Look, I was just as shocked at the final number when I tallied up the albums I fell for so far in 2025. Especially considering the amount of non-metal I’ve been consuming over at my personal site. I was really expecting 2025 to be a year of modest metal enjoyment, something to use in conservative doses as I mainlined the prog and jazz and fusion and classic rock that’s become the succor and comfort that metal was in my younger days.

And then something happened, and I credit the monthly re-caps for this: I started finding fantastic records. That thrill parlayed into opening my ears to bands I previously either moved on from or dismissed outright. Metal became part of my daily routine again, and while I was on vacation I assembled a list of over 50 albums I genuinely enjoyed. Surgical slicing narrowed that down to 30 (well, 32 if you count the two EPs I’m including) and as I poured over it one final time I realized it made no sense to whittle it down any further. I like what I like, love what I love and have zero desire to further restrict myself. With the world a veritable garbage fire why not indulge in celebrating the things we love, right?

I promise to keep it (reasonably) brief, but for this edition of Nine Circles ov… let’s collectively fawn over the metal that kept us sane so far this year.