The Top 20 Albums of 2025 (Part Two 10-1)

 

Last year, I expanded what was once the Top 10 Albums of the Year to the Top 20. The Top 10  was limiting, considering there are now 20 best-of-genre lists.  a Top 10 often left off ten albums that captured the top spot for their respective genres.  So we are continuing the countdown here in this second part to the top 10 albums. These are the albums I listened to most. When you take into consideration the fact that I listened to over 900 albums this year, it's impressive for these albums to have endured the influx of new music that hit my inbox every morning and made me want to hear them again and again. Yes, this is the culmination of all the other lists done up to this point for other blogs and was refined down to this master list of all genres.; So here ya go...

10-HAIM- "I quit" 

The Haim sisters came back after five years, which in pop music is an eternity, given how attention spans and trends cycle out. In being generous and taking things like touring into consideration, we can say they had 3 years to follow "Women in Music pt 3" which was a career-defining album, that elevated the band's status. This time the focus was on playing their instruments and busting out guitar solos rather than pop hooks, but they packed a few of those as well. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/06/haim-i-quit.html

 

9-Patriarchy -"Manual for Dying." 

The steamiest batch of bumping grinders since the golden years of Lords of Acid, certainly, is enough to give this duo the number one spot. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/08/patriarchy-forcefully-rearranged.html

8-Sanguisugabogg -"Hideous Divinity." 

 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

7- Coroner - "Dissonance Theory."

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

 

6-Heartworms - "Glutton For Punishment."

Why is this album taking the top spot, you ask?  There are organic qualities blended with a chamber-pop sound that brings Dresden Dolls to mind in equal doses as Rasputina .. Helmed by Jojo Orme, this project is mroe organic and capable of rocking out than your average darkwave band, with songs like "Jacked' falling on the more post-punk side of the equation. The guitars are capable of delivering the needed jagged tension. The album spends a great deal of time juggling the more electronic elements against a jangle of guitar that leans left of center into a moodier indie rock. 

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/10/gothtober-heartworms-glutton-for.html

 

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5-Freeze the Fall - "The Red Garden." 

Big radio rock that hits with an infectious bite. Their anthemic choruses are balanced by the brooding atmosphere that is dark enough to keep me interested, despite the more hopeful mood they build. This young Canadian trio is great songwriters who sometimes find their overall sound following a 90s formula, which proves highly effective as it puts them in the number one spot, beating out veteran acts, so the future clearly holds big things for them. If you have not heard this album yet, do yourself a favor and give it a listen.    

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/05/freeze-fall-red-garden.html

 

4-Taylor Swift- "the Life of a Showgirl" 

At the end of the day, she can whip out songs that sit effortlessly next to the other classics in her discography with no effort. Even Tay Tay dialing it in is better than what most can do with two dozen producers and co-writers. This album grew on me, and makes it clear she is the dominant force in not just pop music, but songwriting. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/10/taylor-swift-life-of-showgirl.html

 

3-Hangman's Chair- "Saddiction" 

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

 

2-Spiritbox- "Tsunami Sea." 

It's the band's pop lean that helps separate them from their peers, as Courtney is better at vocal hooks than the singer for Jinger or Infected Rain, who work in similar sonic circles. She has continued to grow as a singer to further distance herself from her peers. Even with the pop hooks in play, the dynamics pack a heavy enough punch to have the metallic impact to take the top spot here. Their drummer has really stepped up on this album as he fills the spaces with interesting playing that they build off of. At the end of the day, it's the top-tier songwriting that wins out.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/03/spiritbox-tsunami-sea.html

1-Ethel Cain-  "Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You."

Not only the best shoegaze/post-rock album of the year,  the best album of the year. I don't think she set out to make a shoegaze album, which is what makes it so effective; the ethereal atmosphere just organically came about thanks to the hypnotic drones that also incorporate pop and country music into the mix. Unlike Wednesday, who takes a jarring turn between the two genres, on this album, you can't tell where one ends and the other begins as they are woven with such sonic beauty. As stated, these albums are ranked according to how much I actually listened to them, and I listened to this album more than any other this year.  

