of human nature and into the death-driven abyss on this well-realized debut full-length album. Conjured with death and doom old-and-new as key inspiration ‘Unspeakable Horrors Emanating From Within‘ admirably leads with the riff here, allowing the atmospheric value of their creation to seep in around the edges. The greater effect of their work is primarily rooted in the last twenty years of atmospheric death metal and death/doom ensuring their take will pique the ears of purists seeking well-considered, serious enough sub-genre craft.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#6
ARTIST:	MEDIEVAL DEMON
TITLE:	All Powers of Darkness
RECORD LABEL(S):	Hells Headbangers Records

Aiming for an increasingly ‘epic’ and orchestral take on classic Hellenic black metal rituals with each release this latest record from Medieval Demon is less indebted to the old ways so much as their own path. ‘All Powers of Darkness‘ only seems to grow more commanding within its morbid symphony (but not “symphonic”) vision and the spectacle it creates and the effect is fairly different from what they’ve done in the past in scope and temperament… at least in the sense that their cinematic lens is fully zoomed out and the action is no less thrilling from atop the cursed ruins they’d incant from within.

“As their cult grows so does the distance their hymns carry as Athens, Greece-based black metal quartet MEDIEVAL DEMON return for a fifth full-length album which summons all manner of infernal names and unspeakable beings through ancient, time-gnarled hands. Imbued with ritual sacrifice and channeled in grand numbers ‘All Powers of Darkness‘ is a damned, nigh orchestral feature of ‘old school’ Hellenic black metal trait given to broadest and bold gesturing, an imposing and sinister statement in the band’s own deliberate classicist sensibility. While so much modern black metal invaginates away from tradition, weakening itself by burrowing together in decreasing sickly numbers here these four fellowes step to the altar in glorious, bloodied showing.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#5
ARTIST:	THEURGION
TITLE:	All Under Heaven
RECORD LABEL(S):	Profound Lore Records

Despite thousands upon thousands of records in the melancholic, melodic and gothic death/doom metal realm existing only a small handful carry any serious emotional weight beyond a few originals. That isn’t to say the authenticity doesn’t exist within the realm of sub-genre music’s diminishing returns any longer but rather that in the realm of sorrowful, melodramatic anguish-built music very few hold their water for more than a moment the way that Theurgion do here on their debut. ‘All Under Heaven‘ is unusually effective in its carriage of earliest Katatonia and such, sure, but there is more to discover down in their abyss… a bit of gothic rock fueled excess and even a healthy dose of traditional/epic doom metal intertwined. I’d found this record unforgettable this month, a worthy companion to late Summer depression and psychic disarray.

“Fading down with the light, dripping along the cords which bind ghasts to their haunts, the sanguine sorrows of melodic death/doom metal trio THEURGION flow black as oil, smothering all that they touch on this sombre and high-melodramatic debut full-length album. Though ‘All Under Heaven‘ offers the familiar sound of a well-explored sub-genre of extreme doom metal, and does it well, a combination of fine loose-ended songcraft and bristling emotional expressivity make for an appreciably dramatic entry beyond the usual classic gothic doom indebted fare. A flattening, exasperating seance of melancholia and distress nearly outshines the familiarity of their palette here and does so admirably by leaning into ‘epic’ doom metal sounds with an unsparing shoulder.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#4
ARTIST:	VOID
TITLE:	Forbidden Morals
RECORD LABEL(S):	Shadow Kingdom Records

While 2025 has yielded plenty of strong takes on niche thrash metal, and this Louisiana-borne troupe could be categorized in a similar way, there is some kind of insane charismatic yet traditional character to Void‘s work which only intensifies here on album number two. Though I don’t think they’ve fully realized their horror-themed thrash metal opus just yet ‘Forbidden Morals‘ merges the shred-heavy vaunt of both late 80’s Bay Area stuff with the same era of the King Diamond-adjacent sphere in a subtle enough way, verging on power-thrash in the midst. It makes for a record which should perk the brains of old heads more than most.

