ESSENTIAL METAL ALBUM(S) #49 Monday, December 1st, 2025 to Sunday, December 7th, 2025

 
After another fraught and very busy few weeks in the lead up to Christman holidays, I find myself playing catch up again, so apologies, but we’re back and today I present week 49 of THE SLUDGELORD’s weekly selection of Essential Albums, bringing you a crushing lineup from the underground. Each record is uniquely heavy in its own right, and together they will shake foundations and melt speakers.
 
The crown jewel this week is 1914 – “Viribus Unitus” (Blackened Death Metal / War Metal). Few bands capture the horror and futility of war with such visceral force. This record is a battlefield of blackened death metal, cinematic in scope and merciless in execution. It’s not just heavy—it’s history weaponized into sound, and it stands as my album of the week.
 
From there, the sonic punishment takes many forms. The Grasshopper Lies Heavy – “Heavy” (Noise Rock / Sludge) is abrasive and confrontational, yet strangely hypnotic in its repetition and raw energy. It thrives on dissonance and volume, pushing noise into catharsis. Veilburner – “Longing For Triumph, Reeking of Tragedy” (Avant‑Garde Black/Death Metal) is pure madness incarnate, twisting experimental blackened death into shapes that defy logic yet remain compelling.
 
Demon King – “Death Knell” (Technical Death Metal) brings razor‑sharp precision, a relentless storm of riffs and blastbeats that never lets up. Decrepit Altar – “Egregious Defilement” (Cavernous Death Metal) drags listeners into the abyss with grotesque, uncompromising heaviness steeped in decay. Dead and Dripping – “Nefarious Scintillations” (Brutal / Technical Death Metal) is a whirlwind of savagery, chaotic yet meticulously executed, proving that brutality can be both calculated and overwhelming.
 
Closing the ritual is Phobocosm – “Gateway” (Death/Doom / Blackened Death Metal), a suffocating descent into abyssal despair. This record feels like staring into a void that gazes back, a chilling and atmospheric finale to a week defined by extremes.
 
This is THE SLUDGELORD’s Essential Albums of the Week, WK49. Plug in, drown out the noise of the world, and let the underground consume you. The ‘Lord has spoken.

 
⚔️ 🩸 Album of the week:
 
#330
 
⚔️ Artist: 1914
🩸  Title: “Viribus Unitus”
⚔️ Release date: November 14th, 2025 

🩸 Genre/tags: black metal, doom, death metal

🩸 Essential Release (s)
 
#328 
 
⚔️ Artist:  The Grasshopper Lies Heavy
🩸  Title: “Heavy”
⚔️ Release date: November 14th, 2025

 

🩸 Genre/tags: noise rock, sludge, doom

 

#329
 
⚔️ Artist: Veilburner 
🩸  Title: “Longing For Triumph, Reeking of Tragedy”
⚔️ Release date: November 14th, 2025

🩸 Genre/tags: avant garde death metal, dissonant death metal, experimental death metal, progressive death meta

#331
 
⚔️ Artist:  Demon King
🩸  Title: “Death Knell” 
⚔️ Release date: November 14th, 2025

 

🩸 Genre/tags: technical death metal

#332

⚔️ Artist: Decrepit Altar
🩸  Title: Egregious Defilement”
⚔️ Release date: November 21st, 2025 

🩸 Genre/tags:  death metal, doom

#333

⚔️ Artist: Dead and Dripping
🩸 Title: “Nefarious Scintillations”
⚔️ Release date: November 28th, 2025

🩸 Genre/tags:  brutal death metal

#334

⚔️ Artist: Phobocosm 
🩸  Title: “Gateway”
⚔️ Release date: November 28th, 2025

🩸 Genre/tags:  death metal

 

PLAYLIST: THE SLUDGELORD’s Weekly Hitlist #50 December 5th, 2025 to December 11th, 2025

 

