We had the absolute pleasure of chatting to the mastermind behind the Mongolian metal band, Otgonbaatar Damba, about the bands recently released debut album, and tour with the ever-amazing Nanowar of Steel. Check it out below!
How did you come up with your sound? It seems rather unique even with a few bands coming out with a vaguely similar style!
For us, the sound of UUHAI did not come from trying to invent something “unique.” It came naturally from who we are.
We grew up with traditional Mongolian music, throat singing, morin khuur, and the sounds of nature, and at the same time we discovered rock and metal and felt the power of heavy rhythm and distortion. When we started UUHAI, we simply brought these two worlds together. This is our natural musical language.
Our band leader and producer, Ombo, had been carrying this idea for many years before UUHAI was formed. He wanted to express Mongolian spirit through modern heavy music, not as a concept or experiment, but as something honest and alive. Once the full lineup came together, with traditional musicians and rock players in the same room, the sound began to shape itself.
Even if there are other bands exploring similar directions, every group carries its own history, energy, and emotions. UUHAI’s sound comes from our connection to the land, our respect for tradition, and our experience of the modern world. That combination is what makes it feel different.
How would you compare UUHAI to Hurd? Is it a different approach to writing between the bands?
Yes, it is a very different approach. Hurd played a huge role in shaping Ombo, our producer and leader, as a musician. He joined Hurd as a drummer at a young age, and that experience helped him grow inside the music industry, understand songwriting, stage performance, and composition. Hurd was an important school for him, both musically and personally.
UUHAI comes from a different place. With Hurd, the focus was classic heavy metal songwriting and performance. With UUHAI, the starting point is cultural expression. The writing process begins with Mongolian spirit, traditional melodies, throat singing, and rhythm, and then the rock elements are built around that. It is less about following metal structures and more about telling stories through sound.
So while Hurd was essential for development and experience, UUHAI is about identity and purpose. It is not just another band project. It is a way to carry Mongolian culture onto the global stage through heavy music.
The album has been out a few days now, it seems to have gone down well! Is there a particular story through it? Or is each individual track its own tale and theme?
Thank you, we are really grateful for the warm response so far.
Human Herds is designed as a complete journey rather than just a collection of separate songs. Each track has its own story and emotion, but together they form one larger narrative about humanity, nature, history, and responsibility.
Some songs draw directly from Mongolian tradition, rituals, and landscapes. Others reflect on modern life and the choices people make today. Tracks like “Uuhai” and “Secret History of the Mongols” connect us to our roots and ancestors, while songs like “Human Herds” and “Dracula” speak more about the present world and human behavior. So every song can stand on its own, but when you listen from start to finish, you hear a wider story about where we come from, where we are now, and where we might be going. That journey is the heart of the album.
Is there more writing going on already?
Yes, creativity does not stop just because an album is released!
We are already sharing ideas on the road, recording small melodies on our phones, and talking about new concepts between shows. Touring gives us fresh inspiration every day, through new places, new people, and new experiences.
There is no pressure or fixed direction yet. Right now, our main focus is bringing Human Herds to life on stage. But at the same time, new music is slowly beginning to take shape. We prefer to let it grow naturally and honestly, just like UUHAI did from the beginning.
You are currently out on tour to support the album, how’s it gone so far. You guys and Nanowar seem like a surprisingly good fit!
So far, the tour has been an incredible experience for us.
Every night we meet new audiences, many of whom are hearing Mongolian throat singing and morin khuur for the first time, and the response has been very warm. Seeing people from different countries connect with our music, chant “Uuhai” with us, and share that energy makes every long travel day worth it.
Touring with Nanowar of Steel has been a great surprise in the best way. Even though their approach is more humorous and ours is more spiritual and cultural, the contrast actually works very well. Their fans are open minded, and our audiences enjoy their fun energy. Backstage, there is a lot of respect, laughter, and mutual support. It feels less like two separate bands and more like one traveling community.
Overall, the tour has confirmed something important for us: music really has no borders. Different styles, cultures, and personalities can come together on one stage, and that shared experience is powerful.
Do you have a busy year planned after the tour?
Yes, it is shaping up to be a very busy year.
After this tour, we will continue promoting Human Herds while preparing for more live shows and festivals. There are already discussions about additional touring in different regions, and we are very open to new opportunities worldwide. At the same time, we will begin slowly developing new music, taking inspiration from everything we experience on the road.
So it will be a balance between performing, traveling, creating, and staying connected to home. It is busy, but it is exactly the kind of life we dreamed of for UUHAI.
What’s the scene like back home compared to Europe?
The scene back home is much smaller and more intimate compared to Europe. In Mongolia, there are passionate fans and talented musicians, but fewer venues, fewer shows, and limited infrastructure for rock and metal. Concerts do not happen very often, and most bands work independently, driven mainly by love for music rather than industry support. When shows do happen, they feel very personal, because everyone knows each other.
In Europe, the difference is scale. There are many festivals, dedicated venues, and a long history of live music culture. Audiences are larger, touring is more organized, and there is a strong network supporting bands on the road.
Both have their own beauty. Mongolia gives us roots and authenticity. Europe gives us reach and opportunity. For UUHAI, bringing those two worlds together is part of the journey.
Do you have a dream tour lineup you’d want to be a part of?
Of course, like any band, we dream big. For us, a dream tour lineup would bring together artists from different cultures and heavy music backgrounds, bands that carry strong identity and emotion in their sound. We would love to share stages with groups that respect tradition while pushing modern metal forward, whether they come from Europe, Asia, the Americas, or anywhere else.
More than specific names, our real dream is a tour where music becomes a cultural exchange. Different styles, different histories, one stage. If UUHAI can be part of something like that, where audiences discover new sounds and artists learn from each other, that would already be perfect for us.
Ahead of the singer-songwriters incredible, world-record-breaking feat on Friday of releasing a huge 13 albums simultaneously, we sat down and chatted to Gitika about such a task! Check it out below!
What inspired such a huge release undertaking?
It wasn’t really inspired in the traditional sense. It was more a recognition of what was already there. The songs had been written week by week over several years as part of a regular practice, without any plan for release. At some point I realised I wasn’t sitting on a handful of albums, but on a body of work. Releasing them all at once felt like the most honest way to present them, without reshaping the story after the fact.
Would you say there is a wide variety of sounds throughout? How did you decide which album to put each track on?
There’s definitely a wide range – partly because the songs span different years, moods, and phases of a five-year stretch of my life, and partly because the prompts often pulled me into unexpected places. There was no genre box to stay in, so I burned the box. There is no box.
That freedom gave me the chance to explore without worrying about an audience, as long as I enjoyed making the song – and usually enjoyed listening back to it. When it came to sequencing the albums, I kept it simple: I listed the songs in the order they were written and recorded and let that chronology do the talking.
Each track was created from a weekly prompt — did you find that basis to build on helpful? Would you encourage others to try it, as well as writing from their own experiences?
The weekly prompt was incredibly helpful because it took me out of my own head. Instead of asking, “What should I write about?”, I could simply respond to what was in front of me that week.
The prompts from iheartsongwriting.com are as diverse as Camel, Virginia Woolf, Equinox, Camber, Spark, Eurovision, X— and I’ve followed nearly 300 of them now. Interestingly, the songs almost always ended up being personal anyway — sometimes poignant, sometimes very quirky.
I’d absolutely encourage others to try it. Prompts don’t replace lived experience; they give it somewhere to land. They’re especially useful for getting unstuck, finding an alternative path, or quieting the inner editor.
Were there some songs written that didn’t make the cut for the albums?
Yes- 159 to be exact. And 160 next week. And 161 the week after.
The albums represent a curated selection from a much larger pool of songs. Some didn’t fit the arc of the albums, some felt unfinished, and some simply needed to stay behind the sofa a little longer. When I decided to add a thirteenth album of The Ones That Got Away, I was delighted to discover how many gems were still hiding there. Not everything you write needs to be released for it to have done its job.
It must feel pretty cool to know you’re about to break a world record!
It’s more of a fun fact than anything. There are people everywhere doing wondrous things and making extraordinary creative work without ever proclaiming it to the world.
The record isn’t really the point -it’s just a side effect of turning up consistently over time. If it helps draw attention to the value of sustained creative practice, that’s lovely. But the real satisfaction comes from having honoured the work properly, rather than drip-feeding or diluting it to fit expectations.
Where do you go from here? I imagine at least a small break from writing, right?
Actually, no. Being a songwriter feels a bit like being an athlete – you have to practise regularly. I’ll continue writing a song a week with a word prompt from iheartsongwriting.com, the fabulous songwriting club based in Australia.
Writing has become a way of knowing my week rather than something I switch on and off. I need to do it now. What has changed is the sense of space – the shelves are a little clearer. That makes room for something new, though I don’t yet know what shape it will take. I’m happy to let that reveal itself slowly… or quickly, if it wants. I’m ready.
Any plans on taking the albums on the road, and doing some shows around them?
Possibly – but not in a conventional “tour” sense. I’m more interested in intimate, context-rich performances where the songs can be heard properly and in relationship with each other.
I’m also drawn to mixed media. I love music and image together, so I’m excited about creating videos, and about making a book of handwritten lyrics – hopefully written out by friends, old and new. And perhaps other artists might take the songs on themselves. That would be the best outcome of all.
If you could have written a song with anyone in history, who would it be and why?
Historically, it would have to be Bowie – without question. If anyone gave people permission to be kooky, to experiment, to burn the box, and even to fail, it was him. I also suspect he’d have been very good company.
If we’re talking about living people, it would need to be someone I’d actually like to hang out with and realistically get a bus or a train to see — probably Nitin Sawhney or Amy Wadge. Any chance of putting in a good word?
The first gig for us of 2026 and it was a huge one! 15k+ people packing out the biggest arena in the UK for three amazing pop punk bands! And, while it wasn’t quite the lineup intended (shoutout to both Four Years Strong and The Paradox for sadly having to drop out), it was still an absolutely stellar lineup that we have been excited for for months. And it was somehow our first time at the new arena, so we get to check out that too. Surprisingly, it was nice and easy and stress-free to get in, an even bigger bonus! Read on to find out what we thought of the night!
First up was a slightly last-minute addition to the bill, the fast-rising star Taylor Acorn. Honestly, she was a great choice to open the show! Her energy was infectious and she sounded great, definitely winning over plenty of new fans in the crowd, including us! And her voice live was incredible; packed with power, emotion and some soaring notes. Whether it was slower stuff or faster punk numbers, it all sounded great. It gave off slight country vibes even at times, like punk-country, which I loved. The two guy in her band worked their asses off too, although the absence of a bassist and second guitar was felt a touch, as both were on track. Still, as a slightly rushed last-minute addition, they smashed it out of the park, and she definitely has a new fan in me!
Mayday Parade were the band my wife was there to see. I never quite got into them on track, no matter how hard I tried. Well, I can now officially say: I get it! Hearing the songs in a live setting finally got me into them, and I have been listening a fair bit the last couple of days since. It helps that they heavied stuff up in that setting, even their older stuff, but it meant that the set had a great energy throughout! From opening on a new one, ‘Under my Sweater’ to a crash course in their biggest album with the likes of ‘Jersey’ and ‘Black Cat’ and, of course, closing on ‘Jamie All Over’, it was all so damn good! The band played their asses off too, putting on one hell of a performance to a crowd that were going nuts from start to finish. Derek is one hell of a frontman too, bouncing around the stage like it was still 2007 and keeping the crowd on their toes throughout. They have very much won a new fan in me, and I would definitely see them live again!
After another break (and I assume a slight delay with us getting three intro songs in the dark before they came on) the headliners triumphantly took the stage. A fun opening vignette concludes with Alex appearing at the front of the walkway, acoustic in hand to play ‘[cold open]’. Having a packed out crowd singing it immediately back to him clearly took him back, getting slightly overwhelmed but clearly happy. After the brief intro track, the whole band explode into newer single ‘SUCKERPUNCH’. It was easily one of my favourite songs of last year, and it sounded so good live!
From there, we got two full hours of incredible live rock music, from five absolute masters. Following the opener with two massive classics in ‘Weightless’ and ‘Poppin’ Champagne’, we are taken through a tour of the bands incredible two plus decade discography. Older stuff like ‘Backstreat Serenade’ and ‘Time Bomb’ to newer stuff like ‘Monsters’ and ‘Sleepwalking’ to collab songs in ‘PMA’ and ‘Hate This Song’. Heck, the latter in particular was amazing, the crowd loved it, I’m a big I Prevail fan and Alex surprisingly pulled off Eric’s screams damn well! Then you have the latest album, which we loved here at Overtone, which sounded just as good as anything else they played! ‘Little Bit’ and ‘Sugar’ were big live highlights. And the encore run of ‘The Weather’ into ‘Lost In Stereo’ into ‘Dear Maria’ was one of the best I’ve ever seen.
