We interrupt your regularly scheduled Venezuelan Metal Season for what I think are the twenty best new studio albums of 2025. Like last year, it was quite difficult to limit the list to only twenty titles. Great albums were relesased consistently throughout the year. While I briefly considered expanding the list to twenty-five or even thirty titles, I didn’t want to set a precedent where I would have to struggle to fill the list in a year that was as bad as 2018, despite there being an abundance of great new music over the last few years.
The bigger rock and metal labels appear to have picked up some of the slack of the previous few years. The metal festivals are as dominated by Eurovision-style pop disguised as metal as they have been for a while, but the bigger labels offered more bands with better ideas. Fortunately, the smaller labels are still putting out loads of interesting music. With one debut album in my list and three sophomore albums – technically four, but you can scroll to number two to see why it does’t count – it’s good to see that exciting newcomers are still around.
Before I get to the actual list, I would like to thank everyone who visited the site in 2025 and every musician who took the time to talk to me for making this year the most successful year in Kevy Metal history by a significant margin. You all made working on the site a lot of fun!
1. Hedvig Mollestad Trio – Bees in the Bonnet
Something about the way Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen plays the guitar just rubs me the right way. And even though her 2020 solo debut ‘Ekhidna‘ might still be my favorite thing the Norwegian guitarist has ever done, her Hevig Mollestad Trio is where she delivers her most consistently awesome work. ‘Bees in the Bonnet‘ in particular sees Mollestad, bassist Ellen Brekken and drummer Ivar Loe Bjørnstad fully devoting themselves to crunchy riffs, hard-driving rhythms and pushing themselves – as well as each other – to the limit. While I have referred to this trio’s work as jazz for headbangers in the past, ‘Bees in the Bonnet’ is inching closer to full-on instrumental prog-rock with the harmonic richness of jazz. Whatever you choose to call it, though, it is nothing short of spectacular.
Recommended tracks: ‘Itta’, ‘See See Bop’, ‘Apocalypse Slow’
2. Smith/Kotzen – Black Light/White Noise
Turns out it wasn’t just the surprise of expecting a manufactured supergroup and being treated to absolutely superb songwriting that made Smith/Kotzen’s debut album my favorite album of 2021. It truly is unbelievable how Richie Kotzen and Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith bring out the best in each other. The vocal harmonies are flawless, the guitar work is stellar throughout, and as a whole, ‘Black Light/White Noise’ is simply a masterclass in soulful rock songwriting. The album branches out just a little more than the debut, adding a splash of eighties rock and pop to their powerful seventies rock ‘n’ soul sound, but clearly is the work of the same two guys, who, in my opinion, should never stop working together.
Recommended tracks: ‘Darkside’, ‘Outlaw’, ‘Black Light’
3. Dolmen Gate – Echoes of Ancient Tales
Just under a year and a half after ‘Gateways of Eternity‘, hands-down the best debut album of 2024, Dolmen Gate released ‘Echoes of Ancient Tales‘, and it is every bit as good. It is more than a reprise of the ‘Gateways of Eternity‘ sound, however. The production on ‘Echoes of Ancient Tales’ is a bit tighter and more focused, putting Ana’s amazingly haunting voice forward a bit more, and that gives the Portuguese band quite a different feel. They also allow themselves to stretch their songs out a little more. There is no better description for this than epic heavy metal, but Dolmen Gate sounds nothing like the Manilla Road and Manowar worshippers that dominate said scene. Genuinely the most promising metal band around these days.
Recommended tracks: ‘Carthage Eternal’, ‘We Are the Storm’, ‘Rising Whispers’
4. Warbringer – Wrath and Ruin
While they had been active for a while before that, everything Warbringer has released since 2017’s ‘Woe to the Vanquished’ has been among the absolute best that contemporary thrash metal has to offer. ‘Wrath and Ruin’ is no different, but though super-tight, hyper-aggressive thrash riffs dominate the album, it’s notably darker than the previous two Warbringer albums. This is also reflected in the amazing lyrics by vocalist John Kevill, who has slowly become my favorite lyricist in today’s metal scene. There are still plenty of references to war and its psychological impact, but there are also lyrics about broader societal issues, all delivered with the perfect amount of bile. Thrash metal this aggressive doesn’t often make me feel things, but Warbringer found a way to do so.
