If you've been missing the golden days of Drudkh, are pining for the emotionally charged atmospherics of Fen's debut, or feel like Walknut's sophomore will never arrive, then this is truly the album for you. And what a blinder it is; dense and foreboding with a subtle, folky darkness that harkens back to Negură Bunget's 'n Crugu Bradului'.

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: X-Ray Rod, Nefarious, Auntie Sahar, Daniell, Troy Killjoy

Morbus Chron appear to want a piece of the action that Tribulation got last year with their phenomenal The Formulas of Death album. Like them, they see themselves merging an old-school aesthetic with a modern twist. Death, thrash and progressive metal is blended harmoniously with mature songwriting and superbly organic production to create superlative atmosphere.

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: Daniell, Auntie Sahar, BloodTears, X-Ray Rod, R'Vannith, Nefarious, Marcel Hubregtse, wormdrink414

Grecian, space-themed blackened grindcore. As good as it sounds. Far more song-based than your average grind outfit; this record displays an impressive amount of technical mastery and songwriting variation, not to mention a rich and satisfyingly juicy sound.

"I can say with utter certainty that Dephosphorus are my favourite grindcore band" - Stephen Hawking

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: X-Ray Rod, Auntie Sahar, wormdrink414, psykometal, Darkside Momo

What do you get when you combine two of the darkest, most delicious bile spewing musical entities that are Gnaw Their Tongues and Alkerdeel? Something sinister that's for sure. Subtle blends of insidious doom, drone, black metal and dark ambient create an aural landscape dripping with death and disease. Even some melancholic melody seeps through. Start 2014 the right way; listen to this.

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: Auntie Sahar, X-Ray Rod, Marcel Hubregtse, wormdrink414

What would get if you made Dragged Into Sunlight a bit less serious, a tad more melodic and had them sing about slugs? You'd get Slugdge of course. Worship the slime!

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: psykometal, Abattoir, wormdrink414, Nefarious, Deadsoulman, BloodTears

Mories' (Gnaw Their Tongues, De Magia Veterum, Aderlating etc.) Cloak Of Altering project is turning into his most unusual if this little EP is anything to go by. Outside of his chilled-out, non-metal musings in SEIROM, this is probably the most accessible side to his repertoire and this great gem could only be described as avant-garde metal crossed with trippy music from video games made for aliens, played in reverse.

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: X-Ray Rod, Auntie Sahar, Daniell, Darkside Momo, BloodTears

Bölzer got some serious bällz. Managing to be nostalgically old-school and uncompromisingly modern all at the same time, and all achieved in 3 glorious songs.

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: X-Ray Rod, Auntie Sahar, Nefarious, wormdrink414, Marcel Hubregtse, Daniell, BloodTears

Oh look, here's me recommending a Blut Aus Nord record. Pretty sure that's never happened before. If you like Blut Aus Nord, or any music, at its most primitive and twisted then I imagine this will make the blood rush to your lower-middle areas.

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: Auntie Sahar, X-Ray Rod, Daniell, Introspekrieg

Bit of a mouthful that style description. Don't let it put you off though, Castevet's sound has always been a bitch to accurately describe but one thing's for sure: this is a top quality record. If their début wasn't already brilliant enough (which it was), Obsidian pushes the envelope even further and expands on their scorched-Earthen sound with a flawlessly organic progressive edge, with influences from Virus and Enslaved, if their sound is anything to go by.

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: X-Ray Rod, Nefarious, BloodTears, R'Vannith, Troy Killjoy

There's not much I can say about SubRosa that I haven't said before. They are undoubtedly the best at what they do in the female-membered doom circuit, and More Constant Than The Gods is the perfect follow up to their sophomore album. If you like moody, psychedelic sludge metal with eccentric female vocals and oddly dissonant violin then this is the album for you.

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: X-Ray Rod, R'Vannith, BloodTears

Blah blah, death metal, blah cavernous and evil, blah de blah blah pride of the UK scene blah awesome blah.

LISTEN blah

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: X-Ray Rod, Marcel Hubregtse, Nefarious, wormdrink414

Ulcerate practically need no introduction on this site anymore. They are endeared with the respect and awe of almost everyone that's heard them. If you haven't yet heard them I bet you're well curious about them now, eh?

LISTEN

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: Daniell, X-Ray Rod, wormdrink414, Troy Killjoy

Disappointed by the recent !T.O.O.H.! album? Well let's not forget the existence of this then. Featuring Wokis of the aforementioned !T.O.O.H.! at the helm, this wonderful little Duobetic Homunkulus EP is far more likely to appease those dissatisfied fans than anything else released this year. Not only is this one of the most creative tech-death records ever made, it's probably the most fun. It quite literally doesn't take itself too seriously; something pretty rare for the genre.

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: Fat & Sassy!, X-Ray Rod, R'Vannith, Baz Anderson

10 years ago today (give or take a few hours) SikTh unleashed upon the world what I still regard as a landmark album for extreme metal. Drawing on metalcore, math metal and progressive metal, they constructed a genre-defying record of unbridled complexity and brilliance which to this day has never, in my opinion, been bettered within its vague stylistic area of music.

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: Nefarious, X-Ray Rod, Fat & Sassy!, Introspekrieg

Psychedelic homosexual progressive hipster doom metal. As good as it sounds.

Staff pick by:
Endorsed by: X-Ray Rod, Fat & Sassy!, Auntie Sahar