(We present NCS writer Wil Cifer’s list of the Top 20 metal albums of 2025.)
Still waiting on the world to end, this slow-burning apocalypse is more like the awkward silent pauses in a David Lynch movie. And much like this unease, 2025 felt like an odd year in music to me, but in the fifth year of every decade, there is a shift, so that transition is being felt for sure. Not as death metal dominant as last year’s list, and more balanced genre-wise, really only one entry rides the line on what is metal, but it’s sonically heavy enough to belong here.
With my neuro-spicy brain, these kinds of lists can be a bit of an obsessive sticking point for me that can lead down a rabbit hole of procrastination until I feel it’s perfect. Though the funny thing is, perfect does not exist, so I chose between obsession and acceptance, and accepted the fact I would just go with the albums I listened to the most, since at the end of the day, if you only give an album a couple of spins it really matters little what the Anthony Fantano’s of the world think about it if it does not resonate with you and hook you in.
I defaulted to my trusty LastFM to organize these for me, so I will just discuss why they hooked me. The album I listened to the most was actually not metal at all, but bears mentioning since it did consume a large part of this year’s soundtrack. It was Ethel Cain’s Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You. I listened to this album 222 times. Almost double the plays of the number one album on this list. Impressive that her album was able to demand that much attention from me, considering I listened to around 700 albums, both metal and otherwise, this year.
But you guys are not the audience I ponder depressive post-folk with; I’ll get onto the heavy stuff after giving proper recognition to the other albums that helped provide the needed vibes to get me through life this year, as artists such as Hangman’s Chair, Viagra Boys, Heartworms, Scorpion Milk, Dax Riggs, Patriarchy, HAIM, Blackwater Holylight and Street Sex all released wonderful albums. However, those focused on other moods for other occasions, and we have come to bang our heads, so let’s limber our necks together, for here are my top 20 metal albums of 2025.
20 – Grima – “Nightside”
The Russian band polished their sound to bring out a Dissection influence in the layered guitars. I can only imagine how cold it is going to be to band practice in Siberia, and they certainly captured the bleak feel of the emotional and physical landscape here.
19 – Graceless – “Icons of Ruin”
The fourth album by this melodic death metal band from the Netherlands captures the groove and hooky songwriting that brought death to the mainstream in the ’90s. There is a darker undercurrent running through the songs that are steeped in making anthems, lashing out at religion, which is always a worthy cause.
18 – Tombs – “Feral Darkness”
Mike Hill’s sonic travels into darkness find this band continuing to embark further into the void with fewer black metal moments and more of a death metal aggression. Each album is a little different take on the bleak sounds they use, an aggressive barrage of powerful chug to convey. His vocal approach is less of a growl and a more deliberate articulation of disdain. This album feels like it has more in common with the Domination era Morbid Angel than it does Mayhem or Darkthrone.
17 – Abigail Williams – “A Void Within Existence”
Abigail Williams is one of the rare American Black Metal bands that has stood the test of time as a legitimate representation of the genre, with the same level of sonic darkness as their European counterparts. Ken Sorceron, the sole original member, created a bigger sound that pushes them more in the direction of a band like Behemoth. The guitar dazzles over the commanding march.
16 – Ossuary – “Abhorrent Worship”
The debut full-length from this band, featuring members of Jex Thoth. Funny enough, drummer Nick Johnson also plays drums for Zola Jesus. The overall sound is dark and gritty, with some sonic depth and a very stark atmosphere to this more Incantation-like school of death metal, bathed in a shade of misanthropic gloom.
15 – Hooded Menace – “Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration”
This death metal band from Finland improves with each album. What strikes me about this album is how melodic the guitar playing has grown. It is more of a tribute to classic metal with plenty of riffs that could have come from a King Diamond album, which wins me over.
14 – Age of Apocalypse – “In Oblivion”
I loved Grim Wisdom, so expectations were high. There’s more of a thrash feel, until things slow and get more moody and melodic. The lingering Life of Agony vibe is still there, but they are covering way more ground sonically this time around. Their cross-over sound brings punishing accents, and sells the melancholy while rocking the fuck out.
13 – Decrepisy – “Deific Mourning”
Crawling up from the cavernous depths where death metal plunges into a more depressive depth to meet in the melancholic tombs of doom, this Portland-based band oozes up with their follow-up to their 2021 debut. Featuring members of Negative Prayer, Vastum, and Coffin Rot, they manage to manifest an inner darkness into sonic form physically by using their instruments as the conduit through which they are expressed.
