Too many albums, too few reviewers…that’s the problem with all the metal blogs, not just this one. What do you do? How do you get a sense of what’s out there if you’re only listening to a fraction of what’s getting released? How do you open yourself up to new music? I’ll tell you how: you jump into all the unpicked promos each month and devote a sentence or two giving a sense of what you gleaned from it.

That’s right: we’re back for another round of “The Month That Was…” so enough preambling…let’s dive into this edition of Nine Circles ov… and see what’s been giving heart eyes in February 2025.

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The month that was becomes entangled in the future, as Profane Altar, the third album from Nashville’s Act Of Impalement doesn’t come out until the end of the week. Well readers, I have heard the future and it is depraved and – yes, profane – death metal of the most exquisite kind. There’s a lot of black metal mixed in the band’s Incantation death worship, and it pays off on tracks like “Deities of the Weak” and “Gnashing Of Teeth” with all the subtlety of a hammer to the forehead.

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I thought about not putting Dream Theater on here – they certainly don’t need the publicity, and I assume most folks have already made up their mind of the band one way or the other. On the off-chance you haven’t, and your open-minded, lemme make the pitch for Parasomnia, the band’s 16th full length and first with Mike Portnoy back in the band in 15 years. It’s heavy…probably the band’s heaviest since Train of Thought in 2003. The drums are MASSIVE, and the production is super beefy and really lets the metal riffing tear through. Also, the closing epic is about…Slenderman? I dunno, maybe that last one isn’t the best to end on, but damn I can’t stop spinning it.

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Ten songs…21 minutes? You know some grind is coming, and Drugs Of Faith out everything they had into their first full length in a decade. Asymmetrical writhes with a furious blend of grind and death, recalling classics of the form like Terrorizer with their own piercing lyrical point of view. The 1-2 punch of “Desert War Eternal” and “Drones” should clue you into the concerns Richard Johnson, Ethan Griffiths, and Ivan Khilko have on their mind; in the meantime bow before the bass tone in “Microchip” and put this directly in your veins.

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I did a quick check and it’s been about 20 years since I listened to or even cared about Lacuna Coil. I guess I jived along to “Swamped” with everyone else and left it at that. Based on Sleepless Empire, that was probably a mistake. There’s a power immediately felt on opening cut “The Siege” and the drive of “Scarecrow” that is refreshing for band treading this more accessible metal, and the dual vocals of Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro sound fantastic again the crushing djent from new guitarist Daniele Salomone. Throw in some guest vocals courtesy of Randy Blythe and you’ve got a winner here.

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It will forever boggle the mind why Mantar isn’t a bigger deal. I’ve been a fan since 2014’s Death By Burning, and the duo’s combination of hardcore, rock swagger, and death metal have become more strident with each album, and Post Apocalyptic Depression feels like everything the band have been doing is tightened to within an inch of its life in the best possible way. Opener “Absolute Ghost” has some serious balls in its sleazy hook, and single “Rex Perverso” is my candidate for summer single of the year: how do you fight lines like “I’m looking for a total deletion” and NOT think of cool beaches and ice cream? Seriously, I love this record.

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Well, dammit….just when I thought I filled my brutal death metal quota with last month’s Onirophagus entry, here comes Retromorphosis to remind me that killer technical death metal needs to be in my end of year conversation, too. Rising from the ashes of Spawn of Possession, debut Psalmus Mortis is astonishing in its technicality, punishing in its brutality, and divine in its bending of each without sacrificing one for the other. Check out single “Vanished” to quell any fears the band have lost their touch, and then move on to chargers like “Aunt Christie’s Will” to see just how devastating this album is.

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I’m always on the lookout for new bands exploring the nooks and crannies of traditional metal. Sinner Rage hail from Spain, and their debut Powerstrike takes the reins on the genre, mixing in solid amounts of 80s power and speed – think bands like Saxon and Halloween more than Rhapsody and you’ll get the idea. Better yet: check out cuts like the opening title track and the onslaught on later track “Fire’s On” to see the weight and muscle these guys put behind their music. It’s been an incredible year for trad metal so far, and Sinner Rage just keep adding to an already impressive list.

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Sivyj Yar is a name that brings back a lot warm memories here at 9C – both Dan and myself had their EP The Unmourned Past in our best of 2016 lists. Almost a decade later the group’s post-black metal continues to enthrall with A Scarlet Sunset Over A Horrid Abyss, and it’s a gorgeously bleak offering, with tendrils creeping across a number of different styles, all coming together to project more of that melancholic beauty. Don’t believe me? Check out “Everything Under the Snow Shall Fall Silent, Then Perish” – if the title alone doesn’t tell you exactly what to expect, the music certainly will.

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Did you seriously think you were gonna get a monthly retrospective from me and it wouldn’t include some stoner rock? C’mon, son…you know I wasn’t gonna let this go without at least one presentative, and this month it’s Yawning Balch. Volume III is – you guessed it – the third collaborative effort from Bob Balch of Fu Manchu and Big Scenic Nowhere along with the guys from Yawning Man, and it’s a trippy psychedelic jam where the more pedals, the better. Comprised of two tracks, my money leans hard on the 20-minute epic “The Taos Hum” but you can certainly make the argument for the 14-minute salve of “Winter Widow” and I’d be right there with you.

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Two months in and I’m kinda surprised at the amount of quality coming through the gates. As always the surprises and discoveries continue to pile up, so let me know what we missed and what we should be on the lookout for.

Until next month, keep it heavy…keep it safe.

— Chris