This year brought about some big changes for Treble, the most significant of which was the introduction of a whole bunch of new quarterly columns focusing on specific genres and sounds, as a means to try to and let fewer great records slip through the cracks. I’m writing a couple of them, on punk and folk, but somehow even when dividing my attention between different genres—not to mention music for just personal enjoyment, which this year included a lot of rap—I still found time to comb through dozens of metal records this year, a lot of them amazing.
While I’m loath to call any year in which a titan like Ozzy Osbourne leaves the earth a good one for metal, 2025 saw a long list of bands deliver some of their best material—newcomers, veterans, even long-awaited returns from bands we haven’t heard from in a decade or more. As always, my favorites didn’t stick to one sound and sometimes left the familiar terrain of metal to explore something weirder and more experimental, but never failed to deliver something dense, dissonant, raw or intense. Enjoy our list of the 30 Best Metal Albums of 2025.
Note: When you buy something through our affiliate links, Treble receives a commission. All albums we cover are chosen by our editors and contributors.
20 Buck Spin30. Corpus Offal – Corpus Offal
Rising from the ashes of Cerebral Rot, Austin’s Corpus Offal pick up the vile stench where that death metal troupe’s stank lingered. Corpus Offal’s debut album is steeped in classic death metal aesthetics with little in the way of pomp and pageantry to get in the way of its pummeling onslaught of riffs. Every year I reserve at least one spot on my year-end metal list for an ODSM bruiser that most efficiently harnesses the darkness of their late ’80s and early ’90s predecessors (there’s a couple this year). Corpus Offal more than earn it through their effortless application of sonic brutality.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Amazon (vinyl)
Relapse29. 16 – Guides for the Misguided
For more than 30 years, Southern California sludge metal outfit 16 has cultivated a heavy, groove-laden sound that could best be described as the gnarliest grunge you’ll ever hear. That groove remains filthy on Guides for the Misguided, which doesn’t overcomplicate the band’s sound but rather highlights their melodic sensibility, aided by the undercurrent of sludge rather than in conflict with it. Songs like “After All,” “Blood Atonement Blues” and “Fire and Brimstone Inc.” showcase their songwriting chops as well as a riff-driven chug that would be right at home alongside ’90s-era Helmet and Melvins and contemporary power-chord slingers alike. I’m always in awe of a band that can outdo themselves after several decades, and 16 continue to find new and satisfying avenues to explore.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)
Dying Victims/Electric Assault28. Century – Sign of the Storm
Traditional metal makes a big comeback once every decade or so thanks to a theatrical group with a good gimmick, and hey—sometimes heavy metal warrants a good gimmick. But Sweden’s Century simply stick to writing heroic songs with catchy hooks, big melodies and riffs galore. The band’s sophomore album Sign of the Storm scratches a particular itch for anyone who prefers their heavy metal with leather jackets, long hair and VHS visuals. Theirs is a hearty gallop, faithful to early heavy metal bombast with rock ‘n’ roll’s sense of hedonistic rebellion. There are certainly more innovative albums in metal this year, but few that are quite this fun.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Self-released27. Uulliata Digir – Uulliata Digir
The self-titled debut album by Poland’s Uulliata Digir spun my head way back at the beginning of the year and I haven’t regained my sense of equilibrium since. Their avant garde sensibility aligns them with no immediate peers—their loose nest of dissonant tangles at times evokes Sumac, their ritualistic drones closer to a demonic spiritual jazz-doom outfit like Neptunian Maximalism. And it’s the band’s pursuit of strange and cryptic realms that makes them so fascinating, exploring cavernous underworlds via labyrinthine pathways and noir-jazz cool. I recently shared with some of my colleagues that my favorite music sometimes comprises sounds I haven’t fully come to understand or untangle, but which keeps drawing me back in to make the attempt. After nearly a year, I’m still in awe of the idea of solving Uulliata Digir’s musical gauntlet.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Relapse26. Vacuous – In His Blood
There are death metal albums that seek to redefine it, stretch its boundaries and change how we think about the genre—or at the very least blur the lines where it ends another style begins. And then there are death metal bands that instead seek to streamline what’s already there, bringing it as close to perfection as they can. London’s Vacuous is firmly in the latter camp, old-school in sensibility but never rote in their approach, sharpening their riffs and instilling each song with an atmosphere of gothic dread. Their sophomore album In His Blood is more than meat-and-potatoes death metal to be sure, delivering songs as splendidly written as they are creatively executed. There’s really no need to be prog-curious or swirl in some flourishes of jazz or post-punk when you can make a classic sound still feel like there’s plenty left in the tank. Not that I’d turn my nose up at a foray into wildly unexpected terrain, but we’ll save that for another time.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Willowtip25. Kostnatění – Přílišnost
One-man project Kostnatění began as a curious but fascinating hybrid of elements: black metal incorporating Turkish folk elements and lyrics in Czech. Mastermind D.L.’s refinement of that hybrid was enough to land 2023’s Úpal on my favorite metal albums of 2023, and its follow-up is arguably even wilder in how it continually draws stranger and more eclectic aesthetic flotsam into its vortex: an “Amen” break on “Dokonalé křišťalové město” or Auto-Tune vocals on “Kostely byly mrakodrapy” for instance. Fascinating though D.L.’s experimental sensibilities might be, it’s the refinement of the elements that were already there that make Přílišnost a mesmerizing addition to Kostnatění’s body of work: eerie-as-hell synths on “Mrtvola Jupitera,” unnervingly melodic menace on “Samotář,” and the relentless surge of all two minutes of “Zpět ke kmenům.”