“From classicist junior thrashers cracking off a pro-level debut to todays claymore-touting, bullet-belted and big hair’d impalers Lafayette, Louisiana-based “haunted” thrash metal quintet VOID have matured into an even more imposing troupe in the span of just a few years as they introduce this brilliant sophomore full-length album. Pushing the needle further into the late 80’s personae rich realm of precision ‘old school’ thrash metal wield ‘Forbidden Morals‘ sees the band upping the ambition of their presentation, distancing themselves from the doldrums of post-millennial tropes and locking into their own macabre tale. Tighter machinery and increasingly organic production values make for a path of increasingly notable expression, a rare feat of fright and auld-standard flair which delves more seriously within this well-trodden traditional headspace than most.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#3
ARTIST:	INNUMERABLE FORMS
TITLE:	Pain Effulgence
RECORD LABEL(S):	Profound Lore Records

The previous album from Innumerable Forms took a deeper dive into (early) British death/doom metal riffcraft to an inspired peak for their name and here on ‘Pain Effulgence‘ they’ve keyed it back to a riffing-and-shredding death metal attack, a more readied pace which still bears the suggested traits of the previous album. This might sound like a tempering of their impact on paper but in practice it is probably their heaviest, most varied album in terms of both riffcraft and pacing. When taking a good look at the current USDM headspace these folks are in a class of their own at the moment.

“Though they’re still radiating with tormented psyche via anguished classicist tones Boston, Massachusetts-borne death metal quartet INNUMERABLE FORMS kinda smoke their way through this frustrated, hard-struck third full-length album. As one of few ‘old school’ death/doom metal inspired bands today who not only reflect both sides of the suggested sub-genre fusion but possess enough skill to wield ’em these folks impress with tonal consistency, an ear for huge riffs, and high-grade performances on ‘Pain Effulgence‘. Though the production values and general personae of the band have been retained here they’ve shown us what else they can do with their sound already dialed in, making for an ideal showing of doom inflicted death metal which strikes at an even meaner clip.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#2
ARTIST:	MALTHUSIAN
TITLE:	The Summoning Bell
RECORD LABEL(S):	Relapse Records

Though I couldn’t accuse ‘The Summoning Bell‘ of being the catchiest record out this month it is yet one of the more impactful feats of August, taking a more direct attack while retaining their sometimes dissonant and always readied challenge upon blackened death. It is also one of those albums I find myself surprised by upon return not only for it being more brutal than remembered but also their atmospheric/surreal ideas helping to carry some extra distinction. I’d understand if you prefer their earlier stuff on some level but I feel like the argument stands that Malthusian are fully intact here, only taking on some different tempo and timbre herein.

“No less addled with the bizarre tics of an adrenaline-shaken cutting hand Dublin, Ireland-based death metal quartet MALTHUSIAN continue to wield their own instinctive abstraction as weaponry on this imposing sophomore full-length album. Though ‘The Summoning Bell‘ might appear a shade more normative at face value compared to their dread-and-nihil spouting past works this is a natural side effect of bolstered production values and a few more classic death metal grooves hammering about. The wild brutality and curiously veering furor of their work yet survives on album number two, neither expanding or contracting away from its original purpose. What change has manifested here finds the band ambitiously exploring shades of excess, be it skillful flourish or a more thorough compositional hand, as they continue to present a high standard for surreal yet readable death metal.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#1	Album of the Month
ARTIST:	PROSCRIPTION
TITLE:	Desolate Divine
RECORD LABEL(S):	Dark Descent Records

Beyond the cruelly struck volume and rampant stampeding brutality applied to ‘Desolate Divine‘ we find more than an example of blackened-death hybrid style in Proscription‘s second major work but rather an inspired act which evolves throughout its full listen. Of course the speeding hammer of the first half is an incredible thrill, this much is expected beyond their arguably more Immolation-esque first LP, but it is the gamut of pace and pulverizing action realized ’til the end which entertained like nothing else this month. It has been entirely rare to sit down with a death metal album in 2025 and feel like I am listening to a contemporary yet years-wisened band achieving their best and that is exactly what these fellowes delivered here.

“With every return, a new daemonic trait arises in ‘ready outward expression as Finland-based blackened death metal quartet PROSCRIPTION‘s second tome illustrates the revelation of heaven’s expiry, an afterlife reduced to apocalyptic rubble at a final stage of disintegration. A certain grey-shaded empyrean wrath courses through the band’s sophomore full-length album as ‘Desolate Divine‘ acts as both lineage and usurpation of past efforts in its dismal vision of lost solace, a freeing of delusion through atomization. Though the band’d impressed upon debut some years ago this reprisal offers a world-class blackened death metal experience in glorious high fidelity, a brutal and surreal experience void of filler and weaponized via its high-rate riffcraft.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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