Sunday, 21 December 2025

PLAYLIST: THE SLUDGELORD’s Weekly Hitlist #51 December 12th, 2025 to December 18th, 2025


 

⚔️🩸 My biggest tracks from December 12th, 2025, to December 18th, 2025
 
⚔️ Total streams: 345 ↑ 14% vs. last week
🩸  Total Artists streamed: 55 ↑ 49%
⚔️ Total Albums streamed: 59 ↑ 60%
🩸  New Tracks streamed: 175 ↑ 28%
⚔️ Total Listening Time: 24hrs ↓ 11%
🩸  Average Streams: 49 per day ↑ 14%
⚔️ Most Active Streaming Day: 97 on December 16th ↑ 23%

⚔️ Top Artist: Rotten Sound (73 streams)



🩸 Top Album: Rotten Sound – “Mass Extinction” (73 streams)



⚔️ Top Track: Rotten Sound – “Recycle (11 streams)


🩸 Top 30 tracks of the week


Sonic Selections (((o))): 10 Essential Metal Albums released in October/November, 2025

 


Another couple of months are behind us, and as we close the book on October and November, it’s time for my latest recap of the incredible music that landed during this stretch — my Top 10 Records from the past two months, otherwise known as our essential Sonic Selections (((o))).
 
In October, I clocked up 7360 minutes of listening — over 122 hours — spanning 69 artists and 487 individual tracks.  November was a much quieter month, but still full of quality: I listened to 3487 minutes of music, explored 36 artists, and played through 212 tracks.
 
Across the two months combined, I dug into 126 albums — 87 in October and 39 in November — before narrowing the field down to the 10 new releases that made the final cut for this feature. The standard was so consistently high that choosing just ten felt almost cruel.
 
From a personal standpoint, October and November delivered a phenomenal run of new music. I hope you’ll dive into my favourite albums below and discover something that hits you just as hard. When the releases are this good, who even needs words to review them?
 
See you next month — and don’t forget to check out my weekly playlists and essential records of the week, which I share regularly.

10).
 
⚔️ Artist: Cthvn
🩸  Title: “Hymn”
⚔️ Release date: October 10th, 2025



🩸 genre/tags: post metal, sludge, doom, black metal


9).
 
⚔️ Artist: An Abstract Illusion
🩸  Title: “Sleeping City”
⚔️ Release date: October 17th, 2025


🩸 genre/tags: atmospheric progressive death metal



8).


⚔️ Artist: Old Year
🩸  Title: “No Dissent”
⚔️ Release date: October 24th, 2025



🩸 genre/tags: doom, sludge, death doom



 

7).

⚔️ Artist: Terzij de Horde
🩸  Title: “Our Breath Is Not Ours Alone”
⚔️ Release date: October 10th, 2025


🩸 genre/tags: black metal, blackened hardcore, screamo



6).

⚔️ Artist: 1914
🩸  Title: “Viribus Unitus”
⚔️ Release date: November 14th, 2025



🩸 genre/tags: black metal, sludge, death metal

 
5).

⚔️ Artist: Veilburner
🩸  Title: “Longing For Triumph, Reeking of Tragedy”
⚔️ Release date: November 19th, 2025




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



4).

⚔️ Artist: Conjurer
🩸  Title: “Unself”
⚔️ Release date: October 24th, 2025



🩸 genre/tags: post metal, doom, sludge, hardcore



3).

⚔️ Artist: Oromet
🩸  Title: “The Sinking Isle”
⚔️ Release date: November 7th, 2025



🩸 genre/tags: atmospheric doom, funeral doom


 
2). 🥈

⚔️ Artist: Blindfolded and Led to the Woods
🩸  Title:“The Hardest Thing About Being a God is that No One Believes Me”
⚔️ Release date: October 10th, 2025



🩸 genre/tags: progressive death metal, technical death metal


1). 🏆

⚔️ Artist: The Acacia Strain
🩸  Title: “You Are Safe From God Here”
⚔️ Release date: October 24th, 2025




🩸 genre/tags: metalcore, deathcore, post metal, sludge, doom

          

Thursday, 18 December 2025

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


Thursday, 11 December 2025

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