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/08/ethel-cain-willoughby-tucker-ill-always.html

pst641

Top 40 Songs of 2025 (Part 4 10-1 )

This is the final installment of the Top 40 songs of 2025. It's a list of the 40 catchiest songs that got the most airplay from me this year. These are the songs that I kept on repeat and got stuck in my head, which certainly factored in when ranking these albums in the big picture, only one artist on this list delivered an album that was underwhelming with the single as one of the only memorable songs on the album, but a great deal lies in how that was hyped leading up to the album's release. 

I have split this up into four more digestable play lists of 10 songs, each I think these songs all speak for themselves, so there is no need for me to wax poetic about what makes them great as their hooks will do that for them so take a listen and maybe these will be the melodies that haunt you when you get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night so lets continue into the top 10 songs of 2025.

10-HEALTH- "YOU DIED." 

 

9-Heartworms - "Mad Catch." 

8. Freeze the Fall - "Rot." 

7-Turnstille-"Never Enough." 

6-Taylor Swift- "Cancelled."

 

5-Ethel Cain- "Janine."

>

4-Sleep Token- "Emergence." 

3-Hangman's Chair - "Kowloon Lights." 

2-Spiritbox- "Keep Sweet." 

  

1-Ethel Cain-"Dust Bowl." 

pst637

Gothtober- The Top 10 Goth Albums of 2025

 

Having already started the End of the Year List season with the Top 10 Post-Punk Albums of 2025, it's time to move in a darker direction with the Top 10 Goth Albums of 2025. If this seems premature,  record labels have already sent me most of what this year has to offer. After I sort through sorting through the top 10 albums of all the respective genres, I use those lists to compile the top 10 albums of the year. 2025. Perhaps it was marginally better than the previous year, though, given the current climate of the world, we are progressing on a downward spiral, making dark music more important as a soundtrack for this.  The very fact that these bands made it on the list speaks to how great these albums are, so it's not a slight that the number 8 album is above the 9th album; there is something that just gives it an edge that makes me want to listen to it more. After all, we can try to look cool and pick the hippest bands for a list, but at the end of the day, what makes an album the best is that it makes you want more, and you look forward to listening to it again. Perhaps you can find your next favorite on this list, and I have included links to reviews of these albums if you want to check out the audio on these guys. Anyway, here are the top 10 Goth albums of 2025.

10-Ash Code-"Synthome" 

These guys have returned after 8  years for a very legit stab at darkwave, that carries the creepy elegance other acts lack, along with a backbone of tense driving songs. There are a few different vocal colors in the first two songs along ranging from a higher, more emotive plea to the hushed urgency is a suitable comeback album that the rest of the genre could stand to take notes from.  

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/10/gothtober-ash-code-synthome.html

 

-9-Die Sexual- "Desire" 

This three-song EP comes from this Los Angeles-based duo, who are getting some buzz for their big techno-infused brand of dark wave, though their hyper sexualized branding does not hurt in getting you attention. Rather than trying to recreate a sound from the past. This is also reflected in the production that is modern and larger than life, like it should be pumping in an after-hours club where the latex and cocaine flow in equal proportion. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/07/die-sexual-desire.html

        

8-Bella Eterna -"Fire" 

The project brings Spanish producer JG Outsider together with vocalist Gerd Van Geel of the Belgian band the Arch, to create an interesting take on dark wave that incorporates elements of post punk with the more traditional club beats of the genre. The most shadowy aspect I have encountered in the genre is its less dramatic expression of melancholy. Geel's vocals are not croaking out a vampiric baritone, but his voice carries a vulnerable tremble in his introspective upper register. I like that it is true to the genre without defaulting to the expected tropes.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/10/gothtober-bella-eterna-fire.html

