The Top 10 Worst Albums of 2025

It is that time again. Here we take a look at the worst albums of the year. They come from varied polarities of the rock spectrum, with none of the offenders coming right from the pop machine, some are trying to be goth and metal, some are jsut bad at what they do, and others are dabbling in an experiment gone wrong.  One of the things that made rap great in the 80s and '90s was rappers calling each other out for being whack. It provided a form of quality control. Now people have grown too sensitive for that kind of hard truth.

 Some would argue this is all subjective, but music is something that can be defined in technical terms, as well as artistic, and how it holds up over time. Chances are, if it is hard is get through one listen,

10-Creeper-"Sanguivore II: Mistress Of Death"

The British goth wannabes Creeper have learned from many of the mistakes that plagued the previous album, though some of the anthemic glam rock feel is there.if you like H.I.M. and Meatloaf, then this is your new favorite band I only like one half of that equation, and you already know which one. 

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/10/gothtober-creeper-sanguivore-ii.html

9-Primitive Man-"Observance." 

The problem with this album is that it is focused on scathing sounds and drifting into post-rock moods with them, rather than memorable songs; some of this is due to the vocals being used as a frequency rather than more purposefully. Even at their most experimental, they are still working off a formula. 

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/11/november-is-doom-primitive-man.html

8-Dead and Dripping -"Nefarious Scintillations." 

Even though this is all the work of one man, Evan Daniele. Perhaps his ego should have been checked at the door as he is a better guitarist than he is a vocalist or drummer, and bringing in session guys would have benefited him. Cool ideas were killed by shitty production and forced me to struggle through the album. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/12/dead-and-dripping-nefarious.html

 7-ESCHATON- "Techtalitarian" 

 It is kind of like when the guitarist won't stop soloing at band practice, as you are trying to iron out parts. The song finds them playing even faster, and things sound thin and rushed rather than heavy, as dizzying speed alone is just fast, not heavy. You would think that people into progressive music would have learned the value of less is more from jazz, but no, here we are. They continue to fly off in the hyper-fast fret-burning direction with little regard for heaviness; it could be Dragonforce if it were not for the growling. Truth be told, when you have guys who have played in Necrophagist and Arsis, we should be expecting more, no matter how technical they are,

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/06/death-is-june-eschaton-techtalitarian.html

6-Revenge - "Violation.Strife.Abominate"

Things are more frantic and feral this time around, but not as heavy, thanks to the thin guitar tone that carries a reckless buzzing to the otherwise punk frenzy going down here. I don't remember the drums sounding this bad last time. The production might not grate on the nerves of their fans, who are the only ones who will appreciate this album. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/02/black-metal-history-month-revenge.html

5-Ethel Cain- ''Perverts." 

You can't say I play favorites, as this is the first time an artist who scored our number one album of the year is also on the worst album list. This is an ambient album she released before "Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You." This finds her at odds with the concept of sound vs song on the title track, leading you off into a wasted twelve minutes of ambient noise. It is sparse and tentative, far from her most memorable songs. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/09/ethel-cain-perverts.html

4-Halestorm- "Everest" 

The bulk of the album is bland jock jams, though They brought in a cog from the Nashiville Country machine in Natalie Hemby for the big ballad, which makes for a song you might expect from Miranda Lambert.  This is a well-produced album that rolled off the assembly line to cater to a very gullible demographic,  as good as a pre-fabricated rock album can get.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/08/halestorm-everest.html

3-Lorna Shore - "I Feel the Everblack Festering Inside Me."

 They went into the studio and made the album expected of them, dialing the symphonic elements up enough to make it feel like they are not just dialing it in. It is enough of a change to talk about in interviews, and some kids are just dumb enough to be wow'ed by the guitar solos and overproduced layers of pig squeals to not ask further questions of this band or even know what questions they should be asking.. Is this done in a professional manner that sounds polished and massive? Yes, but these guys have a ton of money invested in what they do, so of course, they are making a professional-sounding album. But it's boring,

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/09/lorna-shore-i-feel-everblack-festering.html

 

2-Baby Metal-"Metal Forth." 

