Twenty-five albums last year!? I should have checked my 2024 Honorable Mentions list earlier; I spent the last few hours deleting, adding, and swapping entries to get to what I thought was my usual 15 selections. Now here I am, happy to discover precedence in my complete and utter abandonment of all reason and structure. Free to again indulge in subjective superlatives and alliterative accolades, all toward that most noble of pursuits: the sharing of what I love, in the hopes it connects with you, or sparks a connection to something real and true in the world.
Usual terms and conditions apply. I loved – as always – a ton of music this year. The selection below serves as a taste of what moved me on a sonic level this year. There are others; you may agree or disagree on what’s here, thinking there’s an underlying motive. If there is, it’s just exhaustion. In a perfect world I’d have the ways and means (and talent) to write about every album I enjoyed. Alas, that remains a dream. Meanwhile these excellent records deserve your attention and, with the usual exception of my obligatory “What were Boris up to this year?” let’s dig into an alphabetical list of some kickass metal, huh?
—
The Outer Circle
Honorable Mentions
Although there weren’t any new studio releases, we were not lacking for Boris this year. On the archival/live front we got the return of Fangsanalsatan with the band expanded to a quartet for a performance back in November of last year, a stop in Tokyo on the 2014 tour promoting Noise, and a crazy 2016 show where the band performed Pink in its entirety. That one is especially important, as it leads to the reissue of Pink on vinyl to celebrate its 20-year anniversary alongside the infamous dronevil, which got digital versions of both the drone and evil discs separate as well as -example-, which for the first time finds the two albums (meant to be played simultaneously) combined, just one “example” if you will of the intent of the original release.
All that and we also get blessed with lossless digital versions of both the Japanese and international release of Smile? Truly, our Boris cup runneth over…
—
As if to reinforce Newton’s third law of motion, as much as I retreated into ’60s psychedelic rock and ’70s Italian prog, I also found myself drawn to the darker, murkier corners where black, death, and doom dwell in some Bosch-inspired nightmare. Not sure how else to conjure the feeling I get listening to Arkhaaik, a Swiss trio providing the soundtrack (with lyrics translated to Indo-European, no less) to a literal and metaphorical exploration of the concept of the sacred hunt on Uihtis. While there was an immediate grab with opening track “Geutores Suhnos” it took Uihtis some time to sink its claws into me. Now that it has, though, this exquisitely wrought blending of black metal and death/doom refuses to let go, pulling me deeper into its depths with each listen. (reviewed here)
—
It would have been odd to speak about Arkhaaik and not also note Arrows, part of the Jünger Tumilon metal collective and featuring pretty much the same members. But this is not an Arkhaaik in sheep’s clothing, or wolves’ clothing if you will. Wolf or sheep, Yearning Arrows; Cloven Suns is a more melancholic, doom-laden beast. There’s also a dark accessibility lurking just beneath the post-punk guitars of “Spitting Heads” and gothic romance of “A Glance at the Abyss”. Symphonic and folk elements bubble up and help guide each lengthy track to an inevitable forlorn musical conclusion. The great drum production (hear those cymbals) and ambience really push this one up for me each time I listen to it. I know Colin agrees with me, and I’m willing to bet this will grow on you the same way it did us.
