Top fifteen records of 2025: Not like the other girls
I can't be the only one who waits until the actual end of the year to finalize the year-end list (and then needs a little time to write it up), right?
As previously
discussed, 2024 was a great musical year. So much so that I didn't get
to everything. Here are a few more 2024 records that could have made at
least my long-list, had I discovered them in time:
(+ = woulda been a top ten candidate)
Body Count - Merciless
Cemetery Skyline - Nordic Gothic
Dawnwalker - The Unknowing+
Kalandra - A Frame Of Mind+
Kingcrow - Hopium
St. Vincent - All Born Screaming
As
far as 2025, it was okay. Even within the admittedly limited sphere of
music through which I move, I found a bunch of things that I liked.
Compared to any other year since I started actually writing these things
in either 2020 or 2021,* there were a lot of returning candidates this
time around. A few former top-fifteeners and two former
number-ones released music this year. Sure, some favorite artists put out disappointing records, and others came up with some good stuff that was
still pretty far from greatness, for me. But would any past list
members become big repeat winners with this year's releases? Well...
I'm
committed to this idea of listing exactly** fifteen records each year
as my top of tops. Obviously, there was other music that I liked in
2025, and just because it's not on the list doesn't mean it's not worthy
of one's time. But it's worth mentioning that towards the bottom of
the list they cluster together. So here, in alphabetical order, are a
few that were incredibly close to top-fifteen status, and could very easily have made the list if I were in a slightly different mood:
1914 - Viribus Unitis
Azure Emote - Cryptic Aura
Confess - Destination Addiction
Crow's Flight - The Dark Horizon
And now, the list! This year's theme is to explain why a given record, compared to other music of its ilk (giving me a convenient way to identify what sort of music it is), earned its spot.
15) Doris Brendel - Dog Eat Dog World
COMPARED TO OTHER singer-songwriter-ass folk-rock albums, THIS RECORD...
...
presents a unique worldview. Doris is developing into a regular
fixture of this lists and actually had two releases in 2025, but this
time it's her pure-solo effort that best nails her combination of
off-kilter wit, off-kilter yet haunting vocals, and ear for a tune.
A TRACK TO CHECK OUT: "Life Is Not Fair"
14) Insania - The Great Apocalypse
COMPARED TO OTHER traditional fist-pumping power metal albums, THIS RECORD...
...has
a little something extra. The songs are a little longer, the
keyboard/symphonic parts complement the guitars very cleverly...
basically, just enough of a tiny splash of progginess to stay
interesting on repeat listens without losing the whole fist-pumping
thing.
A TRACK TO CHECK OUT: "The Trinity"
13) Thy Kingdom Will Burn - The Loss And Redemption
COMPARED TO OTHER straightforward melodic death metal [hereafter melodeath] albums from young bands, THIS RECORD...
...feels somehow bigger than I usually expect from melodeath, thanks to healthy use of mellow breaks and orchestration. The Loss And Redemption entered
my orbit in January and steadfastly refused to get pushed out of
contention. The songs don't need to break new ground, they just need to
sound good.
A TRACK TO CHECK OUT: "Suffering Sky"
12) Aephanemer - Utopie
COMPARED TO OTHER avant-garde French-
...comes
closer than others I'd seen to perfectly melding the virtuosity of your
favorite "neoclassical" metal project with the throat-shredding
unapproachability of your favorite "artsy" extreme metal project. The
language barrier keeps it from being higher on my personal list, but to
the extent that anything can be "objectively" good, Utopie is one of 2025's very best metal releases.
A TRACK TO CHECK OUT: "La Règle du Je"
11) Helloween - Giants & Monsters
COMPARED TO OTHER collections of unabashedly pop-embracing power metal from legends of the game with nothing left to prove, THIS RECORD...
...has
Helloween's incomparable tunecraft. I wasn't sure the "Pumpkins
United" seven-man lineup would ever live up to the sum of its parts and
properly use its three vocalists collaboratively. But here they're on
their game, and nobody can Helloween it up better than a Helloween
that's having a good songwriting day.
