Top New (to me) of 2025

DIR EN GREY: Dum Spiro Spero. This one's my favorite album of the year. The sound of rot and rage. Gen: Avaunt-garde Metal
Mr. Bungle: California. Could not stop grinning the first time I listened to this one. Irreverent, cheeky, sound explosion that went for a day trip to the uncanny valley and decided to move in. Gen: Avaunt-garde Surfer Rock
Haken: Affinity. Overstimulating in the best way. Need a companion to slip into the void with? It's dangerous to go alone. Take this. Gen: Prog-Metal
Porcupine Tree: In Absentia. Textures. OMG, the textures. Silky smooth one minute. Crunchy granola the next. Chef's Kiss. Gen: Prog-Metal
Jethro Tull: Thick as a Brick. Classic. Prog Symphony. The "canon" concept album...that is mocking the idea of a concept album. Peak Ian Anderson. Gen: Prog-Rock/Blues/Folk
Maximum the Hormone: Bu ikikaesu. "That's a nice genre you have there. It would be a shame if something were to...happen to it >:)." Japanese punk. Gleeful chaos. Gen: All of them
black midi: Hellfire. The sonic equivalent of squeezing an entire tube of wasabi directly into your mouth. Math Rock but less sterile. By a lot. Gen: Math/Noise Rock
Igorrr: Savage Sinusoid. Electronic mixer, heavy metal, baroque harpsicord, unhinged opera soprano, accordian, chicken. Dada as an album. Don't try to make sense of it. Gen: Electronic Shenanigans
Godspeed You! Black Emperor: F#A#∞. "I opened up my wallet and it was full of blood." Post-Rock, ambient, existential grief. Big Mood. Gen: Post-Rock
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard: PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation.