Top 10 Metal Albums of 2025

It is a longstanding tradition here for metal to get its seperate list, apart from the overall top 20 albums list that includes metal as well as other genres, like rock, pop, and Electronic music. The bulk of this list consists of the albums that took the top spots in the 8 sub-genres of metal that got their own top 10 lists for the year, as well as two albums that took the number two spot of their genre, but are such stellar releases that they deserve to be mentioned alongside these albums. I have done quite a few of these sorts of lists for other blogs, but I feel that by the time I get around to doing this list, it is the most refined and the other lsits were really working drafts to get to this point. They are ranked in accordance to how much I listened to them, as that is the most important curve they should be graded by, how much they lure you back for repeat listens. Here are the top 10 Metal Albums of 2025

10-Vacuous-"In His Blood" 

Death Metal 

The sophomore album from the UK death metal band finds VACUOUS carving out its own sonic niche that sets it apart from the pack, while not leaning too heavily on its influences. For death metal bands, this can be challenging as there are staples to the genre's sound like the guttural vocals and thundering double bass that are expected; it's up to the band as to how they want to use those building blocks, and many get stuck on the sound rather than writing the songs. These guys fucked with the sound by making interesting production choices, then built an almost Incantation-like ambiance, but it's spacious where most death metal hits you with a denser crunch. In doing this, they freed themselves up to decorate this sound with eerie melodies. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/01/vacuous-in-his-blood.html

9-Internal Bleeding- "Settle All Scores." 

Death Core

For this band to have been around since the 90s, they are inspired and 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. This is the first album to feature Sacrafical Slaughter vocalist Steve Worley, who sports a very commanding grunt and gurgle. His lyrics are growled in such a manner that, despite their brutality, you can still make them out. They shift into more traditonal metal riffs that provide enough dynamics to make most metal heads happy. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/09/internal-bleeding-settle-all-scores.html

8-NITE-"Cult of the Serpent Sun" 

Blackened Thrash 

The third album from this San Francisco metal band. They walk a line between black metal and traditional metal. I can hear where Tribulation might have occupied a similar sonic space at one time if they had not turned into a goth band. The snarled vocals  give them more of a black metal sound, as you could have someone with their foot on the monitor yodeling and it would sound like a different ballgame. You can draw comparisons to bands like Angel Witch in this regard. Almost playing the kind of deliberate galloping thrash that evolved from bands like Saxon.

 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/01/nite-cult-of-serpent-sun.html

7-Blut Aus Nord - "Ethereal Horizons." 

Black Metal 

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. Atmospheric black metal is being pushed in new directions, while the pained moaning of the clean vocals cuts through the thickness of sound, bringing' Mercyful Fate's earliest incarnations of black metal to mind. There is the needed cauldron of blast beats and tremolo-picked guitars needed to identify their blackened intent, but not sounding like everyone else in the process

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/10/blut-aus-nord-ethereal-horizons.html

6-Callous Daoboys - "I Don't Want to See You In Heaven."

 Progressive Metal 

You are thrown into their bizarre progressive take on metalcore. While the screamed vocals are more dominant, Carson Pace's voice continues to grow. His poppy-sung vocals carry the need hooks to contrast the chaos. If there is any justice in the universe, these guys should be at least as big as Knocked Loose, just on the merits of songwriting.

  

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-callous-daoboy-i-dont-want-to-see.html

5--Author & Punisher - "Nocturnal Birding' 

Industrial 

This is the first album that finds guitarist Doug Sabolick joining as a bandmate, which contributes to the more rock feel to things. Every song has a bird theme. There is a more overt industrial crunch to the amazing stomp this album carries. Megan from Couch Slut, lends her voice to the ruckus erupting, with more detailed layers of melody luring you into one of the year's best industrial songs. The addition of guitar offers a big step forward, even if it moves them marginally closer to the conventions of industrial rock. The genre itself allows and fosters experimentation, creating an almost anything-goes attitude. This song and the previous song have been the noisiest so far, with this texture being most effective here.  

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/09/author-punisher-nocturnal-birding.html

4--Rwake -"The Return of the Magik." 

Sludge 

The Arkansas-based band is back after 13 years. A more melodic expanse of sound brings elements of Southern rock to the forefront of the opening track as guitar solos cascade around it. Brittany Fugate's scathing vocals provide a counterpoint to the lower, ominous vocal tones of Chris Terry. They bring a menacing thunder with metallic riffing, as well as contrast it with really tasteful guitar work. They ripped the hardest when it came to sludge this year. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/02/rwake-return-of-magik.html

3--Sanguisugabogg -"Hideous Divinity." 

Death Metal 

 This is an album I have been looking forward to, so expectations were high. Halfway into the first song, I heard the needed tweaks I wanted from these guys in terms of production have been made, and it is rocking fucking hard. There is more attention to detail in songwriting as riffs have purpose and are not just shifting into the next heaviest chug possible. Songwriting is storytelling, telling, 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. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/09/sanguisugabogg-hideous-divntiy.html

2- Coroner - "Dissonance Theory."

Thrash 

The band's first album in 32 years. Things are different in many ways, though they do not sound like they are in their 60s. Weirdly, Marquis Marky is not behind the kit, leaving Ron Royce and Tommy Baron as the only original members who feel more pronounced as a trio. Their new drummer, Diego, certainly pulls it all off. This is not them trying to recapture their 80s sound. Nor should they. A big difference lies in how forward Royce's vocals are in the mix, as he used to sit back in the guitars more, certainly having grown more confident in what he does.  You can hear how they influence bands like Meshuggah. This album grew on me with each listen, and it's clear they are more vital now than ever. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/09/coroner-dissonance-theory.html

1-Hangman's Chair- "Saddiction" 

Doom

The modern kings of gloom bring a sonic pounding counterbalanced by the trademark passion of the vocals, and things ebb down into a more depressive introspection as the rollercoaster of the album's dynamic sets in motion. Some interesting production choices in this often reverb-heavy recording are best appreciated when played loudly through headphones. It's a band whose songwriting continues to exceed expectations and put them at the top of the heap, not just when it comes to doom or metal, but all artists making music today. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/02/hangmans-chair-saddiction.html

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