Recommended tracks: ‘The Last of My Kind’, ‘A Better World’, ‘Strike from the Sky’
5. Coroner – Dissonance Theory
An album over a decade in the making – not to mention Coroner’s first original studio album in a whopping thirty-two years – isn’t always a good sign, but ‘Dissonance Theory’ surpassed any expectation I might have had. It feels like a fairly logical follow-up to ‘Grin’, but it has more riffs, and Tommy Vetterli tends to play more notes per riff as well. The industrial atmosphere of ‘Grin’ has made way for a cold, mechanical dystopia. Coroner’s trademark complexity and technicality are there, but are applied more subtly, making it a rare thrash metal album that just keeps getting better over repeated spins. Ron Broder’s commanding bark sounds just as convincing as it used to as well. Also, a great example of how to modernize your sound without drifting too far from your roots.
Recommended tracks: ‘Consequence’, ‘Symmetry’, ‘The Law’
6. Joanne Shaw Taylor – Black & Gold
Not unlike its fantastic predecessor ‘Heavy Soul‘ almost exactly a year earlier, ‘Black & Gold’ sees Joanne Shaw Taylor focusing on all of her strengths at once rather than creating separate albums for her blues guitar playing chops, her soul-drenched alto, and her highly varied songwriting skills. Ultimately, bringing all of those sides together is when she sounds best. ‘Black & Gold’ is a fantastic collection of songs, and her instantly recognizable voice and guitar playing tie the whole thing together, no matter how varied it gets style-wise. Sure, all of it is quite rootsy, but there is as much rock, folk and pop as there is blues and soul, and it all works. I can’t wait to hear what she comes up with next.
Recommended tracks: ‘Look What I’ve Become’, ‘Who’s Gonna Love Me Now?’, ‘What Are You Gonna Do Now?’
7. Aria – Kogda Nastanyet Zavtra
This year, Aria celebrated their fortieth anniversary. Not that you would be able to tell upon hearing ‘Kogda Nastanyet Zavtra’. In fact, the album sounds a bit tighter and more focused than its direct predecessor ‘Proklyatiye Morey‘, giving it a somewhat more contemporary vibe, or at least as contemporary as this type of theatrical traditional heavy metal can get. The songs are a bit more concise this time around as well. Aria largely foregoes the big, sweeping epics in favor of shorter songs that all have a clear identity of their own. Also, the amazingly dramatic ‘Sozvezdiye Yershalaim’ is the best power ballad the band released since ‘Shtil” nearly twenty-five years ago. ‘Kogda Nasatanyet Zavtra’ is a rock-solid collection of songs many younger bands could learn a lesson or two from.
Recommended tracks: ‘Dolina Smerti’, ‘Sozvezdiye Yershalaim’, ‘Chërniy Kamen”
Compared to the last few Onmyo-za albums, ‘Ginrei Gozen’ sounds notably more transparent and streamlined, though it isn’t without its heavy moments, and save for maybe ‘Jigoku’, there are no ballads. It certainly is more riffy than the relatively light ‘Kongō Kyūbi‘ (2009) was. The overall sound is somewhat reminiscent of ‘Raijin Sōsei’ (2014), but there is much more attention to contrasts and subtle complexities in the songwriting. Ultimately, that is why I prefer the semi-epics on ‘Ginrei Gozen’ to the more straightforward songs, which are good, but not all that different from what Onmyo-za usually does. Onmyo-za is yet to disappoint me, and while ‘Ginrei Gozen’ did not quite blow me away like its two predecessors did, it is another fantastic release.
Recommended tracks: ‘Kishin no Ōdō Naki Mono wo’, ‘Ōtakemaru’, ‘Suzuka Gozen – Kamishiki’
9. Claymorean – Eternal Curse
The epic heavy metal scene is full of bands who can come up with a great riff. Very few of them are such good songwriters as Claymorean, however, and ‘Eternal Curse‘ may just be the best example of their songwriting skills thus far. The songs are adventurous, but never needlessly complex, and the band opts for memorability rather than relying solely on a grandiose atmosphere. ‘Eternal Curse’ may just be the Serbians’ most accessible album yet, though not at the expense of everything that made them so good in the first place. The overall tempo is slightly higher than usual, but that is a blessing rather than a curse. No pun intended. The only thing I don’t love is how Dejana Garčević’ voice has been recorded and mixed. Her powerful belt deserves to be treated better than this.
Recommended tracks: ‘Under the Sign of the Cross’, ‘Bannockburn’, ‘Battle Born’
This wouldn’t be a Kevy Metal list without a strange combination of styles. In recent years, however, Impureza’s mix of fairly intricate death metal and flamenco has transcended novelty status and has simply become a highly enjoyable, rather unpredictable blend of styles that go together very well. ‘Alcázares‘ even more so than its 2017 predecessor ‘La Caída de Toniatuh‘, because there are no longer separate sections reserved for the flamenco aspects. There are parts where Esteban Martín sings passionate flamenco melodies over heavy riffs and intense drumming, and Lionel Cano Muñoz lays down a number of distorted flamenco riffs. Florian Saillard’s fretless bass playing is out of this world as well. What also helps is that the songwriting is exceptional across the board. Great stuff.