As for the show itself, it was excellent. The video effects on the side-screens were fun, and the big screen at the back flicked between live footage and some great graphics and video bits. Meanwhile, all the different block-colour platforms added some great depth to the stage and fit the theme well. Heck, the band even colour coordinated, each of the four wearing a different one. And of course, we got plenty of great pyro throughout, too. And the band, of course, played their asses off. They are known to be a good live band anyway, but they really brought it here. They all bounced around that stage from start to finish, and clearly all were having a blast. Alex had the crowd in the palm of his hand throughout, people barely even talking through the slow songs or during him interacting between songs, which says a lot. They all seemed so appreciative to be up on stage doing what they do, and it made the crowd enjoy it even more. An absolutely amazing set that I won’t be forgetting any time soon!
Overall, it was a really amazing night of live music! All three acts brought it, and All Time Low are honestly one of the best live bands I’ve seen in years. I cannot recommend seeing any of them enough, and I truly think ATL have finally found that final gear out here to push them into the upper echelon of bands. I am already desperate to see them again, and would certainly see Mayday and Taylor again too. If they are anywhere near you any time soon, go along and see them, you certainly won’t be disappointed. Heck, I’d even recommend Co-op Live, it’s a good venue for an arena. A truly fantastic night!
2025 was a stacked year for new music, not just with new albumsbut EPs too! Let’s take a look back at some of our favourite releases in the medium, from rock to country to metal! We reviewed easily 100 last year, so if we missed any off you think deserved it, let us know!
15 – Redferrin: Some City, Somewhere
Starting the list off strong with our friendRed and his second EP! This is every bit as good as his debut, being 21 minutes of chilled-out country-pop. It’s packed full of awesome songs; his incredible vocals and powerful lyrics over some basic-yet-fitting instrumentation. And, it’s grown on me more and more with each listen, something I surprisingly don’t find much for me with EPs. It’s not going to be for everyone, but I loved it and have listened to it a lot since February when it dropped. It got an 8.5/10 when it dropped, but I’d say it’s crept a little higher than that by now. A fitting start to the list!
Listen to: Ruin My Night, and Mornin’ Montana
14 – Sypha: Borderland
At just three songs and 10 minutes, this is the shortest release on this list, but that doesn’t take away from how great it is! An awesome slice of modern metal in the vein of Spiritbox or Bad Omens, though very much doing things their own way too, I’d honestly put it up there alongside any release from either band. The screams in particular are fantastic, especially when they are around the awesome breakdowns. However, the cleans also lead to some incredibly catchy choruses and verses, and it all fits over the top of the massive instrumentation perfectly. I’ve been jamming this since way back nearly a year ago, and haven’t gotten sick of it since! It got a solid 9/10 from us back then, and slips comfortably onto our list!
Listen to:Dirty Floor, and The Afterparty
13 – Revenant: Best Medicine
A band that put out two new EPs in 2025 and honestly, either could have made this list. However, I do think Medicine does ever so slightly edge out over Black Dogs, personally. However, both are excellent NWOCR releases, and could easily be combined together into an excellent album! Still, this is an amazing collection of five stompin’ rock tracks, and it’s impossible not to have a good time listening to it! Even the slower tracks are excellent, showing off the bands damn impressive range. I cannot wait to finally see them live in February and see these tracks, as I’ve been jamming them regularly for months now! Another solid 9/10 from us sees this easily make our list!
Listen to: Public Service Announcement, and Least I can Do
12 – Miss Vain: Sempiternal Drive
The follow-up to their incredible 2023 release, this had a lot of personal hype to live up to, and managed to do exactly that! This is melodic hard rock at its absolute finest. Five songs packed with huge, heavy riffs and choruses designed to be played to massive festival crowds. We even get some awesome screams too, adding a metalcore element to it which I love. Their sound is evolving more and more, and they deserve to be a growing name. It fills a great Santa Cruz-shaped hole in my soul, and I haven’t been able to get enough of it since April. A very easy 9/10 from us solidly secures this release a spot on our list! Check it out if you like the more melodic side of music!
Listen to: Now or Neverland, and Demon Spawn
11 – Blake Whiten: Six Mile
That voice. Need I say more? The sheer emotion in that rasp and low delivery is somehow both devastating and beautiful in equal measure, and makes all six of these tracks a must-listen. It hooks you in immediately, and doesn’t let you free until the very last note. And honestly, the instrumentation compliments Blake’s voice and lyrics perfectly. It’s a slower, steady, neotraditional country album, but delivered with an almost murder-folk darkness to it and times, as well as a modern edge. If all of that gushing hasn’t done enough to win you over, just take a listen, it really is that good. And hell, the 9.5/10 we gave it might convince you, too! It definitely deserves a slot on this list, and if it wasn’t for it being such a strong year in 2025, it may have gotten even higher!
Listen to: Reckless, and Rollin’ Stone
10 – Craig Morgan: American Soundtrack
A real throwback to the early-mid 2000s country sound in the very best of ways. From ballads to more rockier numbers, this release takes you on one hell of a journey across 20 short minutes, and is one I’ve listened to a fair bit the last nine months or so! It’s all catchy as anything and, while a little cliche lyrically, is still damn enjoyable. And, while I wait for another full-length to follow up 2020’s God, Family, Country, these EPs that he’s been putting out are more than enough to keep me going! It got top marks from us back in February, and honestly listening back, it’s hard to argue with it! The cheesiness may have dropped it down a couple of places on this list but honestly, it’s still one of the best EPs of the year, hence why it makes this list!
Listen to: American Soundtrack, and Roots
9 – Circle of Origin: Guilty Till Proven Innocent
An awesome melodic metal EP up next, and a massively high-calibre one for a debut! It’s a style that’s right up my street, and the band do it phenomenally. It’s massive, the perfect blend of heavy and melodic, and takes plenty of inspiration from the massively overlooked groove-metal genre, incorporating plenty of bounce into their hard-rock sound. I have listened through this 20-minute release multiple times since it dropped in early last year, and don’t see myself stopping any time soon! Hopefully we are getting more from them soon, and I also need to see them live ASAP too, as I have to hear these tracks live! An insanely solid 9.5/10 from us easily lands them this spot on our list.
Listen to: Time Waits for No One, and Broken
8 – Everette: Simple as That
It’s no secret that I am a massive fan of this project. So, the fact that we are four releases in and it has turned more into a solo project and we are still getting quality this high is a true testament to Brent’s talents. All four of these track are amazing, feeling a bit more like their earlier stuff than Keys to Kentuckywas, which was pretty awesome. It’s another artist that should be far bigger than they are currently; just listen to this and tell me otherwise. I feel like it took a slight hit when Anthony left, but Brent seems to be gathering some steam again and, if he keeps putting out banger after banger like he has been, it surely will be bigger sooner rather than later! It got a 9.5/10 from us when it dropped but honestly, it feels like I only didn’t give it more because it just wasn’t long enough! If you like country even a little, give this a spin ASAP!
Listen to: Glad to Be Here, and Freight Train
7 – Jawfane: Me and All my Demons
A non-country Nashville band is always nice to see, and even more-so when it’s a fantastic, emo-adjacent heavy post-hardcore one! The debut EP from the quartet is a fantastic 17-minutes of anger, ch0nky riffs and brutal screams. It’s definitely on the darker side of releases on this list, but it also stands out a lot to me as shockingly not that many people seem to be doing stuff like this currently. And the fact that it’s done to this high a quality is truly awesome! All five tracks here are awesome, and it all fits together perfectly to make something truly special. If you like the genre, check this out immediately, you’ll surely love it! There’s a very good reason it got a 9.5/10 from us and makes it onto this list!
Listen to: Damaged Goods, and Friends and Enemies
6 – Tealdear: menace
This chaotic, proggy near-20-minutes is an absolute thrill ride of heavy music. It’s certainly not going to be for everyone, but six months on from its release I still love it! It’s heavy, catchy and incredibly creative in its songwriting, it all flowing surprisingly well together. The band are all such insane musicians and songwriters, and again shoutout to their producer Audiomage, who’s done a fantastic job here too! They haven’t gotten nearly enough love and recognition from this release, but I adore it and would recommend anyone into the quirkier side of music. It got an incredibly easy 9.5/10 from us back in June, and if you listen it’s very easy to hear why. I cannot wait to hear more from them already, but for now I am happy to keep spinning this!
Listen to: the devil’s toybox, and don’t be a cult
5 – Gareth: Steal Your Thunder
2025 very much felt like Gareth’s year. Not only putting out not one but two awesome EPs, touring with Kip Moore, main stage at Long Road, it’s hard to argue what a huge, breakthrough year he had. And this felt like this release really set everything into motion here. Fifteen minutes spread across five incredible radio-country songs, all as good as each other. His vocals are beautiful and powerful, and his songwriting ability is really off the charts! And, while I did enjoy Bluebird a lot too, this one stood out a little more for me, and was a bit more solid throughout. This release has set him up for absolutely MASSIVE things, and it’s easy to hear why we gave it a 9/10, though honestly I think it deserves even more than that now. If you are a country fan, this release is an absolute must!
Listen to: Steal Your Thunder, and Last Thing I Do
4 – Bleed the Fifth: Mortal Heart
The first new release from the band in three years and it certainly didn’t disappoint! This is an incredible slab of modern metalcore from the Welsh quartet that almost teeters on melodeath at times, which certainly isn’t a bad thing! All five tracks are amazing, and this whole release has been a regular in my listening still all these months If you are at all a fan of the heavier side of metal, this is very much one for you! It very easily got top marks back in March, and it’s hard to disagree with that some ten months later. There was no way this wasn’t making the list, and I already can’t wait to hear where they go from here!
Listen to: First Flame, and We Belong
3 – Rattlesnakes: Deeper Shades of Tourment
The debut EP from the young, Derbyshire NWOBHM revival band is incredible, and has been in regular rotation for me since its April release. It goes hard throughout, from the incredible riffing to the solid drumming to Rowena’s powerful vocals. And for a debut release to produce this level of quality songs throughout is damn impressive! It’s a sound that, while never quite going away, is seeing an awesome resurgence in the UK underground scene as of late, and Rattlesnakes very much positioned themselves near the forefront of that with this release. If you are a fan of old-school metal, give this a spin, you’ll surely love it as much as I do. A very solid 9.5/10 back when it dropped, and it more than lives up to that now. A deserving addition to this list!
Listen to: Firestarter, and Burn for You
2 – Evan Bartels: To Make you Cry
As if I wasn’t already obsessed with this release when it dropped, seeing it live made me fall in love with it even more. It’s such a simple release, being pretty stripped back to Evan’s vocals and guitar with liminal other instrumentation, but it draws all the focus on the lyrics and vocal delivery, packing such a deep, emotional punch. It’s made me cry before, live and when revisiting it here. Heck, ‘The Highway’ still gives me goosebumps to this day. Plus, talking to Evan about how it was made just makes me appreciate it even more! It won’t be for everyone, but music at its most base form is supposed to make you feel something, and this does just that every single time. Every track is amazing, and this is an absolute must check out, regardless of what type of music you’re into! It’s very easy to hear why I gave it a 10/10, and it definitely deserves this slot on the list!
Listen to: Death of a Good Man, and The Highway
1 – Fangslinger: We Are the Night
There was no way this wasn’t topping our list. I’ve been obsessed with this band since they started, and this EP brought together everything I loved about the undead redneck rock’n’rollers! Big riffs, massive harmonies, arena-filling choruses and plenty of southern rock swagger to boot. All five tracks are as good as the last, it being 20-minutes of hard rock greatness. They are already teasing the next step, but until then, I am more than happy to keep spinning this release. It’s a fantastic combination of their early singles, and it’s another release I cannot recommend enough to anyone even slightly interested. It was another very easy 10/10 back in July, and I fully stand by that now. These guys are gonna be massive!
While a little later than previously planned, we wanted to sit down and take a look at our most anticipated albums set to release this year, either announced or rumoured. And, for the first time in Overtone history, not one album/artist that featured on last years list returned for this one! Out of all of them, only one didn’t release, and… well… that all got a bit messy. This year is already looking stacked for new releases, so let’s look at the ones we’re looking forward to the most, shall we?
