2025 Album of the Year Contenders
Since last year's candidates for the Albums of the Year list were so numerous, I've decided to make it a regular feature. The first few releases of the year have already started to trickle out, with February and March already stacked with highly anticipated records.
(The list will be updated a minimum of once per month until the year's end.)
- Ex Deo — Year of the Four Emperors EP
The side-project of Kataklysm frontman Mauricio Iacono starts the year off with a 4-song EP filled with bangers. I love the heavy-handed Roman theme too.
Listen: spotify - Harakiri for the Sky — Scorched Earth
Thunderous post-black metal with a keen sense of melody, this record captures the intensity of the band's live shows and serves up over an hour of bad-ass riffing.
Listen: Bandcamp - Bleeding Through — Nine
One of the more prominent metalcore bands of the 2000s returns with their first full-length album in 7 years and it's heavy as hell.
Listen: spotify - Lacuna Coil — Sleepless Empire
I've always been a sucker for gothic death metal with somber female vocals and this album scratches that itch perfectly. One of those times a band manages to make their latest album heavier and more melodic than ever.
Listen: Bandcamp - The Halo Effect — March of the Unheard
The sophomore release from ex-In Flames and Dark Tranquility members. More quality melodic death metal from a cast of industry veterans.
Listen: spotify - Jinjer — Duél EP
More groovy technical death metal from some of Ukraine's finest.
Listen: spotify - Darkside — Nothing
A fantastic experimental rock album.
Listen: Bandcamp - All That Remains — AntiFragile
A solid collection of metalcore bangers from one of the genre's most prominent acts.
Listen: spotify - Obscura — A Sonication
Despite the controversy over songwriting credits, this is still a very impressive technical death metal record.
Listen: Bandcamp - Church Tongue — You'll Know It Was Me EP
A blistering metalcore EP with guest appearances from several vocalists, including Deafheaven's George Clarke.
Listen: Bandcamp - Scour — Gold
Phillip Anselmo's black metal / grindcore project drops their strongest record to date.
Listen: Bandcamp - Dawn of Ouroboros — Bioluminescence
A progressive blend of metal and various unrelated genres, the record balances aggression and melody perfectly.
Listen: Bandcamp - Rhûn — Burial Pact EP
A crushing EP from this Fall Of Rauros side-project that leans much more heavily towards death metal.
Listen: Bandcamp - Drudkh — Shadow Play
A really engaging, atmospheric black metal album. Multiple tracks over the 10-minute mark, all worth the time investment.
Listen: Bandcamp - Cult of Fire — The One, Who is Made of Smoke
A few production issues mar an otherwise excellent album from this mysterious black metal band with strong Hindu / Buddhist influences.
Listen: Bandcamp - Apple of Basilisk — His Crowned Skull Raised To The Sun EP
Blending death metal, noise and grindcore, this Toronto-based group followed-up an intense live show with this killer debut EP.
Listen: Bandcamp - Spelling — Portrait Of My Heart
A beautiful, stripped-down follow-up to her last record (which made my AOTY 2021 list). Easily one of my favourite non-metal records of the year.
Listen: Bandcamp - Backxwash — Only Dust Remains
A big shift from the industrial style of past efforts, Backxwash goes in a somewhat more traditional hip-hop direction and shows a lot more stylistic diversity.
Listen: Bandcamp - Imperial Triumphant — Goldstar
I've always respected this experimental black / death metal band but this is their first album that had me fully engaged. A concise, devastating record with some great guest drummers.
Listen: Bandcamp - Whitechapel — Hymns In Dissonance
The deathcore legends are back with another incomprehensibly heavy album.
Listen: Bandcamp - Spiritbox — Tsunami Sea
I'm still trying to decide if this is a just a good album or great album, but tracks like "Soft Spine" and "Perfect Soul" keep me coming back again and again.
Listen: Bandcamp - clipping — Dead Channel Sky
A little less nuanced than previous efforts, but still a quality clipping record.