—
God Bless the now decade-plus return of West Virginia’s Byzantine, may they never stop churning out their insanely catchy, riff-tastic version of the NWOAHM that seems to be harder and harder to maintain these days (thank you also Lamb of God…get an album out and we’ll talk). I’ve been on the train since The Fundamental Component back in 2004, and Chris “OJ” Ojeda and the crew continue to bring it on Harbingers. The more progressive slant in their songwriting, combined with Ojeda’s spectacular vocal delivery on cuts like “Floating Chrysanthema” and “The Clockmaker’s Intention” (dude…the robot voice is AWESOME) bring every hook and lick into laser focus. Eight years was almost too long to wait for a new album, but damn if Harbingers wasn’t worth every minute of the wait. (profiled here and featured in the June Month That Was here and my mid-year report here)
—
We live in strange times. Murky blackened death/doom wasn’t the only long ignored subgenre I gravitated to (just wait until you see my AOTY); I also fell hard for the emo/math/noise/hardcore hybridization all the kids are raging about these days. The Callous Daoboys were a sensation I immediately rebelled against when Celebrity Therapist broke the band big. That knee-jerk reaction dimmed a bit upon hearing the weirdness coalesce better on the following year’s EP God Loves The Callous Daoboys. That didn’t prepare me for how much maturity and grace I would find on I Don’t Want to See You in Heaven. From the rampaging attack of “Full Moon Guidance” to the soul lounge torch of “Body Horror for Birds” with guest vocalist 1st Vows injecting a sinewy counterpoint to singer Carson Pace’s own croon there’s a world beyond the Dillinger worship I jokingly (kind of) made in my earlier assessments. So here I am, loving the new album and gamely admitting that, yeah…Celebrity Therapist is pretty good, too. (featured in the May Month That Was here and my mid-year report here)
—
It took a decade for Louisiana progressive metallers Cea Serin to follow up their 2004 debut …Where Memories Collide… and a further 11 years to get to The World Outside, but lemme tell you: it was worth the wait. Think the aggressive progressive metal of Symphony X with some of the epic vibe of prime Queensrÿche. But Geoff Tate never injected some of the growls Jay Lam puts to great use, and considering he’s also the primary songwriter, bass player, keyboardist, and guitarist you can begin to understand why a Cea Serin album takes so long to make. How can you argue with “Where None Shall Follow” which gets my vote for one of the best opening tracks of 2025? Drummer Rory Faciane lays down the perfect percussive punch, and there are a bevy of guest soloists, including my beloved Steve Blaze of Lillian Axe.
—
Tell you what, though…Cea Serin don’t have anything on Coroner, who return after 32 years away to turn the clocks back on the stellar Dissonance Theory. The trio haven’t lost a step judging by how fast “Consequence” twists around your neck in its opening moments. There’s a deeper complexity in the arrangements, with subtle keyboards doubling the melodies at times. It certainly doesn’t detract from the brutality on display; “Crisium Bound” gallops at a furious clip once it gets moving, and I haven’t been this exciting about thrash chugging in forever. Coming out so late in the year, I still haven’t given it the full attention it deserves, which is probably the only reason you’re not seeing it on my final EOY list.
—
I don’t know if The Lash is the most fun you can have in 29 minutes (I heard that, ya dirty dogs…), but I’m hard pressed to think of another album that delivered so many anthems this year. Maybe it is just another typical album from The Dirty Nil, but why penalize a band simply because their consistent speed is “fantastic indie pop/punk that slays with hook after hook”? We get another Opener of the Year contender with “The Gallop of the Hounds” while something like “Fail in Time” recalls the best of bands like Jimmy Eat World, a favorite around these parts. I’m not going to explain the reasoning for every album on this list, because in the case of The Dirty Nil, I don’t have one – this could easily sit on my Top 10 if I think of how I do things in a slightly different way.
—
There really was no one like Chuck Schuldiner. Death was such a force of nature, such a unique voice in metal in so many of its forms that to ask any band to live up to the promise of their legacy is just too much. And yet, under the guide of Gruesome Matt Harvey has somehow done just that. The success of the band’s output so far, but especially on Silent Echoes is how Harvey keeps the homage firmly in his sights, as opposed to trying to wrangle the songs into something that couldn’t possibly be mistaken for anything other than a Schuldiner rip-off. That this might be my favorite Gruesome release says even more when I tell you that Human, the Death album this is emulating, might be my least favorite Death album. Uh, are those pitchforks you’re waving? (reviewed in a Second Circle here)
—
