The restless spirit of underground music once again defined the year, manifesting through bold experimentation, emotional extremity, and fearless reinvention. Across noise, metal, darkwave, shoegaze, industrial, and avant-garde releases, 2025’s most compelling record confronted discomfort head-on.
For the first time in the 12 years that these lists exist, we've made an upgrade, presenting ten more than usual.
Here are D//E’s Top 40 Albums of the Year.
40. Planning for Burial – It’s Closeness, It’s Easy
It would have been great for Thom Wasluck to follow 2017’s brilliant
Below the House with something equally compelling. While Planning for Burial’s latest album feels safer by comparison, it still earns its place among the year’s highlights. Every release from this project feels true, making it easy for listeners to connect with something so honest and sincere.
39. They Are Gutting a Body of Water – LOTTO
Philadelphia stands as the American capital of shoegaze, and its offspring, TAGABOW, have rightfully earned their reputation in the underground scene. Where previous material leaned more heavily on experimentation,
LOTTO arrives sounding more aligned with the current shoegaze landscape, without losing the band’s distinct identity.
38. Coltaine – Brandung
Hailing from Germany’s Black Forest, Coltaine craft dark, atmospheric psychedelia that feels like fog-drenched, post metal-tinged acid rock infused with blackgaze melancholy. Haunting vocals shine, while hypnotic riffing pulls listeners into a trance.
Brandung is a relatively concise, yet, powerful record, and a defining example of the band's atmospheric approach.
37. Marissa Nadler – New Radiations
Marissa Nadler follows familiar paths of moodiness and intimacy, anchored by her consistently excellent traditional songwriting. Confident in her expression, she delivers
New Radiations, a record that feels somewhat stripped down sonically, yet remains brilliant, cohesive, and unmistakably characteristic of what she does.
36. Tonguecutter – Minnow
Minnow delivers a caustic blend of noise rock abrasion and hardcore urgency. Hailing from Muskegon, Michigan, fresh faces Tonguecutter operate on the heavier edge of grunge, wielding powerful guitars and dynamic vocals. The result is an intense, hard-hitting album bursting with electrifying energy.
35. HIDE – SPIT OR SWALLOW EVERY SOUL WILL TASTE DEATH
HIDE’s latest release is an unfiltered assault of industrial noise and confrontational performance art. Violent in both sound and intent, the album rejects subtlety, channeling rage and vulnerability into a punishing yet cathartic experience. This is another great entry from HIDE, uncompromising, dark, and poetic in all its harshness.
34. Kallai – We Are Forever
Kallai’s
We Are Forever explores ethereality and trance-like structures drawn from post punk and shoegaze traditions. Its hypnotic pulse and understated melodies create a quiet persistence that slowly takes hold, pairing introspective lyricism with haunting melodic lines. It's a record recommended to be experienced as a whiole.
33. Pixel Grip – Percepticide: The Death of Reality
While
Arena was already a strong statement in 2021, Chicago’s Pixel Grip return four years later with a fully realized vision. Their synth-based, cyberpunk-infused darkwave evolves into something richer, more sensual, and more energetic, all wrapped in immaculate production.
32. M(h)aol – Something Soft
Despite its title,
Something Soft is anything but gentle. M(h)aol fuse post punk aggression with sharp social commentary, delivering tense, rhythm-driven songs full of intent. Following their excellent debut
Attachment Styles, this release confirms the band still has plenty to say.
31. Kaput – I
Kaput’s debut full length leans into noise rock abrasiveness with post punk nuance. Nodding to the experimental spirit of no wave, the band merge avant-garde elements with surprising accessibility. After strong singles emerged in late 2024, the full album arrives as a fully realized statement.
30. Digital Drvgs – Digital Drvgs
A grimy dive into electronic noise and cyberpunk nihilism, Digital Drvgs thrives on excess and abrasion. The line between dancefloor propulsion and sonic hostility is constantly blurred. As scattered singles coalesced into a full-length, the result proved both cohesive and thrilling.
