Metal Robot's TOP 10 BEST Metal Albums of 2025

Wow, 2025 has really come to an end, huh? Took it long enough, but at least the soundtrack kicked ass

Seriously though — it’s time to wrap things up and look back at an absolutely stacked year for heavy music. Across the board, across the subgenres, across my poor, annoyed neighbours (sorry not sorry) — 2025 showed up swinging.

From newcomers making themselves known to legends and titans conquering their respective genres, it was truly a stand out year for the genre as a whole.

Putting this list together was way harder than expected. A lot of personal favourites got cut, but sacrifices had to be made. Nevertheless, here are the Top 10 BEST Metal Albums of 2025!

Quick disclaimer: If your favourite albums aren’t on my list, then I either:

A) Haven’t heard it, afterall it’s impossible to have heard every album that came out (no matter how much I tried to keep up)

B) I did hear it, but I had to cut it because I liked the current list much better (there were so many standouts this year that killed me to cut, believe me)

C) … well okay I don’t have a worst list this year, but if I did then you’d know for sure!

Also worth noting: NO A.I. BANDS ARE ON THIS LIST! You know who you are, and I hope your computer catches syphilis.

With that out of the way, let’s begin to rank the best metal albums of 2025!

If you prefer watching rather than reading, you can check out the full video posted to YouTube bellow.

THE PEOPLE VS M.R.R.: Sleep Token “Even In Arcadia”

Before we begin, I always start these lists with a segment called “The People VS. M.R.R.”, which is where I dump an album that the populous believe should be on the list, but I disagree for whatever reason. And boy, do I have a doozy for you here…

Look, I don’t care if you think Sleep Token is metal or not, the focus is whether or not they belong on the best of 2025 list! And while much of the metal masses are mixed, the Sleep Token faithful and defenders believe Even In Arcadia is one of the best albums they’ve released since 2023’s Take Me Back to Eden. I agree that it’s better than that album, but that doesn’t make it the best of the year.

Honestly, I just don’t get this band. I’ve listened to Take Me Back to Eden and Even In Arcadia back to front, all 22 tracks from both, and can maybe only pinpoint either 4 or 5 I actually want to come back to.

I’m not trying to say they’re terrible musicians (no matter how much the metal elites are begging I say so), I just can’t get into this style. The heavier moments are solid, and the band can work their way around a hook like a stripper works her way around a soon to be broke boy at the club, But there just isn’t enough to truly drag me into what they’ve got going on.

It’s possible I’m just the weird one and it’s more “intellectual” than my brain can get a grasp on, but I don’t care. Maybe one day it’ll all make sense for me and I’ll turn into my booktok girlfriend with that one Vessel picture, but for now I’m gonna leave the music to the people who actually enjoy it.

#10: Nightfall “Children of Eve”

Getting into the list proper, GOD DAMN! Greek blackened death metal of the highest order indeed! Nightfall’s Children of Eve is my true introduction to this band, and what an introduction it is! The album pulls no punches from “I Hate” onward, with great atmosphere and punishing riffs and vocals. The drumming is doing a fantastic job as well with help from the bass keeping everything together.

Nightfall have a way with punishing your speakers from the first note and never letting up. And with some great solo work to boot, Children of Eve is an album I’ve grown to love over the span of the year since it came out back in May.

It’s just as punishing as I’m making it out to be, if you haven’t embraced the Children of Eve yet, I highly recommend it! It’s filthy, it’s melodic, it’s extreme, and it’s so goddamn amazing!

#9: Warbringer “Wrath And Ruin”

You can thank Collin for this one. Since first talking about it on our sister podcast (which is the Influencers of Metal Podcast btw, new episodes every Tuesday and Friday, just saying), he’s continually talked about this album being amazing. After checking it out for myself, holy hell was he right!

I’m not much of a thrash metal guy, but Warbringer truly brought their A-game with Wrath And Ruin. The moment those guitars squeal in the opening to “The Sword And The Cross” as the riff starts to establish itself as a blistering force to be reckoned with, I knew I was in for a treat.

I can’t exactly pinpoint what makes the German thrashers stand out from many of the other duds I’ve had to listen to over the years, but whatever their secret sauce is it’s working! It’s not just the guitar riffs that are ripping, the solos are just as ferocious! Add in tight drum work and a voice that’s sure to give Hals a real challenge, and I’m slowly becoming converted to more thrash (which may have been Collin’s master plan all along, but I can’t prove it).

