2025 was a weird year personally for us and even weirder music-wise! We thought we had our Top 5 of the year locked down by June then something rolled up to our digital inbox in late summer and completely floored us/threw off the early ending we thought we had for this list (Hell, we’re STILL grappling with who’s going to be #1 as we start the final draft of this). Then we were going to do a “cheat” like we did a few years back (That would be 2020) and have a tie of some sort for numbah one but thought differently. After that, an album that we reserved a spot for that had a mid-December release came… and kinda went. It’s on here, it’s good, it just didn’t hit the same way that the previous LP did (Which was also a December release hence the proverbial folding chair to hold a spot) so it moved outta the main 25… meaning we had to reconfigure again.
But on the less confusing side of things, we managed to clear three rather big titles/artists that have been floating around our “Most Anticipated” preview list for, in some cases, years while a whopping 18 on the main “24 in ’24” releases actually came out with several more already announced for ’26 (Stay tuned to that list soon after this drops). So that’s where we’re at! And per usual, the inevitable blurb or two or three thousand summing up what else piqued our interest but, for one reason or an other, just missed the big list.
One of these days we’ll be clever enough to compile the list of our “Honorable Mentions” into a “We Didn’t Start The Fire”-like poem but today is not that day. Instead you get word vomit blurb after word vomit blurb until the big list eventually reveals itself! You’re Welcome? See you on the other side? We’re sorry?
Where to begin! The Heavy (There’s a lot)! And there’s none more Heavy than the mighty Machine Head who delivered another epic album followed by an equally epic tour with Lacuna Coil, In Flames and Unearth. Spiritbox, too, delivered with sophomore LP Tsunami Sea and a smashing headline run in the Spring! In other Heavy news, we dove into modern Metalcore in a big way in 2025 and while there’s a lot represented in the main 25 we thought we’d point out that Employed To Serve‘s Fallen Star, It Only Gets Darker from Currents and Zenith from Bleed From Within were tops as well! And if you dug that, too, Currents will be hitting Worcester Palladium downstairs for a co-headline run with ERRA in March while BFW stops by Upstairs of the same establishment on April 2nd!
Speaking of Bleed, the Pittsburgh outfit released a banger of a deftones-inspired record this year. As did Thornhill (Who, following that massive run with Sleep Token, headline Boston’s Royale in May with 156/Silence!) until Deftones themselves stepped up with one of their best releases in years late in the summer.
Heavy adjacent? We got that, too! Hippotraktor’s Stefan De Graef returned with another helping of the slightly more Prog-oriented Psychonaut while the legendary Biohazard came back in a big way with their first new record in over 13 years. And Divided We Fall sounded like they never left! Black Metal had some killer releases in 2025 also with Deafheaven debuting the phenomenal Lonely People With Power (Featuring Summoner & Dwelley’s own Chris Johnson!) while both BLACKBRAID and touring mates in Lamp Of Murmuur both released ferocious new dynamic opuses.
Want old school? Well, Bob Mould unleashed the fantastic Here We Go Crazy with the furious “Neanderthal” that we still can’t get out of our heads (2025 also saw Mould announcing the return of his ’90’s Alternative act Sugar for select dates in 2026 for those interested). The Hives had a fairly quick turnaround after their triumphant 2023 release The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons with 2025’s The Hives Forever Forever The Hives and speaking of triumphant, former VH1 darlings Flickerstick staged a helluva comeback with new single “Your Heart Is A Fortress” off brand new LP Superluminal (Their first in 20 years). Not Old School enough? Then you obviously didn’t check out BRAND NEW full-lengths from Billy Idol and Men Without Hats, both of which we adored.
Post-Punk gave us She Wants Revenge’s Justin Warfield’s new aptly titled Warfield project, Grave Pleasures offshoot Scorpion Milk and the lush new record from Nuclear Daisies. For straight up Rawk, Teen Mortgage, Lambrini Girls and Kaiser more than delivered on that front with their new albums while Planning For Burial and Tickles both gave dense, enthralling records that couldn’t be bound by any one genre. And if you prefer your loud of the instrumental variety then Sisters Of… kicked off your 2025 right with their January release.
