The Best Djent / Math Metal Album - Metal Storm Awards 2025

Asymmetric Universe - A Memory And What Came After

A lot of jazz, especially jazz fusion, is pretty noodly and jammy by definition. Adding some big, muscular chugs to that might not really be anything new, but the duo of Federico and Nicolo Vese are really, really good at balancing the more upbeat jazz part and the heavier metal side. There's a lot going on in A Memory And What Came After, given that synths, saxophones, violas, pianos, trumpets, violins, and cellos are all credited here, but the guitar is still elegantly at the front and center of it, whether its use is jazzier or djentier or simply a guest spot from Haken's Richard Henshall.

Feather Mountain - A Liminal Step

Feather Mountain exited a maelstrom, only to take a step into the unknown. Guiding listeners along this journey is a modern prog sound in which melodic synth/electronic soundscapes are contrasted by crunching djent grooves and breakdowns, with evocative clean vocals trading off with intense roars and screams. As is fitting for prog, there is plenty of instrumental virtuosity on display, but the album is more focused on delivering both memorable hooks and heartstring-tugging emotionality, reaching some strikingly potent peaks for the latter with unexpected cross-genre experimentation.

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Ihlo - Legacy

Ihlo are ready to build a real legacy for themselves with this record; only their second album, Legacy is a monster of an album, making full use of the perks of the djentier end of the progressive metal spectrum without pigeonholing themselves into that niche. Although the record is defined by the relentless bouncing groove derived from those djent rhythms, it eschews any metalcore elements or in fact any harsh vocals whatsoever, instead fitting those grooves into an expansive, grandiose melodic prog-metal framework comparable to the likes of TesseracT. The grand soaring vocals and memorable chorus hooks from Andy Robison are matched by his inventive and striking synth work, while the guitars excel in riffing, texturing and soloing. At 68 minutes, it's an experience to revel in, right through to the back-to-back long epics at the end of the tracklist.

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Korypheus - Gilgamesh

Freshly signed to M-Theory Records, Ukraine's Korypheus mark their label debut with a feisty yet diverse sound on Gilgamesh. Deriving its name from the Mesopotamian epic, the album does exhibit some Middle Eastern influence, but the foundation of this prog-metal album is a gnarly djent-infused riff style that is bruising and groovy in equal nature, with leanings either side towards moments of further extremity or instead a more Gojira-esque alt-metal approach. The good cop/bad cop vocal duo of Andy Gushin and Jullian Torse bring melody and aggression, and the band's proggier inclinations allow some welcome expansive melodicism to seep into the crunching aggression.

Pupil Slicer - Fleshwork

Pupil Slicer started out as straight up mathcore, but since their debut the London trio has broken the mold by spicing things up with other styles. Fleshwork continues this trend by further toning down the mathcore while still keeping a solid foot on unconventional and volatile song structures. On Fleshwork the listener will experience, among other things, the nostalgia from Deftones-like alternative metal, ecstatic blackgaze explosions, and uplifting post-rock crescendos that inevitably throw the listener down an abyss filled with punishing sludge riffs. Containing all these sounds isn’t easy but Fleshwork is proof that such a wild mix can result in a cohesive, organic album which is testament of the great songwriting skills Pupil Slicer possesses.

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Royal Sorrow - Innerdeeps

A rebrand of progressive metal band Edge Of Haze, Royal Sorrow is a new name for a fresh start for the Finnish trio, representing the extent to which their sound has changed over the years. With debut record under this moniker Innerdeeps, Royal Sorrow set out an irresistibly infectious mash-up of djent and alternative metal, following somewhat in the footsteps of the likes of Vola, Spiritbox and Sleep Token, but with their own distinct vision for accessibilizing djent. Meaty polyrhythmic grooves provide a tasty contrast to the immediacy of the massive vocal hooks in these instant hit-worthy earworms that will get stuck in your head quickly and stick around for a long time afterwards.

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Snooze - I Know How You Will Die

Kind of like if Weezer were to make a djent al- no, wait, don't leave yet!  Okay, that might be a bad start, but you're reading this in the Metal Storm Awards, so you know that Snooze is deserving of a chance.  When you hear the laidback stoner bro vocals and jaunty little runs up and down the head-empty sunshine riffs, you'll have to admit the comparison holds a little water, but there are more sides to Snooze as well.  Sometimes they chill-regress fully into shoegaze mode, with gauzy riffs and wordless vocals in the background; occasionally, they ramp up into frantic chaos that threatens to spill into mathcore.  Mostly, however, this is a cool summer prog mixtape that happens to be rhythmically weird: all-around fun and lively with a few interesting quirks.  So do give them a shot; if you don't Snooze, you lose.

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Syncatto - Memento

Guitar virtuoso Charlie Robbins is back with another fun progressive/djent/jazz/math rock/flamenco album. You probably understand by now that Memento is an album that will make you travel through different soundscapes while keeping that trademark Syncatto sound. You’re in for fun and inventive riffs as well as overall great instrumentation. At its core, it’s still classic djenty prog, but with enough inventiveness and diversity to remain entertaining and engaging from beginning to end.

Unprocessed - Angel

The last two albums from Unprocessed, Gold and .​.​.​And Everything In Between, heavily leant respectively towards the RnB/soul and djent-core extremes of the band's own unique sound; Angel finds the sweet spot in the middle of their idiosyncrasies and ends up being perhaps their best album for date. Right from the off, pummeling polyrhythms and brutal breakdowns are sitting side-by-side with angelic clean singing and soulful chorus hooks, and even when the ballad songs dial down the formula, the execution is strong enough to not curtail momentum. Manuel Fernandes remains a sensation as both a guitarist and a vocalist, and with extra guest appearances from Zelli (Paleface Swiss) and Jason Aalon Butler (Fever 333) further fleshing out the vocal diversity of the record, Angel is Unprocessed at their most varied and creative.

Vildhjarta - Där Skogen Sjunger Under Evighetens Grana

You know those series of Picasso self-portraits over time - you know, where the faces start to shatter and descend into beautifully uncanny chaos? Well, that’s roughly what the next 57 minutes of this hyper-syncopated labyrinth sound like. This third full-length from Swedish oddballs Vildhjarta, the first after founding guitarist Daniel Bergström’s departure, keeps the band’s signature 'thall' sound firmly intact. As the gnarly cousin of djent, you can expect nothing less than immersive density, jagged dissonant grooves, and tricky structures, all delivered in Swedish. Där Skogen Sjunger Under Evighetens Grana roughly translates to "Where the forest sings under the spruce of eternity", which actually goes a long way toward explaining why you feel so disoriented after listening to this.