I listen to a LOT of demos, splits, EPs and MLPs. I adore the format.

When it comes to the latter two, they allow a new band the opportunity to introduce themselves, not overstay their welcome, and perhaps get a first batch of tracks out relatively quickly, unencumbered by the pressure – perceived or otherwise – of a debut full-length. For band who have been around longer, they can provide the opportunity to experiment, or, if that change of sound/approach is still being figured out for the next LP, they can be a pleasing stop-gap release to keep fans placated during a longer-than-usual gap between full-length records.

In my last year-end list, I did a Top 150 and honestly thought it was silly. So, here we are, and I’m now introducing a Top 300. The simple answer is that I truly believe 2025 was a freak year for the sheer quantity of this type of release, but also an utter bonanza in terms of quality. This is cut down from about 1500 that I listened to.

One of the reasons I still put myself through the wringer and write these huge musical wrap-ups is that I want to bring attention to lesser known bands. I want to do that with my Album list later on, but with EPs it’s easier as once a band is established they’re often less likely to use this format all that often. As such, it’s often this list that I personally enjoy writing about the most.

So, here’s a Top 300. If you scoff and roll your eyes, then that’s absolutely fine… Check out the Top 50… or Top 20. It’s up to you. But I honestly think all 300 are worth your time (if I were to assign these scores we would have to get into a second decimal – I literally own physical editions of EPs that pepper their way through the entire ranking!). This has taken me a long time to write, but will be a relatively short piece to read. Just click through to those that sound appealing to you!

p.s. When writing lists such as this it’s always sad to find out along the way that bands have already split up or that allegations are surrounding a member. If this has happened, I have still included them, as long as the band have split up due to the allegations OR if the member accused has been promptly kicked out. Where I have deleted and added a new band is if I found a band openly (or even subtly) supports misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic or fascist points of view. Thankfully, this only happened once. Unfortunately, that release was very high in my initial ranking. That release was The Tear by Flaming Ouroboros. I explicitly mention it here not to recommend it, but to warn anyone who has come across the artist/release that their beliefs likely (hopefully!) do not align with your own.

N.B. I have linked to previous material where I can (especially if it was also released in 2025). I have not linked any release that has already come out in 2026 (or has been announced) as I wanted to keep the focus on 2025 and any past-history I was telling. For the most part, the 2026 release(s) will likely also be on their Bandcamp.

This, needless to say, is in order. Let’s dive in…

300: Crowgod – Emergence
An awesome set of proggish stoner doom songs from Brighton, UK, Crowgod deliver some serious riffs. Eye-catching artwork for this four-track EP from True Spilt Milk Designs, too!
LISTEN HERE

299: NÍLIM – Uncoiling
Following on from the impressive self-titled demo from earlier in the year, NÍLIM from Limerick, Ireland is a solo endeavour, but this doesn’t stop the overall sound being bludgeoning sludge inflected post-metal. Impressive.
LISTEN HERE

298: The Sun’s Journey Through the Night – Demo III
A welcome return to the depressive, raw black metal of this project with a heavy helping of ambience. While I still don’t get why they receive the huge amount of hype (in the UK, at least), there’s no doubt this hits a good albeit unusual spot.
LISTEN HERE

297: Synthema Occvlta – Synthema Occvlta
Avowed antifascist black metal from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Synthema Occvlta delivered a startling debut EP of eviscerating unorthodox BM. A mind-altering release to kick off this quality list.
LISTEN HERE

296: BRAHM – 10:44
The Californian trio reappeared after three years away with a two track EP, featuring ‘I will find you’ and ‘Plastic’. Excellent skramz with the emphasis on the punk roots.
LISTEN HERE

295: Moros – Recrudescent Horror
2025 marked a decade of Moros plying their trade in “death doom filth”, as they put it. Hailing from Philadelphia, the trio know how to groove but also appal. They have a new LP, Cemetery Hallucinations, coming out in early 2026.
LISTEN HERE

294: Wavepool – Crayola
The debut EP from this Rouen, France quintet who only formed in 2024, delivers a shimmering melange of dream-pop and shoegaze. At times managing to be dreamy and otherworldly while counterbalanced by bursts of urgent, direct slacker rock, these’s no doubt this would be fun to witness live.
LISTEN HERE

293: Ziggurat – EP
Crushing traditional doom from Detroit, Michigan, Ziggurat deliver a hearty slab of grungey, sludgey goodness. There’s no messing around on this release – just five tracks replete with monolithic riffs.
LISTEN HERE

292: Krallice – No Hope
Anything new from Colin Marston’s signature project Krallice is always going to get me excited. This EP features two tracks, the latter of which (‘Protean Pulse’) is an unsettling ambient piece, but the star of the show is ‘Inner Peace’ which will surely cause anything but.
LISTEN HERE

291: fromjoy – Ataraxia 19.13.8.1.19
I won’t pretend to understand what Houston, Texas’ fromjoy are trying to do or guess what planet they’re actually from, but this wildly chaotic churn of metalcore that somehow melds breakcore and vaporwave within it, is endlessly fascinating.
LISTEN HERE

290: Melting – You Exist Because We Allow It
Blistering sludge sped up into an almost hardcore assault from this wrecking ball quartet from Naarm/Melbourne, Australia. Definitely a band to keep your eye on as I have a feeling they’ll only hone their sound further and that, dear reader, will be wonderful – if somewhat terrifying – prospect.
LISTEN HERE

289: Laughing Stock – Still Life
Gothic post-punk has set up home in Brooklyn, emanating in a catchy, ominous way via intriguing band. It feels like the future can only be bright – well, dull, as is surely their preference – this them. I’ll be keeping both eyes out for their next release.
LISTEN HERE

288: Bullfinch – LOUSE
The first, but certainly not the last, band from Scotland in this list, Bullfinch deliver four tracks of stoner metal with the authority and assurance of a tenured band. LOUSE, however, is their debut EP. Especially impressive as it appears to be a solo project.
LISTEN HERE

287: Oobris Ios – Vospat
Dimension altering dissonant death metal from Canada, this is seriously brilliant stuff and worthy of being released on the limited edition 10″ that it has been. A full-length may just open a portal to a hellish plane of existence, but I’m willing to take that risk.
LISTEN HERE

286: Sallow Moth – Deformity in Ceremony
Dallas, Texas’ Sallow Moth were a busy duo in 2025, releasing an excellent album in the guise of Mossbane Lantern (more on that later…) and releasing another EP concurrently with this one, titled Blue Permutations. Both could occupy this spot, but Deformity in Ceremony just edges it out. Six tracks of demented technical sci-fi/horror death metal – both EPs ‘side-quests’ on the journey to the composition of the LP.
LISTEN HERE

285: Crypt Sermon – Saturnian Appendices
Following hot on the heels of the universally lauded album, 2024’s The Stygian Rose, this EP continues some of the storyline and themes from that release. I’ve never been a huge fan of this sound, but there’s no doubt that Crypt Sermon smashed it on that LP and zealously continue that quality on this EP. I know many who like (love!) it plenty more than I already do.
LISTEN HERE

284: Oreamnos – Futility
Experimental semi-ambient and noisy blackened death metal dazzles across three tracks about futility and loss from this deadly duo. When it released in February 2025 a new full-length was hinted at, but as far as I know, never spawned. Hoping it prolapses into the world in 2026.
LISTEN HERE

283: Rolo Tomassi – In the Echoes of All Dreams
I remember Rolo Tomassi‘s sending their first demo to me to review and all these years later, they’re still going, and look at where they are. This four track EP was a surprise drop to celebrate twenty years (!) as a band, and I think all RT fans were delighted. While I wasn’t as spellbound by this as previous album, Where Myth Becomes Memory, it’s perhaps here that I should address that all 300 of these releases are brilliant. This was still whittled down from a much, much, MUCH larger list of EPs, so please do check out as many as possible.
LISTEN HERE

282: Bodyweb – deadwired
What Northern Unrest and Flatspot have dubbed nu-hardcore, Bodyweb are an intriguing blur of heavy hardcore punk and a sprinkling of hyperactive, anxiety-ridden nu-metal blasts. The culmination of writing experiments, initially just for fun, between members of the UK’s Higher Power, Pest Control and Big Cheese, the results were too good to keep hidden in a rehearsal space.
LISTEN HERE

281: Lifetaker – Herbsthunde
The Dortmund trio do something equivalent to a hand-break turn with this new EP; moving from their ferocious hardcore to something that still remains harrowing and visceral, but more in the vein of death metal tinged noisy industrial madness. Quite the switch up in style, but the risk really paid off.
LISTEN HERE

280: QUALMS – DROWNING IN OBEDIENCE
Coming from Portland, Maine, Qualms are unhinged punk taken to the extreme. Rabid and ready to harm, the four tracks here were followed by another two a few months later. Raw and unrestrained their “spiritual violence” must surely translate into wider recognition in the coming year or so.
LISTEN HERE

