The Kerrang! staff’s top albums of 2025

If it feels like rock was bigger and more everywhere than usual in 2025, that's because it was. Not for a long time has our music had quite the same upward run as it did this year, and the collection of brilliant records from a breadth of scenes and sounds just shows how fertile and rich the creative energy within is right now.

You've already seen the Kerrang! Top 50 Albums Of 2025 countdown. But as with the massively broad church that is K!, the staff who make it cover tons of ground individually. Here, we present to you their personal lists of what they've become obsessed with since January.

10. Pinkshift – Earthkeeper
9. Stray From The Path – Clockworked
8. Hayley Williams – Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party
7. Malevolence – Where Only Truth Is Spoken
6. Creeper – Sanguivore II
5. Ghost – Skeletá
4. Deftones – Private Music
3. Deafheaven – Lonely People With Power
2. Scowl – Are We All Angels
1. Turnstile – NEVER ENOUGH

Having been a fan of Turnstile since first pressing play on Time & Space back in 2018, it’s been a joy to watch them continue to forge their own path and evolve into one of the most forward-thinking bands on the planet – not just from the sounds they make, but how they carry and present themselves as an artistic entity. And NEVER ENOUGH stands as a symbol of that desire to exist as an island of one, proof of what is possible when you go your own way, and back yourself without compromise. It’s bombastic and bold, serene and sincere, funky and frantic, and countless other adjectives woven within the layers of experimentation and outsider influences that push the tag of ‘hardcore’ to its limit, yet never losing sight of where they came from. I knew NEVER ENOUGH was a 5/5 record upon release – I said as much in Kerrang!’s review back in June – but it was seeing these songs live at Alexandra Palace last month that solidified its status as my album of the year, experiencing this music where it’s meant to be heard. Because ultimately it’s about community, as all good music should be.

10. RØRY – RESTORATION
9. Perturbator – Age Of Aquarius
8. Sleep Theory – Afterglow
7. Lambrini Girls – Who Let The Dogs Out
6. YUNGBLUD – Idols
5. Turnstile – NEVER ENOUGH
4. Hayley Williams – Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party
3. A Day To Remember – Big Ole Album Vol. 1
2. twenty one pilots – Breach
1. Ghost – Skeletá

2025 was the year I officially became Satanized. I can’t explain why it took 15 damn years for Ghost to properly click, but what an album to finally join their congregation – and don’t worry, I’ve since gone back and am head-over-heels in love with their entire discography now, obvs. Everything about Skeletá absolutely rules: across 10 expertly-crafted tracks there’s undeniable rock sing-alongs (Lachryma, De Profundis Borealis), meaningful, life-affirming lyrics (Peacefield, Cenotaph, Excelsis), some wonderful silliness (Missilia Amori) and, of course, a healthy dose of cowbell (Umbra). What more could you possibly want? All hail Papa V!

10. Teitanblood – From the Visceral Abyss
9. Abduction – Existentialismus
8. Scorpion Milk – Slime Of The Times
7. Malthusian – The Summoning Bell
6. Paradise Lost – Ascension
5. Creeper – Sanguivore II: Mistress Of Death
4. Turnstile – NEVER ENOUGH
3. Employed To Serve – Fallen Star
2. The Hellacopters – Overdriver
1. Perturbator – Age Of Aquarius

There's been an awful lot of great stuff this year. It was painful not having space for killer albums from Scowl, Ghost, Split Chain, Hayley Williams, Behemoth and tons of others, but it also speaks to the rude health of the underground that so much of the listening that shaped my 2025 came from there. One man with a foot firmly in the subterranea of metal is Perturbator, who has consistently brought that feeling with him even as he's become massive. Age Of Aquarius found him making new shapes with his dark synthwave sound, showing an artist who knows himself well enough to be able to mess with the blueprint and still know exactly what he's doing. The cynicism of some of it matched a lot of the vibe of the year, but a feeling of illicit sin throughout is also one that proved just as poignant. His show at Damnation was one of the finest of the year – here's to something even bigger when he hits ArcTanGent 2026.

