The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 420 (12.27.2025)

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playlist - mixtape

The 420th edition of the Nine Circles Playlist understands the heavy obligation that comes with any episode that hits the vaulted 420, but it’s 9:00 two days after Christmas and I have a bunch of kids here for the weekend, so coffee is the drug of choice and this is gonna be brief so I can get back to celebrating the holidays. Still, can’t resist inputting a little Bill McClintock to kick things off, especially when he’s mixing it up with Ozzy, Slayer, and…Hall & Oates? That’ll light the mistletoe and holly up in flames.

The rest of the 9C crew bring a variety of things to the holiday table, including even more Slayer (this time sans McClintock), Smashing Pumpkins, Blink-182, King Diamond, and Weft, among others.

Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week.

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– Chris

Scholar of the First Sin: Hera’s Best of 2025 List

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2025 EOY Header Image

Ah, list season: the time where everyone discusses their favorite albums and gathers information about albums they missed before ultimately playing catch up. Originally, I wasn’t even going to make a list this year. I felt even more pressure to listen to all the albums I had been interested in, but it was difficult to even find the time to do so. Instead, I opted to listen to music that I was already familiar with, so I spent time with more records I hadn’t listened to in years than with new releases. However, I must comply with seasonal demands, so, like a hostile witness, I am here to present my testimony. Welcome to grief is insurmountable and everything sucks EOY list season!

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Profile: Post-metal outfit lowheaven

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We have but one Profile to offer up on this holiday week but I promise it’s a good one. Reaching all the way back to August, we have Toronto-based post-metal outfit lowheaven and their beautiful debut Ritual Decay out through MNRK Heavy. lowheaven began their emergence in early 2020 during the complicated times of the COVID pandemic, and now in 2025 we have their intense and complex energy inspired by those dark times realized in Ritual Decay. In style and theme, it offers a lot and weighs heavily… in a good way. Give the responses to our questions a read below and make sure you dedicate plenty of time to this record for the rest of the year and beyond.

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Best of 2025: Chris’s Prog Rock & Metal List

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chris best of prog 2025

You’re mad if you thought I was going to stay away from my favorite genre of music. We could spend all day trying to align on a consistent definition for what is considered “progressive” rock and metal: I’m of the mind that it’s more than just keyboard prominence and time signature changes. It should also be more than simply aping the sounds of classic ’70s bands – it’s a progression of the form, and that can take many, many avenues.

Now, I’m not saying that the dozen selections below don’t have a LOT of influences from the progenitors of the form, nor do they all express the experimental directions that go beyond the norm – some of these just simply rock. You’re probably familiar with a few of these, but I bet there’s also at least one or two that are going to be new to you, and if you’re craving a little adventure in your music and you don’t require everything to be in dropped tuning with death growls, check out the incredible music below, all of which provided me with hours of pleasure in 2025.

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Initial Descent: December 22 – 28, 2025

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Noirsuaire 2025
Noirsuaire

As per usual, this week’s offerings are slim pickings. And spoiler alert: next week is much the same. BUT, these slim weeks are the ones you miss some great albums if you’re not paying attention. With that said, Christmas week brings us some black metal in the form of Noirsuaire and Black Mold. Black metal and Christmas go together like egg and nog if you catch my drift so dig into the former, get a belly full of the latter and enjoy seeing Krampus over these ashen tunes. Oh, and be sure to watch a Christmas movie…like Die Hard or Lethal Weapon or Terrifier 3. I mean, you know…the classics! Merry Christmas from all of us here at Nine Circles, we appreciate you all.

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The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 419 (12.20.2025)

ChrisLeave a comment
playlist - mixtape

The 419th edition of the Nine Circles Playlist approaches the solstice with trepidation: sure, I’m glad the year’s almost over, but if 2025 has shown me anything, it’s that my imagination pales next to what the world can come up with. In other words, yes: it CAN actually get worse, and so thank the Maker® we have music to help take the sting away. Myself? I’ve been obsessed with the noise of France (the band, not the country) and their hypnotic space dread, so we open with that and I’ll let others drive the playlist.

The rest of the 9C staff have you covered with a lot of picks – even Angela is back with some recommendations! We’ve got Crippling Alcoholism (the band, if not we’re here for you Angela), some In Mourning (again the band – if not sorry for your loss, Hera), some Sweet Pill (the band, if not can I have some, Vince?); we got some “Rotisserie Rat” courtesy of Rotbeef (the band, if not maybe try another deli, Colin) and of course a 9C playlist wouldn’t be a 9C playlist without a little Bizzarekult (the band, if not blink twice if you need help, Josh).

Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week.

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– Chris