279: Twat Union – Don’t Look It in the Eye
The first ever band to get The Guardian‘s ‘Ones To Watch’ feature in the bag before they’d even released their second single, Twat Union are a theatrical-feminist-punk-pop six-piece known for their irreverant, provactive humour and their wild live shows. These five songs are razor sharp, chaotic punk’d pop and any band with a song called ‘Danger Boob’ is sure to be class, no?
LISTEN HERE

278: sadness / abriction – that lasts forever
This list always starts feeling a little strange when a split such as this appears on it. With a total running time of over an hour, it feels rather bizarre to be placed among titles that sometimes don’t get into double figures. I could obviously have put this (and others) in the albums category, but… well… I didn’t. Deeply emotive shoegazing post-rocking beauty, always coupled with the sense a track could bite at any moment, sadness and abriction deliver some of their best material since their last split in 2023.
LISTEN HERE

277: Face Dancer – Chalant
Noise rock and post-hardcore fuse in Jacksonville, Florida on an incredible debut three-track EP. Face Dancer certainly deserved to be on the tip of many more tongues than they seemed to be at the end of 2025. Let’s remedy that, shall we?
LISTEN HERE

276: Boon – Thief
This Barrie, Ontario quintet produce a refreshing screamo that has elements of post-black metal thrown in to balance the bright, noisy nature of the foundations each composition is build upon. Excited to hear more from these Canadians!
LISTEN HERE

275: House of the Blood Choir – 2nd demo
An incredible second demo from the Osaka, Japan blackened emoviolence band, House of the Blood Choir. I wanted to keep this very much focused on 2025, but suffice to say that they delivered on the promise of this and their first demo, on their debut album, Mom’s Anxiety, which is already out.
LISTEN HERE

274: Ancst – Dominion
Relentlessly ferocious blackened crust from Berlin, Germany, these seven tracks spiral by at lightning speed. That said, this EP probably has the strongest undercurrent of melodicism in the Ancst discography so far, sometimes tipping into melodeath territory. A delirious, bruising listen.
LISTEN HERE

273: MEZMER – Melodrama
Describing themselves as “rock and roll from the black swamp”, the Toledo, Ohio three-piece create a woozy dream-pop sound with the grit of grunge gurgling in the depths. MEZMER have hit upon a great sound here that is at once instantly likeable and recognisable and yet somehow all their own.
LISTEN HERE

272: apricity – The Tragedy of Waking
Euphoric grinding blackgaze? I’m not sure, but this Boston, Massachusetts project, apricity, really caught my ear on first listen from a guest musician for Crippling Alcoholism, and member of associated acts Coma Witch, bottom surgery, Iwishyoucameback, and much more. This is so good and it sounds like a physical release may happen sometime.
LISTEN HERE

271: Glitch Recall – Chaos Will Send No Warning
Glitch Recall are a noise rock duo from Ternopil, Ukraine, and Chaos Will Send No Warning is an absolutely extraordinary pair of tracks. ‘The Glitch’ and ‘Destroy. Disorder. Sabotage’ have the feeling of Unsane jamming with Lightning Bolt in a scuzzy basement venue that was officially condemned a decade prior. One of those projects where I pray it’s not a brief but wondrous spark before radio silence.
LISTEN HERE

270: Kraath – Kraath
Stunning post black metal from Augsburg, Germany, Kraath create music that is imbued with sadness, depression and wistful nostalgia. The quartet delivered a superb debut EP that manages to tread the line between harshness and melodicism remarkably well. So well, in fact, that Vendetta Records will recently released it on CD and vinyl. High praise – and richly deserved. Exciting to see where they may go from here.
LISTEN HERE

269: Juicin – Zig Zag
This project started out in 2022 as a duo of two guys experimenting with other sounds that didn’t quite fit their other band’s dream-pop and shoegaze sounds. Juicin leans far more into a 90s noise-pop sound that teeters dangerously close to melodic hardcore at times. Zig Zag is their debut EP, consisting of four excellent heavy(ish), catchy songs.
LISTEN HERE

268: Magic Shoppe – Resurrection Machine
I don’t usually lift what a band themselves describe their sound as, but “crushed shoegaze” is just about the perfect term for what Magic Shoppe have created over the years. Resurrection Machine is the band’s newest EP (#6 for those counting!) and is yet another chapter in their lush but stretched riffage. Delightful. Not so delightful was realising only recently that they toured the UK in 2025 and I completely missed that fact…
LISTEN HERE

267: Underneath – In the Shadow of the Watchtower
From the cover of their EP, Underneath aren’t exactly hiding that you’re in for a grim, brutal audio nightmare. Grinding metallic hardcore of superb quality the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania “Rust Belt mosh fodder” project wields a cudgel to the cranium.
LISTEN HERE

266: JOTA – Haven
This quintet from Halle, Germany mesh a bludgeoning post-hardcore with earnest screamo to devastating effect. This followed their excellent 2023 EP, Cold, and they also did a much sought after cassette split with Ya Bunayya.
LISTEN HERE

265: En Love / Rabbit – En Love / Rabbit
A hardcore punk dual of a split 7″, I was more aware of Rabbit from Brooklyn, New York. Two great tracks from them. But En Love more than hold their own with their pair of songs, too. A fantastic little rager that reminds one of how fun a 7″ split can be.
LISTEN HERE

264: AGLO – Fixate & Disgrace
A solo endeavour morphed into a quartet from Naarm/Melbourne, Australia, AGLO is space-themed sludge, in search of “The Almighty Riff” and it would appear that the band find it quite often, as elusive as it can prove to others. Hopefully we will get more logged adventures amongst the stars very soon.
LISTEN HERE

263: Rescüe Cat – Flesh & Weapon
Eight tracks that pass in a blur, this Italian metallic hardcore quartet absolutely rip. Unfiltered raw passion flows through each of these densely packed short songs, ensuring that by the time this debut EP finishes at least one of your nine lives is certainly spent.
LISTEN HERE

262: widaparte – this town is a lamentable shipwreck, this life too
Four tracks of impassioned screamo Kentucky band. Go ask ’em why it’s not on their Bandcamp?! Anyway, I’ve started this too negatively, given it’s still an incredible debut. Hopefully we’ll hear more from them before too long.
ONLY ON NON-BANDCAMP STREAMING (no, I don’t get it either)

261: Pyrex – Slugman
I feel I’ve typed Brooklyn a whole bunch already, but Pyrex also proudly reside there. They put out a great LP in 2025 too called Body, which just missed by list, but I still suggest you check it out. Slugman is a four song EP that is even more caustic and direct, with the medium somehow focusing their hardcore punk into an even more effective tool for harm.
LISTEN HERE

260: Lunar Blood – Anor
The first of a pair of EPs Lunar Blood released in 2025, Anor is a three track beast that blends war metal with hardcore incredibly successfully, bringing to mind Nails. The follow-up to this, the four-track Ithil is just as devastating and it was honestly a bit of a toss-up between the two – but as I’d had more time with this, I settled on it. Check both out.
LISTEN HERE

259: Dead Chasm – Spectral Tyranny
Italian death doom just hits different sometimes, and Dead Chasm once again brings the goods with the trio of harrowing tracks. Stomach churning death metal riffs are swamped by the sludgey atmosphere and oppressive production. Hold your breath and dive in.
LISTEN HERE

258: Svffer – Eternity Moment
Münster, Germany’s Svffer sign off with their final EP. A quartet that I really don’t think ever got the flowers they were owned, these last four tracks will surely find their way to new listeners who will mourn not discovering the band sooner. High quality metallic hardcore put through the grinder.
LISTEN HERE

257: Hyperdontia – Dormant Scourge
This two-song EP from the Danish death metal visionaries Hyperdontia seems to have passed quite a number of people by, a little like the two tracks Undeath released (which I did like, but just missed out on this list). ‘Echoes of Undying Cruelty’ and ‘Dormant’ both rank highly as some of my favourite tracks in their discography.
LISTEN HERE

256: Elder – Liminality / Dream State Return
While I’m not an Elder naysayer by any stretch of the imagination, I’ve only truly resonated with the obvious; their magnum opus from 2017, Reflections of a Floating World. The Berlin quartet are still masters of their craft, though, and this is sheer class. ‘Liminality’ is a thirteen-minute piece that drifts pleasantly, while the much shorter ‘Dream State Return’ is ironically the more progressive, with nods to new influences and textures we might expect on future material.
LISTEN HERE

255: Hulder – A Beacon of Darkened Skies
The raw and dark Medieval black metal solo project (now touring band) return to the EP format with this two track EP. After a great deal of momentum, it felt to me as though the underground somewhat turned its back on Hulder. I can only put it down to misogyny, jealousy, or both as this pair of songs remind how visceral and urgent Marliese Beeuwsaert’s vision is.
LISTEN HERE

254: Mastiff – For All the Dead Dreams
The Kingston upon Hull, UK bruisers Mastiff return with a shockingly heavy hitting EP on Church Road Records. This EP feels more laser focused on laying waste to the listener’s eardrums than their 2024 album, Deprecipice, which featured pensive, doom infused songs that broke up its assault. I miss that mix, but for a short EP brimming with venom, this is hard to argue with.
LISTEN HERE

