Hey y’all, David here again. You’re likely familiar with how we form our AOTY lists by now so I won’t harp on that this year since the process hasn’t changed, suffice to say we’ve done it again: made a list we believe is among the best in terms of representing the year’s coolest musical offerings parallel to our team’s own tastes and sensibilities. Without a doubt, it’s always the thing I’m most proud of working on during the year and 2025 was no exception.
What did change though was the level of refinement and attention we had while making this year’s list. Last year’s list was kind of a mess to be honest. I referenced it in last year’s article, but there was some mistakes made, duplicates, omissions, and more that affected the way or intended level that members or our team were represented at. Though they were mere accidents, they were no less disappointing and frustrating as it required more scrambling on mine and Toni’s end to make it right. This year, we sat the fuck down and said let’s just do it right the first damn time. Easy enough, right? It paid off – this list manifested without a hitch this time, coming together easier with some structural refining of the article itself by Toni; we even finished it all way ahead of schedule, so much so that we’re publishing it a full week in advance than when we planned to. A new standard as been set for us and we intend on meeting it, if not exceeding it further, in the future.
We’re four days into 2026 as I write this and shit’s already fucked up, but I know somehow, someway, music will see us through this year just as it has last year, and the year before, and the year before, etc. There’s reasons why we all do this and it certainly ain’t for the money (there is none) or the clout (huh, where?). We do it for the love of the game and that passion will continue to drive us until the internet dies or we do. Thanks for joining us last year and we look forward to making y’all come back for all the awesome music we find and share throughout this one. And hey, if you wanna join our team and be part of something remarkably fulfilling, fun, and supportive, shoot your shot! Thanks so much for being here!
Blindfolded and Led to the Woods – The Hardest Thing About Being God Is That No One Believes Me
October 10 // Prosthetic Records
Anything I could say about this album is better felt. Blindfolded and Led to the Woods made their most incredibly kinetic and heavy album yet, bulwarked by a very unsettling story revolving around obsession, violence, and salvation – to a degree anyway. I expected a lot out of it and it still surprised the hell out of me – a must-listen for fans of technical-leaning metal that barely ever relents.
David Rodriguez
Joe Harvey-Whyte & Bobby Lee – Last Ride
May 16 // Curation Records
Bobby Lee’s slow wade into the sunny day ambient isn’t unexpected having provided three other reasons over the last five years to enjoy his art, but coupling that with Joe Harvey-Whyte’s whimsically psychedelic steel guitar work, and something enchanting emerges. Cosmic Americana that drips like golden honey, and feels like the most perfect of summer days. Absolutely spectacular chill zone porch swinging mediation that’s the sonic equivalent of a warm hug, and never ending bonfire conversations. Magical elements bubble to the surface gently, here and there, to provide a comfortable novelty. Overall just a watercolor sunset dream of a record.
Dan Reiser
PeelingFlesh – PF Radio 2
September 26 // Unique Leader Records
If liking slam is idiotic then call me a doofus. PeelingFlesh has morphed brutal death metal into what they call Slamming Gangster Groove, and yeah that term slaps but boy howdy it sounds even better. Breakdowns, gutturals, slams, samples, it’s a potpourri of ignorance that makes PF Radio 2 one of the most delightfully ridiculous metal record of the year. What I take from extreme music is the nudge to get out of my own head, and PF Radio 2 is more like kick to the head.
Jake Walters
John Glacier – Like A Ribbon
February 14 // Young UK
I hadn’t heard of John Glacier before, but the featured artists — Eartheater and Sampha — and the initial glimpse of the sound were enough to convince me that this is something special. With elements of UK drill, grime, and jazzy, introspective rap à la Loyle Carner, Like a Ribbon emphasizes intimate storytelling. There is an interesting range of ideas and approaches, from the well-thought-out to the spontaneous. Yet, every song feels genuine and heartfelt. This is probably the rap album that has spoken to me the most this year. It’s yet another example of how fascinating the UK hip-hop scene is these days.
Toni Meese
Anamanaguchi – Anyway
August 8 // Polyvinyl Records
Considering the long gaps between Anamanaguchi’s studio albums, I had just about consigned them to being another singles band as the 2020s dragged on – but the NYC chiptune band surprised me when they began teasing Anyway earlier this year. With a heretofore unprecedented emphasis on high-octane indie rock and slacker-ish singing, it’s a small miracle that the band both keep their chiptune influence intact and reintegrate it into their newly refined sound so seamlessly. Songs like “Magnet” and “Rage (Kitchen Sink)” effortlessly wormed their way into my brain, but it’s the album’s centerpiece “Buckwild” that provides Anyway’s mission statement: ‘Life’s about the time.’ No longer an Endless Fantasy; it’s about time to be who we are. Anyway…
Brandon Essig
Alan Sparhawk – Alan Sparhawk with Trampled by Turtles
May 30 // Sub Pop
Alan Sparhawk with Trampled By Turtles is what you’d expect from two artists bonding over grief and sheer brotherhood – an album that both hurts and heals, songs that shout at the void while simultaneously finding beauty in the light seeping through its cracks. Alan Sparhawk is at his most revealing here as Trampled By Turtles provide his weathered but sage confessionals with hauntingly tender soundscapes of bluegrass and Americana. Contrary to its total length, Alan Sparhawk with Trampled By Turtles is a moving, monumental work of art.
Carlos Vélez-Cancel
Pyramid Mass – Gargling Rot
March 18 // Ossien Records
Takes a hell of a lot for us to consider an EP or very short project for this list. It’s something that must feel substantial and monumental in its succinctness, executing high on new or at least great ideas in its own way and that’s exactly what Pyramid Mass did with Gargling Rot. You’ll find our list this year is lighter in the extreme metal genre than usual (at least to me) so for this to end up on here should be reason enough to check this out before the RVA band bludgeon us with their next one.
