Tag Archives: de profundis

The Year In Review – Top 10 Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Albums of 2025

Posted on by
Reply

“Who the fuck is Justin Bieber?” – Ozzy Osbourne

There’s not much to celebrate in rock and metal music in the same year when we lost the one and only John Michael “Ozzy” Osbourne. Nothing will ever be the same without the Prince of Darkness, the Madman, The Wizard of Ozz. There isn’t a single artist or band reviewed in the history of The Headbanging Moose that wasn’t influenced in several ways by Ozzy and, of course, by Black Sabbath. It is a very sad year indeed. However, Ozzy was always in a great mood, always happy, and I’m sure that, wherever he is now, he wants to see us all smiling and laughing, because that’s what life is all about. He also wants us to keep attending rock and metal concerts to have a good time with our loved ones, with our closest friends, just like Keith Ibbitson of Metal Paparazzi and I did so many times this year, covering incredible bands the likes of Blackbraid, Ne Obliviscaris, Cattle Decapitation, Blind Guardian, and so on. I’ve also had the utmost pleasure of seeing the mighty Judas Priest in Dalhalla, Sweden, a dream come true for this fanboy here, and I can’t wait to “run for my life” in 2026. Having said all that, let’s honor the life of Ozzy with The Headbanging Moose’s Top 10 Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Albums of 2025, excluding EP’s, best of’s and live albums, and keep on rockin’ like the Madman until our very last breath!

1. Blackbraid – Blackbraid III (REVIEW)
Behold the stunning next chapter in the musical and spiritual journey of the witch hawk of Black Metal hailing from the Adirondack Mountains.
Best song of the album: Wardrums At Dawn On The Day Of My Death

2. Werewolves – The Ugliest of All (REVIEW)
The torchbearers of “Caveman Death Metal” continuing to annihilate intellects with an unlistenable barrage of truly hideous music.
Best song of the album: The Ugliest of All

3. Testament – Para Bellum (REVIEW)
Let’s prepare for war to the sound of the breathtaking fourteenth studio album by California’s own masters of old school Thrash Metal.
Best song of the album: Para Bellum

4. Helloween – Giants & Monsters (REVIEW)
These German giants of Heavy Metal and monsters of Rock N’ Roll are back with their ass-kicking seventeenth studio album.
Best song of the album: Majestic

5. An Abstract Illusion – The Sleeping City (REVIEW)
This incredible Swedish Progressive Death and Black Metal entity returns with their heaviest and most atmospheric work to date.
Best song of the album: Like a Geyser Ever Erupting

6. Allegaeon – The Ossuary Lens (REVIEW)
World domination awaits to the sound of the striking new beast by one of the must-see bands of the current tech death scene worldwide.
Best song of the album: The Swarm

7. 1914 – Viribus Unitis (REVIEW)
Trench warfare meets blackened death and doom in 1914’s fourth onslaught of war-torn fury.
Best song of the album: 1918 Pt 3: ADE (A Duty to Escape)

8. Cryptopsy – An Insatiable Violence (REVIEW)
Canada’s own Death Metal machine returns with their ruthless ninth studio album.
Best song of the album: Until There’s Nothing Left

9. Baest – Colossal (REVIEW)
Back from the fires of Denmark, this unstoppable creature will crush you with their fourth studio album.
Best song of the album: Colossus

10. Diabolizer – Murderous Revelations (REVIEW)
The torchbearers of diabolical abomination unite once again to drag us down into the fiery abysses of Turkish Death Metal without warning.
Best song of the album: Deathmarch of the Murderous Tyrant

And here we have the runner-ups, completing the top 20 for the year:

11. Lorna Shore – I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me (REVIEW)
12. Impureza – Alcázares (REVIEW)
13. Crimson Shadows – Whispers of War (REVIEW)
14. Primal Fear – Domination (REVIEW)
15. Serenity In Murder – Timeless Reverie (REVIEW)
16. Khôra – Ananke (REVIEW)
17. Panzerchrist – Maleficium – Part 2 (REVIEW)
18. Ominous Ruin – Requiem (REVIEW)
19. Wrath of Belial – Embers of Dead Empires (REVIEW)
20. Grima – Nightside (REVIEW)

Not only that, here’s once again our Top 10 EP’s of 2025, proving once and for all that the duration of an album is not that important in the end. As long as the music is great, the whole thing can be only one second long, like the classic “You Suffer” by Napalm Death!