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Productions TSO24. Zeicrydeus – Le grande hérésie
I’ve seen the debut from Quebecois black metal artist Zeicrydeus described as a “demo,” perhaps erroneously, though the cassette J-card artwork for the album lends that idea some credence, as does the vintage sensibility of its black metal sound. That being said, it’s an incredible introduction to the solo project of Philippe Tougas, who also plays in funeral doom group Atramentus, death metal troupe Cthe’ilist, and death doom miscreants Worm, who also have a new record on the way. But this album is a distinctly different project from all of those, taking heavy inspiration from Greek black metal pioneers such as Rotting Christ, pairing gothic darkness with an epic, heroic sensibility and layers of haunted synths. That it’s raw is somewhat of a given—this is old-school-influenced black metal, after all. But it’s so impeccably constructed that words like “demo” have no business being anywhere near it.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
23. Terzij de Horde – Our Breath Is Not Ours Alone
Dutch black metal group Terzij de Horde make dark, intense music about fighting for a brighter future. As vocalist Joost Vervoort put it in a statement earlier this year, “The fight against capitalist fascism is long and requires deep roots.” And while music alone won’t do it, theirs is a pretty fearsome weapon, forceful and urgent, pairing the scorching ferocity of black metal with the contours and nuances of post-metal a la Cult of Luna or Neurosis. There’s scarcely a moment on Our Breath Is Not Ours Alone that doesn’t move at a relentless pace or leave anything less than maximum impact. When the future’s at stake, you leave nothing to chance.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Tokyo Jupiter22. pale – Our Hearts In Your Heaven
Blackgaze—any kind of “gaze,” really—has been an active part of metal long enough that it takes something extraordinary to stand out. On the surface, Tokyo’s pale follow a pretty similar path as Deafheaven, swirling screamo and black metal with post-metal, dense layers of guitars and beautifully dreamy passages—which, to be fair, is a pretty good path to follow. But Our Hearts In Your Heaven lets the pendulum swing even wider in either direction, whether incorporating harsh electronic noise or a more progressive heavy metal approach in moments like the epic, 12-minute centerpiece “Almost Transparent Blue.” If that sounds like a lot, it is, but pale manage to keep it all from collapsing under the weight of the disparities, creating a gravitational pull where every element can coexist in harmony.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Church Road21. Malevich – Under a Gilded Sun
Playing the “what kind of metal are they?” game with Malevich is complicated. The Atlanta band’s sound draws from all corners: black metal, sludge, screamo, post-metal and so on. But part of what makes their guttural fusion such an angsty delight is the heavy influence of post-hardcore in their sound, which is a welcome development for someone who’s listened to Jawbox and Unwound as often as I have. There’s a sense of dynamics that sets them apart from just about any band in any of the metal subgenres I just mentioned; the melodic abrasion and dark subtleties of “Delirium and Confidence” might not even scan as metal if not for Joseph Turner’s scorched-throat vocals, as much an instrument for conveying socially conscious reflections on a world in decline. So what kind of metal does Malevich play? The kind I want to listen to.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Prosthetic20. EYES – Spinner
Noise rock and metal aren’t always synonymous, but when they overlap the results can be visceral and nasty—and in the case of last year’s Metal Album of the Year honorees, Chat Pile, emotionally draining. Copenhagen’s EYES are more about the physical endurance test than the dark night of the soul, pairing noise rock’s dissonant churn with metalcore’s streamlined intensity on Spinner. Its 24 minutes comprise a nonstop sprint, an unrelenting roar, an explosive burst of forward momentum that’s immensely fun in its display of reckless abandon, whether surging with energy on “Deflating Rooms,” riding a sinister groove on “Beelzebub, the Hypocrite,” or simply bashing the shit out of everything on “Clown.” Once Spinner kicks off, it never lets up. Not that I’d want it to.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Relapse19. Primitive Man – Observance
