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 I’ve spent some extended time developing a few different ways to better suit the mission statement I’ve been drafting throughout 2025. After too many evenings spent in existential despair sans any truly compelling music to cover (too much of it with shit-ass AI artwork) the only correct reaction is to cut back on reviews, give increasingly brief thoughts, and stay readied to make serious works count while I work on other ideas, hobbies and interests. — As for this month’s choices I’d generally found September underwhelming apart from the few hits of inspiration included here where black metal, thrash metal, doom metal and death metal are represented. Albums from Ordeals, Crypt Monarch, Violator and a few others also ruled.

II. Please consider following on YouTube. The channel will pick up where I’d left off after a short break.

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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If you are a fan of ‘old school’ death metal with a brutal handed slap and wall-to-wall putrid grooves this debut LP from Canada’s Dying Remains doesn’t reinvent any of it, just does it well enough to carry a superior and unbothered listening experience.

“Torturing the undead within a cavern-bound ocean of phosphorescent bile where stone and fungiform beasts relish in captive masochistic squalor we find Alberta, Canada-based death metal trio DYING REMAINS channeling grotesque B-movie horrors and 90’s death metal grime as they mash together this brutish debut full-length album. ‘Merciless Suffering‘ is a half-hourlong maul between moshable grooves and unreal leads which’re evocative of an era of finer rhythmic insight but that doesn’t hinder the blunted swings of their attack, holding the line between the murk of auld and nascent brutal death metal tonality. The impact of this record might initially appear blasé as an ‘old school’ indulgence but with some due attentiveness from the listener there is a solid, ugly yet moshable pure death metal horror available within.“

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In the post-Electric Wizard realm of dire, sinister and heavily tuneful doom metal of the psychedelic and stoner persuasion Cosmic Reaper offer a stunningly polished bout of gritty yet uncompromised gloom on this second LP. They don’t hit that critical point of density with the riff until the second half of the record but the formula they carry through made for a consistently entertaining ride any evening I’d picked it up and rolled with ’em.

“Hewn in monolith to defiance and delivered with stone-faced dread resonance Charlotte, North Carolina-based psychedelic doom metal quartet COSMIC REAPER speak to the throes and woes of existence on this skilled-up sophomore full-length album. They’ve not set aside their drooping lids here entirely but ‘Bleed the Wicked, Drown the Damned‘ noticeably wields a darkened shade of magick via both familiar and streamlined sounds which invoke surrealistic doom metal in recognizable yet personalized shape. Whether you’re looking for hi-fi stoner doom adjacent sounds, the ancient bones of doom, or any manner of despair fitting enough for the present this record does a fine job of elevating towards the supermundane.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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In my review of ‘Providence‘ I’d wanted to suggest the most obvious assumption, that Destruction Ritual naturally represents a collaboration between USBM interests and the harrows of French black metal but for the plebian eared fan of the sub-genre it’d have likely given the wrong idea. Here the tone is murderous, not flippant, and their riffs follow suit well enough to impress me on every spin. The patient ear should appreciate this one as it only resonates heavier, more malign one track after another.

“Unchanged by the cruelty that’d carved each visage yet paling beneath the mould-choked greyness of time regardless we find France/United States-based black metal trio DESTRUCTION RITUAL channeling both ancient and revived traits in brewing their own sulphureous concoct for this debut full-length album. Through both bludgeon and diabolic wiles ‘Providence‘ depicts decaying environ as much as it does the trials that’d dissolve personage from within, coaxing equally defiant and bug-eyed mulling from these ocean split actors. The work which results carries its dualities with equal heft, making for a dynamically realized yet coldly stabbed event sure to stoke the minds of folks dedicated to either side of the abysm represented.“

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This is the sort of record I head into not with a clear mind and no expectations but a vendetta to do an artist more justice than I’d in the past, having recalled how I’d overlooked their previous LP with some arrogance a number of years ago. In this case I not only find Hadopelagyal in an evolved state, more proficient musicianship and production values which capture their drift brilliantly, but also one which supports their strongest set of bestially summoned statements to date. The rupture and flow of these pieces called to me far more than numerous worthy adversaries this month.

“The obsidian blood of ancient horrors rains from above as neck-wound sprayed catalyst for the maw of the abyss to gape ajar and call upon the beasts of uncreation as Leipzig/Essen, Germany-based black/death metal duo HADOPELAGYAL describe the tainting of a no longer primordial ocean into a vortex of the end on this miasma summoned sophomore full-length album. Though the band’s noise-mongering, pitiless accost had been dependent on frayed non-directional coined drift in the past ‘Haematophoryktos‘ is a fully intentioned summoning of the endtime cataclysm, a ~45 minute sword dance down toward erasure in the void beneath. The repulsed bestial wrath and wave-buried screams unleashed herein collectively offer a treachery well worth following down toward the abysm which pools beyond.“

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Sure, the colors on that album cover kinda suck ass but the image itself is cool once you’re scoping the details and zooming around. Otherwise yes, Mortal Scepter still carry their riff-obsessed death-thrashing sublimity they always have and this album smokes just as much if not more than the last. The crossovers between brutal thrash, death/thrash, tech-thrash and some blackened movements keep this one blazing throughout.