Zach Bryan: With Heaven on Top – January 9th
The soonest to drop, merely a few days from now, one of countries biggest stars returns after taking some time away. Being a big fan of the guy, I’d be excited for this release. However, with the controversyhearing some of the snippets out there has already caused, it has made me more curious and excited than ever! Zach’s beauty is in his lyrics, and he’s certainly gotten plenty to write about since 2024’s The Great American Bar Scene. If it’s anywhere near the quality of his last couple of albums, he’ll certainly be onto another winner with this. I for one cannot wait, and am at least glad it’s coming so early in the year! Do we think it will be the third to make it onto our top album of the year list?
Megadeth: Self-Titled – January 23rd
The final studio album from the thrash legends is of course a massive deal. I have to admit I’ve not been a huge fan of their recent output, but they were a massive band in my teenage years for me and definitely inspired me in my playing, so to have them calling it quits in a year or two is bittersweet. And, having heard the singles already, the band are definitely firing on all cylinders again! They feel like the perfect blend of old and new Megadeth, and hopefully the whole album can channel the same vibes. Hell, if we get a good 80s thrash album, I’ll be happy, anything else is a bonus! Heck, as long as it’s better than their last album, it’ll be a fitting sendoff to one of the most underrated bands of all time.
The Karma Effect: Cruel Intentions – May 15th
One of the most exciting releases coming to the NWOCR scene this year is none other than London’s hard rockers. A follow up to 2024’s stellarPromised Land (which also made that year’s list), it’s impossible not to be hyped for this! ‘Waiting in a Miracle’ is a good a single as the band have ever produced, and they are already teasing more in the coming months. They are the perfect blend of old and new school, and growing more by the day, so it seems! This could very much be their biggest release yet and push them to new heights, and I am very much along for the ride. This album cannot come out soon enough, and expect it to end up on ouralbums of the yearlist come December!
Trivium: TBA
The first rumoured/unconfirmed album of the list this year, but there was no way one of my favourite bands are in the studio and that wasn’t making it on here. I know they not long put out an EP, but have said they are still in the studio working on new music as we speak. What’s more exciting is they are saying it’s being inspired by the energy from their Ascendancy anniversary tour. If their upcoming album is some sort of blend of that release and their recent output, I may become a little obsessed! They have put out some of the best music of the last decade with their last three albums, and I find it hard to believe they won’t continue on that run of form with their next one. The only issue is that they’ve said it will be ‘late 2026 or early 2027’, so this may end up back on the same list next year! Still, I can’t wait for this, and whenever it drops, it will surely be awesome!
Megan Moroney: Cloud 9 – February 20th
Megan’s other two albums got a 9/10 and an 8.5/10, respectively. Clearly I am a big fan of her work, and she has set the bar high with her albums so far! So, of course I am excited for this third album! And, if the two singles out so far are anything to go by, it will be more of the excellent same. Ones an emotional ballad, while the others a bit more up-tempo and rocky, at least for Megan, showing off both sides of her great writing. There’s a reason why she’s becoming one of the biggest modern names in the genre, and it has almost put quite a bit of pressure on this upcoming album. I fully expect her to live up to the hype around the release though, and cannot wait to hear the full thing!
Rob Zombie: The Great Satan – February 27th
The first release in half a decade for the industrial metal legend, and it’s surely set to be another awesome one. Heck, we’re still spinning his last onepretty regularly now! And, if the singles so far are anything to reflection of the album as a whole, we are going old-school Zombie with this one, which certainly isn’t a bad thing! ‘Punks and Demons’ is a fun, chaotic release that harkens back to his White Zombie days or Sinister Urge era a lot. It makes sense too, as the amazing Mike Riggs is back on guitar duty for the first time since 2003. I love John 5 and have loved what he’s done with Zombie, but if we’re getting a return to the sound of his first two solo albums with this release, I am all for it! Either way, it will good to have the master of horror back to releasing music again, it’s been too long!
Mallavora: What if Better Never Comes? – March 27th
A debut album being on this list is pretty special, but Mallavora are no ordinary band. They have been steadily on the rise now since COVID, growing more and more and getting a true cult following behind them. Now, two massive EPs under their belts, they are set to take their biggest step up since, with a massively anticipated debut album! Their unique brand of alt metal is amazing and a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to hear it in a longer format. And, like with a lot of this list, the singles we’ve heard so far are BANGIN’. The band have an incredible future ahead of them and an already stacked 2026, and this album will surely push them to higher heights still!
Fangslinger: TBA
Another that’s been teased but not officially announced, they at least have an album launch show set for April, so you’ve gotta imagine the album will be out around then. I’m a big fan of the metal/country/hard rock crossover band and have been since the start, so I’ll take any new music I can get. If that’s a full-length album, that’s even better! I’d assume ‘As the Crow Flies’ is the first song from the release, and that track is incredible, so I am already eager to hear more. I know they are dropping another single in the next week or two, so hopefully we get some more news around then. However, until then, we here at Overtone are impatiently waiting to hear what’s next for the band. 2026 is very much going to be their year!
Skindred: You Got This – April 16th
The Welsh Reggae-metal band took their time reaching 2023’s Smile, but are already returning early this year with another album that is no doubt going to be awesome. We’ve only had one single so far, but the title track is AWESOME, and hints to great things for the album as a whole. It’s impossible not to have fun with Skindred, and they only seem to be getting even better with age. Nine albums in at this point and they are hotter than ever, and seem to be putting out better and better music. Their last like four albums now have been stellar, and I have high expectations that You Got This will be more of the same!
Tailgunner: Midnight Blitz – February 6th
One of the fastest rising stars in all of metal, the recent Napalm Records signing as wasting no time putting out their sophomore album! The bands debut back in 2023 was fantastic enough, but I truly believe these guys could surpass that with this release, and prove that they are certainly ones to watch moving forward. The perfect blend of old-school NWOBHM and modern production and energy, they have all the tools to become the next big thing, and I truly believe this album will set them on that path. I’m also interested to hear what they do with a bigger budget, and if the singles are anything to go off, it’s going to be awesome!
Social Distortion: TBA/May?
Another album teased by the band but not officially announced. Frontman Mike Ness has given a rough May release date, alongside a potential single later this month. Man do I hope so, as it’s been 15 long years since their last studio release. Another massive influence in my early years, having them return after so long, as well as Mike’s tonsil cancer, is truly awesome to see. And, across their long, storied career, they really haven’t lost a step, not putting out an even remotely bad album, so I can’t see this breaking that trend now! They’re just so easy to listen to while still having plenty of great lyrics and themes, and are such an inspirational band, they can almost do no wrong. Either way, I’m just damn excited to hear this, and even more excited to finally see them live this year, too!
Ice Nine Kills: TBA
Another one for the maybe pile. INK have been rather secretive in terms of what their plan is, aside for casually hinting at capping off their Siver Scream trilogy with another album. The story through their videos has continued on perfectly, though it remains to be seen if any are standalone or if the last three will all make it onto III. I’m in two minds about it, as ‘The Laugh Track’ is one of the best songs they’ve ever done, but I rather selfishly would love as much new stuff as possible on a new release! No matter which way it goes, I’m sure it’ll be a banger when it finally comes out. They are my favourite current band, and Horrorwood is a masterpiece. While the pressure may be on after that album and their bigger tours the last couple of years, if anyone can rise to the challenge, it’s Ice Nine Kills. I’ve been impatiently waiting for this for a solid few months already!
Tyketto: Closer to the Sun – March 20th
Somehow it has been a full decade since the second wave of glam/AOR legends blew me away with Reach. That’s far too long without new Tyketto! That is all set to change at the end of March, when we get their highly anticipated return! Having seen them multiple times in the last few years, they are still very much on top form, so it’s hard not to be excited for new studio work by them. ‘Higher Than High’ is an awesome track, so you’ve gotta imagine the rest of the album will be more of the same! I’m sure this thing will kick ass, and I can’t wait!
Muse: TBA
How is it that the band are allowed to show up in June, drop one of their heaviest tracks in years, and then disappear again? I still spin ‘Unravelling’ a fair bit now, and it still has me hyped for the band to return with a new studio album. They can do no wrong in my eyes (aside 2nd Law), and even their last album had some bangers! There is no one quite like Muse, and it has been too long since we’ve had a full-length release already! No matter what sort of sound they return with, whether the Djent-ness was just a one-off or not, I’m sure it will still be excellent, and I for one cannot wait to hear whatever the Devonshire trio have come up with!
Symphony X: TBA
Okay, this one might just be be. However, I LOVE the band, and the fact that we’ve not had an album from them in a decade is insane. I’m a big fan of Russell Allen, and have already missed his work in Adrenaline Mob, so at least with this I get some of his incredible vocals again. However, the band as a whole are such incredibly talented musicians that it’s hard to imagine this isn’t going to be insane all round. We haven’t even had a single drop for this one yet, but LePond has stated that they have finished writing it in the late stages of last year, so fingers crossed it’s being recorded as we speak! It’s another that may very well get pushed back to ’27, but a guy can hope, right?!
Here we are guys, the top 20! Who do you thinks gonna be in here? Read below and find out!
20 – Brass Camel: Camel
Honestly, this is a prog masterpiece. I’ve gushed about it plenty already, but the sheer talent on display throughout this entire 40 minutes is incredible. Right from the 10-minute epic of an opener giving some of the best instrumentation I’ve heard in years, to the more radio-friendly ‘Pick of the Litter’ and ‘Borrowed Time’ to the equally grandiose closer, it’s a tour de force throughout. It’s like the perfect blend of ELO, Queen and Wolfmother, and is impossible not to have a good time when listening to. It dropped all the way back in April and I haven’t stopped raving about it since! It’s certainly not going to be for everyone, but I’m insanely jealous of the bands talents, and would recommend it to anyone interested! There’s a reason it got 10/10, and it lands a very deserving spot on our list!
Listen to: Zealot, Chain Reaction, and
19 – Drake Milligan: Tumbleweed
It’s no secret how much we fucking LOVEMr Milligan here at Overtone, and once again he knocked it out of the park back last month with his sophomore album. The neo-traditional sound has made a big impact in recent years, and Drake is as good at it as anyone else. It’s 42-minutes full of boot stompin’ numbers or slower, beautiful ballads or old-school stuff, and all of it is done to perfection. And, after sitting with it for a couple of months, it just keeps getting better! While I do think it’s not quite as good as his monumental debut, it’s still an utterly fantastic country album, and one of the best of the year. We gave it 9/10 back when it dropped, but I do think it’s a bit higher than that now! There isn’t a bad track on the album, and while there’s maybe one too many slower songs in the middle, it’s still incredibly easy to listen to. A damn worthy addition to the list!
Listen to: Tumbleweed, Slow Dancing to a Fast Song, and How Much Beer
18 – Neon Union: Good Years
An absolutely phenomenal album that I’ve been obsessed with the last 11 months, and it’s absolutely criminal that they haven’t exploded from its release. There isn’t a bad track across the 12 on this, and most have been stuck in my head at various points of the last year! It’s southern-rock-infused country in all the best ways, and even the slower songs have a bit of an edge and distortion to them. If you are at all into country or southern rock at all, I cannot recommend this enough, it’s an absolutely phenomenal, damn fun album! It’s very easy to hear why it got top marks from us, and it very much deserves this high a slot on the list! I cannot wait to hear where they go from here, but for now am happy to keep sitting with this awesome album!
Listen to: Golden Rules, Bout Damn Time, and Made in Mexico
17 – Creeper: Sanguivore II: Mistress of Death
The sequel to their 2023masterpiece, this had a lot of hype to live up to. And, like with Drake, I don’t think it’s quite as good as that. However, this is still an absolutely incredible gothic, throwback hard rock album, and more than deserves its slot on this list! The release as a whole isn’t quite as strong overall, but ‘Headstones’ is maybe the best song the band have ever put out, with ‘Blood Magick’ not being far behind! If you are a fan of their recent output, this is an absolute must-listen, and has been regularly in my rotation since its Halloween release. It’s packed full of massive, cheesy choruses and key changes, but also plenty of heaviness throughout to offset it. They’re a great old-school sound while still feeling plenty modern; no one is quite doing it like Creeper currently. It’s easy to hear why it got 9/10 from usupon its release, but I do think it’s crept (punk very much intended) higher than that after a couple more listens! I think hearing it live also helped me appreciate it a lot. It more than deserves its slot on this list, and I would recommend everyone check it out at least once!