1. When Plagues Collide – Kingmaker (REVIEW)
2. De Profundis – The Gospel Of Rot (REVIEW)
3. Fimbul Winter – What Once Was (REVIEW)
4. NecroticGoreBeast – Brute (REVIEW)
5. Serpent Corpse – Retaliate (REVIEW)
6. Akouphenom – Connections To The Erebus (REVIEW)
7. Necht – The Inevitable Suffering (REVIEW)
8. Discovery Through Torment – Telesynthetic Rebirth (REVIEW)
9. Der Rote Milan – Verlust (REVIEW)
10. Eleine – We Stand United (REVIEW)

Do you agree with our list? What are your top 10 albums of 2025? Also, don’t forget to tune in every Tuesday at 10pm BRT on Rádio Coringão to enjoy the best of classic and underground metal with Jorge Diaz and his Timão Metal, and every Thursday at 8pm UTC+2 on Midnight Madness Metal e-Radio for the best of underground metal with The Headbanging Moose Show!

Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year! See you in 2026!

And of course, as we really don’t like those boring Christmas songs here on The Headbanging Moose, we’ll leave you with what’s perhaps the most emotional and strongest metal hymn of the year, the charity version of “War Pigs”, by Black Sabbath, recorded by Judas Priest and with Ozzy himself sharing the vocal duties with the Metal God Rob Halford! This is the epitome of rock and metal music!

Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses…

Album Review – De Profundis / The Gospel Of Rot EP (2025)

Posted on by
1

The rot is everywhere, and it’s time to tear it down to the sound of the pulverizing new EP by one of the must-see names of the current UK Death Metal scene.

“The Gospel Of Rot is both a warning and a weapon – a sonic rebellion against the forces that seek to silence and subjugate. De Profundis offers not salvation but a wake-up call…” – De Profundis

Celebrating 20 years of death dealing and devastation, London, England-based Death Metal horde De Profundis has returned with a rejuvenated lineup and a brand new EP of stunning power and intensity, entitled The Gospel Of Rot. Recorded at Barking Dog Studio, mixed and mastered by Matt Jones at CapsaArx Studios, and embraced by a darkly beautiful artwork by Pierre-Alain D. of 3mmi Design, the new EP by frontman Stefano Bassi, guitarists Shoi Sen and Paul Nazarkardeh, bassist Simon McAuliffe, and drummer Tom Atherton will most definitely please fans of bands the likes of Death, Morbid Angel, Immolation, and Nocturnus, bringing together four tracks of furious Death Metal and masterful musicianship into a manifesto of resistance against the empty vessels that rule us, dragging our civilization into a mire of degradation.

The band wastes no time and kicks off the EP with the Death Metal extravaganza I: Corruption, where newcomer Stefano already showcases his ruthless deep guttural for our total delight, and Tom crushes his drums with rage and dexterity in II: Deception accompanied by the visceral Death Metal riff attack by Shoi and Paul. Then the quintet shows no mercy for our putrid souls in III: Indoctrination, offering an overdose of harsh riffs and demonic vociferations, with once again Simon and Tom making the earth tremble with their evil kitchen. And lastly, we have their cover version for Sepultura’s IV: Subtraction, from their 1991 masterpiece Arise (you can enjoy the original one HERE). De Profundis take the vibe from those Brazilian thrash and death heroes and add their own twist to it, resulting in a lecture in modern-day Death Metal where Stefano sounds brutally violent on vocals until the very end.

From their early days of primeval Doom and Death Metal, then venturing through the Progressive Death and Black Metal realms of their latest albums The Blinding Light of Faith (2018) and The Corruption of Virtue (2022), to the full-on Death Metal attack in The Gospel Of Rot, the band keeps crushing our putrid souls with their undisputed aggressiveness, precise musicianship, and a deep passion for the extreme, and you can get to know more about one of the precious gems of the British Death Metal scene by following the band on Facebook and on Instagram, by subscribing to their YouTube channel, by listening to all of their demented tunes on Spotify, and by purchasing the excellent The Gospel of Rot from BandCamp or by clicking HERE. In a nutshell, De Profundis are back at the very top of their game with The Gospel of Rot. Because the rot is everywhere, and it’s time to tear it down.

