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Praise Dio, it's the most wonderful time of the year! That's right, it's time for end-of-the-year lists! I've been compiling my own personal best music lists annually for the last ten-ish years, previously publishing them for friends to see on Facebook. I've largely given the finger to Zuckerberg at this point, so I wasn't sure where my 2025 list was going to live. Fortunately, I made the decision to jump to another dead online medium this year! It was a pretty damn strong year for music, and here are my top 20.
20: 1914: Viribus Unitis
I like my black and death metal to be a little weird. "World War I-themed black/death/doom metal" certainly qualifies.
19. Author and Punisher: Nocturnal Birding
Author and Punisher are a fascinating band, if you can even call it that. "Sonic art project" might be more appropriate. It's truly impressive how mastermind Tristan Shone makes his music with custom-built machines rather than traditional instruments, and this album has some real bangers on it. A very solid release from a reliable artist.
18. The Austerity Program: Bible Songs 2
Noisy, angry, catchy industrial rock. I feel like these guys should be bigger than they are.
17. EYES: Spinner
The angriest album of 2025? With 10 songs packed into 25 minutes, this album absolutely flies by, but not before dropping some catchy hooks and truly enraged vocals. I especially like the guitar tone on this one.
16. Flooding: Object 1
Bible Songs 2 and Flooding's Object 1 are both technically EPs, but you're not the boss of me, they make the list anyway! Flooding's 2025 release is a fantastic little slice of heavy shoegaze. In one interview, the lead singer referenced Lana Del Rey and Fugazi in the same sentence, which feels spot on. It's great stuff and I can't wait for their next release.
15. Lung: The Swankeeper
A weird pattern for this year: this list has multiple female-fronted duos. Lung is one of those, plus one of two cello-based bands. Lung is on a very solid streak - I'm a pretty big fan of both of their previous two albums, and The Swankeeper feels like a big leap in ambition from those. Lung are the more theatrical of the two cello bands on my list so they may not be for everyone, but this is a heavy and catchy collection of songs.
14. Conjurer: Unself
Conjurer opened for Khemmis a couple years back and I really enjoyed their set, although it didn't quite rise to the level where I felt like they were a band I needed to invest in. With Unself, they've leveled up. This is one of the best sludge releases of the year and Conjurer is now poised to make the jump into the big leagues. A true turning point album.
13. Grayceon: Then The Darkness
The second (and heavier) cello-based album on my list, Then The Darkness is another strong release from this Bay Area doom band. Lead singer Jackie Perez Gratz also appeared on another fine album this year, Ruby Red by Amber Asylum.
12. In Lieu: Hooligan
My favorite Minneapolis band that I have yet to see live, In Lieu crafts short, punchy songs in the vein of Babes in Toyland and Made out of Babies. They have a show coming up in early February so I can finally correct my heinous oversight.
11. Messa: The Spin
Messa is an incredibly consistent band and this is another great collection of songs that pushes the boundaries of metal. There are equal parts jazz, doom, and ambient in with the heavier bits. In a weaker year, The Spin would be far higher up my list.
I like my black and death metal to be a little weird. "World War I-themed black/death/doom metal" certainly qualifies.
19. Author and Punisher: Nocturnal Birding
Author and Punisher are a fascinating band, if you can even call it that. "Sonic art project" might be more appropriate. It's truly impressive how mastermind Tristan Shone makes his music with custom-built machines rather than traditional instruments, and this album has some real bangers on it. A very solid release from a reliable artist.
18. The Austerity Program: Bible Songs 2
Noisy, angry, catchy industrial rock. I feel like these guys should be bigger than they are.
17. EYES: Spinner
The angriest album of 2025? With 10 songs packed into 25 minutes, this album absolutely flies by, but not before dropping some catchy hooks and truly enraged vocals. I especially like the guitar tone on this one.
16. Flooding: Object 1
Bible Songs 2 and Flooding's Object 1 are both technically EPs, but you're not the boss of me, they make the list anyway! Flooding's 2025 release is a fantastic little slice of heavy shoegaze. In one interview, the lead singer referenced Lana Del Rey and Fugazi in the same sentence, which feels spot on. It's great stuff and I can't wait for their next release.