The novelty of this album lies in the fact that the J-Pop group features a guest artist on each track. The only reason I decided to give this album a listen is because Poppy and Spiritbox are on it. Both artists flirt with the boundaries of what is metal and pop; just because an album has distorted guitars and some screaming on it does not make the album metal. Metal is an aggressive feeling of darkness that cannot be found on any track. In fact, I am embarrassed for anyone who appeared on this album. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/08/just-how-metal-is-babymetals-metal.html

1-Ghost - "Skeleta" 

Another album that earned a 5, they scored a 3 for the previous album, so it's an improvement.I think the fact that they make a turn further into pop with each album even has the music press, which was previously critical of the industry, not saying anything if they can't say something nice. But I will tell you how it is, at its worst some dreadful ballads make Styx sound heavy. So it's not worth owning, and was hard for me to make it through, but maginally better than their average album. The highlights are the riffs that sound like Dokken and Ratt, though those are far a few between. It ranked worse than anime schoolgirls because at least with that, you go into it knowing it will be terrible; this relies so heavily on a marketing image they have idiots invested in it, adding insult to injury when you listen to it. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/ghost-skeleta.html

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Halestorm : "Everest"

 After Lzzy Hale's terrible performance at the Ozzy tribute show in Birmingham, I was reluctant to cover this album. On stage that day, she was shrieking and sharp, but in the studio, she is more restrained, though over-singing is a constant; the new album from her band is not reinventing the wheel but offering the kind of hard rock their fans seem to like. The riff to the opening track is interesting at first, then the song loses its momentum. The more deliberate title track is marginally darker and works better for me, thanks to its deliberate riffing. The need to constantly swing for the fences with these anthemic choruses gets old by the second song. This song was written by Amy Wage, who is an industry pitch hitter, so if you have ever doubted the legitimacy of this band, having outside songwriters like a pop act is a pretty fair indicator. 

Another "personal" song that is written by someone else is "Shiver' written by Dave Pittenger. It is the most bland thing you can imagine, despite her voice being the only redeeming aspect of it as she sounds great on it, though I suspect she is more of a studio singer now. To be called "Like a Woman Can," it's ironic that what a woman could not do is write this song as two men, including industry producer Nolan Sipe, might as well be on a Miley Cyrus album, which I think would do a better job with this. "Rain Your Blood On Me" is generic hard rock, with one cool riff as the bridge coming out of the chorus. Has a late '90s feel, riff-wise, before the gallop. 

I like the bleak theme of "Darkness Always Wins," but it wants to be Evanescence at the beginning before finding its feet to sound more like who they are as a band.  It also makes me think of something Pink would do. They are becoming a pop band for sure. "Gather the Lambs" feels like this asked AI to write a Halrstorm power ballad. "Watch Out' is their Jock Jam. It's actually one of the better songs on this album, perhaps the best so far.The band says they dug into '90s vibes for 'Broken Doll." is can hear if we are talking about Alanis Morrisette, which this is almost a rip off of.. "Killing" tries to be "Killing in the Name" riff-wise wise but is more of a mess. 

"I Gave You Everything" is generic rock, but it works better for them than most of these songs. They brought in a cog from the Nashiville Country machine in Natalie Hemby. Which makes for a song you might expect from Miranda Lambert.  This is a well-produced album that rolled off the assembly line to cater to a very gullible demographic, so I will give this album a 6, which is as good as a pre-fabricated rock album can get.

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Halestorm : " Back From the Dead"

 Has anyone though about asking Lizzy Hale to replace Chris Cornell ? I think that could work. She has the pipes at no point in the course of this review will I dispute that fact. What I might call into question is what she does with them as a song writer. The opening track sounds like if a metal core producer had gotten hold of Aerosmith in the mid 70s. The guitar is beefed up and her throaty shriek is in full effect. From a songwriting perspective , I think the Pretty Reckless might have more going on as songs like "Wicked Ways" works off a formula somewhere between Lita Ford and Paramore on steroids. It's like the female equivalent of Finger Death Punch.  I actually prefer them when they give into their pop side on  "Strange Girl".  It was the first song that resonated with me. 

"Brightside" splits the difference between Def Leppard and Joan Jett, with sprinkles from Hot Topic as the topping. It's fun and dumb, I was not expecting any deep thinking going into this.  "The Steeple" is lyrically devoid of anything worthwhile, while well song the melodies are manufactured from a beer commercial.  The ballad "Terrible Things" could be on almost any pop album. It does little for me. "My Redemption" could be a pop country artist's attempt to rock the fuck out , the hook reminds me of that for sure. Hale continues to belt it out. Her vocals are the high light the rest of the band is pretty generic. 