David Rodriguez
Danefae – Trøst
January 31 // Independent
Modern progressive metal gets ragged on a lot for being cheesy, or far too over the top, or whatever – something is always wrong. Danefae deliver a masterclass on how to do it right. Trøst is a beautiful story told with all the cinematic flair you would expect from a movie and a fairy tale, yet it also touches on deeply personal corners and is highly charged emotionally. Musically it really adheres neatly to the progressive side of things, offering a lovely variety, which is very neatly put together. Overall, there are simply no corners cut and you as a listener get the absolute most.
Robert Miklos
Model/Actriz – Pirouette
May 2 // Dirty Hit
This is one of those albums you weren’t expecting at all but somehow rocks your whole world for a good while. Packed with dance anthems with a dark edge, Pirouette is deeply layered, entrancing and lush with amazingly catchy hooks, but also haunting and unsettling due to its visceral nature. Model/Actriz forces you to confront your own barebones darkness and insecurities, daring you to dance alongside them. You really do need to listen to it yourself to properly get it – and you won’t regret it.
Thomas Mendes
Igorrr – Amen
September 19 // Metal Blade Records
Savage Sinusoid propelled Igorrr into the ears of many. Spirituality and Distortion cemented this new direction and reputation. Amen refines that. Everything goes a step further, everything feels even more impactful, everything is a pool of chaos. Igorrr has absolutely no chill whatsoever and will put up an explosive spectacle of chaos, just to prove that it can be outstandingly entertaining. It takes, I think, a certain level of genius to blend death metal, opera, breakcore, and a bunch of other random things, to essentially make it not just cohesive, not just listenable, but downright dynamite in musical form. Amen.
Robert Miklos
Conjurer – Unself
October 24 // Nuclear Blast Records
Conjurer is so fucking back. Raw and emotional, capturing the angst of the current zeitgeist and unleashing it upon our ears in devastating blackened post-metal. The vocals are scintillating, ripping through the fabric of space and time, delivering powerful messages for marginalised communities, whilst the riffs are cataclysmic, with some absolutely stunning moments. Conjurer’s ability to contrast dark and light in their music is one of their most amazing qualities, showcased best in their closing track “This World Is Not My Home”, a beautiful rendition of an old hymn, that remains one of the most impactful tracks of my 2025.
Pete Overell
The Antlers – Blight
October 10 // Transgressive
Damaged but sublime, Blight is The Antlers’ most quietly devastating work to date. Gone is the crescendoing woe of their formative years – what‘s left is the empty dread and helplessness of wrestling with climate change and social upheaval. Peter Silberman has shaped these unsettling times into an emotional paean to the threatened splendor of our abused life source, channeling the underlying threat to our lives to write what may well be the best record the band (and its main songwriter) ever drummed up.
Dominik Böhmer
Sleep Paralysis – Sleep Paralysis
February 28 // I, Voidhanger Records
I think I found this project through a Toilet ov Hell article – shouts to those guys, they do good work covering metal – and it immediately grabbed me with its avant-garde execution of anxious black metal with touches of chiptune and doom. Finding out it was released on I, Voidhanger was the final testament to its quality as you can always count on their releases being weird and unique. Sleep Paralysis’ debut is legitimately haunting and a high point for quirked-up metal in a year teeming with it; a video game creepypasta given life, its gaunt hands around your neck and hopefully you’re into that sort of thing.
David Rodriguez
Jakob Bro & Midori Takada – あなたに出会うまで / Until I Met You
September 12 // Loveland Records
Ever since I found out that Danish jazz guitarist Jakob Bro and legendary Japanese minimalist composer/percussionist Midori Takada were apparently on good terms, I’ve been hoping for a collaborative release from these two masterful artists. The wait was well worth it, as it turns out; Until I Met You is just breathtakingly beautiful, a spellbinding display of skill and interconnectedness. Acoustic guitar and various percussion instruments is all Bro and Takada needed to achieve greatness together. These songs keep a low profile while being every bit as confident and self-assured as you’d expect from these two seasoned veterans.
Dominik Böhmer
Danny Brown – Stardust
November 7 // Warp Records
The most celebratory moment in music this year goes to Danny Brown, hands down. His release of Stardust wasn’t just proof of (well-lived, recovering) life, but a statement that he’s not putting the mic down any time soon and has a lot more to say and do. He’s palled up with tons of boundary-nuking artists many of whom laced this album with fun, jittery production and bold vocal guest spots, building community and enveloping Danny with friendship and artistic resonance alike. You love to see it. What’s next is quite literally anyone’s guess.
David Rodriguez
Teitanblood – From the Visceral Abyss
March 28 // Norma Evangelium Diaboli
Teitanblood’s From the Visceral Abyss is the antithesis of comfort in every conceivable way. Having followed the Spanish avant-garde/extreme metal band for a while, but being unforgivably out of the news loop, the new album evaded my peripherals for a while before I stumbled upon it and proceeded to devour the entirety in unhealthy amounts for weeks on end. Teitanblood takes no prisoners, and this latest example of their signature unrelenting and unbelievably abrasive ways only deepens that notion. From the Visceral Abyss is a caustic monolith that punctures your eardrums and cuts straight through your soul in a way that’s still somehow enjoyable. Call that sadomasochistic or whatever; it’s simply absurd how much delight can be found in absolute annihilation.
Eeli Helin
Ho99o9 – Tomorrow We Escape
September 9 // Last Gang Records
The duo known as Ho99o9 never had the creative apathy characteristic of modern rap and metal/hardcore fusion. Starting from their 2017 debut, TheOGM and Eaddy have sounded as natural over punked-up riffs as over industrialized beats, and never had to phone it in to decry a public injustice. They’ve only improved with time, because Tomorrow We Escape sees them at their smoothest, heaviest, most energetic and most conscious so far. The rapping alternates between self-examination to bombastic chest-thumping, and the music runs through hazy hip-hop and Death Grips-type industrial, to merciless mosh-fuel. Be careful when you play this, because you might just start two-stepping and punching the air, regardless of what’s unfortunate enough to surround you.
Jimmy Carlson
Panchiko – Ginkgo
April 4 // Nettwerk
This band’s story is fascinating and has been the subject of many YouTube videos. In fact, it could be the plot of a coming-of-age anime about a band similar to Beck (highly recommended). After Panchiko finally released their debut album, Failed at Math(s), in 2023, many fans, myself included, eagerly awaited its follow-up. With Ginkgo, the British indie band is at an artistic high, which surprised me. They confidently execute their ideas and put together the best collection of songs in 2025. Also, the music video for “Ginkgo” features a bunch of chickens. Big win.
