2025 is almost in the books and it’s finally time for me to cap off the year with the obligatory “best of” list. This year I’ve trimmed the list from 10 to 5 albums, as I haven’t had the time or inclination to visit a whole ton of newer release stuff. Also there were several new albums that didn’t really land with me so 5 it is. Nothing much more to say so let’s have at it.

5: Sodom – The Arsonist

The German thrash legends have been around forever now. Their 17^th album goes into another gear and is far from a band resting on their laurels, well-earned as that may be. It’s hard to say how many more Sodom albums will come down the pipe, so it’s nice to have this excellent slab on what is the later years of their career.

4: Coroner – Dissonance Theory

It was 32 years between releases for the Swiss prog-thrashers. Their return album kept things a bit more straightforward than the the group was previously known for, but it was done in a very welcome fashion. It took a literal lifetime to get this record but it was totally worth it.

3: Die Spitz – Something To Consume

Every year there is a “who the hell is this band, oh shit this album rules” entry and we have arrived to that point. This group hails from Austin, Texas and offered up their full-length debut in September. And they’ve captured notice with a sound that operates in punk and grunge while also adding a heavy slab of doom metal. This is as if L7 and High On Fire collided with each other and an album was the result of the crash.

2: Turnpike Troubadours – The Price Of Admission

I haven’t kept up much with country music like I used to 12 or more years ago, but it was impossible to ignore the buzz around this album. Kind of funny that it generated so much talk since it was pretty much a surprise release in April. This is country in its purest form – sad and beautiful. This is a career album for the group who has been running nearly 20 years now.

Album of the Year 2025

Deafheaven – Lonely People With Power

Speaking of career albums, the defining act of what is known as “blackgaze” most likely released their pinnacle album in 2025. While they basically formed the subgenre with their 2012 masterpiece Sunbather, on this album they have actually surpassed that earlier record. This is a collection of soundscapes that eclipses any real genre tags and can only possess the catch-all term “post-rock.” It has the familiar “shoegaze music with black metal vocals” vibes but also is so much more in composition and arrangement. Every song on this album is basically its own masterpiece, it’s tough to pinpoint one triumphant moment from the record. I will say the songs Magnolia, Winona and the album-closing The Marvelous Orange Tree are all prime offerings. But this record functions so well as a whole that picking singles is a fool’s errand. Just play the whole thing.

That does it for 2025. We will see what next year has in store.