Distorted Sound’s Top 20 Albums of 2025
2025 has been a year that has, at times, felt utterly relentless. Once again, we’ve had a year of tremendous ups and downs, trials and tribulations to navigate in a ever-changing and challenging world. It may sound cliché, but there’s such solace to be found in music. And 2025 delivered. Across the entire ecosystem of alternative and heavy music, we’ve been spoilt with an abundance of quality albums. After much debate and discussions, here we go: our top 20 albums of 2025!
20. THE FUTURE IS HERE AND EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE DESTROYED – THE ARMED
Pulling out all the stops on THE FUTURE US HERE AND EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE DESTROYED, THE ARMED have pulled no punches on this sixth record. With a host of guest artists making this huge collaborative record hit home even harder, THE ARMED have managed to highlight all the bad things in our society by utilising a lot of the good.
East Bay hardcore style is all over this record, with themes of isolation and disappointment pushing the bristling anger and frustration through each song. It’s a bold bark with just as much bite, THE ARMED have delighted with the frantic chaos if their music here. Their voice has never been louder, and their skill in creating authentic, disillusioned punk sounds oozing with personality has only heighten with this massive record.
19. The Sky, The Earth & All Between – ARCHITECTS
After a couple of mediocre albums from the last few years, Brighton-based metalcore icons, ARCHITECTS released The Sky, The Earth & All Between which saw the band have a very welcome return to form. With Jordan Fish acting as producer, ARCHITECTS found themselves at the height of their powers and in the best form of their lives.
The album resulted in the band performing their biggest shows to date and solidified their legacy as one of the UK’s best metal bands. A great listen from start to finish, it’s one of those albums you struggle to skip a song on. Elegy, Whiplash and Blackhole are brutal, incredible and deliver a thrill to one of the more exciting releases of the year. Make sure you turn this one up to eleven when listening!
18. Sanguivore II: Mistress Of Death – CREEPER
CREEPER returned with a sexy blood-soaked sequel; Sanguivore II: Mistress of Death. It is rare a sequel album sticks the landing but CREEPER smashed it out of the park with this one. A worthy companion to the masterful Sanguivore, William Von Gould and company have built on their own mythos that has the band destined for super stardom as they continue to be one of this country’s finest bands.
Theatrical bombast and bangers aplenty drive this album from a wonderful start to an incredibly fun finish as songs such as Mistress of Death, Prey For Night and The Crimson Bride take their place on CREEPER’s ever-growing pantheon of punk horror tracks that continue to thrill us to this day.
17. Dreams Of Being Dust – THE WORLD IS A BEAUTIFL PLACE & I AM NO LONGER AFRAID TO DIE
There are no half-measures with TWIABP. After a career focused on fusing Midwest emo with post-rock elements, the band looked at the catastrophe of the world around them and decided to kick things up a gear, surprising listeners with an album rooted in post-hardcore. There’s more distortion, heavier and faster drums, and squealing feedback on a lean, furious album, clocking in at nearly half the length of 2021’s Illusory Walls.
Songs like Beware The Centrist blister by in the blink of an eye, with vocalists David Bello and Katie Dvorak screaming their lungs out in an apoplectic rage. Lesser bands attempting such a lurch in genre would risk sounding like a cosplay attempt. The brilliance of Dreams of Being Dust lies in how it convincingly blends the new hardcore elements with the trademark TWIABP components of captivating melody and intricate fretwork, presenting as an escalation of fury rather than a jarring shift.
Over the course of 12 years, Andy Marshall has tinkered and tweaked his vision for SAOR and on Amidst The Ruins, his sixth full-length outing, the result is stunning. Seasoned listeners have come to know what to expect from SAOR; epic folk-infused black metal intertwined with adoration of Scottish history and the rolling highlands. Amidst The Ruins delivers that in spades.
Just shy of an hour, and with an organic, beating heart, the lengthy compositions really allow SAOR to flex their creative wings as the title track and Glen of Sorrow can attest to. There’s an incredible authentic feel to listening to Amidst The Ruins, something which really helps the album make a lasting connection. 2025 was a blockbuster year for black metal, with a wealth of quality releases. Amidst The Ruins is up there as one of them.
