Lacerated Metal Zine: Arthalos' Best of 2025

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Not as loaded as 2024 or 2023, granted, but 2025 was nevertheless full of surprises and stellar music. AI took over music, the world burrowed deeper into a geopolitical firestorm, and I grew one year more cynical. That said, coming back to the year's glut of releases in December is something that always brings me joy, even 10 years into the endeavor. So let's dive in.

As per usual, my top picks are all over the place, a weird tapestry of my old school-coded preferences (80s/90s metal being what fed me through my awkward teenage years), technical and melodic death metal, and a sprawl of black and weird avantgarde preferences. The ineffable tide of new music means that there's always something new and fresh coming our way, to the point that music blogs and channels have started to dissect music on a monthly basis. The sheer overload of new material means there's no way I can hear everything or even give equal appreciation to every artist to emerge from the woodwork, and with work/life pressures that means I increasingly have to narrow my choices to genres or at least labels that I know will deliver some form of quality. An idea is to have a list of such labels and even go full-on autistic with an Excel sheet to map out and rank appropriate releases - though I'm sure a few avid listeners have already engaged in such nerdery. All in all, I listened to somewhere between 200 and 250 full-length LPs and EPs this year, roughly what I get to absorb on an annual basis. Let's get to the cream of the crop.

Technical and melodic death metal was well-represented this year, thanks to the excellent offerings of The Halo Effect, Rivers of Nihil, Aversed and Allegaeon. While I think the best tech death album I've heard since 2020 still might be Archspire's Bleed the Future, Rivers of Nihil, Aversed and Allegaeon come pretty damn close to that standard, reveling in various melodic/progressive permutations that expand the tech death space whilst simultaneously cherishing accessibility. Meanwhile, as keen readers will guess, there's always room for dessert, meaning in this case retro, throwback heavy metal that remains unapologetically nostalgic. Of course I'm talking about Void, Century and Sölicitör. Void, in particular, was a band I'd never heard of before, and they crushed all expectations I had, flooring me with an insane technical thrash escape. Thrash is simply not something you hear often these days, even less so when it's well-written or giving nods towards the technical thrash champions of the 80s: bands like Deathrow, Mekong Delta or Toxik. Insane stuff, rivalled only by an actual master returning from the dead with what I'd consider to be the best thrash record of the 2020s, a definitive "fuck you" to all the genre cynics and prog nerds who can only get hard while thinking about polyrhythms. Dissonance Theory is so good, I felt like I'd forgotten what good music was for a while as I was first blasting it during those chilly October nights when it first came out.

I'm a sucker for the avantgarde, and that tends to accordingly manifest itself on my lists. This year, Imperial Triumphant came out with their opus magnum, a genuinely terrifying blackened death immersion into the New Yorkers' obsessive vision of their home city. Selvans, too, delivered an interesting record. Horror-core isn't usually my thing, but their distinct blend of horror aesthetics, virulent blackened heavy/thrash and 70s prog kept me coming back. In parallel absurdity, Igorrr released Amen, which meant that I couldn't wipe off the stupid, awed smirk from my face every time I plugged in. A totally illustrious artist in his own right, while his output is not strictly metal, here the Frenchman very much played to everyone's strengths, incorporating big, brawly modern metal elements seamlessly into his trademark baroque-meets-breakcore sound. Some of my other top picks are relatively 'safe' choices, and they're only there because I couldn't stop listening to them. Eluveitie, Messa and Rivers of Nihil all belong to that category, boasting stellar production values across. All of their respective albums that flowed wonderfully as a whole whilst latching themselves into my memory with ease.

Finally, don't forget to check out my more extensive commentary on each album on RateYourMusic for my 50 favorite records from the year.

Links to the songs embedded below.

Thanks for reading, and see you all next year.

~ Top 20 Metal Albums of 2025 ~

20. Cradle of Filth (UK) – The Screaming of The Valkyries

19. The Halo Effect (SE) – March of the Unheard

18. Blut Aus Nord (FR) – Ethereal Horizons

17. Imperial Triumphant (US) – Goldstar

16. Labyrinthus Stellarum (UKR) – Rift in Reality

15. Century (SE) – Sign of the Storm

14. Skyforger (LV) – Teikas

13. Selvans (IT) – Saturnalia