The Best Ambient / Drone / Noise Album - Metal Storm Awards 2025

Divide And Dissolve - Insatiable

In the words of Bruce Dickinson (or Shakespeare): "The evil that men do lives on and on". A lot about Divide And Dissolve's music thematically deals with just that, with Insatiable being a title that one of the two members came up with in a dream where the path of destruction and the path of compassion were laid out before them. Musically, the duo approaches drone as slow and oppressively heavy, though not unendingly long, with bits of chamber orchestration to instill both malaise and, despite it all, hope.

Entheomorphosis - Pyhä Kuilu

Dark Buddha Rising disappeared in relative silence, and the emergence of spiritual successor Entheomorphosis was similarly unheralded, but debut record Pyhä Kuilu makes evident that this new project from Vesa Ajomo is worthy of Dark Buddha Rising's legacy. Bookended by two lengthy drone doom tracks that create immense atmosphere with but droning guitar chords and eerie, nasal vocals, the album is ponderous, but also sinister and foreboding. It also has different gears at its disposal, fully capable of upping the pace and creating sonic chaos as and when it needs to. As yet another entry into the ever-growing list of interconnected and weird heavy psychedelic Finnish bands, Entheomorphosis is another big success story for this most peculiar of microscenes.

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Gnaw Their Tongues - The Genesis Of Light

Maurice de Jong (aka Mories) has infested the minds of many for over two decades with his project Gnaw Their Tongues. With themes usually revolving around the darkest aspects of humanity like murder, torture, and religious fanaticism, his brand of black noise is nothing short of blood-curdling - which is why The Genesis Of Light arrives as the ultimate surprise. Choosing instead to focus on much slower droning guitars, celestial synths, and solemn choirs, Gnaw Their Tongues unleashes a transcendental listening experience of biblical proportions, at times uplifting yet also dark and brooding just like the beginning of the universe ought to be.

Menace Ruine - The Color Of The Grave Is Green

We should all be so lucky to receive these gorgeous autumnal odes to nature each year from Geneviève Beaulieu and S. De La Moth. The Canadian duo behind Menace Ruine has consistently released astonishing works that transcend doom metal, drone, dark ambient, and folk. Their creative minds have been particularly busy since 2022 with a full-length, an EP, and Geneviève’s solo folk album. But last year they unleashed something extra special for the season of golden and crimson leaves. The Color Of The Grave Is Green might be Menace Ruine’s most varied album to date, proving that the project has roots that reach far deeper and wider than newcomers might notice at first glance. From organ dirges and pastoral melodies to entrancing drumbeats and medieval chants, The Color Of The Grave Is Green is an album that has many faces, and they are all breathtakingly beautiful.

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Nadja - Cut

Nadja has been a permanent presence in the annals of drone and noise for over two decades. With 40+ full-lengths and collaborations with multiple artists, the Canadian duo of Aidan Baker and Leah Buckareff writes abstract music by second nature. Long-time fans and newcomers alike should be pleased that Nadja never rests on a single style for too long, with Cut being easily one of their most varied and experimental albums to date. The fuzzy, formless riffs which have become a trademark sound for them are still there for half the time but the other half focuses on minimalistic, meditative acoustic music that adds a tranquil yet at times ominous, ritualistic tone to the whole affair.

Neptunian Maximalism - Le Sacre Du Soleil Invaincu

After the massive success of Éons, Neptunian Maximalism spent several years iterating on that distinctive solar drone/experimental jazz sound with live releases that allowed different aspects to surface in the improvisational setting.  Having notched more successes in that format, they returned to the studio to make another thematic statement.  Le Sacre Du Soleil Invaincu strips back the most overt jazz elements to focus more on the drone; this is about the most monstrous use of the saxophone you'll ever hear.  But of course for such a singular collective there has to be room to follow wherever the wind blows, and across this gargantuan album you will hear much more in the vein of strange sounds occurring endlessly.  If jazz that you can get psychologically vivisected to is your thing, then... this is your thing.

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Rye - Знание

Rye (or Рожь or Rozh or whichever version you prefer) is a project whose mix of genres is quite nebulous. Знание is perhaps more lively and metallic than most of its fellow nominees, with discernible funeral doom and atmospheric black metal and post-metal moments. What makes it stand out is how its folky and ethereal and ambient touches make the entire experience more cinematic in a way that makes it feel more like a soundtrack, especially due to its dense envelopment and its long-form structures making the flow feel truly hypnotic.

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Smote - Songs From The Free House

With three nominations in three successive years, Smote basically lives in this category now, and each year it seems like there's a better case to give them the gold.  Songs From The Free House features heavier production and a more pronounced metallic side, really puffing out the pure soundscapes into something approaching doom, but it also gives more prominent place to its traditional elements.  The flute takes a starring role in some looping melodies and the album makes uncharacteristically significant use of vocals, reimagining folk tales as somnolent drones and downtrodden chants.  This unique style of folk drone has made it easy for Smote to become a perennial pick: just a few minutes and you'll be smote.

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Sum Of R - Spectral

2022's Lahbryce represented a new, doomier phase in the story of Sum Of R, following its expansion into a full-fledged band. That album, and portions of new effort Spectral, exhibited elements comparable to those heard in new bandmates' project Waste Of Space Orchestra, but there is a whole array of esoteric oddness on this new record that defies any kind of categorization. Psychedelic drone doom songs trade off with more free-form, meandering dark ambient/drone soundscapes, with everything brought together by the impossibly wide-ranging and deranged vocals of Marko Neuman. With Waste Of Space Orchestra comrade Juho Vanhanen and Dødheimsgard's Vicotnik adding even more chaos on the vocal front, Spectral is a truly idiosyncratic, unnerving album that rejects accessibility, daring listeners to peel its abstract layers and stare into the void within.

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Wyatt E. - Zamāru Ultu Gereb Ziqquratu Part 1

From the bearded nomads of Wyatt E. comes another windswept voyage across the expanses of ancient Mesopotamia, this time the first entry into a multi-part body of work. Zam​ā​ru Ultu Gereb Ziqquratu Part 1 picks up where Āl Bēlūti Dārû and previous works left off in featuring protracted soundscapes in which Middle Eastern folk-inspired melodies wind against a backdrop of steady, droning ambience and rhythms, and the gradual progression and evolution is stirringly hypnotic and emphatic when the band's full potential for heaviness is unleashed. Alongside the two longer cuts are three shorter songs that feature more diverse musical directions, most notably Nina Saeidi's (Lowen) guest appearance, lending her immense voice to a fascinating all-acoustic effort. Nevertheless, Zam​ā​ru Ultu Gereb Ziqquratu Part 1 is arguably at its best at its heaviest and droniest.

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