⚔️🩸 My biggest tracks from December 5th, 2025 to November 11th, 2025
 
⚔️ Total streams: 304 ↑ 27% vs. last week
🩸  Total Artists streamed: 37 ↑ 118%
⚔️ Total Albums streamed: 37 ↑ 95%
🩸  New Tracks streamed: 137 ↓ 33%
⚔️ Total Listening Time: 1 days 3 hours ↑ 9%
🩸  Average Streams: 43 per day ↑ 27%
⚔️ Most Active Streaming Day: 74 on December 8th ↑ 16%

⚔️ Top Artist: HVRT (53 streams)

🩸  Top Album: HVRT – “Cancerbloom” (53 streams)

⚔️ Top Track: Carrion Sky – “Watch me drown” (6 streams)

⚔️🩸 Top 30 tracks of the week

ESSENTIAL METAL ALBUM(S) #48 Monday, November 24th, to Sunday, November 30th, 2025

After a fraught and very busy few weeks, I find myself playing catch up again, so apologies, but were back and today I present week 48 of THE SLUDGELORD’s weekly selection of Essential Albums, bringing you five crushing releases from the underground. Whilst each record is uniquely heavy in their own right, they will certainly shake foundations and melt speakers.
 
Kicking things off was an easy pick for my album of the week and that record is Oromet – “The Sinking Isle” (Funeral Doom / Atmospheric Doom). This record is a masterclass in bleak, immersive doom— suffocating and utterly devastating. Oromet conjure a soundscape that feels like drowning in slow motion, and it’s nothing short of hypnotic. It also feel weirdly emotive too, so please check it out.  ORM – “Guld” (Atmospheric Black Metal / Progressive Black Metal) follows with a sweeping, atmospheric black metal opus that feels totally unique. Honestly, they have a unique ability to weave melody into a progressive storm of riffs and thunderous percussion, making this album a towering achievement in modern black metal and for me, it is arguably one of the best black metal albums of the year.
 
Next up, Primitive Man – “Observance” (Sludge / Doom / Noise). As expected, this is pure sonic annihilation. Primitive Man continue to redefine heaviness with suffocating walls of distortion and nihilistic despair. Few bands can make you feel the weight of existence like they do. Pupil Slicer – “Fleshwork” (Mathcore / Progressive Metal / Experimental Metal). Rather than the pure chaos of previous records, “Fleshwork” leans into a more expansive and progressive approach. It’s intricate and dynamic, blending mathcore precision with atmospheric passages and layered textures. The result is a record that feels ambitious and emotionally resonant—balancing technicality with moments of clarity and depth.
 
Finally, Qrixkuor – “The Womb of the World” (Death Metal / Cavernous Death / Blackened Death) a harrowing cavernous colossal death metal record, this album is a suffocating, meticulously crafted descent into cosmic horror—ambitious, overwhelming, and utterly consuming.
 
This is THE SLUDGELORD’s Essential Albums of the Week, WK48. Plug in and black out. The ‘Lord has spoken.
 

⚔️ 🩸 Album of the week:
 
 
#325
 
⚔️ Artist: Oromet 
🩸 Title: “The Sinking Isle”
⚔️ Release date: November 7th, 2025 

🩸 Genre/tags: atmospheric doom, funeral doom

🩸 Essential Release (s)
 
#323 
 
⚔️ Artist:  ORM
🩸  Title: “Guld”
⚔️ Release date: October 31st, 2025

 

🩸 Genre/tags: progressive black metal

#324 
 
⚔️ Artist: Primitive Man
🩸  Title: “Observance”
⚔️ Release date: October 31st, 2025 

🩸 Genre/tags: black metal, dissonant, noise, sludge, doom

#326
 
⚔️ Artist: Pupil Slicer
🩸 Title: “Fleshwork”
⚔️ Release date: November 7th, 2025

🩸 Genre/tags: grindcore, hardcore, mathcore

 