253: Reeking Aura – Fires in Deep Forest
Almost three years after their fantastic 2022 LP, Blood and Bonemeal, New York’s Reeking Aura return with a short three track EP to remind everyone just how potent they are. The only real criticism that can be made is that it’s too short and so one hopes the quintet are only teasing at more material to be unleashed soon.
LISTEN HERE

252: foxglove – foxglove
Hailing from Seattle, Washington, foxglove are a band you should immediately check out if you’re a fan of recent emotional screamo records from the likes of Frail Body. Seven tracks brimming with tenacity and endeavour from this extremely exciting quartet. With this penchant for songwriting and having delivered another excellent four song EP in the form of labyrinthine at the end of 2025, their future is very promising indeed.
LISTEN HERE

251: Lunastus – Silmät täynnä tuhkaa
A four track release from this Finnish trio and a very impressive release it is! Angry, militant hardcore (with a vegan message), this EP points towards them becoming a buzzed about band, especially if they can translate this into the live environment.
LISTEN HERE

250: Integrity / Earth Crisis – Split
Integrity released two fantastic splits in 2025 and I decided to choose only one. The other (with Skarhead) is brilliant, but I couldn’t overlook the better pair of tracks from Integrity coupled with the first new Earth Crisis material in a few years. Blistering stuff from both.
LISTEN HERE (Integrity) & LISTEN HERE (Earth Crisis)

249: Living Dream – Absolute Devotion
A psychedelic pop EP with real drive and playfully strange guitar playing, these four tracks drew me into Living Dream‘s world. The band’s name is apt – their music feeling as though one has stepped through the looking glass.
LISTEN HERE

248: Poetry of Torch / Gil Cerrone – Split
Two blistering short songs from both bands comprise this brief but extremely potent split from the Japanese (Poetry of Torch) and Australian (Gil Cerrone) screamo bands. Both deliver their A-game here. The only shame being it was a limited CD release. We need a 7″ edition of this!
LISTEN HERE

247: SPEED – ALL MY ANGELS
I’ve seen Gadi/Sydney, Australia’s SPEED live (they were awesome) and I really loved their 2024 record, ONLY ONE MODE, but I didn’t get the HUGE buzz around this three song EP. It wasn’t quite as revolutionary as some reviewers who fawned over it said. (Or I can’t hear it, anyway). That acknowledged, it’s still magnificent. Perhaps this is the groundwork for a new chapter with the next LP.
LISTEN HERE

246: Omnicidal Instinct – Catharsis in Blight
Not one for utterly brutal death metal, I couldn’t resist the lure of this taut five-track EP from Hamburg’s Omnicidal Instinct. The trio manage to wield an unholy intensity on this release, helped in no small part by some fantastic production work by the one and only Colin Marston. Genuinely not sure if my brain could take an album, but I’m willing for my brain to be blended to find out.
LISTEN HERE

245: Eurydice – Under Threat
This French blackened hardcore band held such promise with this wonderful EP, but I’m afraid to report that they called it a day not long after this, their second EP was released. Jam this and their debut, Inner Contemplation, and mourn the premature loss.
LISTEN HERE

244: 終末回路 – 終端から引き剥がす
This trio from Kumamoto, Japan don’t have much of a digital footprint, but what they lack in communication on social media, they make up for in abundance on this dazzling debut EP. Five tracks of glorious mathy skramz with a touch of post-metal thrown in for (very) good measure.
LISTEN HERE

243: Bubble Scary – Featherweight
A gorgeous release here, melding noise rock instrumentals that can occasionally tip into post-hardcore jams, with their vocalist’s beautiful voice contrasting to bring a noise-pop / emo hue to proceedings. An intelligent, effervescent concoction. I’m intrigued to hear how far the four-piece Bubble Scary can push this sound.
LISTEN HERE

242: Duck Duck Goose – LOVE WILL SET YOU FREE
Fifteen years since their last recorded output Duck Duck Goose, the thrash pop experimental grind band return like they never logged out of MySpace. Quite literally bizarre to have them back – but oh so delightful.
LISTEN HERE

241: Death Goals – Survival is an Act of Defiance
As the inspiring London duo Death Goals state themselves, “In a time of ever-increasing hostility, community is more important than ever. Love, solidarity, and compassion are our greatest tools against those who seek only to destroy.” I couldn’t put it better myself, and this five song clarion call of chaotic queercore is a powerful rallying tool for a scene too often Balkanised into little factions.  
LISTEN HERE

240: andthecanaryfell. – As the Ice Melts
Minneapolis blackened emo band andthecanaryfell. deliver yet another superb release. With three guitars this band somehow controls this dizzying flurry of chaos within carefully, patiently constructed compositions. They deserve to be better known – go wrap your ears around this now and let your ears melt too.
LISTEN HERE

239: PRAYER GROUP – STRAWBERRY
PRAYER GROUP are a band who can’t decide whether they’re a punk band or a noise rock band and therefore deliver a unique blend of both. Anyone who’s a fan of Fucked Up and Pissed Jeans or The Jesus Lizard and Drive Like Jehu will find plenty to enjoy here. At seven strong tracks, this edges into MLP territory, but with such crystalline focus, it finds its way on this list.
LISTEN HERE

238: NERVY – Nechci mlčet, ale nemám slov
Crust punk from Prague, Czechia, NERVY’s 2025 EP delivers four bullet shaped songs into the chest. Standing for human and animal liberation, these tracks sound desperate for action and change. Arresting in its delivery, the quartet very much grabbed my attention with this release.
LISTEN HERE

237: WARSPAWN – Immaculate Objection
WARSPAWN deliver 80s crossover hardcore thrash of the highest quality. A quintessential set of songs to scream “METAL!!!” to while they drill their way into your frontal lobe. Absolutely relentless.
LISTEN HERE

236: Theophonos – Banishment
For some time, I thought Theophonos was replacing Serpent Column as the sole focus of the one man riff devil behind both, but with consistent releases from both, we seem to be being treated to two projects concurrently. This project is more cleanly produced and is far more prog in construction than SC. We also got an LP in 2025 in the form of Allegheny Rains, but it didn’t chime with me as much as this dense, constricted EP.
LISTEN HERE

235: svrm – Скорбота
Two short black metal songs comprise this EP, but svrm is a project that doesn’t seem to release anything short of stunning. If this is the first time you’ve heard of the project, make sure to explore their discography.
LISTEN HERE

234: Shelly – Shelly 2
Shelly are a on again off again quartet that most notably includes Claire Elizabeth Cottrill (aka Clairo) among their ranks. Five years on from their debut self-titled two track EP, they have delivered a second two song EP, titled – you guessed it – Shelly 2. Sublime. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait another five years for a third short instalment.
ONLY ON NON-BANDCAMP STREAMING

233: Laura De Jongh – Fundus
With references to New Age, ambient and with the proximity and intimacy of field recordings via its production, harpist Laura De Jongh creates new worlds and levels of perception on this seven track MLP. Easily one of the most gentle, relaxing releases on this list!
LISTEN HERE

232: Thursday – Taking Inventory of a Frozen Lake
Collecting two tracks released in 2024 (‘Application for Release from the Dream’ and ‘White Bikes) with a new song (‘Taking Inventory of a Frozen Lake) this digital EP might be a bit of a cheat, but given its the first collection of tracks Thursday have released well over a decade, it felt impossible to leave out. The new material is both instantly recognisable and yet mature, potentially pointing the way for new channels to be explored by the tenured heroes of emo. I hope 2026 is eventful for them – as that will mean it is for us, too.
ONLY ON NON-BANDCAMP STREAMING (collectively as this ‘EP’)

231: Gam – Iron Gauntlet
With only the same number of songs officially released since Gam’s formation in 2011 up until this EP, this four-track release is a bounty for fans of this long-running, but little known Swedish blackened death metal quartet. One can only hope that they can gather momentum after this excellent instalment.
LISTEN HERE

230: Deathbloom – Overflow
This Manchester, UK quintet released a pair of EPs in 2025, both in December, at the very end of the year. Scarcity, the first, was a three song release that really enamoured me to the band, who I had only heard single tracks from prior. But it was with the second, Overflow, with its four wistful songs of dreamy, grungey post-gaze that really had me hooked.
LISTEN HERE

229: Pillowprince – pretty, baby!
While the cover of Pillowprince‘s debut EP of pretty, baby! suggests hardcore, the trio instead deliver queergaze – a heady mix of bubbly pop grunge and alternative slowcore shoegazing. It feels like the Oakland, California band are just getting started…
LISTEN HERE