12 – Morast – “Fentanyl”
This is what black metal should be. Darkness and misery forged into music. It carries a dreadful throb that is not what you might think of as depressive black metal, but they succeeded in capturing the despair of a junkie, which is real despair made sonic.
11 – Floating – “Hesitating Lights”
Here is the kind of interesting blend of sounds that I am always looking for. A death metal band that blends post-punk into its sound is not a huge surprise; I am more surprised by how well this is done. They go from a Siouxsie and the Banshees-like riff to throwing in a blast beat, and the growled vocals are layered over the guitars, splitting the difference between the two sounds.
10 – Blindfolded and Led To the Woods – “The Hardest Thing About Being God Is That No One Believes Me”
This band takes their experimental sense of sonics further by releasing their first concept album that explores obsession. The technical ability of the band is put on display as they use many of death metal’s brutal trappings to attack your ears, but have an eerie sense of atmosphere that balances this out. The vocals are roared in a commanding manner, with the lyrics more articulated. There are a few different vocal colors on this album; all of them are aggressive.
9 – Blut Aus Nord – “Ethereal Horizons”
The French Black Metal band’s 16th album shows Blut Aus Nord never makes the same album twice, and they are embracing every side of the genre here while cloaking them all in their signature atmosphere. It is like listening to a smoke machine envelop a band rather than just seeing it on stage, as they push atmospheric black metal in new directions.
8 – Vacuous – “In His Blood”
The sophomore album from this UK death metal band finds them carving out their own sonic niche that sets it apart from the pack, while not leaning too heavily on their influences. Rather than getting stuck in genre’s tropes, they fucked with the sound by making interesting production choices, then built spacious ambience where most death metal hits you with a denser crunch.
7 – Internal Bleeding – “Settle All Scores”
For this band to have been around since the ’90s, they were ahead of their time. Kids now call this Slam, but it’s really just hardcore-influenced death metal. It’s fair to say these guys are also big fans of Cannibal Corpse. After all, Cannibal Corpse, formed in Buffalo, three years before these guys. But this is a fun blend of hardcore attitude with death metal violence.
6 – Sanguisugabogg – “Hideous Aftermath”
They have evolved from whatever niche they were in, as more attention to detail has been applied to the songwriting, and riffs have purpose. They are not just shifting into the next heaviest chug possible. Songwriting is storytelling, and the message is coming through with a more mature and perfected vision. Devin still does what he does, though his phrasing is refined and more articulate without sacrificing brutality.
5 – NITE – “Cult of the Serpent Sun”
The third album from this band finds the vocals serving as the only element that roots them in black metal. Some of the riffs could have come from a Saxon album, but that also means they are catchy as hell and not just a blur of tremolo picking, which is why it made it this high on this list, as hooky playing equates to repeat listens.
4 – Author & Punisher – “Nocturnal Birding”
While one of these kids is not like the others, this album’s appearance should not be a surprise to regular readers. Tristan brought a guitarist into his laboratory, and it complements all of his audio torture machines well; in fact, it sounds like it was the needed change to keep creativity flowing. Thus, this crushing monster was born.
3 – Evoken – “Mendacium”
This album made me wonder what artists are talking about when they feel sub-genres are limiting, as funeral doom is something very specific, yet this band is creating something very different within its gates. This is where the difference between greatness and mediocrity lies. A very spacious mix, which only contracts into density as needed, giving its emotional weight room to breathe and flourish.
2 – RWAKE – “The Return of Magik”
This Arkansas-based band returned after 13 years, and the most impressive display of wizardry they brought with them seems to be in the stellar guitar playing that leaned into the blues and country. Brittany Fugate’s scathing vocals provide a counterpoint to the lower, ominous vocal tones of Chris Terry. They top things off with an aggression that balanced out the bong-laden atmosphere.
1 – Coroner – “Dissonance Theory”
There are many reasons why I listened to this German thrash band’s album the most. First off, as a teenager, I was a huge fan of their Punishment For Decadence album. But they catered to none of the nostalgia with this new album and just stepped seamlessly forward into 2025. Not bound by the retro chugging of 1988, their songwriting chops are as virtual and fluid as any new band, while bringing decades of experience to their craft. Marquis Marky is not behind the kit, leaving Ron Royce and Tommy Baron as the only original members, but the new drummer adds a fresh perspective to their chemistry that gives the songs more fire and purpose.