10. Hot Milk – Corporation P.O.P
9. Bloodywood – Nu Delhi
8. Biffy Clyro - Futique
7. VUKOVI – MY GOD HAS GOT A GUN
6. The Wildhearts – Satanic Rites Of The Wildhearts
5. Spiritbox – Tsunami Sea
4. Architects – The Sky, The Earth & All Between
3. Creeper – Sanguivore II: Mistress Of Death
2. Deftones – Private Music
1. Starset – Silos

I really wanted to say that my top album of 2025 came from someone iconic and cool like Deftones, or kooky and fun like Creeper. But no, it's bloody Starset again. They outwardly belong somewhere between Bad Omens and Sleep Token, but given the music's expertly emotive futurism, Dustin Bates and his band just manage to do all things at least a little bit better. Silos plays with you – it’s like the New Romantics mutating into symphonic metal via modern, twisty alt.rock. It's full of tracks like Brave New World, widescreen sounds designed to shred your brain via earpods, or more downtuned metallic stuff like Degenerate or Toxik's industrial level catharsis. Then there's its gentler side – Ad Astra is an almost unbearably piquant listen for anyone who has walked with death for a while and then said, “Not today.” They're almost wilfully elusive, frustrating at times, but bloody hell, Starset do it all.

10. L.S Dunes – Violet
9. Lonesome – In The Hope This Finds You
8. We Came As Romans – All Is Beautiful… Because We're Doomed
7. Winona Fighter – My Apologies To The Chef
6. Biffy Clyro – Futique
5. Deafheaven – Lonely People With Power
4. Architects – The Sky, The Earth & All Between
3. Split Chain – motionblur
2. Love Is Noise – To Live In A Different Way
1. Rocket – R Is For Rocket

Nostalgia is so very, very now. And R Is For Rocket is positively drenched in the warm, woozy tones of alt.rock's first great heyday. Yet though a great debt is owed to Messrs Mould, Mascis, Shields, Corgan, Gordon’n’Moore, Rocket's weaponising of their ’90s influences tells only half a story. There is a freshness and vibrancy to R Is For Rocket – a more assured debut album you will struggle to find – that makes it as focused on the future as it is the past. In tracks like Act Like Your Title and One Million, Rocket demonstrate the same mastery of pop songs as Wide Awake does reverb pedals. 'What if you open me up and decide it's never enough for you?' pleads Alithea Tuttle on album-standout Another Second Chance. It's something she and her band needn't worry about. They're going to the moon.

10. ALT BLK ERA – Rave Immortal
9. Paradise Slaves – With Hell In His Eyes
8. Rise Against – Ricochet
7. Motion City Soundtrack – The Same Old Wasted Wonderful World
6. Momma – Welcome To My Blue Sky
5. Spiritbox – Tsunami Sea
4. Biffy Clyro – Futique
3. Hayley Williams – Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party
2. Nine Inch Nails – TRON: Ares (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
1. Deftones – Private Music

The mark of the greatest albums for me is that, at one point or another in your journey with them, every single song will have been your favourite. That is what makes records like Rage Against The Machine, Crack The Skye, White Pony and Toxicity so special: each track is strong enough to wear the crown. And, after months of listening, I can safely say that it applies to Deftones’ immaculate Private Music. Upon first play, I was telling everyone that I Think About You All The Time was its finest moment. Later, it was Ecdysis, Milk Of The Madonna and Departing The Body. Today? Its Infinite Source. Tomorrow? Who knows. All I can say for sure is I’ll still be playing Private Music on repeat. That’s not just an album fit to be called record of the year for me, that’s a body of work built for a whole lifetime of listening.

10. Dayseeker – Creature In The Black Night
9. Native James – CONFESSIONS OF A SINNER
8. Lorna Shore – I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me
7. Nine Inch Nails – TRON: Ares (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
6. Castle Rat – The Bestiary
5. Dinosaur Pile-Up – I’ve Felt Better
4. Turnstile – NEVER ENOUGH
3. Biffy Clyro – Futique
2. Conjurer – Unself
1. Deftones – Private Music

At a time when generations are being pitted against one another, and AI threatens to replace art’s soul with ruthlessly efficient regurgitations, we should continue to be thankful for the existence of Deftones. That a group of men in their mid-50s have reached their career zenith in 2025 is a remarkable feat. That they've bucked trends while making friends with a young audience via decades-old songs on TikTok is nothing short of astonishing.

Private Music is both a top tier entry in a discography overflowing with classics, and the sound of a band emboldened by allowing themselves to smell the roses and acknowledge, without complacency, their considerable influence. What’s more, Private Music seems to be the point at which the creative fissures within Deftones have been smoothed over entirely, with Chino Moreno and Steph Carpenter’s oil and water approaches reaching a point of glorious seamlessness – united by their long-established dynamic having got them to the top of the mountain, and the knowledge that heaviness comes in many forms. A masterpiece.