15. Lung: The Swankeeper
A weird pattern for this year: this list has multiple female-fronted duos. Lung is one of those, plus one of two cello-based bands. Lung is on a very solid streak - I'm a pretty big fan of both of their previous two albums, and The Swankeeper feels like a big leap in ambition from those. Lung are the more theatrical of the two cello bands on my list so they may not be for everyone, but this is a heavy and catchy collection of songs.
14. Conjurer: Unself
Conjurer opened for Khemmis a couple years back and I really enjoyed their set, although it didn't quite rise to the level where I felt like they were a band I needed to invest in. With Unself, they've leveled up. This is one of the best sludge releases of the year and Conjurer is now poised to make the jump into the big leagues. A true turning point album.
13. Grayceon: Then The Darkness
The second (and heavier) cello-based album on my list, Then The Darkness is another strong release from this Bay Area doom band. Lead singer Jackie Perez Gratz also appeared on another fine album this year, Ruby Red by Amber Asylum.
12. In Lieu: Hooligan
My favorite Minneapolis band that I have yet to see live, In Lieu crafts short, punchy songs in the vein of Babes in Toyland and Made out of Babies. They have a show coming up in early February so I can finally correct my heinous oversight.
11. Messa: The Spin
Messa is an incredibly consistent band and this is another great collection of songs that pushes the boundaries of metal. There are equal parts jazz, doom, and ambient in with the heavier bits. In a weaker year, The Spin would be far higher up my list.
10. Rún - S/T
Almost certainly the most obscure album on my list, Rún is an Irish band that combines drone, folk, noise, and riffs into a hypnotic sonic tapestry that's not easy to compare to any other band. My wife said they sounded like "Irish Dead Can Dance" which I think is somewhat close to the mark, but doesn't capture this band's dark, borderline menacing vibe. I genuinely hope that my inclusion of Rún on my list helps someone discover them - they're such an interesting band and they deserve to be better known. I myself almost certainly would never have heard of them if I wasn't subscribed to the email newsletter for their label, Rocket Recordings. The more sources of new music info you have, the more interesting stuff you'll discover!
Almost certainly the most obscure album on my list, Rún is an Irish band that combines drone, folk, noise, and riffs into a hypnotic sonic tapestry that's not easy to compare to any other band. My wife said they sounded like "Irish Dead Can Dance" which I think is somewhat close to the mark, but doesn't capture this band's dark, borderline menacing vibe. I genuinely hope that my inclusion of Rún on my list helps someone discover them - they're such an interesting band and they deserve to be better known. I myself almost certainly would never have heard of them if I wasn't subscribed to the email newsletter for their label, Rocket Recordings. The more sources of new music info you have, the more interesting stuff you'll discover!
9. Swans - Birthing
In college, I had a few Swans albums that I liked well enough, but not enough to actively keep up with their career. In 2014, Swans released To Be Kind, and every music outlet I followed (and my algorithm) pushed that album on me hard. For some reason I resisted for a long time, and when I finally gave in, that album clicked for me in a big way. To Be Kind was ultimately my top album of that year, as were their next two releases, The Glowing Man and Leaving Meaning. Their 2023 album, The Beggar also finished in my top ten, although not in the number one slot. These albums, along with 2012's The Seer (also excellent) and 2025's Birthing, are collectively known as Swan's "Big Sound" era. The Big Sound albums all feature loooooong tracks - eight to 20 minute songs are common on these albums, and each has at least one especially epic track. The Beggar features a song called "The Beggar Lover (Three) that's over 45 minutes long.
Birthing is the last album in the Big Sound era, which is also known for improvisational live shows that twist and mutate the album tracks based on bandleader Michael Gira's whims in the moment. Like all the other Big Sound albums, Birthing is involved and intense but doesn't captivate me the same way the other albums in the era do. Still, it is multilayered and fascinating. I know I will keep discovering interesting things about this album for years to come.
