the 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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The Top 40 Songs of 2025 (Part 1 : 40-31)

This list is pretty straightforward; 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 here we got with the top 40 songs of 2025. 

 40--Blut Aus Nord- "Shadows Breathe First." 

39-Deadguy- "New Best Friend." 

38-Hotline TNT  -"break right."

37-Viagra Boys - "Man Made of Meat."  

 

  36-Alice Cooper -"Black Mamba" 

35-Internal Bleeding "Settle all scores." 

 

34-RWAKE- You swore we'd always be together."

33-Propaghandi- "Cat Guy."

32-Dax Riggs -"Even the Stars Fall."

 

31-chokecherry- "You love it when" 

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the Top 10 Extreme Metal Albums of 2025

 

Extreme metal encompasses many sub-genres, all of which shun mainstream aspirations with their commitment to intensity, but that is not to say that these albums are the heaviest ever, as all of the albums listed in our Top 10 Extreme Metal Albums of 2025 list are very song-oriented, some even have melody. Perhaps this year, even more so than in the past. The bands here did not fit neatly into other genre lists because they blended other harsh genres, such as black metal or hardcore, into these warped versions of grindcore or screamo.  They are all very dark and lash out with their own forms of sonic fury, but they are the albums that proved best at it.  

After I sort through the top 10 albums of all the respective genres, I use those lists to compile the top 20 albums of 2025 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 Extreme Metal albums of 2025

10-Crossed -"Realismo Ausente." 

The tense syncopation creates a bleak vibe when combined with the screamed vocals are undecipherable, making the fact that they are from Spain a moot point. They blast at you with the menace of feral punk, while displaying their ability to let chords ring out and create a more nuanced atmosphere. They established a more GISM-like mood to their brand of chaotic hardcore. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/12/crossed-realismo-ausente.html

 

9-Küntsquäd -"Satans Cock" 

This Australian death metal band has a raw, unhinged style that takes the sonic intensity of crust and combines it with a more taunt death metal chug that does not try to trample you. The pitch-shifted vocals of Paula are a bestial texture, though the song titles take things to extremes with "Gential Dismemberment Bot." The lyrics are incomprehensible, with the overall songwriting managing to compensate for the vocals just being a static frequency.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/06/death-is-june-kuntsquad-satans-cock.html

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8-Noctambulist - " Noctambulist: "Noctambulist II: De Droom"

This band's last album was the number-one Black Metal album of 2021.  This means expectations are high, and they are proving here that there are more than enough weapons in their arsenal to meet these expectations headfirst. Not shying from taking apart the conventions of black metal to reshape them to their own liking, with a brighter, more organic guitar tone.  At times, even carrying an indie rock jangle almost feels more like screamo than black metal. This still works for me as I appreciate their ability to jerk themselves away from conventions. 

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

 

7-Shock Narcotic -" My Flesh is Afraid, But I am Not." 

Grindcore has now been brought to arenas thanks to Pantera picking bands like King Parrot and these guys on the road with them. They cram a great deal of riffage into two minutes, sometimes allowing for more chaos than other moments. At times, there is a groove; at others, things carry more of a death metal aggression.  This is going to be on the heavier and more confrontational end of your average metal head's tastes. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/07/shock-narcotic-my-flesh-is-afraid-but-i.html

 

6-PISSGRAVE-"Malignant Worthlessness." 

These guys have to be the most extreme band on Profound Lore. This completes a trilogy they started back in 2015, but the lyrics are snarled in such a way that they are like cutting your years with broken glass, so there is no way to make them out, just a fine layer of hatred draped over the intense thrashing blast. There is more songwriting employed here than in the one-minute spasm of screaming grind-core dishes out, though that would be the genre most fitting unless you want to call this grind thrash.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/12/pissgrave-malignant-worthlessness.html

5-Drugs of Faith-"Asymmetrical." 

When it comes to grindcore, the genre splits off into two directions: one that is more punk and one that is more metal, these guys are on the punk end of the equation.  The band has been around for over 20 years and features former members of Agoraphobic Nosebleed and  Enemy Soil. Their first release in 6 years finds them in a more rock-oriented songwriting mode. it could have come from a crusty punk band out of the '80s. The vocals are shouted with articulation that gets the lyrics across and in your face. The guitar tones are pretty plug-in and crank it up, with none of the low-end metal gain. This keeps even the more aggressive moments rooted in punk.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/01/drugs-of-faith-asymmetrical.html

4-Low Before the Breeze- "A Hole Beneath The Home We Shared."