A TRACK TO CHECK OUT:
"We Can Be Gods"
10) Weakened Friends - Feels Like Hell
COMPARED TO OTHER indie-rock albums with a heavy '90s vibe, THIS RECORD...
...actually
reminds me of when this sort of rock and roll felt vital. Sonia
Sturino's vocals quaver with nervous energy over songs that evoke a
highlights-only version of the best parts of fuzzed out '90s rock with
'90s poppy punk, maybe throwing in a splash of '90s riot grrrl, in an
appealing mix that speaks to today's frustrations.
A TRACK TO CHECK OUT: "Tough Luck (Bleed Me Out)"
9) Clipse -Let God Sort Em Out
COMPARED TO OTHER hip-hop albums from (musically) long-estranged brothers, THIS RECORD...
...
is one I listened to? As always, I recognize the absurdity of a (mostly) metal listener trying to numerically rank how one of the four or five
rap records he actually listened to stacks up against Helloween or
whomever. I know just enough to tell you two things about the Clipse
record, though. One is that Pusha T and Malice are in the zone as
storytellers effortlessly mixing badassery with sentiment, and two is
that the beat selection (beat/track synergy abounds!) from Pharrell
Williams and others is among the best I've heard in the last twenty
years.
A TRACK TO CHECK OUT: "By The Grace Of God"
8) Eluveitie -
Ànv
COMPARED TO OTHER albums that mix melodeath with Celtic folk, THIS RECORD...
...is a particular style that I'm a fan of. I've already written a whole post about Ànv
for the blog, and hopefully I conveyed its better songs' ability to
combine energy, rage, and history into an exquisitely proportioned stew
of the things that this band are so good at.
A TRACK TO CHECK OUT:
"The Prodigal Ones"
7) Alestorm - The Thunderfist Chronicles
COMPARED TO OTHER folk/power metal hybrid albums from Scotsmen who write joke songs about pirates, THIS RECORD...
...
is, of all the Alestorm records, one of them. This is a good thing.
The only debate for me was whether Alestorm, by doing their usual Alestorm thing,
would still be guaranteed a top-ten slot or whether I might exile
them... to the bottom third of the top fifteen, because they were
definitely getting in somewhere. More time revealed more melodic sophistication
in the way they construct their accordion parts and big choruses than
present at first glance... just like has also happened with every
preceding Alestorm record. If the songs*** weren't there, this project
wouldn't have produced a way more accomplished discography than a
party/comedy band "should."
A TRACK TO CHECK OUT "Hyperion Omnirif"
6) Envy Of None - Stygian Wāvs
COMPARED TO OTHER ethereal yet guitar heavy "dreampop" albums, THIS RECORD...
...
lives up to the potential of its pedigree. I followed Rush's Alex
Lifeson to his side project and liked the first record fine. Stygian Wāvs is
next level, though. Maiah Wynne has come into her own as a songwriter
and singer, and with a talented rock band behind her ready to be exactly
as heavy or light as a song demands, Envy have come up with a batch of
songs that can best described as "hypnotic."
A TRACK TO CHECK OUT: "Clouds"
5) Turnstile - NEVER ENOUGH
COMPARED TO OTHER danceable albums with roots in hardcore punk, THIS RECORD...
...made
me let go of my remaining reservations about the hardcore band that
seems to be beloved mostly among the aging-hipster demographic**** and
just bang my damn head. I mean, I knew Turnstile were good - Glow On just
barely snuck into my 2021 top fifteen list, after all - but I'm not
sure I quite trusted that I liked them as much as I do. Well, this
year's effort is too packed with bangers to deny, and too sonically
diverse to get dull.
A TRACK TO CHECK OUT: "SOLE"
4) Jethro Tull - Curious Ruminant
COMPARED TO OTHER albums that feature flute-driven ren-faire-infused folk rock, THIS RECORD...