Listen: Bandcamp - The Night Flight Orchestra — Give Us The Moon
This 80s hard rock side-project of Soilwork's vocalist, Björn Strid, never resonated with me until this album. "Beating Of Your Heart" is a great single and the whole record is packed with quality riffs and vocal hooks.
Listen: spotify - Architects — The Sky, The Earth & All Above
Aside from "Everything Ends" being one of my favourite singles of the year, this album perfectly blends alt rock with brutal deathcore elements.
Listen: Bandcamp - Killswitch Engage — This Consequence
The undisputed kings of metalcore have done it again, dropping a tight 35-minute collection of ear-catching riffs, intense aggression and soaring melodies. Definitely one of the year's best albums.
Listen: Bandcamp - Deafheaven — Lonely People With Power
An exceptional return to form for these American black metal pioneers. Time will only tell, but this effort may even be superior to their much lauded Sunbather album.
Listen: Bandcamp - Cytotoxin — Biographyte
Punishing technical death metal chock-full of crunchy riffs and shredding solos. Great songwriting keeps things from devolving into a wall of indistinct noise.
Listen: Bandcamp - Saor — Amidst The Ruins
The most mature effort yet from this Celtic metal project. Another early contender for the year-end list.
Listen: Bandcamp - Mirar — Ascension
An instrumental project blending elements of djent and dubstep in a way you didn't know you needed.
Listen: Bandcamp - Benediction — Ravage Of Empires
Oh my god, the riffs; there are so many riffs on this thing! Fans of death metal with thrash leanings should love this record.
Listen: Bandcamp - Arch Enemy — Blood Dynasty
As someone who has never been a big Arch Enemy fan, this album really grabbed my attention. Heavy as a ton of bricks with melodic flourishes and sparing use of clean vocals.
Listen: Bandcamp - Allegaeon — The Ossuary Lens
A shoe-in for the Albums Of The Year list, this progressive death metal masterpiece is another feather in Allegaeon's cap.
Listen: Bandcamp - Cradle of Filth — The Screaming Of The Valkyries
Arguably a band that keeps getting better with every album, Cradle of Filth are still crafting interesting symphonic black metal after almost 35 years.
Listen: Bandcamp - Coffin Feeder — Big Trouble
This ridiculous 80s and 90s action movie-themed deathcore band including members of Aborted, Leng T'che drops another really fun record.
Listen: Bandcamp - Machine Head — Unat∅ned
I'm still trying to figure out how much I like this album, but it's by far their most interesting work since Unto The Locust.
Listen: spotify - Employed To Serve — Fallen Star
Solid guest spots from Will Ramos (Lorna Shore) and Jesse Leach (Killswitch Engage) round out the 5th studio album from metalcore veterans.
Listen: Bandcamp - Hate — Bellum Regiis
I saw these guys open for Dark Funeral in 2019 and never thought about them again. This new record, though, is tremendous; classic death metal with modern production values.
Listen: Bandcamp - Sleep Token — Even In Arcadia
A very polarizing release, but really good if (like me) you're interested in what a boy band would sound like with baritone guitars and a virtuoso drummer.
Listen: spotify - Ghost Bath — Rose Thorn Necklace
There are a few riffs that really evoke Deafheaven comparisons, but that's not a bad thing in my estimation. Easily the band's most energetic and uptempo album to date.
Listen: Bandcamp - VNV Nation — Construct
It's a VNV Nation album; you won't find any big surprises here, but it's another strong collection of bangers from EDM legends.
Listen: spotify - Propagandhi — At Peace
Canadian punk legends return with their first new album in 8 years. Chock-full of riffs and ear-catching lyrics, this is an Album Of The Year inclusion without a doubt.
Listen: Bandcamp - Exterminatus — Echoes From A Distant Star, Pt. 1
Canadian technical death metal from the west coast. Come for the pummeling riffs and stunning technicality, stay for the cover of Falco's "Rock Me Amadeus."
