The Top 10 Albums Most Mistaken for Metal in 2025

 

Once upon a time, the battle cry championed by metal bands was "Death to False Metal.", It's a sentiment going back to the earliest beginnings of the genre when it drew lines to separate itself from the bands of the Sunset Strip who wanted the look but were making glammed-out pop music. Today, kids are thin-skinned and take offense, screaming out that this is gatekeeping rather than seeing it as quality control standards. Most of those people just need to feel like they belong wherever they want to go and call those who actually belong there elitists as a projection of their own insecurities. 

I'm here to say fuck your feelings. In the interest of this blog's mission statement, pledging to always tell it like it is easy even if you can't handle the truth. After seeing albums like those represented here appearing on metal top ten lists, I think it's fair to set the record straight and have some truth in advertising to pick out the top ten offenders in this regard. Four of these entries are great albums; they just are not great metal albums. They are great rock, folk and pop albums, just not metal. There are a few that are terrible, but they are also not metal, so here we go, setting the record straight for you.

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10-Wardruna- "Birna" 

Six albums into their career, Norway's primal folk bards are still haunted by their metal past, despite bringing an increasingly cinematic conjuring of otherworldly eons past. It is weird how they are the biggest band making this kind of music. Also, even stranger is how they can headline festivals. It is very much a wintery sound as should be expected from the region where the music is being made. It feels like they are getting ready to be hit by the worst storm in over a hundred years and are invoking the ghosts of their ancestors

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/12/wardruna-birna.html

9-Scowl- "Are We All Angels." 

Sure, they were once more of a punk band, but this album finds them crossing over into the kind of grunge tinged alternative rock that was big in the '90s. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/scowl-are-we-all-angels.html

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

There are some goth moments, but overall it leans in a more cock rock direction, but cock rock that comes clsoer to Meatloaf than "Shout at the Devil" era Motley Crue.

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

7-Dream Theater- "Parasomnia" 

Once a metal band does not always make you a metal band, this might be hard to swallow for most of their fan base, which they did through more heavy riffs on this album than they have in some time, but overall it is consumed by the kinds of ballads that make them sound like a more guitar solos-focused version of Journey. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/02/dream-theater-parasomnia.html

6-Deftones-"private music" 

The fact that they have not been a metal band since 'Around the Fur" is what saved their career; they have always been growing almsot to the point of becoming a shoegaze band. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/08/deftones-private-music.html

5-Turnstille- "Never Enough." 

Once a hardcore band does not always make you a hardcore fan, especially when writing pop songs. Compared to "Glow On" this album was a bit of a disappointment, but there are a couple of catchy pop ditties on it, but nothing all that aggressive or explosive.  

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/06/turnstile-never-enough.html

4-President -"King of Terrors." 

Anonymity creates quite a buzz, as they had a huge online presence despite only having one single out and a Download performance under their belt. It is the songs from that performance that are given the studio treatment, with the first single opening the EP. Sonically similar in many ways to Sleep Token, they blend djenty metal guitars with technical drumming and multiple layers of soulfully harmonized vocals. If AI were told to create a band in the vein of Sleep Token and Bad Omens, the results would be similar, though the pop hooks here make it endearing. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/09/president-king-of-terrors.html

3-Sleep Token- "Even in Arcadia." 

I like pop music. This album is a slapping pop album, so . I don't feel so guilty about liking it.  If he just came out, life would be so much easier, but denial has become a part of his identity. There was maybe 20 seconds of nu-metal guitar, and a scream that needed every bit of post-production effects on it in the first three songs. The beats and hooks that would make Sam Smith jealous, this is the kind of music Justin Timberlake wishes he was making. Justin Bieber, rinse off the baby oil and get these guys to write your next album. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/05/sleep-token.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 since these are metal dabbling artists or actual metal artists like 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" 

It's easy to let the make-up and marketing fool you; in fact, what it all hides is the fact that this was also our number one worst album of the year. All style no substance, unless you are really into the song"Thicker Than Water" by Andy Gibb, which is what they really sound like.  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 that 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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Top 10 Hard Rock Albums of 2025

Hard Rock is defined here as being more aggressive than rock n roll, but not dark or mean enough to be considered by Metal, by anyone who knows anything about metal.  These are not the coolest albums, but the best, fuck what other blogs say. 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 Hard Rock albums of 2025.

10-Soul Blind -"Red Sky Mourning." 