29. The Grasshopper Lies Heavy – HEAVY
Living fully up to its title,
HEAVY delivers dense layers of doom-soaked riffs and sludgy psychedelic haze. The Grasshopper Lies Heavy lean deeper into their mesmeric tendencies, refining their blend of weight and atmosphere into something ferocious, pummeling, and immensely satisfying.
28. Lathe of Heaven – Aurora
Aurora expands Lathe of Heaven’s darkwave palette with lush synths and cinematic arrangements. Born from an improvisational process, the album never feels aimless, instead it unfolds as a propulsive and emotionally weighted work with notable literary depth.
27. Denuit – LOVE violence
LOVE violence thrives on contradiction, pairing cold electronics with tough emotional intensity. Denuit navigate the space between detachment and romanticism, creating a hypnotic, dark atmosphere that feels meticulously realized and emotionally heavy.
26. Trauma Bond – Summer Ends. Some Are Long Gone
Trauma Bond blend a shared love of violence, noise, and metal into a visceral exploration of aggression.
Summer Ends. Some Are Long Gone marks the third entry in their quadrilogy of seasonally titled releases, and it sounds massive. The bar is set impressively high for whatever comes next.
25. Maruja – Pain To Power
The debut full length from Manchester art-punk band Maruja is fiery, poetic, and intensely charged. Following their EP
Tír na nÓg, the band fully capitalized on their momentum in 2025.
Pain To Power offers a more eloquent and expansive take on post punk, drawing from post rock, noise rock, hardcore, and even jazz to form a striking amalgamation.
24. OvO – Gemma
Italian duo OvO continue their uncompromising exploration of noise, industrial, and experimental metal. Built on punishing rhythms and distorted textures,
Gemma is confrontational and deliberately alienating, embracing chaos as its defining aesthetic. It stands as a relentless synthesis of electronics and experimentation.
23. Carences – Violences
Carences deliver a bleak, emotionally charged post punk record filled with noise and urgency. Sharp guitars and urgent vocals underscore themes of unrest and alienation, forming an uncompromising critique of wealth disparity and social tension, like an apt soundtrack for the times ahead.
22. Valisia Odell – Shadow of a Dream
Valisia Odell produced an atmospheric blend of dark pop and experimental electronics on
Shadow of a Dream. Dreamlike yet unsettling, the album drifts between intimacy and unease, anchored by haunting vocals. Rising from the ashes of Strawberry Pills, this project and its first record mark a forceful arrival in the darkwave world.
21. Sextile – Yes, Please.
Sextile remain incapable of sitting still, constantly racing ahead of their own momentum. Just a year and a half after
Push, they return with a fully electronic album that feels rooted in the past yet perfectly suited for new generations.
Yes, Please. is their most dance-oriented record to date, though the band’s punk spirit remains firmly intact.
20. Faetooth – Labyrinthine
Faetooth expand their doom metal sound into something more immersive and mystical on
Labyrinthine. Thick riffs intertwine with ethereal vocals, creating a cavernous atmosphere steeped in melancholy and introspection. The album moves slowly but carries immense weight, balancing a sense of the past with a forward-looking heaviness.
19. Glass Chapel – Glass Chapel
On their self‑titled release, Glass Chapel fuse post punk fieriness with gothic shadowplay, shaping a darkwave record that feels both assured and tightly woven. The album’s focused songwriting and enveloping production radiate a quiet confidence, as Jacksonville’s dark scene has found a worthy torchbearer.
18. Mrs Frighthouse – Solitude Over Control
Solitude Over Control is difficult to define but easy to be captivated by, especially for those drawn to the avant-garde. Mrs Frighthouse create a stark, industrial-leaning sound that evokes claustrophobia, aggression, and emotional distance. The album is threaded with hot themes, immersive atmospheres, and a near‑suspenseful tension that warrants close, detailed examination.