Listen to: Blood Magick, Headstones, and Parasite
16 – Malevolence: Where Only the Truth is Spoken
The UK beatdown hard/metalcore titans returned with their latest album back in June, and honestly somehow blew me away even more than Malicious Intent did! They take everything great from that release and amplify it, even down to the epic, dark ballad. The anger throughout is fantastic, from the vocals to the riffing, and makes you just want to throw people around a pit constantly. It’s 42-minutes of perfect heaviness, without a bad song throughout. And I love the band steadily incorporating more melodic and groove metal elements into their sound, adding some mainstreamness to the brutality. I can see them continuing to grow and becoming a huge band in the scene in just a few years. It got a 9/10 when it dropped, but after a few more spins I definitely think it deserves higher now. An easy addition this high up on the list!
Listen to: If It’s All the Same to You, Salt the Wound, and In Spite
15 – First Time Flyers: Bound to Break
The debut album from the rising UK country stars is an absolutely incredible release. I’ve known them a few years now, so was a little worried I’d feel a bit like Tekknoor Popular Monster; feeling burnt out by the steady drip of singles and it watering down the album. However, that certainly didn’t happen here! Despite being familiar with a lot of it, I still love each and every single when I revisit the release, and the album tracks are right up there alongside them! The bands harmonies are maybe second to none currently, and they make every single track memorable, catchy and massive. Between that and the exploration of just about every sound currently around the top of the country world, and it makes for an incredible easy listen, even at its 15-track length! It got a very easy 9.5/10 from us back when it released, and I fully stand by that still today. I can’t wait to hear where they go from here, but I still cannot get enough of spinning this for now, and it more than deserves its spot on our list!
Listen to: Primadonna, Happier, and Gold
14 – Between the Buried and Me: The Blue Nowhere
The US prog metallers’ 13th studio album may somehow be their best yet, which is honestly saying a lot! The band really made the use of their gap between releases, producing something that transcends any genre they include, the result being something distinctly BTBAM. It’s 71-minutes of beautiful, heavy chaos written and produced perfectly by the band. From jazz to death metal, 80s synth to djent to to alt to blues/country, there are so many elements blended together amazingly. I think I mentioned it in my review, but this very much feels like the modern evolution of Mr Bungle. I’ve been obsessed with this release since September when it dropped, and have raved about it to anyone that would listen! One of the easiest 10/10’s I’ve given all year, and it very much deserves this high a spot on this list. Once again, it could be even higher on any given day, it’s just an incredible year for music!
Listen to: Things we Tell Ourselves in the Dark, Absent Thereafter, and Slow Paranoia
13 – Avatar: Don’t Go in the Forest
This honestly felt like such a return to form for the cinematic metallers. And that’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy their previous release, but more that this is so good, I’d put it up there among their best! It’s quirky, catchy and heavy in a way that really only Avatar can do. From power/folk to more metalcore to hard rock, everything the band do so great is very much turned up to 11 throughout this whole release. I loved it when it came out on Halloween, and have had it in steady rotation ever since. They’re just so interesting and fun, and it’s an incredibly easy nearly 5-minute listen. It flows together perfectly and all feels suitably epic. From the riffing to Johannes’ insane vocal range, it’s all so good. The 9/10 from us feels a touch low after a few listens, and it has definitely earned its high slot on here! Check it out if you’re at all curious!
Listen to: Tonight we Must be Warriors, Don’t Go in the Forest, and Death and Glitz
12 – Lady Gaga: MAYHEM
Believe me, I’m as shocked as you are! I’ve always been a Gaga fan, she got big while I was in secondary school, those first two albums are still incredible. Since then I had fallen off, but there has been no ignoring this release this year, and why should you? It’s awesome! From the three pre-release singles to so many amazing album tracks to the addition of ‘The Dead Dance’ on the deluxe thanks to her involvement in Wednesday, it is jam packed full of banger after banger. It’s also a welcome return to Gaga’s more rock-infused pop sound, clearly taking influence from everyone from Prince to Nine Inch Nails to Bowie. For a publication that is so usually everything-but-pop to put a generally pop album on this list at all, let alone this high, goes to show just how phenomenal this release is. If you doubt me at all, at least give it a listen first and try to tell me that you aren’t at least impressed by her vocals and songwriting. I wanted to see this tour so bad, but sadly couldn’t afford it, as the videos also look INCREDIBLE. We didn’t review it when it released, but after many listens since March, it can’t get any less than 9.5/10, and more than deserves its slot on this list!
Listen to: Abracadabra, Killah, and The Dead Dance
11 – Evan Honer: Everything I Wanted
Evan very much did it again in 2025. As if last year’s release wasn’t good enough already, just 15 months later he dropped another collection of incredible tracks. Heck, the title track may as well be my song of the year given how much myself and my wife have played it around the house. However, it is far from the only good song on the record; it’s packed full of them! Also, the more I’ve listened to it, the more I’ve somehow fallen in love with it. While not quite as emotionally soul-destroying as some of Fighting For, it very much still packs a punch, Evan being a phenomenal storyteller and chronicling what he’s gone through between releases. From his lyrics to his delivery, it’s perfect, powerful and beautiful. And instrumentally, while pretty simple for the most part, it’s a little on the rockier side this time, which was a great touch. Every song is as good as the last, and I’d recommend this album to absolutely anyone, though especially those into more of the country/Americana side of things. That9.5/10 has easily turned into a 10/10 at this point!
Listen to: Everything I Wanted, Better off Lonely, and Lose a Friend
10 – Orbit Culture: Death Above Life
The melodeath Swedes have done it once again, putting out an album everything as good asDecent. They have quickly become the torchbearers for the genre, and I am all for it! It’s packed to the brim with amazing songs, being nearly an hour of perfect heaviness. I have had it on a lot in the last three months, and would recommend it to anyone at all into metal. They really are masters of their craft, and have been on an excellent roll as of late. It got top marks from me, and I fully stand by that still now! The band are incredibly talented, and are surely going to be a massive name in the metal scene incredibly soon!
Listen to: Inferna, Inside the Waves, and
9 – Ghost: Skélta
I want to preface this by saying that I don’t particularly think Ghost are an ‘album band’. They are utterly fantastic at producing insane singles, but Meteora was probably the closest they’ve come to making an A tier album… until now. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a perfect album front to back. However, the five/six tracks that are good are up there with some of the best songs of the last few years. I do think it wasn’t the best idea to front-load the thing with the four best track on it, three of them being the singles. However yet again, DAMN are they fantastic songs. And the other few aren’t bad by any stretch, just a step below then others and more like Ghost album tracks.
The band have really come into their own here somehow, though most (me included) thought they’d already done that with their previous two releases. It feels bigger, more epic and ambitious, and the scope is realised in a massive way. It’s like stadium-glam mixed with their usual sound, it’s awesome! Forge is honestly a musical mastermind, creating this true modern legend, and I feel they now have another album to rival their huge size. Even if you aren’t typically a Ghost fan, this is well worth checking out, as it’s that good it may just change your mind! It got a perfect score from us and it’s hard to argue with that, despite a slight breather track or two in the middle.
Listen to: Lachryma, Satanised, and Marks of the Evil One
8 – The Pretty Wild: zero.point.genesis
WHAT A DEBUT. From the fantastic scream that opens through 40-minutes of amazing modern metalcore to the epic, dark closing ballad, it takes the listener on an awesome journey. The dynamic between the two front-women is amazing, but the rest of the band also kill it throughout. Every song is amazing, be it more of a Bad Omens or Ice Nine Kills sound, and it’s easy to see why they have gotten so big so fast. I’m glad it’s getting the love it deserves from other publications, though, and it was definitely going to end up high on this list from the first time I heard it. From the massive choruses to the heavy riffing, it’s packed to the brim of awesome moments. If you haven’t already listened, do yourself a favour and do so immediately! It more than deserves its slot on this list, and the 9.5/10 I gave it, though it might even get a solid 10 after a few more listens!
Listen to: PARADOX, living ded, and AFTERLIFE
7 – Kyle McKeanery: To the River
Yet another artist I discovered just this year that I am now completely obsessed with because of their output this year! I remember interviewing him back in January and didn’t at all expect him to put out this absolute country/Americana masterpiece just a few short months later. At nearly an hour long, it’s insanely impressive that there isn’t a bad track on it, and it’s packed full of major highlights to boot. His vocals are powerful and packed full of soul and emotion, and the harmonies add even more of both. However, his songwriting is the real kicker here, some of the lyrics and choruses are my favourite of the year, no matter the genre! Whether it’s country, Americana, blues or rock, he does it all to absolute perfection. I’ve gone back since and checked out his previous stuff and, while I like that a lot too, Kyle really hit his stride here in a massive way! I have spun this in full a LOT over the last eight months since its release, and it is yet to get old. It got a 9.5/10from usupon its release and it’s hard to argue that now! If you are at all even a passing country fan, check this out!
Listen to: Skeletons, Broken Hearts Hide, and Hold On Goodbye
6 – Chevelle: Bright as Blasphemy
This one was a long time coming! After being a mainstay on our most anticipated albums list the last two years now, the alt rock/metal duo finally graced us with their highly anticipated next release. And damn, what a release it was! I always thought it was going to be hard to top 2021’s NIRATIAS, but they followed it up with an album that is up there alongside it, that’s for sure. The riffs and drumming are still massive, and the lyrics are still full of depth, anger and emotion. It feels like there is more variety than ever in their sound though, especially with the slower, more reflective and beautiful ‘Blood out in the Fields’. They are still one of the most underrated band to maybe ever exist, and I’m so hoping that we finally get a UK or even European show from them off this album cycle. It got such an incredibly easy 10/10from us at the time and I certainly haven’t changed my opinion of it since then! It was #4, on our list last time around, so the band are once again consistently high up for list. It could easily have been at the top if it wasn’t for this being such an insanely solid list this year, but it is very deserving of it’s #6 slot, that’s for sure!
Listen to: Pale Horse, Jimmy Jones – Cowards, Pt. 2, and Blood Out in the Fields
5 – Crowe Boys: Made to Wander
The highest rated debut album this year, and it’s easy to hear why! I checked this out on a whim as they’d been announced for The Long Road this year, and immediately fell in love. It’s nearly 40-minutes of incredible, emotional indie-Americana music, and in a year full of amazing releases in said genre, this tops them all. Sonically it is phenomenal, the instrumentation simple but the harmonies from the two brothers being so very beautiful. However, what really shines through are the lyrics and emotion. The vulnerability of their breakout hit. The beautiful optimism of ‘Bonfire in my Soul’. And I cannot listen to ‘Brother Song’ on track or live without shedding a tear still to this day. There truly isn’t a bad track on this release, and it is one I haven’t grown tired of in the countless listens I’ve done since its release back in June. For a debut album this is absolutely phenomenal, and is not only a testament to the boys’ insane talent, but the start of what is surely going to be an absolutely massive career as a band. Take a listen and tell me it doesn’t deserve even more than the 9/10 I gave it at the time!
Listen to: Bootstraps, Bonfire in my Soul, and Brother Song
4 – Paleface Swiss: CURSED
This slab of pure anger from the deathcore Swiss was somehow my first introduction to them, outside of Marc’s feature on last year’s Left to Suffer album. So, for me to become utterly obsessed with this band since this, that really says a lot. It certainly helped me get some anger out over the last year, that’s for sure! Marc has one of the most interesting, versatile vocals in the game right now, and really helps this album shine and stand out. Having said that though, that shouldn’t take away from the rest of the band working their asses off with some incredible riffing and drumming. Heck, we even get some awesome rapping/trap stuff, integrated into metal far better than most other bands and artists do it.
This thing came out in the very first few days of the year and I’ve been spinning it pretty regularly since then; it hasn’t gotten old yet. Sure, it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you are into the heavy stuff I can’t recommend this enough. The band have been going for a few years now but this very much felt like an arrival for them in a massive way. Plus, shoutout to the deluxe edition, that added even more awesome carnage! They deserve so much more recognition and deserve to be massive thanks to this release, as well as their others, but hey, at least they got high on this list, right..? It got a 9.5/10from us back in January, but I do feel like it’s jumped up to top marks now, and more than justifies being this high on our list!
Listen to: Hatred, Enough?, and Love Burns
3 – Those Damn Crows: God Shaped Hole
Our 2023 album of the year winners returned back in April and once again knocked it out of the park. Heck, this was a UK #1 album, an absolutely HUGE feat for a band of their size and style, and it should say enough about how fantastic this release is. It truly couldn’t have happened to nicer, more deserving guys, either. Yes, they were pipped to the post this time round, but that isn’t a reflection of this albums quality in any way, more just the insane quality of music released this year.
