Rory’s 2025 Top 20 Albums of the Year
Rory’s 2025 Top 20 Albums of the Year
By Rory Bentley
So 2025 has been absolutely nuts for me, the very definition of an emotional rollercoaster and I’m really needing a Christmas break, but through all the fuckery the sick riffs and the big tunes have come thick and fast. Here, for your perusal is my most beloved 20 of the many great records I’ve slapped round my lugholes this year. I bet you’re thinking it’s just gonna be full of Hardcore eh? Well, allow me to prove you…entirely right. Sorry about that.
20. Messa- The Spin
This is an awesome genre bending beast that goes all over the map whilst still remaining super catchy and palatable. The vocals are stunning, the guitar solos heroic and the synths are seductive yet sinister. Oh and there’s massive riffs all over the gaff as well. One of the surprises of the year for me, solidified with a towering Damnation performance.
19. Eluveitie- Ànv
Reviewed this one for the site and still loving it. Folk Metal that you can listen to without getting your dinner money taken off you. Stuffed with killer melodies and way harder riffs than your more goblin-centric folksters, it’s been too long since the Swiss fiddle machine has graced these ears with new jams.
18. The Night Flight Orchestra- Give Us The Moon
It’s plausible that someone might not like the spectacular sun-drenched yacht Rock on display here by Bjorn Strijd and the gang, but if that is you then you must suck to be around. Just another joyful album bursting at the seams with bulletproof ragers. ‘Shooting Velvet’ could go toe to toe with Foreigner and Toto’s big guns, and ‘Stewardess, Empress, Hot Mess (And The Captain of Pain)’ is like a Jim Steinman epic if for people that fuck.
17. Ghost- Skeleta
More Swedish campness and another act that never misses. Ghost are still the kings of stadium-ready Metal and ‘Satanized’, Lachryma’ and the heroically unsubtle phallic fuckery of ‘Missile Amore’ are yet more total whoppers to add to that bulging live set. Seen some people a bit lukewarm on this one, but for me it’s one of Tobias’ most cohesive records to date.
16. One of Nine- Dawn of the Iron Shadow
Tolkien-influenced Dungeon Synth tinged old school blue cover Black Metal is everything. The album cover alone would probably get this in here but it’s also a fucking superb album full of drama, grandeur and rugged synth charm. Those church bells should not be so catchy. As a guy with a gigantic tattoo of the Balrog and Gandalf fighting on his arm there was pretty much fuck all chance of this not making the cut.
15. Spiritbox- Tsunami Sea
Loved this when I reviewed it, still love it. An album for all seasons and moods for me. Courtney is a total baller on the mic, the music is way more interesting than all their peers and there’s a reason why they’re the biggest of the bunch. They deserve the world.
14. Epica- Aspiral
Comfortably the most reliable band of the Symphonic Metal world, this is another great addition to their discography. “Aspiral” is more punchy and direct than the sprawling likes of “Omega”, but it’s still not exactly Black Flag. The riffs are fatter than me on Boxing Day and Simone is in typically imperious form throughout. They might be old reliable, but the results are still exhilarating.
13. Malevolence- Where Only The Truth Is Spoken
Speaking of reliable, the Sheffield circle-pit dispenser is here to kick the teeth they missed last time down right down your bastard throat! We are now firmly in the realm of ‘shit that I’ve absolutely caned in the gym’, and this nastier follow up to 2022’s “Malicious Intent” is all the Crowbar and Hatebreed worship you could possibly need to get you pumped. Remember when it looked like it wasn’t going to happen for Malevolence a few years back? Thank fuck they’re now sitting at the top table where they belong.
12. Havukruunu- Tavastland
What is it with all the Black Metal in the list this year? I’ve clearly spent too much time with Rick Eaglestone and Oli Gonzalez, or maybe I’ve started looking in the right places. ‘Tavastland’ sits firmly in the Bathory end of Black Metal, namely the Viking era. Epic solos, swaying riffs and the sound of Nordic men singing in unison; this hits so many spots for me and the gnarly historical concept of Pagans driving their Christian oppressors into the frozen wilderness to perish is rad as fuck.
11. Turnstile- Never Enough
The ultimate soundtrack to my summer, one of the great modern Rock albums by a scrappy bunch of Hardcore kids that decided to take over the world and then fucking did it! A bit dreamier than “GLOW ON” and not quite as hard overall, it still smokes 90% of bands and ‘SOLE’ is a song of the year contender for me.
10. Biohazard- Divided We Fall
Everything I wanted it to be. One of the great comeback albums, see you at Bloodstock for injuries!