228: U-No Juno – Sex, Socialism, Science and Something Else
An incredible debut EP of weirdo noise / alt rock coming via a young trio from Ōtepoti, Aotearoa (or Dunedin, New Zealand) called U-No Juno. Their stronky curveball sound brings to mind the Lewis Carroll songwriting approach that Shellac and Unwound might bring to an uneven table, while the raw atypical production conjures Pixies in the era of their earliest demos and live recordings. Exciting!
LISTEN HERE

227: The Queen’s Head – Titanic
The London-based band The Queen’s Head may likely have found themselves higher in this list, had I not discovered this EP so late in the year, despite its release in the summer of 2025. Six tracks of sprechgesang art punk, built upon a foundation suffused with unease, I want to spend more time with its hopeless dread… and we need a physical release.
LISTEN HERE

226: Hynoki – Everything You Hold Dear
I included Hynoki‘s debut single, ‘Phasmophobia’ in my ‘Singles’ list for good reason. The fact they then followed that initial promise by doubling down with an absolutely fabulous four song debut EP, was extremely gratifying (and exciting!). More earnest, punk influenced emoviolence that makes you feel every note. I predict big things.
LISTEN HERE

225: Art Star – Big Mouth Singers
Hailing from Charleston, South Carolina, Art Star produce a hypnotising sound, somewhere between the unhinged formless, lawlessness of no wave and the caustic edge spliced with knowing swagger of noise rock. There’s enough rock and roll glee shot through the centre to entice those who may not be on board with the former description, though. Fascinating and so good!
LISTEN HERE

224: Jenny Haniver – Unsolved Mysteries
If you haven’t heard this awesome duo yet, comprised of Randall Taylor of AMULETS and Eric Nyffeler of Bus Gas, you’ve clearly not seen me harping on about their incredible 2024 LP, Haunt Your Own House before! This two track EP features an unexpectedly brutal cover of the iconic Unsolved Mysteries theme song—a fan favorite from the band’s live show—along with the B-side, a pulsing kraut rock bruiser. As I don’t really allow covers to factor into my thinking (however good they are), you should know that ‘Know Body’ is worth the price of admission alone.
LISTEN HERE

223: Lemondaze – subtext
It’s genuinely crazy to me that all 300 of these are quite so beloved, and that here we are – still at entry 224 – with a band that I purposefully went to (and massively enjoyed) the official launch of this, the sophomore EP from Lemondaze. Produced and mixed by Matt Glasbey (Sorry, Alt-J, David Gilmour), subtext is a model in restraint; well-paced, thoughtful shoegaze with occasional bursts of noisy pop euphoria.
LISTEN HERE

222: Atomic Rule – With Skull Crushing Force
Another band with two EPs to their name in 2025, Atomic Rule is a new sludge/metalcore band formed by former Every Time I Die guitarist Andy Williams. Both three tracks long, With Skull Crushing Force edged its inclusion in this list as I simply spent more time with it. The Golden Rose released mid-December, but is still great, and I urge you to listen to that, too.
LISTEN HERE

221: forever ☆ – Second Gen Dream
Some have referred to this as an album, but I’m going to classify it as an EP, as it’s only seven tracks long and rather short. A wildly inventive set of songs, the duo have seemingly placed shoegaze, breakbeats, drum & bass and alternative rock into a blender and pressed frappé. Brilliantly bonkers.
LISTEN HERE

220: Molly Horses – Clang Clang
Although clearly indebted to bands such as Big Black and Minutemen, Molly Horses have their own take on the anxiety-filled post-punk come noise rock sound. This is precise, measured refreshing misery, all the way from (not so sunny?) Los Angeles, California. Although I could write this for most bands on this list – and I likely have or will – they feel like a band to keep tabs on.
LISTEN HERE

219: Pluie Cessera – We’ve Been Alone
This Parisian quintet deliver an acute, crucial six track EP of emotive screamo fire. Pluie Cessera produce some captivating instrumentals while the vocals dance the listeners around by the throat. A top notch, beautiful release. Keep your eye on them.
LISTEN HERE

218: Sleemo – The End
A wonderful four track EP of dirty post-hardcore from this English band garnering well-deserved attention. Sleemo‘s sophomore album is due in 2026 and if these tracks are any indication it will be noteworthy release for the year. In the meantime, rock these songs, particularly the closer, ‘Bleeding’.
LISTEN HERE

217: David Eugene Edwards & Al Cisneros – Pillar of Fire / Capernaum
When this collaboration between David Eugene Edwards (Wovenhand, 16 Horsepower) and Al Cisneros (OM, Sleep) was first announced I was incredibly excited. When I learned that it was two instrumental tracks, I felt disappointed. Then I listened to this lovely 10″ and was transported to new worlds. I despise the term “mood music” but that is exactly what this is. One can drift pleasantly in the desert of the mind, be it a sunbaked day or chilly starry night in there. Magic.
LISTEN HERE

216: Boys Life – Ordinary Wars
Nearly two decades had passed since Boys Life‘s last recorded output, until Ordinary Wars released, written and recorded with the original line-up. Four tracks of exquisite midwest emo that has traces of alternative rock and Americana suffused within from member’s subsequent bands (Canyon). If we only get this, then the reunion was worth it, but one can’t help but be greedy, thinking of what may still come…
LISTEN HERE

215: AkoúΦenom – Connections to the Erebus
This EP didn’t surprise me as being excellent as soon as I learned that the four songs originated from the same writing and recording sessions that resulted in the debut album from AkoúΦenom (Akouphenom), Death·Chaos·Void, a highlight of 2023. Spanish blackened death metal of haunting scope, the quartet continue to astound.
LISTEN HERE

214: Higher Walls – No End
London’s Higher Walls describe themselves as technical raging hardcore that employs jarring polyrhythms and odd time signatures, daring the listener to “have a mosh if your body can take the strain”. Having seen them recently live, I can confirm that this is the case and that my body could not. No End is six tracks of bludgeoning punk-in-spirit ferocity.
LISTEN HERE

213: Watch Myself Die – Braided Wire
North Carolina’s Watch Myself Die appeared mysteriously in 2021 with a two song demo and then went quiet. They finally returned in 2025 with a crushing three song EP, Braided Wire of crushing melodic alternative metal. Fans of Hum, Deftones, and even a band as extreme as Cult Leader will find a lot to love here.
ONLY ON NON-BANDCAMP STREAMING (I don’t get it, once again…)

212: Lucerne Hammer – Vermillion Pyre
Lucerne Hammer had a break-out year in 2025 with a much acclaimed and buzzed about self-titled demo, followed by a great standalone single (‘Fawn’s Fortress’) that featured on a Fiadh Productions compilation and then this incredible debut EP, Vermillion Pyre. They have continued on with a new single in 2026! Incredible raw black metal.
LISTEN HERE

211: World Condemned – Indiscriminate Violence
Hot on the heels of their self-titled two song EP in 2025, World Condemned kept rattling the cage to announce they were already ready for the world stage, with Indiscriminate Violence. Four more tracks of caustic metallic hardcore that could boil water just by looking in its direction.
LISTEN HERE

210: letterstoyou – feral growth at the side of mystery
Damián Antón Ojeda, the multi-instrumentalist and solo mastermind behind the revered and prolific projects Sadness, Trhä, life, and many more, added yet another string to his bow in 2025, with letterstoyou. In typical fashion, we were gifted three EPs and a full-length self-titled LP in 2025, and we already have a sophomore LP and a new EP in 2026. DAMN, dude! This EP was my favourite output from this more focused punk’d screamo project.
LISTEN HERE

209: Sire Languish – Pull to God
The new solo project from ex-Flourishing/Aeviterne member Garett Bussanick, this debut EP comprised of four songs initially left me a little cold. But I kept findng myself returning and its unnerving subtleties began to reveal themselves. An understated sound that burrows itself under the skin…
LISTEN HERE

208: withpaperwings – Six Thousand Days
It won’t be the last time I’m going to write that old school metalcore had a huge resurgence in 2025, but I’m surprised it took this long. Anyway, did you know that 2000s era metalcore came back with vengeance in 2025? A label that cleaned up from that was The Coming Strife, and withpaperwings was one of the best exponents with this visceral, tight four track EP.
LISTEN HERE

207: OXRUN – OXRUN
A wonderfully unhinged self-titled noise rock EP from Baltimore, Maryland’s own OXRUN. Absolutely brilliant stuff, but not all that surprising given the members are from across the city’s underground scene, being part of other excellent bands like KNUB, Gloop and Silk Leash.
LISTEN HERE

206: I’m Sorry Emil – I’m Sorry Emil
Released on the first day of 2025, this self-titled debut EP from the young London (scr)emo outfit I’m Sorry Emil is such a refreshing brick to the face. I saw them live and there was a real joy and buzz around them. I’m personally very much looking forward to seeing what they do in 2026.
LISTEN HERE

205: [crashing] – epilogue
This San Jose, California based alt metal band that who incorporate hefty helpings of shoegaze into their USP sound, [crashing] released both an LP and an EP in 2025. Their album, thank you for all you’ve done to help, but i’m too far gone, was fab, but just missed out on my list. This shorter release, on the other hand, well and truly bewitched me.
LISTEN HERE