Toni Meese
billy woods – GOLLIWOG
May 9 // BackwoodzStudioz
A few years ago, I started ranking billy woods as one of my favorite modern emcees, and 2025 continues his incredible run with multiple guest verses, a year of his own Backwoodz Studioz releasing one banger after another, and even another Armand Hammer project with The Alchemist, but it was his solo album that stole the show. woods tackles horrorcore on this album, working with a bevy of stellar producers and weaving threads of horror in his lyrics. This ain’t no slasher flick; this is the horror of existence detailed with the ephemera of humanity and our collective psyche.
Broc Nelson
An Abstract Illusion – The Sleeping City
October 17 // Willowtip
Following the incredibly high bar set by Woe, The Sleeping City proves that An Abstract Illusion are on their merry way to the top of the metal food chain. The Sleeping City is a massive, ultra dense, sprawling, epic journey through various ends of time and space and it does not hold back. It’s a record that is firing on full auto on all cylinders with unlimited ammo. It impresses with an oppressive level of maximalism, a supremely lush sense of melody and textures to die for. If you want your progressive death metal dialed all the way to 11, this is it.
Robert Miklos
HEALTH – CONFLICT DLC
December 11 // Loma Vista Recordings
I was initially expecting this album to be just a collection of unremarkable B-sides from the RAT WARS sessions, but as it turns out, it’s way more than that and surpasses its predecessor by a long shot! CONFLICT DLC is HEALTH’s most dynamic and satisfying outing yet, intertwining the heavy industrial bangers you’d expect from them with surprisingly beautiful melodies and thoughtful lyrics. It’s already my favorite album of theirs, packed to the brim with earworms that keep me coming back for more.
Thomas Mendes
Quade – The Foel Tower
April 18 // AD 93
For those of you who are tired of Goodspeed You! Black Emperor stuff in recent years, it might be time to discover something new. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much buzz surrounding the release of The Foel Tower, the new album by the Bristol, UK-based experimental rock band Quade. This was expected, but it still disappointed me. It’s an intense experience from start to finish, ranging from tender, somber moments to bursts of dissonance and rage. A one-of-a-kind experience for those who are fascinated by textured introspection and the tension provided by contrast.
Toni Meese
Geese – Getting Killed
September 26 // Partisan Records
Getting parodied on Saturday Night Live is certainly an indicator that Geese have broken through to the mainstream with their most recent mega-hit Getting Killed. Sometimes the mainstream gets it right. Ambitious, confessional, and often downright weird, Getting Killed actually lives up to its hype by being completely unafraid to do something kind of out there. It’s nice to see young people making such anxious and raw music that still appeals to a broad audience, all while sounding like every indie band from 2007 got put into a food processor. Maybe the kids are alright after all.
Colleen Nerney
Dave – The Boy Who Played the Harp
October 24 // Neighbourhood Recordings
It’s too early to truly call it, but Dave will likely go down as one of the greatest British storytellers. Compelling and focused from start to finish, The Boy Who Played The Harp sees the rapper examine his relationship with religion, fame, and his own hypocrisy, dialing back the beats to focus on his lyricism and exquisite flow. Dave has never been one to hold back punches when talking about social injustices, but rarely do we see an artist so deftly look in the mirror and discuss how, despite big talk, he himself has not always set the best example.
Paul Williams
Vauruvã – Mar da Deriva
May 9 // Independent
Samba black metal. Those three words could be my entire write-up on this record and I’m sure many of y’all would understand why I needed this to be included in our AOTY list. Vauruvã managed to organically blend the music(s) of their home with the bone-chilling cold of Scandinavian black metal without it coming off as a silly gimmick. What we got instead is a deeply creative, brilliantly composed, and absolutely stunning piece of black metal that is sure to resonate with anyone looking to find some leftfield (black) metal that’s both punishing and beautiful.
Dominik Böhmer
McKinley Dixon – Magic, Alive!
June 6 // City Slang
McKinley Dixon‘s stage-setting rap is focus center with technically proficient prowess, highbrow samples, and pristine constantly transforming production that would be challenge to most, but sounds like ridiculous light work for such a professional. In a pound for pound cadence, Dixon not only rides, but directs the beat with such unique assertion. Obstacle course production and a matching elastic flow that never runs out of steam with a glowing sense of pride and unwavering optimism. With a lot of discussion about hip hop dying, or rap fatigue, this one is bound to change the conversation.
Dan Reiser
Mei Semones – Animaru
May 2 // Bayonet Records
In 2024, Mei Semones released her second EP, Kabutomushi. I was all in — her blend of slacker indie and jazz proficiency checked so many boxes for me that I was hungry for more. Her debut full-length album, Animaru, was one of my highlights of the year. The groundwork laid in her first two EPs was more refined, the songwriting sharper, and the hooks catchier. While her sound reminds me a bit of Little Tybee, everything about this record screams New York in the best way possible. Sensitive jazz indie for slackers with heart.
Toni Meese
Hypomanic Daydream – The Yearning
July 18 // Fiadh Productions
I don’t think any other album had vocal lines or melodies run through my head more than Hypomanic Daydream’s The Yearning. What a damn experience this is. Progressive metal distilled through the dramatic majesty and widespread influences to tell tales of what churns in our minds while going through late-stage capitalism, finding yourself, and desiring something better. It’s quite unlike anything you’ve heard this year, maybe even ever; not for everyone by any means, but its adventurousness is a good filter. Those meant to hear it – like, actually hear it – will.
David Rodriguez
Forth Wanderers – The Longer This Goes On
July 18 // Sub Pop
There was really no chance this didn’t end up as my album of the year. I never thought I’d get another album from Forth Wanderers; they went on hiatus so suddenly the idea of them coming back in any form seemed impossible, and not only did they do it, there wasn’t even a hint of rust. Several of my favorite songs of the year, especially my SOTY “Bluff”, are included here, and there really was just no other option for me. I got the closure I wanted, and I can be at peace now ’cause there will not be another.
Alex Eubanks
Shedfromthebody – Everything Out There Has Teeth
October 23 // Independent
Suvi Savikko’s unbridled creativity has gifted us not one but two phenomenal Shedfromthebody records in 2025; October’s Everything Out There Has Teeth showcases an impassioned blend of both the ethereal and enraged, exceeding in walking the tightrope between these two worlds. Dark folk guitar and moonlight croons ring out one moment, bowing out to unhinged dissonance that underlies spectral vocals the next. Offsetting every sullen moment of sombre softness, legions of gloomy ambience and bludgeoning guitar rattle the bones of those below – all orchestrated and emboldened by Savikko’s captivating, gossamer melodies, which drape themselves over the instrumentation like a delicate veil barely obscuring the visceral entity beneath.
Shaun Milligan
Militarie Gun – God Save the Gun
October 17 // Loma Vista Recordings
A sophomore album is often a fork in the road for any solid band, and Militarie Gun certainly had their work cut out for them after their excellent 2023 debut. Apparently the key to success was to take an almost-too-angsty approach, but from an undeniably Britpop angle. God Save The Gun is as gut-wrenching as it is catchy, blending intense, vulnerable songwriting with garage-rock hooks. It’s rare to have such a fun time listening to an emotionally heavy album like this, but I think that’s kind of the central charm. Feels good/bad, man.
Colleen Nerney
Asunojokei – Think of You
August 6 // Independent
From an interesting blend of J-rock, blackgaze, lo-fi, and post-hardcore that creates a mesmerizing and immense experience of boundless creative possibilities, Think of You injects life into these quite polarising styles. On paper, this record may give the impression of being too formulistic or even overkill as the typicality of these genres might sometimes suggest; in execution however, the seamless melodic hooks, untethered aggression and intricate solos blend into each other effortlessly, without sounding in any way forced or overly convoluted. Whilst the high-end production only enhances Think of You’s exquisite, fantasy-like qualities, quite possibly the greatest strength in Asunojokei’s sonic arsenal is their reliance of creative instinct over formula-based songwriting.
Joe McKenna
Anna von Hausswolff – Iconoclasts
October 31 // YEAR0001
Iconoclasts is one of those rare albums that is an absolutely breathtaking musical experience, emphasis on the word experience. It is an album that is simultaneously unsettling and outright gorgeous, a masterful culmination of everything across Anna von Hausswolff’s catalogue thus far. It is almost as if she was destined to create this very record. Effortlessly infusing compositional styles and stylistic influences from various genres, the end result is something that transcends music in how it feels larger than life itself. Out of everything I’ve heard this year, for as strong of a year as it has been musically, nothing has has quite the impact following the very first listen as Iconoclasts did. I’m giving myself chills just thinking about Iconoclasts; it’s truly that remarkable.
JP Pallais
The Reticent – please
November 13 // Generation Prog Records
While I try not to get hopes too high, expectations were undoubtedly up there for The Reticent’s new one after loving The Oubliette so much five years ago. please is a harrowingly honest, brutal, but affirming look at mental health, suicide, and isolation with the deceptively delicate and tactile touch of progressive metal and rock. Every word burns with vulnerability, every note painstakingly placed to convey the needed emotion, and it all culminates in an album that stands up with the greats of the genre. It also makes you wanna give frontman Chris Hathcock the biggest hug you’re capable of. The very definition of heart-on-sleeve art.
David Rodriguez
Across four tracks and forty minutes, both acronym anonymous auteurs craft a soundscape that drenches and drags the listener to depthless trenches with some of the heaviest composition imaginable. Impressive feat isn’t anything new for either of these two, but creating something entirely new that is equal to both of their distinct efforts is just a testament to how amazing both of these artists truly are. Seek no further proof than the cryptic caterpillar crawl of sludge on initial track “Begging to be Lost” that then layers itself into a beautiful doom dreary folk cocoon before its complete compositional metamorphosis takes flight as a melancholic doom moth. Things just take off further from there.
Dan Reiser
Faetooth – Labyrinthine
September 5 // The Flenser
From the moment you proceed through the “Iron Gate” of Labyrinthine, Faetooth demonstrate an elevation of the brooding atmospherics and crushing dissonance for which they are so renowned. Moments to breathe are few and far between amidst the monolithic walls of distortion; a dichotomy of reverberating wails and harsh vocals settles like dense fog, asphyxiating the winding passages within the trio’s delectably doomy sound. Every component feels simultaneously cavernous and claustrophobic – executed and balanced perfectly – and this incredibly potent, beautifully brutal experience remains that way until you are finally brought to “Meet Your Maker” at the album’s raucous, lumbering conclusion.
Shaun Milligan
Hilary Woods – Night CRIÚ
October 31 // Sacred Bones Records
Hilary Woods returns to song after a couple of experimental ambient and modern composition albums on Night CRIÚ, and has taken those lessons in timbre and tone and atmosphere, and crafted the most beautiful album I have heard this year. From the spacious keys and synths to the children’s choir’s vocals, Woods conjures the perfect setting for her haunted dream pop, an album for autumn nights and longing, as much as it is comforting and serene. Lyrically, Night CRIÚ seeks refuge and community with the love of God, lovers, neighbors, survivors, and oneself, and there is nothing this year like the respite this album brings.
Broc Nelson
amble – the places across the water
August 22 // Home Normal
I’ve not encountered an album as soothing as this in a long time. With ambience in abundance, amble is a fitting name, given the record’s inherent ability to slow the chaos of life down to a gentle stroll across these six tracks. Warm, reverberating synths ebb and flow, field recordings softly populate the periphery, and delicate layers are gently tethered to one another – the record devoid of percussion as it nudges you gently to break free from the constant pressure to march to life’s unforgiving beat. Do yourself a favour; forget the world for half an hour and rest in the unasking, tranquil shade of the places across the water.