10. Bloodywood – Nu Delhi
9. Employed To Serve – Fallen Star
8. Orbit Culture – Death Above Life
7. Bury Tomorrow – Will You Haunt Me, With That Same Patience
6. Deftones – Private Music
5. Conjurer – Unself
4. Biffy Clyro – Futique
3. Sleep Theory – Afterglow
2. Ghost – Skeletá
1. ‎Turnstile – NEVER ENOUGH

As soon as I listened to NEVER ENOUGH fully for the first time, I connected with it instantly. And after seeing Turnstile play those songs at Outbreak in the summer, it's just cemented that album even more for me. It became the soundtrack to my own personal Turnstile Summer. There’s a rare kind of magic in the way these songs lift you up, shake you out, and make everything around you feel a shade brighter. Even now, I find myself returning to that record on a daily basis to scratch that itch.

10. Conjurer – Unself
9. The Armed – The Future Is Here And Everything Needs To Be Destroyed
8. Spiritworld – Helldorado
7. Paradise Lost – Ascension
6. Creeper – Sanguivore II: Mistress Of Death
5. Agriculture – The Spiritual Sound
4. Cwfen – Sorrows
3. Dinosaur Pile-Up – I’ve Felt Better
2. Stray From The Path – Clockworked
1. Deafheaven – Lonely People With Power

Fifteen years into their career, Deafheaven had cultivated a deserved reputation more as a band to be admired than one to be truly loved. Lonely People With Power, however, is worth falling in love with. Ripping apart and audaciously rebuilding black metal to reflect modern America, the San Francisco collective already have multiple masterpiece-tier records in their catalogue, but after 2021’s divisive, experimental Infinite Granite, LPWP feels definitive. From the throat-ripping Doberman, to the twisted romance of The Garden Route and boldly euphoric highlight Body Behaviour, they’ve consolidated the savage best of what they’ve done before while threading through sounds and textures that elevate and further embolden the bigger picture. Folding in agonised personal reflection and sublimated political commentary, pain, joy and sadness, too, its 12 songs keep revealing hidden details and layers of meaning even months down the line. Emphatic confirmation that Deafheaven are among extreme music’s greatest ever bands.

10. Die Spitz – Something To Consume
9. Propagandhi – At Peace
8. mclusky – The World Is Still Here And So Are We
7. Pile – Sunshine And Balance Beams
6. Drain – …Is Your Friend
5. Deftones – Private Music
4. Modern Life Is War – Life On The Moon
3. Clipping – Dead Channel Sky Plus
2. Hot Mulligan – The Sound A Body Makes When It's Still
1. Arm's Length – There's A Whole World Out There

For a record that wasn't supposed to exist, There's A Whole World Out There does an excellent job of establishing Arm's Length as some of emo's brightest sons. The Quinte West, Ontario quartet have fashioned something bombastic and soulful on this, their star-crossed and stargazing second album. Book your tickets for their 2026 UK tour now before they become the ones that got away.

10. Drain – …Is Your Friend
9. Militarie Gun – God Save The Gun
8. False Reality – FADED INTENTIONS
7. Pupil Slicer – Fleshwork
6. Conjurer – Unself
5. Still In Love – Recovery Language
4. Turnstile – NEVER ENOUGH
3. Agriculture – The Spiritual Sound
2. The Callous Daoboys – I Don’t Want To See You In Heaven
1. Deafheaven – Lonely People With Power

Step aside every other blackgaze band, the masters have once again created a decade-defining masterpiece. Deafheaven have returned, revitalised, and brought about their second career-making album, over a decade after the jaw-dropping perfection of Sunbather. Whilst I will concede that Lonely People With Power does indeed follow in the footsteps of that 2013 jewel, it has carved its own musical path and stands entirely on its own two feet as a breathtaking piece of work, an emotionally weighty, sonic assault of black metal and shoegaze and uplifting power all rolled into one. From Magnolia’s icy riffs, to Revelator’s chants of the album title, through to the incredible Winona and finale The Marvellous Orange Tree, there isn’t a moment of fat to trim on this glorious, devastating ride.

