-(16)-

Nine (+23) Circles ov…2025: Chris’s Mid-Year Report

ChrisLeave a comment
fenriz of darkthrone with a chalkboard
You KNEW this wasn’t going to be close to nine entries…fair warning!

Look, I was just as shocked at the final number when I tallied up the albums I fell for so far in 2025. Especially considering the amount of non-metal I’ve been consuming over at my personal site. I was really expecting 2025 to be a year of modest metal enjoyment, something to use in conservative doses as I mainlined the prog and jazz and fusion and classic rock that’s become the succor and comfort that metal was in my younger days.

And then something happened, and I credit the monthly re-caps for this: I started finding fantastic records. That thrill parlayed into opening my ears to bands I previously either moved on from or dismissed outright. Metal became part of my daily routine again, and while I was on vacation I assembled a list of over 50 albums I genuinely enjoyed. Surgical slicing narrowed that down to 30 (well, 32 if you count the two EPs I’m including) and as I poured over it one final time I realized it made no sense to whittle it down any further. I like what I like, love what I love and have zero desire to further restrict myself. With the world a veritable garbage fire why not indulge in celebrating the things we love, right?

I promise to keep it (reasonably) brief, but for this edition of Nine Circles ov… let’s collectively fawn over the metal that kept us sane so far this year.

Continue reading →

The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 374 (02.08.2025)

ChrisLeave a comment
playlist - mixtape

Happy February, all. Everyone here at Nine Circles is sick, bogged down with work, or shutting themselves off from the madness of the world…some of us might even be doing all three of those things. Thank god I can at least revel in a new Dream Theater which despite the naysayers is a thematically consistent return to form, even though I don’t quite get all the love “Dead Asleep” is getting. Maybe you can decide for your yourself since it kicks off the 374th edition of the Nine Circles Playlist.

You know what else came out? New -(16)-, y’all! And a lot of us on staff are over the moon at the announcement of a new Tómarúm album forthcoming. There’s new Revocation and Benediction and Nauseating to whet your death metal appetite, classic Immortal to chase the black metal blues away, and a whole lot more stuff I chucked in there (mainly progressive metal like Teramaze and Lunar) that I guarantee is heavy and full of all the metals, even the ones that’ll turn your skin grey and leave you with weird, uncontrollable powers…

Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week.

—

—

– Chris

CANTO: Chamber Mage, -(16)-, Grave Infestation, and More

CoreyLeave a comment
16

Yep. Montreal is still an amazing town. Confirmed.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb

CANTO: Killswitch Engage, Sepulchral Curse, Novarupta, and More

CoreyLeave a comment

I am so ready for the weekend adventures right around the corner. And, you know, for this cold to be marginally less cold.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb

CANTO: Retromorphosis, Crown Magnetar, Cloakroom, and More

CoreyLeave a comment

Two days done this week and it’s only going to get crazier from here. Let’s fucking go.

  • Let’s start with some tech death. Retromorphosis are entering 2025 with the second single pulled from their debut album, this one titled “The Tree”. Check out the visualizer for it here. That album, Psalmus Mortis, is out on February 21st through Season of Mist.
  • I know a few of us in the 9C camp are excited about this -(16)- news. A new full-length, Guides For The Misguided, is set for a February 7th release through Relapse Records. Watch or stream “Proudly Damned” here.
  • Cloakroom announced that their new album, Last Leg of the Human Table, is coming on February 28th through Closed Casket Activities, with a Chicago release show to follow on April 12th. Check out “Bad Larry” now.
  • Thrash veterans Warbringer also have a new album on the way (2025 is gonna be busy). Wrath and Ruin gets here on March 14th through Napalm Records and a video for “A Better World” is available now.
  • And let’s end this SMWT with Crown Magnetar. The Colorado deathcore outfit have set March 7th as the release date for their new EP Punishment. That will be out through Unique Leader, and a clip for “Bringer of Dead Light” is below.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb

CANTO: Imperium Dekadenz, Drudkh, Withered, and More

CoreyLeave a comment


Today was weird. Full moons on voting day seems like a thing that shouldn’t be a thing.

  • Leading off, we have Drudkh, who are streaming All Belong to the Night a few days before its release. Give that a listen here. That album is officially out on November 11, this coming Friday, through Season of Mist.
  • A second item out of Season of Mist features Withered. The blackened death metal outfit has announced a headlining tour in December, covering a good chunk of the Southeast U.S. They’ll be supporting Verloren, which dropped back in 2020.
  • And then we have -(16)-, and their new track titled “Lane Splitter”. Into Dust drops on November 18 through Relapse Records, and their U.S. headlining tour kicks off at the end of this week. Good stuff all around.
  • Closing out, we have new material from one of my favorites, Imperium Dekadenz. Check out the video for “Memories… A Raging River” below, the first single taken from Into Sorrow Evermore. That new album will be out on January 20 through Napalm Records.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb