Sensational blackened sludge which never crosses the same path twice whilst still creating a captivating journey, a must for fans of anything loud and dark.

Although minimalist in its layout Dark Woven Light is heavy in execution. To listen to any of the tracks and not feel any emotional outgoing would be deeply worrying.

Imagine that when Ian Curtis died New Order was actually a black metal band. It really shouldn’t work but this is exemplary.

Give this track your attention for 15 minutes and you will get a superbly executed journey through black metal, sludge, post-metal and even touches of ambient. On paper that sounds impossible, in practice it sounds amazing.

Not since Oceansize has a British band been able to meld genres so well and Drugs sets the foundations to take this band to greatness.

To get an idea of how good this is imagine if you take the best of Torche and Pelican and send them to space.

It is French and heavy and damn right awesome.

If you can listen to these three drone tracks and feel nothing, then one of us needs to go to a neurologist.

The addition of Norwegian producer Lasse Marhaug takes Woods dark folk to a new level and Birthmarks really deserves all the plaudits it receives.

A stunning twist in style from Staghorn adds post-metal to its post-rock base to enhance the despair and hope of the dystopian concept running through the back catalogue.

How do you top the release of a second EP and opening the final day of Arctangent? You get yourselves on a nationwide tour supporting one of the most popular bands in the UK right now. 2020 looks like it will blow its predecessor out of the water for S …

The Osedax remains one of the best bands at carrying out a marriage of different flavours from post-metal, sludge to black metal.

If you ever wondered what it would sound like for hardcore kids to play black metal then Mourir is perfect for you.

Leeched add a terrifying atmosphere to an already brutal metallic hardcore base which haunts you long after the album finishes.

A top release of 2019 mixing doom tinged sludge and influences of some familiar Belgium musical masters.

Atmospheric black metal that embraces nature, shining a slowly dying light on a blistering and bleak landscape.

Devastatingly unique, incredibly hard to describe but ultimately some very special atmospheric post-hardcore/black-metal which keeps on giving with every listen.

After producing the finest UK sludge and doom this year I just worry if Torpor will ever get its ball back as it has well and truly smashed it out of the park.

A furious blend of political black metal and flicks of folk leaves me in no doubt that there really isn’t a band that does it better. A vital band with an important release for our troubled times.

Another stunning release by Cult of Luna that doesn’t quite get out of the shadow of its previous two releases.

An absolutely staggering album which tackles massive modern day issues with humility, honesty and lots of cracking songs.