#8: Blackbriar “A Thousand Little Deaths”

Seeing Blackbriar continue to embrace their gothic symphonic metal sound has been a real treat. From keeping aligned with a more gothic rock sound early on, they truly embraced the heavier side of their musical personalities on A Dark Euphony back in 2023, and perfected it on A Thousand Little Deaths.

It’s Blackbriar at their most elegant and crushing. They’ve found a formula that works for them. “Bluebeard’s Chamber”, “The Fossilized Widow” and “A Last Sigh of Bliss” are dark and punishing when they want to be, while the dark siren like vibes of “Floriography” and “The Catastrophe That Is Us” add a beautiful contrast that has been unmatched this year.

Funnily enough, Epica’s Aspiral was almost in this spot for a time, but Blackbriar absolutely dethroned the symphonic titans by having way more great bangers to work with. There truly are no skips on A Thousand Little Deaths, and it makes me so excited to hear what they have to offer next.

#7: Dream Theater “Parasomnia”

Honestly, I’m less surprised that Dream Theater is on the list, but more surprised Parasomnia isn’t any higher. That’s not a knock against the album, the fact that it got to number 7 just shows the crazy amazing music we had in 2025.

Simply put, Parasomnia is a great triumph for Dream Theater, marking the return of long-time drummer Mike Portnoy and a return to pure, unadulterated heavy progressive metal.

I was curious to know after months of sitting with Parasomnia if I’d still feel the same way I did when it came out, or if I was blinded by the excitement of getting Portnoy back behind the kit. Turns out, the album still holds up perfectly! It’s a great showcase of where the band was decades ago while still holding onto where their sound has been going recently.

No skips necessary on this one, and that includes the interlude of “Are We Dreaming?” Every song feels important to the dreamy insomniac theme the album offers, and it all comes together beautifully. If you haven’t had a chance to spin this one, don’t sleep on it (pun intended).

#6: Paleface Swiss “CURSED”

Holy shit, can we give that vocalist a hug? Like, a really big bear hug? God damn, dude.

Yeah, this album is a showcase of pure unfiltered emotion. Mostly anger, but you can feel the level of anger, sadness, frustration, resentment, and everything in between in your soul. Whether you listen to The Complete Edition or the original release, CURSED is such as powerful hardcore album from Paleface Swiss.

I’ll admit, this is the first time I’m hearing this band, so I don’t know if this is their usual style or if this was a huge pivot, but their third studio album kills it! It reminds me of a hybrid of Knocked Loose’s gnarly instrumentation and early 2000’s Corey Taylor (think Iowa-era). It’s a heavy as fuck album in every sense. This album pumels you emotionally, spiritually, and physically from the moment the doors are blasted open on “Hatred”, even to the heart wrenching ballad of “Rivers Of Sorrows”. God damn, holy shit, mother fucker, piss, fuck, GAWD! No words, just get in with these guys before they drop their EP The wilted in January.

#5: Testament “Para Bellum”

Okay, another thrash metal album has appeared on my list, clearly the robot is losing his marbles. But, then again, I’ve always felt that Testament never truly got the star power they deserved. When it comes to American thrash metal, they tend to be next in line after The Big 4 (Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth), and that’s a shame!

The group’s insane death metal mix with the old-school thrash metal is such a gnarly touch that you can’t even begin to grasp their range. Front to back, you’re greeted with decimating guitar work, eviscerating vocals, and some of the tightest drums you’d hear in most thrash metal nowadays.

In my original review, I pointed out that I loved how the album started with an influence of blackened that helped start the album on a strong note for me before falling back into normal thrash metal shenanigans. While I remember that being a downer point originally, I’ve grown to really enjoy that side more and more as a great place for Para Bellum to settle.

The ferocity still never lets up for even a second- and for that, Para Bellum cracks the top 5 with a god damn nuke. I’ve got no complaints, for sure!

#4: Scardust “Souls”

If anybody knows me by now, I’m a sucker for folk/symphonic and prog metal from other countries, especially when that regions musical identity gets fused into the metal.

Scardust being from Israel, you already know what you’re going to be in for if you know anything about the musical styles of the region. And their implementation into a fantastic progressive symphonic metal masterpiece in Souls is on full display.