In the Industrial/Electro/Darkwave world, FiXT had your number with releases from The Defect (Featuring The Browning’s Jonny McBee) and Daedric bookending a stellar release year from the label, Andy Laplegua celebrated 25 years of Icon Of Coil‘s Serenity Is The Devil with a new vinyl pressing of the remastered record while also teasing what’s to come from current outfit Combichrist with a trio of singles. Also on the OG Industrial front, 16Volt‘s first new full-length in almost 10 years surfaced and then Youth Code bounced back with a vicious new EP and headlining tour. Little too loud for you? Well, luckily Replicant had some smooth synth sounds with Daybreaker and Sacred Skin previewed what’s to come on their next release with a pair of new singles. Oh! And HEALTH ended the year with the ELECTRIC Conflict DLC and their penchant for successfully sewing together the shreds with the serene vocals.
Singles!-wise we were introduced to the brilliance of K3YP4RTY, with us covering “Worship My Body”, “Do Not Misbehave” and the NYE banger “The Countdown”. Then there was the Will Haven offshoot Foreign Films who released 3 atmospheric crushers as well. And finally, MY RUIN returned in a big way (And we have more on that in upcoming posts) announcing a brand spankin’ new album (Declaration Of Resistance! January 16th! Review and more soon!) preceded by singles “The Audacity” and “Compromised”.
And now, the list (Coverage links in the headers where applicable):
25. My Ticket Home-Pure To A Fault (Puke Rock Records): We were expecting this next year as the Puke Rock progenitors have been teasing it out for most of ’25. Then the unthinkable happened following a November 7th post shared on their socials that “THE ALBUM IS DONE”, MTH followed that up 5 days later saying the album was dropping the next week (11.21) “cause we literally can’t wait any longer”. If you’ve been fans of the band then PTAF is the perfect follow-up to 2017’s unReal as well as being the perfect starting point for fans just joining the Puke Rock Revolution. Hear it here now.
24. Pothamus-Abur (Pelagic Records): Pelican can’t be the only gargantuan riff lords on this list, right? Also, SPOILER we guess cuz Pelican is making an appearance on here later. But Pothamus! We revisited 2020’s Raya ahead of the Abur and we couldn’t think of a better way to start 2025 than with the walloping wall of ethereal sound housed in each as Pothamus’ newest comes off even more beastly if possible.
23. Testament-Para Bellum (Nuclear Blast): We’ve definitely said this before but of the legendary ’80’s originating Thrash outfits, the other Bay Area metallers in Testament has ALWAYS been our preference. Since their reunion with guitarist Alex Skolnick in the late 2000’s the band has been on another celebrated tear but nothing has hit as hard as their 14th full-length which arrived in 2025 with lead single “Infanticide A.I.” ripping and resonating in a substantial way. Look for them on tour soon with a date at Worcester’s Palladium slated for March 27th with Overkill.
22. Underoath-The Place After This One (MNRK Heavy): Our general rule of thumb when it comes to early in the year releases (Which tends to mean earlier than that promos) is that if there’s songs off the release still spinning in the offices by the time it comes to curate one of these thingies then it needs a spot on here. And there’s rarely a day that goes by where something off of Underoath’s 10th LP isn’t rattling around in our brainspace. In a good way, of course!
21. Paradise Slaves-With Hell In His Eyes (Spinefarm): We’re here for anything that vocalist Brock Lindow is doing. While we’d love it to be as the lead vocalist of 36 Crazyfists, we were more than happy to support Lindow’s new project Paradise Slaves especially following infectious single “A Fever To Defeat” which is a melodically-infused Metal masterpiece and embodied PS’s songwriting style to a tee.
20. The Grey-KODOK (Majestic Mountain Records): Then there’s the records you played the hell out of early in the year, kinda put on a shelf because shiny new stuff, then revisited for the year end round up and realized how much it needed to be in the main list so you had to rearrange WAY after the list should’ve already been locked down. That’s the latest from The Grey in a nutshell. What can we say, it was a banner year for (mostly) instrumental guitar Rawk. But of course The Grey is so much more than that! Ethereal and eerie at times, downright devilish at others and how could we deny a band that has not one, but TWO Will Haven-related collabs on ONE album?!?! Seeing as you’re reading about KODOK here and not in the “Honorable Mentions” we think you know the answer to that one.