15. Even In Arcadia – SLEEP TOKEN
All eyes have been on SLEEP TOEKN since they crashed into popularity. It was already going to be hard for the band to follow up 2023’s Take Me Back to Eden, which earned critical and commercial acclaim. The band could’ve easily retraced the same path as before, but instead, they chose to subvert it. Even In Arcadia sees the band pushing themselves into new and exciting territories, such as jazz, R&B, and trap, as well as cementing their metal and rock roots. It shouldn’t work on paper, but under producer Carl Brown’s expertise, the new genres fit right at home.
Lyrically, SLEEP TOKEN embrace the storytelling that they’re known for. They also have a rare fourth-wall breaking song in Caramel, in which they address the realities of fame, including the invasive side. It’s one of the many highlights on an album that shows that fame doesn’t always mean compromise; instead, it just pushes for creativity.
14. Fallen Star – EMPLOYED TO SERVE
EMPLOYED TO SERVE deserved all the success in the world with 2021’s Conquering. Their frenetic style of metalcore was right on the cusp of where that subgenre currently stands and their live shows speak for themselves. On Fallen Star the band sought to make something bigger in every way. Fallen Star has the band’s trademark riff filled assaults but also leans into more epic and emotional territories creating an album that truly feels like a narrative journey where one can’t know what to expect when the next song launches off.
Joined by three metal legends across the album Fallen Star also features three of the best collaborations of the year with Will Ramos, Jesse Leach and Serena Cherry all slotting seamlessly into their respective anthems. EMPLOYED TO SERVE’s Fallen Star proves that while metalcore can feel somewhat oversaturated at times, there are still bands willing to push the sound even further.
Enchanting, evocative and highly emotive, Glasgow’s CWFEN made a statement of intent in 2025 with their debut album Sorrows. A collection of songs that weave together seamlessly and showcasing raw beauty, the listening experience throughout Sorrows‘ 43 minute runtime is simply spectacular.
Bodies is a goth nightclub anthem in the making, while anthemic rabble rouser Wolfsbane or the doom-drenched Whispers demonstrate the versatility at the band’s disposal. The result? A record that twists and contorts and conjures a vivid atmosphere that completely immerses you. And in Agnes Alder, CWFEN have an absolute powerhouse of a vocalist, whose performance across Sorrows is nothing short of exceptional. Make no mistake, the future is bright for this band.
12. Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party – HAYLEY WILLIAMS
With a persona as big as HAYLEY WILLIAMS has, the boldest leap she could take is to centre her humanity. Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party is a piercingly intimate and experimental journey of 90s tinged indie rock, with stellar lyricism that punches you in the gut as much as it comforts you.
As her first independent release with her new venture post Atlantic, she released the album initially as a collection of singles, encouraging listeners to piece the tracks together in their own tracklists. Fans wove stories through tracks and engaged with the idea of an album in ways that shared in WILLIAMS’ catharsis. Eventually released as Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party, WILLIAMS showed that her most powerful tool is her vulnerability. It’s a testament to an artist finding their feet on their own terms, in laying themselves bare and authentically seeing what their voice can do.
11. I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me – LORNA SHORE
LORNA SHORE‘s trajectory must be close to breaking the sound barrier at this point, but their meteoric ascent isn’t without just cause. The New Jersey deathcore band have always been ambitious, but on fifth album I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me, LORNA SHORE have delivered a masterpiece.
Musically, I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me sees the band continue to evolve and develop their sound from 2022’s Pain Remains; a cacophony of blistering shred and bombastic orchestration, brutal breakdowns and an ungodly vocal range from larynx-shredding frontman Will Ramos. IFTEFWM delivers that in abundance, with the likes of Oblivion, Lionheart and Unbreakable standing as some of the best songs the band have ever written. But it is with Glenwood – a devastatingly honest reflection of Ramos‘ estrangement from his father, a snapshot into the band’s shift of narrative on this record – that underlines the fact that LORNA SHORE are in a league of their own.