17. Matt Jencik & Midwife – Never Die
Blending Matt Jencik’s exploratory guitar textures with Midwife’s slowcore ache,
Never Die unfolds in hushed, intimate gestures that hit with unexpected force. Softness becomes its own gravity here, as themes of loss, death, and loneliness seep through every layer.
16. Chat Pile & Hayden Pedigo – In the Earth Again
Oklahoma noise rock outfit Chat Pile join forces with guitarist Hayden Pedigo for a collaboration that pushes both artists into new territory. Rooted in rural America and drawn to the surreal,
In the Earth Again bridges their seemingly disparate worlds with striking cohesion. Cinematic to the core, it proves Chat Pile belong on the year‑end lists regardless of how far they push past their comfort zone.
15. Slow Quit – Fusion and Rupture
Boston-based quartet Slow Quit emerge with a formidable debut. Built on sharp guitars and dense atmosphere,
Fusion and Rupture stands as one of the strongest shoegaze debuts in recent years.
14. King Yosef – Spire Of Fear
King Yosef pushes deeper into industrial hardcore on
Spire Of Fear. Suffocating and relentless, the album is a sonic avalanche that fuses metallic hardcore intensity with industrial and electronic textures, blending brutality with moments of stark beauty.
13. Mogwai – The Bad Fire
Few post rock bands have endured as consistently as Mogwai.
The Bad Fire is a beautiful continuation of their decades-long journey, reaffirming their ability to evolve without losing identity. This is a band seemingly incapable of missteps.
12. Cloakroom – Last Leg of the Human Table
Cloakroom refine their heavy shoegaze sound, balancing crushing low-end with introspective songwriting. The album highlights the band’s evolution toward vulnerability and melodic versatility while remaining immersive and emotionally resonant.
11. Patriarchy – Manual For Dying
Provocative and confrontational,
Manual For Dying merges industrial beats with abrasive lyricism in an overall fiery outcome. The album explores power and decay while embracing danceability and momentum, thriving on contradiction and demanding an open mind from the listener.
10. Lana Del Rabies – Omnipotent Fuck
Lana Del Rabies is at her most intense and unfiltered on
Omnipotent Fuck. Blending industrial noise, darkwave, and ritualistic elements, the record confronts power and desire with ferocious conviction. Though occupying a liminal space between EP and album, its impact is undeniable, and could not be absent from the year's retrospective.
9. Ritual Howls – Ruin
Six albums in, Detroit’s Ritual Howls remain as compelling as ever. Goth-tinged atmospheres and post punk immediacy collide beneath layers of moodiness, darkness, and sharp, piercing sounds.
Ruin is hauntingly bleak yet kinetically affecting, intimately raw while remaining enigmatic.
8. Deafheaven – Lonely People with Power
Lonely People with Power sees Deafheaven refining their emotional scope while retaining their signature intensity. Soaring melodies clash with crushing heaviness in a contemplative meditation on isolation and ambition. Returning to the harsher edges of their sound, the band reaffirm the blackgaze label with confidence and substance. Whatever side of the trve‑vs‑hipster divide it falls on, we’re sold.
7. Greet Death – Die In Love
There’s a certain charm in Greet Death’s dark melancholy that feels impossible to put down.
Die In Love is a deeply affecting record that, like the rest of the band’s catalog, is veiled in familiar indie rock moods and textures, yet feels far more profound. The contrast between softness and emotional heaviness is handled impeccably.
6. Rosa Anschütz – Sabbatical
Rosa Anschütz delivers a strikingly intimate record with
Sabbatical, blending minimal electronics, spoken‑word vocals, and hypnotic rhythms. The album feels both vulnerable and ritualistic, unfolding with a quiet, deliberate power. Born from pure artistic impulse, it’s steeped in poetic resonance and anchored by meticulously crafted sound design. Taken as a whole, it becomes an immersive and genuinely rare listening experience.