19. Rivers Of Nihil-S/T (Metal Blade Records): If we had a specific year end list for Metal then RON’s newest would easily top that list. From start to finish, Rivers Of Nihil is a gargantuan record and live it’s even more incredible with subtle nuances more noticeable. Highly recommended for your headphones and for your next live trek out (Coincidentally, RON was just announced as support on the upcoming Katatonia tour so there ya go!)
18. BLACK MAGNET-Megamantra (20 Buck Spin): Short, anything but sweet and absolutely to the point, the newest from BLACK MAGNET warmed our Old School Industrial loving black hearts to no end with the way it shifted from these cold, mechanical vibes to warm, emotive and borderline accessible passages with ease. Fans of classic Industrial a la Streetcleaner and Rabies? BLACK MAGNET is for you.
17. Of Mice & Men-Another Miracle (Century Media): We already told you that we experienced quite the big Metalcore renaissance in 2025 in our “Honorable Mentions” section partly because one of the interns around here has been blasting a killer mix whenever it’s their turn on the aux and also because modern Metalcore is pretty rad (Okay, mostly that last part). Anyway! Quite a few albums made the leap into the Big Boy list like the latest from Of Mice & Men which arrived in November. Devastating, dynamic and oh so damn catchy all at the same time, Another Miracle was an instant hit for us the moment “A Waltz” opened up a large can of whoop ass on our earholes with “Troubled Water” bringing these sweeping choruses and “Wake Up” delivering a certifiable anthem barely halfway into the band’s ninth album.
16. We Came As Romans-All Is Beautiful… Because We’re Doomed (Sharp Tone Records): This record had the, ahem, bad luck (Get it? Because they have a single called “Bad Luck”?!?!) of not only coming out the same weekend that deftones’ latest dropped but also when we were on a road trip with ears wide open to really spend time with it. Let’s put it another way: deftones is in the “Honorable Mentions”, WCAR is in here. The singles released in advance were fire and all together, this thing manages to top what we already consider a masterpiece in Darkbloom.
15. I Prevail-Violent Nature (Fearless Records): Of all the truly great Metalcore records to land in 2025, I Prevail’s newest was the one that resonated the most with us and that’s despite our mostly lukewarm reaction to lead single “Violent Nature” (We’ve since grown to love the shredder). Tracks like “Annihilate Me” and “Into Hell” were massive Metalcore anthems while elsewhere, that aforementioned title track, “God” and NWO” brought the latest mosh pit-ready ragers. And if you are indeed ready for the pit, and missed the band on the inaugural Summer Of Loud festival, then make sure to catch them as support for Three Days Grace which hits Mohegan Sun on March 14th!
14. Corlyx-Purple Pain (Out Of Line): We’ll be honest, despite a big ramp up on our part leading into it, we neglected Corlyx’s 2025 double album pretty soon after it released in February. Again, shiny new things. Also, somehow Sacred Skin’s 2024 release somehow managed to dominate all our Electro listening in 2025. But we digress! Going back and re-listening to the Purple Pain was like revisiting an old friend especially with the way Corlyx rolled out the singles between 2022’s Blood in the Water and this and covered a range of genres that brought Electro, Darkwave, Goth, Punk and New Wave together in the most perfect way.
13. Ceremony Shadows-Ascension: Have we already mentioned how amazing the Electro scene has been in 2025? For us, it started back in 2024 with relative newcomers to the scene Ceremony Shadows and “Resistance” which we couldn’t resist (Sorry!) loving the hell out of. The trio entered 2025 with two more new singles leading to the release of their debut full-length in late March and we think it’s THE blueprint of how to do modern Goth/Electro/Darkwave the right way. Luckily, CS shows no signs of stopping with “Future Past Collapse” arriving in late September and 2026 beginning with mini-EP Predator on January 11th (Review from us soon but you can pre-save now here).
