Rampaging Chipmunk

I both love and hate finding great albums I initially missed upon their release; I love it because it’s of course awesome to dig up great music and I hate it because it makes me kick myself for missing it. This is such a case here. I somehow missed Afterworld by @blacklist_vr back when it dropped in 2022 and I am regretting that because it’s a phenomenal piece of moody and chill post-punk. Easily one of the best goth albums I’ve heard from that year. Strongly recommended. #goth #postpunk #coldwave #nycmusic

So here’s my collage of my most listened to albums of April. @bloody_valkyria takes the crown for the most listens with their excellent new album followed closely by the newest release from the legendary @immolation_band and my current album of the year by @speglas to round out the top three. Other noteworthy 2026 releases featured include the glorious new album by the Greece’s own mighty defenders of true heavy metal @triumpher.official and their fellow countrymen @decipher.official ’s new opus of Hellenic style black metal. I’d also like to highlight @juodvarnis_band down near the bottom of the collage as well; their refreshing take on black/post metal was one of the best albums to drop in January. Two 2025 releases of note here that I have not mentioned previously are as follows: first is @stellarblight ’s excellent debut album which is a masterful blend of rockin classic style heavy metal with melodic death metal brought to us by Sonneillon; the mastermind of the iconic Blaze of Perdition. And second is the truly unique Nocturne by @hexvesselband which delivers a hypnotic, moody, and unsettling take on black metal anchored by the characteristically excellent vocals and lyrics of frontman Mat McNerney. Other older favorites I listened to in April include @kinggoatband , @officialcrone , the two most recent @mephorashofficial albums which accompanied me on several moody overcast days spent outdoors, and of course arguably my favorite band; @untootherspdx . You can also see that I did a full Immolation discography run to prep for the new album; an album that I must give album of the month award to. Yet another brilliant piece of work by the seemingly unstoppable legends. #blackmetal #deathmetal #goth #heavymetal #prog

So this masterpiece; which was terribly under appreciated at the time of its release; turns 20 this year. Certainly not what fans of @disillusion_band expected from them, but a very bold and assertive creative departure from the melodic death metal of their prior work towards a very unique industrial and gothic tinged take on prog metal that is to this day still thoroughly idiosyncratic. I’m honestly disappointed that much of the oddball metal releases from the late nineties and early-mid 2000s that were very significant at the time of their original release have not seen their particular sounds explored further in the subsequent years. We get more bands copying stuff like old school eighties traditional heavy metal and second wave black metal than we could ever possibly need or want and yet some of the more interesting sounds of the past couple of decades have gone regrettably under explored. I want bands to build upon the sounds of stuff like the weirder side of @tiamatband , Projector era @darktranquillityofficial , the dramatic and synth-heavy death metal sound of early @shadeempireofficial , and of course the cold and moody weirdness of Gloria by Disillusion. That’s what we need to see; not another half dozen bad Iron Maiden or Darkthrone knockoffs. #progmetal #deathmetal #metal #industrialmetal

Oh look. The greatest death metal band of all time @immolation_band released another top notch album to the surprise of absolutely no one. These guys have been making music since before I was born and they’ve never made a bad album. It’s bonkers. #metal #deathmetal #heavymetal

Seeing as I’ve been posting about my favorite recent releases, I figure I should mention this one as well; one of my most anticipated albums of the year. Since their 2021 album The Thule Grimoires won my 2021 album of the year, I have been waiting patiently for @theruinsofbeverast to release a follow up and at the very beginning of the year, they finally delivered their newest release titled Tempelschlaf and it exceeded my lofty expectations. This album is a perfect mix of their long established ritualistic and hard-hitting black/doom metal with the gothic elements introduced on The Thule Grimoires all with characteristically excellent drumming, well executed chanted vocals, and absolutely immense sounding production. While previous works like 2017’s masterful Exuvia evoked the feeling of an esoteric ritual performed around a roaring bonfire in a frigid winter forest, Tempelschlaf sounds like a ceremony in a massive underground stone temple. Vast, crushing, heavy, and still somehow perhaps their most accessible work to date and with one of their tightest runtimes to date as well. It may have taken five years between albums, but Tempelschlaf bears the hallmarks of a meticulously well crafted piece of art where every element is in exactly the perfect place and as such, it was well worth the lengthy wait. This album is probably guaranteed to get a spot in my top three of my album of the year list and it will likely vie for the top spot. Without a doubt it is a can’t miss album for 2026. #blackmetal #metal #doommetal #gothmetal