The NWOCR leaders’ fourth offering is yet another one without a single bad song on it. It’s radio-friendly hard rock at its very best, and is something that absolutely everyone should listen to as I truly believe they’d make a fan out of anyone. Whether it’s the riffing, solid drumming or Shane’s impressive vocals and captivating charisma that comes through his delivery, it’s all excellent for a full 40-minutes. And, while I gave it 10/10, I feel like it’s grown on me even more with subsequent listens, being certainly up there with Inhale/Exhale for me now. The band have gone from strength to strength in recent years and this feels like the icing on the cake of everything they’ve achieved so far! One hell of an album, and more than deserving of this spot on our list!
We have PLENTY of Crows content on our site, just search it up!
Listen to: Glass Heart, Lets Go Psycho!, and Spit & Choke
2 – ONE OK ROCK: DETOX
This may be the most slept-on album of the year. Hell, for a sadly hefty chunk of the year, I did just that. I loved it when it came out, but got so wrapped up in other music that it wasn’t until I revisited it before seeing them that I realised DAMN, THIS IS A FUCKING GOOD ALBUM! This thing is all killer, no filler; 37 minutes of pop-rock perfection. Whether it’s heavier stuff like the opener, ‘Party’s Over’ or the Paledusk-featuring ‘C.U.R.I.O.S.I.T.Y.’ to slower ballads like ‘Tropical Therapy’, ‘Tiny Pieces’ and ‘+Matter’, it’s all incredible. I honestly cannot express enough how much I love each and every song on this album. I discovered them off their previous album and liked it, but goddamn has this one made me fall in love with the band. How they aren’t one of the biggest bands on the planet is beyond me. Still, with their Western tours over the last couple of years, on top of this excellent release, they are certainly getting there! We gave it9/10 when it was released but after many spins since February it definitely deserves more than that, maybe even top marks! Yep, 10/10 for this masterclass. I’d recommend it to anyone!
Listen to: NASTY, Delusion:All, and +Matter
1 – Architects: Sky Earth and Everything Between
There was nothing else it could have been. The return to form to end all return to forms. One of the biggest bands in modern metalcore took some risks in the early 2020s which, while definitely aided their popularity, it certainly alienated a fair few of their fans. Well, those fans are certainly back after this release. A UK #2 album, damn respectable, even if they were screwed out of the top spot by another week of Short n Sweet.
However, that shouldn’t take away from the majesty of this album. It’s the best thing they’ve done since Lost Forever, and you can quote me on that. It combines the bands aggressive early sound with their more recent lighter, pop-infused stuff, and it works perfectly. It’s arguably what everyone wanted their evolution to be, and it only took the world really pissing off Sam to make it happen. The fact that the slower songs are even bangers shows the quality of this album.
I gave it a more than deserved 10/10 from us, and if you want even more gushing about it, I’d recommend checking out the review linked. Every song is incredible and I’ve listened to it so much in the last eight months. A very deserving top album for 2025, and one that is a must-listen for anyone out there.
Listen to: Elegy, Blackhole, and Seeing Red
And there you have it, folks! Another year, another set of absolutely incredible albums from the rock, country, metal and even pop world! Are there any we missed or you think were misplaced? Let us know! Until 2026!
We had the pleasure of chatting to New Zealand’s new breakout thrash/hardcore band Brainwave. Check out as we talk to them about their debut album, recent tour and future plans!
How would you describe your sound?
We recently found aYouTube comment saying that Brainwave sounds like a hardcore Toxic Holocaust, so we’ve picked that up and run with it!
The early influences on Brainwave were bands like Judiciary, Power Trip, No Warning – hardcore and crossover coming out of Texas, the North East U.S., and Canada.
Those influences are still with us, but we’ve also been trying to incorporate more melodic elements without going full stadium metal. We want to push both the metal and hardcore elements of our sound to the extreme.
What’s it like having your debut album out? What went into the decision to put out an album over another EP?
It’s been great to get the album out. It took about two years of sweet and blood and it means a lot to all of us.
From our perspective, doing an L.P. was really the next logical step. It was the only way to progress our sound and dig into all the influences and elements we wanted to draw out. E.P’s are great, but we needed something that allowed us more space and room for expression.
Is there a particular theme to the album, or any individual stories you want to talk about from it?
There are definitely some themes that come through the album. We were all facing some challenges during the writing process, at work or in aspects of our personal lives, and the album became an outlet for those struggles. Things like not achieving the goals we wanted in life, feeling disconnected, isolated, and atomised. This is also all of course in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic and the polarisation that had wrought. Society itself seemed to be breaking down. Songs like ‘Lost My Way’ and ‘Never Be The Same’ confront these themes.
We were also all profoundly affected by the genocide being inflicted on the people of Gaza by the state of Israel and the escalation of violence in the West Bank. It was frustrating that many people we’d looked up to had failed to recognise that daily horror and systemic forces pushing the region to the brink.
Overall, Ill Intent deals with a general dissatisfaction with the state of the world, but also a sense that you can conquer your doubts and prove your detractors wrong and, hopefully, make things slightly better in the process.
What is the writing process like for the band?
Generally Joram (guitar) will fire some riffs through and we will try and shape those into a song in the practice space. Often we will partly finish a song then move on to another idea and circle back later once we need to really hone the ideas.
‘Never Be The Same’ is a good example of this method. There is a riff that comes in at around 1:40min that we were playing as an intro to our set when we toured with Lucre in 2024. We thought that would be the start of a song, but as we wrote and reworked things, it felt natural to use it as a kind of beat switch part way through the track. Lewis Noke-Edwards, who produced, mixed, and mastered the album, then had the idea of adding a super slow breakdown after the riff, and Joram added vocals to really kick this track up a gear. It’s definitely a band favourite.
Seen you’ve had a busy month with shows, how’s the tour been going?
Yeah, we’ve just wrapped up our release tour. It’s been amazing, hella fun!
It was our first time playing in the South Island (we’re a North Island based band), so that was really cool. And it was great to have our friends Martial Law on all five shows.
We’ve been pretty active in Wellington for a few years, but to go outside our city and see people singing along, throwing down, and generally having a great time has been really gratifying.
What’s the scene like over there? Seen a good few bands coming through from your area recently!
The New Zealand hardcore scene is really strong right now. As well as great bands there are a bunch of people all over the country putting on shows and working hard to bring bands here from overseas. The community in general is in a really good place.
Huge shout out to all the bands that featured on the record – Molosser, Lucre, Martial Law, and Xile.
Also shout out all the bands that we shared the stage with on our release tour – Shuv-it, Visions ov Hell, Standover, Shuriken, Cryfor, Only You, Kisser, Virginia Dry, Strap, Moment of Truth, MoneySock, Dredge, and Nuclear Blunt.
Got a busy 2026 planned? Any hope to come over towards Europe?
Damn, we’d love to get over to Europe if possible! We’re pretty seriously discussing how we can make something happen over in Australia in 2026. Apart from that, I think we are all keen to get back into writing again.
Do you have a dream tour lineup you’d want to be a part of?
Ossh, what a question!
For us, it would be about who we could learn the most from watching every night. We’re all really excited by what is happening over in Australia at the moment. Obviously the peak of that right now is Speed, but there are so many other great bands from there we’d love to play with – Iron Mind, Horsepower, Feel The Pain, and Dizdain just to name a few. All bands that are in the game not just for themselves, but their scene and community, too!
We had the pleasure of chatting to 1/5th of the wonderful Hunter Brothers a couple of weeks back about their latest EP and touring plans! Check it out below!
The EPs been out a few weeks now. It seems to have gone down really well!
Well I hope so! You don’t always see all of the press or everybody’s internal dialogue so to speak, but what people have expressed has been positive so far! We’re grateful for that!
Is there a particular theme around the release? The title kinda ties into the songs all sounding a little different!
Yeah, definitely! I think this was an exploration sonically, of a few different directions. You have five siblings in a band, so to assume everything is gonna be one-sided is definitely not gonna be the case! We do share a lot in common, but there’s definitely the different influences that everyone pulls into the band as well. Our family alone, there’s going to be all kinda of county within that sphere. But then when you look at the world as a whole, or even national landscape, how do you define country? Or story is very country, we come from the middle of nowhere, grew up farming, but we’ve also had people say we look like we’re from New York!
That is definitely a part of the idea there, but also I think it’s a compilation of songs that we’ve been gathering for a period of time. We took a trip down to Nashville in January and started incorporating more things like the fiddle, or different sounds just to continue to evolve in music and enjoy where it’s going. Not just get stuck in the same thing all the time!
What’s the writing process like for you guys? I imagine working with your family you maybe get a little more leeway?
There’s pros and cons to everything. The pro is that you have these different perspectives that have similarities and shared life experiences. When you’re saying certain things the other can quite quickly deduce and understand what you’re saying. But also you need to be able to find those points of difference enough so that you have those unique perspectives while it’s also cohesive as a group. But that’s the case for everything, right? Sometimes when you’re writing with someone new they might see things pretty similarly to you despite just meeting you, they just get you. You develop friendships in Nashville and you tend to go back to those people who creatively you can collaborate with. As siblings, sometimes if you have all of us in a writing room, it’s a lot to process! If you have too many cooks in the kitchen, sometimes it can get a little overwhelming for certain members.
It’s still crazy to me, coming from outside of country, to see the Nashville writing scene. It’s really fascinating!
Yeah it is! No songwriters approaches something exactly the same way as the next one; it’s artistic expression at the end of the day. I think that’s what continued to shift things and mix things up a bit, you get lots of different perspectives. The learning part of it is how do you hold space for three or four peoples opinions at the same time? I think that’s really an art form in of itself. It’s one thing to write something in your notebook by yourself at home but to allow that creativity to be accessible to multiple people and have those collaborations come organically is art.
There’s a couple of collaborations on the EP. How did the Latham one come about?
So that was one of the fun things about this project: we’ve done collaborations but not recently. So with this project as just an EP, we hit two of them! That was fun! The one with Latham, it came about in a bit of a roundabout way, it wasn’t like we knew each other. It was actually one of those things where we needed a specific voice for that part, and we knew one of us were going to be able to pull that off! I am not a rapper! I can spread my wings into R&B and pop, but rap is not one of them! I’m pretty sure I did actually try one time in the studio and it was awful. I’m pretty sure my brother kept that sound bite somewhere for blackmail!
Latham was the option that ended up working out. We can’t tour with him in this next leg of tour but we do have screens so we welcomed him onto the stage the way we could! We didn’t think any of us could pull off that part properly. That’s where the country roots come in, you’ve definitely gotta know when to let someone else take the wheel. I think what’s interesting about that, going back to the title All Kinds of Country, having collaborations on this project was the most relevant time to do so! The title is sharing that it’s for everybody!
I feel like country’s become a lot more broad the last couple of years since it’s taken off again, too. You’ve got the traditional stuff but then you also have country rock making a comeback and more hip-hop infused stuff… there’s everything!
Yeah, totally! and when you ask that question ‘how do you define country’, it’s a pretty open-ended question. Is it the sound? Is it how they present themselves? Is it their story? I do think that when I evaluate that as a whole, storytelling is largely what the genre is about. I think that that’s the theme that continues forward. Music is quite fluid, is a C note a country note? But I think one thing I see is that consistent thread in country is a lot of it is about storytelling, sharing perspective and life experiences. The narrative is incredibly important. And now more than ever people can access others’ lives and see what their background is. But it’s an interesting topic, and I’m quite pleased that ended up being the title of the EP, honestly!
Even just the location! We have plenty of country artists starting up over here. And we still very much associate the genre with the South of the US, but then it’s a massive genre in Canada!
Canada is a large country from a landmass standpoint, but population-wise it’s not that vast, so you get to know the people in the industry. A lot of us are friends with each other and it’s great to watch the growth and progress of each act who’s going through the difficulty of economic times and the touring process just like you! I feel like Canada has multiple different cultures living across each Province even, and that’s interesting as when you’re presenting a show, they maybe interpret it through multiple angles. Music and art is a very interesting field!
In terms of the EP, was it always set to be that length, or is there an album of songs floating around for the future?