204: Washed / Taciturn – Split
2025 saw the rise of Dead Mothers Collective, with an impressive roster of extremely promising bands coalescing around it. One release on the collective’s record label offshoot, was a split between Washed and Taciturn, two exciting post-hardcore bands, who stretch that sub-genre to breaking point, trading blows before coming together on a twenty-minute noise finale. Washed sadly chose to call it a day after this release (although members are in the awesome stitching).
LISTEN HERE

203: Chiaroscuro – Chiaroscuro
An eye-widening blend of melodic death and black metal is exhibited across these four tracks from this Baltimore-based band. Starting life as a creative duo, Chiaroscuro have now become a fully fledged project. There’s a lot of ambition here – much of it realised – and heaps more potential besides…
LISTEN HERE

202: FEARTILIZER 1492 – WAPE’K MNTU
Mi’Gmaq indigenous-fronted death-grind from Tiohtià:ke (“Montreal”), FEARTILIZER 1492 demand the land be returned, with this music contributing to put “fear into settler’s eyes…” A bold four song EP that not only took my breath away musically but had me deep dive into learning more than the scant information I knew about the wrongs perpetrated against the indigenous peoples of what is now known as “Canada”.
LISTEN HERE

201: Haest – Wildfires
Haest are another UK band that I always feel get a little overlooked for no good or discernible reason. Their 2024 EP, Sight Unseen was excellent and this new EP, appearing a year later is just as good. Mixing various forms of punk and hardcore with a touch of doom, the quartet have a sound that’s hard to pin down completely even after repeated listens. And repeat your listening you will. The band recently had both EPs released on one 12″ via some great labels, too.
LISTEN HERE

200: UNIVERSITY – YES
UNIVERSITY had quite the year in 2025, with a debut LP, McCartney, It’ll Be OK, that saw a huge amount of buzz and acclaim (rightly deserved – more on that later), as well as this three-track EP, which perhaps flew under the radar due to the aforementioned focus on the album. YES sees UNIVERSITY push their songwriting to new limits, be it a math-rock fever-dream (‘Bee’), waves of metallic aggression (‘Business Secrets of the Pharaohs’), or the eleven-minute rock behemoth ‘Stones ‘n Jam’.
LISTEN HERE

199: Missing Link – Miracle Smile
Five tracks of vital, urgent NYC hardcore punk that immediately hits the spot from Missing Link. This is no frills music that, once it gets going, threatens to permanently alter your ability to stand straight, given how you’ll headbang so hard you’ll slip a disc, whatever your age.
LISTEN HERE

198: Terror Corpse – Systems of Apocalypse
The eight songs that constitute this MLP from Terror Corpse rifle by in just twenty-minutes. Vitriolic and utterly terrifying, Systems of Apocalypse is all killer, no filler. While the aural onslaught is almost entirely without let up, the band do occasionally loosen their grip to provide some groove, but only for a second’s respite, before the cavalcade of nightmarish riffs and barrage of blasting drums take over the mind.
LISTEN HERE

197: Pain of Truth / Sunami – Coast to Coast
Sometimes a split just makes sense, right? The best ones often seem less willed into being, than they are birthed into the scene from which they came. Pain of Truth and Sunami deliver two songs each and while it passes in a blur, you will have headbanged relentlessly for the entire runtime and will be left with a dazed happy smile on your face by the conclusion… Only to put it back on again.
LISTEN HERE

196: Plague Pit – A Whispered Curse
This Bristol based quintet who gurgle forth “necrotic death” have delivered quite the debut EP, with four tracks that can slice through eardrums as easily as a knife through decomposed remains. There are elements of blackened hardcore underpinning Plague Pit‘s more traditional death metal sound, making for a far more intriguing listen.
LISTEN HERE

195: fawn – Paper Thin
Delightful and enchanting dream pop flirting with grunge influenced shoegaze is one the menu from San Antonio’s fawn. Their sophomore EP, following 2022’s self-titled effort, Paper Thin is the sound of a band growing in ability, ambition and belief. Intoxicating, delicious… I’m already anticipating the third course.
LISTEN HERE

194: Shores of Null / Convocation – Latitudes of Sorrow
Latitudes of Sorrow seemed to gain very little traction in the metal underground upon release and I have to wonder why. Both bands deliver some of the finest gothic death doom of the year on this split release. Rome’s Shores of Null offer forth three six-minute songs of focused malevolence, while Helsinki’s Convocation summon two lengthy tracks of dark grandeur.
LISTEN HERE

193: Maruja – Tir na nÓg
While Manchester’s Maruja had been plugging away in the underground for some time by the time their EP Knocknarea (2023) was released, it was the introduction for a vast amount of fans. As such, the EPs preceding 2025’s debut LP, always felt like a trilogy. 2024 gave us the similarly excellent Connla’s Well, before Tir na nÓg. Far more improvised than the preceding two, it was a slight let down for me, truth be told, but it still showcases the band’s incredible musicianship and chemistry.
ONLY ON NON-BANDCAMP STREAMING (very odd… can only assume record label shenanigans)

192: home is in your arms – _
It’s our man Damián again, with another one of his mysterious projects. Naming all the releases (and songs) ‘_’ makes for difficult referencing, so this is the MLP (three tracks; running just over half an hour long – released in April, linked below), rather than the album (February, four tracks, approx. forty-four minutes long) from 2025. Much more atmospheric than many of his other projects, home is in your arms on this MLP find a hinterland that lies beyond post-rock and post-metal.
LISTEN HERE

191: THE NONE – CARE
Noise rock, noise punk, no holes barred British underground hardcore… Call it what you want, but THE NONE‘s second EP, CARE, was an worthy successor to the previous year’s defining debut, MATTER. 2025’s EP features another four tracks of thoughtful, pissed off ragers. There’s an increased languid fluidity to the band – both live and on this recording – that almost blurs into a no wave approach, so blunt and non-linear it can sometimes seem. A particular feat when operating in the typically streamlined genre of hardcore. Shout out to the excellent two-track double A-side single, ‘At Hope / In Civic Pride’ that they released in 2025, too.
LISTEN HERE

190: drainfly – braken of her bones
An EP three years in the making since the members moved to London, drainfly exude a maturity and assuredness that usually only comes with much more experience. The songs on this post-punk sleeper are intentionally tangled – at times dense, sometimes sharp, but always part of a wider living whole. A really impressive release – let’s hope it doesn’t take three years for a follow up.
ONLY ON NON-BANDCAMP STREAMING (bemusing, once again…)

189: Obscure Sphinx – Emovere
Released at the beginning of 2025, Emovere isn’t the first time I’ve listened to the Polish quartet, but it was the first time Obscure Sphinx have truly ‘clicked’ for me. I have had them recommended to me countless times, only for me to once again try with what many consider their “classic” LP, Void Mother (2013), and enjoy it once again, but sans any “Eureka!” moment. It happened with these three tracks, especially the brooding ‘Nethergrove’.
LISTEN HERE

188: incaseyouleave – Ink Labyrinth
Don’t be confused by the link below – London’s incaseyouleave did a physical release which combined their previous EP, Time and Why It Doesn’t Deserve Us (2021), with their new EP, in a collection titled Dedications to a Devoted Past. The last three tracks comprise Ink Labyrinth. Impassioned post-hardcore / screamo vocals sits atop instrumentation that befits those, as well as entertaining a penchant for more expansive post-rock leanings, too.
LISTEN HERE

187: trains / redpine – Split
The two bands released a brilliant split of screamo and metalcore (with elements of ‘gaze) respectively that sadly seems to be digital only at the time of writing. Two tracks from each band. Unfortunately, this appears to be the final recording from trains, the members of whom have many other projects. redpine, on the other hand, are certainly still active and I hope their build on their impressive ‘side’ here.
LISTEN HERE (trains side) & NON-BANDCAMP STREAMING (redpine – weird, as they have a Bandcamp?!)

