(Andy Synn continues his ongoing round-up of the year with his selections for the top tier albums)

Like I said yesterday (you have read yesterday’s wide-ranging round-up of all the “Good” albums, right?) 2025 may have been a little lacking when it comes to the big names and famous faces – lots of them put in good work, don’t get me wrong, there just weren’t as many supreme stand-outs among the “old guard” as we might have hoped – but the younger and/or newer and/or more underground bands continued to absolutely kill it this year (with the “debut albums” section once again being far bigger than even I had predicted).

That being said, it was also a year of unexpectedly awesome come-back albums too, with some of the smaller gaps of this nature ranging between 7 and 9 years, and some of the larger being as long as 13 or even 30+ years, thus demonstrating that – as much as it’s awesome to see so many new bands kicking off their careers in style and helping to keep the scene alive – you never truly know when a band is going to do their best work.

Once again, I need to stress that this list of “Great” albums is in no way comprehensive – I’m sure there’s lots of albums that should be here that I simply wasn’t able to give the time and attention that they deserved – and, as “objective” as I’ve tried to be (these albums aren’t necessarily my favourites of the year, though quite a few definitely are) it’s probably worth pointing out that of course my personal tastes, values, and preferences are going to influence what gets included… so please don’t fly off the handle if an album you think is a “masterpiece” (though, personally, I try not to use that word) isn’t included here (and check the “Good” list to see if it’s there).

PS – if you’re going to comment (and I hope that you do, if only to highlight some bands/albums that you’ve discovered today or yesterday that you really like, as it’s always good to hear that these articles are proving useful) please note that I probably won’t be able to respond straight away, as I’m currently in Switzerland (which is particularly apropos considering the surprising number of Swiss bands in this list) enjoying a much needed end-of-year/post-wedding break, and I’ll try and get back to you if/when I get a chance!

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(Today we have Andy Synn‘s mammoth second article rounding up the year that was 2025)

As we get into the real meat of “List Week” it’s probably worth stating a few things up front, for the sake of clarity if nothing else.

First off, none of these lists are a traditional “Best Of…” (the only one that’s actually ranked is my “Personal Top Ten” and that’s solely an issue of personal preference), rather they’re meant to be viewed, and used, as a curated catalogue of links and recommendations designed to help our readers catch up on some of what they may have otherwise missed over the last twelve-ish months.

Secondly, note that I said “some“, because that’s a pretty important point that might need re-affirming… since these lists (the “Disappointing”, the “Good”, and the “Great”) are neither definitive nor comprehensive in any way.

In fact, if anything, it feels like my listening habits have diverged even further from what’s “on trend” than usual since January, meaning that – either due to a lack of time or a lack of interest – you won’t be seeing some of the bigger names that have appeared elsewhere (Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration, Lonely People With Power, Viribus Unitis, Hideous Aftermath, The Hardest Thing About Being God…, etc) on any of my lists this year.

To be clear, I’m not trying to say that I have the most eclectic/esoteric tastes in the world  – there’s more than enough other writers out there claiming to have listened to 500 different albums every month that I wouldn’t dare try and compete with them – nor am I trying to “show off” how much I’ve listened to this year (I think I actually ended up hearing fewer full-length releases in 2025 than I did in 2024).

But I do think that you’re probably going to find at least some stuff here you won’t have seen featured much elsewhere (not by the bigger sites, anyway) and while I’m not saying everything here is “great” (that is what tomorrow’s “Great” list is for, after all) it’s all worth checking out, at least, because you never know what sorts of hidden gems you might uncover.

PS – as always, I’ve tried to break up the list into distinct/discreet sections, highlighting a few releases here and there which I think are deserving of specific attention, and have provided links for every album here!!

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