One of the main components of this album I couldn’t stop gushing about was one of the most versatile vocalists I’ve heard in metal in a long time: Noa Gruman

She has it all, from soaring powerful cleans with a lot of bite, gnarly screams and growls that shake the earth, and (as if that wasn’t enough) a beautifully enchanting operatic soprano that helps the symphony fit with the absolute masterpiece that is Scardust’s Souls.

And especially when this album only runs to 42-minutes (basically a grindcore album in the prog-metal world), it’s also easily digestible without being too overwhelming.

Scardust, I can’t wait to hear more from them.

#3: The Reticent “please”

Oh lord, The Reticent somehow managed to get back to the Number 3 spot 5-years apart?! How the hell did THAT happen?!

Totally worth it though. Like I said in my original review, this album does such a fantastic job of understanding and showcasing the various mental illnesses we deal with. From anxiety, depression, insomnia, panic attacks, all the way to suicidal ideation, please is a strong showcase of all of it without half-assing it. It’s so easy to take on these topics and fuck it up, but The Reticent knows what to do and how to tackle with a level of care and intent that is hard to find nowadays.

I still love the song “The Scorn”, where they straight up take the piss out of people who don’t believe depression and suicidal ideation are a real thing. It’s such a sarcastic “fuck you” to those people who should know better, and I can’t get enough of it!

This album is a lot more dense and complicated compared to all of the other progressive albums featured on this list, which is why I couldn’t rank please higher than 3. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t check it out for yourself! Grab a nice pair of good quality headphones, and envelop yourself in these stories for yourself.

#2: Burned In Effigy “Tyrannus Aeternum”

Somehow I knew-the moment I heard Tyrannus Aeternum-that this was going to be Best Of the Year material!

Burned In Effigy’s sophomore release is anything but a slump. Neoclassical death metal is a genre not many can experience, but these guys bring it forward and fucking nail it!

It’s technical, it’s blistering, it’s immense, it doesn’t shy from taking a flamenco break (just ‘cause), and it’s an album you NEED to check out for yourself.

Tyrannus Aeternum supposedly is the start of a concept the band is tinkering with (as they talked about on the podcast), but it doesn’t feel like it’s meant to be digested as one whole album to get a complete picture.

Whether you digest the whole thing, or just bits and pieces, Burned In Effigy’s Tyrannus Aeternum is a sign of a band coming into their own and owning their sound. No fucks to give, just pure neoclassical tech-death for the masses.

BEST EP: Vortex “Alien Realms”

As usual, before we dive into the top spot, we need to showcase the best EP of 2025.

That honour goes to Quebec’s Vortex and their blasting EP Alien Realms. The moment I heard this EP, I knew it was going to be the best of the bunch. Not much else can be said that hasn’t been said already! It’s a huge death metal ball of fury covered in fleshy tentacles from the depths of space, and it feels like it! Their blending of symphonic elements into their pummeling death metal intensity is a work of art!

Add to the fact that the composition of these songs matches the theme of the EP’s title and album cover. There aren’t many albums out there that can pull that off successfully. Truly, each song feels like it’s the soundtrack to an epic alien horror movie.

Add in the replay element (in that I couldn’t stop blasting this EP, and it made me accutely aware of the bands existence from here till the end of time), and it’s an EP that I couldn’t bring myself to put anywhere BUT the top spot for EPs. Alien Realms is the best of symphonic death metal I’d heard, and a great addition to the Quebec death metal scene.

#1: In Virtue “Age of Legends”

And finally, number 1!

Maybe I’m biased. Afterall, the band’s leader is Trey Xavier (Gear Gods), a YouTuber I’ve been following for years now. And Age of Legends is an album I’ve been wondering about for quite some time since hearing “Purgatory” a few years back.

But after truly sitting down with Age of Legends, it was so worth the wait! This is by far the best In Virtue album I think we could’ve asked for.

From the opening of “Ascent Glorious/Sisyphus Awakening”, to the chant of “Push That Rock”, the slow western stomp of “Gunslingers of the New American Desert” and even to the epic closer of “Tempus Fugue/Descent Limitless”, Age of Legends is an amazing display of power metal spirit with progressive ideation and a bit of death metal mixed in (because fuck it :P)

The story it tells may be rooted in legends, but it’s one built on personal details from the bands lives. Each song works their way through the story effortlessly while still being strong when played on its own.

Sisyphus definitely shouldn’t have been a king, but In Virtue still made sure the story inspired by his legend takes the crown as the BEST Metal Album of 2025.

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