Goldicot Culls The Week

Goldicot listen to a 100 albums a week and decide for you which ones are the best... perhaps.

As far as first weeks go, not bad! January, often maligned as the year’s superfluous opening ambient track, serves as the enthusiasts’ reprieve – a time where it is actually possible to stay comfortably on the release treadmill. I went a little above and beyond  – a smooth 160 releases – and found the cream of this rather plentiful crop. 

First, a recap. Technically, the biggest event was the return of false Batushka, now in the guise of Patriarkh, having failed to acquire the mandate of heaven. Their legal battles may have worn them out: Prophet Ilja is tired, as if liturgical black metal was a worn and faded practice, rather than a momentary cleverness gone in a flash. So earned its muted reception. The only other major label release was from Northern Silence, Sacred Sound of Solitude by Bloodbark, serene and placid atmospheric black metal most notable for its beautiful production and mastering work from Gabriele Gramaglia of Cosmic Putrefaction and The Clearing Path renown. 

It was the underground labels that lit the ceremonial ‘25 torch. Inverse Solar Reqvriem, the nodal center of dozens of Nostalggia projects, issued twenty minutes of unsettling chaos in the form of Ierfeweardian Oþfeallan Snytrucræft, menacing and messy black metal with a tinge of industrial hostility. A nice example of a double-edged furtherance, one of late nineties primitivism and one of modern industrialization, in the trends of modern black metal, and this entry is all bite, no bark. Brutal Mind struck early in their contest for the slam throne with South Korea’s Visceral Explosion, playing brutal death metal in the excruciating way, a tireless and methodical battery of bottomless gutturals and blunt club bonk riffs. And although it’s not on a label yet, avant-garde black metal visionary Garry Brents released a preview of the next Gonemage metamorphosis, this time symphonic black metal in chiptune soundfont. As always, Brents’ experimentalism bridges history and future, upgrading and augmenting modern sound into new forms using tools long known yet underutilized, and this syncretism belies his raw talent, deploying high-quality novel fusions at a rapid, relentless pace. Hark to Fiadh this spring for the return of cyborg metal, Coldest Keep in Bitter Heavens.

The best, saved for last, all black metal: the top three releases from 2025: Week 1.

3 - Serpent’s Order - Entangled in Warped Torrents

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIRVwULsy-o

If you think about it, the idea of “atmospheric black metal” is terrifying and sickening, to be ensconced in an omnipresent pervasive evil, breathing in and out when the air itself is hateful. Better to hope then the name refers to the spheres, of dwelling under a celestial lid of menace, the earth lit by dark stars. That’s what Serpent’s Order sounds like, a majestic atmosphere of darkness and horror, punctuating grim reality with haunting omen and soaring vulture. Entangled in Warped Torrents is a busy album, fresh hells on every track, with commanding voice, wrenched from a hoary throat, an endless sense of dread, and the classic interlude: steel against steel, ringing in the field. Breathe in and hold…

2 - DIM - Dark Age Decadence

A rich blend of dungeon synth, dark ambient, folk, electronica, and depressive black metal, DIM surpasses the multiplicity of their dissected labels into a complex and earnest album, each genre a different perspective on an effervescent whole. Perhaps most interesting is the eerie warmth brought out from this experiment; rather than the normal cold and dark feelings of this scene, Dark Age Decadence is warm and dark, to spend a  meditative yet adventurous night with. This is the most interesting release of the week. 

1 - Old Nick - The “Where Poison Apples Grow” EP

Nurturing the idiosyncrasy up from the germ of an idea into a fully realized work of art takes time, patience, and a lot of care. Old Nick applies that tender love to each and every riff, developing ostensibly silly nonsense into beautiful arrangements of unique expression. Listen to how every phrase in the title opener ends in a different way, whether the toll of a bell, a death grunt, an acoustic breakbeat, or all three in an exciting and unpredictable stack.

Listen to “The Hat Man” and its unexpected xylophone counterpoint and spooky synth stab accents, all cleverly syncopated and alternated to bring out a palpable sense of nighttime skulking and sneaking. Even on its most traditional track, “Apple Dolls of the Lonely Witch”, the structure is aptly designed around a beautifully tragic poem, bearing fruit of a surprisingly serious nature, such that a style seemingly so absurd is now perfect in its pulling of the heartstrings. Old Nick (and Grime Stone’s writing throughout) is excellent, meaningful, and even here, on apparent goofy ephemera, profound. How many songs can claim a chorus as crushing and catchy as “Tears of a Crying Wolf”, and match pounding hardstyle techno to the lycanthropic plight and romantic black metal to melancholic evil?

Throughout all Grime Stone Records, and no less focused and ornate here, there is an exceptional attention to detail, a thematic correspondence between timbre, lyric, genre, riff, aesthetic and tone. This release celebrates five years of GSR’s brand of haunt’d witch’ry – here’s to another five. L-L-L-LET’S FUCKING GO