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Best Albums You Might Have Missed in 2025
- Paul Taylor
- 3 days ago
- 6 min read
The typical AOTY hype cycle pretty much wrapped up a few weeks back, but here I am regardless to offer a final Hail Mary for 2025 now that we're officially into the new year.
Some of these records made it pretty far into my yearly rankings, but the uniting factor is that all of them went almost entirely underappreciated by the usual review rounds online. If you frequent RateYourMusic, you won't recognize these records from the yearly page, and I hope everyone can find something to appreciate here.
Weft - The Splintered Oar
December 19, 2025
FFO: Panopticon, Enslaved, Agalloch
# of RYM Ratings: 86
Starting off with a late addition to the upper rungs of my AOTY chart is the American progressive black metal project Weft with their debut release The Splintered Oar. Officially, Weft is the one-man-band of one Charlie Anderson. Anderson played and arranged the violin on the 2021 and 2023 Panopticon records ...And Again Into the Light and The Rime of Memory respectively. But it's worth noting that Austin Lunn (aka Panopticon) played drums on this record as well. It's fitting then that maybe the best black metal project of the year comes from another collaboration between two people behind my 2023 AOTY.
Sonically The Splintered Oar is unlike anything I've heard in a long time. Progressive black metal is a niche genre utterly dominated by Norway's Enslaved since their turn towards prog in the late 1990's. Unlike the parallel genre across the field of Extreme Metal, there's nothing close to the wide spread of progressive death metal bands in the style of the iconic Opeth. There's no major equivalents to Ne Obliviscaris, Persefone, Inanna, In Mourning, Piah Mater, or the many, many others. In prog black metal you'll take your Enslaved, or maybe Borknagar, and you'll be happy with it!
At best you might find the conceptual Post-Black Metal of Kauan or the dissonant, avant-garde bands like Portal or DeathSpell Omega. But The Splintered Oar is, unapologetically, progressive metal. It's roots remain in the environmentalist and leftist atmospheric black metal of Panopticon or Agalloch, and this is what I was expecting when I threw this record on for the first time. However, very early into this record that the genre-bending, riff-salad approach of prog makes itself known. From the roots-y americana present on the opening and closing tracks, to the churning riffs of "False Kingdom" and the enormous expanse of sound present in "The Hull", whose 10 minute run-time takes a journey from the vivacious string-lead intro through doubled-up neoclassical solos and limping, frenetic blast beats.
AARIE - Clocks&Mirrors
March 4, 2025
FFO: The Roots / Black Thought
# of RYM Ratings: 1
AARIE, formerly Kid A, is a Pittsburgh based rapper that I stumbled on through Bandcamp. He is-- regrettably-- subterranean levels of underground, with no substantial online following. Certainly because of this. his second record Clocks&Mirrors suffers a bit from a lack of exposure or budget. But the many years that AARIE has spent writing this record since the covid pandemic has resulted in an album that gives the distinct impression of forethought. The beats feel streamlined and smooth over the years of iteration. And AARIE's bars are indelibly personal, outlining deep insecurities and the mental struggles he has faced in life. Stylistically AARIE is reminiscent of the jazz-rap vaguely alternative coded hip hop of the '90s East Coast scene.
Tracks like "alltheway" and "Town Talk" are standouts. The former has a matured and highly effective sense of melody, and the latter features deeply scarred lyrics betraying AARIE's maddened frustration at the life of a struggling musician, pouring your soul into music while economic hardship consumes your life and limb.
Fleece - Tornado
September 12, 2025
FFO: Pond, Peach Pit
# of RYM Ratings: 24
Fleece are an established Indie rock/pop group from Montreal and thus may not be the most fitting choice for this listicle. However, their new record, Tornado, released without making too much of a splash, which I think is a shame. Certainly this is one of the albums on this list that didn't totally light up my imagination, and I still prefer their 2021 album that I reviewed here at WXOU a year ago or so. However, Tornado remains a tight, catchy set of songs that manages to maintain the bands standard of bouncy, sickly sweet pop tunes.
Opener "How Far Would You Go" may be my favourite from the record with a dominant vocal hook representative of the albums top notch vocal performance, and strong pacing that reflects the short lengths and sense of momentum the album is rooted in.