Shaun Milligan
Clipse – Let God Sort Em Out
July 11 // Independent
Clipse returning in the form they did is very rare, nearly unprecedented. Nothing was as concise, quotable, or menacing as Let God Sort Em Out. Everything Pusha T and Malice said just seemed so surgical and planned out like the cleanest mob hit you’d ever seen in your life – the only way for lyricism-first heads to react was near-universal acclaim, so that’s what we did. Great features, awesome production, real lives distilled into poetry marked with discernment and appreciation of the finer things in life. Never been so happy to be reminded I’m poor as hell for 40 minutes.
David Rodriguez
Rosalia – Lux
November 7 // Columbia Records
Holy shit Lux sounds divine. There are so many different sounds and styles that Rosalía is able to bounce between while performing this orchestral masterpiece. “Berghain” with Björk and the wonderful Yves Tumor is a masterpiece in excess and elegance. “Sauvignon Blanc” is richer than its namesake (I have no idea what I’m saying by the way, I hate wine), and even the simplest moments like “La Perla” are gorgeous on the ears. There’s something stylistically here for everyone to love, and Lux is only going to grow on me, as it had a fairly late release date.
Alex Eubanks
Sharp Pins – Radio DDR
March 21 // perennialdeath
One of my biggest surprises of the year. I had never really heard of Lifeguard or had any reason to pay attention to any of the members of their band, and yet I found myself blown away by Kai Slater’s work as Sharp Pins. I found Sharp Pins vastly preferable to some other nostalgia pop-rock acts like The Lemon Twigs, and even though I didn’t love the second release of the year from Sharp Pins, Radio DDR was an immediate favorite of mine. Tracks like “Lorelei”, “You Don’t Live Here Anymore”, and “I Can’t Stop” have stuck with me all year.
Alex Eubanks
Indifferent Engine – Speculative Fiction
May 30 // Church Road Records
At first, I just liked this album. It felt charming and genuine, and its sound reminded me of a modern, textured take on post-hardcore bands like Cave In and Quicksand. But with each listen, I found myself more and more drawn to Indifferent Engine‘s new album, Speculative Fiction. Some of the vocal lines ingrained themselves in my soul. The movement and pace of the songs became as natural as breathing. The energy radiating throughout the album’s runtime leaves you with something to chew on, even after the last note fades. It’s a classic example of something being more than the sum of its parts, and I can’t stress enough how good this album feels.
Toni Meese
Agriculture – The Spiritual Sound
October 3 // The Flenser
The creative arc that black metal artists have carved out in this first quarter of the millennium is nothing less than staggering, and Los Angeles band Agriculture have added another gem to the treasure chest of sonic jewels protected by the genre’s serpentine gatekeepers. The Spiritual Sound is just that: an extended moment of praise and worship for the pagan gods that push up from the soil of the Earth and permeate through the lower atmosphere before petering out into a burst of dust as Heaven disappears into the ether. With oppressively dense riffage, The Spiritual Sound is a juggernaut of biblical proportions, one that forces a willing congregation to their bloody and scabbed knees.
Steve Loschi
Fish Basket – Fish Basket and his second album
January 17 // Independent
Polish psychedelic bands are on fire right now, with Fish Basket’s sophomore album topping my list for the year. In a year when I needed my mind focused on the destination, their trippy, instrumental, post-rock journey music took me where I needed to go. Brilliant bass grooves and stunning harmonies that appear from nowhere guide you forward, through highs and lows, before climaxing in serene, blissful moments. After re-listening and diving into their videos, you gain an appreciation for the percussive and string talent that goes into this record, with creativity abounding in the creation of sounds and movements.
Pete Overell
TURIAN – Blood Quantum Blues
June 6 // Wise Blood Records
We’re a little light on punk and hardcore this year, but TURIAN not being included on a list like this would be an abject failure. Here’s a metallic hardcore album with real heart, wrenching at you with personal stories and history that color in lives for generations to come. Trauma must be overcome, we must cut our shackles of oppression, our souls must grow from the seedling it starts out as. It’s all wrapped in a catchy, cathartic, and sometimes psychedelically-flavored venture that traces the threads of who we were, are, and will become. Far from your average album.
David Rodriguez
Bleed – Bleed
May 2 // 20 Buck Spin
What’s old is nu! With the recent resurgence in love for ’90s/2000s rock and nu metal, it was inevitable that a few new bands would try their hand at the genre. Bleed, for me personally, has hit as the absolute best of the bunch. Their self-titled debut is awash in crunchy riffing, catchy vocal hooks, and emotive lyrics cutting down to the personal alienation that was once the order of the day in hard rock. The fact that we also get some turntables and nods to shoegaze just sweetens the deal. Maybe not an album I expected to settle into my Top 5 for the year, but Bleed completely earned it.
Iain Ferguson
Men I Trust – Equus Caballus
May 6 // Independent
The world is a hard edge that slams into us repeatedly and every once and a while the pain of that bludgeoning is dulled by a really special album. This year, that was Equus Caballus. Their second release of the year was one that I was drawn to over and over again. Its warmth feels nostalgic from the very start and while the vibe rarely switches, each track has its own voice and personality. No skips, no lost opportunities. This album is basically perfect and you can quote me on that.
Jake Walters
Deafheaven – Lonely People With Power
March 28 // Roadrunner Records
It’s uncommon for a band to reach their creative peak this late into their career, but Deafheaven proved that they could more than match their Sunbather days. Lonely People With Power sees the band perfecting their blend of emotional black metal and shoegaze with an album that features their sharpest songwriting to date. It captures the aggression of New Bermuda with the dynamics of Infinite Granite, making every song feel unique, powerful and deeply cathartic. Deafheaven is one of the leading names in modern extreme music right now, and if this album is any indication, they’ll remain so for a good while.
Thomas Mendes
Saba & No ID – From the Private Collection of Saba and No ID
March 18 // From the Private Collection, LLP
Hip-hop really put belt to ass this year which made it hard for good projects to get recognition among the greats, but you can always count on Saba being included in the latter group. Throw in No ID as a producer and this was destiny. Arguably more than ever, Saba took us to his neighborhood, giving us lovingly grounded glimpses of community, family, spirituality, and the easier times where it’s all bonded together. With tons of replayability and smoothness for days (and weeks), it’s like the soundtrack for the opening credits of a sunny, feel-good film about the closeness of humanity and positivity found within.