12. Buick Audra-ADULT CHILD (Trimming The Shield Records): The moment we heard lead single “Question for the Gods of Human Behavior” followed by the full album soon after, we not only reserved a spot on here but made sure it was a separate space than the one reserved for Audra’s other outfit Friendship Commanders (Who was also gearing up for a new release… but more on them later). A little less Heavy than FC unless you consider the content in which case ADULT CHILD might be the Heaviest of all with Audra peeling back more layers across 9 gorgeous “sonic collages”.
11. Turnstile-NEVER ENOUGH (Roadrunner Records): We just can’t deny the staying power of Turnstile. We debated relegating this one to the “HM” section but then looked at the plays in our Spotify “Wrapped” and knew it had to go in here somewhere. And why wouldn’t it as it somehow manages to top 2021’s GLOW ON in every way with another solid collection of radio ready yet still raucous modern Punk Rawk jamz.
10. Izzy Reign-Izzy Reign (FiXT): FiXT is slaying it for us lately. While they didn’t make it onto the numbered portion of this recap, both Daedric and The Defect ruled and later, The Browning kicked some serious ass on a heavier level with their single releases. Out of all of those, though, Izzy Reign was the one that, ahem, reigned supreme with such a diverse record that is still wickedly engaging and debonairly diverse. And oh so worthy of your time.
9. VOWWS-I’ll fill your house with an army (Out Of Line): We’re sorry to say that VOWWS’ newest is another one we overlooked which is surprising considering how long and how much space what came to be know as I’ll fill your house with an army has taken up in recent annual “Most Anticipated” posts! Probably didn’t help that we had the promo stupid early (Not complaining!) but regardless, it’s here and it is GREAT. With some big name friends along for the latest collection of Death Pop classics (Josh Freese! Munky!), VOWWS more than made up for the wait as they gear up for a new touring cycle with European headline shows and a North American run supporting Lacuna Coil (Stopping at the Worcester Palladium upstairs on March 25th) already booked to share those new tracks with y’all.
8. The Yagas-Midnight Minuet: Some of you stepped up to The Yagas’ table for the spectacle that is another celeb-fronted band or as fans in general of actress Vera Farmiga. For us, it was the imagery the Gothic Folk Horror imagery that the band was putting out there that first drew us. Then Farmiga. Then realizing that Farmiga’s partner-in-crime/ride or die in life, Renn Hawkey, is the same Renn Hawkey responsible for helping mold the sound of one of our all-time faves Deadsy. There’s elements of that cult band in here (Did you know that the title track was originally a Deadsy song?? Read it for yourself here from our interview with Hawkey earlier in 2025) and also so much more. Dark, delightful and dense with Hawkey’s soundscapes alongside Mike Davis (Bass) and Jason Bowman (Drums) backing Farmiga’s legit PIPES, Midnight Minuet is what we wanted the new album from The Cure to sound like.
7. BUSH-I Beat Loneliness (earMusic): Our love of Bush knows no bounds. Fans since Sixteen Stone but really solidified following the crushing atmosphere of The Science Of Things, we’ve been continuously impressed since BUSH bounced back from a hiatus in 2020 with the surprisingly visceral The Kingdom and they haven’t let up on that tip since with The Art Of Survival in 2022 and now their latest which might be the absolute tops in a trilogy of triumphant records from mainstays Gavin Rossdale and Chris Traynor.
6. Friendship Commanders-BEAR (Magnetic Eye Records): We knew we were going to dig this record, we just didn’t realize we’d dig it THIS much. Surely the follow-up to 2023’s album of the year as picked by us (It’s true! MASS! Peep that list here) couldn’t rival that artistry, right? Wrong. And it’s the kind of wrong we’ll take any day of the week. Anyway! Bigger and more badass than MASS with gnarlier sounding riffage, huge choruses as well as some of the most melodic stuff that singer/songwriter/guitarist Buick Audra and drummer Jerry Roe have ever laid to tape. And that’s following a whole other solo record that Audra released earlier in 2025! In addition to the album, with instrumentals tracked once again at God City with Kurt Ballou, FC played out a LOT including another stop and fiery performance at O’Brien’s to celebrate BEAR after its’ release and are already back at it in 2026 with a Southeast US co-headline run with Temptress (Whose hear LP releases on January 23rd) already booked (Date for that plus ALL the Friendship Commanders links you need can be found here).