10. Liquid Mike – Hell Is An Airport
9. Employed To Serve – Fallen Star
8. Turnstile – NEVER ENOUGH
7. Creeper – Sanguivore II: Mistress Of Death
6. Agriculture – The Spiritual Sound
5. Malevolence – Where Only The Truth Is Spoken
4. AFI – Silver Bleeds The Black Sun…
3. Drain – …Is Your Friend
2. Mogwai – The Bad Fire
1. Deftones – Private Music

What a year! Even if you’ve been diligently following Deftones’ consistently excellent, sexy and sexily excellent output in recent years, I don’t think anybody was expecting them to release an album as bold as Private Music almost 40 years into their career. Souvenir hits as hard as anything off White Pony or Adrenaline, but really, singling out highlights is a fool’s errand. The whole album oozes swagger, heavy-lidded melodies and sidewinding grooves which cast that seductive spell that only Deftones can conjure. Ten albums in, Deftones are still taking us all back to school.

10. Hayley Williams – Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party
9. Maruja – Pain To Power
8. Upchuck – I'm Nice Now
7. HEALTH – CONFLICT DLC
6. PUP – Who Will Look After The Dogs?
5. Backxwash – Only Dust Remains
4. VOWWS – I'll Fill Your House With An Army
3. La Dispute – No One Was Driving The Car
2. ho99o9 – Tomorrow We Escape
1. The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die – Dreams Of Being Dust

There's a noticeably apocalyptic edge to most – if not all – of the albums on my Top 10 this year. That's as much a reflection of the songs and artists who have soundtracked my year, as it is the year that has inspired these – and many other – albums. Yet for me, nothing released this year quite captures the fragility and brutality of the world we live in as Dreams Of Being Dust. The fifth full-length from shapeshifting Connecticut-formed six-piece The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, it was unashamedly political, and musically vicious and volatile, a marked shift into post-hardcore territory from a band for whom beauty was a central part of their sound.

That's still there in small doses, but on the whole the amps and the politics have been turned up alllllllll the way. Not only is there a ferocious track called Beware The Centrist that essentially slams those who try to hold space in the middle as fascism is creeping across the U.S. and much of the rest of the Western world, but there's also a track named after the date that Luigi Mangione allegedly assassinated United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Unapologetic and unwavering in its beliefs, this is a record that doesn't just reflect and react to the world that spawned it, but which actively seeks out and offers solutions to the 21st century's political malaise. Years from now, when capitalism, neoliberalism and imperialism have driven their final nails in the coffin of the modern world, this album will stand as the one that said most overtly and directly, "We told you so."

10. YUNGBLUD – Idols
9. De’Wayne – June
8. Biffy Clyro – Futique
7. Nova Twins – Parasites & Butterflies
6. Witch Fever – FEVEREATEN
5. Teen Mortgage – Devil Ultrasonic Dream
4. Superheaven – Superheaven
3. Turnstile – NEVER ENOUGH
2. Hayley Williams – Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party
1. Deftones – Private Music

I have always had a romance with Deftones’ music, but their last couple of records left me feeling like it was more of a situationship I was entangled in. I kept returning to Ohms and Gore in the hopes they’d grow on me, and while I cared for them and enjoyed their company, there was just something missing. With Private Music I’ve fallen in love with the Sacramento gang all over again. As K!’s review summed it up: “Ohms walked so that Private Music could run, jump and soar.” I don’t think I could possibly sum it up better than that.

Even its title is delicious. It epitomises the exact sexy mystique that has kept Deftones’ allure alive across the decades. We’re part of an exclusive club that’s both sacredly intimate and a little bit rebellious. My heart shattered when they dropped out of their Glastonbury set last-minute, so you bet I’m down for their tour in the new year. Catch you at the barrier…

10. YUNGBLUD – Idols
9. Spiritual Cramp – RUDE
8. Biffy Clyro – Futique
7. Sprints – All That Is Over
6. Deftones – Private Music
5. Maruja – Pain To Power
4. Sleep Token – Even In Arcadia
3. Architects – The Sky, The Earth & All Between
2. Spiritbox – Tsunami Sea
1. Turnstile – NEVER ENOUGH

Whatever door GLOW ON opened, the world is better off for Turnstile diving head-first into it. There simply is no other rock band like them on planet earth right now. How can you make dream-pop, hardcore, synth-rock and house all fit together with fluidity? NEVER ENOUGH fleshed out those sounds even further, almost as if the confidence of GLOW ON's success spurred them on to continue down that rabbit hole, rather than take a sharp left turn or simply play it safe. The title-track makes me want to run a marathon. BIRDS makes me want to bear-hug my friends and punch them in the face at the same time. LIGHT DESIGN pierces right into the heartstrings. Structurally, LOOK OUT FOR ME floored me. Seeing them at Glastonbury and in Manchester were two of the most euphoric sets I've been to all year, and the beauty of NEVER ENOUGH is – still – you have absolutely no idea where they might be going next.

