Black metal is a broad (and slightly singed) church in 2025. From the operatic grandeur of symphonic black metal to the no frills fury of the genre's more conservative, kvlt-purist sects all the way out to blackened death metal, deathcore, thrash... its a subgenre that continues to transcend its own boundaries with bands pushing the envelope with an eye to artistic candor unrivalled in just about any other extreme metal field.
As ever, the official Metal Hammer Albums Of The Year remains a diverse selection of some of the finest records to come out this year, but what of those that didn't make the final 50? That's where these handy little subgenre lists come in, giving us a chance to spotlight some of the brilliant records to emerge from metal's diverse plains this year - and where better to start than with black metal?