My favorite metal records tend to cover a pretty broad range, from harrowing journeys through dissonance and noise to riff-fests made for a wild night out. Primitive Man’s Observance is squarely one of the former—emotionally draining and dense records are kind of their thing, but they’re just so damn good at it. And yet, there’s a greater sense of immediacy and momentum to leadoff track “Seer,” delving into a noise rock realm that showcases a whole new world of possibilities for their soul-scraping doom. But terrifying and dark epics remain their specialty, and on Observance, they deliver their share, churning dirges that frequently harbor a kind of abrasive beauty, like in standout “Social Contract” or the gothic, minor-key melodicism of “Devotion.” A Primitive Man album always requires a certain level of physical and psychological preparation, but the rewards are more than worth the dark journey.
Read our interview with Primitive Man
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)
Relapse18. Deadguy – Near-Death Travel Services
Deadguy released one of the most important records in the development of metalcore back in 1995, then a follow-up EP, then called it a day. That their second album arrives an even 30 years after the release of Fixation on a Co-Worker lends a certain sense of symmetry to Deadguy’s studio return, a satisfying cap on what ended up as the year’s most thrilling comeback. After reuniting to perform live a few years back, the group rekindled the inferno that drove their intense and pummeling hybrid of hardcore and noise rock three decades ago, and Near-Death Travel Services holds nothing back. Just listen to a standout moment like “Barn Burner,” an aptly named document of loathing and aggression, delivered at a menacing gallop. It’s the feelgood story of the year that’ll leave you feeling black and blue.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)
Federal Prisoner17. Black Magnet – Megamantra
I’ve been a fan of Oklahoma industrial metal outfit Black Magnet for a while, so I knew what to expect going into the group’s third album and first for Federal Prisoner, the label co-founded by former Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist Greg Puciato. Yet even I was caught off guard by the sheer force of the leadoff track “Endless.” Megamantra isn’t so much a reinvention as an amplification of the band’s pummeling industrial metal, still showcasing the Ministry and Godflesh influences for which I’m admittedly a sucker, but bigger, louder, heavier and more penetrating. James Hammontree and company keep things concise—the album clocks in at around 25 minutes, much closer to Broken than The Downward Spiral—but it’s highly concentrated and potent, pummeling, punishing and just hedonistic enough to remind you how enjoyable this form of sonic destruction can be.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Zegema Beach/Through Love16. Crossed – Realismo Ausente
As the influence of screamo has gradually made its way into the makeup of contemporary metal—particularly in blackgaze and post-metal—the results have proven to be consistently compelling, sometimes even revelatory. That this very list features two bands near the top who’ve done spectacular things from a foundation of blackened skramz (more or less) is proof enough of its potency. Spain’s Crossed remains much closer to the ground floor aggression of screamo, offering up a harsher, heavier permutation that at times evokes the innovative metallic hardcore of Converge or the overflowing bile of Portrayal of Guilt on Realismo Ausente, which was mixed and mastered by Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Oathbreaker). There’s a misanthropic groove to “Cerrojo,” intermittent bursts of melody between blasts of dissonance on “Cruz Vertical,” and infectious violence on “Distrés”—and nonstop seething, screeching catharsis at all points in-between.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Century Media15. Coroner – Dissonance Theory
In Treble’s review of Dissonance Theory, Coroner’s first new album in three decades, Langdon Hickman praised the Swiss legends’ mastery of their technically intricate thrash metal while expressing some mild disappointment that they’d left some of their progressive, avant garde tendencies in the 1990s. I’m sympathetic to that argument, but also: This album is phenomenal. It’s hard to thread the needle perfectly on a three-decades-later comeback; attempting something entirely new might be seen as a step too far, revisiting a classic sound not far enough. Dissonance Theory succeeds for a simple reason: These are great songs, performed impeccably by a band who helped reshape thrash metal so many years ago. I’ll be honest, I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting from a Coroner album in 2025, other than that it likely wouldn’t be a repeat of No More Color. That there’s just enough in the way of progressive surprises amid the band’s taut riffs and rhythmic rollercoaster makes this an immediate highlight of the year.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
