1: Ethel Cain - Perverts
youtu.be/HLABpljsrIk?...
I love nothing more than hearing something completely original, and this album is definitely nothing I've heard before. Using the language of noise music to make something that is weird and unsettling, but comforting and romantic at the same time

2: Crippling Alcoholism - Camgirl
youtu.be/XhpnzxZvoAc?...
Danceable post-punk with an undercurrent of menace that somehow feels like extreme metal. Except when it suddenly is extreme metal.

3: @clppng.bsky.social - Dead Channel Sky
youtu.be/fwI1FqU_qk0?...
There are enough odd, noisy interludes on this album that you can't say it's 'all bangers', but there sure are a lot of bangers.

4: Nghtcrwlr - OZ
youtu.be/s8tGK2bnxI0?...
Kris Esfandiari of King Woman's weird, lysergic take on various EDM subgenres. The perfect soundtrack to the most fucked up night out of your life.

5: Moor Mother and Sumac - The Film
sumac.bandcamp.com/album/the-film
Two artists from the outer edges of experimental hip-hop and prog metal, respectively, are not the most obvious collaborators, but you can't argue with the results. This shit fucking slaps.

6: Maruja - Pain to Power
youtu.be/jw6X2U2t0vI?...
A truly original and unclassifiable fusion of prog, metal and hip-hop.

7: Big Brave - OST
bigbrave.bandcamp.com/album/ost
Big Brave, one of the most unique bands in heavy music, at their weirdest and most experimental.

8: Amenra - De Toorn / With Fang and Claw
youtu.be/RCWA_YdAnjQ?...
A pair of succinct but powerful EPs from the masters of sludge metal.

9: Steve von Till - Alone in a World of Wounds
youtu.be/Q8EBkcvB9t0?...
Haunting, gothic Americana from the former Neurosis frontman.

10: Smote - Clyppan
youtu.be/Ay4anotfy8g?...
Smote were one of the standout sets at this year's Roadburn, so these re-recordings of their older songs in their super-heavy live format are most welcome.

More honourable mentions:
Fallujah - Xenotaph
Hangman's Chair - Saddiction
Nowhere2Run - Bloodrave
Uboa - All the Dead Melt Down as Rain
Vildjharta - + dar skogen sjunger under evighetens granar +

Honourable Mentions:
Anna Von Hausswolff - Iconoclasts
Backxwash - Only Dust Remains
Blut Aus Nord - Ethereal Horizons
Deftones - private music
Ethel Cain - Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You

Short and sweet section:

Ithaca - Ithaca
Really sad that they've broken up, but this track is a great swansong.

Drewsif - Jawbreaker
Five minutes of 'cave-man' riffs that go hard as fuck.

Rolo Tomassi - In the Echoes of All Dreams
Mathcore with a perfect blend of heaviness and melody.

This is the exact scenario that caused me to uninstall the game