186: magnolia – Omaha
A magical debut EP from this magical Norwich-based seven-piece. Epic heavy post-rock with experimental passages of noise rock, post-punk and hints of fully-fledged jazz, they are a new force to be reckoned with in the UK underground. Wild and exciting, they’re a group I still need to see live, but can only imagine are very entertaining. With such a strong debut, along with their double-A side single from 2024, Television/Feed Me, magnolia are another young British band to keep close tabs on!
LISTEN HERE

185: Narrat – Levana
Another truly wicked, inventive band from Münster, Germany blew my mind in 2025. Narrat play a sickening form of modern black metal that sounds how I imagine a landmine going off underfoot feels like. Knowing when to be complex and oppressive and when to switch into a thunderous melodic groove, this is a seriously impressive debut EP and I cannot wait to see what the band do next.
LISTEN HERE

184: Huracan – 2025
Four compact, concise new songs comprise one of Belgium’s best sludgey post-metal bands new EP and first new material in three years. Huracan always brings a lighter touch to the sound and so it proves on the simply titled 2025. Aggressive but packed full of melody and groove, it’s a brilliant addition to their catalogue.
LISTEN HERE

183: Corpsing – Viewing the Invisible
Corpsing were formed in 2000 by brothers Giuseppe and Mick Cutispoto. Expanded into a four-piece long ago, this new EP also features guest spots from Jason Mendonca (Akercocke) and Luc Lemay (Gorguts). Totally overwhelming and all encompassing extreme metal with the vestiges of old-school thrash at the very crux, this needs to be listened to and discussed far more than it seemed to be last year.
LISTEN HERE

182: Sunn O))) – Eternity’s Pillars b/w Raise the Chalice & Reverentials
A new EP to satiate hungry Sunn O))) fans as well as acting as the signal they were more active again and had signed to the legendary independent label, Sub Pop (and for what we now know to also be a self-titled new album in 2026). The iconic duo of Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson bestow three tracks here. Austere craft is exhibited here; purposeful, methodical, the two guitarists know what exactly what Sunn is and can be now.
LISTEN HERE

181: Genital Shame / Lust Hag – Split
Two amazing black metal solo acts come together to produce a stunning split. Genital Shame builds off their incredible debut full-length Chronic Illness Wish (2024) with two tracks, while Lust Hag also has a pair of songs that rests upon the foundations of their debut and winked towards what was to come on their 2025 LP, Irrevocably Drubbed. Fiadh produced a gorgeous, very limited 10″ to celebrate the release.
LISTEN HERE

180: Kiowa / onewaymirror / I Promised the World – The Snowball Effect
A fantastic three-way split from some of the most promising post-hardcore / screamo bands going today. Each band offers forth two tracks. onewaymirror and I Promised the World both deliver some thrilling material, but unsurprisingly (for me) it was Kiowa who stole the show with their strongest material to date.
ONLY ON NON-BANDCAMP STREAMING (weird…)

179: KISSLAND – GIRLS MIGNON
Hardcore on the double (or maybe triple?) from Naarm/Melbourne’s KISSLAND on their GIRLS MIGNON EP which features eleven tracks in a rip-roaring eight minutes!!! High octane doesn’t quite do this band justice.
LISTEN HERE

178: Goetia – Otherworldly Agency
Originally teased at a one off show on Hallowe’en 2024, Goetia from Washington, D.C., officially released their Otherworldly Agency EP, as a devilish stop-gap ahead of the debut LP due in 2026. Two new songs – ‘Crisis Apparition’ and ‘Holy Narcotics’ – feature on this 7″ alongside a cover of Venom (‘Don’t Burn the Witch’). Building off the brutal brilliance of their self-titled debut EP from 2023 and the following year’s follow-up EP Tomb Essence, the trio have already built up a formidable catalogue of tracks.
LISTEN HERE

177: recuerdo acariciar con miedo las alas de un ave herida – recuerdo acariciar con miedo las alas de un ave herida
Hailing from Bogotá, Colombia, this sextet of musicians were once known as basuraastillada, before morphing into this new incarnation, this self-titled MLP is the sound of boiled down sub-genres being stretched open once more. Blistering math-driven emoviolence pulled across the wrack of shoegazing post-rock. Magnificent.
LISTEN HERE

176: NIMBIFER – Vom Gipfel
Hanover has some serious black metal cooking and honestly would still do if NIMBIFER were the only ones releasing. They have never released anything short of stellar and their debut LP, Der böse Geist (2024) felt like the culmination of all the promise leading to that point. Just one year later, we have been treated with a three track EP that blows all previous material out of the water. Get hyped for whatever the duo (!) have planned for the future.
LISTEN HERE

175: she’s green – Chrysalis
Five tracks of idyllic, pearlescent dream pop with a trance-like shoegaze undertow. Music for drowning quietly to with a smile on one’s face, from Minneapolis she’s green. Chrysalis is a truly gorgeous release that deserves a lot of attention. Absolutely wild to me that a label hasn’t jumped at putting this out properly.
LISTEN HERE

174: Inertials – Listen Between States
Based in Copenhagen, Denmark this quartet who have built their sound on the backs of 90s screamo royalty, have written and experimented for quite some time before finally announcing themselves to the world formally with a recorded project. Listen Between States is that debut EP from Inertials and it’s a cracker.
LISTEN HERE

173: Luxury Skin – Bleed for Me
Sometimes less is more and this short two song EP from Luxury Skin is exactly that. Sparse, goth-rock haunted trip-hop experiments that never cease to enthral and can’t help but disturb, ‘Bleed for Me’ and ‘Counting My Money’ are fascinating pieces of work. I completely missed their 2023 album, It’s All Over to my shame, but I’m very happy to have discovered LS since they guested on the most recent Crippling Alcoholism LP.
LISTEN HERE

172: MSPAINT – No Separation
MSPAINT grabbed the attention of many, including myself, with their debut LP, Post-American in 2023. They toured that album relentlessly that same year and the following, so it was a pleasant surprise to see this five song EP arrive in 2025. Less raw in writing and production, as well as being a touch more melodic overall No Separation feels like an evolution of their sound, no doubt influenced by being on the road and playing with a vast variety of different bands. Short and sweet, it feels like a delightful stop-gap, before the Hattiesburg, Mississippi band’s next chapter.
LISTEN HERE

171: Coup D’état – Coup D’état
A quartet from the traditional lək̓ʷəŋən and w̠sáneć territories (Victoria, British Columbia), this is an extraordinary self-titled EP. Despite how brilliant this is, taking in a heady blur of influence from across all forms of screamo, somehow it comes across that there is plenty left in the tank for Coup D’état. A band that truly could rightfully garner a cult following.
LISTEN HERE

170: Idyll – Voyeur
Five songs of top-tier screamo from this German band. Idyll were always going to feature highly because as soon as I started listening they reminded me of a live performance I saw of the much-missed Jungbluth. I would love to see these guys live playing these songs! Hopefully that happens soon, but I’d also take another batch of tracks before too long… Fingers crossed!
LISTEN HERE

169: Merzotna Potvora / Обрій – Split
Released on the Ukrainian Neformat Family collective label, this split between Merzotna Potvora and Обрій (Obrij) is a pummelling release with two tracks of blackened thrash metal and metallic punk rock respectively. Both bands were busy in 2025, with the former releasing a very respectable LP called Poliuvannia, while the latter released a number of splits and an LP, Йосип (Joseph) themselves, all – including this – replete with incredible, arresting artwork from Konstantyn Kopacz. The pair of bands both contribute two songs each – absolutely essential listening.
LISTEN HERE

168: 夢遊病者 – РЛБ30011922
夢遊病者 (Sleepwalker) return with another utterly bamboozling and enthralling release. They certainly don’t repeat themselves! РЛБ30011922 is a single thirty-seven minute opus, fragmented thrash and post punk melding and coming apart again with elements as diffuse as grind, dub and folk all swirling in the maelstrom. Mind-melting, once again.
LISTEN HERE

167: Obscureviolence – Refuting the Flesh
Six tracks of horrific audio punishment from Russia’s Obscureviolence. Many bands over recent years have blended elements of black and death metal together, but here the trio seems to let the sub-genres almost ‘take turns’ coming to the fore, with any melding only coming in the form of transitional moments. It’s a great sound, no doubt difficult to construct, which makes the fact these six tracks are so successful and punishing, all the more impressive.
LISTEN HERE

166: Light Dweller / AOECIST / Sleep Paralysis – Illusory Dissolvents
If you’re a fan of dissonant, twisted avant-garde extreme metal then this three-way split is absolutely for you. Light Dweller from Phoenix, Arizona contributes a huge opening fourteen-minute track, ‘Caste Wrought in the Ash of Abandoned Sovereigns’, which is amazing technically baffling death metal. AOECIST four tracks of whiplash-like microtonal death metal suck the breath out of the body, before Sleep Paralysis‘ trio of unhinged, psychedelic black metal tracks close out proceedings in inimitable style. Incredible.
LISTEN HERE

165: Panopticon – The Poppies Bloom for No King
Austin Lunn – aka Panopticon – rages against the brutal insanity being perpetrated nationwide in the USA by ICE. As such, proceeds from this release go to help those families effectively torn apart due to these inhumane deportations. The B-side is a 2022 re-recording of ‘…Speaking…’ from the debut LP (2008), and mixed for this EP. The twelve-minute title track is breathtaking. Vivid – atmospheric, almost symphonic – Lunn channels his rage and hope that a different future is possible into this spellbinding song. I’ve always been a big fan of Panopticon, so it surprised even me that neither Laurentian Blue nor Songs of Hiraeth, two LPs from the year made my list [shows how crazy strong 2025 was!], but I had to include this.
LISTEN HERE

164: Lebrique – LBRQ
The Ipswich, UK bruisers finally return with a new EP, seemingly without the need for vowels, such is the deft power of their noise rock onslaught. Lebrique really ought to be celebrated in the UK scene far more than they are – so here’s my small contribution. Bass-forward writing with elements of post-hardcore creeping into their forthright performances across these five vivid songs. Closer ‘Left to Turn’ is a particular highlight.
LISTEN HERE