Yes, we actually do have other songs that are going to be added to this project. Nowadays when it comes to releases there are so many different ways people do it. Some are releasing music constantly while some are more album specific or there’s EPs, or sometimes when you just feel the moment. Some songs hold relevance at a certain moment in time and you figure out how to package them up later. For us we wanted to release new music that we were preparing and getting ready. Our deadline was to have an EP ready by the time we were touring. Then there are other songs that I’m excited to record that will likely round out the project as a whole, or more this chapter. They have similar directions to them, even if the pieces have different sounds to them. I think the songs that are still to be recorded will flow into a similar space that this project is currently living in.
Have you got much planned in for next year?
There’s some shows that are starting to come on the books. Month to month there’s ones that we have to see if we can make work schedule-wise, we have a lot of moving parts. But yeah, that’s starting to happen, and then new music obviously. I think next year is gonna be a year of creatively exploring that next chapter. When you’re in between touring seasons is when you really get to carve out that creative side of things!
Any plans to come to the UK any times soon?
We’ve had this question multiple times now… I would absolutely love to make that happen! We’ve never played there before so I imagine everyone would absolutely love to. I think it all comes down to timing and opportunities, but honestly I think people from the UK just sound beautiful rich, I always wanted that type of accent! I wanna come hang out with people way cooler than me!
I would love to make the trek out there so hopefully we can make that happen soon!
Part two of our list, and things are already starting to heat up! I thought I’d take this quick time to highlight some honourable mentions, as there were so many albums that sadly didn’t quite make the cut that are well worth checking out: Badflower. Dropkick Murphys. Russel Dickerson. Bleed From Within. Cam. Ron Pope. Heaven Shall Burn. William Prince. Jordan Davis. And, knock her all you like, but the new Sabrina Carpenter album slaps!
80 – Star Circus: From the Wreckage
We kick off part two of this years list with a long-anticipated sophomore album, and one hell of a sleazy, AOR/hard rock release! I’ve been a fan of the band for a few years now, and was pretty hyped when this was announced and we got sent it, and for anyone who’s read our review, I was certainly not disappointed! Nearly 50-minutes of awesome riffing and instrumentation, and packed full of choruses big enough to fill stadiums! Feeling like a modern version of Glenn Hughes or Night Ranger, it’s a lot of fun, and an incredibly easily listen that I’d recommend any rock fan check out! If/when you do, you’ll easily hear why we gave it a whopping 9.5/10, and why it easily made it onto our list!
Listen to: Chained to You, One Hit Wonder, and Last Dance
79 – Paradise Lost: Ascension
The godfathers of death-doom returned this last September with their first new studio stuff in half a decade, and proved that they are still one of the best in their genre. This is an hour of moody, gothic heaviness, and I love every bit of it. The riffs are the main highlight, as expected in this music, but some of the vocal lines are surprisingly catchy too, even when screamed! And the whole thing is just epic, flowing perfectly one track into the next. It’s certainly not for everyone, and is no small undertaking, but if you are at all into doom music, this is very much the album for you! It was, you guessed it, another massive 9/10from us when it dropped, and a few listens later it still very easily sits at that. A welcome, easy addition to this spot on the list!
Listen to: Tyrents Serenade, Salvation, and Sirens
78 – Rival Pack: BURN
As I’ve said before, 2025 was the year of the hardcore return, and few did it better this year than this Netherlands-based collective. Frankly, the fact that they sit on barely 100 monthly listeners at this point is nothing short of criminal! This isn’t even half an hour of absolute aggression and fury that would put plenty of other artists to shame. It’s a great way to get out some anger, as it makes me just want to throw people around a pit, and at the same time is a great fun listen. It’s a typical sound for the genre and doesn’t do a lot out of the ordinary, but what it does do, it does to perfection. I’ve spun this a lot since June and haven’t yet gotten bored of it, sure to keep spinning it plenty in the new year, too! From the riffing to the screams to the breakdowns, it’s all so good. Somehow it was one we hadn’t checked out for NMM, but give this a listen and try to tell me it is anything less than a 9/10! An amazing heavy album, and well worth its placement on here. On a weaker year, it could have gotten far higher!
Listen to: Closing In, Killer in the Pool, and Don’t Waste My Time
77 – Luna Marble: Self-Titled
The debut album from the bluesy hard rockers only came out last month, but has quickly established itself as a force in this list! This is a powerhouse of 70s riffs and psychedelia from start to finish, as well as being packed full of some awesome, arena-filling choruses to boot! It’s honestly refreshing to hear a band inspired by Led Zeppelin but not sound like a clone of them. It’s a more modern sound, reminding me a lot more of something like Brave Rival. These guys have truly mastered their craft and sound already, insanely impressive for a band so young and not having been going all that long. Everyone is exceptionally talented; from the riffing to the drumming, synth to the actually-focused-on bass to the soaring, powerful vocals it’s all incredible. I’ve fallen in love with the band since this early November release, and if you are at all into more of a classic rock style it is an absolute must-listen! It’s very easy to hear why it got a massive 9/10 from me, and it more than earned its slot here!
Listen to: All of my Love, So Long, and Redemption
76 – The War & Treaty: Plus One
Firstly, I don’t remember this album being this damn LONG. As much as I love the band, 66 minutes is a lot to sit through, and I think it’s a big reason as to why I’ve stuck to the tracks I like and very rarely revisited the release as a whole. It’s most likely the reason that it’s a touch lower than their previous release was on these lists. The highs are in the sky, but there is a fair bit of needless filler too, in this writers opinion, which stopped it from being quite as excellent an album as Lover’s Game. However, it’s still a damn good album, and produced some of my favourite country-adjacent tracks of the year. The duo lean even harder into their Southern Soul style than ever, putting out a truly unique release different to anything else on this list. And, honestly, it’s the more country/Americana stuff that I find myself going back to the least. They have really found their niche and bounce off of each other somehow better than ever, crafting something honestly special here, despite the length. It’s crazy to look back on our review of it and see my opinion has changed a bit on the slower stuff. Honestly, I’d stick with the 9.5/10 over top marks. However it’s still awesome, and very deserving of a slot of this list, that’s for sure! Check this out, especially the opening half!
Listen to: Call You By Your Name, Stealing a Kiss, and Love is on Fire
75 – Feuerschwanz: Knightclub
Power metal ‘Gangnam Style’… do I need to say anything else?! The band put the fun in power metal like few other bands can, and it makes this a fantastic listen! Don’t get me wrong, they can also get serious and ‘proper power metally’ when they want to, but the slightly more light-hearted nature is a lot of fun, and has kept me coming back to a lot of this album again and again. And even though the release may appear front-loaded (aside the massive closer), there are some truly incredible folk metal songs throughout, and I couldn’t name you a bad song. I have fully gotten on-board the power metal train the last couple of years or so, and this is honestly one of my favourite releases in the genre since then! It is a resounding YES in answer to the question posed in my review, and I fully stand by the 9/10 I gave it back then. It more than deserves this slot on the list, and would have gotten higher if it weren’t for a couple other power metal albums further on…
Listen to: Knightclub, Valhalla, and Sam the Brave
74 – Carter Faith: Cherry Valley
Another debut album, this one for a sure-fire future country megastar. Her Dolly-esque vocals and her fantastic lyric/songwriting are a winning combination, that’s for sure! Her quick wit lyrically is second to very few currently. She definitely adds some modernness to the neo-traditional sound though, and even some epicness with songs like the opener. It’s simple and rather chilled-out as a whole, but packed full of both fun and emotion. And, even at its pretty stacked length, it’s full of amazing songs and it an incredibly easy listen. A lot of it came out as singles beforehand, but despite being a marketing/income tactic, it’s also easy to see why, as there are so many standouts. It gives off Sabrina Carpenter vibes at times, and I mean that as the uttermost of compliments! It’s very easy to hear why I gave this a 9/10, and it’s stayed firmly in my rotation since the start of October when it was released. If you are at all into country music check this out, especially given how MASSIVE a name she’s going to be sooner rather than later. Heck, ‘If I Had Never Lost my Mind…’ still gives me goosebumps now, that alone should encourage you to listen!
Listen to: Sex, Drugs, & Country Music, Grudge, and Burn my Memory
73 – Old Dominion: Barbara
Just two years after their amazing Memory Lane, the country megastars returned with yet another barn-burner! It’s a really interesting release for me, too. When it first released, I was adamantit wasn’t up there with their last album. However, the more I listen to it, the more I find myself enjoying almost every song a lot. While the singles aren’t as massive and memorable, it’s a shorter, more concise album, with less filler and far more killer than Memory Lane. It’s a chilled-out country album that feels like it leans more into their influences than trying to score another radio hit. The band really cut loose and wrote what they wanted to, and it results in a beautiful album that is packed full of heart and emotion. It combines a more traditional country/soul sound with their more modern elements, so if that sounds at all like something you’d be interested in, I can’t recommend this enough! It’s another one that definitely gets bumped up, as I only gave it 8/10 in our review, while it’s another easy 9 now, if not higher!
Listen to: Making Good Time, Man or the Song, and Talk Country
72 – Fit for a King: Lonely God
The Texan metalcore collective returned back in August with their eighth album, and it’s an epic, varied release! Whether it’s the more modern BMTH-inspired arena metalcore, or the brutally heavy riffing and breakdowns that brought them to the dance, or even a couple of slower ballads, this thing is packed full of a bit of everything from the genre! And the band do it all so well! From crushing breakdowns to epic soundscapes, I’m obsessed with all of it. I do typcially prefer the heavier tracks, but something about this band and this album had me loving every song. They’re perfectly spread out through the album too, the moments of levity incredibly offsetting the brutal times. I loved The Hell We Create, but this is up there alongside it, for sure! If you are at all into modern metalcore, this is certainly an album for you. A very solid 9/10 from us easily landed it it’s spot on our list!
Listen to: Extinction, Monolith, and Blue Venom
71 – Eld Varg: Destroyer
The Scottish melodic hard rock/metallers returned with a vengeance with this album last month. The riff-masters clearly borrow from plenty of old-school metal influences, but still somehow sound modern, maybe due to the album’s excellent production! I gushed over this album plenty in my review, but it is so very deserved. It genre-blends in all the best way, and really has a little something for everyone even slightly into metal. 41-minutes of epicness; from power and folk metal to more thrash to melodic hard rock at times. And, as said before, the whole thing goes by in a flash, and is well worth listening to in one sitting! The band are all so incredibly talented at playing and writing, and I can foresee this pushing them up a few notches in the scene by this time next year. It very much deserves its place on our list!
Listen to: Achamán, The Hell of Mirrors, and Crestfallen
70 – HARDY: Country! Country!
Album number four from one of Nashville’s biggest modern songwriters certainly washed out some of the bad taste in the mouth that Quit!! left behind. Leaning more into the country-hard rock fusion that made mockingbird so successful was definitely a step in the right direction, and lead to an album I have revisited a fair bit the last three months. Is it as good as mockingbird? Given that it’s here on this list and not at number 2, no. But hell, it made the list this year, and above a lot of other country albums, so that should say a lot!
Despite being long and certainly having some filler without a cool concept to explain it away, there are still some excellent country tracks across a lot of this, and it’s very much a return to form for THE CROW. There is far more great than not too, with most of this ending up on my personal playlist by now! There’s a lot of fun, but there’s also plenty of emotion shown at times, HARDY’s vocals and talent handling both styles masterfully. The length has most probably dropped it a few places on this list, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a surprisingly easy listen for over an hour. In fact, it may be the longest album on the list this year, which is an achievement in of itself, I guess! I gave it an 8.5/10back in September, but as predicted in that review, this has grown on me more since! It’s a solid, easy 9/10 now, and very easily makes it this high on the list. Hopefully he rearranges his UK tour next year, as I’d love to hear some of this live!
Listen to: Country Country, Girl With a Gun, and Y’all Need Jesus
69 – Solence: ANGELS CALLING
After sitting with this album for a couple of months now, I’ve finally gotten on-board with serious Solence, and I really love this release! This thing is an incredible pop/alt-metal album packed to the brim with amazing, catchy-as-anything tracks. Honestly, every track is as good as the last, and the album has such a fantastic flow to it, 27-minutes going by in a flash. It has hints of early 2000s US radio-rock, but with a distinctly modern European twist on top of that, especially with the Callboy-like electronic elements and screams. Oh, and then we just get some insanely technical solos thrown in for good measure too; this album really having a bit of everything!
I’ve had most of this album stuck in my head at various points over the last two plus months, and it has grown on me more and more. They fully deserve the fast rise they are having, and I can really see 2026 being their year with the sheer amount of touring they have planned! We gave it 8.5/10when it released, but it’s definitely higher than that for me now. A good album that’s grown on me even more with subsequent listens, it more than deserves to be rocking this list!