Boston’s ASTRONOID have carved a unique sound in the heavy music space, something which has reaped unexpected rewards; a supporting role to pop-punk royalty BLINK-182. The personal and professional highs and lows experienced by the band sits at the beating heart of Stargod; the band’s most direct record to date. Lean and precise, Stargod sees ASTRONOID move further away from their post-metal roots, but there is a gorgeous flair and upbeat honesty that helps the record imprint long in the memory.
Boasting arguably one of the catchiest choruses of the year and an arena anthem in the making, first single Third Shot is exhibit A, while the likes of Love Weapon and Dream Protocol ’88 pack a punch with trash-tinged riffing that sticks firmly to the band’s coined term of ‘dream thrash’. It’s a record that will leave you grinning from ear-to-ear; euphoric aural bliss.
Nuanced is perhaps not what you’d immediately label IGORRR. But the French musician is exactly that, if you consider the breadth of styles and genres covered across his fifth album, Amen. Swinging between baroque and black metal via way of eastern folk instrumentals and industrial noise, while there’s nothing in the vein of subtle, it is a stand out offering; a master work of avant-garde composition.
The record name being a nod to breakbeat and jungle music, while also carrying a more religious and metaphorical weight to the overarching themes of good and evil is just the tip of the ice berg of the kind of nuances you find in this record. IGORRR brings that in droves, which is what’s required to make an album that feels utterly unique and heaps of fun to listen to. All this making this IGORRR‘s most accomplished release yet and much deserving of recognition.
Arriving armed with an entire universe of lore, CASTLE RAT are bringing fantasy heavy metal back from the fringes in a triumphant campaign of steel and sorcery. Last year’s Into The Realm had shown a lot of promise for the Brooklyn-based band, but sophomore effort The Bestiary sees CASTLE RAT double down and then result is as bombastic as it is ridiculously fun.
Demonstrating flexibility and an overtly cool fantasy aesthetic that evolves from the sound to the stage, CASTLE RAT embody the spirit of metal and all its theatricality of yesteryear. Delivering it in the modern age with enough love, care and attention to make it a mesmerising experience, we’re certain that there are many more tales from The Rat Queen to come.
Ever since 2022’s excellent Close, Italy’s MESSA have been bubbling under the surface in heavy music circles but with fourth offering The Spin, the band hit new heights. Across 42 dreamy doomy minutes, MESSA present a body of work that defies genre into a bleak but enthralling listening experience.
Whether it’s the romantic darkness of At Races, the anthemic thump of Fire On The Roof, or the absolutely stunning vocal performances from Sara Bianchin, The Spin is packed full of quality moments. If they continue this trajectory and maintain this level of artistic consistency, we can see them headlining Roadburn in the next decade.
For the first time in five years, the mighty DEFTONES returned with their new album; private music. An album with a sound so gargantuan in nature, it truly shakes you to your core. Becoming an instant classic as it unleashed a rich tapestry of incredible new music from the nu-metal titans. They have proven time and time again that they are able to reinvent themselves, this time going onto astronomical heights through their impeccable and cinematic nature. my mind is a mountain, milk of the madonna and departing the body are all but a taster of how incredible the stew that is private music. The wall of sound from start to finish is masterful and will surely make for one hell of a spectacle when they tour the UK in the new year!
Considering that their debut album, Eternal Blue, catapulted SPIRITBOX into arenas, the weight of expectations surrounding their sophomore outing could have easily derailed metal’s new superstars. Fortunately, Tsunami Sea obliterates the bar with such ease, it’s almost laughable to suggest it wouldn’t otherwise.
Just as polished and razor sharp as its predecessor, Tsunami Sea sees SPIRITBOX at their best. In singles like Soft Spine and Perfect Soul – two opposing ends of the band’s musical spectrum – they have anthems built to be performed on the biggest stages, whereas opener Fata Morgana hits with the weight of a sledgehammer and showcases the band at their most ferocious. 2021’s debut staked their claim for the modern metal throne, 2025 sees SPIRITBOX cement their status as royalty.
