In spite of the seemingly unstoppable bubble that is AI festering and encroaching on all aspects of our life, including the music we listen to, it was incredibly hard for me to narrow down 10 releases that I felt stood out in 2025. I could have easily expanded this into a top 20 but I’ll instead include a few honourable mentions to save time.
Honourable Mentions: Vildhjarta - + där sjunger under evighetens granar +, Deftones – Private Music, Psychonaut – World Maker, Thornhill – Bodies, The Callous Daoboys – I Don’t Want to See You In Heaven
10) Novembers Doom – Major Arcana Despite existing as a band since the 1990s I’d never actually listened to Novembers Doom before this year, assuming they were simply a weaker American counterpart to their European contemporaries like Katatonia. I’m glad I rectified that by listening to Major Arcana this year because not only did it prove how wrong I was, it also meant I had a new band with a sizeable back catalogue to explore. As it turns out, Major Arcana is one of their stronger releases, musically sitting somewhere between Opeth and Katatonia with some ferocious vocals courtesy of frontman and only remaining original member Paul Kuhr. This is definitely a band I’ll be paying more attention to with future releases, and hopefully they’ll continue to deliver albums that sound as good as this.
9) Blut Aus Nord – Ethereal Horizons Blut Aus Nord have an interesting back catalogue for a black metal band. On one hand, you’ll find albums like The Work Which Transforms God or the Disharmonium albums, featuring some truly terrifying and abyssal Lovecraftian soundscapes that are certainly not for the faint of heart. On the other hand however, you also have albums like the Memoria Vetusta trilogy or 2019’s Hallucinogen, which sit in a much more melodic and cosmic black metal sound. Ethereal Horizons sits comfortably in that latter category, providing some respite from the Disharmonium albums. This album truly is as ethereal as its title suggests, with soaring melodic riffs, pad-rich psychedelic soundscapes and clean vocals contrasting with the heavier black metal sections of each song. All of these elements come together in an album that can only be described as being submerged in reverb; Listening to this album feels like drifting through the deepest reaches of space, and in the best way possible. None of this atmosphere comes at the expense of the album’s production either, which sounds fantastic.
8) Paradise Lost – Ascension Most bands can never claim to put out 17 albums over the course of their career, and even fewer can boast that they’re still going strong at that rate, but Paradise Lost are one of the very few bands that can. Not only is Ascension another phenomenal release from these Yorkshire goth-doom legends, but there’s absolutely no sign of these guys running out of steam at all. Nick Holmes sounds fantastic, even giving some of his best vocal performances to date on songs like Salvation, and the thunderous doom riffs courtesy of Gregor Mackintosh, Aaron Aedy and Steve Edmondson sounds as strong and as healthy as ever. The album’s pacing is a bit odd at times, but the sheer strength of the material on here stops that from having any lasting detriment.
7) An Abstract Illusion – The Sleeping City This Swedish band have established themselves in the 2020s as one of the forerunners of a new generation of progressive death metal bands. After 2 stellar releases in 2014 and 2016 respectively, in the form of their Atonement is Nigh EP and their debut LP Illuminate the Path, the band fell largely quiet before storming back onto the scene in 2022 with their second album Woe, which was lauded by critics at the time. Their third full-length The Sleeping City continues their winning streak, with a much heavier emphasis on synthesizers than Woe. It never reaches the highs that that album had, but The Sleeping City is a much more consistently solid release throughout, with each track on here having its own distinct personality without sacrificing the continuity of the album as a whole.
6) Crippling Alcoholism – Camgirl I didn’t think I’d be talking about this band again so soon, but it turns out they’ve been busy since last year’s release With Love from a Padded Room. Camgirl is another serving of Crippling Alcoholism’s distinct style of gothic rock, with soundscapes that sound as macabre as ever and some truly fucked up lyrical themes, this time delving into topics such as self loathing, sexual exploitation and abuse. Not topics to be taken lightly by any stretch, but this is not a band that sugar coats anything they write about, and the music compliments these topics in a way that doesn’t trivialize them. Having said that, Camgirl is filled to the brim with hooks and earworms, even moreso than previous releases, with the band citing influences such as LMFAO on songs like Ladies’ Night. Whilst this may not be a band that you’ll hear at a night club any time soon, they certainly deserve your attention nonetheless, and with the rate and quality of their releases, I may be talking about them again next year at this rate.
5) Novembre – Words of Indigo Despite a nearly 10 year gap since their last album as well as having an almost completely new lineup at this point aside from frontman Carmelo Orlando, Words of Indigo is another fantastic Novembre release. Featuring the band’s signature blend of progressive, gothic and extreme metal, it’s yet more proof that Novembre continue to be one of the most underrated bands in the gothic doom subgenre. Filled with contemplative sections that would prefer you take the winding path and appreciate the scenery, as well as some truly heavy moments where the band really lean more into their death metal roots, this is an album that rarely if ever has a dull moment. There are also some Italian lyrics and a vocal feature from former 3rd and the mortal vocalist Ann-Mari Edvardsen which is sure to please long-term fans of this band. The musicianship on display here is also stellar, with some impressive guitar noodling and drumming, as well as Carmelo Orlando’s harsh vocals which are as solid and feral as ever. The clean vocals may be an acquired taste for some, but they match the atmosphere of this album well and serve the more melodic moments of the album. Hopefully it won’t be another 10 year wait for the next Novembre release!
4) Kauan – Wayhome Ever since discovering this band with their 2015 release Sorni Nai I have fallen in love with their unique fusion of post-rock, doom metal and folk music and their unique storytelling abilities, which have been apparent with each album in their discography. Now 9 albums into their career, Wayhome is yet more proof of the sheer talent of core member and songwriter Anton Belov, as well as the cohort of musicians that he’s assembled on this latest iteration of this project. Like their previous releases, Wayhome cannot necessarily be categorized as a metal album but nor can it really be called post-rock, it sits somewhere in the grey area in between, featuring elements of both of these genres. Whatever genre this band truly sits in however, Wayhome is a stellar release that demands 100% of your attention during its 50 minute runtime. This is an album to listen to by the window on a grey winter day (on a good sound system), that way you can become truly engrossed in the worldbuilding that Belov does on this release. Musically this album leans closer to albums like Pirut or the aforementioned Sorni Nai, with mixtures of atmospheric rock and the tremolo and shrieks of black metal all grounded with a distinctly doom metal approach. The lyrics however are very introspective, exploring similar themes as Kauan’s lighter albums such as Kaiho and Aava Tuulen Maa. Sorni Nai will always be a special album for me and I doubt Kauan will ever release anything that tops that, but Wayhome is the closest they’ve got to that so far.
3) Der Weg Einer Freiheit – Innern Ranking these next two albums was definitely the hardest part of this list for me. 2025 has been a stellar year for new black metal releases, with this latest album from German powerhouse Der Weg Einer Freiheit being one of their best, possibly even their crowning achievement so far. It doesn’t do anything fundamentally different from their previous releases but simply builds on what was already a strong foundation. This is by far Der Weg’s most cinematic, emotive and atmospheric release yet, coupled with some absolutely ferocious drumming and vocals. On top of that, there’s a few fresh musical elements thrown in for good measure, such as the industrial-esque intro of opening song Marter or the slightly western tinge of the opening riff of Eos. Even if the foundation of Der Weg’s sound hasn’t changed much, Innern is proof that they’re always willing to throw some new ideas into the mixing bowl to keep things interesting, and the stellar musicianship and songwriting really helps in giving this band a sound that is distinctly their own.
2) Deafheaven – Lonely People With Power Ever since releasing Sunbather back in 2013 it feels like Deafheaven have continued to exist, ironically enough, in the shadow of that album. This is through no fault of their own; even though they were not the first band to combine black metal and shoegaze, they were certainly the band that brought that genre combination to the forefront of contemporary metal, and usually the first band people think of when the term blackgaze is mentioned at all, and this was largely due to the reception Sunbather received. Nor is this meant to disparage the albums they’ve dropped since then. With Lonely People with Power however, it feels like the band have finally stepped out of Sunbather’s shadow. This is an album that both celebrates the career Deafheaven have had to date whilst simultaneously looking forward to the future. Featuring some of their most savage songs to date in the form of Magnolia and Revelator, as well as softer numbers like Heathen and Amethyst, it is the most varied release Deafheaven have ever done but this variety is never to the detriment of this record’s focus. Even at its softest points this is a dark album, with some spellbinding drumming and guitar work that gets downright thrash-esque at times. The limelight is once again George Clarke’s vocals, who once again combines the lyrical poeticism of The Smiths with his signature black metal shrieks and snarls, the latter of which is particularly feral on here, a nice return after the near absence of harsh vocals on the previous Deafheaven release. These guys may have struggled to live up to the critical acclaim that Sunbather received way back in 2013, but they got pretty damn close with Lonely People with Power, and at times I’d be bold enough to say this surpasses that record.
1) Messa – The Spin Perhaps it’s my own personal bias being in a female-fronted band that places this album at my number one spot, but every single song from this latest Messa release has been stuck in my head at some point this year. From the metallic post-punk driving rhythms of songs like Void Meridian and At Races to the utter emotional highs of The Dress, The Spin is a career-defining record for these Italian occult-doomsters, truly setting themselves apart from the rest of the pack. Not a single moment is wasted across the 7 tracks of this record, and every genre combination and songwriting decision feels purposeful, executed with the finesse of a legacy act. Sara Bianchini’s vocals are of course a large focal point of this record, and she once again showcases an astonishing performance, but attention must also be given to Alberto Piccolo and his amazing guitar playing, combining the chorus-heavy melodicism of an 80s goth rocker with the blues-driven swagger of his guitar heroes like Rory Gallagher, and rounding off those two very different approaches with crushingly heavy doom riffs. The icing on the cake of this gorgeous record is the fantastic rhythm section, the tastefully placed synth work and the lounge jazz sections of songs like the aforementioned The Dress. Oh yeah, the production on this thing also rules. I could go on and on about how much I love this album, but instead I’ll simply urge you to listen to it if you haven’t already.