In college, I had a few Swans albums that I liked well enough, but not enough to actively keep up with their career. In 2014, Swans released To Be Kind, and every music outlet I followed (and my algorithm) pushed that album on me hard. For some reason I resisted for a long time, and when I finally gave in, that album clicked for me in a big way. To Be Kind was ultimately my top album of that year, as were their next two releases, The Glowing Man and Leaving Meaning. Their 2023 album, The Beggar also finished in my top ten, although not in the number one slot. These albums, along with 2012's The Seer (also excellent) and 2025's Birthing, are collectively known as Swan's "Big Sound" era. The Big Sound albums all feature loooooong tracks - eight to 20 minute songs are common on these albums, and each has at least one especially epic track. The Beggar features a song called "The Beggar Lover (Three) that's over 45 minutes long.
Birthing is the last album in the Big Sound era, which is also known for improvisational live shows that twist and mutate the album tracks based on bandleader Michael Gira's whims in the moment. Like all the other Big Sound albums, Birthing is involved and intense but doesn't captivate me the same way the other albums in the era do. Still, it is multilayered and fascinating. I know I will keep discovering interesting things about this album for years to come.
8. Wucan: Axioms
One thing that I can say about Axioms by German band Wucan that I won't say about any other album on this list: it's a lot of fun! By and large, much of what I listen to ranges from "Serious" to "Gloomy." More than one album on this list is centered pretty explicitly on grief. Wucan, on the other hand, are having a blast on this album. Axioms is full of up-tempo 70s-influenced jams - these folks would have been right at home touring with Jethro Tull back in their heyday. With flutes and keyboard, it's dangerously close to cheesy without ever really crossing that line. Axioms was one of my "default" albums this year: something I would put on while I was figuring out what else I planned to listen to that day. It's great fun.
One thing that I can say about Axioms by German band Wucan that I won't say about any other album on this list: it's a lot of fun! By and large, much of what I listen to ranges from "Serious" to "Gloomy." More than one album on this list is centered pretty explicitly on grief. Wucan, on the other hand, are having a blast on this album. Axioms is full of up-tempo 70s-influenced jams - these folks would have been right at home touring with Jethro Tull back in their heyday. With flutes and keyboard, it's dangerously close to cheesy without ever really crossing that line. Axioms was one of my "default" albums this year: something I would put on while I was figuring out what else I planned to listen to that day. It's great fun.
7. Ragana & Drowse: Ash Souvenir
Here we have another doom duo, plus a guest artist. After seeing Ragana live earlier this year, I've been spending a lot of time with their catalog of death/doom releases, and their 2025 collaborative album Ash Souvenir is especially strong. It's a theme on this list - I like music that alternates between beauty and heaviness, and Ragana have that down. The title track especially spends a lot of quiet time building to heavy emotional catharsis. It's a great release from a band I've come to love recently.
Here we have another doom duo, plus a guest artist. After seeing Ragana live earlier this year, I've been spending a lot of time with their catalog of death/doom releases, and their 2025 collaborative album Ash Souvenir is especially strong. It's a theme on this list - I like music that alternates between beauty and heaviness, and Ragana have that down. The title track especially spends a lot of quiet time building to heavy emotional catharsis. It's a great release from a band I've come to love recently.
6. Year of the Cobra: Year of the Cobra
Did I mention that it was a good year for female-fronted doom duos? It was a good year for female-fronted doom duos. The self-titled album from Year of the Cobra is a super-solid collection of songs that rock. Sometimes all you need to say is "Yeah, this rocks."
Did I mention that it was a good year for female-fronted doom duos? It was a good year for female-fronted doom duos. The self-titled album from Year of the Cobra is a super-solid collection of songs that rock. Sometimes all you need to say is "Yeah, this rocks."
5. Smote: Clyppan
This album was my introduction to Smote, a (mostly) one-man band out of the UK, and it became an obsession pretty much immediately. Smote's music is heavy, repetitive, psychedelic folk - something that is very much your thing or very much not. It is, of course, very much my thing, so much so that this album breaks one of my longstanding best albums rules: no live albums. Clyppan isn't a live album in the traditional "Hello Cleveland!" sense, but rather a collection of pre-existing Smote tracks performed and recorded live. This album so enraptured me that I was willing to shell out a painful amount in shipping costs to import a vinyl copy of this album from the UK (before tariffs kicked in, fortunately!), so I can bend the rules for its inclusion. Smote actually released another proper album later in 2025 and it is also quite good, but this is the one that dug its hooks into me deeply.
