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It’s time for the Unreviewed Roundup! This is all about releases that despite not getting a full review due to time constraints or whatever else, I still wanted to talk about and introduce everyone to because I think they’re very much worth a spin. And remember – if you like any of these, support these bands with a digital album purchase or physical media, or buy a shirt, or add them to your favorite playlist, or whatever else. It’s really tough out there for artists and your support definitely means the world. So with that in mind, let’s dive in and discover something new, yeah?

Ego Dissolution by Ancient Death

Ancient Death wasted no time in putting out a great death metal record. The band’s debut Ego Dissolution follows their 2022 debut EP Sacred Vessel, a split with Putridarium in 2023, and a demo in 2024. It’s easy to sit here and say that Ancient Death sounds like Blood Incantation, because their riffing style certainly does. But Ancient Death also incorporates some proggier moments in the vein of bands like Horrendous and Tomb Mold, as well as these flourishes of effects-driven atmosphere that remind me a little bit of old Nocturnus. All that topped off with the occasional clean vocals from bassist Jasmine Alexander and Ancient Death is coming out of the gate really strong with something pretty unique and very cool.

Another interesting aspect of Ego Dissolution is that it’s not in rush to bludgeon you with heaviness. Songs like “Breathe Transcend” and “Journey To The Inner Soul” do a lot of instrumental world-building at much slower, psychedelic tempos, and even go long periods of time without vocals. Also, shout out to the guitar solos on Ego Dissolution. They’re not just these “I bought a B.C. Rich Ironbird, check out my divebombs!” wastes of time. They’re solos – they’re adding to the compositions. They’re melodies. They’re well-thought-out and it’s really refreshing to hear that.

Ego Dissolution feels like the record before a modern classic, if that makes any sense. Like if Ancient Death one-ups themselves on their sophomore effort, everyone’s going to look at Ego Dissolution and say “well did you hear their debut? Clearly they were onto something.”

II by Blood Abscission

Blood Abscission quietly crept onto the atmospheric black metal scene in 2023 with an EP called I. All the songs were simply named I through V, there were no lyrics printed, and there was no band photo or information or anything to go with that release – I simply spoke for itself across a half an hour of raw, atmospheric black metal mixed with a lot of spacious ambient passages.

Now in 2025, Blood Abscission is back with a full-length predictably titled II and – while it follows the same general flow of I in that it’s three tracks, an interlude, and then a closer – it feels far more miserable and melodic than its predecessor. Not much has changed about the production between I and II, but nothing really needed to change either. Blood Abscission exists in this eternally freezing dusk shrouded in a dense fog.

Outside being more melodic than I, II also has a better balance in its composition. The flurries of fury are definitely there, but Blood Abscission took more care in breaking them up with these big atmospheres, and more keyboards, and just slower tempos throughout. They really seem to have thought this through and made something special, I think.

Visions of Stagnant Blood by Celestial Sanctuary

I’ve been following English death metal band Celestial Sanctuary since their debut 2019 demo Mass Extinction, and I’m pretty stoked for them now that they’ve signed to Metal Blade Records. I really hope they become one of the bigger names in death metal because I think they deserve it.

Visions of Stagnant Blood is I guess technically Celestial Sanctuary’s first release on Metal Blade, though it’s mostly nothing new. Visions of Stagnant Blood was originally an independent EP released in 2024, and has now been reissued in 2025 on Metal Blade with a brand new track called “Choking On The Rotting Seed” – which the band has proclaimed is their “heaviest, most unhinged tune yet.” And I can’t argue with that. The song is a death metal rager that’s less on the side of a shambling animated corpse and more on the side of an absolutely deranged, knife-wielding maniac. You don’t wanna wake up with this thing staring back at you, trust me.

Other than that and a newly-colored EP cover, Visions of Stagnant Blood is still the same EP that it was in 2024 minus that new song. I still recommend everyone check it out though. It’s worth the price of admission alone for the 10-minute closer that is “Gavage Of The Vile”. That song is just dismal, and plodding, and agonizing, and it’s so good. Definitely give this new version of the EP a spin. It’s pretty cool.

Deific Mourning by Decrepisy

Decrepisy is drummer Charles Koryn of Ascended Dead and VoidCeremony, guitarists Jonathan Quintana of Coffin Rot and Kyle House formerly of Acephalix and Vastum, and vocalist Daniel Butler currently of Acephalix and Vastum. “Nausea” is the first word that comes to mind here. This record sounds like if you chowed down on a bunch of LSD right as you were dying and saw the end of all things through a very bad, nausea-inducing trip. I know that might sound like a bad time, and it certainly is, but that’s the headspace that this record is putting me in.

Deific Mourning does a great job at leaning hard toward funeral doom-tinged death metal without actually getting there – without actually getting to the funeral doom part. It’s slow, but it’s not glacial. It’s cavernous, but you can see the blood-stained bottom. It’s an interesting record that feels as if it’s battling some unseen force trying to warp it out of existence at all times.

No Glory Here To Be Found by Ripped To Shreds

It’s kind of crazy that Californian death metal band Ripped To Shreds has been around for nearly a decade at this point, because I remember band mastermind Andrew Lee reaching out to me way back in 2018 to ask if I could review his band’s then-unreleased debut album. Now here we are in 2025 and Ripped To Shreds has four fantastic full-length albums under their belt, as well as their first-ever live record No Glory Here To Be Found. The album was recorded live at Bandcamp Studios in Oakland, CA and features songs from Ripped To Shreds‘ 2020 album Luan, as well as their 2022 record Jubian.

It’s in your face, it’s raw as hell, it’s got all the Boss HM-2-styled chainsaw riffing you’re gonna need today. It’s live death metal. If you like death metal and you like live music, check it out.

La Mort de l’Âme by Vespéral

Before I even get into the music, can we just talk about this artwork right over here? I love this modern black metal meets early CGI-looking graphics that bands like Worm have been embracing big time on their shirts. I would absolutely buy this vinyl, I would wear this shirt if Vespéral ever did any. This is just great artwork.

Then there’s the music. La Mort de l’Âme classifies itself as black metal, but there’s a lot more to it. The gravitational center of the record is certainly black metal, but within that molten core are influences of dungeon synth – including the entirely synthesized interlude halfway through the record – some punk vocals here and there, and even massive atmospheres like the closer “Cruel Silence”.

Vespéral also leans into some straight-up gothier influences on songs like “Souffle Glacial”, which has this quick-moving drive of a sixteenth note hi-hat and some super roomy, reverby choral clean vocals. Bonus points for putting a track like this so late on the record as well, because that means Vespéral is ready to surprise fans right up to the very end. And it makes for a pretty engaging listen all the way through.

If you’re looking for straightforward blasting, icy black metal, this is not for you. If you want a heady celestial voyage through the coldness of your own psyche, definitely check this one out.