#327

⚔️ Artist: Qrixkuor 
🩸 Title: “Ritual of Split Tongues”
⚔️ Release date: November 7th, 2025

🩸 Genre/tags:  death metal, doom, black metal

PLAYLIST: THE SLUDGELORD’s Weekly Hitlist #49 November 28th, 2025 to December 4th, 2025

 

⚔️🩸 My biggest tracks from November 28th, 2025 to December 4th, 2025
 
 
⚔️ Total streams: 241 ↑ 168% vs. last week
🩸  Total Artists streamed: 17 ↑ 55%
⚔️ Total Albums streamed: 19 ↑ 59%
🩸  New Tracks streamed: 82 ↑ 91%
⚔️ Total Listening Time: 1 days 11 hours ↑ 120%
🩸  Average Streams: 34 per day ↑ 162%
⚔️ Most Active Streaming Day: 58 on December 3^rd ↑ 4%

⚔️ Top Artist: 1914 (56 streams)

🩸 Top Album: 1914 – “Viribus Unitis” (56 streams)

⚔️ Top Track: 1914 – “1915 (Easter Battle for the Zwinin Ridge)” (9 streams)

🩸 Top 30 tracks of the week

MONTHLY RECAP: THE SLUGELORD's monthly metal picks #11, November 2025

 

⚔️🩸 My favourite track (s) & artist (s) from November 2025 
 
 
⚔️ Total streams: 800 ↓ 47% vs. last month
🩸  Total Artists streamed: 35 ↓ 50%
⚔️ Total Albums streamed: 39 ↓ 56%
🩸  New Tracks streamed: 227 ↓ 55%
⚔️ Total Listening Time: 2 days, 19 hours ↓ 49%
🩸  Average Streams: 27 per day ↓ 44%
⚔️ Most Active Streaming Day: 83 on 14th Nov ↓ 30%

 Top Artist: The Acacia Strain (143 streams)

🩸  Top Album: The Acacia Strain – “You Are Safe From God Here” (130 streams)

⚔️ Top Track: The Acacia Strain – “A Call Beyond” (12 streams)

🩸  Top 30 tracks of the month

MONTHLY RECAP: THE SLUGELORD's monthly metal picks #10, October 2025

 

⚔️🩸 My favourite track(s) & artist(s) from October 2025
 
⚔️ Total streams: 1,499 ↑ 38% vs. last month
🩸  Total Artists streamed: 70 ↑ 75%
⚔️ Total Albums streamed: 87 ↑ 53%
🩸  New Tracks streamed: 497 ↑ 42%
⚔️ Total Listening Time: 5 days, 11 hours ↑ 52%
🩸  Average Streams: 48 per day ↑ 34%
⚔️ Most Active Streaming Day: 113 on 17th Oct ↓ 8%

⚔️ Top Artist: Altarage (140 streams)

🩸 Top Album: Nine Inch Nails – “TRON: Ares (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” (121 streams)

⚔️ Top Track: Blindfolded and Led to the Woods – “The Hardest Thing About Being God Is That No One Believes Me” (10 streams)

🩸 Top 30 tracks of the month

PLAYLIST: THE SLUDGELORD’s Weekly Hitlist #48 November 21st, 2025 to November 27th, 2025

 

⚔️🩸 My biggest tracks from November 21st, 2025 to November 27th, 2025
 
⚔️ Total streams: 90 ↓ 50% vs. last week
🩸  Total Artists streamed: 11 ↑21%
⚔️ Total Albums streamed: 12 ↑10%
🩸  New Tracks streamed: 43 ↓ 24%
⚔️ Total Listening Time: 11 hours
🩸  Average Streams: 13 per day
⚔️ Most Active Streaming Day: 54 on 27^th Nov

⚔️ Top Artist: Primitive Man (39 streams)

🩸  Top Album: Primitive Man – “Observance” (39 streams)

⚔️ Top Track: Primitive Man – “Devotion” (9 streams)

🩸  Top 30 tracks of the week