David Rodriguez
Vangas – You Left Us In The Spring
October 10 // Chunklet Industries
You Left Us In The Spring came from out of nowhere, and immediately, after the first shock had settled, made its way to my and many others’ favorites of the year. It is a devastating and freakishly tangible album that settles into one’s psyche after the very first opening seconds and stays there firmly for a good while. On what is clearly a definitive moment in the act’s career, Vangas crafts a very human atmosphere that simultaneously pulls you in while not exactly treating you well, with immaculate sound art that shifts effortlessly between haunting dread, soothing waves, and nails-on-a-chalkboard-esque vibes. Expressive and highly artistic left-field music has seemingly been on the rise for a while now, and Vangas is amongst those on the front lines, paving the way for many other pleasant oddities to penetrate into the wider public’s consciousness.
Eeli Helin
Water From Your Eyes – It’s a Beautiful Place
August 22 // Matador Records
Nate Amos and Rachel Brown have produced the quintessential Midwestern rock album of 2025, a slab of guitar-driven indie rock drenched in wild electronic grooves, with time signatures that seem to fold in and over each other like a sonic Mobius strip. The album is unapologetically of its time, a smorgasbord of ideas and sounds that showcase the band at its experimental and melodic peak. It’s a Beautiful Place is an album that encapsulates the digital and analog angst of 2025 in a way that makes it a snapshot into America at its wildest and weirdest.
Steve Loschi
The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die – Dreams of Being Dust
August 22 // Epitaph
This really came out of left field to be one of the coolest re-imaginings of a band’s sound that I’ve heard in a long while. Who would have thought that the way to get TWIAPB to pull off snarling, pissed-off metalcore was for everything to be unequivocally shit on an unprecedented global scale? This is still a distinctly TWIAPB album, but hard times call for art that is armed with a baseball bat, pin-cushioned with nails, and ready to smash fascist faces in, and Dreams of Being Dust seems like it could seriously swing for days.
Paul Williams
The Callous Daoboys – I Don’t Want to See You in Heaven
May 16 // MRNK Heavy
If you thought The Callous Daoboys was just a shitposting band with some fun hooks and hard hitting riffs, think again. While I Don’t Want to See You In Heaven still features the band’s knack for humor and zany chaos, it also presents their most mature and personal sounding songs to date, proving they have far more depth to their songwriting than one would’ve originally thought. With instant bangers like “Two-Headed Trout” and “Lemon”, this album is mathcore with a heart, capable of evoking big dumb smiles and tears in a moment’s notice.
Thomas Mendes
Snooze – I KNOW HOW YOU WILL DIE
April 4 // Independent
I KNOW HOW YOU WILL DIE is jarring, sprawling, and heavy in many, many ways, displaying a version of Snooze that is willing and more than able to fully commit to their math rock-gone-emotional-prog-metal vision they’ve been honing for years now. Maximalist in its structure but palpably cutting in its delivery, this album is what I can only describe as the embodiment of tough love. Truly, there’s no running from I KNOW HOW YOU WILL DIE once you give in to it, and yet that’s what makes listening to it that much more rewarding.
Carlos Vélez-Cancel
Backxwash – Only Dust Remains
March 28 // Ugly Hag Records
Backxwash has never been an artist that shies away from nakedly brandishing her inner turmoil and traumatic life experiences so it’s not a surprise that on Only Dust Remains she continues to paint an incredibly bleak view of the world. Ultimately though this album sees Backxwash talk from a place of strength. Yes, she acknowledges her ongoing battle with mental health issues, but also has the clarity of thought to engage in the topic of social justice and decry the abysmal levels of injustice and decimation perpetrated against the people of Palestine. A weighty record but one worth digesting for its sobering, yet authentic message.
Paul Williams
Blackshape – Prismer I
October 24 // Independent
BLACKSHAPE just knocked it out of the park – again. Their debut was promising, but Prismer I is even more promising. Prismer I is nothing short of a modern masterpiece. It straddles magnificently between effortlessly delicate, ethereal, nigh angelic, and churning, gut-wrenching, crushing. It goes above and beyond, boldly, transcending barriers between mind, heart, and spirit. If mathgaze wasn’t yet a thing, Prismer I made it – superlatively even. It’s incredibly rare to hear something so thoughtfully put together, so passionately executed, with such a vibrant and profound delivery. It truly is one of the greatest albums of this year, maybe even of all time.
Robert Miklos
MIKE – Showbiz!
January 31 // 10k
This is the album that finally got me into MIKE. After finding his quirkier approach to down-to-earth lyricism a bit slippery for my tastes, Showbiz! allowed a grip on his elusive cadence. Couple that with his stellar NPR Tiny Desk performance this year and I’m all in now. Up there with Earl Sweatshirt and MF DOOM, there’s just a thoughtfulness and elegance to his music (much produced himself), a reflection of his very real come-up that remains grounded by simpler things like a good blunt and a cutie knocking down your DMs, and him getting emotional during his Tiny Desk shows he’s absolutely a dude to root for.
David Rodriguez
Sallow Moth – Mossbane Lantern
August 1 // Lilang Isla
One of the few metal albums that has followed me through most of the year, it’s the kind of project you hear and immediately go ‘oh, this is gonna be huge’. While a lot of motherfuckers are still sleeping, Mossbane Lantern nonetheless remains a cataclysmic gem that does a kickflip with progressive/brutal death metal sensibilities, a much needed refresh in a genre that’s either staler than year-old potato chips or metamorphosizing into its next planet-eating form depending. Sallow Moth is an example of the latter for 2025 and probably this whole-ass decade so get hip while you can.
David Rodriguez
Benjamin Booker – LOWER
March 6 // Fire Next Time Records
Mixing grunge, soul, and hip-hop might not be the first idea that comes to mind when making new music, but thankfully, Benjamin Booker went through with it. LOWER is unique and fresh. It perfectly captures the zeitgeist of wonky nostalgia and gritty shoegaze. Beyond the clever experiments with different sounds stands a charismatic artist with something to say. He feels confident and comfortable yet urgent when talking about some of the more disturbing topics on LOWER. It’s a very special experience.