 This band from Atlanta is going in an experimental grindcore direction that finds the chaos tempered with atmosphere. That does not mean it's an easy listen, as it took me going back and giving it a second or third pass through before some of the songs clicked with me. At times possessed by spastic madness, as feed back squeals out over a collage of sampled sonics. It's very dissonant and moody, though more introspective in an odd way than dark. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/low-before-breeze-hole-beneath-home-we.html

3-Full of Hell-"Broken Sword, Rotten Shield."

This EP is a memorial of sorts that explores loss through the lens of a fantasy metaphor to obscure the processing of their feeling regarding a dog's death. At times, it might be seen as one of their most refined and perhaps accessible songs yet. That said, even when they play nice, they are heavier than. There is a more metal approach that delves into little of their more grindcore spasms, and at other times they carry a hardcore stomp to the riffs.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/05/full-of-hell-broken-sword-rotten-shield.html

2-Bludgeoned By Deformity-" Epoch Of Immorality."

Helmed by the lead gurgler of Sanguissugabogg, this is one of the most brutal death metal slabs you are going to hear in some time, well, until his day job puts something out.  Less gore, grind grooving than the Suggabogg, they do stomp down on things pretty hard. I went into this expecting to be hit by something more blasting and perhaps more technical than, well, you know who, but it's on the more pleasing end of extreme brutal death metal. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/05/bludgeoned-by-deformity-epoch-of.html

1-Internal Bleeding- "Settle All Scores." 

For this band to have been around since the 90s, y are inspired and were ahead of their time.  Kids now call this Slam, but it's really just hardcore-influenced death metal. Iit'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

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

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September's Top 10 Albums

It's time for September's top 10 albums. Staying abreast of the month's highlights may help casual readers catch up on what they missed and explore these artists. I am not writing brief summaries of them; I am simply linking to the reviews. Inclusion here does not mean that these albums have been released this month, but it is a list of new or upcoming albums I have enjoyed the most. I have albums in my inbox that are not coming out til 2026, so I am normally way ahead of the curve in this regard. They are ranked in order of what I have listened to the most. This month, there is only a marginal variety for some reason. I was just listening to heavy shit, with a little industrial, death rock, and noise rock wedged in with death metal albums, which seemed the dominant force this month. So if you are feeling pissed or anxious, maybe you will find your new favorite among them. Here are the Top 10 albums of September. 

10-theYoung Gods- "Appear Disappear" 

Industrial / Experimental 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/09/the-young-gods-appear-disappear.html

 8-Today is the day-"Never Give In" 

Noise Rock

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/09/today-is-day-never-give-in.html

7-Blindfolded and Led to the Woods -The Hardest Thing About Being God is that No One Believes Me"

Death Metal 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/09/tombs-feral-darkness.html

6-Evoken- "Mendacium" 

Funeral Doom

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/09/evoken-mendacium.html

5-Alter de Fey- "Under a Waxing Moon" 

Death Rock 

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

4-Internal Bleeding-"Settle All Scores" 

Death Metal 

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

3-Coroner -"Dissonance Theory" 

Progressive Thrash 

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

2-Sanguissugabogg- "Hideous Divinity" 

Death Metal 

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

1-Author & Punisher - "Nocturnal Birding" 

Industrial 

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

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Internal Bleeding : "Settle All Scores"

 I should review this album today since the band's drummer, Bill Toley, was killed when the Trade Towers went down in what some call the 9/11 Attacks. I think the 9/11 incident is more fitting. I would say it's a shame Toley had to die, but everyone dies, and death metal should be a celebration of death. Hopefully, his death has been an inspiration for this band ever since. For this band to have been around since the 90s, I would say they are inspired and were ahead of their time.  Kids now call this Slam, but it's really just hardcore-influenced death metal. I think 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.

The first three songs found me really digging the crushing breakdown-like grooves I was being hit with. By the time I got to "Forced Compliance," I was ready for some new sounds, and they hit me with marginally different syncopation. 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. This song also shifts into a more traditonal metal riff that was enough dynamics to make me happy. 

The vocals are also well phrased, accenting the guitar in a purposeful manner that gives "Crown of Insignificance' its hook. The syncopated call and response between the hard-core vocal and the growled vocal work well here, too. "Empire of Terror" is still effective, and perhaps it might need to grow on me, or my ears have grown numb, but it does hook me as hard as the first five songs. But when there are only eight songs and the first five smacked you pretty hard, it's a good sign. It should be noted that three of their former growlers also lend their voices to this album in guest spots, which is cool. Jay Lowe is on "Glorify the Oppressor". The other two are on the last song. It starts off with a slower, more dramatic intro that is a welcome change.  It turns into a pretty crushing affair, though it does not feel as hooky as the first half of the album. I will give this one a 9.5, one of the year's best death metal releases. Drops October 17th. 

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

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

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