163: Ultra Love – Slow Spark
Hailing from Ottawa, Ontario, Ultra Love are a three-piece who produce a stunning blend of emotional hardcore with an underlying post-punk and noise rock foundation. Wild and full of abandon, Slow Spark significantly builds on their debut self-titled EP from 2021. More assured while adding a lot of complexity and new influences and elements into the mix, they are yet another band on this list who feel primed to deliver a dazzling full-length.
LISTEN HERE

162: Stress Positions – Human Zoo
Chicago quartet Stress Positions produced a seven-track stunner with Human Zoo [which also features a further three remixes that I’m not considering here]. I saw someone remark that the band are “the only ones angry enough right now” and that felt right on the money – this EP (MLP?) is vitriolic, biting at the hands that would push us down into subservience.
LISTEN HERE

161: Full of Hell – Broken Sword, Rotten Shield
I’m pretty sure at this point that Full of Hell don’t know the meaning of the world ‘chill’ – be that for their prolific release schedule, their relentless touring, or – of course – the actual music they produce. All is done at pace, relentlessly… seemingly forever. After a busy 2024, it came as no surprise that we got this new EP. Broken Sword, Rotten Shield is a blistering meditation on love, loss, and the crushing inevitability of grief and told through a fantasy-tinged lens. Endlessly creative and consistent, Full of Hell really have cemented themselves as one of the leading lights of the extreme metal underground scene worldwide.
LISTEN HERE

160: xNullifyx – xNullifyx
The debut EP from xNullifyx is an unapologetic blast of bombastic, ruthless metallic hardcore. Rooted in the aggressive straight edge Illinois scene, the band is focused, defiant and play at eye-watering pace. Caustic riffs are joined by furious vocals indebted to the aforementioned scene as well as the most virulent of post-hardcore performances. In a word: brutal.
LISTEN HERE

159: Rotten Sound – Mass Extinction
Finland’s Rotten Sound have been a band for over thirty years, yet it’s still rather surprisingly to learn that this is their eleventh EP! Mass Extinction features eight tracks with a running length that just creeps over the ten minute mark. Urgent, breathless, and utterly ruthless, no stone is unturned and no prisoners are taken on this deathgrind bombardment. Hostile blast beats and ear worm grooves festoon this short EP, proving the band still have boundless energy in their fourth decade as a unit.
LISTEN HERE

158: Crowquill – Crowquill
When you name yourself after one of the most iconic songs from a band as legendary as Circle Takes the Square, you send out a signal of intent. You also put a metaphorical target on your back. As soon as I came across this release, I was both intrigued and unsure. Thankfully, for all concerned, I am happy to report that Leeds, UK’s Crowquill deliver an intense mathcore EP, really tapping into the burgeoning re-emergence of metalcore as a force to be reckoned with, particularly in the UK. This places the Leeds crew as a key part of the cream of the crop of that exciting scene.
LISTEN HERE

157: L’Idylle – Romance/Violence
Rouen, France screamo band L’Idylle started off as a pair of friends writing and demoing music together in a bedroom. They recorded a demo called Romance/Violence that was very good indeed. This 2025 EP is essentially a re-recording, slight re-writing – and crucially – seems the expanded line-up, including two new members, contribute their performances to the new version. I would normally discount such a release from my lists, but this new version is leagues better and saw the French band truly announce themselves to the European (and wider) heavy underground. They were brilliant live when I saw them, too!
LISTEN HERE

156: Malaise – Malaise
Formed in 2023, Malaise follow on from their two-track demo with this self-titled EP, released on tape by Desolate Records. Blacked crust punk from Olympia, Washington, the dual vocals on this release really set it apart. Ferocious riffs and an unrelenting battery of heaviness from the rhythm section underpin the band’s crushing attack, all while the vocalists exchange vicious yet authentic lines about inner dialogue and emotional spectrum of a radical person in the world today. In a year that felt a bit barren for top-tier crust, Malaise saved the day with this shining light of a debut.
LISTEN HERE

155: Harrison Gordon – Spring Break!
Spring Break! consists of six songs of midwest emo pop-punk that I, by rights, should not like, but the quartet that make up Harrison Gordon from the fabulously named Normal, Illinois, make them irresistible. All the songs are excellent, but while the opener is literally called ‘the Greatest Song Ever Written’ it’s the following track, ‘Drivers Side’ that massively stands out, even in this field of quality.
LISTEN HERE

154: shizune – Breviario d’oblio
Lonigo, Italy’s shizune released their new EP, Breviario d’oblio in 2025, over eight years since their last release! But boy, was it worth the wait. Five songs that contain multitudes – veering between hardcore, post-hardcore, screamo, and more – all with an overriding, joyous DIY punk spirit. Essential listening for anyone who loves their heavy music with lots of heart.
LISTEN HERE

153: Corales – Corales
An absolutely fascinating debut EP from Corales, a quintet from Iquique, Chile. Math rock, screamo, post-rock and free improvisation coalesce in new, original and exciting ways on this gem of an EP. It’s an unassuming release that mesmerises – baring repeat upon repeat listens to hear the divine subtleties the young band have layered within. Don’t sleep on this!
LISTEN HERE

152: Vaitarana – Sunsets Waterfalls
From Valborg and Owl‘s Christian Kolf comes yet another, mind-blowing project in the shape of Vaitarana and their debut EP. Behind a blistering and euphorically triumphant wall of sound, lurks his sensibility for emotional depth and grand melody. Featuring relentless drumming from Tentakel P this is an incredible two-track introduction.
LISTEN HERE

151: Spanish Love Songs – A Brief Intermission in the Flattening of Time
I am an absolute sucker for Spanish Love Songs and whenever the Los Angeles based band announce new material is on the way, I’m going to be immediately on board. This four track EP is something different from the band, with each song featuring guests (The Wonder Years, Kevin Devine, Illuminati Hotties and Tigers Jaw, in order of appearance). Miraculously, each and every song on A Brief Intermission in the Flattening of Time is unmistakably a SLS song, but augmented by new chemistry. A really cool addition to their stellar discography.
LISTEN HERE

150: Birth and Loss – Untitled
Birth and Loss is the new project by guitarist Takafumi Matsubara (Gridlink, Chepang, the new Barren Path, etc.). Joined by Toshihiko Takahashi, Rahat Mostafa, and Kenta Nakanishi the quartet have created a strange amalgamation of sounds one could dub “progressive grindcore”. The six songs on the untitled release features such pristine production as to make the overall effect both uncanny and powerful in its clarity.
LISTEN HERE

149: Saetia – Tendrils
I think most screamo fans didn’t think they would see the day that new Saetia songs would be released. And yet here we were – post reunion tour(s) – with a three-track EP. When the world is collapsing around us, it’s important to hang on to the little wins such events can provide and the emotional nourishment music does overall. Caroline Harrison‘s incredible artwork rightfully adorns this release. The fact the songs are so great only adds to the pleasure. Please stick around, guys!
ONLY ON NON-BANDCAMP STREAMING (‘Tendrils’ and ‘Corkscrew Spine’ are available on Bandcamp, though!)

148: Uboa – All the Dead Melt Down as Rain
Seeing Xandra Metcalfe – aka Uboa – push themselves health-wise, spiritually, and musically at Roadburn 2024 (her first performance(s) outside of Australia) was a deeply moving and inspiring thing to witness. Signing to The Flenser around the same time felt like momentum was seriously building. But relapses in chronic illness brought an end to live gigs and that same year’s new LP [Impossible Light] didn’t hit me as much as I hoped it would. 2025, therefore, felt like a big year – and while gigs are sadly still off the menu, her two releases have been absolutely awesome. Five tracks of harrowing death industrial on this EP cleaned away the cobwebs, that’s for sure.
LISTEN HERE

147: Water From Your Eyes – It’s Beautiful
A surprise EP following the overwhelming critical acclaim of their album It’s a Beautiful Place only months prior (more on that soon…), Water From Your Eyes delivered three more tracks to their eager, grateful listeners. The first two songs feel like natural additions to their 2025 oeuvre, but closing track ‘Driving Classics, Playing Cars’ that stands at impressive eleven-minutes long, is a different beast entirely, a completely hypnotising new angle found to their sound.
LISTEN HERE

146: eris | disnomia / piot. / drive you plow over the bones of the dead / TNG / plein de vie. – five-way split
An absolute joy from beginning to end, this is a real exception, as I’ve often found that a split with more than three bands can become a bit too incoherent to be an pleasurable listening experience overall. All five screamo bands (eris | disnomia / piot. / drive you plow over the bones of the dead / TNG / plein de vie.) match one another’s energy, class, and will to push themselves. An absolute banger.
LISTEN HERE