I, Voidhanger14. Weeping Sores – The Convalescence Agonies
Doug Moore is something of a contemporary underground metal MVP, having played with a list of great bands that includes Pyrrhon, Seputus and Scarcity (whose music has absolutely shown up on this year-end metal list before). Weeping Sores, his project with drummer Steve Schwegler, has been around for a decade but only this year released their sophomore album. That it’s as strong as it is only means that it’s been worth the wait. The Convalescence Agonies brings a gothic sense of melody to their death doom approach, with a progressive complexity that complements that immediacy rather than overly complicating it. There’s an unholy roar to the band’s epic churn, certainly, but there’s beauty, there’s grace and subtlety, aided in large part by the addition of cello from Annie Blythe and keyboards from Brendon Randall-Myers (also a member of Scarcity). I’m continually drawn to the two bookends, “Arctic Summer” and the epic title closer, each of which showcases the depth and breadth of their expansive sound, but what they fit in between is consistently massive and awe-inspiring nonetheless.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Relapse13. Rwake – The Return of Magik
On the note of long-awaited returns, Rwake have only been absent about half as long as Deadguy, but that’s still a good decade and a half. Their ceremonious comeback on The Return of Magik is a powerful statement from the Little Rock sludge metal group, incorporating elements of blues, progressive rock, and a sense of psychedelic brightness and atmospheric beauty that’s generally not associated with Southern sludge. Then again, Rwake would never be confused for the noisy grooves of Eyehategod, and here they tap into metaphysical hallucinations like the cosmic lift of 14-minute centerpiece “Distant Constellations and the Psychedelic Incarceration.” This isn’t an album that offers a quick fix, but rather requires a certain amount of patience and curiosity in order for it to open up. But give it the time and the space, it’s more than worth it.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Amazon (vinyl)
Invictus12. Qrixkuor – The Womb of the World
One could argue that English black metal troupe Qrixkuor are streamlining their approach; their debut comprised two 20-plus minute epics, while follow-up The Womb of the World is four at an average of 12 apiece. Which is to say: This is still colossal, sprawling terror of the highest order, grand and operatic, a harrowing work of gothic beauty from the depths of the inferno. It’s hard to overstate how terrifyingly majestic this music is, a stunningly nightmarish work of ornate and ominous majesty. It’s not a casual listen, like some of the more escapist, riff-driven selections here, unless you’re the type to dress for the Théâtre des Vampires every time you hit play.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Wolves of Hades11. Ainsoph – Affection & Vengeance
I’m starting to think that it’ll become standard practice to reserve at least one slot on every best-metal-of-the-year list for a Dutch band that masterfully blends gothic post-punk with the roaring intensity of black metal. Last year I fell hard for Vuur & Zijde, and this year I’ve become just as smitten with the sophomore release from Amsterdam’s Ainsoph, a beautifully dense yet somehow dreamily otherworldly album that uses the tools of metal rather than fully gives itself over to them. Ainsoph’s music is beautifully infectious, and more often than not sounds as if it belongs on the soundsystem at your local goth night (see: the witchy disco of “Call to the Fire”). Yet Ainsoph’s eruptions of blast beats or descent into doom metal is both seamless and expertly executed, their versatility both effortless and subtle. Goth and metal are natural counterparts—this isn’t the only album on the list to combine the two, after all—but when it’s done this well, I can’t help wonder why bands don’t seek to bridge the two more often.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Thrill Jockey10. Sumac & Moor Mother – The Film
Moor Mother is no stranger to heavy music. As a solo artist, her music can be both sonically and emotionally crushing (last year’s The Great Bailout is about as devastating as it gets). And she’s collaborated with the likes of Godflesh’s Justin Broadrick and The Bug’s Kevin Martin, two longtime peers and collaborators who know how to crack the earth in two with sound alone. But hearing Moor Mother paired with the cacophonous, improvisation-heavy avant-garde metal of Sumac places each artist in a new context—Moor Mother’s intense and poignant poetry about war, violence and institutionalized racism given a raging inferno underneath. Anyone familiar with the music of either artist should know well enough that there’s nothing conventional or easily categorizable about The Film, a record that exists within the world of metal and somewhere else entirely. It’s a volcanic eruption of the soul, a powerful work that leaves all tropes behind in the pursuit of something transcendent and harrowing.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