Listen to: Monsters in my Head, Where Were You..?, and All of the Pain Must Go
68 – Locash: Bet the Farm
The first album from the country duo in six years was more than worth the wait! This is a masterclass in bro-ish country, and is a release I’ve been jamming a lot from April all the way to now. It’s a lot of fun throughout, but also packed full of emotion, as well as some stadium-sized choruses and harmonies from the pair. And from the more Southern rock infused to the country ballads, they do it all perfectly. It’s a sound that’s definitely taken a step back in recent years but I’m so glad hasn’t died off completely. If you are into country at all, I’d definitely recommend giving this a chance, it’s impossible not to love it! And at under 40-minutes, it’s pretty short for a country release these days. We gave this a whopping 9.5/10 when it released, and if you take a listen it’s very easy to see why! If it wasn’t for country booming once again this year, it would have ended up higher, but it is still at a damn respectable point of the list!
Listen to: Hometown Home, Bring Em Back, and Shipwrecked
67 – Tetrarch: The Ugly Side of Me
The nu-metal revival continued to be in full swing in 2025, and this album was a large focal point of that! The bands third album followed up 2021’s amazing Unstable perfectly, building on everything that album laid out and coming out with an incredibly strong release overall. Every song slaps, and it makes for a fantastic, heavy, catchy just over half-an-hour! The duo of Josh Fore and Diamond Rowe is a real powerhouse, and will inspire this band continues to grow into a juggernaut in years to come. Especially if they keep continuing to grow and build on their sound, and put out better and better albums! From the crushing riffing to the massive choruses to the occasional awesome solo, it’s all amazing. It got a huge 9/10from us when it dropped, and has been in regular rotation for me since May, easily earning its spot on this list! For anyone who’s into nu or industrial metal, or just anything around that early 2000s sound, listen to this immediately!
Listen to: Never Again (Parasite), Live Not Fantasize, and Cold
66 – The Damn Shames: Trailers on Bricks
A release recommended to me by a good friend of the company, Kyle Daniel, and I’m so glad that he did! This is an incredible Southern rock album! From the instrumentation to the incredible harmonies to the arena-filling choruses, it’s all so damn good, from start to finish. Honestly, each of these 10 tracks are as good as the last, and it makes for a super easy listen from start-to-finish! The band are all insanely talented players and songwriters, and the fact that this is their debut album and it’s of this high quality is truly amazing. This somehow only got an 8.5/10 from us upon release, but after multiple revisits over the last six months, this is easily closer to a 9 for me! If you are at all into the country or Southern rock scene, this is very much the album for you. Hopefully either scene in the UK picks them up, as I’d love to see this stuff live! I look forward to hearing where they go from here, but for now I am content to keep spinning this record, hence why it ends up pretty high on this list!
Listen to: Who Killed Rock n’ Roll?, Another Spoke in the Wheel, and Quittin’ Time
65 – Epica: Aspiral
I mean, we finally got three new parts of A New Age Dawns on this release, that alone gets it onto this list! However, the other eight songs are also just as good, too! The whole thing is an epic, cinematic masterpiece that somehow feels like it goes by far too quickly despite it being an hour. I always felt like they were one of the more underrated symphonic metal bands, but they put out one of the best albums in the genre in recent years with this. From Simone’s incredible vocals and choruses to the insane instrumentation throughout, it’s easy to hear why it’s had me hooked since April. It got a huge 9.5/10 from us, and if you give it a listen you’ll easily be able to tell why! I’m always a touch hit and miss with the genre, but when it’s done as well as this it’s hard not to fall in love, hence why it’s here and in a pretty favourable position. It’s a big undertaking, but I’d highly recommend a full listen through of the album for anyone even slightly interested!
Listen to: Cross the Divide, Arcana, and Eye of the Storm
64 – Humming Whale: Chasing Rabbits
Another debut album, and this time a fantastic blend of so many different metal styles! Somewhere between hardcore and prog metal, it’s a blend that shouldn’t work anywhere near as well as these guys make it! I already gushed over this album in my review not long ago, so I feel like cliff notes are probably more preferred, right? Incredible instrumentation, catchy, powerful vocals, great cleans and harshes, and some epic songwriting. Like it somehow combines Tool, Godsmack and Turnstile. If that sounds at all like your sort of thing, go check it out ASAP! Their creativity and uniqueness is off the charts, and I can see a huge future for them if they keep on putting out stuff of this quality. For now, I’m more than happy to keep spinning this release, an easy 9/10, and it easily made it onto this spot on the list!
Listen to: Chasing Rabbits, Waves, and Black Waters
63 – Born of Osiris: Through Shadows
This brutal slice of technical metalcore from back in July is somehow something I haven’t revisited too much since its release, but upon doing so am blown away all over again. Instrumentally this is absolutely phenomenal from the very first note; the riffing to the solos, drumming to the electronics and synth, it’s all mind-blowingly good. And the vocals too, be it screams or the odd clean, all fit it so well. I’ve really gotten into the heavier side of metalcore since the mainstream side of it has lightened up, and adding a tech and electronic edge to it is like a match made in heaven. And heck, some of it is catchy, as well as being heavy and djenty, it’s really awesome! I knew I had this album in my list for a reason, but I can’t believe I even slept on it for a few months again, even after giving it 9/10 back in July. If you are even slightly into metal, but especially modern Machine Head, Periphery or Shadow of Intent, this is one to put on immediately!
Listen to: Seppuka, Through Shadows, and Activated
62 – Lanie Gardner: Faded Polaroids
The second album from the rising country star, somehow she keeps just getting better and better! She’s incorporated a little more rock elements since her debut, and it’s made for an incredible, fun country album. And even on her slower tracks, they’re also radio-country ballads, and just as good as the rest of the songs. And even at its length, it’s still an easy listen without a bad song throughout. Her vocals are incredible, as are her lyrics, and they all fit perfectly over the instrumentation, whether it’s country, southern rock, Americana or more of a pop leaning. It got an incredibly easy 9/10 from us, and there was no way it wasn’t getting a strong spot on this list. She has such an insanely bright future ahead of her, and I don’t suspect this is the last time she’ll be on a list like this!
Listen to: Boys Like You, Boot Down, and Buzzkill
61 – Once Awake: Far Out and Beyond
I have such a weak spot for old-school melodeath this year, and the fifth album from the Norwegian quartet delivered that in spades back in April. This thing is an epic nine tracks crushing brutality, riffs, breakdowns and some huge, catchy moments to break them up. There is not a track to skip, and I’ve done it in full numerous occasions since its release. Heck, it’s so good it even prompted me to go to Derby of all places to see them live, that should be the biggest endorsement there is! For those into the heyday of In Flames or Bodom, this is an album you need to spin, you’ll surely be as obsessed as I’ve been. And it actually has our first 10/10 review of our list so far, and it more than deserves that rating! It’s a phenomenal album, and only reason it’s not even higher up is because of the sheer amount of awesome releases from 2025, and the wide variety of styles we cover. I challenge you to find me a better straight-up melodeath album over the last year or two, I think you’d be hard pressed to find much!
Listen to: Where’s All the Silence Gone, Injustice, and Kill the Concern
Here we are, that time of the year again! The month where I go insane and try to rank 100 out of the over 500 albums I’ve listened to this year into the order in which I enjoyed them the most. It’s equal parts subjective and objective, and I’m convinced I’ve left off so many excellent albums, so if your favourites aren’t here, I’m sorry and they are most likely awesome! Without further ado, let’s dive into the chaos, shall we?
100 – Eli Young Band: Strange Hours
Yep, that’s how strong we’re starting. I told you it’s been a tough year! The Texan country band put out their seventh studio album back at the start of August, and it’s been a mainstay in my rotation since then. It was the perfect summer album, combining catchy vocals and harmonies with their brand of country which perfectly combines pop, rock and Americana. I’ve been a fan of the band a few years now, and this is easily my favourite release from them in that timeframe. It’s a strong album from start to finish, being an incredibly easy 43-minutes of chilled-out, catchy country to listen to! It’s so well written and put together, the perfect inoffensive release into the genre that covers pretty much all bases. So, if you even have a passing interest in the genre, I’d definitely recommend checking it out! We gave it a solid 9/10 upon release, and I very much stand by that now!
Listen to: Nothing on the Wild, All Good with Me, and Everybody Else
99 – Circus 66: Elements
Album #2 from the UK hard rockers blew me away back in March, and upon revisiting it for this list, I was blown away once again! It’s nearly 50 minutes of awesome, foot-stompin’, sleazy guitar riffing and soaring vocals, and I love it! The band are all insanely talented, everyone getting their time to shine plenty throughout, and have crafted an excellent collection of NWOCR tracks here. It’s impossible not to have a good time listening to this, and I cannot recommend it enough to any rock fans out there. It’s insane to me that they aren’t a massive band already, but they have killed it with this release and are very much looking like 2026 will be a breakout year for them! It’s very easy to hear why we gave it 9/10, and why it makes it onto our list!
Listen to: Replace the Pain, We All Need Saving, and Love on the Other Side
98 – An Evening With Knives: End of Time
This proggy alt metal release from towards the start of the year came five years after their previous studio album, and showed just how much the band had grown and matured. It’s heavy, groovy and melodic in all the best ways, and somehow combines together elements of everything from stoner and desert rock to prog to heavy metal to plenty in between! The trio are insanely talented, all playing their asses off from front to back, and have produced something truly special with this release, managing to sound pretty unique at a time when that is almost impossible! If you are into anything from QOTSA to Tool to even Machine Head and Devildriver, do yourselves a favour and check this out ASAP! It got a very easy 9/10 from us when it dropped, and I fully stand by that rating now, showing just why it made the cut for this list!
Listen to: Pride of Lions, Death and The Mistake
97 – Trick or Treat: Ghosted
This epic slab of old-school heavy metal mixed with more old-school power metal is just as fantastic now as it was in April when it first dropped. Combining sounds like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Hammerfall and their spooky, horror theming works perfectly, and makes for a solid album as it is. Then you take into account just how phenomenally talented every band member is, from the vocals to the drumming to the soloing and riffing, it’s all so good, and it’s so very easy to fall in love with this release. It’s stacked to the brim with awesome tracks, and even some awesome guest appearances from Adrienne Cowen and Christopher Bowes. 45-minutes still now goes by in a flash even after a few listens. If you’re into power metal you’re probably already checking it out from reading this, but if not I’d definitely recommend it to just about any music fan. It’s got someone of the biggest choruses of the year. Yet another very solid 9/10from us, and incredibly deserving of its spot on our list!
Listen to: Craven Road, Bloodmoon, and Evil Dead Never Sleeps
96 – The Rasmus: Weirdo
The 11th studio album from the pop/alt metal band goes far harder than I feel almost anyone expected before it released! From genuinely heaving riffing to being packed full of their typically arena-filling choruses, it very much felt like a return to the top after a few years of honestly a little middling releases. Don’t get me wrong, it is still a touch cringy at times lyrically, but that is almost part of the charm with this sort of music! It’s barely half an hour and an incredibly easy listen, and a release I’d recommend to anyone into more of a poppy hook! It’s a sound I feel nostalgic for despite never really getting into it much in my teen years, so for anyone who was more into the band or stuff like Him, it would probably get even higher. It got another incredibly solid 9/10 from us and is more than deserving it’s spot on this list!
Listen to: Creatures of Chaos, Dead Ringer, and You Want it All
95 – Lacuna Coil: Sleepless Empire
The symphonic/industrial metal powerhouses very much returned to form in 2025, and this album is a huge indicator of that! This thing is catchy, heavy and packed with banger after banger. From the soaring operatic vocals to the harsh screams, both fit so well over the awesome, almost nu-metal infused instrumentation. It’s another album that goes hard from start to finish too, every song being as good as the last. They were a band I somehow didn’t get into much in my youth, so as a first full album by them I’ve check out, I’m a little obsessed! The only reason it is this low down is because it is so an insanely high quality year for new music! It still got another incredibly solid 9/10from us, and if you’re even passingly into metal, I’d highly recommend giving this one a try!
