As the humidity and heat of Summer remains heavy in the atmosphere, so do this past month’s music releases. August boasted some truly top-tier, exceptional records, ranging from all over Asia and Latin America to Eastern Europe.
Bronze Tier: Metal Album of the Month – August 2025
Treasondom
The Flesh Consumes The Mind
Self-released
Based in Târgu Mureș, Romania
Like a machine gun firing out bricks, Treasondom is fucking fast and fucking heavy. Soured vocals spew out atop groovy, pessimistic grindcore all over the group’s debut album. Whether you like old school, gritty metalcore, deathcore, grindcore, death metal or any extreme form of music, I highly recommend The Flesh Consumes The Mind; it’s intimidatingly intense.
FFO: Napalm Death, The Red Chord, Lamb of God
‘The Flesh Consumes The Mind’ on Bandcamp
Silver Tier: Metal Album of the Month – August 2025
Moths
Septem
Self-released
Based in San Juan, Puerto Rico
Quirky, bluesy, seductive, dirty, and sin-laden – the conceptual record by Puerto Rican sludge-proggers Moths is a magnificent journey of greed, lust, gluttony, etc. A stylistic plethora, Septem spans the array of banjo ditties to melodic blackened deluges. Mariel Viruet’s sweet and spicy vocal delivery is the frosting glazing this genre-defying behemoth, produced by Jens Bogren (Between the Buried and Me, Dimmu Borgir, Haken).
FFO: Baroness, Moon Tooth, King Woman
‘Septem’ available on Bandcamp & CD
Gold Tier: Metal Album of the Month – August 2025
Babymetal
Metal Forth
Released via Capitol Records
Based in Tokyo, Japan
Never a disappointment, J-Pop metal fusion pioneers Babymetal has unleashed their most collaborative album to date. From the hit “RATATATA” with Electric Callboy to Rage Against the Machine‘s Tom Morello on “METALI!!,” Metal Forth is chock full of top-notch features and bangers. While they still maintain their kawaii charm, the vocal variety from further guests Poppy, Bloodywood, Slaughter to Prevail, and Spirtibox is vastly impactful.
FFO: Bring Me the Horizon, Wargasm, KPop Demon Hunters
‘Metal Forth’ available on vinyl, CD, & cassette
Honorable Mentions
Dusk
Repoka
Self-released
Based in Heredia, Costa Rica
Finding middle ground between gritty industrial dystopia and basement black metal darkness, Dusk has been churning out sinister soundscapes for the past decade. This new EP unveils a few invigorated remixes off their 2018 album Epoka as well as a demented cover of Slayer‘s “Raining Blood.”
‘Repoka’ available on Bandcamp
Eskapism
Skresnava
Released via Naturmacht Productions
Based in Lviv Oblast, Ukraine
Over forty minutes of atmospheric black metal, this four-track release conceptually explores a “rift between worlds, when the boundary between the living and the dead, the real and the supernatural, is blurred,” with stunning synths and contrasting Emperoresque aggression.
‘Skresnava‘ available on Bandcamp, vinyl, & CD