Listen: Bandcamp - Changeling — Changeling
Progressive black / death metal with a strong dose of melody. This album rewards multiple listens.
Listen: Bandcamp - JPEGMAFIA x Flume — We Live In A Society EP
A brief, somewhat uneven project but I have to give big points for the fact that half of track 1 is just JPEGMAFIA making fun of Flume's beats.
Listen: spotify - Kardashev — Alunea
Not even sure what to call this; at times, it's a standard deathcore record, but then it veers off into deeply melodic territory with clean vocals. Really good and also really, really weird.
Listen: Bandcamp - The Callous Daoboys — I Don't Want To See You In Heaven
Another blend of numerous genres, combining the intensity of a Knocked Loose with the schizophrenic pop leanings of Sleep Token minus the auto-croon.
Listen: Bandcamp - Full Of Hell — Broken Sword, Rotten Shield EP
Easily the most interesting band in the grindcore space, Full Of Hell cooked up an 18-minute EP of their most focused and polished material to date. I hope these releases become a regular thing.
Listen: Bandcamp
New Additions (July)
- Austere — The Stillness Of Dissolution
One of the standouts in the post-black metal / DSBM scene, crafting lengthy songs with great melodic hooks.
Listen: Bandcamp - Rivers Of Nihil — Rivers Of Nihil
Easily one of the year's best technical death metal releases, even in a year so abundant with great records. Top-level songwriting with a beautiful production job to highlight all the intricacies of this record.
Listen: spotify - The Haunted — Songs Of Last Resort
After a significant period of inactivity, Sweden's death thrash legends are back with an instant classic record. The band sounds ferocious and reinvigorated; I can't say this is their best album but it's not out of the question.
Listen: spotify - Fallujah — Xenotaph
Continuing the trend of high quality releases from technical death metal bands, Fallujah serve up 40+ minutes of incredible riffs that never feels excessive or tacked on. These guys just keep getting better with each album.
Listen: Bandcamp - Byzantine — Harbingers
One of my pet favourite tech death bands reactivated this year and dropped their most mature, well-rounded album to date. I like to think the fact I hear "Kill Chain" a few times per week, on various playlists, was what brought the band back into the fray.
Listen: Bandcamp - Zig Zags — Deadbeat At Dawn
My initial reaction was "this is just Ozzy fronting a band like Karma To Burn" (if that doesn't help you as a reference point, sorry - I'm old). Really good stoner metal with vocals in line with the genre's progenitors.
Listen: spotify - ...And Oceans — The Regeneration Itinerary
While not explicity "technical death metal," this is another devastating record that combines multiple metal sub-genres into extremely nuanced compositions.
Listen: Bandcamp - Vildhjarta — + där skogen sjunger under evighetens granar +
I am still trying to determine how I feel about this record. On one hand: it's got all the downtuned, chugging goodness I want from a 'djent' album; on the other hand, it sounds shockingly similar to the latest release from Mirar. It's worth a look, even if I am still working out my impression of the record.
Listen: Bandcamp - Cryptopsy — An Insatiable Violence
Canadian death metal legends follow-up the widely acclaimed As Gomorrah Burns with potentially their strongest album to date. This new album features all the hallmarks of Cryptopsy but with a renewed focus and unparalleled aggression. At 33 minutes running time, it's a perfect dose of violent metal.
Listen: Bandcamp - Heaven Shall Burn — Heimat
The tenth studio album from these German metalcore veterans features a strong anti-fascist message along with a litany of headbanging metalcore riffs. Killswitch Engage's Jesse Leach even guests on a cover of "Numbered Days," rounding out another strong entry in a discography with no misses.
Listen: Bandcamp - Shadow Of Intent — Imperium Delirium
No longer the promising up-and-comers, Shadow Of Intent are now one of the most consitently impressive bands in the deathcore genre. Combining a seemingly endless supply of headbanging riffs with some of the genre's most intense, brutal vocals, this album also leverages a few tasteful guest vocalists to keep everything fresh.
Listen: Bandcamp
New Additions (September)
- Dozer — Rewind to Return: B-Sides and Rarities
A solid batch of material from veteran Swedish stoner rockers that hew much closer to rarities than cutting room scraps.
Listen: spotify - Abigail Williams — A Void Within Existence
This experimental black / doom metal project follows-up A Walk in the Dark, an album unfairly lost in the shuffle of the 2020 pandemic, with a more somber, brooding affair.
Listen: Bandcamp - Aversion's Crown — A Voice from the Outer Dark EP
Three absolutely crushing new tracks from deathcore / doom heavyweights.
Listen: spotify - Born of Osiris — Through Shadows
Persisting through multiple line-up changes, this pioneering technical metalcore band returns with a strong, albeit very familiar album.
Listen: Bandcamp - Ba'al — The Fine Line Between Heaven and Here
A powerful debut record from UK-based post-metallers. The shortest track on the record is 7:46, but man can they craft a vibe.
Listen: Bandcamp - The Callous Daoboys — I Don't Want to See You in Heaven
A whirlwind of genres, ranging from pop to ferocious metalcore. My best unhelpful comparison would be Dog Fashion Disco meets The Number 12 Looks Like You.
Listen: Bandcamp - Bicep — Takkuuk (Original Soundtrack)
From the project's press release: a new immersive installation from Bicep, visual artist Zak Norman and filmmaker Charlie Miller that explores the lives, communities and challenges facing artists Indigenous to the Arctic Region.
Listen: Bandcamp - The Revivalists — Men Amongst Mountains (10th Anniversary Edition)
I'm rarely interested in re-issues, but this package from New Orleans-based rock gods is packed with a whole new record's worth of top-notch material and a great live album too. The original album is a modern classic and they still managed to improve it with this update.
Listen: spotify - Clipse — Let God Sort 'Em Out
Rap veterans drop another classic and potential AOTY contender.
Listen: spotify - Signs of the Swarm — To Rid Myself of Truth
An absolutely devastating follow-up to to last year's Among the Low and Empty. The deathcore genre continues to churn out banger after banger.
Listen: spotify - Blackbraid — III
The third full-length release from this Native American black metal project, this time mixing a lot more acoustic elements with the typical sonic assault.
Listen: Bandcamp - Car Bomb — Tiles Whisper Dreams EP
One of metal's most unique, technically proficient and devastating bands returns with 3 mind-bending new songs.
Listen: Bandcamp - Aesop Rock — Black Hole Superette
One of rap's most respected MCs drops a concept album of sorts, themed around a convenience store. I promise you it is much better than that sounds.
Listen: spotify - Disembodiement — Spiral Crypts
You like death metal? Doom? Want it heavy as hell with a nod to John Carpenter's The Thing? That's oddly specific, but we've got you covered with this one.
Listen: Bandcamp - The Browning — Omni (Ultra)
I'm using this reissue of a record from last year as an excuse to include it this year, since it whips so much ass. Metal / ravecore is something I didn't know I needed in my life until I saw them live. The record is phenomenal and the remixes are an amusing bonus.
Listen: Bandcamp - JID — God Does Like Ugly
An absolute shoe-in for the AOTY list, this is easily one of the best rap records of the year. All killer, zero filler and quality features throughout.
Listen: spotify - Wisdom in Chains / Evergreen Terrace — Split EP
A really strong collaboration between hardcore veterans (Wisdom in Chains) and a somewhat newer metalcore act (Evergreen Terrace). I'd never heard of the former before, but they instantly made me a fan. I'm also happy to get new Evergreen Terrace material, even if their guitarist / frontman could be doing better.
Listen: spotify - $uicideboy$ — Thy Kingdom Come
Another year, another $uicideboy$ record right on schedule. While this is nothing truly outside the duo's wheelhouse, they're still writing some of the best material with bangers like "Napoleon."