Toni Meese
Monaleo – Who Did The Body
October 17 // Stomp Down
First impressions are strong and Who Did The Body has been hard to put down since release. The single “Sexy Soulaan” shone bright for its fun video and lyrics where Monaleo firmly places the Black community up front during a time where the exploitation of hip-hop and Black life is rampant and despicably apparent. The rest of the album is a culmination of all that, just on a more personal level, sending love to her pals no longer here, herself as a young talented woman, and reminding us that there’s always something bigger than ourselves to consider.
David Rodriguez
Patristic – Catechesis
June 20 // Willowtip
Catechesis is one of those rare and wonderful albums that you only have to listen to once to fall in love with. It’s a powerful blend of black metal bleakness, death metal vigour, and a deep sense clandestiny. While the label ‘black metal’ may be a bit of a dirty word in some circles (and for good reason), there’s a sense of pride with which Patristic integrate it into their sound. Catechesis is huge, aggressive, and painfully beautiful, complex, and dense without ever being overbearing or pretentious. I cannot recommend this album enough.
Hanna Ott
Mütterlein – Amidst the Flames, May Our Organs Resound
May 9 // Debemur Morti Productions
Mütterlein has created something monumental this year in Amidst the Flames. It’s an album I find myself thinking about frequently, not just because of its brilliant songwriting, jet-black atmosphere, and wide range of clever timbres, but also because of its incredibly heavy thematic content – it looks at the chilling story of Anarcha Westcott. Through the lens of industrial/blackgaze, Mütterlein explores pain and fear, but also faith and hope. I love the fusion of electronic elements and traditional metal aspects, with a special shout-out to the eerily husky vocals. Fucked-up and unapologetic, Amidst the Flames haunts me, and I adore it.
Hanna Ott
Quadeca – Vanisher, Horizon Scraper
May 9 // X8 Music
Over the last decade, the music of Quadeca (AKA Ben Lasky) has flourished from your average YouTube rap to rich tableaus weaving in strains of hip-hop, Latin, modern classical, electronic styles and more, promising challenge and reward in equal measure. On Vanisher, Horizon Scraper, he turns his focus from daily life’s grainy details to the grander ebb and flow of love and selfhood, through conscious allusion to the all-consuming ocean. Each song is a wash of twinkling colors and sounds moving over and into each other, an invitation to drown in deeper mystery. After encounters with leviathans and its concluding tsunami, there’s no telling what shore this album will wash you up on.
Jimmy Carlson
Orbits – Blood Red Sky
August 29 // Jazzland Recordings
This is easily one of my favourite records that I picked up for review this year, completely on a whim, or without knowing who was behind the music. Any fans of Jaga Jazzist and Hiatus Kaiyote will love Blood Red Sky, with Lars Horntveth from the former behind much of the composition, resulting in brilliantly proggy-jazz rock that is soaked in sunset synthesisers. Songs like “Synthetic Sweetness” drive so many good vibes into your day, it’s impossible not to go around feeling lifted in some respect. Production is so fucking clean as well, you can play this on any speakers and feel completely immersed in a rich fog of happiness.
Pete Overell
Vines – I’ll be here
July 18 // Independent
I’ll be here is the unique type of melancholic record that’ll morph into whatever shape you need it to be. It can be a lifeline for when life feels heavy, or a quiet companion when you don’t want answers, just understanding. What you take from it depends entirely on what you bring with you. It doesn’t tell you how to feel, rather it simply meets you wherever you already are. Much like that reliable friend that picks up every phone call or responds to every text, I’ll be here will always be there for when you most desperately need it, living up to its title indeed.
JP Pallais
Wreck and Reference – Stay Calm
August 22 // The Flenser
Stay calm? The fuck I will. After Wreck and Reference announced their long-awaited new album, I did lose my figurative marbles, to quite an extent. This The Flenser-housed avant-garde duo has been nothing short of a therapist for a lot of people, and even though they’ve had a rather holistic discography, the yearning for more was always there. With Stay Calm, that yearning got fulfilled to the most exquisite degree. Stay Calm is a visceral endeavor delving into everything that makes Wreck and Reference tick and more, offering us yet another extremely replayable, pristine, and fully-fledged work of sound art that is here to stay, to both pick us apart as well as to put us back together again.
Eeli Helin
Chestcrush – ΨΥΧΟΒΓΑΛΤΗΣ
April 4 // Independent
I’ve been jokingly calling this album ‘wax bath’ because that’s what the title written in Greek looks like it says, kind of, but it really means ‘soul extractor’. Either way, it makes good on both interpretations being of the most sundering, impaling, full-send explosions of blackened death metal we’ve seen this year. A Chestcrush if you will. It’s mean, dense, and absolutely not fucking around while addressing the woes of religion, the sociopolitical climate, and more that ails us more than we realize let alone address head-on. Play this beast loud – it’s the only way.
David Rodriguez
Ethel Cain – Perverts
January 8 // Daughters of Cain
A staggering feat of artistic ingenuity, Ethel Cain’s hour and fifteen minute EP is an exploration of adolescent grief that goes beyond the surface-level emotions of teenage self-absorption. Drenched in self-flagellation and despair, Perverts provides an aural foundation for unfathomable pain. It’s a challenging listen — much more Swans than Lana Del Rey — that demands your attention, and an audacious artistic move for an artist that seems to have moved very, very far away from being on a former president’s best-of list.
Steve Loschi
caroline – caroline 2
May 30 // Rough Trade
As much as I enjoyed caroline’s debut album, I didn’t expect their follow-up to be so emotionally heart-wrenching and affecting for me as it has been. Their baroque-pop-meets-post-rock mixture has resulted in something of a masterpiece, one that easily sits atop my list of 2025’s AOTY. It’s relatable, haunting, and life-affirming all at once – not only a difficult feat for a sophomore album, but almost impossible to pull off at all. For an emotional journey as well as a consistently interesting sonic experience, this is a must-listen.