Recommended tracks: ‘Santa Inquisición’, ‘Castigos Eclesiásticos’, ‘Pestilencia’
11. Labÿrinth – In the Vanishing Echoes of Goodbye
The particular blend of power metal and progressive metal that Labÿrinth makes doesn’t really exist anywhere else. It’s quite dense and complex, but it somehow doesn’t sound like it is by being very melodic. Since reuniting with founding guitarist Olaf Thörsen sixteen years ago, everything the band has released has been excellent, but ‘In the Vanishing Echoes of Goodbye’ is great even by the lofty standards Labÿrinth has set for itself. The songwriting is ever so slightly more dynamic and riff-heavy than before, and the songs go many places without drifting too far from the band’s core sound. The Italians sextet’s unique use of bright-sounding clean and acoustic guitars completes the picture. Also, Oleg Smirnoff is still one of the most original keyboard players in metal.
Recommended tracks: ‘Inhuman Race’, ‘The Healing’, ‘Welcome Twilight’
‘Dark Believer’ is the album I knew Dutch heavy metal pioneers Martyr had in them ever since reuniting about twenty years ago. Multiple albums hinted at this greatness, 2022’s ‘Planet Metalhead‘ in particular, but their blend of early Queensrÿche-esque USPM and blazing modern power metal has never sounded as good as it does on ‘Dark Believer’. Singer Rop van Haren soars on top of it like a man half his age, while guitarists Rick Bouwman and Justin Schut are firing on all cylinders throughout. Easily the best Martyr album since 1986’s ‘Darkness at Time’s Edge’. While the band’s “everything up to eleven or twelve” approach may come across as a bit too busy or dense to the uninitiated, give it some time. Their songwriting brilliance will shine through soon enough.
Recommended tracks: ‘Legions of the Cross’, ‘Cemetery Symphony’, ‘Wrath of the Fallen’
13. Elvenking – Reader of the Runes – Luna
Elvenking has been on an unbelievable roll lately, culminating in what might be their best work ever in their trilogy of ‘Reader of the Runes’ albums. ‘Reader of the Runes – Luna’ isn’t my favorite album of the trilogy – that would be the second chapter from 2023 – but this is another incredible work of folky power metal with occasional thrashy riffs and subtle melodic death metal touches, and I really like the balance Elvenking strikes between those elements. A few songs are unusually riff-driven, but those are some of the best moments on the album. Singer Damna has implied that an increased understanding of what Elvenking is has led to the consistently amazing stuff they have been releasing since 2014’s ‘The Pagan Manifesto’, and I’m very curious to see where that will take them after this trilogy.
Recommended tracks: ‘Reader of the Runes – Book II’, ‘Starbath’, ‘On These Haunted Shores’
14. Struck a Nerve – Struck a Nerve
A fantastic thrash metal debut wasn’t on my bingo card for 2025, especially not so late in the year, but that’s exactly what British newcomers Struck a Nerve delivered. ‘Struck a Nerve‘ finds itself on the more aggressive end of the thrash metal spectrum, their sound bearing somewhat of a resemblance to the likes of Demolition Hammer, Warbringer and early post-reunion Destruction, but not at the expense of excellent songwriting. Somehow, they are experts at working with atmosphere without sacrificing the hungry, unbridled aggression the style needs. As a result, the straightforward rippers are every bit as in-your-face as the more dynamic stuff. Book this band with Warbringer if you ever need to get rid of all the furniture in your venue. Hopefully they have more like this in them.
Recommended tracks: ‘Leviathan Wings’, ‘Inside the Torture Fortress’, ‘Moon Sniper’
15. Turbo – Blizny
Maybe it’s because Turbo had not released any new material in twelve years, but it truly caught me by surprises how aggressive and fairly modern the Polish metal pioneers sound on ‘Blizny’. Especially with its two predecessors being reasonably traditional hard rock and heavy metal. ‘Blizny’ is easily the most thrashy-sounding Turbo album in decades, though the old school heavy metal-isms are still there. It may not have worked quite as well if they didn’t have Tomasz Struszczyk’s fantastic, versatile voice to work with, but Wojciech Hoffman’s riffs also sound more intense than they have in a while. While ‘Blizny’ could have made the top ten if it didn’t take a few tracks to get settled, it is definitely a far better album than anyone could have reasonably expected from Turbo at this point in their career.