This album was my introduction to Smote, a (mostly) one-man band out of the UK, and it became an obsession pretty much immediately. Smote's music is heavy, repetitive, psychedelic folk - something that is very much your thing or very much not. It is, of course, very much my thing, so much so that this album breaks one of my longstanding best albums rules: no live albums. Clyppan isn't a live album in the traditional "Hello Cleveland!" sense, but rather a collection of pre-existing Smote tracks performed and recorded live. This album so enraptured me that I was willing to shell out a painful amount in shipping costs to import a vinyl copy of this album from the UK (before tariffs kicked in, fortunately!), so I can bend the rules for its inclusion. Smote actually released another proper album later in 2025 and it is also quite good, but this is the one that dug its hooks into me deeply.
4. Deafheaven: Lonely People With Power
Deafheaven used to be one of those bands that I felt like I was supposed to like more than I did. I tried to get into Sunbather multiple times and it never clicked for me. Later, the key to the blackgaze genre was unlocked for me by Alcest's Kodama, and I was converted to a Deafheaven fan by Ordinary Corrupt Human Love. That album hinted at the indie rock exploration Deafheaven would come to next with Infinite Granite, an album that I like but certainly has its detractors. I feel like that album had to happen in order for Deafheaven to fall back in love with its blackgaze roots. Lonely People With Power is Deafheaven doing what they do best - muscular riffs, anguished screaming vocals and layers of chilly beauty around it all. Every single song could confidently be released as a single. I feel comfortable calling it Deafheaven's best album, which is saying something considering that they already have a genre-defining masterpiece in their catalog in Sunbather (which I later came around to).
Deafheaven used to be one of those bands that I felt like I was supposed to like more than I did. I tried to get into Sunbather multiple times and it never clicked for me. Later, the key to the blackgaze genre was unlocked for me by Alcest's Kodama, and I was converted to a Deafheaven fan by Ordinary Corrupt Human Love. That album hinted at the indie rock exploration Deafheaven would come to next with Infinite Granite, an album that I like but certainly has its detractors. I feel like that album had to happen in order for Deafheaven to fall back in love with its blackgaze roots. Lonely People With Power is Deafheaven doing what they do best - muscular riffs, anguished screaming vocals and layers of chilly beauty around it all. Every single song could confidently be released as a single. I feel comfortable calling it Deafheaven's best album, which is saying something considering that they already have a genre-defining masterpiece in their catalog in Sunbather (which I later came around to).
3. Agriculture: The Spiritual Sound
I am, in general, not a big black metal guy, so it is saying something that I have black metal-influenced bands in my #3 and #4 spots. But like I said at the start of my list, I like my black metal to be a little weird. Agriculture bill themselves as "ecstatic black metal," and elements of spirituality are all over this aptly named record. Many tracks explore concepts of Zen Buddhism, while others explore queer history. Like most of the other records on this list, there's a lot of tension on this album, with alternating moments of quiet and beauty and ripping heaviness. Every time I listen to this album I'm a little surprised that it has 10 songs - it flows so seamlessly from one song to the next that the whole album feels like one long piece of music. Each track seems to be in response to the song before it, creating something that feels incredibly cohesive even with so many changes in sound from moment to moment. Agriculture was a band I was familiar with before this album, but now I'm a genuine fan. The Spiritual Sound is a masterpiece.
I am, in general, not a big black metal guy, so it is saying something that I have black metal-influenced bands in my #3 and #4 spots. But like I said at the start of my list, I like my black metal to be a little weird. Agriculture bill themselves as "ecstatic black metal," and elements of spirituality are all over this aptly named record. Many tracks explore concepts of Zen Buddhism, while others explore queer history. Like most of the other records on this list, there's a lot of tension on this album, with alternating moments of quiet and beauty and ripping heaviness. Every time I listen to this album I'm a little surprised that it has 10 songs - it flows so seamlessly from one song to the next that the whole album feels like one long piece of music. Each track seems to be in response to the song before it, creating something that feels incredibly cohesive even with so many changes in sound from moment to moment. Agriculture was a band I was familiar with before this album, but now I'm a genuine fan. The Spiritual Sound is a masterpiece.
