Kult-Zilla’s – Essential New Metal Albums – Spring 2025

1. // Machine Head – Unatøned (Nuclear Blast Records)

It’s been over thirty years since Machine Head exploded onto the scene with their now legendary debut album Burn My Eyes (1994) – released on Roadrunner Records. And it’s great to not only see them still going strong, but also to watch them experience somewhat of a renaissance in their maturer years, after being written off at various points throughout their career. Their eleventh studio album Unatøned follows hot on the heals of the excellent concept record Of Kingdom and Crown (2022), and can really be perceived as a spiritual companion piece of sorts. Conjoined in terms of style and tone, but overall applying shorter and snappier songs for a run-time of just 41 minutes.

Across both records, Rob Flynn’s vocals have really never sounded better. The emphasis on soaring clean sung choruses is once again present on Unatøned, and Flynn’s matured voice has a deep and intense richness. Songs such as ‘Atømic Revelations,’ the Slipknot-esq ‘Øutsider,’ and ‘Bønescraper’ all follow a winning formula of fast and aggressive thrashy verses, juxtaposed with the kind of uplifting clean sung choruses the likes of Killswitch Engage have made a career out of. Elsewhere, the pre-release single ‘Unbøund’ is relentlessly pounding, while ‘Nøt Løng Før This World’ and ‘Scørn’ are as melodic as anything they’ve ever done before. KZ

2. // Deafheaven – Lonely People With Power (Roadrunner)

San Francisco based Deafheaven are one of the key bands in the Post-Black Metal scene, but also one of the most polarising. They’ve often found themselves dismissed by the Black Metal purists for leaning too heavily into the Shoegaze influence of their sound, a side of their style which culminated in the release of their fifth studio album Infinite Granite in 2021, a record almost entirely devoid of any Black Metal. And whether you loved or hated it, it was certainly a bold move for the band, and a real depaarture from the likes of their earlier work including Sunbather (2013) and Ordinary Corrupt Human Love (2018).

And well, Lonely People With Power is certainly a return to their heavier roots, and for many it will be a return to form. Kicking off with ‘Doberman,’ Deafheaven dive straight back into the extremities of their style with a song that builds gracefully around the layered vocals of George Clarke, eventually exploding with frenetic fury. The single ‘Magnolia’ hits hard with a dark and infectious chugging riff, intricately arranged and an epic example of their sound. ‘The Garden Route’ is pure Blackgaze, built around a pulsating dub-bassline. While elsewhere, tracks such as ‘Heathen,’ ‘Amethyst,’ and ‘Winona’ are absolutely going to win over the floors, wherever Deafheaven take this new material on the road. KZ

3. // Amenra – De Toorn / With Fang and Claw (Relapse Records)

Post Metal royalty Amenra, return with two simultaneously released EPs to follow up 2021s excellent De Doorn LP. The band are also royalty in the wider underground Belgium music scene, heading the Church of Ra collective of fellow artists, with many side-project bands from members of Amenra themselves – including the likes of Oathbreaker, The Black Heart Rebellion, Wiegedood, Absent In Body and Predatory Void. For these companion EPs, founding vocalist Colin H. Van Eeckhout, guitarist Mathieu J. Vandekerckhove and drummer Bjorn J. Lebon, have been joined by bassist Amy Tung Barrysmith, who replaces the recently departed Tim De Gieter.

And her bass tone plays a prominent role in the recordings, with Amenra delivering a slow and ponderous stripped down sound on the two tracks of De Toorn. ‘Heden’ opens with a subtle low sub-bass, gently introducing a guitar and slow-burning through a spoken word section, before eventually exploding into life just prior to the ten minute mark of its thirteen plus minute runtime. Slow and sombre does it with ‘De Toorn (Talisman)’ taking a similar approach to its execution, laying down lazy spaghetti-western vibes before eventually rolling its thunder. With Fang And Claw takes a more direct approach with its two songs. ‘Forlorn’ gets down to business releasing its fury far quicker, while ‘Salve’ stands out with a series of intense and powerful riffs. KZ

4. // Employed To Serve – Fallen Star (Spinefarm)

Based in Woking on the outskirts of London, Employed To Serve have been plugging away in the UK’s Metal scene for over a decade. They’ve released four previous albums, toured with the likes of Gojira, and played just about every Metal festival you can think of. Founding members, vocalist Justine Jones and vocalist / guitarist Sammy Unwin are a husband and wife duo, who also happen to run the label Church Road Records. And having released music in recent years from the likes of Palm Reader, Svalbard and Heriot, they’ve firmly cemented themselves as an integral part of the current scene.

