Written by That’s a wrap! We’re officially in the final leg of 2025, tying a neat little bow on the year that was before setting out sights on the shiny new things to get stuck into in 2026.
But before that, one last offering otf brilliant new metal music to whet your appetite. Much as we have the rest of the year, we’ve searched far and wide to find you some exciting new bands to get into and this month there’s a diverse selection to choose from.
From the goth-sludge concept album inspired (in part, at least) by Dracula and philosophy-loving deathcore to high concept black metal and theatrical horrorcore, we’ve pulled together the stories from some of metal’s most interesting up-and-coming acts. Check out their music in our massive playlist below (which also contains every other new band we’ve covered in 2025), and dive into the stories – who knows, maybe you’ll find a new favourite band. See you on the other side!
Blood Vulture
Vampires are sexy. Whether it’s Bill Skarsgård flopping around with a prosthetic penis in Nosferatu or David Boreanaz pulling off the tortured-vamp-with-a-soul in Buffy, there’s an undeniable link between eroticism and the fanged undead. So what do you do when you’ve written a concept album about vampires and, erm, aren’t that?
“I’m not seven feet tall and I don’t have black hair… yet,” concedes Jordan Olds, mastermind behind New York’s Blood Vulture. “I don’t relate to a lot of the tropes of vampires; some are powerfully romantic, others are all about debauchery, some are just pure evil… but that’s all been done and doesn’t relate to me. So what do I relate to? The loneliness and existentialism.”
Those weighty, human themes form the key pillars for Blood Vulture’s debut, Die Closer. A gorgeous blend of sludge, goth and even prog metal, it’s not actually Jordan’s first time in the spotlight. Co-creator of YouTube heavy metal talk show Two Minutes To Late Night, he rose to prominence as corpse-painted host Gwarsenio Hall.
But after moving into a Victorian house in 2023 and reading Dracula for the first time, inspiration struck, and he came up with the concept of a vampire reckoning with the realities of eternal life.
“It doesn’t mean you’ll live your exact life forever,” Jordan refutes. “You’ll watch how the world actually ends. Not civilisation, the actual planet.”
It’s a contemplation of that inevitability. Fatalistic as that sounds, Jordan maintains a positive outlook for the future. With guests on their debut including Jade Puget (AFI), Kristin Hayter and Brian Fair (Shadows Fall), as well as shows with Pallbearer, Thursday and GWAR, he doesn’t see this as a one-and-done type affair.
“There will be more Blood Vulture albums, but I’ve no fucking idea what they will sound like,” he admits. “I’ve just gotta sit down, write and not stop myself.” Rich Hobson
Die Closer is out now via Pure Noise. Blood Vulture play Mystic Festival 2026.
Sounds Like: A soulful soundtrack to ennui
For Fans Of: Mastodon, Alice In Chains, Type O Negative
Listen To: A Dream About Starving To Death
Wrath Of Logarius
“We’re creating our own sound – formless black metal,” declares Urath, co-founder and lead shredder of Northern California’s Wrath Of Logarius.
Considering that he and his bandmates appear on video in their trademark skull masks, the statement boldly echoes the band’s aesthetic – mysterious, menacing and unwavering in their vision. Their anonymity isn’t a gimmick, it’s a commitment.
“Who we are as individuals doesn’t really matter,” he explains. “The music should speak for itself.”
And speak it does. Their debut full-length, Crown Of Mortis, detonates assumptions about what black metal can or should be. If you’re looking for lo-fi kvlt worship, turn back now. This is a different beast entirely – sharp, volatile and steeped in cosmic horror. Their first single, Keeper Of The Spectral Legion, is a blood-curdling declaration of intent, fusing melodic black metal, post-black atmospherics and the bone-splintering intensity of brutal American death metal into a scalding new alloy.
Forged during lockdown, this blistering sound was born from Urath’s desire to break genre shackles and vocalist Noctifer’s obsession with storytelling. Their early track 1897 caught fire in the underground, ultimately landing them an album deal with Season Of Mist.
“I thought it was a prank,” laughs Urath. “I had to look the person up to make sure it wasn’t a joke.”
Crown Of Mortis is no laughing matter. It picks up the thread from their 2023 EP, Necrotic Assimilation, and drags it through fire, ice and void. Lyrically, it’s a spiralling descent into a realm where Martyr Logarius – the band’s namesake and muse – sacrifices himself to protect a doomed kingdom. Musically, it’s a shape-shifting entity, unconcerned with purity and obsessed with power.
“Each song tells a cosmic story,” says Noctifer, “but they also reflect personal experiences. There are layers – some obvious, some hidden.”
What’s next for this spectral legion?
“The dream for us is playing in Europe,” says guitarist Vastator. “The festivals, the summer circuits… that would be a dream come true.” Joe Daly
Crown Of Mortis is out now via Season Of Mist.
Sounds Like: A scorched-Earth blend of black metal subgenres and interdimensional terror
For Fans Of: Dark Funeral, The Great Old Ones, Deicide
Listen To: Lurker’s Tomb
Ward XVI
When was the last time you went to a gig with a splash-zone at the front? “A bit of fake blood never hurt anybody,” jokes Ward XVI guitarist Doktor Von Stottenstein with a grin. “We warn the first few rows, provide anoraks and things in case people get a bit angry if they get messy.”
Formed in 2017, the Lancashire band take having fun very seriously, with plot lines, stories and a whole lot of lore at the heart of their brand of theatrical metal. Everything is themed around a psychiatric ward, with fans referred to as ‘inmates’.
“If I can go slightly highbrow, it’s modern-day Grand Guignol theatre,” says Rico Rameres, who provides additional vocals and performances onstage, apparently oblivious to the fact that most people have no idea what Grand Guignol actually is.
“It was a type of Victorian theatre,” he explains. “Sweeney Todd was one originally. It’s theatrical tales with lots of blood, lots of gore, lots of darkness. People loved it at the time, and they still love it now, but we’re making it a more modern thing with a lot more electric guitar.”
In keeping with that, for the launch of their new album, ID3NTITY, they went full-pelt with cages onstage and scenes of disembowelling.
“We get a bit carried away,” laughs vocalist Psychoberrie. “We often have to scale back what we want to do or literally cut props down to size.”
The band are incredibly devoted to their cause, Psychoberrie even performing at Bloodstock in 2021 just weeks after giving birth.
“We knew it would be around my due date, but I was like, ‘Just say yes’,” she recalls. ‘With a two-week-old newborn at home, I was suddenly onstage in front of 10,000 people.’”
It’s a dedication that goes two ways. “Some people have got their inmate numbers tattooed on them,” says the Doktor. “We wouldn’t be anywhere without our fans.” Jen Thomas
Id3ntity is out now.
Sounds Like: Metal meets theatre with a dash of haunted house creepiness
For Fans Of: Rob Zombie, Queenadreena, Combichrist
Listen To: Blood Is The New Black
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
What do 19th-century German philosophy and MySpace deathcore have in common? On paper, not much, except for maybe thinking that ‘God is dead… and we have killed him’ would go really hard in gold foil on the back of a hoodie. For Thus Spoke Zarathustra, this overlap stems from the desire to make something that gets dopamine flowing while going with the flow.
“It was my first time that I’m like, ‘Let’s see what happens’,” explains vocalist and principal songwriter Andy Reynolds. “Not ‘Fuck it and I don’t care why’, but just, ‘Fuck it, this is going to be cool!’”
On I’m Done With Self Care, It’s Time For Others’ Harm, the Maryland outfit’s second full-length and their Prosthetic Records debut, TSZ have lovingly crafted a savage slice of mid-2000s revival that owes as much to subgenre staples like All Shall Perish, Suicide Silence and As Blood Runs Black as it does to Rick Rubin and the inspirational musings of Friedrich Nietzsche.
“I was navigating a lot of new things,” Andy admits. “The reason why I speak on being so present, and just letting things flow as they’re meant to, is because of my history with mental health, in being so caught up trying not to worry.”
Where previous efforts like 2023’s Act Like You Don’t Know fixated on sub-two-minute songs punctuated by gratuitous sledgehammer breakdowns, the compositions on I’m Done With Self Care… are longer, more technically intricate and woven into a perverse lyrical narrative detailing the psychological decline of a sadistic antagonist. But don’t worry, that sense of playfulness and reckless abandon is still a driving force.
“There are some purposeful callbacks,” Andy admits. “But this record was also me going, ‘If I drank four C4 energy drinks, how would I play guitar?’ We want to do MySpace, but not Necrophagist, so let’s find the middle.” Owen Morawitz
I’m Done With Self Care, It’s Time For Others Harm is out now via Prosthetic.
Sounds Like: A 480p YouTube breakdown compilation from 2007
For Fans Of: All Shall Perish, As Blood Runs Black, Vomit Forth
Listen To: I Can’t Save You
