Top 10 Metal Albums of 2025

2025 was a year full of highs and lows, as is every year, but it sure was a strong year for metal! I don't feel like giving an introduction to touch on all that was going on in terms of local or world events, other forms of music or other forms of entertainment, or my personal life in 2025. That certainly isn't why you're here either, so let's just get straight into the metal albums I recommend
from this year.

Honorable mention: Speedslut - Ferocity of Speed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnSdOUEpVK4

The only reason this is an honorable mention is because it's an EP. If this were a full-length, it would have surely ranked higher. This isn't a breath of fresh air, it's a storm of it! Violent thrash from Denmark that will be eaten alive by fans of Hellish Crossfire and Cruel Force due to a similar style of riffing and vocals. I'll be looking forward to more from this band in the future!

10. Interceptor - Metal Death
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu89hqoOLik

OK, we didn't necessarily need another Venom rip-off, but it's still nice to have. "Cemetery Winds" is a solid show-stopper that proves that the First Wave of Black Metal needed more ballads, as unusual as that may seem before you've listened to it.

9. Time Rift - In Flight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYLi8UxCPaY

Time Rift is a female-fronted band hailing from Portland, OR that has a comfortable spot right at the gap between hard rock and metal. I would describe them as a mix of The Runaways, Rock Goddess, Motorhead, and Saxon. "Follow Tomorrow" is probably my favorite song on the album, but "Coyote Queen" and "Thunder Calling" can compete with it well enough to make me say probably.

8. Warrant - The Speed of Metal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0VSM6nu2q0

This album is quite similar to the German speed metal act's previous record, "Metal Bridge", despite being released well over a decade later. Fans of the band will be satisfied with the energy found on their third full-length effort. If you have doubts about that, just listen to "Regain the Fire". Many times the frantic speed of the songs makes it sound like Warrant about to fall off the rails, but they hold it all together nicely. Anybody who's familiar with the band will surely be surprised to see that they released three different promo videos for this album.

7. Gruesome - Silent Echoes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1oGI0P2sgQ

When I talked to Matt Harvey on the Cavalera/Exhumed tour in the summer of 2023, he told me that Gruesome's next album was supposed to sound like Death's "Human", and "that's why it's taking so long". Upon listening to it, I have to say that to me it sounds like a cross between "Human" and the earlier classic death metal releases by both bands. It sure has a lot more melody than those records, though, which has helped cement its place at #7. The opening to "Condemned Identity" will instantly remind you of "Lack of Comprehension". As you may have predicted, they have purposely abandoned their gorier lyrics in favor of a more psychological direction to stay on the same pace as Chuck. This is a huge improvement over "Twisted Prayers," and it's some of Gruesome's most well-crafted material!

6. Speedclaw - Stardust
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mjj0Ko2weg

I loved this Croatian act's 2017 EP "Beast in the Mist" and was anticipating seeing them in St. Louis in Nov. 2018. However, their visas expired and they had to back out of the second half or so of the tour. I checked and checked for news on the band for years, with no signs of a new album or U.S. tour in sight. Then, one day the song "Fly High" popped up on my YouTube feed when I was least suspecting it or thinking about them. Now, they finally have a full-length album out and I'm so glad that they do! 'Queen of the Night', "Nightwatch", and "The Curse Never Dies" are my favorite songs on this album.

5. Testament - Para Bellum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XHsxMKJr2o

Testament wastes no time kicking things off with the fierce opener "For the Love of Pain". I like this album better than 2020's "Titans of Creation". There is a bigger emphasis on melody here than on the last two albums, especially in the vocal department. Nevertheless, Chuck Billy still delivers plenty of the guttural growls that give Testament more of a death metal leaning than many of their Bay Area peers like Vio-Lence, Forbidden, or Death Angel. "Nature of the Beast", "Meant to Be" (their best ballad alongside "Return to Serenity" in my opinion), the aforementioned title tune, and "Havana Syndrome" would be my favorite tunes on here.