Brandon Essig
Messa – The Spin
April 11 // Metal Blade Records
I’ve been a casual listener of Messa before, but The Spin quickly made them rank up amongst my favorites. A beautiful blend of their doom rock roots with more progressive and retrowave elements, this album features the most well crafted and enthralling songs Messa ever did, enhanced to near perfection by Sara Bianchin’s marvelous voice. The Spin is an ode to a classic era while still unmistakably modern, catchy and authentic. You can bet I’ll keep spinning this one in the long run.
Thomas Mendes
Jane Remover – Revengeseekerz
April 4 // deadAir Records
Revengeseekerz is an album for people who live in a constant state of overwhelm but still like to party hard; an album that is as intense emotionally as it is musically. There’s always something new and interesting happening, the only constant being Jane Remover’s anxious-but-defiant vocals. It contains some absolute banger bops, but always with an edge – Revengeseekerz is uncomfortable, and Jane Remover doesn’t give a fuck if that makes you antsy. Even the ‘chill’ tracks are plagued by existential angst, making Revengeseekerz an incredibly heavy listen, but one that’s well worth your attention, and will hold it effortlessly.
Hanna Ott
Infinity Knives & Brian Ennals – A City Drowned in God’s Black Tears
April 4 // Phantom Limb
The revolution begins with a man named Brian with Infinity Knives. Nothing sounds like this, and probably nothing ever will. Ennals’ take no prisoner, raw at all costs bars set against Infinity Knives‘ kaleidoscopic instrumentation of retro revolutionary calls to arms, freak folk indie 00’s throwbacks, salsa, and one of the most beautiful trad folk meets doom metal tracks ever recorded smack fucking dab in the middle of it all. These two are a treasure to American hip hop, music in general, and a testament that anything can be done, at any time, bringing along all the comrades for the ride.
Dan Reiser
Floating – Hesitating Lights
July 11 // Transcending Obscurity Records
2025 wasn’t a year that left me wanting for great metal and post-punk hybrids, and, for my money, Floating‘s sophomore album was one of the best. A self-styled hybrid of Demilich-ian, jagged death metal and Siouxsie-esque goth rock, these Swedes deliver gloomy atmosphere in spades, with more than enough muscle to back it up. Throw in a great dollop of prog sensibilities and otherworldly production, and Hesitating Lights scratches an itch no other band has ever really touched, and damn well to boot!
Iain Ferguson
Melpomene – A Body Is A Suggestion
August 8 // Fiadh Productions
A Body Is A Suggestion is massively underrated, especially for being an instrumental progressive metal album, something that would usually give me pause as it’s a genre I don’t connect with much anymore, but the soul that shines at the center of it is beautifully unique. It asks us to reflect on ourselves and our station in the world – are we happy with who we are? Is there a shell to puncture through, a cocoon from which to burst forth? Melpomene’s music offers a waypoint on that journey in the most serene, surprising way. Find yourself.
David Rodriguez
Ninajirachi – I Love My Computer
August 8 // NLV Records
Australian electronic DJ and producer Ninajirachi graces us with an impressive debut full-length that is both festive and earnest in its heartfelt observation of this digital ecosystem we’ve all come to love and despise. From pondering on a computer battery’s death and the collective trauma arising from shock sites to building genuine communities through music, I Love My Computer is zany, colorful, nostalgic, and a definite brain-buster.
Carlos Vélez-Cancel
Maruja – Pain to Power
September 12 // Music For Nations
There’s not a single album this year that captured my soul as much as Pain to Power did. After a series of excellent EPs, Maruja managed to surpass every expectation they had for their full-length debut, capturing a picture of the modern world that couldn’t feel more authentic and necessary. Featuring raw rapping and lyricism, frenetic and irresistible sax riffage and energy that could rival hardcore classics, Pain to Power is an intense and beautiful musical journey that shouldn’t be missed. If for nothing else, do it for the sax riffs.
Thomas Mendes
Sumac & Moor Mother – The Film
April 25 // Thrill Jockey Records
Sumac & Moor Mother are maestros of devastation, wielding post-metal and poetry like an awakening psychic kaiju hell bent on tearing down the institutions that are hell-bent on tearing us down. Sumac simmers, swirls, and explodes in their free form post-metal giving room for Moor Mother’s impassioned poetry, sometimes whispered, sometimes shouted, but always pointed straight at the guts of anyone bold enough to listen. No other album this year hit as emotionally AND physically hard as The Film.
Broc Nelson
Fainting Dreams – You Can Be Anything
October 31 // Softseed Music
It is rare that I am speechless after listening to an album, or pretty much ever for that matter. Denver-based Fainting Dreams had my brain on mute after just the first track of You Can Be Anything, an album chronicling some of the most painful and formative moments of musician Elle Reynolds’s life. The only way I can think to describe this collection of songs is as hymns; beautiful, ecstatic, agonized hymns. It is completely unreal. There are few pieces of art out there like this one, and it simply must be experienced with the utmost reverence it deserves.
Colleen Nerney
Park Jiha – All Living Things
February 14 // Glitterbeat Records
Many years ago, Korean multi-instrumentalist Park Jiha released her debut album, Communion, a vibrant mix of experimental, jazz, and modern classical music. I knew then that I would follow her artistic journey as closely as possible. A couple of albums later, none of the magic has faded. All Living Things is as vibrant as it is contemplative. It’s a triumphant continuation of an artistic vision strongly associated with Park Jiha. When you hear it, you know it’s her, and that’s a statement in and of itself.
Toni Meese
Oromet – The Sinking Isle
November 7 // Hypaethral Records
A funeral doom album making it to our AOTY list is pretty special, but so is everything about this album. The cover art, the title, and every note that rings from this album is pure doom metal. What makes this album tick is how it feels: the catharsis of sorrow and the forlorn hope of new beginnings allows a ray of light to slice through the ash and smoke. The Sinking Isle is economical without compromise and finds touchstones for everything that makes this style so impactful. A new standard bearer for doom is emerging.
Jake Walters
Thanks for reading. See you next time, I guess.