I hit that wall again. The one where I put a record on and start writing about it, only to question why I’m not saving it for the final list? I can’t even heed my own advice; maybe that’s a good thing if we’re talking about The Great Old Ones. This is a band that on paper I should absolutely love: Lovecraft-influenced atmospheric black metal with actual good production and a healthy dose of progression. And yet both E.O.D. (A Tale of Dark Legacy) and Cosmicism left me cold. Not so Kadath, which finds the three-guitar quintet from France focusing on the Dream Quest stories featuring Randolph Carter. Should that change the direction and drive of the music? No, and yet there’s something more dynamic in the arrangements, a clarity in the production and a willingness to not get bogged down in expectations that not only make Kadath work for me, but make a song like “Under the Sign of Koth” possibly the best song the band have released. (reviewed here)
—
I made this confession before, but just in case: I’ve always admired Imperial Triumphant more than actually, uh…liked them. GodDAMN I wanted to like them and their incredible aesthetic. But that whole jazz-inflected avant black metal rich with New York City mythologizing remained at arm’s length for Vile Luxury and Alphaville. Things turned around a little for Spirit of Ecstasy but with Goldstar I think they fully achieved what they’ve been striving for all this time. Everything from their previous records are in place: truly complex riffs, percussive fills and shifts that reach into jazz and fusion, and a sense of time and place drips with every note. But there is a clarity and punch to the recording I’ve never heard before – this might be the best sounding thing to ever come out of Menegroth – so huge kudos to Colin Marsten and Arthur Rizk. But the real glory belongs to the band, who have never sounded better than they do here. (reviewed here and there; covered in my mid-year report here)
—
We can’t let a year go by without some old school, in-the-groove death metal. I think I’ve had Inhuman Condition represented in all my lists starting with their debut Rat°God in 2021. No need to snap a streak, and while Mind Trap does nothing new, it does do everything right. I love the slightly sludgier take they roll out on “Godship,” coming as it does after the fury of opener “Severely Lifeless” and “Face for Later.” Late track “Recollections of the Future” brings a few new snaps and changes to the classic death/thrash formula, and this being the first Inhuman Condition album I picked up on cassette rather than vinyl is my only regret when it comes to this beast. (covered in my mid-year report here)
—
More death metal? Even I don’t know who I am, anymore. But the first time I heard “If It’s All the Same to You” from Where Only The Truth Is Spoken from the UK’s Malevolence I was instantly hooked. No surprise they’re on Nuclear Blast; this is super shiny, tight death and hardcore, with enough hooks to lift a leviathan and drag it to shore. This was my first exposure to the band, and I was instantly reminded of Lamb of God, so imagine my joy to find Randy Blythe guesting on “In Spite.” Usually when folks talk about bands or songs being “polished,” it’s a detraction. Not so here: if anything, that polish makes every punch to the face Where Only the Truth is Spoken gives you is lethal. (covered in the June Month That Was here and in my mid-year report here)
—
Nothing against Evoken at all, but I’m flummoxed as to why I’m seeing so many accolades tossed to them and so little to the aforementioned Arkhaaik and Onirophagus, one of my biggest discoveries this year. Their particular strain of death doom is tailor-made for me on Revelations From the Void. Opener “Hollow Valley” is just over ten minutes of despondent grandeur, slowly gaining speed until its final moments are a charging beast of death metal. It sinks into the marsh with “Landsickness” and then shows its black metal bonafides in the middle section of “The Tomb.” Really surprised I’m not seeing this show up more, but I’ll do my part to keep promoting Onirophagus to you in the hopes that gaping space maw gets you in its grip. (covered in the January Month That Was here and in my mid-year report here)
—
Open your album with a technical death instrumental, huh? Thinking that’ll get me on your good side, Retromorphosis? Was that the plan? Well, it worked in spades, and Psalmus Mortis has been a steady well to tap into when there’s rage that requires venting. The technicality never wanks itself into tech death territory (sorry not sorry), and “Aunt Christie’s Will” has enough chops to keep you in logs all winter. Am I starting to lose it? I dunno, but this album made me dig through my closet to find my used CD of Incurso to keep me company until Retromorphosis get more great metal out to the masses. (covered in the February Month That Was here and in my mid-year report here)
—
