Albums of October 24, 2025

The most interesting releases of the week!

Unself was released on Nuclear Blast Records. Conjurer‘s third full-length release contains plenty of jagged edges. The opener starts as a quiet acoustic tune that gets taken over by a dissonant wall of sludge. Both ends of this messy dichotomy are as represented throughout Unself as they are on the album art, and the result is a complex bundle of emotions. While Conjurer is being contemplative, a feeling of peace comes across, but also one of unease, as there could be a jump scare around any measure bar. And when the massive piles of sludge and post-aggression hit you, the shrieking anger contrasting soaring cleans, the harsh guitars and production, you feel stuck as a wave of emotions roll past.

Conjurer‘s music invites comparison to other acts such as Amenra. The insane blend of sludge and post-metal seems to swing violently from extreme to extreme, and Conjurer reflect this in their performances. Unself contains excellent guitar tones that let the band stay on a note for a while the drums and bass speed along underneath. Some of the best vocal passages on the album use a similar method of creating contrast. At other times, all of the instruments crash together more or less in unison, creating a feeling of escalation as disparate parts suddenly amplify each other. The result is an album that sounds unfathomably large.

World Maker was released on Pelagic Records. The psychedelic post-metal masters have been on a bit of a roll, with 2020’s Unfold The God Man causing quite a stir when it came out. While 2022’s follow-up Violate Consensus Reality didn’t receive quite the same acclaim, I thoroughly enjoyed the album’s unapologetic indulgence and exhaustive exploration, and found the band delivering on what they promised: Grandiose psychedelic music that waxes and wanes over excessively constructed structures and that ponders just as much as it grooves. World Maker won’t be a surprise if you’ve enjoyed the band’s previous works.

Psychonaut has now made three consecutive albums that clock in at over an hour, but it doesn’t sound like they’re low on ideas. The title track opens the album with subdued, slowly rising vocals and strings before leading to a more electric opening melody on “Endless Currents.” As much as I enjoy Psychonaut‘s noodling and their willingness to go to excess, it sure helps that the band can turn on a pleasing groove or vocal harmony seemingly at will in between their quiet staccato guitar work hiding underneath layers of sounds and their metal blasts complete with harsh vocals and proper distortion. World Maker lives up to Psychonaut‘s name.

Psychedelic Enigma, released on Steamhammer, was a bit of a surprise. I have not enjoyed Them‘s past albums. The King Diamond-inspired heavy metal band’s 2020 release Return To Hemmersmoor was especially disappointing, as it felt like the band was sabotaging some interesting songwriting with performances that didn’t fit the songs, bad spoken-word sections, and boring slog passages sandwiching every sold chorus. Psychedelic Enigma has eliminated all of these issues.

Them continue to give reckless energy to their tracks, only now it’s more finely controlled. Whereas before they felt a bit too wild, Psychedelic Enigma gives us a band that can convey strong emotion while staying within the limits of what makes sense for the songs they’ve written. It helps that they wrote songs that have a bit more bite to them this time around. And while Psychedelic Enigma is quite long, there aren’t any moments that drag on or feel half-baked. Them peppers the listener with tight riffs and more focused songs. I get so lost in the vocal rasps and strong hooks that I lose track of the instruments turning on a dime during some intricately written and precisely performed verses. Psychedelic Enigma is a thoroughly impressive album.

Rituals of Death and Necromancy was released independently back in August and is receiving a CD printing now on ATMF. The album kicks off with ascending chromatic guitar lines that give a dense and harried sound. This eventually breaks into a more open sound, with tremolo arpeggiating and varied instrumentation contributing to a captivating album.

Eldur have packed Rituals of Death and Necromancy with plenty of variety. There are enough straightforward riffs to satisfy any listener, but they are packaged in several alternating styles, as the ragged aggression of the second wave gives way to a more progressive sound that expands whatever riff is being explored in a given passage and gives it a more thorough context. Rituals of Death and Necromancy works on multiple levels.

Dominion of Ashes is Cemetery Moon‘s second full-length release. Cemetery Moon makes standard second wave black metal with few deviations from expectations. While some tracks such as opener “The Wretched City” do start to unravel and deconstruct themselves near the end of the song, the main draw of Cemetery Moon is the well-written twin guitar lines. The two guitars dance around one another to create riffs with depth. Cemetery Moon makes full use of their instrumentation, writing songs that allow them to flesh out concepts that rely on the different guitar tones clashing with one another.

I do wish the bass was drawn into this clash as well, but the instrument seems to play a more traditional roll on this album. The drums reside farther back in the mix than I would have preferred, and while the part is played well, it does sometimes feel like there’s a beat for the sake of there being a beat rather than a thoughtful use of the instrument. But the overall product can’t be argued with. Cemetery Moon have made an entertaining and energetic album that will be enjoyed by any black metal fan.

Affliction in Bloom is the debut full-length release from progressive metal band Reverya. The triouse a heavy dose of keyboards to start the album, eventually adding the vocals, guitars, and drums to create a full sound somewhat reminiscent of Hypno5e. The twin themes of flowers and human suffering trade off throughout the ambitious release. While the music sometimes gets in the way of Affliction in Bloom‘s intended emotional impact as the various combinations of styles can get messy in some places, the album is intriguing and daring enough to be worth attention.

Reverya play with contrasts quite a bit on Affliction in Bloom. The more mellow passages have pleasing harmonies, clean vocals, and are primarily keyboard driven. The harsh passages have, surprisingly, harsh vocals, are guitar driven, and contain dissonant and distorted melodic lines when the chugging recedes. There is a whirlwind variety of tones throughout Affliction in Bloom, all held together quite well by the album’s two main themes. Affliction in Bloom is earnest, aggressive, and complicated. Reverya maintain their emotional and sonic drive throughout the album despite the album’s wide musical range.