Lift Your Horns

09/26/2026

I've listened to this new single from stalwart Australian prog-metal outfit Vanishing Point at least a dozen times already this weekend, and it's only Friday night! "Bring Me the Night" heralds the band's forthcoming album "Eremition", due out November 20, which will be their 7th studio album and the first since 2020's stellar "Dead Elysium". If this track is any indication, it'll be a hell of a record once again, and I'm really looking forward to it!

VANISHING POINT - Bring Me The Night (Official Music Video)The fi...

01/17/2026

Swedish prog-metallers Soen are in fine form with their seventh studio album, "Reliance", out this week.

The absolute heart-wrencher of a song linked here is the last single/video released earlier this week ahead of the album drop; the fairly-sparse-but-still-lush instrumental arrangement here lets vocalist Joel Ekelöf's brilliant melodic sense really shine.

This band continues to astound me at every turn, and this album once again is a "no skips" collection with not a weak track to be found. After just one day, I can say this is a contender for my top album of the year. 🖤🤘

SOEN - 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 🖤 From our new album 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 out this Friday. Pre-order now: https://lnk.to/SoenReliance “...

01/13/2026

I know, no new posts from this page in a few months. My mind has been elsewhere. Will that change in 2026? Let's find out together! Or something... In any case, here is my Top 50 Albums of 2025 list.

What? It's only almost halfway through January! I really needed a little extra time with a few releases. I had it narrowed down to these fifty around a week ago, but the ranking... oh, the ranking is the hardest part, and if I do it again next week the order would almost certainly change, but this is what I'm going with. Stellar music all the way 'round. Note that 24 and 25 are really a two-way tie and I felt compelled to include both.

You might notice at least a couple of outliers that are "off-brand" for this page, but I have very eclectic tastes, and that's bound to be reflected in a list this long. I'm also a firm believer that everyone should check out things that are outside their usual wheelhouse from time to time.

Anyway, on with the list!

1. Ihlo - Legacy
2. Amorphis - Borderland
3. Everon - Shells
4. Feather Mountain - A Liminal Step
5. The Halo Effect - March of the Unheard
6. Dream Theater - Parasomnia
7. Bloodred Hourglass - We Should Be Buried Like This
8. Katatonia - Nightmares As Extensions Of The Waking State
9. Omnium Gatherum - May The Bridges We Burn Light the Way
10. Orbit Culture - Death Above Life
11. Dynazty - Game of Faces
12. Lacuna Coil - Sleepless Empire
13. Lux Terminus - Cinder
14. REMINA - The Silver Sea
15. Darktribe - Forgotten Reveries
16. Valhalore - Beyond the Stars
17. Spock's Beard - The Archaeoptimist
18. Leverage - Gravity
19. Scardust - Souls
20. In the Woods... - Otra
21. Blackbriar - A Thousand Little Deaths
22. Spiritbox - Tsunami Sea
23. Jason Bieler And The Baron Von Bielski Orchestra - The Baroness Sessions
24. Lord Of The Lost - Opvs Noir Vol. 1
25. Lord of the Lost - Opvs Noir Vol. 2
26. Defecto - Echoes of Isolation
27. Avatar - Don't Go In The Forest
28. A-Z - A2Z²
29. Faun - Hex
30. Green Carnation - A Dark Poem, Part I: The Shores of Melancholia
31. Before the Dawn - Cold Flare Eternal
32. Allegaeon - The Ossuary Lens
33. Dawn of Solace - Affliction Vortex
34. Chris Harms - 1980
35. Avatarium - Between You, God, The Devil and The Dead
36. Epica - Aspiral
37. Rioghan - Kept
38. Helloween - Giants and Monsters
39. Eluveitie - Anv
40. Edge of Paradise - Prophecy
41. MONO INC. - Darkness
42. Bloodbound - Field of Swords
43. Horizon Ignited - Tides
44. Lights of Skadi - A Cinematic Experience
45. Kate Rusby - When They All Looked Up
46. The Reticent - Please
47. Mantric Momentum - Alienized
48. Lunatic Soul - The World Under Unsun
49. Mors Principium Est - Darkness Invisible
50. Nailed to Obscurity - Generation of the Void

08/19/2025

Another great new single from Amorphis ahead of the album "Borderland", due for a September 26 release. Loving this stuff and can't wait to hear the rest! 🤘🖤

Taken from the album "Borderland" (September 26th, 2025)🎧 Stream/get it here: https://amorphis.rpm.link/borderlandYT"The working title for 'Dancing Shadow' ...

07/23/2025

I have a lot of words about today's news, but none of them seem adequate. Thanks for the music, Ozzman.

Rest in Peace to The Prince of Darkness. Rest in Peace Ozzy 😞

07/16/2025

Killer new single and video from Amorphis released this past Friday! Heavy, groovy, and deliciously textured, "Bones" comes ahead of the band's forthcoming 15th studio album, "Borderland", due out September 26th.

Taken from the album "Borderland" (September 26th, 2025)🎧 Stream, get it here: https://amorphis.rpm.link/borderlandYT"As a starting point, I wanted to prov...

01/19/2025

Here's a new single/video from Finland's Dawn of Solace! Richly textured and deliciously atmospheric, "Invitation" is fine, dark ear candy that promises another tasty album in the forthcoming "Affliction Vortex", due February 14. 🤘🖤

DAWN OF SOLACE Unleash Crushing New Single "Invitation" From Upcoming Album "Affliction Vortex"! Pre-order Vinyl, CD and merch here: https://music.nobledemon...

01/17/2025

Something new from In the Woods... this week. "A Misrepresentation of I" teases the band's upcoming seventh album. There's a stylistic shift of direction here that is sure to bring out the typical negative comments from the toxic "fans" who are resistant to change. But I say kudos to the band for going whatever way seems right to them. This is powerful, melodic, has a great hook... I'm really digging this track and look forward to the rest of "Otra" which is set for an April 11 release. 🤘🖤

http://lnk.spkr.media/inthewoods-otraVideo by ØYA FILM"Our first single from our upcoming studio album, «Otra», takes you on a melodic journey through though...

01/11/2025

Today the second album from "supergroup" The Halo Effect has been released - along with this new music video for the album's fifth track "What We Become" - and it is fantastic! "March of the Unheard" is an excellent followup to 2022's "Days of the Lost", with not a weak track to be found; early standouts include the title track and the aforementioned "What We Become". The band sounds modern and relevant while simultaneously paying homage to the classic Gothenburg melodeath sound they helped to create. This is no throwback; there's an exuberant vitality here that's impossible to ignore.

I said more than once last year that everything Mikael Stanne touches seems to turn to gold and I stand by that. Along with Jesper Strömblad, Niclas Engelin, Peter Iwers, and Daniel Svensson, this is a group of veteran metal masters leveraging their experience to forge bold new paths. Outstanding work! 🤘🖤

Official music video for the new single 'What We Become', from the album 'March Of The Unheard' out now! Order your copy: https://thehaloeff...

01/10/2025

Killer new single from goth metal stalwarts Lacuna Coil ahead of their upcoming tenth studio album "Sleepless Empire" which is due February 14. 🤘🖤

Lacuna Coil – Gravity (Official Music Video)Taken from the album “Sleepless Empire”, out February 14th, 2025, via Century Media Records Pre-Order/Stream here...