7-Corlyx -"Purple Pain" 

Boldly delivering a double album, they have more than enough songs to showcase their strength of embracing both the past of traditional dark wave and still not shying away from paying tribute to this era, with new sounds, like vibrant synth-wave keyboard lines, and pop-inflected hooks. Overall, her growth as a singer is evident in these songs. She is certainly now in the upper tiers of female vocalists in modern goth. This is an ambitious outpouring of songs that shows their melding of all the varied sub-genres of goth into something familiar without becoming a tribute band, as their own unique vision is the lifeblood of these odes to darkness, in all of its shades and seasons

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/02/corlyx-purple-pain.html

6-IN COVERT- "Bleak Machinery" 

Right from the start, this album is draped in reverb to create a thick atmosphere , blending the rough edges of industrial pulses with death-rock's elegant romance with depression turned outward. It's not the first time we have heard this kind of thing from Los Angeles, but they are good at what they are doing and bringing a more metal-minded aggression to it. The vocals go into an emotive scream rather than the harshness of a hardcore band, and find their way into pulsing beats that could be danced to, though the dense sonics might perplex your average 'goth nite' patron. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/08/in-covert-bleak-machinery.html

5-Peter Murphy - "Silver Shade" 

At 67, Murphy looks older than he sounds.  Some of these songs would not have been out of place on his 89 classic "Deep". It carries the new wave bounce, though not as dark as Bauhaus; it is true to the era. Perhaps he is paying a great deal of service to his fan base, which is wise. His pipes stay fluid even when going up into the wavering vibrato of his upper register. It's impressive that he found his way back to this place and delivered in this manner, way more impressive than Billy Idol's new one. 

 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/05/peter-murphy-silver-shade.html

4-Bootblacks -"Paradise" 

 Brooklyn-based band BOOTBLACKS is dancing in a more dark wave direction with their new album "Paradise", with songs driven by synth pulses. The reverb-slathered guitar sits back in the mix, content haunting the backdrop. Which works for me. This is one of the best albums this year to delve into this intersection of dark-wave and more 80s-aligned dark pop sounds. Their brand of brooding is backlit with neon to showcase another facet of dark music.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/05/bootblacks-paradise.html

3-Altar De Fey- "Under a Waxing Moon" 

. A great deal of credit goes to the passionate lamentations of Jake Hout are the trembling heart of the album, as the guitar weaves the sonic cobwebs for Hout's stellar croon to crawl upon. "They balance the hypnotic elegance that gives death rock its creepy grace with a more post-punk tension.Poseurs who just want to play dress up and dance at the club might not catch onto what is going on here, as there are actual instruments, plugged into drawing from a canvas that celebrates actual darkness and not just the pagentry of it. Their knack for compelling songwriting continues to not only endure but aging like wine with each release, perfecting what they do a little more,

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/09/altar-de-fey-under-waxing-moon.html

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 2-Street Sex - "Full Color Eclipse"

The biggest difference between what they are doing here and as Street Sects, lies in the new wave approach to synths, and there is none of the harsh screaming vocals. I would not say they sound like Depeche Mode, but sonically it's more in the direction of "Music For the Masses" than it is "Too Dark Park". I do like some of the experimentation with how the vocals are produced, and this is heavier than New Wave, due to the emotional intensity that has more in common with "Pretty Hate Machine".

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/08/street-sex-full-color-eclipse.html

1-Heartworms - "Glutton For Punishment"

Why is this album taking the top spot, you ask?  There are organic qualities blended with a chamber-pop sound that brings Dresden Dolls to mind in equal doses as Rasputina .. Helmed by Jojo Orme, this project is mroe organic and capable of rocking out than your average darkwave band, with songs like "Jacked' falling on the more post-punk side of the equation. The guitars are capable of delivering the needed jagged tension. The album spends a great deal of time juggling the more electronic elements against a jangle of guitar that leans left of center into a moodier indie rock. 