We’re just moving right along here with the technical death metal, aren’t we? Sadist have been around forever, but I somehow just kept missing on checking them out until Something to Pierce took a hold of me. Progressive death metal that is neither afraid nor incompetent when it comes to using electronics in their music – “Deprived” is one of my favorite songs of the year. There’s less of the black metal touches that were a part of their output in the ’90s, but I think they’re much better off and concise in their direction here. Songs like “The Sun God” with the keyboards stabbing behind all the pinch harmonics and the wicked twisting of “The Best Part is the Brain” with its exotic melodies and tribal percussion make Something to Pierce a layered experience I find new things in with each listen. (covered in the March Month That Was here)
—
If you read the Bandcamp bio for Berlin’s Sheev, you’ll note they’re a “progressive stoner metal band” and that the quartet “blend massive grooves and captivating vocals into progressively arranged heavy music.” All true on their sophomore album Ate’s Alchemist, but what you won’t get until you listen to the killer “Martef” is the Slayer influence that merges perfectly with their bio description. But Kerry King would probably scoff, thinking it dilutes his one-note brand of riffing, whereas I listen to the undulating psychedelia that pervades “Elephant Trunk” and the exquisite way the feedback announces the guitars on “Cul de Sac” and find so much more on offer…with the thrash riffs a solid bonus. (covered in the July/August Month That Was here)
—
There are some folks you’ll just follow. Not every album has to work; if the intention is pure and apparent, I’m still with you even if something doesn’t particularly work for me. I’ll just wait for the next thing. Carl Skildum has earned that with me throughout his musical career, whether it’s the black metal majesty of Inexorum, the less-majestic-but-I-get-it Swedish death homage Majesties, or his new completely solo project Skjolden, named for the ancestral version of his surname. Insouciant Metaphysical Grandeur plays on some of the same black metal themes as Inexorum, but there’s a personal vision at work on songs like “The Fever Swamp of Magickal Thought” and the knockout “Can’t Kill My Love” that make this stand out on its own merits. (reviewed here)
—
We now live in a world where you can get lossless digital files of the new Testament album. Not judging one way or the other; I just realized that even a few years ago a lot of the “big” metal labels were still eschewing Bandcamp as a viable music platform. Anyway, Para Bellum shows what happens when you lose one of the best metal drummers on the planet and bring in a young upstart who invigorates the whole team to give it their best. This is neck and neck with Dark Roots of the Earth for my favorite post-reunion album, and new drummer Chris Dovas more than fills the shoes of the amicably departed Gene Hoglan; he lifts up tracks like “Infanticide A.I.” and the speed demon “Witch Hunt” to dizzying heights.
—
Man, was it a huge year for technical progressive death metal. There were a few different bands I was considering, but in the end Tómarúm knocked it out of the park on their sophomore full-length Beyond Obsidian Euphoria. Continuing the musical and conceptual themes from debut Ash in Realms of Stone, the Atlanta, Georgia band crafted a record that isn’t as immediately gratifying as its predecessor, but multiple listens opened up a much deeper, complex record that’s a step up on every level: the arrangements are more lush and complementary, the variations in vocals more effective. Shorter tracks like “Shallow Ecstasy” show how adept the band are at bending a myriad of styles to their will, but I’d be lying if I said each of the three tracks that hit the double-digits for minutes – especially the frantic knot of “Silver, Ashen Tears” – weren’t a big part of why I keep coming back. (reviewed here, and covered in both Ian and Chris’s mid-year reports here and here)
—
Another early in the year album with the legs to make the distance, Wurmian continues to be a constant companion when I want something deliciously wicked in a distinct Vader-meets-In Flames kind of way. Immemorial Shrine takes the atmospheric black metal solo performer Antoine Scholtès perfected under his Inherits the Void guise, and dresses it up with some incredible Swedish death metal touches. “Aeon Afterglows” sounds like someone who lived and breathed The Jester Race for most of their teenage years, grabbed a guitar and was promptly struck by lightning. That’s a very good thing indeed, and as it barrels into the title track and beyond I’m reminded of just how very good we have it right now. (reviewed here and covered in Colin’s Honorable mentions here and my mid-year report here)
—
Twenty albums, plus the requisite Boris update. The funny thing is, I could have completely replaced this with a different 20 artists covering the same musical ground that are all just as good*. That’s how good 2025 was, in a year where we increasingly fragment over everything from A.I. to G.M.O. and whatever other letters you want to capitalize. Art’s gonna art, and I’m glad as hell nothing can stop it.
— Chris
* Just for shits and giggles: 1) Barren Altar; 2) ILLA, 3) Killswitch Engage, 4) Pupil Slicer, 5) Tiktaalika, 6) Sodom, 7) PUP, 8) Revocation, 9) Lamp of Murmuur, 10) Today is the Day, 11) Blood Monolith, 12) Deadguy, 13) Teitanblood, 14) Terror Corpse, 15) Morbikon, 16) Lo-Pan, 17) Sivyj Yar, 18) Destruction, 19) Changeling, 20) Paradise Lost