5. PELICAN-Flickering Resonance (Run For Cover Records): Not sure if you’d call Flickering Resonance a “comeback” record from Chicago’s Pelican but it’s definitely got that feel. Maybe “rebirth” is more accurate? A renaissance even? Whatever you wanna call it, the band’s first since 2019’s Nighttime Stories and first in more than a decade with original guitarist Laurent Schroeder-Lebec is indeed a triumph and quite the deserved celebration. The record is epic beyond epic, cultivating everything that’s made Pelican great since their inception and turning it up to 11, and played as such when Pelican’s subsequent headline tour hit The Sinclair over the summer (We skipped Ghost in favor of this). Next up, a new EP featuring a version of FR track “Cascading Crescent” with Thursday’s Geoff Rickly on vox (!!!) through Run For Cover on January 20th while February 1st sees the band make a return to the area when they play the second day of the Something In The Way Festival over at Roadrunner (Tix here) which also features Sunny Day Real Estate, Citizen, Sheer Mag, Glixen and a whole lot more.
4. Pixel Grip-Percepticide: The Death of Reality: While 2025 has been a BANGER regarding new Electro releases, none have hit as hard as our most anticipated release of the year (It’s true! Read it for yourself in last year’s 2025 preview list here). That ranking was solely on the strength of “bet you do.” in 2023 and “Stamina” in 2024, mind you, as we had no idea what was to come. What came was a phenomenal opus that delivered depth, diabolical beats and a distinct sound that can ONLY be described as “the Pixel Grip sound” going forward.
3. PYRAMIDS-Pythagoras (The Flenser): This record hit us out of nowhere with its’ amalgamation of sounds hiding a subdued heaviness underneath the surface of this gargantuan etheral soundscape with elements of Black Metal, Reggaeton and Indie Alternative just some of the genres thrown into the melting pot that is Pyramids’ wheelhouse and a wheelhouse that they, and they alone, are masters of. Listen to it here, thank us later.
2. Greet Death-Die In Love (Deathwish): If there was a tie for the top spot (There almost was) then Greet Death’s latest would be the album sharing that spot for sure. But we didn’t cop out this time (Lookin’ at you, 2020 RNRF!) and made a decision. But was it the right one??? You tell us? Anyway, the moment we heard “Country Girl” we were fixated on the glorious artistry of Greet Death. We were even more ecstatic to find the record it was included on was an eclectic mix of monolithic Post-Rawk, Alternative and Indie and the sonic equivalent of putting seminal works by Failure, Hum, Dinosaur Jr and Folk Implosion in a Cuisinart and selecting the highest setting.
1. Crippling Alcoholism-Camgirl (Portrayal Of Guilt): Y’know what? This was a ridiculously tough one. Any one of the artists in our Top 5 could’ve had this. Like we just stated above, we considered a repeat of 2020 and having a 3-way tie. We even considered “cheating” and actually ranking our Local list so that we could position CA’s newest in the top slot (We did actually mention CA over there still and you can see for yourself here) but then figured the heart wants what the heart wants, y’know? And the heart wanted the newest from New England Gothic Art Rawkers Crippling Alcoholism to shine at the top. Camgirl is one of those records that we have to swear off of for a spell for fear of getting sick of it when in reality we KNOW we could never get sick of it as it’s a thrill ride every time the opening pulses of “Mr. Sentimental” hit and doesn’t let up until the final notes of “despair” fade away. The band is already gearing up for a fabulous 2026 having just signed to The Flenser with a new album on the way (!!!) as well as a new edition of Camgirl arriving soon (EDITOR’S NOTE: Actually in April as it was announced the instant we hit “publish” on this piece. Pre-order now here. You’re welcome.) plus a refined lineup that includes Ameokama (Who guested on “Sweet Talk”) and live dates already taking shape like the one at the end of January (The 31st!) at First Church in Cambridge with DEATHLESS FOREVER, Chainlacing and Tears From A Grieving Heart. Get details on that and other 2026 live dates, purchase Camgirl and more by heading here.