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/10/gothtober-heartworms-glutton-for.html

 

pst527

Gothtober - Wil's 11th Annual Halloween Playlist

Here is my 11th annual Halloween Playlist. The world holds as many distractions and diversions as it has in previous years. I am making a more concerted and intentional effort to focus on the celebrations of the Halloween season around me, as my soundtrack pretty much remains constant year after year. I believe if we forget the things that brought us joy as children, we will become miserable adults buried in anxiety over bills and the stock market. This makes a proper soundtrack dedicated to darkness even more needed to capture the magical excitement of Halloween. Perhaps these songs might bring some sonic horror to your ears and carry Halloween into the rest of the year for you. 

This year all songs are new releases, and hopefully not repeating artists from previous years, though not holding myself to this as I am not meticously combing over past years playlists, as I made this while I'm moving, so a little bit of a time crunch, as things like changing internet providers come into play, ya know pesky real life stuff. . Goth and all its various sub-genres are the most obvious tombs to plunder. I am including a few artists that lean in a more rock or metal direction. Lyrically, the songs are at least metaphors for things that go bump in the night or are related to the season. This year’s theme seems to be death. As the veil between the living and the dead thins, may you be happily haunted and continue to play this loudly in dark places!

Hangman's Chair- 'To Know the Night" 

Patriarchy- "A New Way" 
 

Scorpion Milk -"She Wolf of London" 

 

Street Sex- "Turn Blue"

 

Heartworms - "Extraordinary Wings" 

 Black Cross Hotel- "The House That God Doesn't Visit" 

 

  Dax Riggs- "Graveyard Soul" 

Deathbyromny -"Corpse Kiss" 

Messa- "Thicker Blood" 

Paradise Lost- "This Stark Town 

pst526

Gothtober - Heartworms :'Glutton For Punishment'

I've had this album for a while, and I've simmered on it before reviewing, as I wasn't able to fully form my thoughts on it. Heatworms has received a fair amount of hype online, with Podcasters already claiming it's one of the best darkwave albums of the year. There are some interesting things going on. Though, how dark is it? Well, dark enough for me to sandbag this review til Gothtober. There are organic qualities blended with a chamber-pop sound that brings Dresden Dolls to mind in equal doses as Rasputina, though, as evident on the first track, there is more guitar than either, and this is allowed to build in a more rock fashion.

Helmed by Jojo Orme, this project is mroe organic and capable of rocking out than your average darkwave band, with songs like "Jacked' falling on the more post-punk side of the equation. The guitars are capable of delivering the needed jagged tension. The album spends a great deal of time juggling the more electronic elements against a jangle of guitar that leans left of center into a moodier indie on the catchy "Mad Catch" which would not have been out of place on alternative radio in the late 90s, as it rubs shoulders with bands like the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs or Coco Rosie. But there is enough shadow in the groove to keep my attention. 

The strength here is that these are well-written songs that overcome the confines of genres. There is a more atmospheric moodiness beyond the beat of "Extraordinary Wings. Orme's voice goes into more of a purr on this song. There is almost a Tori Amos-like feel to it.  Things shift into brighter sounds for the more dramatic steampunk pop of "Warplane". It's very dynamic, so hard to complain about it as the beat carries it with great urgency. "Celebrate" marries lo-fi beats with dream-pop tendencies. Not dark enough to be darkwave, but it works for what it is; they do allow it to jam out into a more Tim Burton-esque place.

There is more of a wandering rock feel to 'Smugglers Adventure". Does it flirt with Siouxsie-like tendencies at times? Yes.  In fact, it might be one of the more elegant goth-leaning songs on the album. Her expressive singing sounds great here as she really belts it out. The unexpected folk rock ending is interesting. Then things take on a more folk feel for the last song. While it's going to take a few more listens to decide what this is, it is evident that it is really well-written and catchy fun songs, even if they are not as dark as they want them to be. I will give this a 10 and see how it grows on me.  

pst476