4. Sacrifice - Volume Six
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kISqU7lqvp8

While not as consistently active on the radar as many other bands, Sacrifice violently greeted us into the new year with their first new release in over 15 years. Ironically, the gap between their fourth and fifth albums was about as long. The first three tracks are my favorites, boiling with the same level of nasty ferociousness that they possessed throughout 2009's "The Ones I Condemn". "Underneath Millenia", meanwhile, is fine, but a bit of a filler and ultimately kept me from ranking the album higher on the list. "Explode" and instrumental "Black Hashish" have the best leadwork on the record, and show how guitarists Rob Urbinati and Joe Rico have improved since the fifth record. Any fan of the Toronto quartet, especially their previous effort, should absolutely buy "Volume Six". I'm very happy that the four original members have stuck together throughout their entire second run, which is coming up on two decades.

3. Hirax - Faster Than Death
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0iopG4Jyzw

Clocking in at under 22 minutes, I am surprised that Hirax's latest offering is actually considered a full-length release rather than an EP. Although we certainly could have used another couple of songs to complete the record, we should also be grateful what we have. The songs on here are very short, heavy, aggressive, and well done. It's also some of the finest guitar work you'll ever hear from this band, in terms of both riffs and solos. The re-recording of "Warlords Command" is excellent and holds up to the original well. I like that they just re-recorded one 80s song rather than an entire album, that's definitely the smart way to do it! Give this release a listen for yourself and I think you'll find it easy to see that Hirax clearly earned their place in my top 3 albums of the year. They are already planning to release more material next year, which I will definitely be excited about hearing!

2. Persecution - Ultra Mortem
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oscU4KM7QaE

Persecution is an Australian death/thrash band that issued an absolutely outstanding demo in 1989 called "Tortured Existence" that ranked very highly on my list of favorite metal demos several years ago. You would think that a band with only one demo would have never built up enough of a legacy to be part of the thrash metal resurgence, but that's not the case. The band rose from the grave in 2013, "Tortured Existence" was reissued in 2016, and now they've released their first full-length album. All of the members of the current lineup have played in various Australian metal bands, and those in the know are aware of the bestiality of the Lucky Country's underground. Let me assure you that when you put this album on, there will be times when you'll forget that you aren't listening to Protector. New vocalist Jason Saunders sounds
exactly like Martin Missy. The similarities don't end there either, just listen to the main riff to the title track! "Sleepwalkers of War" and "The Afterlife" are the highlights.

1. Century - Sign of the Storm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALJ0wmrErks

While there has been a big emphasis on thrash near the top of my list, this traditional heavy metal act from Sweden released the album that truly wowed me the most in 2025. With the consistent quality that shines all over this release, I feel confident in my decision to place it at #1. I would even go as far as to say that they are one of my favorite bands from the past 25 years, which goes to show you that Century is a highly appropriate name for the band. The band I feel that they most closely resemble is NWOBHM quintet Satan, so "Court in the Act" fans should definitely check this out! It's hard to pick favorites because the whole album is so much fun!

Best metal concert of the year: Morbid Saint at Off Broadway in St. Louis, MO

My first time seeing Morbid Saint do a headlining show was a total rager! An excellent turnout of 70 or 80 people at a venue that I had never visited. Local openers Spinal Fetish and Chemical

Dependency wasted no time ensuring this was going to be a brutal evening, with no run-of-the-mill acts merely keeping the crowd and venue occupied. Morbid Saint vocalist Pat Lind even told us that we were lucky with such great bands in our hometown! Pat doesn't move around onstage much, he just hunches down slightly and stares into the audience like a homicidal maniac waiting to make his next move. They played the entire "Spectrum of Death" album except for the eerie instrumental title track, and some songs from their newest release, "Swallowed By Hell". They had originally intended to close with "Damien", as is customary for their set. However, so many people urged them for one more song that they came back onstage and closed with "Destruction System". Promoter Taelor Beeck came up afterwards to express her appreciation for the audience and love for the bands, noting that this is her agency, Midwest Metal Punk's final show for the foreseeable future, but hopefully not forever. I'm sure that this chaotic and fun evening will be one of the first concerts that comes to many people's minds when remembering Taelor and Midwest Metal Punks.

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Tags:  Time Rift, Hirax, Cemetary Wind, Morbid, Century

Nick Statudo    January 04, 2026