Best moments of the album: I: Corruption and IV: Subtraction.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2025 Independent

Track listing
1. I: Corruption 4:11
2. II: Deception 3:45
3. III: Indoctrination 4:27
4. IV: Subtraction (Sepultura cover) 4:34

Band members
Stefano Bassi – vocals
Shoi Sen – guitars
Paul Nazarkardeh – guitars
Simon McAuliffe – bass
Tom Atherton – drums

Album Review – De Profundis / The Corruption of Virtue (2022)

Posted on by
Reply

This unrelenting London, UK-based Death Metal entity will corrupt us all to the sound of their most intense, aggressive and challenging release to date.

Most bands mellow with age, but that’s not the case with London, UK-based Death Metal entity De Profundis. Nearly two decades since their inception, the band currently comprised of Craig Land on vocals, Shoi Sen and Paul Nazarkardeh (both of Monument of Misanthropy) on the guitars, Steve Woodcock on bass and Tom Atherton on drums has only evolved to become more and more extreme with each album, their latest probably being their most intense, aggressive and challenging release to date, entitled The Corruption of Virtue, the follow-up to their 2018 critically acclaimed album The Blinding Light of Faith. Produced by Peter Dowsett and displaying a sick artwork by Alex Tartsus (Depravity, Sepulchral Curse), The Corruption of Virtue is an absolute treat for any fan of Death Metal who likes the music to be demanding, engrossing and well thought out, being therefore highly recommended for lovers of bands such as Death, At The Gates, Carcass and Martyr, among several others.

The quintet wastes no time and begin their Progressive Death Metal attack in Ritual Cannibalism, where Craig sounds awesomely gruesome on vocals supported by Shoi and Paul’s acid riffage, not to mention the demolishing beats by Tom; whereas Sectarian Warfare is even more devastating than the opening tune, with Shoi and Paul being simply flawless armed with their stringed axes while Steve and Tom make the earth tremble with their respective bass and drums in a lecture in Death Metal. Then the low-tuned, rumbling bass by Steve will crawl deep inside your mind in the venomous Relentless March, the perfect fusion of brutality and intricacy, with Craig sounding like a creature from the abyss; and it’s time to slam into the circle pit like a headbanging bastard to the sound of Weaponised Rape, where their progressive vein gets even stronger spearheaded by the unstoppable blast beats by Tom.

Sick guitar riffs and solos spiced up by endless violence and dementia are the main ingredients in the multi-layered Death Metal feast Embrace Dystopia, simply infernal from start to finish, and more of their undisputed Death Metal is offered to us all in Desecrating Innocence, with Craig vociferating rabidly in the name of evil, blasphemy and rage. In Religious Cancer we face three minutes of vicious, thunderous sounds blasted by De Profundis where the guitar solos by Shoi and Paul sound as sharp as a knife, always supported by the metallic bass by Steve. Following such demented tune, another round of their obscure but extremely melodic and technical music is offered to us all in Scapegoat, showcasing a great job done by the band’s guitar duo while Tom hammers his drums mercilessly. Lastly, we’re treated to another solid composition titled The Sword Verses, and albeit it lacks a little of the violence from the rest of the album we can still enjoy Craig barking in great fashion as usual.

As already mentioned, De Profundis are far from slowing down or mellowing as the years go by; quite the contrary, in their vicious new opus The Corruption of Virtue they keep growing as a Death Metal beast, and if you want to show your total admiration and respect for those British death metallers you can start following them on Facebook and on Instagram, stream more of their infernal music on Spotify, and of course purchase a copy of the caustic The Corruption of Virtue from their own BandCamp page, as well as from the Transcending Obscurity Records webstore as a CD or as a gatefold LP with metallic effect and UV lamination by clicking HERE or HERE. It’s not easy at all to sound even more brutal than usual with each album released, but if the band in question is De Profundis let’s say that their new album proves that’s just another regular day in their undisputed career.

Best moments of the album: Sectarian Warfare, Desecrating Innocence and Scapegoat.

Worst moments of the album: The Sword Verses.

Released in 2022 Transcending Obscurity Records

Track listing
1. Ritual Cannibalism 3:34
2. Sectarian Warfare 4:09
3. Relentless March 4:47
4. Weaponised Rape 4:08
5. Embrace Dystopia 4:35
6. Desecrating Innocence 4:55
7. Religious Cancer 3:20
8. Scapegoat 4:03
9. The Sword Verses 4:59

Band members
Craig Land – vocals
Shoi Sen – guitars
Paul Nazarkardeh – guitars
Steve Woodcock – bass
Tom Atherton – drums