CONJURER have become mainstays of the UK metal scene over the past few years with an uncompromising sound, packed full of big riffs and shattering vocal roars. Their third album, Unself, heavily informed by vocalist and guitarist Dani Nightingale’s personal journey of identity, shows new depth and layers, beginning with unexpected acoustic balladry before menacing feedback signals a return to sludgy form.
There are rages against the billionaire class on Hang Them In Your Head, and resistance in support of trans rights on the defiant Let Us Live. But it’s the fist-in-the-air riffs and breakdowns of All Apart, and the colossal power of the bookending gospel melody of This World Is Not My Home, that truly delight here, showing that even the most gnarly metal can be hook-laden. Unself marks a new creative peak for CONJURER, who remain as fresh and exciting as ever.
3. I Don’t Want To See You In Heaven – THE CALLOUS DAOBOYS
There’s no one doing it like THE CALLOUS DAOBOYS at the moment. Their 2025 album I Don’t Want To See You In Heaven is a twisting and turning conceptual journey through the ‘museum of failure’. THE CALLOUS DAOBOYS weave hooks into their spellbinding riffs and experiment with genres, hopping between mathcore, metalcore, R&B, pop, and a sprinkling of Y2K production quirks, to name a few, they command each with ease.
Its success lies in THE CALLOUS DAOBOYS’ ability to balance all of this in what is a hurricane of an album. They make it feel effortless. Captivatingly weird, you never quite know what corner it will turn, and you can’t wait to see where it will whip around to next. Gleeful, ferocious, violent, and charming, each listen to I Don’t Want To See You In Heaven brings something new. It is an absolute tour de force.
TURNSTILE have changed the course of what hardcore looks like in 2025, with Never Enough leading the charge. TURNSTILE are ever curious as to the corners that hardcore can inhabit, harnessing the scene’s ideas of creativity, expression, and community to bring forward an album that has both opened up alternative music to new spaces, and feels like a natural progression of their sound.
Hopping through punk riffs and sun-soaked 60s-esque riffs and wistful melodies, whether it’s pounding drum beats or hazy synths, TURNSTILE keep the groove central to every track. It’s music that makes you want to move, and because of that, it’s music that brings people together to share in that experience. Never Enough has seen TURNSTILE play their biggest shows to date, and usher in a new wave of fans not only to hardcore, but to alternative music and the creativity and community it can foster.
1. Lonely People With Power – DEAFHEAVEN
15 years into their career, DEAFHEAVEN have gathered a reputation for pushing at the boundaries of creativity and experimentation within black metal. 2021’s Infinite Granite took on a softer sound, favouring shoegaze as a main influence in a move that challenged listeners and their expectations of black metal. 2025’s Lonely People With Power finds the band masterfully consolidating their previous discography and its various sounds whilst pushing forward with some of their heaviest music to date.
Within this explorative approach to their music, DEAFHEAVEN discover how their sound can be wielded. Taking aim at the ruling classes, the loss of community in modern society, and the varying threads of loneliness that have become intrinsic to day to day life, DEAFHEAVEN strike on the painful and inescapable. Through yearning soundscapes and punishing riffs, DEAFHEAVEN are both at their heaviest and most poetic on Lonely People With Power, keeping fury at its core and their heart on the sleeve.
Pushing at the edges of where their sound can take them, they wield these explorations into a pointed strike at loneliness and the state of modern society. Taking our top spot, Lonely People With Power is possibly the quintessential DEAFHEAVEN album, and undeniably our number one album of 2025.
Words: James Weaver, Laura McCarthy, Sammy Andrews, Chris Hart, Ed Walton, Katie Bird, Chris Taylor
And that rounds off our Top 20 Albums for 2025! A stacked year for killer new heavy music, we are stoked to see what 2026 has in store for us. Thank you for your continued support.
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