09. Lamp of Murmuur- The Dreaming Prince In Ecstasy
This one came in late but made a huge splash. Had it come out during the early to mid part of the year we might be looking at a top 5 place because this is utterly magnificent. Ambitious, catchy and still brutal Black Metal that is as good as anything I’ve heard all year. I’m totally obsessed with this album, I really liked the band before but now I stan for them.
08. Gridiron- Poetry from Pain
Aaaand we’re back to Hardcore again. This album is proof that HipHop and Hardcore are perfect partners in the right hands with catchy one liners, tons of bounce and swing to the riffs and great guest spots from a who’s who of underground rappers and screamers. There’s not a wasted second on here and it makes me swagger down the street with a face like a smacked arse whenever it’s on my cans. You still on the bench and we still the benchmark. Indeed.
07. Whitechapel- Hymns In Dissonance
In which everyone in Deathcore is taken to school. After some massively successful melodic experiments, the lads have decided to remind everyone that they can still take a cheese grater to your face. Heavy and nasty as all hell this is, but that’s not all there is to it. Despite Phil sacking off his excellent clean vocals for this release, the choruses are still massive and the progressive nature of the last two albums continues here. This isn’t a retreat to an earlier sound, this is a new kind of savagery!
06. Bleeding Through- Nine
Wait… another 2000s ‘Core band smacking the shit out of all the kids? Yep, the Orange County swole Goths have done it again with their second killer release since reforming. This time we’ve found out that Marta is a beast on the mic. Don’t know why she waited 9 albums to reveal this but the world is better for her contribution on ‘Dead But So Alive’ amongst many others. They’re still a crushing Hardcore band beneath the epic Black Metal bluster and Goth brooding after all these years and there’s still nobody like them in all of Metal.
05. Castle Rat- The Bestiary
As this list probably makes clear, my main musical sweet spots are ‘hard as fuck’ and ‘camp as fuck’ when it comes to Rock and Metal. This one is firmly in the latter category, with an album of glorious psychedelic Doom that is more theatrical and flamboyant than Ian Mckellan and Ru Paul at a Scissor Sisters concert in pride month. I love a bit of world-building and tongue in cheek storytelling and the mighty Rat Queen Riley Pinkerton delivers all of that whilst wearing a chainmail bikini, peeling out sick riffs and holding a massive sword. Again, it’s plausible that someone out there might not be down with the ‘Rat, but you can keep those bad vibes far away from me thank you.
04. Imperial Triumphant- Goldstar
The only 10 I’ve given this year and I wouldn’t change a word of that review. To turn the galaxy-brained, mind-shattering avante garde Jazz/Black/Death Metal style the band have built a career on into something that is frequently catchy and accessible is a Herculean feat hitherto unseen. To do it without compromising a shred of weirdness, insanity and bug-eyed ferocity is the work of the divine.
03. Blood Vulture- Die Close
Jordan Olds trades in the all-star cover versions for a project of original material that is a delightful cocktail of Gothic Doom, NOLA Sludge and a boat load of Alice In Chains. The riffs are crushing, the vocals soaring and the guitar harmonies are gorgeous. Having a Rolodex of Heavy Music legends doesn’t hurt either.
02. Dying Wish- Flesh Stays Together
2000s-inspired Metalcore with the gut wrenching bleakness and spleen venting of Lingua Ignota Oathbreaker thrown in is an inspired move. The Hardcore sections are still devastatingly heavy, but the eerie melodic vocals of Emma Boster take things to a new level of oppressive audio violence. This one has been a gym staple since it dropped, and the monotone ‘fuck you’ mosh call on ‘I Don’t Belong Anywhere’ never fails to get me pumped to maniacal levels. My favourite Hardcore album in a year of great Hardcore albums.
01. Deafheaven- Lonely People With Power
I’ve always loved this band, “Sunbather” is one of the most important Metal releases of the last 20 years and I love the fact that they irritate the shit out of the grossest portion of the Metal fanbase. I knew I was going to dig a new Deafheaven album because I always do, and I loved the less heavy “Infinite Granite” from a couple of years ago, but I did not expect to come away believing that this new one is their finest work.
The return of the Metal on the skin-flaying ‘Doberman’ and the crunching ‘Magnolia’ is glorious to behold, and the fact that all the Shoegaze and Progressive elements of the last few releases have stuck around stops it just being a retread to appease elitist wankers. Seeing ‘Winona’ live at Damnation the other week is what has pushed this one to the top relatively late in the game, and despite being the King of 2025 I still feel like there are untold depths to explore on this one.
Enjoy your festive period, eat, drink and stay heavy, and I’ll see you in 2026 for more sonic violence and camp nonsense!
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Rory Bentley and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
