Metalcatto
This top is meant to recognize the work of those bands that don’t have a specific niche to attack—the kind of artists that make you say “what the heck was even that?” or “I didn’t know I could feel this.” It’s a journey through albums that are each more mixed and harder to pin down than the last, but that’s the whole point, right? To be disturbed beyond repair. Or, if you prefer, you can also call this the top albums I couldn’t fit anywhere else.
5. Cradle of Filth – The Screaming of the Valkyries
Let’s get something out of the way first. This mention recognizes the effort of musicians who are often forgotten behind the PR machine of a big band. I couldn’t really place this album neatly under Black or Gothic Metal without getting metaphorically stabbed, so here we are. The Screaming of the Valkyries is everything Cradle of Filth has done right: excellent songwriting, strong production, immersive atmosphere, and genuinely interesting themes. It’s ridiculous Metal done seriously, and that’s exactly why the art reaches unexpected heights. You really can’t call yourself a tragic goth romantic and not give this a try.
4. Defigurement – Endbryo
A “wacky adventure” isn’t how I’d usually describe anything associated with Grindcore, but Endbryo takes a subgenre that felt like it had reached a dead end and reinvigorates it with Prog, Tech-Death, and Avant-Garde ideas. It’s proof that you never really know what to expect in life, and that when things seem most dead, they can still change in a second. Defigurement deserves far more attention than it gets, which is why I want to acknowledge its ability to deliver some of the most brutal music possible with intelligence and grace. When it comes to mixing the most extreme styles into one coherent statement, Endbryo takes the blood cake.
3. Pupil Slicer – Fleshwork
Another band that completely defies categorization. The absolute mayhem and abrasive textures that Fleshwork unleashes are genuinely unique, yet Pupil Slicer still manages to maintain a melodic core that expresses vulnerability in a way few bands could while operating at this level of hostility. I knew these guys had potential before, but this album confirms it. Think of Pupil Slicer as a British street-level version of Converge, reflecting the modern anxiety of our cyberpunk era—massive technological advances paired with painfully primitive morality. But I digress. Just listen to this thing; it’ll pierce your eardrums in the best possible way.
2. Crippling Alcoholism – Camgirl
It’s genuinely hard to define what Crippling Alcoholism plays at times, but let’s put it this way: if modern Pop music had any guts, it would sound like Camgirl. This is a subversive, emotional, and unpredictable fall into a dark, gloomy digital world of human commodification (wait a moment… oh) and crushing loneliness. Beyond the constant jumps between complex riffing and outright disco choruses, Camgirl stands out as a deeply poetic effort. Great lyrics are rare in our niche, and this album delivers them in spades. Let’s enjoy this sweet misery while we can.
1. Saor – Amidst the Ruins
It’s been a good year for Black/Folk Metal, but nobody blends these elements quite like Saor. At this point, the band has become the standard of the niche, and Amidst the Ruins shows that almost effortlessly. It’s neither traditional nor fully Avant-Garde; instead, it sits in a strange middle ground where it feels wrong to call it only Black Metal or only Folk (as you might with Wardruna). Saor’s sonic ambitions are vast, as are the imagery and atmosphere the music evokes. This is a true journey to forgotten times and cultures, reminding us just how much gets lost in the infinity of time.
The UK fans didn’t bribe me to write this top, ok?
Metal Eclipse Reviews 