The Best Albums Of 2025

Sorry this is so late. A month late, actually. But hey, it's better than nothing, right? Unfortunately, it seems while there was plenty of good, even great, music released this year, there weren't as many records as I had hoped that stood out to me as something particularly remarkable, especially when two of the albums I was most hyped for ended up being disappointing for various reasons (Full of Hell's Broken Sword, Rotten Shield and The Callous Daoboys I Don't Want to See You In Heaven.) But honestly, it's more likely I just haven't gotten around to the best of the best yet; I'm sure there's dozens of hidden gems from this year I'll discover in the decades to come... But without further ado, here's 15 albums that I wholeheartedly recommend.

Agriculture - The Spiritual Sound

  • Genre: Self-Described Ecstatic Black Metal
  • Best tracks: My Garden, The Weight, The Reply
  • What’s so great about it: Agriculture's genre-defying experimental metal continues to impress on their second LP. With the first half exploring transfeminity and the second half centering around Buddhism, expect a cathartic fusion of black metal, screamo, shoegaze, folk, and even more.

Anita Velveeta - Liquid Gold

  • Genre: Electronic Hardcore
  • Best tracks: Anything to Sell a Ticket, Stealing From Target is a Twin Cities Pastime, Bloodsports
  • What’s so great about it: Minneapolis' own Anita Velveeta once again proves that she's the queen of the local trans punk scene with a hardcore album that's infused with a hearty dose of electro and Midwest emo, and is as angry as at is sincere.

Asunojokei - Think of You

  • Genre: Post-Metal
  • Best tracks: Stella, Magic Hour, The Farewell Frost
  • What’s so great about it: Asunojokei are the answer to the question, "What would Jrock sound like on extreme metal hardware?" Catchy pop hooks and sparkling chords you'd expect from an anime opening are fused with abrasive vocals and aggressive drumwork to create a record that's as accessible as it is unique.

Blackbraid - III

  • Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal
  • Best tracks: Wardrums at Dawn on the Day of My Death, And He Became the Burning Stars..., Tears of the Dawn
  • What’s so great about it: Blackbraid weaves back and forth between gorgeous, ambient folk and soaring, intense black metal to craft an album that deserves to be listened to from start to finish. It's simply an otherworldly experience.

Blind Equation - A Funeral in Purgatory

  • Genre: Cybergrind
  • Best tracks: Flashback, Nothing, This Eternal Curse
  • What’s so great about it: If you like your grindcore with a healthy serving of synths and drum machines, you'll love A Funeral in Purgatory. The dense distortion and textured electronics can almost feel overstimulating at times, but it's expertly done and never boring.

Byonoisegenerator - Subnormal Dives

  • Genre: Jazzgrind
  • Best tracks: Eb (D#), LoveChargedDiveBombs, I'mNot20Anymore(21Ne)
  • What’s so great about it: The influence of jazz can be heard in many grindcore works, but this album takes it to an entirely new level. There's not just a saxophone or jazzy chord progressions; Byonoisegenerator improv their way between precise blast beats and nasty riffs.

Chat Pile/Hayden Pedigo - In the Earth Again

  • Genre: Sludge Metal/Folk
  • Best tracks: Never Say Die!, Behold a Pale Horse, Radioactive Dreams
  • What’s so great about it: When noise rockers Chat Pile announced they were teaming up with folksy guitarist Hayden Pedigo, I knew we were in for a treat. This is a grief-stricken, darkly textured collection of songs that blends fingerpicked guitar with sludgy chaos.

Crippling Alcoholism - Camgirl

  • Genre: Noise Rock/Experimental Rock
  • Best tracks: Saran Wrapped Cash, Mr. Sentimental, bedrot
  • What’s so great about it: With guest artists such as ameokama, Latter, and Luxury Skin (who features on 4 tracks), Crippling Alcoholism have crafted an hour's worth of atmospheric, experimental rock that loosely follows the life of a sex worker. It's dark, it's pretty, and it's sublime.

Deafheaven - Lonely People With Power

  • Genre: Post-Metal
  • Best tracks: Revelator, Magnolia, Amethyst
  • What’s so great about it: I knew this was probably going to be my album of the year before it even dropped, and it definitely is. Deafheaven's latest effort is their heaviest since their sunbather era, tempered by the wanderings of their more shoegaze focused later works. The end result is brutal, cathartic, heartbreaking, and vicious, all at once.

Hooded Menace - Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration

  • Genre: Death-Doom Metal
  • Best tracks: Pale Masquerade, Daughters of Lingering Pain, Into Haunted Oblivion
  • What’s so great about it: If you want face-melting, headbang-worthy riffs, look no further. This album is full of future classics, changing tempos just enough to keep you on your toes as they blast you with arguably the sickest guitarwork I've heard all year.
  • Target demographic: Fans of basically any metalcore or post-hardcore from the past two decades.

Heavy Heavy Low Low - Pain Olympics

  • Genre: Mathcore
  • Best tracks: I'm So Bad at Goodbyes, I Go Where I'm Kicked, Soft & Obedient
  • What’s so great about it: Do you miss the days of Myspace-era -core? Then this is the album for you, because it sounds exactly how you remember it, but bigger and better. Short, sweet, and chaotic, Heavy Heavy Low Low prove that they still got it.

Militaire Gun - God Save the Gun

  • Genre: Punk
  • Best tracks: B A D I D E A, God Owes Me Money, Kick
  • What’s so great about it: Militaire Gun's latest effort is a fantastic punk rock record that's firmly on the melodic side of the spectrum. Sincere lyrics are paired with catchy, poppy choruses, but they still prove they can get aggressive when they need to.

Kyrie Nova & The Defiant - Learn to Love Something

  • Genre: Punk
  • Best tracks: Chaser, Quicksand, One Step
  • What’s so great about it: Underground Twin Cities act Kyrie Nova & the Defiant's first LP is chockfull of heartfelt anthems and catchy choruses meant for screaming along to in bars. They sound like what I imagined rock bands were supposed to sound like when I was a kid.

The World is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die - Dreams of Being Dust

  • Genre: Post-hardcore/Emo
  • Best tracks: For Those Who Will Outlive Us, No Pilgrim, Se Sufro Pero Se Goza
  • What’s so great about it: TWIABP return with their heaviest and most aggressive album yet. It's a huge leap from the soft emo they entered the scene with, but it feels natural and is an exciting evolution to their sound. Their outro is easily one of the best songs of the year.

Turnstile - Never Enough

  • Genre: Alternative/Melodic Hardcore
  • Best tracks: Never Enough, Birds, Sole
  • What’s so great about it: Have Turnstile sold out? Probably, but when the music is this good I can't bring myself to care. This album sees them pairing their hardcore roots with textured pop, shoegaze, and indie rock to make a feel-good summer record, even if their songs are being used in car commercials now.