“Years beyond their exploration of the terrors of the deepest, darkest corners of the terrestrial Dunkirk, France-borne death-thrash metal quartet MORTAL SCEPTER now aggress upon the limitless unknown, the horrors of the celestial expanse within this inspired sophomore full-length album. Still a classicist force honing in on dense and rapacious riff-railing furor their work on ‘Ethereal Dominance‘ is built by and for those seeking an authentic return to the standards of the mid-to-late 80’s thrash ’til death reality, a true vortex of extrasensorial hail and extremist tradition. Though they’ve polished up their render and refined where suitable this is yet an act of indomitable aggression in the best tradition of this long underfed niche, one which reinforces their own character and contribution to it throughout.“

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Though I’d felt there was some precedence set for Ritual Mass‘ debut album the focus on atmospherically rendered brutality was surprising as they’d only just hinted at something far more plainly moshable “new old school” in style prior. Here there is a sort of caverncore/Chilean death effect which helps ‘Cascading Misery‘ stand out as a trampling and swerving assault. Not the most memorable death metal album this month but one that’d consistently delivered upon repeat listens.

“Presented as a psyche-wrenching false theosis extracted from melancholic minds this debut full-length album from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based death metal quartet RITUAL MASS persists in cataphatic exploration of weakness, a denigration of piety into despairing acceptance of cold mortality. As the product of nearly ten years of road and rehearsal built action ‘Cascading Misery‘ impresses not only for the vortex of careful choices it’d taken to arrive upon this high point of muse but also a clear enough identity which celebrates both form and formlessness in building their kinda moshable, endarkened ouevre. Moldered under a greying shade of callous, cavernous doom n’ gloom yet greatly tightened in structure their work here is both atmospherically rich and erratic in its trailing points of possession as their exploration of the expanse yields only deeper vexation.“

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A combination of strong spiritual directive and an enduring command of the riff ensure that the force available to Ofermod remains undaunted, impressive beyond most. All of their work is prime, the whole discography is an Armageddon of its own, and this record doesn’t fall or falter for a second in upholding said legacy.

“From the eye of the obsidian temple’s pyramidal peak to the carbonized gates of yet unnamed sacred mysteries Norrköping, Sweden-borne black metal legendry OFERMOD hail from glory to glory as they wrench loose all earthly illusions on this fifth full-length album. A series of nine movements toward death’s manifestation in praise of the eternal reign ‘Drakosophia‘ carries on the orthodox black metal wroth that’d earned their infamy while bringing some new fellowes into the fray, ensuring their latest attains an even higher standard than the last. Though just as spiritually charged and riff-driven as their previous release here we find a fifth angled point of refraction in their efforts, a bent which is equally cutting in its precision accost but built upon increasingly grand and grotesque gesturing.“

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Catchier, endarkened, and instilled with shocking energy these folks’ve left none of their bravado or penchant for speed/thrash metal riffs behind after gestating this empowered second album for a number of years.

“Harrowing illusions and bestial magickry fuel innately carved vengeance as Seattle, Washington-based speed metal quintet SÖLICITÖR seek to shatter all façade and stare within on this inspired sophomore full-length album. ‘Enemy in Mirrors‘ quickly delivers upon the promise of shadow-borne melodicism and their energetic semblance of true heavy metal character as these folks’ve pulled deeper from their own impassioned expressivity and the dark allure of extreme metal influences to help to pave this new path. Their efforts build a tougher, taller stronghold herein to be sure but more importantly this second album reinforces theirs as a more serious legacy capable of impressive stylized refinement and memorable performance.“

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There is a special throne in Hell reserved for some of the riffs conjured on this caustic second LP from Lvthn where a vortex-like body and a maniacally howling skull fed dissenting horrors and cruel malignity through ugliest, confrontational streams of black metal aggression. Both the density and disarray of their work contributed to one of the most engrossing, uncomfortable listening experiences of the month.

“In reciting their latest throng of ego-death rites Belgium-based black metal duo LVTHN enforce the surrender of all souls to Lucifer in order to distort and shatter all illusions enforced upon their ailing carapace, portal’ing the congestion of malign existence via this long denied sophomore full-length album. Through the blinding light and down into the truth of the abysm ‘The Devil’s Bridge‘ is an act of fomentation and self-extraction, a raw skinning of the psyche into less constricting parts. That is to say that it is a righteously fluid yet non-linearly set tract of riff-driven yet atmospherically rich black metal songs still affected by the cutting queasiness if past efforts.“

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I wouldn’t blame you if you don’t get this one at first, or at all, as a band like Species only appears when birthed from hyper-specified niche and when given time to essentially self-cultivate off of old soil bearing faint nutrient. I’ll assure fans of freak-assed technical and progressive thrash that a record like ‘Changelings‘ isn’t a subversion of underground follies into popular music but rather a surreal flexion into thrashing progressive metal which you won’t hear in any such coherent form circa 2025. In this sense they’ve not escaped the most obvious tropes of the headspace but instead push through them in order to find their own estranged, beauteous and often aggressive treading.

“Clawing apart their third-iterative carapace for a second-level retraining of all metacognitive morphoses Warsaw, Poland-based progressive/technical thrash metal trio SPECIES meld the surreal expressionism of progressive metal muse with the laser-cut defiance of speed metal’s last hyper-futuristic generation on this exceptional sophomore full-length album. ‘Changelings‘ is a continuously flowing ~40 minute font of both personal and referential ideas divvied up into CAD-sketched vignettes each of which speak a very specific language of prog-thrash metal increasingly afflicted by rock guitar heroism and jazz fusion accented transitional modes. With these antipodal firings meshed in irregular spurts an organic and highly expressive assault fumes from their rehearsal room built collective of still-raw sophisticate.“

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