10. Believe In Nothing – Rot
9. Bleeding Through – Nine
8. Pelican – Flickering Resonance
7. Nine Inch Nails – TRON: Ares (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
6. Deadguy – Near-Death Travel Services
5. Sanguisugabogg – Hideous Aftermath
4. Abigail Williams – A Void Within Existence
3. Behemoth – The Shit Ov God
2. Revocation – New Gods, New Masters
1. Wrath Of Logarius – Crown Of Mortis

On their full-length debut, California's Wrath Of Logarius proved themselves to be the new masters of black metal. Not getting hung up on emulating the ever-popular Norwegian second-wave of the sound, they focus on maximum devastation built on the back of skin-crawling atmosphere, endless guitar textures, and more blastbeats than can be healthy for anyone. I made a mistake giving the album only 4/5 upon release because it was already near-perfect, and half a year later it sounds and feels even better, more refined, more targeted, and deserves all the kudos available. A monstrous achievement.

10. Deaf Havana – We’re Never Getting Out
9. Rise Against – Ricochet
8. Biffy Clyro – Futique
7. Garbage – Let All That We Imagine Be The Light
6. Nova Twins – Parasites & Butterflies
5. Ash – Ad Astra
4. Coach Party – Caramel
3. Hayley Williams – Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party
2. Skunk Anansie – The Painful Truth
1. Sprints – All That Is Over

AI, reality TV and social media may be making the world a much dumber place, but Sprints’ superb second album is guaranteed to boost your IQ. Livewire frontwoman Karla Chubb is never afraid to flex her lyrical, literary or political intellect and that, mixed with Sprints’ ability to garage punk the absolute living fuck out of tracks such as Need and Descartes, makes All That Is Over both the most furiously intelligent, and the most intelligently furious rock album of the year.

10. EYES – Spinner
9. mclusky – The World Is Still Here And So Are We
8. Inhuman Nature – Greater Than Death
7. Melvins – Thunderball
6. Deafheaven – Lonely People With Power
5. Blood Vulture – Die Close
4. Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Death Hilarious
3. Castle Rat – The Bestiary
2. Agriculture – The Spiritual Sound
1. Maruja – Pain To Power

Maruja’s debut album offers a call for solidarity and love in times riven by conflict, prejudice and inequality. If this concept brings to mind hippies playing acoustic guitars round a campfire, you haven’t experienced the cathartic fervour of their live shows or the spectacular jazz-punk contents of Pain To Power. Bloodsport and Trenches hit like a sax-driven, Mancunian Rage Against The Machine; 10-minute epics Look Down On Us and Born To Die balance transcendental spirituality with multi-shaded heaviness. Absolutely captivating stuff from start to finish, from one of the country’s best bands right now.

10. Creeper – Sanguivore II: Mistress Of Death
9. Spiritbox – Tsunami Sea
8. Employed To Serve – Fallen Star
7. Sprints – All That Is Over
6. Scowl – Are We All Angels
5. Jools – Violent Delights
4. Lambrini Girls – Who Let The Dogs Out
3. Witch Fever - FEVEREATEN
2. Deafheaven – Lonely People With Power
1. The Callous Daoboys – I Don't Want To See You In Heaven

I must have listened to Two-Headed Trout – one of the lead singles from The Callous Daoboys' third album – a good 200 times this year. The combination of brain-scratching grooves and big, juicy melodies was like catnip to me, but there's even more where that came from. They've transcended the Every Time I Die and Dillinger Escape Plan comparisons to evolve into their most unique form ever: violent, maniacal, quirky, gleefully mad and so, so much fun. There's boneshaking, time signature-mangling heaviness, chunky choruses, a 12-minute genre-hopping, AutoTuned epic and even some Y2K guitar pop not unlike Justin Timberlake (take a bow, Lemon). Sometimes it's eloquent, other times completely outlandish – yes, you did hear vocalist Carson Pace scream 'I couldn't be more erect' – but they beautifully demonstrate how much they are capable of, and how effective it can be to open a song by yelling, 'UGGA-UGGA BOO, UGGA-BOO-BOO UGGA!'

Read this next:

• Ghost: “I’m a misanthrope, I hate people, but I also believe in miracles”
• Deftones: “A lot more people are expecting things from us now, but that pressure is good”
• Perturbator: “It’s like what Watain would sound like if they played Justice songs. My friends were baffled”