...ruins
my sense of order in the universe. There is no logical reason to
expect that Jethro Freakin' Tull, a band that released multiple records while The
Beatles still existed, and that currently consists of
one-hundred-twenty-year old Ian Anderson (with a voice twice as old as
he is) and Some Guys, would be releasing some of the most vital,
gripping music of the 2020s. Within a four year period, this zombie
Tull (still working without longtime/legendary guitarist Martin Barre,
to be clear) has released three solid records, two of which, including Ruminant, are legit classics. This has to violate at least five of
Newton's laws.***** Yet Tull are still sounding like music from another time (from a world that's smarter and more emotionally open), delivering rock's most muscular
flute parts and interesting sounds, and getting stuck in my head. Time
to go exploring...
A TRACK TO CHECK OUT: "Stygian Hand"
3) Ghost - Skeletá
COMPARED TO OTHER pop-metal albums that combine the metal crunch and groove of Sabbath, the hooks of ABBA, and the theatricality of Queen, THIS RECORD...
...is ear crack. If all I want is a bunch of songs that sound really really catchy to my taste, I go to Tobias Forge. Skeletá is somewhat in the vein of 2022 list-topper Impera but
goes a little more personal and little more death obsessed. I wish I
could be more specific; I just feel like Ghost are pretty
self-explanatory - either you get it, or you're not going to.
A TRACK TO CHECK OUT:
"Guiding Lights"
2) Scardust - Souls
COMPARED TO OTHER incredibly grandiose symphonic prog-metal albums that feature one of metal's most versatile vocalists, THIS RECORD...
...has a clear method to its madness. I've been a little slow to embrace Souls just because it's not as immediately hooky as my favorite record of 2020, Strangers, was.
Each listen makes me come around a little more, and I'm getting
increasingly convinced that it'll stand the test of time. Noa Gruman is
only going to shatter glass with her upper range when the situation
demands it, and she can make it as beautiful as any of her other
whispered, sung, or growled melody lines. They're going to slow down
and speed up within a verse if, and only if, it's in service of a lyric
about balancing planning and action. You're allowed to get adventurous
with what sort of sounds you throw into your songs... if you're
Scardust, because then, every note has a reason for being there.
A TRACK TO CHECK OUT:
"Unreachable"
1) In The Woods... - Otra
I didn't know anything about the always evolving Norwegian collective with an ellipsis in the name
(described by Wikipedia as an "avant-garde/progressive black metal band" that no longer includes any of its founding members) before putting on Otra on
a car trip en route to literally being in the woods. It didn't take
them long to get me under their spell. I went back and forth a few
times between how to order my #2 and #3 picks, but Otra was never
in much danger of not being #1 once I'd heard it. Clean and harsh
vocals mingle smoothly in long songs that always have a point. Rarely
has music so harsh and headbangable in places been so saturated with melancholy.
Probably the closest analogue from Benjamin lists would be one of last year's favorites, Sgàile's Traverse The Bealach, but honestly, in my limited time as a music fan, I've never heard anything quite as powerful in this specific way as Otra.
Compared to other albums I loved from 2025, including from some of my
favorite artists, this record triggers an emotional response from me I
can't get anywhere else. And that's why Otra is my favorite record of the year. (The fact that I love to be in the woods is just a bonus...)
A TRACK TO CHECK OUT: "A Misrepresentation Of I"
As always, a few more isolated songs - either from non-top-15 records or not on records at all - that I feel like highlighting:
Aversed - "Burn"
Coast Contra - "DON'T WORRY"
honestav - "26," "Livin' Wrong"
Judicator - "A Miracle Of Life"
Kalandra - "Ghosts"
King Witch - "Swarming Flies"
Marko Hietala - "Frankenstein's Wife"
Mazbou Q - "The Dance Of Eternity" [Dream Theater rap cover]
Midnight - "Child Eaters" [Rubber City Rebels cover]
Mono Inc. - "Fly"
*There will be no further explanation of that comment
**Except when I cheat
***Yes, even the borderline-but-somehow-not-
****I
only have so many hyphenated phrases that I can give to the main text,
but Turnstile are truly the hardcore punk band that an NPR listener puts
on when he wants to think he's down with what the kids these days
listen to. That's not a reflection of anything about their music at
all, it's just my perception of their current place in cultural
awareness. See also: Geese/Cameron Winter
*****Yes, I am aware that there are three of those. That was the joke.
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