The good thing about commercial rock bands is none of these songs break the four-minute mark so if I do not like something it is not a lot to endure. I do like the song "Bombshell". Lyrically it's girl power from someone who is a regular on Revolver 's hottest girls in rock issue.  " I Come First" explores similar, I am sure it will be playing at strip clubs everywhere, not as good of a song as the previous one. "Pyscho Crazy: is the anthem for all girls who do not want to be accountable for not dealing with mental health issues.  The last song is a ballad that Miley Cyrus would have done better.  There are maybe a handful of songs I like, but she sings her heart out, think little less cut and paste in the song writing would be best, I will give this a 7.  Has potential , sometimes hit's sometimes , just kind of meh. They are too professional to ever suck, but  rock music is not supposed feel like product and needs more darkness to be convincing 

Grammys Your Anti-Metal

I originally wrote this blog for Hiplanta, a blog you can check out as I a, one of the staff writers and cover more than the darker fare I devote my attention to here, for Abysmal Hymns I can elaborate on a few things mainly the Lamentations of metal head who cry that metal doesn't get a fare shake at the Grammys for this I say ... Who cares

Being embraced by mainstream media is false. If you are concerned with how the public precieves metal...you are false , you are a poseur. Metal is about telegraphing your middle finger to the rest of the world because it's us against them. Does that mean we can't listen to other forms of music...of course not look at what I cover here, but it means you like metal no matter if it's in fashion or not and could care less about getting the approval of any one even your family. My family knows I love metal, it's just a fact like I have black hair and I'm six feet tall, just like my tattoos it's not going anywhere. So with that in mind proceed.

The Grammys' first rock category was in 1979 and Paul McCartney won, so it's a celebration of all the music I skip past on the radio. So it happened to be playing at a friend of mines house last night and I gave it a eye with the attitude of I'm watching all the people whose faces I see on the cover of the magazines while I'm in line at the grocery store. I had seen a memo went out to attendees that this years' dress code was no nip slips , side boobs or plumbers crack, though this left many with the hopes for a camel toe, which was sadly absent. So with that in mind the big winner of the evening for "Best pop duo " went to Katy Perry, if Kat Dennings hadn't been wrapped up like a Christmas present things might have been different.

The new trend on the red carpet was the Ms. Piggy , popularized by Adelle, Kelly Clarkston and half the blond female Country singers, So I was disappointed none of the acceptance speech did not start with a surprised, " Who muuuuaahhhh?" Though the purse did fall from from the mouth of Fun's singer and former Format vocalist upon the omens of their big win. The gay Freemasonry was in full effect, with most of the gangster rappers who took the stage looking to be the most criminally on the down, though I'm sure thre were aplenty of secret hand shakes administered to one another back stage. Before you get your drag pantis bunched up, I'm not a homophobe, I would be gay myself but every time I submit my application it gets rejected for having a long history of fisticuffs, dressing like a high school stoner at gym class and having sex with with women, but I feel every one should be true to themselves even if it means not selling albums to teenage girls in Iowa Becuase they are out.

Oh there was "music" being preformed, Justin Timberlake was the highlight which should tell you something asI prefer his work with Lonely Island to his own homo-erotic solo pop. Everything else was boring at best, Rhianna has a great weave but a little sparse in the diary section for me to be entertained . The only artists I give any credit who won or preformed are Gotye and Frank Ocean, the latter I hope gets more attention as he's the only person doing anything creative with R&B these days...see you thought I only knew about metal. Speaking of which Halestrom won best metal and they are basically a Flyleaf tribute band. Do I give a shit that they won, no Becuase the whole thing I a corporate joke that I wouldn't want bands I like to be affiliated with in the first place, though the ones who have seen fit to play this game to record label pressure I understand they have to pay the rent somehow.

I looked up a list of past rock winners and the only past winner I have like are Tool, Nine Inch Nails, Judas Preist,Ozzy/Sabbath and Slayer. I didn't see Iron Maiden's name on their though it looks like Zappa did winsomething for Studio Tan. So a note for next year throw away the dress code and replace e podium with a stripper pole. Also Neil Patrick Harris was the best singer in the building give him a song ...see told you next years application to the gay committee will be strong , now go down load that Frank Ocean, if you are into pop music and I won't begrudge you for it, in fact I plan on doing it , the fact he's a gay man who came out and was like its a lie to keep singing about women is cool to me Becuase , I think everyone must fearlessly follow their own path.