The band's sophomore release finds them leaning into the grunge side of things, with a powerful stomp that reflects the Alice In Chains side of the Seattle equation. They sometimes employ a taunt Helmet-like punch to balance out the more s drugged out and depressed moods.  I appreciate the balls that the guitar is slinging at the groove-centered stomp that drives these songs.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/10/soul-blind-red-sky-mourning.html

9-Silly Goose-"Keys to the City." 

 What I've heard from these guys in the past has been fun. They are fine-tuning their take on nu-metal. They are more deliberate with a more Linkin Park-like formula kicking in on the chorus, while they rap like Limp Bizkit on the verses. The sung parts do show he has been working on his vocal range. This time around, they built up the songs into a more metalcore-like breakdown. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/10/silly-goose-keys-to-city.html

8-SCOWL- "We Are All Angels." 

This album hooked me in as they have grown away from being a punk or hardcore band and making catchy 90's alternative music for 2025. F Kat Moss only uses a harsher, hardcore-flavored snarl as a point of accentuation. Her main style of delivery is a slacker croon that has more in common with Veruca Salt. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/scowl-are-we-all-angels.html

7-Chevelle-"Bright as Blasphemy." 

Of all the bands that wanted to be Tool in the late 90s, Chevelle did it with the most emotion. They did it so hard that eventually they found their own sound. Pete Loeffler has denied that they are a metal band, but they punch with a dynamic intensity. The mix is very in-your-face, so I can understand how they might be mistaken for a metal band.  When we are comparing the hooky style of songwriting that is the band's standard, that includes songs like 'The Red" that set the bar for them. This is a reasonable expectation to have, and they live up to it here. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/08/chevelle-bright-as-blasphemy.html

 

6-VOWWS-"I'll Fill Your House With an Army."

 This band has gained a bit of a buzz as they ride a 90s-inspired sound that, at one point, leaned into darkwave and post-punk. They have gained more of an edge, feeling closer to the nu-metal revival. Munky from Korn showing up on the album only gives more evidence in this regard. The album was co-produced by Billy Howerdel of A Perfect Circle. His contributions draw a fair comparison of where this album is heading sonically.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/10/vowws-ill-fill-your-house-with-army.html

 

5- Love is Noise-"To Live a Different Way." 

Produced like a shoegaze album, but it has Myspace emo vibes at its beating heart. This is most evident in the vocals. The vocals are almost pop-punk with nu-metal vocal accents popping in to give them more edge.  Cameron Humpry is the creative engine of this project, and he seems to have a knack for blending all the right elements at the right time. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/06/love-is-noise-to-live-different-way.html

4-Deftones-"private music" 

Five years is the longest gap between Detones' albums, and here we are, after the band sorted through some shit and wrote new music.  Everyone was stoked to hear big loud guitars again, but let's be real, and clarify the fact that the chug of guitar here is different than the chug of guitar from "Around the Fur". It's understandable since it's been 30 years since "Adrenaline" came out, even Iron Maiden became a different band 30 years into their career. What has worked in this band's favor is that their fan base grew with them, which kept these guys relevant over the years, instead of getting lumped in with the other nu-metal bands.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/08/deftones-private-music.html

 

       

3-Superheaven- "S/T" 

The third album by this band, which built a buzz with their first two albums. They have a 90s sound that occupies the middle road between grunge and shoegaze, recalling "Gish" era Smashing Pumpkins, but with a less androgynous vocal approach. In fact, the vocals owe a bit more to Helmet in how they occupy space. This space is created by the grooves of their drummer. They do not allow the atmosphere to bog them down as the songs retain their smooth momentum.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/superheaven-st.html

 

2-Bush - "I Beat Loneliness." 

The band's 2022 "The Art of Survival" was the number 1 hard-rock album of the year, as it was pretty close to perfect, so the bar is high here. Who would think Gavin Rossdale would be bringing it this hard this late into his career? He is apparently modern rock's most underrated songwriter. It's more atmosphere than what they hit you with at the onset of the previous album.  It's a brooding as you would want him to be, but with a kick ass riff driving the song. It's the band's 10th album, so they clearly know what they are doing. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/07/bush-i-beat-loneliness.html

1-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 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 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, as it took the top spot for a reason.   

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

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The Top 10 Rock Albums of 2025... so far.

