Kalteldur top 10 of 2025

Let me be honest, the review office of Kalteldur gets busier by the year. Stuff that I needed to review this year will first get a review in 2026. Not only do I receive extremely limited physical-releases from DIY-labels, but now I also receive releases from more established labels aswell. The reason? Kalteldur has reached... a certain maturity over the years, and has a good and loyal bunch of readers. And, websites/blogs that provide the review-service to recording artists are a dying breed. So Kalteldur and a few others are the only ones available. Which offcourse is a great motivation-factor, and it gives me a sense of good sense of duty of providing updated information about the current state of the experimental industrial/noise scene. So yes, Kalteldur will continue for many years... the way I see it right now. Which offcourse leads us to another issue: what were the 10 most memorable moments of 2025?! 

Number 10:

Yellow Springs - S/T

Bent Window Records

Black industrial, true satanic industrial music, etc., etc. A term associated with the catalog of Cold Meat Industrial and related labels, when black-metal related acts start to flirt with industrial music. Beherit, Dödheimsgaard, and to a certain degree (although they came from the Swedish EBM scene) MZ.412. Yellow Spring comes from the United States (I think), and their debut was released on Canadian Bent Window Records. Black metal growls, mechanical tribal rhythms with otherworldly sounds swirl, and will intrigue the listener to step closer inside. A fascinating and inspiring album, and a fresh take on a style/aesthetic forgotten by time.    

Number 9:

Petrichor - Ascend To the White Lodge

Self-released

This year, we lost one of the greatest filmmakers of our time. Yup, David Lynch. UK-based experimental power-electronics act Petrichor sat down and did a tribute album to him... and to his world of Twin Peaks. Ascend to the White Lodge sinks its teeth deeply into the painful intensity of the series, especially those scenes that conjure up a surreal world surrounded by the forces of the paranormal. Not a pleasant journey... it might just be one of the darkest (I can assure you of that!), but it's a very memorable one. In other words, it stands out 100%. Don´t miss it!

Number 8:

Kleistwahr - Where the Word Is Never

Fourth Dimension Records

One of the latest by this veteran act, released on Fifth Dimension. Gary Mundy of Ramleh, and Kleistwahr being his solo project.  Filmic post/kraut rock with spacy noise/industrial-ambient textures. Lots of emotional feedback, frightening quiet moments, and melancholic splendor. A positive reminder of how joyful loneliness can be, if it is possible offcourse. Highly recommended album to listen to in these crazy times, and yes... this album makes perfect sense! 

Number 7:

Bocci & Lyke Wake & J.C. Oberto - Cosmonauti

Small Circle Records

We head out into space with a colab between Lyke Wake and friends. A deep exploration into the great cosmos. Deep and epic space ambient with a touch of the abstract, and like I mentioned earlier... perfectly balanced between order and chaos! The album perfectly captures that nostalgic feeling and aesthetic when discussing the early days of space exploration and the ideas that accompanied them (if that makes sense). There have been a lot of great space-themed releases this year, and this one should be the one to start with. 

Number 6:

Thru The Leaves  - Nocturne

Industrial Ölocaust Recordings

Moving away from the cosmos and back to Earth, to observe the stars and the moon at night. Sure, it can be dark and scary at night, but it can also seem to be the most relaxing time of the day. Things are at rest, and suddenly the mind can concentrate on what matters. Nocturne by Thru The Leaves proves that. Played by two people, one on an electric harp and one on live electronics. Improvisational glitch ambient with an electric harp, sounds weird, but it works extremely well together. Recommended listening at night!

Number 5:

Law - The Black Lodge

Nuit et Brouillard

It's amusing how the same themes keep resurfacing. The Lodge Law also has a thing or two with the David Lynch series of Twin Peaks. Although this release dates back to 2001! A strange and experimental blend of moody ritualistic ambient music with subdued power electronics elements. Frightening, ethereal, with an effective subtle intensity. Not for the faint of heart, but easy listening for any ritual-industrial worshipper. 

Number 4:

Nerthus - Sudor Anglicus

E.C.T. 

An archaic trip back to England (1485-1551), about a mysterious, deadly sweating disease that people died from. Early death-industrial/ambient sound combined with icy atmospheric drones. The feeling of frosty ice on the surface, dense fog in the air, combined with the feeling of utter loneliness in an empty village. Sound of moaning spirits, distant church bells, underground rumbling sounds, and more. Perfect soundtrack, when it´s cold outside!

Number 3

ΣΑΛΠΙΓΞ - ΛΙΘΩΔΙΑ

Black Death Industry

This one with the mysterious letters might just be one of the most mystical and esoteric releases I´ve heard since... Ain Soph or early Current 93! If we could record sound from ancient times with some kind of sophisticated technology, it could actually sound like this. The whole sound has that dry and old aesthetic to it. The style? Somewhere between ritual music and dungeon-synth, I also get back to Slaughter Productions cult-compilation Death Odors 1 (for some reason). It has that quality of a classic, a classic which you´ll keep returning to. By the way, Black Death Industry (the label) is another cool label from Greece (like E.C.T). Something about Greece for sure!

Number 2:

Analfabetism - Svälten I Kagelösa år 1431

Fluttering Dragon  

 

It´s about food and hunger in one of the latest works with this classic Swedish industrial act. Is it pleasant? No. Is it terrifying? Yes. Does it make you happy? No. Is it inspiring and intriguing? Absolutely! 100% ear opener. Minimal-noise driven ambient music with real sounds attached to it. All drenched in murkiness, the sort of quiet murkiness that just waits... for an innocent someone to walk by. Kind of like, one of those... trapdoor spiders. Rather unpleasant, but strangely beautiful... in its own way offcourse! The whole album is a conceptual work that works around how famine had it´s told on Scandinavia, and in those specific cases... Sweden. Who accoding to my research, was the baddest case. Here you can hear it, instead of reading it. Something u really want to sink your teeth into!

Number 1:

Fog Baptism - Sea Sleeper

Inner Demons Records

I press the play button, hearing the sound of waves on the beach... and then it comes... an archaic, melancholic melody sweeps in and gets your mind completely into a focused state. And then you are there, u don´t know how you got there..., but you have been (somehow) transported into another familiar place within yourself. The kind of state where you feel, the mind and the soul at the same time... time stops! And you enter into a sort of awake dream world. Mental images of corn fields swaying in the wind like water, morning fog moving through the trees and nearby hills in the distance, the last sight of the sun before it disappears into darkness...and I could go on! Sea Sleeper completely works as a gate! Incredible moving stuff, mindblowing in slow-motion if you please. 

Happy New Year!