Fallen Star is a really well structured Metal record which ebbs and flows by blending ferocity with melody throughout. ‘Treachery’ opens hard and fast with crunching production, while ‘Fallen Star’ offers a short piano intro before dropping into technical Metal-core with a sumptuous riff. The uplifting chorus is made for the big rooms, and the band deliver these time and time again, notably when they are joined by Jesse Leach from Killswitch Engage on ‘Whose Side Are You On,’ and Svalbard’s Serena Cherry on ‘Last Laugh.’ Elsewhere ‘Atonement’ with Will Ramos from Lorna Shore is an absolute standout, while ‘Now Thy Kingdom Come’ offers a thoroughly old–school Thrash vibe. KZ

5. // Behemoth – The Shit Ov God (Nuclear Blast Records)

Without a doubt the most successful extreme Metal act to have come out of Poland, Behemoth are another band formed in the early nineties who are experiencing something of a renaissance in their later career. Having flown the flag for Black Metal in their early days, they then experimented with a Blackened-Death Metal style, and in recent years have written songs with a slower Post-Doom Metal sound. And the quality of their work has barely faltered, with The Satanist (2014) being one of the seminal Metal records of the last fifteen years, and Opvs Contra Natvram (2022) an extraordinary piece of recent work.

The Shit Ov God continues the good run of form they are on, and is another fine addition to their catalogue. It opens with the frenetic Black Metal fury of ‘The Shadow Elite,’ with strong, fist pumping vocals from Nergal on the chorus. ‘Sowing Salt’ mixes up the pace, and is thoroughly evil sounding throughout. The title track opens with the sinister vocal; “Eat my flesh, drink my blood … I am the Shit Ov God’ – before providing a Gothic Hammer-Horrors vibe with keyboards and atmospheric vocal chants, on what is another slower Behemoth cut. Elsewhere the band tear through a number of modern Blackened hits, including ‘Lvciferean,’ ‘To Drown The Sun In Wine,’ and ‘O Venus, Come!’ KZ

6. // The Callous Daoboys – I Don’t Want To See You In Heaven (MNRK Heavy)

The Callous Daoboys showed they were a creative force to be reckoned with when they released the extraordinary Celebrity Therapist back at the end of 2022. The album was a modern Math-Core classic, showcasing a talented outfit and a songwriter in Carson Pace (vocals / synths / production) who seemingly knew no bounds. And well with I Don’t Want To See You In Heaven, they somehow seem to find a way to crank the madness up a notch – creating a wonderfully diverse concoction of sounds, which float effortlessly between two very polar opposite sides of the musical spectrum. Laying down some of the most chaotic and extreme Math-Core your ever likely to hear one minute, before switching to a sumptuous Jazz-Funk sound with clean vocals.

The record is a real cohesive collection which opens with a spoken word intro, before dropping into ‘Schizophrenia Legacy,’ appropriately named and highlighting everything the band do in one epic song as they journey through various genres and vocal styles. The sound on ‘Full Moon Guidance’ is dark, twisted and thoroughly chaotic, while ‘Two-Headed Trout’ opens with one hell of a pulsating bass-heavy riff – before breaking into an insanely funky verse. It all sounds something like Mr Bungle on steroids, or perhaps The Dillinger Escape Plan thrown into the melting pot with Incubus.

This record is just insane from start to finish, with ‘Lemon’ and ‘Body Horror for Birds’ providing melodic respite, before the likes ‘The Demon of Unreallity Limping Like a Dog,’ and ‘Idiot Temptation Force’ punch you right back in the face again. Utter, glorious madness. The record finishes with the more conventional ‘Distracted By The Mona Lisa,’ and then one final flurry with the eleven plus min demented ‘III, Country Song In Reverse’ – highlighting the full repertoire of what The Callous Daoboys have in their locker. An epic journey in experimental and challenging soundscapes, which builds to an emotional finalé as they seemingly throw everything but the kitchen sink into the mix, creating an impressive symphony of cacophony! KZ

Words by Abstrakt_Soul

‘2081: A Space Tragedy’ – By Mark T. Bates (The Curious Dark #2)