I think this is probably my current album of the year. In general, I’m a fan of bands who bring experimentation to the classic heavy metal sound and @speglas have done that here magnificently. Brilliant guitar work, flawless incorporation of post-metal and black metal elements, and lush production full of atmosphere and mood. Top tier stuff. #heavymetal #blackmetal #deathmetal #swedishmetal

This is a can’t miss album. I know we are early in the month, but I’d be very surprised if anything else released in April tops this new album from @bloody_valkyria . An absolutely masterful fusion of the grandiose, epic, and synth-heavy black metal pioneered by bands like @summoningofficial with the classic Finnish melancholy and riffs of bands like @insomniumofficial and @omniumgatherumofficial . One of the best albums I’ve heard so far this year. #blackmetal #finnishmetal #melodeath

Top 90 albums I listened to in March arranged by play count. Was rather busy and also watched a ton of YouTube as well so didn’t quite manage to hit a full 100 for the month. Some newer releases by such bands as @triumpher.official , @blackreussmusic , and @theruinsofbeverast were in constant rotation alongside some of last year’s best stuff like The Regeneration Itinerary by @andoceans_official , The Spin by @messa_band , and A Void Within Existence by @abigailwilliamsofficial . Revisited some older favorites by bands like @schammaschofficial , @inconcessusluxlucis , and @midnightodyssey_official as well. As far as my favorite new release from March itself, I am not 100% sure yet but I suspect that Looking Glass Hymnal Blue by @thesilverofficial will likely end up taking the top spot on my personal album of the month list. #metal #goth #blackmetal #powermetal

I took way too long to get around to listening to this album. The recently resurrected project Gallowbraid as masterminded by the inimitable Jake Rogers also formerly of Visigoth and Caladan Brood. What an excellent piece of American style melodic black metal. I am very excited to hear of this project reforming as every project Rogers has been involved with has been phenomenal in different ways and any opportunity to hear more from him is always welcome. #blackmetal #folkmetal #utah

Top 100 albums listened to in February. Lots of old favorites from bands like @adinfinitumofficial , @schammaschofficial , @saormusic , and @tribulation_official . Last year’s excellent release by @reptyle_band got the most listens from me for the month and remains one of my favorite albums released over the past six months or so. I have yet to really give much thought the ranking of my top new releases of the month, but I can definitely say with certainty that the new releases from @themagus_666 , @wormgloom , @gladiumregis , @speglas , and @blackreussmusic are all very high quality albums. #metal #goth #blackmetalmusic #deathmetal

Happy New Year, everyone. Today I would like to kick off the year by bringing some attention to a heavily under appreciated release from 2024 that only recently came to my attention via a random comment in the comments section of an @angrymetalguy review; Neon Blood Fire by Finnish goth metal band @lamorimusic . With this album, these guys have capably taken up the torch for Finnish goth metal established long ago by iconic bands like Sentenced and in doing so, they created one of the best albums of 2024. The most direct contemporary comparison I can think of is @lacrimasprofundereofficial as Lamori brings a similar focus on keeping the pace relatively high and the song length pretty concise. Which is just another way of saying that this album is nonstop banger goth metal anthems. The very chilly synth tone and extensive use of harsh vocals keeps the atmosphere firmly rooted in the heavier and moodier side of things and; though I doubt this was intentional; even reminds me of Gothenburg style melodic death metal (specifically Fiction/We Are The Void era @darktranquillityofficial ) at points which is a highly welcome stylistic choice. I really can’t pinpoint anyone else active now who sounds quite like this; these guys stand apart in both their particular take on the genre and their obvious talent. In going through their previous releases, I also can confidently say that while they have always been talented, Neon Blood Fire is definitely their magnum opus so far and the album where a truly unique vision for goth metal has coalesced into something legitimately exceptional. I am thoroughly impressed by these guys and I hope both that new music from them will arrive soon and that it will result in a higher profile for the band because Neon Blood Fire deserved vastly more attention than it seemingly got upon release. I can’t recommend this album highly enough and I hope everyone reading this gives it a listen. #goth #gothrock #gothmetal #metal

Yeah it’s yet another collage. This time it’s my top 100 most listened to albums of the year. Tons of good stuff on here. #metal #goth #blackmetal #powermetal #deathmetal