The best albums of 2025 (so far)

Well it’s 2025 now and I’m very behind on my 2024 best albums stuff so I thought I’d get a jump start on my best albums of 2025. This isn’t some lame list of my most anticipated albums of 2025, no this beefy list the best albums that are already released in 2025 as of January 1st. If you’re looking for fresh new tunes to ring in 2025 I got you!

BeatrixDeathsent Ceremony
High energy blackened thrash EP from Finland that is over almost as quickly as it starts. Start the new year off with something fun!

World EatersHounds of Blood
This album is re-recorded versions of this Canadian Bolt Thrower worship band’s best songs.

VoshVault Vol. 1
Repulsion’s drummer and his wife started a goth band here in DC and their cover of Ozzy’s Shot in the Dark is worth the price of admission alone!

EstuarineCorporeal Furnace
Bass driven tech/proggy death metal from Tampa that reminds me of some unholy cross between Primus and Beyond Creation, and it’s just a buck for the digital album!

TrollskogenSn​ø​en Kommer
This Norwegian black metal band’s debut full length is raw and chilling but with strong song writing, like a lo-fi version of Paysage d’Hiver.

Honorable mention:
Spectral LoreIV (Part 1)
Technically this anti-fascist black metal band dropped their album in the evening of December 31st but I’m unsure if it was already past midnight in their time zone, so I’m listing it here. Massive, epic songs with a decent modern recording, a surprise release that won’t have shown up on any 2024 end of year lists but should have!

Paradise Lost ticket give away

Paradise Lost at Baltimore Soundstage

The legendary Paradise Lost is coming to Baltimore Soundstage on Tuesday, October 2nd, along with Sólstafir and The Atlas Moth. Their dark style of doom metal is perfect for this season where the weather starts to turn so we’re giving away a pair of tickets to this show to a lucky one of you DCHM readers. To enter: leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite metal band to listen to in the Autumn months. Then on Friday, September 28th at 5pm EST the contest will close and a winner will be chosen at random (using Random.org) from all valid entries. The winner will get two free tickets the show! Be sure to enter using an email address you check regularly so I can contact you if you win. Don’t worry, I won’t add you to any spam lists or sell your info or anything sleazy like that, I hate spam too. If I haven’t heard back from the winner in 24 hours another winner will be chosen at random. If you can’t wait to see if you win or the contest is already over when you read this, then you can get tickets from Ticket Master for $27.50 here.

Paradise Lost formed in Halifax, England, in the late 80’s and is one of the Peaceville Three, along with Anathema and My Dying Bride, who all formed a much darker take to doom metal in the early 90s while all signed to Peaceville Records. In fact it was Paradise Lost’s sophomore album, Gothic, that the genre of gothic metal gets its name from. They’ve influenced countless bands yet somehow Paradise Lost, who still features all their original members aside from the drummer, manage to put out solid material. This isn’t an old band that just plays their old classics, they still put out solid material, including their 2017 album Medusa, which was #1 on Decibel Magazine’s top 40 albums of 2017. In addition to the rare chance to see Paradise Lost in the US the tour has some excellent support acts. Sólstafir from Iceland blends post rock with viking metal, adds a pinch of country western and a heavy dose of melancholy. The opening band is The Atlas Moth, a post metal band from Chicago that has been getting better and better with every album. Now check out these videos of the bands below and leave a comment letting me know what your favorite metal band to listen to in the Autumn is.

Paradise Lost – Blood And Chaos

Sólstafir – Silfur-Refur

The Atlas Moth – Holes In The Desert