As the Doomsday Clock races, time speeds up, as 2025 is at its midpoint. These lists serve as a decent snapshot of where the year is heading in terms of music. I have already received promos for albums dropping as far out as August in my inbox, so they will need to bring it to compete with the top five albums on this list. Rock is anything that's not metal, so both progressive and hard rock bands are included here. Yes, there might be a few screams on these albums, but when stacked against the bands on the metal list, it's clear that these bands belong here. Some I weighed against putting on the pop list, but they are more rock than not. I have included links to full reviews if you want to check these out, and with all that said, here are the top 10 rock albums of 2025 so far. 

10-Blackwater Holylight- "If You Only Knew" 

The Portland shoe-gazing gals take things in a more organically jammed direction. There is a brooding underbelly that finds them taking off in a more stoner rock direction.I wish this were a full-length, but if they are making you want more, then something is working

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/blackwater-holylight-if-you-only-knew.html

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9-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. The songs hit really hard emotionally,  just not metal.

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

8-Bask- "The Turning" 

I was a big fan of their 2019 album, and this time around it feels like a heavier sound, though sticking to the honest plea of country-inflected vocals even amid guitars crunching around them. The yee-haw moments that creep through the labyrinth of progressive rock work well within this framework. 

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

7-Scowl- "Are We All Angels" 

Having grown away from being a punk or hardcore the band is now making catchy 90's alternative music for 2025.  Kat Moss only uses a harsh, hard-core flavored snarl as a point of accentuation. Her main style of delivery is a slacker croon that has more in common with Veruca Salt, which works for these hooky slacker anthems.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/scowl-are-we-all-angels.html

6-Messa -"the Spin" 

The band's fourth album finds their guitarist really shining despite the album leaning in a darker atmospheric direction that manages to lend itself to jamming. They were once thought of as a doom band, but have gotten too adventurous to be tied to that genre. The vocals are very strong and well-defined from a songwriting perspective, which is the most important element of their sound.

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

 

5-Love is Noise -"To Live a Different Way" 

Produced like a shoegaze album, but with Myspace emo vibes at its beating heart, as evident in the almost pop-punk vocals. A more nu-metal vocal pops up here and there to create more edge. Cameron Humpry is the creative engine of this project, and he seems to have a knack for blending all the right elements at the right time. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/06/love-is-noise-to-live-different-way.html

4-Viagra Boys - "viagr aboys" 

The Swedish punk band continues to shift into a more rock n roll flavor of snarky chaos. The melodic elements touch on a similar avant-garde pop style as Xiu Xiu.  Their hooky sarcasm cracks off lyrical observations in sharp humor with topics re subject to their lyrical scorn, veering from the news to health care, this album recalls some of the alt-rock classics of the '90s. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/viagra-boys-viagr-aboys.html

 

3-Dax Riggs- "7 Songs for Spiders" 

 It's been 13 years since his last release. This time around, Dax is backed by a three-piece band of grooving Cajuns; they slither with a melancholy pulse that takes things back to his darker roots. Some of his strongest solo work yet. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/12/dax-riggs-7-songs-for-spiders.html

     

  2-Freeze the Fall - "The Red Garden" 

I think they did a stellar job of making the album they set out to make. This album grows more endearing to me over time, thanks to the vocal hooks. If you are into female vocals layered over melodic hard-edged rock, then this is worth your time. 

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

1-Spiritbox - "Tsunami Sea" 

The band's pop-leaning sound helps separate them from their peers, as Courtney is better at vocal hooks than the singers for Jinger or Infected Rain, who work in similar sonic circles. This album has more hard work invested in its writing than their previous album, making it a highly infectious album. They have found their place in the landscape of the music biz here, and we will see them get bigger than they already are. 

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

 Visit our  YouTube & Facebook Pages as well! Thanks for Reading  

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April's Top Ten Albums

 

It's time for April's top 10 albums. Staying abreast of the month's highlights might help casual readers see what they missed and check these artists out. I am not writing little blurbs on them; I am just linking 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 July, 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 a wide variety from Pop to Death Metal, so you may find your new favorite among them. Here are the Top 10 albums of  April.  