20 Buck Spin9. Wode – Uncrossing the Keys
Wode made their debut with a searing and powerful set of black metal, but with every step of their progression they’ve increasingly opened up their sound, incorporating elements of classic heavy meta, the likes of which becomes more than merely a supporting role on their latest, Uncrossing the Keys. In a sense it can be seen as a return to black metal’s roots, the melodic mayhem of their fourth album steeped in the evil theatrics and big melodies of a band like Mercyful Fate (sans King Diamond’s singular falsetto, of course). But don’t mistake this for a step backward; Wode’s invocation of the past feels forward thinking, if anything, revealing just how fertile its aesthetics are for reclamation and reinvention, and with more horsepower under the hood as it makes its trip to hell and back.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)
Gilead8. Yellow Eyes – Confusion Gate
When Yellow Eyes last emerged from a lengthy silence, the New York black metal outfit offered up a set of recordings with little trace of any black metal to be found, save for the haunted atmosphere that permeated it. That record of dark ambient and dungeon synth pieces, Master’s Murmur, provided an intriguing preview for what was to come. Those eerie instrumental elements are but one hue in a larger palette on Confusion Gate, surprise released on Halloween, but they provide contrast and contour with the band’s melodic and melancholy black metal, or a merger of the two on the stunning title track. The group’s compositions immediately strike me as some of their most memorable, at times strangely beautiful in their juxtaposition of minor key arpeggios and brute-force surge. That it’s at times referential to Master’s Murmur only reinforces how much this is an extension and enhancement of where they’ve been, still a part of their world but an impressive expansion of it nonetheless.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Reprise7. Deftones – private music
I had an irrational knee-jerk reaction anytime I read anything about Deftones’ success being attributed to TikTok; no doubt it helped introduce their music to a younger generation of fans, but their past albums have gone platinum, “My Own Summer” was in The Matrix, they paid tribute to The Cure on MTV2 and…well, maybe nobody remembers that last one, but it was pretty cool all the same. But there’s also that other thing: Deftones are one of the most influential bands of the past 30 years, and you can hear echoes of their dream-metal haze in countless contemporary bands. That they’re still releasing albums of this caliber almost feels like a flex. A highlight in a career of risk taking and challenging directions, private music re-centers the most metal elements of their sound while holding fast to the hazy melodicism that’s always set them apart along with anthemic post-hardcore elements in standouts such as “Infinite Source” and “Milk of the Madonna.” Don’t mistake me, if Deftones are blessed by the algorithm I’m all for it. But it only takes one run-through of private music to remind you that they were already legends.
Read our guide to the complete albums of Deftones.
Listen/Buy: Spotify | Turntable Lab (vinyl)
Flenser6. Agriculture – The Spiritual Sound
I found myself caught off guard a number of times during my first listen to Agriculture’s The Spiritual Sound. The band’s self-titled debut album made a half-hour of blackgaze feel epic beyond its runtime through a multi-part suite at the center of the record. But the Los Angeles band stretches well beyond that starting point with The Spiritual Sound, still gravitationally bound by the same elements that held their debut together but with a farther reach and a tendency toward serenity and grace that’s rarely ever in the same galaxy as most black metal. The shoegaze dirge “Dan’s Love Song,” the gentle folk plucks of “Hallelujah,” the juxtaposition of quiet emotional moments with thunderous eruptions on “Bodhidharma,” and the melodic, progressive elements of stunning closer “The Reply”—they’re all representative of a band pushing themselves into more vulnerable and more challenging places. And yet, side one is essentially all nonstop rippers, and you know I can’t get mad at that. What a beautifully unexpected set of music Agriculture have built here, one that just continues to surprise me.