Recommended tracks: ‘Nowy Rozdział’, ‘Łotr’, ‘Zawrót Głowy’
16. Sölicitör – Enemy in Mirrors
The best bands from the new wave of traditional heavy metal scene are the ones who don’t stick too closely to the sound of their main influences. Sölicitör does that on their sophomore album ‘Enemy in Mirrors‘, and then some. The vaguely Motörhead-esque old school speed metal sound from their 2020 debut ‘Spectral Devastation‘ is still here, but it has been enhanced with a greater degree of melody and theatricality, which truly plays to singer Amy Lee Carlson’s strengths and should forever silence those who insist on constantly comparing her rough-edged vocals to those of Leather Leone. Also, the subtle extreme metal influences create an interesting contrast at times. It’s not as immediately catchy and energetic as their earlier work, but the album is all the more dynamic for it.
Recommended tracks: ‘Spellbound Mist’, ‘Black Magick & Devil’s Hand Pt I’, ‘Fallen Angel’
17. Paradise Lost – Ascension
Full disclosure: I personally like Paradise Lost best when they are as gothic as possible, so it wasn’t necessarily good news for me when Nick Holmes reinstated his growl about a decade ago. But 2020’s ‘Obsidian‘ was quite a good mixture of all the styles the Brits had pioneered over the last four decades, so I gave ‘Ascension‘ a shot. It might just be the best combination of everything the band has done so far. Being full of crushing doom metal riffs, ‘Ascension’ is definitely on the heavier side, but guitarist and main songwriter Greg Mackintosh has included so many haunting, melancholic melodies that it’s hard not to be carried away, especially during these dark days. The changes in tempos and atmospheres keep ‘Ascension’ from getting too dreary, however. Very impressive.
Recommended tracks: ‘Salvation’, ‘Savage Days’, ‘The Precipice’
If a band has a sound as clearly defined and as immediately identifiable as Amorphis has had over the last two decades or so, there is a risk their work will end up sounding like they are running on auto-pilot. ‘Borderland’ once again sounds like Amorphis and no one else, though compared to its predecessors, it is a little less dense and a bit more straightforward, leaving more space for the folky, romantic melodies and the soothing clean vocals of Tomi Joutsen. As pleasant as this side of Amorphis’ sound is to my ears, however, ‘Borderland’ may not have made the list if it wasn’t for its surprisingly dark finale, with especially closing track ‘Despair’ sacrificing the band’s characteristic hopeful melancholy for something unusually bleak.
Recommended tracks: ‘The Lantern’, ‘Despair’, ‘The Circle’
19. Sanity’s Rage – The Dead Don’t Run
After Belgian thrashers Sanity’s Rage released their 2012 debut album ‘You Are What You Swallow‘, things went fairly quiet. While I’m unsure of how much of that time was spent writing their new album, ‘The Dead Don’t Run‘ is a masterclass in well-written melodic thrash metal, though that description might understate how aggressive Sanity’s Rage occasionally gets here, especially during the back half of the album. The way thrash riffs and an almost melodic death metal approach to the guitar work interact is somewhat reminiscent of Kreator’s recent work, with the vicious bite of Tankard’s best material and the clever songwriting of Xentrix. While ‘The Dead Don’t Run’ is quite meticulously produced, the energy this type of music needs is always there in spades.
Recommended tracks: ‘Nothing Sacred Will Hold’, ‘The Dead Don’t Run’, ‘Measure of Guilt’
20. Mägo de Oz – Malicia: La Noche de las Brujas
This one took me by surprise. Ocassionally, I enjoy what Mägo de Oz does, but their albums have a tendency to be as messy as their line-ups. ‘Malicia: La Noche de las Brujas’ is not immune to this, but the level of songwriting is consistently good and the band sounds surprisingly focused here. These days, the band has a couple of notable aces up its sleeves as well. Both Rafa Blas and Xana Lavey are incredible singers, the latter even impressing me significantly more than she does with Celtian here, and the mix really makes all the elements of Mägo de Oz’ sound come together very nicely. Another big plus is that the guitar work gives the whole thing a more powerful bottom-end than this type of folk metal usually has.
Recommended tracks: ‘Ríos de Lágrimas’, ‘El Último Rezo’, ‘No Me Dejes Solo’
If you want to listen to what these bands are doing immediately, check out this playlist I put together featuring one song of each of the twenty albums above, plus thirteen songs from albums that just barely missed out:
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