10-Black Country New Road - "Forever Howlong" 

Progressive Rock

 

  https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/black-country-new-road-forever-howlong.html

9-Scowl -"Are We All Angels"

 

Grunge/alt-rock

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/scowl-are-we-all-angels.html

8-SKUNK ANANSIE - "The Painful Truth" 

Pop

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/skunk-anansie-painful-truth.html

7-Floating - "Hesitating Lights"

Death Metal 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/floating-hesitating-lights.html

6-Viagra Boys -"viagr aboys" 

indie rock 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/viagra-boys-viagr-aboys.html

5-Bon Iver - "SABLE fABLE" 

Pop

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/bon-iver-sable-fable.html

4-Blackwater Holylight - "If You Only Knew" 

post-doom

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/blackwater-holylight-if-you-only-knew.html

3-Superheaven- "s/t" 

Post-Hardcore-/shoegaze 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/superheaven-st.html

2-Youth Code - "Yours With Malice" 

Industrial 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/youth-code-yours-with-malice.html

1-Propagandhi-"At Peace" 

Thrash / Punk

 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/propaghandi-at-peace.html

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SCOWL : "Are We All Angels"

 I watched all the videos leading up to this release, after the first one, I saw hooked me in as they have grown away from being a punk or hardcore band and making catchy 90's alternative music for 2025. First off Kat Moss only uses a harsher, hard-core flavored snarl as a point of accentuation. Her main style of delivery is a slacker croon that has more in common with Veruca Salt. The second song, "B.A.B.E," is more upbeat on the verses in a punk fashion with a more deliberate hooky chorus.  With bands like this, I have learned to steer clear of interviews. When I even get peeks of it, there is plenty of stupid pandering with tangents about hardcore being more inclusive, apparently so much so that it includes music that isn't hardcore at all, with songs like "Fantasy" that would have been all over the radio in 1994.

This feels like it is who this band really is, as their attempts at punk often felt like they were trying too hard in the past. Production-wise wise this album has the slick sound of Turnstile's last album, but without all the bells and whistles. The hooks stand up on their own and need little bolstering to make them effective.  All the songs are quick three-minute ditties. Some of the more quirky expansions of their sound can be heard on "Tonight (I'm Afraid)". It is about as punk as the Offspring, with Moss' voice sounding its best. "Fleshed Out' has a more angular groove that the vocals smooth out. Her voice is given a little more love in post-production, and it pays off as it is the centerpiece of this album. 

"Let You Drown" is the first song that kinda coasts along, and does not hook me in like the previous songs did, but at this point, we are six songs into the album so they have had a pretty solid winning streak. "Cellophane" has more of a grunge grit to the guitar. Her vocals glide over this with little aggression to them, but this contrast is what makes these songs work so well. The harder riffs that lead into these songs begin to find a formula in place as the verse, when the vocals come, find them on the loud-to-soft blueprint bands like Hole used. In fact, the riff to "Suffer the Fool" reminds me of Everclear. 

When you think of grunge, what stands out is that those bands came from a punk background, and they evolved into something with more moods to color their angst, which is this album's strength as well. "Haunted" is the second song that does not connect with me on my initial listen, and the second listen did not find me really warming up to it, though it feels like Weezer in how it gives a grunge chug to 50s pop. The growl of the bass rumbles its way into the last song, which is another more uptempo stab in the punk direction. I will give this album a 9.5, as it's an improvement in song writing that displays a commitment to melody, and takes the band in a more honest stylistic direction that makes for some great post-grunge. 

pst151

Scowl : " Psychic Dance Routine "

 

This Baltimore band is pretty impressive. They go from a metallic rasped take on hard core, to a sultry grunged out version of 90s alt rock. They take this side of the band further  on the title track by cranking out a  a more purposeful rock hook, that struts with more than it's fair share of attitude. There is some palm muted tension , but the vocals of Kat Moss, are given plenty of room to breathe. They should have the queens share of the spotlight, since it is her voice that elevates what the band is doing over the hundreds of bands playing 90s influenced punk rock these days. 

It does not matter if she is pouring the sugar on the melody or spitting razors at you with her snarl, both carry a unique personality that shines out, illuminating the song that might have gotten mired down in the more typical tropes. There is a more Veruca Salt feel to the upbeat rock drive that picks up the tempo for "Opening Night". I think another strength of the band is to get in and out keeping the songs to the point while still allowing for some dynamic ebb and flow. The only way this plays against the band is it leaves you wanting more, which is better than wearing you out or making you bored. 

They close things in perhaps the most aggressive outburst from the band. I appreciate where the energy is coming from, but it is the least interesting of the songs, but even then there is more than enough to keep you engaged, the band has already raised the bar for themselves when it comes to songwriting, so when they make an outburst like "Sold Out" it might be better than what their peers can do , but  Scowl and do a little better, so I would not write the song off as filler either. I will give this a 9, I wish it was more of a full length and less of an  EP, but would also prefer quality over quantity if that was the goal then they hit it with room to spare.