2. Mares of Thrace: The Loss
It was a great year for female-fronted doom duos! I've written about Mares of Thrace more than once since starting this blog, so its probably not a surprise to see them on this list. In fact, The Loss had a lock on my #1 slot for most of the year. This album was my first exposure to Mares of Thrace, and it converted me to a full-fledged fan pretty much immediately. It's easy to understand why - The Loss is an incredibly ambitious album and succeeds in hitting all its goals easily. An exploration of grief and acceptance, The Loss goes through the stages of the grieving process and manages to embody the emotions of each stage. But far from being just a bummer, its a cathartic and healing album, and that the band manages to explore such territory successfully in songs that fucking rip is a minor miracle. The sonic variety on this album is especially impressive considering that it's a two person band, and like The Spiritual Sound, it works equally well as a complete piece or as individual songs. The Loss is a masterpiece, a true desert island record for me.
It was a great year for female-fronted doom duos! I've written about Mares of Thrace more than once since starting this blog, so its probably not a surprise to see them on this list. In fact, The Loss had a lock on my #1 slot for most of the year. This album was my first exposure to Mares of Thrace, and it converted me to a full-fledged fan pretty much immediately. It's easy to understand why - The Loss is an incredibly ambitious album and succeeds in hitting all its goals easily. An exploration of grief and acceptance, The Loss goes through the stages of the grieving process and manages to embody the emotions of each stage. But far from being just a bummer, its a cathartic and healing album, and that the band manages to explore such territory successfully in songs that fucking rip is a minor miracle. The sonic variety on this album is especially impressive considering that it's a two person band, and like The Spiritual Sound, it works equally well as a complete piece or as individual songs. The Loss is a masterpiece, a true desert island record for me.
1. Chat Pile & Hayden Pedigo: In The Earth Again
I liked this album immediately but felt that it may not live up to the heights of both of Chat Pile's previous albums, both of which finished at number one for me the years they released. But I found myself coming back to In The Earth Again repeatedly, and it kept growing on me. Even as it did, I thought it might not make this list because of the old "Is it metal?" conundrum. While this collaborative album certainly has far gentler moments than Chat Pile's proper studio output, any album that includes tracks like "The Matador" absolutely counts as metal. In The Earth Again is full of quiet, melancholy acoustic moments, but they only serve to make the blistering industrial noise of the heavy tracks hit even harder. Not that these quiet tracks lack their own punch - the closing song, "A Tear for Lucas," may be fully acoustic, but it's also the most emotionally devastating song on the album.
Chat Pile is a band with a lot of rage, but that rage is driven by genuine empathy for those this ugly world has fucked over. In The Earth Again shows the band exploring new ways to express these complex emotions. The fact that they delivered a curveball album so soon after breaking out with their last album Cool World shows that they're a band that's going to continue to grow and take risks. That's a big part of why they're such an exciting band, and completely deserving of the title of Best Album of 2025.
I liked this album immediately but felt that it may not live up to the heights of both of Chat Pile's previous albums, both of which finished at number one for me the years they released. But I found myself coming back to In The Earth Again repeatedly, and it kept growing on me. Even as it did, I thought it might not make this list because of the old "Is it metal?" conundrum. While this collaborative album certainly has far gentler moments than Chat Pile's proper studio output, any album that includes tracks like "The Matador" absolutely counts as metal. In The Earth Again is full of quiet, melancholy acoustic moments, but they only serve to make the blistering industrial noise of the heavy tracks hit even harder. Not that these quiet tracks lack their own punch - the closing song, "A Tear for Lucas," may be fully acoustic, but it's also the most emotionally devastating song on the album.
Chat Pile is a band with a lot of rage, but that rage is driven by genuine empathy for those this ugly world has fucked over. In The Earth Again shows the band exploring new ways to express these complex emotions. The fact that they delivered a curveball album so soon after breaking out with their last album Cool World shows that they're a band that's going to continue to grow and take risks. That's a big part of why they're such an exciting band, and completely deserving of the title of Best Album of 2025.
2 Comments
Thank you for including RAGANA. Such an important doom metal duo, whose voice is becoming more powerful with each album.
Completely agreed, although I'm relatively new to them. It was pretty clear when I saw them earlier this year that their music is deeply personal, and a lot of people are seeing themselves reflected in their music.