Meta-Stasis - Meta-Stasis / Less Than Human
January 7, 2025 / December 16, 2025
FFO: Integrity, Orchid, early Converge
# of RYM Ratings: 1
Composed of two guitarists and a '90s hardcore veteran on drums (no bassist)-- Springfield, Illinois' Meta-Stasis are a raw and virile metallic hardcore group who put out their first two "LP"s throughout the year (24 and 14 minutes respectively, hence the quotes). Of the two, Less Than Human (their second) is far-and-away my favourite. However, both records are steeped in the same straight edge and vegan ethos, building on the metallic riffs and visceral vocals of '90s metalcore and screamo incorporating a spare use of properly hard-hitting breakdowns.
Meta-Stasis were another Bandcamp find for me, and while there are literally thousands of young, local hardcore bands out there, I think this group is capable of quite a bit more. The debut doesn't really hint towards it so much, but on the extremely brief Less Than Human, the band flex every angle of their songcraft. The riffs on "Eyes On You" are instantly memorable, the breakdown and atmosphere of "Elephants, Dolphins" is massive despite the raw production, and Roscoe and Ren's vocals on the totally bonkers closer "Gathered In Dance" elevate an already chaotic track to pure mayhem, alongside the drumming that seems to pull apart in two separate directions.
Despite the lack of a bass, and the obvious lack of polish, this band could be a serious diamond-in-the-rough and I really hope the group can find a larger audience.
Antinoë - The Fold
November 21, 2025
FFO: Dead Can Dance, Black Tape For a Blue Girl
# of RYM Ratings: 26
Antinoë's debut record from 2023 was composed entirely of Neoclassical Darkwave re-imaginings of numerous classic black metal tracks from the likes of Emperor, Enslaved, and Burzum. The Spanish vocalists second record showcases her own songwriting chops, and in a lot of ways it's a raging success.
Instrumentally The Fold is refreshingly and expectedly dark, but it is not morose. Unlike the despairing tone of the metal which she has occasionally taken influence from, Antinoë's sound pulls from the sombre, introspective characteristics popular in her genre. As far as Neoclassical Darkwave goes The Fold lands closer on the classical side versus the more electronic sound of an album like Dead Can Dance's Within the Realm of a Dying Sun. While vocally similar, The Fold is far more acoustic and naturalistic, bathing the listener in Antinoë's layered vocals and simple, minor scale piano pieces. But where the album truly excels are moments like the jump in rhythmic tempo on "The Devil's Voice", when the piano picks up from a slowly progressing funeral dirge to a thunderous and darkly melodic section.
The Fold does suffer from feeling overly repetitive, over the course of the album we don't hear a lot change in the style or sound composition. Additionally, some of the lyrics can stick out and distract, specifically on "Chaos in the Sky."
Now to round this off I've got some rapid-fire thoughts on a few more records which had a bit more of a spotlight but which I still think slid under the radar:
Kamasi Washington's Lazarus is an exhilarating listen, and a fantastic addition to his already excellent catalogue. With driving, complex rhythms which give tracks like "Lazarus" and "Relativity" a massive forward momentum. This whole listening experience is like the platonic ideal for Jazz Fusion: instrumental interplay between fluttering keys, fat bass parts, and Kamasi's virtuoso and soulful saxophone.
Wasteland is exceptionally thoughtful folk record from England's Jim Ghedi whose lilting and unstable vocals drive the records regretful and cautionary tone. Ghedi delivers massive melodies over stop-start rhythms and dense instrumentals on "Old Stones" and soft, resonant croons over the layered sound of "Wasteland".
The true standout for me though was his rendition of the traditional English folk tune "What Will Become of England", whose cautionary lyrics about the greed and unconquerable class struggle of it's time echo just as strongly today.
Hedonist's Scapulimancy missed me on its release in August, but at the year-end recommendation of Andrew Lee of Ripped to Shreds I gave it a shot. And boy am I glad I did. Hedonist have captured the incalculable quality which made Bolt Thrower the kings of pure, straight-ahead Death Metal back in the '90s and '00s. Right from the get, on "Execution Wheel" and "Heresy", Scapulimancy cements the brutal punch-in-the-face sound that completely demands your attention. This is one of those death metal albums that you can't physically stop yourself from moving to: from the mid-tempo riffs and melodic leads on "Scapulimancy", to the dead-ahead drum grooves on "Cremator" to the shuddering momentum of "Hidden Corpse".
That does it folks! 2025 was certainly an interesting year in music, I for one struggled to connect as strongly on as many releases compared to previous years, but here's hoping the new year does us good.
For those curious my full AOTY list can be found here:
-Paul Taylor
(Assistant News Director at WXOU)