5. Agriculture – The Spiritual Sound
Agriculture expand their ecstatic black metal vision on
The Spiritual Sound, merging blistering intensity with moments of radiant uplift. The album becomes a potent expression of transcendence through extremity, rooted in the fundamental human experiences of suffering, joy, and love. Its immaculate musicianship brings these themes to life, culminating in something touching, tough, and undeniably glorious.
4. Deftones – Private Music
Private Music finds Deftones fully assured in their unmistakable sound, blending heaviness, atmosphere, and emotional nuance with characteristic ease. Lush production and dynamic songwriting highlight the band’s enduring ability to stay both relevant and deeply affecting. Decades into their career, it’s no surprise that Deftones remain one of the few bands of their era still pushing forward with influence and force.
3. Trace Amount – FLAGRANT
Trace Amount delivers an uncompromising industrial‑techno assault on
FLAGRANT. Powered by pounding rhythms and abrasive textures, the album feels engineered for both physical impact and psychological unease. It’s a nearly suffocating listen, built with industrial grit and surgical precision, painting a dystopian landscape that feels uncomfortably timely.
2. Corpus Delicti – Liminal
With
Liminal, Corpus Delicti return in commanding form, delivering a refined yet shadow‑steeped post punk record. The album embodies a sense of suspension and transition, balancing classic gothic atmospheres with a renewed urgency. Long known for their interplay of melancholy and raw energy, Corpus Delicti showcase that dynamic once again, strikingly and with unmistakable confidence.
1. Anna von Hausswolff – ICONOCLASTS
ICONOCLASTS stands as a monumental achievement in Anna von Hausswolff’s already formidable catalog. Blending pipe organ, electronics, and overwhelming emotional force, the album challenges conventions while remaining deeply human. It’s a more collaborative and compositionally direct work, one that leans closer to traditional songcraft while retaining the detailed, unnerving qualities that define her sound. Now expressed through multiple voices,
ICONOCLASTS emerges as a fearless artistic statement, defining the year and fully earning its place as D//E’s Album of the Year.
1. Anna von Hausswolff – ICONOCLASTS
2. Corpus Delicti – Liminal
3. Trace Amount – FLAGRANT
4. Deftones – Private Music
5. Agriculture – The Spiritual Sound
6. Rosa Anschütz – Sabbatical
7. Greet Death – Die In Love
8. Deafheaven – Lonely People with Power
9. Ritual Howls – Ruin
10. Lana Del Rabies – Omnipotent Fuck
11. Patriarchy – Manual For Dying
12. Cloakroom – Last Leg of the Human Table
13. Mogwai – The Bad Fire
14. King Yosef – Spire Of Fear
15. Slow Quit – Fusion and Rupture
16. Chat Pile + Hayden Pedigo – In the Earth Again
17. Matt Jencik & Midwife – Never Die
18. Mrs Frighthouse – Solitude Over Control
19. Glass Chapel – Glass Chapel
20. Faetooth – Labyrinthine
21. Sextile – Yes, Please.
22. Valisia Odell – Shadow of a Dream
23. Carences – Violences
24. OvO – Gemma
25. Maruja – Pain To Power
26. Trauma Bond – Summer Ends. Some Are Long Gone
27. Denuit – LOVE violence
28. Lathe of Heaven – Aurora
29. The Grasshopper Lies Heavy – HEAVY
30. Digital Drvgs – Digital Drvgs
31. Kaput – I
32. M(h)aol – Something Soft
33. Pixel Grip – Percepticide: The Death of Reality
34. Kallai – We Are Forever
35. HIDE – SPIT OR SWALLOW EVERY SOUL WILL TASTE DEATH
36. Tonguecutter – Minnow
37. Marissa Nadler – New Radiations
38. Coltaine – Brandung
39. They Are Gutting a Body of Water – LOTTO
40. Planning for Burial – It’s Closeness, It’s Easy
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