Spike's Top 10 Of 2025

The dust has settled, the ears are still ringing, and the wreckage of the year's releases lies scattered across the floor. Out of the chaos, ten entities rose above the noise to claim dominance. This is my list of my highlights. It's a celebration of the visceral, the fuzzy, and the uncompromising.

1. THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN – Psychocandy (40th Anniversary Box Set)

Let’s get the obvious out of the way. I don't care that this record is four decades old. Putting this in the number one slot is a complete no-brainer. This box set is a reminder that the Reids invented the blueprint for beautiful noise. It remains the ultimate sonic middle finger, a collision of bubble-gum pop and a jet engine taking off in a library. It is the alpha and the omega of feedback-drenched defiance. It would be the 11/10 but apparently I’m not allowed to do that. It is and always will be number 1.

2. WHY PATTERNS – Screamers

This is grind-inflected hardcore punk with its DNA smeared in noise rock and power violence. Screamers is an abrasive, twitchy nightmare that feels like being electrocuted while trying to read a blueprint. Jagged bass stabs, insane drums and vocals that sound physically painful to deliver make this your new favourite migraine. It’s unhinged, incoherent in the best way, and utterly essential.

3. OLD YEAR – No Dissent

This isn't just heavy; it's tectonic pressure applied directly to your eardrums. The genius of Old Year is how they manage to sound both subterranean and vast, wrapping the listener in sonic cement. There is no dissent allowed here, just a raw emotional decay delivered with crushing force. It’s an album that demands you sit in the dark and contemplate the ceiling while your house shakes.

4. SOFTSUN – Eternal Sunrise

The "doomgaze" record we didn't know we needed. A collision of Californian desert haze and cold Norwegian solitude, this album is a masterclass in slow immersion. Arce’s shimmering guitar arcs float over Pia Isaksen’s fuzzed-out tectonic pulse, creating a sonic tension that feels like finding peace in the eye of a hurricane. It’s beautiful, menacing, and requires total commitment.

5. YAWNING MAN – Pavement Ends

A new Yawning Man record is always a ritual of escape. Pavement Ends is the perfect soundtrack for the far reaches of the desert at night. It’s instrumental rock that breathes with the landscape, offering a hazy, psychedelic journey that is as much about the space between the notes as the notes themselves. It’s a necessary fix for those who need to drift away from reality.

6. HÖG – Blackhole

This was a bullseye with a debut album. HÖG sounds like Motörhead if they were more bluesy and had a guitar virtuoso capable of shredding anyone into the dirt. Eight songs of pure "holy shit" energy. The title track features a riff that could anchor a continent, and the solos throughout are absolute stop-in-your-tracks rippers. A debut that will stick around for a very long time.

7. BYGONE – Bygone

When our own Rich Piva stamps a record with a 10/10, you don't just listen, you submit. Bygone is a masterstroke of heavy rock that avoids every cliché in the book while delivering maximum impact. It is the sound of a band operating at the absolute peak of their powers, proving that genuine soul and heavy-riffing can coexist without losing an ounce of aggression.

8. MUFFASONIC – Brotheranza

This blew me away as a totally instrumental album covered in wonderful fuzzy sounds. This Italian power trio creates dirty, heavy psych rock that feels like a high-speed desert chase. The absence of vocals is a massive strength here, forcing you to focus on the relentless, hypnotic engine of the rhythm section and the corrosive, interlocking guitar work. It is glorious sonic excess.

9. MCLUSKY – The World Is Still Here and So Are We

After two decades of "unforming," Falkous and company have returned with a record that sounds remarkably consistent for a band that has spent twenty years in self-imposed exile. Listening to this is like putting on an old lover's hoody and finding twenty quid in the pocket—it’s familiar, bitter, and surprisingly rewarding. It’s perhaps the most "mclusky" record they’ve ever made.

The lyrics are as sharp and sabotaging as ever, proving that Falkous hasn't mellowed with age; he’s just refined his bile. Tracks like "Way of the Exploding Dickhead" and "Hate the Polis" remind us why we missed their brand of noise-rock satire so much. It’s indie rock with a glass-shard edge, and it’s a resounding return for a band that firmly believes all DJs should be French.

10. MALEVOLENCE - Where Only The Truth Is Spoken

Malevolence solidified their status as heavyweights this year, proving that metallic hardcore can be both 'nasty and spiteful' while maintaining massive, headline-ready hooks. This is a sledgehammer of an album which still manages to stick to their DIY Sheffield based roots.

Gig Of The Year: SLAYER – Live at Finsbury

I’m cheating here because it’s not an album, but seeing Slayer play live in Finsbury Park was a violent resurrection that cannot be ignored. We came for fire, fury, and nostalgia, but we got a reminder that there is simply no substitute for the kings. From the red fireworks of "Raining Blood" to the final blow of "Angel Of Death," it was a full-blown ceremony of chaos.

Standing in that sweltering, sweat-drenched congregation in North London, it was clear: Slayer aren't just a legacy act. They are still vital and they are still violent. Tom Araya’s diabolical grin as the pit erupted during "Disciple" said it all. We were baptized in blood and reborn in fire, and that Sunday night in London will burn in the memory long after the last embers of pyro have faded.