Happy New Year, folks. It’s still before midnight here in Pacific Standard Time (aka the only time zone that matters) so legally speaking I’ve managed to fire this off while it’s still 2025. I listened to lots of great shit this year, and my favorites are below. In each category I’ve got a list of runners-up in alphabetical order followed by a winner, and down at the bottom is my overall Album of the Year. Let’s get to it!
Death Metal
Runners-up:
Clairvoyanceย –ย Chasm of Immurement
Dormant Ordealย –ย Tooth and Nail
Glorious Depravityย –ย Death Never Sleeps
Hedonistย –ย Scapulimancy
Malthusianย –ย The Summoning Bell
Mortualย –ย Altar of Brutality
Ritual Massย –ย Cascading Misery
Winner: Rothadรกsย –ย Tรถviskert… a kรญsรฉrtรฉs รถrรถk รฉrzete… lidรฉrcharang
As per usual, my hardest decision of the year comes in the death metal category. This year featured killer debut LPs from all over the worldโMortualย (Costa Rica),ย Clairvoyanceย (Poland),ย Ritual Massย (US),ย Hedonistย (Canada)โand you could make a decent argument for each. The veteran outfits here also delivered some of their best work:ย Dormant Ordealโs first foray without founderย Radek Kowalย proved they havenโt lost a step, whileย Rothadรกsย andย Malthusianย each delivered sophomore slabs of dark, brooding atmospheric brutality. The Hungarians won me out in the end with their pummeling, doom-tinged tunes, grim old school graveyard death with impressive songwriting and hefty thumping production. Itโs moody and bleak, with foggy layers of heavy atmosphere and riffs to die for.ย
Black Metal
Runners-up:
Amalekimย –ย Shir Hashirim
Blood Abscissionย –ย I I
Hรฆresisย –ย Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum
Winner: Vigljรณsย –ย Tome II: Ignis Sacer
This year was underwhelming for me on the black metal front, lots of good but very little great, and fewer still that really spoke to me.ย ย Theย Amalekimย recordโs dark, subversively religious aura latched onto me, as did the atmospheric balance of violence and beauty inย Blood Abscissionโs sophomore release. I discoveredย Hรฆresisย in early December while checking out things Iโd missed and was blown away by their stunning, thoughtful songwriting. Itโsย Vigljรณs, though, that captured my ears in dramatic fashionย ย withย Tome II: Ignis Sacer. Their raw, medieval-influenced tunes are exquisite, weaving evocative melody into layers of buzzing distortion, striking wails and screams against hypnotic guitars and drums that range from mesmerizing to downright danceable. I canโt recommend it highly enough.ย
Progressive, Technical, Melodic, and Otherwise Rad Subgenre-Modifying Shit
Runners-up:
Cave Sermonย –ย Fragile Wings
Defacementย โย Doomed
In Mourningย –ย The Immortal
Pillars of Cacophonyย –ย Paralipomena
Speciesย –ย Changelings
Synapticย –ย Enter the Void
Weeping Soresย –ย The Convalescence Agonies
Winner: An Abstract Illusionย –ย The Sleeping City
There was quite a dogfight here in the catch-all category for subgenre modifiers.ย In Mourningโs newest was downright stunning, whileย Cave Sermonโs expansion into post-death was nothing short of a triumph.ย Defacementย also pushed into post-metal textures with great success, andย Pillars of Cacophonyย literally infused their dissonant chaos with bioscience.ย Speciesย laid down one of the coolest and most colorful prog thrash records in recent memory,ย Weeping Soresย ripped out our hearts with agonizingly personal avant-death/doom, and German melo-tech outfitย Synapticย shredded brains with their thrilling debut LP (shoutoutย Maxย fromย Sublationย for putting me onto this January banger in December). But amongst all this excellence, the winner isย The Sleeping City, a masterpiece of a follow-up to what for many was the 2022 AOTY.ย An Abstract Illusionย have truly cemented themselves as the pinnacle of modern progressive death metal.ย ย
BRUTALITY
Runners-up:
Compulsedย –ย Amalgamated Anguish
ByoNoiseGeneratorย –ย Subnormal Dives
Winner: Kakothanasyย โย Metagonism
In a world where brutal death metal bands are a dime a dozen, it takes a lot to stand out while playing straight up brutal death, butย Compulsedย did exactly that on their debut LP. The other way to stand out in the brutal scene is by playing either shit thatโs excessively weird, which is how we find ByoNoiseGeneratorโs remarkably coherent brutal jazzgrind here, or staggeringly technical and complexโฆwhich also applies toย ByoNoiseGenerator, but more importantly describesย Kakothanasy. The Swiss outfit, featuring members ofย Anachronismย andย Grotesquerie, delivered a mercilessly precise and punishingly heavy dose of ultra-technical nonsense (complimentary).
Great Achievement in Still Being Pissed as Fuck After 20+ Years
Winner: The Acacia Strainย –ย You Are Safe from God Here
Many bands are pissed off. Many bands are pissed as fuck, even.ย The Acacia Strainย are, if anything, more pissed off now than they were back in 2002. Itโs a rare act that can roll on without losing a single ounce of venom over more than two decades, and these guys are the blueprint.ย You Are Safe from God Hereย is some of their absolute best work, a gargantuan, fuming eruption of malice that has all the unvarnished hate of their early releases honed with the more mature, progressive leanings of their last few.ย
Best Clean-Sung Metal ’25
Runners-up:
Majesticaย –ย Power Train
Messaย –ย The Spin
Winner: Pagan Altarย –ย Never Quite Dead
Being someone who 1) is a millennial and 2) came into metal fandom in my late teens, I met a lot of legendary bands on the late side. Iโve devoured many a legacy act discography in retrospect after being tipped off to their existence by a trusted source, and to wit: Iโd never even heard ofย Pagan Altarย until Westin recommended this record as one of our mid-year nominees. Iโve fallen in love with the bluesy, doomy songwriting and vivid riffs ofย Never Quite Deadย and itโs led me to a slow journey of discovering their classic releases. This album feels both fresh and timeless at the same time, and new frontmanย Brendan Radiganย (Sumerlands,ย Savage Oath) lays down the perfect vocal performance to match. A true gem of modern British heavy metal.ย
Non-metal AOTY
Winner: clipping.ย –ย Dead Channel Sky
Iโve sung this albumโs praises before and Iโll damn sure do it again.ย clipping.ย took the experimental industrial horrorcore sound of their previous releases it and delved into glitchy digital futurism and old school takes on technology, a glorious cyberpunk amalgamation. This half-flesh half-tech monster ranges widely from energetic 80s sci-fi to pumping dance club beats to the groupโs signature noise and field recording elements.ย Daveed Diggsโ flow is as precise and intricate as ever, and the words fly out fast enough to make your head spin. This is absolutely top notch hip hop.ย
And your 2025 Album of the Year is:
An Abstract Illusion – The Sleeping City
Iโve already said many things about this wonderful recordโyou can read my review here, if you wantโso Iโll just say thatย The Sleeping Cityย has continued to grow on me and at this point I canโt imagine any other album holding the Album of the Year title. Itโs magnificent and stands side by side with their outstanding previous record Woe rather than in its considerable shadow.