Before we dig into our annual list of heavy albums, here are the top 50 heavy songs of 2025 curated by Tyler Terrific. Tell us in the comments below, what were your favorite songs of the year?
50. BLINDFOLDED AND LED TO THE WOODS - COMPULSION
49. BURY TOMORROW - VILLAIN ARC
48. AS THE WORLD DIES - VOICES OF ANGELS
47. UPON A BURNING BODY - DRAGGED THROUGH GLASS
46. THE HALO EFFECT - WHAT WE BECOME
45. CRADLE OF FILTH - TO LIVE DELICIOUSLY
44. DESERTED FEAR - AT THE END OF OUR REIGN
43. RWAKE - YOU SWORE WE'D ALWAYS BE TOGETHER
42. K L P S (KOLLAPS/E) - AUREOLA
41. DESPISED ICON - OVER MY DEAD BODY
40. CRYPTOPSY - UNTIL THERE'S NOTHING LEFT
39. IGORRR - INFESTIS
38. WOLVENNEST - DECHARNE
37. DEATH WHORE - INFERNAL TERROR MACHINE
36. DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT - MARTER
35. -(16)- - KICK OUT THE CHAIR
34. FALLUJAH - XENOTAPH
33. GRIMA - WHERE WE ARE LOST
32. DORMANT ORDEAL - HORSE EATER
Delicious and nutritious. The song, that is.
31. SPITE - LOOKING GLASS
30. ORBIT CULTURE - HYDRA
29. -(16)- - BLOOD ATONEMENT BLUES
28. CRYPTOSIS - ASCENDING
27. GAEREA - SUBMERGED
26. FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY - IT COMES FOR YOU
25. FACE YOURSELF - SIDERATION
24. FROSTHYMN - THAT'S HOW THE CIRCLE CLOSES
23. HARAKIRI FOR THE SKY - KEEP ME LONGING
22. LACUNA COIL - OXYGEN
Sounding meaner and more focused that they have in years, LACUNA COIL return with their best album since COMALIES. I love this band at their heaviest, and OXYGEN is right up there.
21. RIVERS OF NIHIL - HOUSE OF LIGHT
More progressive death metal excellence from a band that can do very little wrong. The addition of ANDY THOMAS' presence is felt as immensely as JAKE's departure, and the band continues to be greater than the sum of its parts.
20. MALEVOLENCE - TRENCHES
19. SIGNS OF THE SWARM - SARKAZEIN
18. AN ABSTRACT ILLUSION - EMMETT
17. ALIEN WEAPONRY - MAU MOKO
Gang vocals or GTFO.
16. ANGELMAKER - THIS USED TO BE HEAVEN
15. AFI - BEHIND THE CLOCK
AFI go full retro and deliver one of the best goth club tracks this side of 1990 with BEHIND THE CLOCK.
14. POTHAMUS - ZHIKARTA
Wonderfully hypnotic.
13. PSYCHONAUT - ENDLESS CURRENTS
12. MORAST - ARATRON
11. PUPIL SLICER - INNOCENCE
10. MOTHERLESS - DARLING, YOU DON'T LOOK WELL
Absolutely S U F F O C A T I N G sludge from Chicago.
9. DORMANT ORDEAL - HALO OF BONES
Death metal from Kraków, Poland. You already know it's going to kick your ass.
8. CABAL - STILL CURSED (feat. ten56)
Guitars go chunka-chunka. Snare drum goes ponggggg. Vocals snarl and squee. Phuck yeah this song goes hard. Sometimes the perfect song is the one that makes you thump your chest and smash through the pit. STILL CURSED is that song.
7. LORNA SHORE - GLENWOOD
Heavy in sound as much as subject matter. The emotion of WILL RAMOS' vocal performance on GLENWOOD takes an excellent song into greatness. Guitar heroics aplenty, matched with soaring melodies and dense atmosphere. Read the backstory and watch the full video… it's ok if you got something in your eye.
6. RIVERS OF NIHIL - WATER & TIME
The perfect mix of melody and brutality, atmosphere and aggression. Epic progressive death metal meets mature songcraft. “So if you see me drown, let me go… / Don't wanna drag you to the shallows…” RIVERS OF NIHIL continue to perfect a style that sounds like no one else.
5. ORBIT CULTURE - THE TALES OF WAR
One of the most anticipated album releases of the year, and THE TALES OF WAR is a standout track that serves up a little bit of everything you love about ORBIT CULTURE.
4. ALLEGAEON - WAKE CIRCLING ABOVE
Welcome back, Ezra Haynes! WAKE CIRCLING ABOVE has an incredibly memorable chorus, thoughtful lyrics, excellent song arrangement, and atmospheric guitar parts that combine into one of ALLEGAEON's very best songs. The breakdown halfway through is completely devastating which gives way to a stellar guitar solo and a double run-through of that amazing clean vocal line (in TWO different keys!) before ending in epic fashion. Chorus of the year “All I'd need again collapsed / Letting go, a fog without end / Pale and buried hands writing here forever / Vultures to see my end.” Try not to sing along. “No you can't Mr. Simpson. No one can.”
3. IGORRR - PURE DISPROPORTIONATE BLACK AND WHITE NIHILISM
I usually find songs by IGORRR a little too weird and obnoxious for my taste, however they really managed to scratch an itch or two with a few songs on 2025 album AMEN. First of all, nothing says “metal as phuck” like smashing a giant anvil with a sledgehammer to augment the snare drum. Once you hear it in the mix, you can't unhear it. And your ears will NEED it. Brilliant. IGORRR craft a superbly catchy song, eschewing much of the weirdness for weirdness' sake and blessing us with one of 2025's best tracks.
2. BLEED FROM WITHIN - IN PLACE OF YOUR HALO
Not since NEUROSIS in 1996 has a bagpipes solo been so crushingly heavy. IN PLACE OF YOUR HALO has it all: neck-snapping breakdowns, beefy riffs, hooks for days, and a delicious rock-out at the end with the aforementioned bagpipes. In a very impressive lineup of songs, IN PLACE OF YOUR HALO is the best one by BLEED FROM WITHIN so far.
1. WHITECHAPEL - PRISONER 666
With a damn-near flawless mix, PRISONER 666 is definitely one of the best sounding songs of the year. Crank this in your headphones at the gym and instantly double your max lift; run 2 miles in 5 minutes; bench press the bench while the biggest dude in the room is using it. Be a man. My wife listened to it once and became impregnated with twins. I've been listening to it every day and my balls have increased 50% in size, 200% in weight. My future grandchildren will be born with full chest hair. God damned, this is modern metal at its very finest and PRISONER 666 is my 2025 song of the year.