Listen to: Oxygen, Scarecrow, and Hosting the Shadow
94 – Sleep Theory: Afterglow
Very much the breakout stars of 2025, the debut album from the metalcore upstarts has already set them up to be a huge name sooner rather than later. They channel massive early ADTR vibes in the best ways, especially since said band have taken a nosedive in recent years. It’s full of ch0nky riffs, huge choruses and some great screams, and is a fantastic 40-minute listen. I actually hadn’t revisited it too much since it’s May release, but having checked it out again while writing this list, I fell in love with it all over again. It’s incredibly radio/mainstream friendly, but that isn’t at all a bad thing. The band have worked their asses off on socials the last couple of years to make this a big release, and it has paid off in spades. However, the quality of the music is also high, certainly contributing to their fast success. If it was slightly more adventurous and innovative, it would have ended up even higher on the list but still, making it on here shows how high quality it is! I gave it8.5/10 when it dropped, and I still agree with that now, but it may even sneak up to more like a 9 on some listens!
Listen to: Hourglass, Fallout, and Just a Mistake
93 – Cardinal Black: Midnight at the Valencia
This is a modern soft rock masterpiece. End of discussion. It gives off massive Genesis or Seal vibes, but definitely with a current day edge to it. Over half a year later and Tom’s vocals still give me goosebumps at times throughout. However, the arrangement of every song compliments his voice perfectly, everyone being incredible musicians and songwriters. While the band have certainly been on a lot of tongues the last couple of years, this truly felt like the year that Cardinal Black really broke out. And, this album is definitely a big reason for that! It’s fucking beautiful, and it’s an album that still makes me feel the same as I did the first time every time I spin it. The only reason it’s a little lower than maybe expected is because it does get a little samey after a while. However, when that similar stuff is all banging, it’s impossible not to love it, still! This got a whopping 9.5/10 from us and it’s hard not to still agree with that sentiment now!
Listen to: Ride Home, Breathe, and Morning Light
92 – Tanner Usrey: These Days
The first of a healthy handful of bands in this vaguely indie country-Americana sound that has gotten so big the last couple of years on this list. The fact that it is at this point in it certainly doesn’t diminish its quality either, as this is a fanatic release! It’s incredibly varied too, from blusy Southern rock to more of an indie flavour to even a more traditional country style. And, no matter the sound, it’s performed brilliantly and packed full of emotion from start to finish. My only slight complaint is that the pacing and arraignment of it is a little slow at times. However, every song is excellent, and it honestly has some of my favourite tracks of the year on it, the exceptional very much outweighing anything slightly less-so. I’d easily put this up there with his debut album, even if it hasn’t had quite as much love! We gave ita solid 9/10, and it more than earned its spot here!
Listen to: If you Call me Again, Bad Love, and With You
91 – Zach Top: Ain’t in it for my Health
Yes, I know, people are going to be BIG MAD for this being so low down on this list. He’s an absolutely massive artist for sure, and this is one hell of an album. My main bug to bare is that, as much as I love a classical country vibe typically, a lot of this is a touch on the slower side. That’s inherently not an issue at all, but it does get a touch old through the 50-minute length. However, there is no denying the HUGE talent on display throughout, from a songwriting, vocal and playing standpoint, and it’s easy to hear why he’s one of the biggest names in the genre currently. If you are at all a fan of traditional country music, this is well worth checking out. If it wasn’t for the genre having such a strong year again, this would certainly be higher up. We gave ita very solid 8.5/10, and it may have crept even higher than that since its release!
Listen to: Guitar, Splitsville, and Flip—Flop
90 – Pridian: Venetian Dark
The first debut album to make it onto our list this year, and it’s an awesome slab of modern metal from the Estonian four-piece. It’s the perfect blend of heavy, chuggy riffing, crushing drums and some awesome screams. Yet, it also still has moments of levity and cleanness throughout, the band clearly hugely talented to be able to put it all together! This thing came out all the way back in May and has spent the rest of the year pretty firmly in my rotation, blowing me away each time. It’s heavy, melodic and also rather menacing and gothic throughout, being an awesome combo! This is somehow one of the albums that we missed the week of its release, but it gets an incredibly deserving 9/10 now, and easily earned its spot on this list! Check it out if you are at all into melodic metal.
Listen to: Cyanide Dreams, Ruin, and Void Resonance
89 – Slaughter to Prevail: GRIZZLY
One of the most hyped albums of the year, at least in the deathcore scene, and to my shock it was a bit more of a grower on me than an immediate hit. Don’t get me wrong, it hits hard right from the first listen, but something about it didn’t hook me in immediately. Maybe it was because, much like my issues with Falling in Reverseor Electric Callboy in recent years, we’d heard a good chunk of the album before its release, and had sat with it for a while. So, while none of it is at all bad, it did feel ever so slightly underwhelming.
However, coming back to this album a couple of times since, I’ve definitely grown to appreciate it more! Alex is one of the best vocalists and frontmen in the game today, and the band behind him have crafted nearly an hour of crushingly heavy (but still fun) deathcore. If you are a fan of the heavier side of metal, I cannot recommend this enough. They deserve all the praise they get and the size they have climbed to, and this album very much cements them at the top of their style. As you could probably guess by this point, it got a 9/10 from us when it released, but it may be even slightly higher than that now!
Listen to: Russian Grizzly in America, Viking, and Lift That Shit
88 – Julia DiGrazia: All In
Another massive debut album, this time from a woman who’s already becoming a powerhouse in country. Having gotten her first big break on her and Evan Honer’s (more on him later) cover of Tyler Childers’ ‘Jersey Giant’ back in 2022, her rise has already been meteoric, and capped off perfectly by this collection. Whether it’s blues/southern tinged country rock, classic country or more of an Americana sound, it has a bit of everything across it’s just 30-minute runtime. Every track is as good as the last, and makes for such an incredibly easy listen. She’s already becoming a massive name in the scene, and it’s incredibly easy to hear why. If you haven’t already, give this a spin, you’ll surely love it as much as I do! It got a massive, and rightly deserved, 9.5/10 in our review, and if it wasn’t such a strong year, it would have gotten even higher on our list!
Listen to: Rollercoaster, Two Truths and a Liar, and Life’s Been Good Lately
87 – Kyle Gordon: Kyle Gordon is Wonderful
This was maybe the hardest album to place on this list. It nearly didn’t make it at all, as comedy music seems to be such a controversial topic these days. However, Kyle has crafted something truly special here, and it’s an enjoyable release with or without the fantastic comedy wit, so there was no way it wasn’t sneaking on here. I was already a fan of his, but the concept and creativity of this release really blew me away. 10 different genres from 10 different ‘artists’, detailing the most “Wonderfully Ridiculous Songs of All Time”. Whether it’s Europop, nu metal, indie or traditional country/bluegrass, Kyle is an INCREDIBLE songwriter, and does each style so well. I challenge you to check this out and try to tell me you don’t love it, I honestly think it’s impossible! It was another one I missed out on reviewing when it dropped, but I can’t give it any less than 9/10! I’ve spun it a lot in the last eight months since its release, and I don’t think I’ll be stopping any time soon!
Listen to: We Will Never Die, Crawl to Me, and My Husband’s Ghost
86 – Lorna Shore: I Feel the Everblack Festering Within Me
The other kings of modern deathcore very much do their own thing, and sound fantastic doing so! This thing is over an hour spread across just 10 songs, and is much symphonic/power metal as it is anything else. It’s epic, grandiose and wildly ambitious, and the band pull it off like only Lorna could. From the crazy heaviness of the blastbeats and breakdowns to Wills now iconic vocals, the band followed up on Pain Remains pretty perfectly! If you are into the band or genre at all and somehow haven’t checked this out already, do so as soon as you can! It won’t be for everyone, but I loved this, and the genre has very much grown on me over the last year or two thanks to bands like Lorna and Slaughter. It got a very easy 9/10 back in September, and it’s hard to argue against that after another few listens! It more than earns its spot on this list, and could have been higher if there weren’t so many excellent heavier albums alongside it!
Listen to: Prison of Flesh, In Darkness and Forevermore
85 – Dillon Carmichael: Keepin’ Country Alive
Four years after Dillon’s breakout success with Son of a, he returned in a major way with this album back in June. It’s Southern rock tinged modern country music, and a lot of fun across its 14 songs! It feels like it would have fit perfectly into the mainstream scene a decade ago, somehow combining the bro-country style of FGL with more of a Blackberry Smoke or TC3 flavour. Then again, he has plenty of Jon Pardi vibes to him too, it making sense that he supported him the other year. Yes, it’s a touch cringy and stereotypical when it comes to lyrics and theming at times, but that almost adds to the charm when it’s this good. From the powerful vocals to the catchy melodies and choruses to some awesome riffing and instrumentation throughout, it’s impossible not to fall in love with this! There really isn’t a bad track on the album, and three-quarters-of-an-hour really goes by in a flash. If you have even a passing interest in country music, this is a must to be checking out! It got a massive 9.5/10 from us, and you only have to listen to see why! It more than deserves this slot on our list!
Listen to: Raised Up Wrong, When She’s Drinkin’, and No Matter How Hard I Try
84 – Ghost Hounds: Almost Home
Perfectly combining old-school rock’n’roll, soul and country music, the fifth album from the Pennsylvanian natives has honestly been a little underrated this year. I’m not sure if it’s due to it being the first release since their change in vocalist, with Tre Nation personally scouting out SAVNT to replace him, but this is an incredible release that just hasn’t got the love I feel it should have. There are some genuinely excellent blues rock tracks, be it boot-stompin’ or more slower, emotional ballads. However, to address the elephant in the room, it’s not quite as high as I expected it to be because it does drop off a fair bit by the end. The first half of it is excellent, but the second half is maybe one too many slower tracks in a row. Still, just think how good those opening six songs are that it makes it this high on our list! And still, the latter tracks aren’t bad, I just wish the album was a little better arranged! If you are into blues or southern rock, or more of a slower country style, this is well worth checking out. It was another easy 9/10 from us, and well worth its spot here!
Listen to: She Runs Hot, Past the Point of Rescue, and You’ll Never Find Me
83 – Phear: Save Our Souls
This powerful explosion of melodic metal is somehow the third album from the Canadian band, and they have a big new fan in me this year because of it! It’s the perfect mix of heavy riffing and drumming and catchy, melodic leads and vocals. It vaguely reminds me of Fozzy back when they were good, around Sin and Bones. I was a little late to this, not checking it out until the start of summer, but it blew me away and I have since gone back to check out both their other releases. That’s how good this is, and it’s honestly their best release to date. The band are so talented, both as songwriters and players, and they have crafted something brilliant here. We don’t get enough of this sort of sound any more, though it is making a comeback in the last couple of years, and these guys are continuing it on perfectly! If you are at all into a more melodic side of metal, think Metallica meets Alter Bridge, I cannot recommend this enough. It’s another easy 9/10 from us, and I already can’t wait to hear where they go from here. Hopefully it’s not another five years, next time!
Listen to: Aftershock, Narcosynthesis, and Bleed
82 – Jonah Kagen: Sunflowers and Leather
Another entry into the ‘emotional indie-Americana’ category for this list already! This whole thing is bittersweetly beautiful from start to finish, the perfect blend of Zach Bryan and Evan Honer. And somehow and nearly an hour and 16-tracks long, it still goes by in a flash and is an incredibly easy listen! The lyrics throughout are a massive highlight, but the instrumentation fits them all so very perfectly. I’d somehow never heard of him before this release, but he’s another that’s won me over massively and has a big new fan in me because of his 2025 release! And, anyone who is into any of the sounds that I’ve mentioned previously, check this release out ASAP. There are still a couple better releases in this style, in my opinion, but it still more than deserves this spot on the list, and got an easy 9/10 back in September!
Listen to: Sunflowers and Leather, Black Lung, and The Reaper
81 – Mark Morton: Without the Pain
This was not the album I expected from the Lamb of God guitarist this year. His last solo album back in 2019 was a groove metal romp featuring some of the biggest names in hard rock and metal. Switching gears, his second solo release does the same but with country, and honestly it’s just as good! From Jaren Johnston to Matt James, Cody Jinks to Charlie Starr, there are some massif names attached to this, and all do a great job of bringing Mark’s tracks to life, vocally. It’s an incredibly fun album that is definitely heavy on the rock and southern elements, but still is distinctively country. Mark could certainly have a career in the genre if he ever chose to leave LoG, not that I ever hope he does! I’m pretty sure it appeals to both country fans and those into a more heavier sound, so just about everyone reading this should check it out! Despite talking to Matt James about it when I played with him, I still missed this release when it dropped. However, it’s one of the easiest 9/10’a I’ve ever given, and a fitting end to part one of our list!
Listen to: Hell & Back, Without the Pain, and Dust