Read our interview with Agriculture.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)
Southern Lord5. Hedonist – Scapulimancy
In recent years, death metal’s gone space-age—Tomb Mold’s alien jazz fusion gnarl, Blood Incantation’s cosmic pulp suites, et al. So it’s a little refreshing to hear a band deliver a death metal debut that’s planted firmly on the murky, muddy ground. Victoria, British Columbia’s Hedonist harness a grimy form of death metal with an ample helping of crust in its Entombed- and Bolt Thrower-influenced blasts of riffs and occult villainy. So we’ve established it kicks ass, which would be good enough on its own to at least crack to the top 30 here, but even at their most beastly, Hedonist pull off an immediacy—a downright catchiness—that puts them in a league of their own. It sometimes seems like there’s a false duality between the arc of a death metal band, between growing more ugly and dissonant or more unabashedly prog (or stay the course—death metal has its share of lifers). Hedonist offer a simpler but highly effective option: offer up the tightest, most physically energizing rippers possible, and play the living hell out of them.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Amazon (vinyl)
Season of Mist4. Der Weg einer Freiheit – Innern
Der Weg einer Freiheit’s career is one of steady and measured progression, not of reinvention but in refinement. They’re not a straightforward black metal band by any means, but even on this list alone you’ll find much more radical takes on the sound. But with Innern they achieve a personal best, escalating to a higher level by essentially perfecting what they already did so well. Impeccably written and performed, Innern is as ambitious as it is airtight, leaving no moment of a song like the 10-minute “Xibalba” go to waste, pushing their melodic prowess to the fore as their muscular instrumental assault sounds even more imposing. Yet there’s a haunting beauty to everything here, a gothic sensibility that makes Innern even more elegant and emotionally powerful as a result, and occasional stylistic flourishes that evoke unexpected comparisons, like the dusty tremolo effects in “Eos” that remind me a bit of the Western epics of Wayfarer. Der Weg einer Freiheit keep pushing, keep climbing, keep reaching just a little higher, and on Innern, they’ve set foot on the summit.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Amazon (vinyl)
Computer Students3. Chat Pile & Hayden Pedigo – In the Earth Again
Only a year after claiming the best-metal crown in 2024, as well as Cool World being Treble’s overall album of the year, Chat Pile returned with something entirely different but similarly awe-inspiring in its evocative darkness. A full-length collaboration with Amarillo, Texas, guitarist Hayden Pedigo, In the Earth Again finds a fluid fusion between Chat Pile’s harrowing yet accessible noise rock and Pedigo’s lush guitarscapes. In moments like “Never Say Die!” and, in particular, the nearly eight-minute dirge of destruction “The Matador,” In the Earth Again is as heavy as anything the band has ever released, nasty and raw but made richer, denser, and strangely beautiful. But Chat Pile just as often take a gentler touch here, giving Pedigo’s gorgeous performances room to breathe and unfold. It’s in the meeting of the two extremes, the climaxes and the intermissions that the wider picture comes into view, an apocalyptic film score whose visuals can be seen in the damaged earth we inhabit.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Amazon (vinyl)
Roadrunner2. Deafheaven – Lonely People With Power
When we last heard from Deafheaven on 2021’s Infinite Granite, they sounded like an entirely different band, most of the black metal elements stripped from their sound in favor of a full commitment to dream pop and shoegaze that the albums leading up to hinted well enough they could pull it off. When they reemerged anew with their sixth album Lonely People With Power, they changed course yet again, not only recommitting to the heaviest aspects of their sound, but with an emphasis on more concise compositions and more visceral execution. Less a case of simplification than distillation down to something more potent, Lonely People With Power stretches past an hour but feels like their tightest statement, paring down their sprawl and packing more impact into every riff, even when delving into moments of shimmering gothic rock (“Heathen”) or surging post-hardcore (“Body Behavior”). What they’ve left behind in gradually unfolding epics (for the most part—”Amethyst” is pretty colossal) they more than make up for with anthemic immediacy and emotional depth. Before its release, vocalist George Clarke described Lonely People With Power as “doubling down on an identity it took a decade to fully understand.” This is where Deafheaven fully arrives.
Listen/Buy: Spotify | Amazon (vinyl)
Metal Blade1. Messa – The Spin
Where Messa has been has never been a determining factor in where they’re going. The Italian group’s sound crosses styles, genres—even genres. Having cultivated a uniquely psychedelic take on doom metal over the past decade, they broke out of the familiar and into a time machine on fourth album The Spin, drawing inspiration from their favorite music of the ’80s, from Mercyful Fate to Siouxsie and the Banshees. The unlikely product of their trip through the past is at once their most dynamic, ambitious and accessible album to date—one that very much channels the points of reference they cite while opening up their sound and aesthetic to seemingly unlimited possibilities. Gothic rock, jazz, prog, a power ballad—they all get free rein within the band’s opulent fortress, tearing at the edges of the fabric of metal and opening up a breathtaking new vision. A work of this caliber feels like it should be twice as long, but that they’re able to contain something so grand onto only two sides only shows how far they’ve come.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
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