Listen: spotify - Deftones — Private Music
Celebrating your 30th anniversary with one of your best albums ever is an exceedingly rare feat.
Listen: spotify - The Project Hate MCMXCIX — Undivine Dethroning
Sorry folks, the top of the AOTY list has been claimed. A culmination of death metal and symphonic / eletronic mastery decades in the making. (Sorry, no streaming links yet; it's worth your money.)
Listen: theprojecthate.net
New Additions (December)
- Despised Icon — Shadow Work
Montreal deathcore veterans return with one of the most punishing records of the year.
Listen: spotify - Thrice — Horizons/West
A surprisingly good collection of new material from prog / alt-rockers Thrice.
Listen: Bandcamp - Vintersorg — Vattenkrafternas Spel
After a long period of dormancy following a serious head injury that forced him to step down from Borknagar, Andreas Hedlund finally returns to his Scandinavian folk-metal roots with a new Vintersorg release.
Listen: Bandcamp - Sunn O))) — Eternity's Pillars EP
The kings of drone dropped a surprise EP in collaboration with Sub Pop Records.
Listen: Bandcamp - Peeling Flesh — PF Radio 2
The patron saints of slam metal are back with another gurgling masterpiece of chonky, brutal riffs.
Listen: spotify - Soulfly — Chama
Max Cavalera and son put together a ferocious, raw-sounding record that feels like some of Soulfly's best work in years.
Listen: spotify - Owls Woods Graves — Strix
This grimy, death metal-infused punk project serves up a worthy successor to 2023's Secret Spies Of The Horned Patrician.
Listen: Bandcamp - Agriculture — The Spiritual Sound
This experimental black metal project continues to get incredibly weird with their sound, with excellent results.
Listen: Bandcamp - Amorphis — Borderland
Amorphis took their time releasing this latest album, which features the band's distinct sound but with a greater degree of nuance, powerful clean vocals and an exceptional production job.
Listen: spotify - Wode — Uncrossing the Keys
UK death / doom outfit have laid low for a while, only to serve up a devastating collection of new material. The ebb and flow from dirgey, doom cadences into blood-pumping riffs is masterful.
Listen: Bandcamp - Lorna Shore — I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me
The most high-profile band in the deathcore genre once proves they are worthy of all the attention. While still delivering the over-the-top, orchestrally tinged brutality one has come to expect, the band also demonstrates even more refined writing and a broader sound than ever before.
Listen: spotify - Silly Goose — Keys To The City
An incredibly fun record from one of the best new bands leading the nu metal revival.
Listen: Bandcamp - Sanguisugabogg — Hideous Aftermath
An album chock full of riffs every bit as nasty and gross as their song titles.
Listen: Bandcamp - Angelmaker — This Used To Be Heaven
Western Canada's deathcore collective are back with a new full-length.
Listen: spotify - The Acacia Strain — You Are Safe From God Here
One of the most bleak, harrowing and intense metal records of the year.
Listen: spotify - Ho99o9 — Tomorrow We Escape
Another newer nu metal band, Ho99o9 also managed to secure some really strong guest appearances from the likes of Chelsea Wolfe and Greg Puciato.
Listen: Bandcamp - Revocation — New Gods, New Masters
An absolute master class in death metal riffing.
Listen: spotify - Carcosa — The Axe Forgets, The Tree Remembers
Yet another standout deathcore release, one that also sees a band dabble with clean vocals for the first time.
Listen: spotify - Astronoid — Stargod
After all but disappearing after their self-titled release, Astronoid are back with another album of oddly bright-sounding metal. Imagine a thrash band with all the hard edges smoothed out but still capable of writing great riffs.
Listen: spotify - Scorching Tomb — Ossuary
Montreal death metallers show impressive development in both song writing and production. A very concise, headbanging record.
Listen: Bandcamp
While there are still a handful of releases still forthcoming, I offer no guarantees they get considered for this year's list.
—by Derek
Published: April 19th, 2025.
Updated: December 4th, 2025.