The Top 10 Progressive Albums of 2025

When it comes to prog, few bands actually progress. Most that claim to be a part of this genre just wank around with an overabundance of guitar solos that the songs are merely bookends for, rather than serving songs that go somewhere.  The bands that made this year's top 10 list are taking you places with their songs. There are some guitar solos here and there, but shredding is not the emphasis, nor is using odd time signatures for the sake of just doing so. Some of these bands are more metallic, and a few albums even flirt with pop at times. These are not the coolest prog albums, but the best, fuck what other blogs say,  

After sorting through the top 10 albums of all the respective genres, I use those lists to compile the top 20 albums of 2025. The 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, you look forward to listening to it again. You might 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 Progressive albums of 2025

10-Korean Cars-"#1"

This band proves that black metal is not Norway's only musical export.  Kinda melodic math rock, but their guitarist proves they have chops. The production is rough around the edges, as it carries a boom. The drummer works for what they are doing, and it all falls into place, no complaints, even though instrumental music is normally not my thing. When vocals do surface, sitting back in the mix with a plaintive croon with the nuanced picking of the guitars carrying most of the slack. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/05/korean-cars-1.html

 

9-ii - "Apostles of Flesh." 

Prnounced Two Eyes, they are a very interesting ensemble. I have heard them referred to as being industrial, but Gothic chamber pop is a better description of one spectrum of their sound, though they branch out of that and wander off into prog rock that has more in common with A Perfect Circle. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/10/gothtober-ii-apostles-of-flesh.html

8-Heretoir- ""Solastalgia" 

They have fine-tuned their songwriting to make their sound bigger and make what they do more accessible to the wider metal audience than just being a shoegazing black metal band. This is not to say they do not indulge in sonic spectacles that swept you away, as they do, and it is what gives them the edge over their more nu-metal minded peers/. A more delicate electronic touch glazes over into the dynamic ebb and flow in this song. So much so that fans of modern progressive metal can find a great deal to appreciate on this album. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/09/heretoir-solastalgia.html

 

7-Igorrr- 'Amen" 

One of the most appealing things about this project is the ability to blend harsh electronic elements with organic instrumentation and find its unique groove. Mastermind Gautier Serre is experimenting on a broader scale with this album. Classical elements contrast massive metallic chug, as death metal is the primary mode of attack when things go in a more metal direction. Operatic vocals still soar to contrast the guttural vocals, but this feels like more streamlined effort. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/08/igorrr-amen.html

, 

6-Imperial Triumphant- "Goldstar"

These guys won me over live. In the studio, they have once again orchestrated chaos, which can not always be heard as the catchiest songwriting. At times, there is a more metal feel as they ride a taunt clockwork chug. The vocals are snarls, but articulated enough that the lyrics come across. It makes me think of a death metal band covering early Pink Floyd

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/03/imperial-triumphant-goldstar.html

5-Messa -"the Spin." 

The guitar work on this album sets them on this progressive rock path. Add in elements like trumpet solos, and it takes on a more jammy jazz flair. I'm fine with them transitioning into a prog band. If you are going to make guitar solos the centerpiece, then unveiling your Led Zeppelin influence in a more metallic manner with great grooves is the way to do it.  

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/03/messa-spin.html

  4-Bask-" the Turning."

 The country elements that graced their 2019 album have been dialed back for a heavier sound, though sticking to the honest plea of country-inflected vocals even amid guitars crunching around them. There is more boogie in the shuffle oat times with  layers of vocals harmonizing to give things a more jammy prog feel. It almost feels more like Porcupine Tree.  This juxtaposition works well to create dynamic songwriting that takes a few listens to absorb everything going on. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/06/bask-turning.html

3-Gaahls Wyrd- "Braiding the Stories." 

I am glad to hear Gaahl continuing to explore his singing voice. The vocals are well-layered, with more of his upper register present while the baritone croon holds center stage. He proves the emotive value of darkness is just as heavy as metal. With a range of sonic colors from strummed guitars to the more metallic tones, you might expect. When the guitar solos emerge, they are typically the album's most metal elemen,t and even then they provide a thematic melodic overlay. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/03/gaahls-wyrd-braiding-stories.html

2-Katatonia -"Nightmares as Extensions of the Waking State." 

Here we are, three albums in, without Anders. Jonas continues to steer the ship into darker progressive waters of melancholy. There is a formula in place, and the new guitarists navigate it well, unafraid to bust out guitar solos wherever. His lyrics remain just as sharp as the earlier work on this one. "L.  Jonas's voice is fragile and honest, or at least maintains a consistent persona, as nuance is king and the key to their songwriting. 

. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/05/katatonia-nightmares-as-extensions-of.html

 

-

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

 

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

Thanks for reading. Please "like" and share on social media to give music a voice 

https://www.facebook.com/abysmalhymns

Check out our Podcast here ... https://www.youtube.com/@abysmalhymns666

pst617

Heretoir : "Solastalgia"

The last album I checked by these guys was  2017's "The Circle," so I only missed one full-length. They have added two guitarists since I last checked them out, so the more modern metal feel of the opening track was a little surprise. I prefer what they do on the second song. The vocals are still strong, and weave a wonderful atmosphere on "Season of Grief". The feeling of melancholy continues to drape what the German band does, even as they dial back some of the black metal sonics. There are harsher vocals in places, but they do not feel like black metal vocals. They are aggressive, not tormented.  In fact they take on more of a death metal roar when the song builds. 

They have fine-tuned their songwriting to make their sound bigger and make what they do more accessible to the wider metal audience than just being a shoegazing black metal band. This is not to say they do not indulge in sonic spectacles that swept you away, as they do, and it is what gives them the edge over their more nu-metal minded peers/. A more delicate electronic touch glazes over "Dreamgatherer". It reminds me sonically of something the Cure might do.  The belted vocals are the main difference. This ovf course builds into a harsh bellow. There is a great deal of dynamic ebb and flow in this song. So much so that fans of modern progressive metal can find a great deal to appreciate on this album. 

"The Heart of December" floats on such an ethereal wave of atmosphere that it took a second listen to fully grasp the breeze in which it rides. It is most like Alcest, whom I once thought of these guys in the same light as. "Burial" carries a contrast between the more introspective clean vocals and the build into the harsher vocals that make the music of the dynamic shift. This finds them sharing more common ground with the metalcore bands that are packing arenas these days. The title track works off a sweeping soft-to-loud dynamic, which finds the vocals taking on a more emotional introspection. This a more conventional arrangement for them.  

"The Same Hell" is more of a delicate shoegazing interlude. Then the almost folky-pop of the last song is an odd choice to close the album, but it does show the range of their songwriting. I will give this album a 9.5 it is very different than what I expected but shows their continued growth as a band while retaining their atmospheric core. 

Thanks for reading, give a listen to the song below, and  please "like" and share on social media to give music a voice 

https://www.facebook.com/abysmalhymns

Check out our Podcast here ... https://www.youtube.com/@abysmalhymns666

pst470

Thraenenkind "King Apathy"

This band features members of Heretoir, so for some reason they get pegged as being post-rock, post-punk, but it feels like crusty metal to me so I am a little confused. Sure there is some atmosphere to it. The bass player is on point. The title track is straight up metal with little need to try and dress it up with other sub-genres, though it's obvious these guys influences hail from the days of Myspace. Unlike Heretoir I would not call them gaze anything either. They do go from a mid-paced emo like riff into black metal, but that is really as close as they come to that whole thing. While this album is heavier and more metal than Heretoir, it doesn't pull me in as quickly.The throaty vocals feel like this is a more metal version of Hotwatermusic or Coalesce. So post- hardcore is a more fitting sub-genre than post-whatever else. Given the organic feel of this music I am not surprised that these guys are straight edge vegan anarchists . Once upon a time it was more surprising to find some one in the hardcore scene who wasn't.

The song "Urban Giants " hammers ahead more like hard-core and has some catchy punches to it, but it came across like an extension of the previous song to me. The well blended  melodic nature of what they do, never feels strained against the heavier dynamics . The fact the songs are screamed rather than sung, does give them a slight monochrome feel by the time you get mid-way into the album.  They pull out some blast beats for a few seconds on "the Blood On Our Hands". If the lyrics are really preachy then I am glad these songs are screamed, because I don't care about their goody two shoes post-modern hippy ways. They songs are concise and these guys jam a range of dynamics into the five minutes or less they spend wisely rocking you out. These guys put some genuine emotion into what they do so I have mad respect for that even though our world views might differ. They come closest to a more Deafheaven like version of shoe gaze on " Smokestacks and Concrete Walls". It's the first time this comparison really strikes me, and like ostriches metal heads can put their head in the sand when it comes to the self awareness of bands and the bandwagons they jump upon. However I would not pigeon hole these guys are a band that wishes they were Deafheaven.

They ease into "Vanishing Youth" and show a surprising amount of restraint as I am waiting for the blast beats to come in at any minute, this also has me re-thinking the shoe-gaze. The subtle under current of double bass gives a gradual build. When it hits the three minute mark I am surprised that they have not blown their wad yet. When they do it's more of a hard core like explosion, though they eventually find their way into the blasting. They gave in, but not in the most obvious or formulaic manner, so they get props for the arrangements. They close strong with "Homeruiner" which is pounded home with deliberate authority and resists taking the easy way out and running to the safety of being able to blast their way out of the song. I'll give this album a 9, I am not desperate to get it onto my iPod , but really enjoyed listening to it and giving serious consideration to downloading it.The vocals are the only weak spot and even then they work better than most bands who resort to that kind of thing.