Jan/Feb 2025

I love this EP. I have listened to it three times in the last two days and I think I have enjoyed it more each time. We're not far enough into 2025 to start talking in any meaningful way about best albums, but I can see this one still being near the top of the list come December.

I think there needs to be a sub-genre of Weird Black Metal, and this would be a prime candidate. While it's not quite the same, it makes me think of Bloody Keep's 2024 album Rats of Black Death, which I also really liked.

I was going to push back on Apple Music's inclusion of this album on a "Doom" list, but a few tracks in, I can see where they are coming from. It may not be as slow and dirge-like as a lot of music that typically gets categorized as doom, but it has a weight and somberness even to the faster tracks.

I listened to The Stygian Rose when it first came out last year, but then kind of forgot about it. That is not a judgement on the album itself—I am really enjoying it this time around—but I think rather a product of just how many great metal albums came out last year. The title track and "Heavy Is the Crown Of Bone" are a few of the stand-outs for me, but the whole album is pretty great.

This album is a re-release of a record that came out in the mid-2000s and has been largely unavailable since. It definitely has the vibe of studio-based electronic dance music that was coming out then, with some mid-70s Krautrock vibes. I like all of that! There is nothing super groundbreaking here, but it is an enjoyable listen, a bit like some mixed a bit of Can into Peter, Bjorn, & John.

I know basically nothing about this band, but this album came up in the metal new releases list today, so I gave it a listen. I'd say it leans toward black metal, but not entirely—there are some prog elements and some clean vocals here and there. It's pretty good; while I'm not sure it will stick with me or hold up to repeat listens, I'm enjoying it for now.