145: Cataratas en Siberia – Todas las Tardes Que Nos Robö el Fuego
Cataratas en Siberia are a band from Lima, Peru who dropped an incredible EP early in 2025. They then followed this release up with two great standalone singles, ‘Astrafobia’ and ‘Una Vida Nueva’ which I neglected in my singles list as I didn’t hear them until writing up this EP! A conceptual release about the legend of the Salto del Fraile, this is shoegazing post-rock of the highest order, replete with violin and ‘cello, too. Absolutely gorgeous.
LISTEN HERE

144: Pyramid Mass – Gargling Rot
Richmond Virginia’s Pyramid Mass refuse to be pinned down easily. They fuse a number of different genres on their new EP Gargling Rot. The trio mixes black, death and doom metal into an extreme, experimental cauldron of heaviness. They also include ambient soundscapes adding a dark and foreboding sense of atmosphere that lifts their sound to a level beyond their contemporaries. They feel on the cusp of doing something truly special in the future.
LISTEN HERE

143: Valdrin – Apex Violator
The Cincinnati melodic black metal quartet Valdrin bludgeoned 2025’s summer with the dark art that was their new EP, Apex Violator. Since their inception in 2010, the band have been building the lore around their work, and adding to the narrative of the sci-fi saga that underpins each release. Each song hits hard, but ‘Ignite the Murder Shrine’ has to be my personal favourite here. Unrelenting, showing no mercy, this release is a barrage upon the senses from the first to its last second.
LISTEN HERE

142: Non Serviam – Ne regarde plus les bombes tomber
While we all wait not-so-patiently for a new album, Non Serviam gave us another incredible EP, featuring three songs of dark wave death rock that incorporates their unique explorations of everything from trip hop and blackened industrial under their occult, anarchist umbrella. This release also served as a benefit fundraiser, donating proceeds in solidarity with Ukrainian anti-war refugees and deserters from Russia and Belarus, via the Olga Taratuta Initiative [you can directly donate here].
LISTEN HERE

141: Rigorous Institution – Tormentor
Portland, Oregon is a verdant place for nature and also for extreme music. You can now add Rigorous Institution to that long list of bands. Tormentor is strange: a fried version of punk and metal, this is – as the band say – “music for toiling”. Imagine a classic crust punk band trying their hand at dungeon synth for the first time ever, while on stage at a prog festival. Oh, I don’t know – just listen to the damn thing!
LISTEN HERE

140: Computer – Zero
Computer‘s debut EP is a glorious example of midwest emo shot through with a heavy influence from math rock’s maestros. The music is deeply moving and all five tracks offer something different across its brief runtime. Quite the way to announce themselves on the world stage, the band followed these five songs with a further four standalone singles. One can’t help but wonder what they’ve got cooking for 2026!
LISTEN HERE

139: Fermented Mess – Fermented Mess
Nine tracks in eight minutes can only mean one thing: grindcore. New York’s Fermented Mess deliver a totally ruthless, raw and utterly insane performance on this MLP. Elements of death metal and hardcore punk find themselves pulsating in amongst the lightning fast barrage.
LISTEN HERE

138: Youth Code – Yours, With Malice
If you don’t count their excellent collaboration with King Yosef, 2021’s A Skeleton Key in the Doors of Depression, then it has been nine long years since a significant body of work from Los Angeles’ Youth Code. Yours, With Malice, despite its’ brevity, reminds us why the duo’s return is a huge cause for celebration. Abrasive, knotted industrial with a punk mentality, the five tracks all feel like a ten truck lorry T-boning you. Here’s hoping this is only a taste of what’s to come, sooner rather than later.
LISTEN HERE

137: Mongrel – Baptized in the Gutter
My absolutely blistering introduction to San Diego, Calfornia’s Mongrel. Feral in its approach to hardcore and with a powerful death metal bite, Baptised in the Gutter, is territorial, barking and gnashing at the listener with a frothing jaw, teeth bared. Reminds me of the shock and awe of listening to Unsilent Death by Nails for the first time.
LISTEN HERE

136: cues in braille – yamut
A five-piece band from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, cues in braille had my jaw on the floor once my first listen to yamut had concluded. Wow. There’s something special going on in South East Asia when brilliant musicians decide to produce screamo melded with disparate other sub-genres (such as post-punk in this case). An MLP consisting of seven tracks it’s hard to choose a favourite, but the excellently titled, psalms of the unburied sun and the martyrs of midnight. is a belter.

135: Flooding – object 1
A deeply emotional, thoughtful and resonant EP from Kansas City, Missouri’s Flooding, object 1 is a sombre, pensive listen. Their sound snarls in new and unexpected directions on this small batch of songs – problematising their art rock into stranger peripheries. Experimental, noisy, quiet, slow and post-everything, the band manages to hold a special sound in the core here.
LISTEN HERE

134: Sex Mask – Body Broker
Naarm/Melbourne’s Sex Mask deliver a captivating EP of languid post-punk lavishness, replete with fantastic, eye-catching artwork. As with so many of these EPs without a physical edition, I put out the question of “Who’s gonna do it?!” There’s a catchiness to the songs on offer here that only really struck me much later on – despite appearances they manage to claw their way into your unconscious.
ONLY ON NON-BANDCAMP STREAMING (but you can listen to ‘Cold’ on Bandcamp…?!)

133: Holder – Holder
This debut self-titled five song EP from Holder is such an exciting release. Breathtakingly fresh hardcore, this has so much energy it could power a small city for an entire year. The band already show no signs of letting up, as they have released another two-track EP in January 2026. Get on the hype train now because this band are clearly going places (which will hopefully include a stop in London before too long…).
LISTEN HERE

132: NAUFRAAGE – Les déferlantes
French black metal and screamo hit different. Don’t ask me why. I can’t explain it. They just do. So, when a band from France decides to enmesh the two sub-genres for their sound, you better believe I sit up and take note. NAUFRAAGE do just that and the result on Les déferlantes is nothing short of spectacular. If you were into Celeste before they shit the bed, then replace them with this utterly amazing band.
LISTEN HERE

131: 0 Miles Per Hour – Gallop
0 Miles Per Hour [great band name] had already released an extremely impressive EP in the form of Shell (only available on non-Bandcamp streaming), but their second one, Gallop, already showed a huge step up in overall production and songwriting skills. Fuzzy, loud guitars laidback guitars clash with impassioned vocals and a purposeful, intentional rhythm section. A confident release that I can only imagine will propel the band into many more eager ears.
LISTEN HERE

130: NERVES – Iarmhaireacht
This Irish band really are something else. Five songs with three short segues, Iarmhaireacht (‘Residual’ in Irish Gaelic) is an endlessly impressive mix of noise rock and post-punk, with the lightest sliver of shoegaze. Criminal that it hasn’t enjoyed more fanfare. With gigs and tours with the likes of Maruja and Gurriers, I’m sure they’re picking up fans very quickly. Like their debut EP, Glórach (‘Loud’), this was produced by Dan Fox of Gilla Band [who’s member Alan has a cool lil’ project called The Null Club, that had a cool EP last year too, FYI].
LISTEN HERE

129: AUREALHEARTH – Merging Glosseme
This entity unites two underground musicians rooted in extreme metal’s most obscure depths. M. (Pestilength) brings a legacy of warped, diseased dissonant guitar and bass work, and M. (Trollcave, Sanctuarium) always contributes slow-crushing neutron bomb heavy drums of death doom’s highest (and darkest) tradition. The pair of tracks that form their debut EP are wonders to behold. Nightmarish visions of the black void.
LISTEN HERE

128: ambretta – Ephemeral
Lake Havasu City, Arizona’s ambretta have produced an absolutely remarkable debut EP in the form of Ephemeral. Across four short songs, the band instantly become players in the burgeoning pool of incredible screamo bands in the underground these days. Adding blackened touches here and elements of hardcore there, each move they make feels done with consummate ease. The production is crisp and on point. Don’t miss out – having released in December this still needs to be shouted about!
LISTEN HERE

127: Flagelo – Insaciable
Colombia’s Flagelo birth into the world a congealed hybrid of black and death metal with the diseased heart of grindcore churning in the murk. This needs to be heard to be believed, but there’s something so delightfully pure and perverse about this EP. Sick to their stomach riffs tear across your mind as the horror of the rest of the instrumentation plays catch up. Abominable in all the best ways.
LISTEN HERE

126: Suffering Hour – Impelling Rebirth
Minnesota’s blackened death metal heavyweights Suffering Hour awoke after a long period of silence with the release their new EP. Impelling Rebirth is comprised of five savage and unrelenting tracks with guitar work that pays homage to thrash metal roots but that has then been chewed through a mangle to devolve into extreme metal riffage. It might not quite scale the heights of their incredible 2021 LP, The Cyclic Reckoning, but it’s enough to satiate us before the band drop another classic.
LISTEN HERE

125: Keratin – Death & Rebirth
At the beginning of 2025, Naarm/Melbourne, Australia’s Keratin dropped four jaw-dropping songs of unbridled skramz power. Emotional, melodic, yet ultimately extremely cathartic, it was a set of tracks that I found myself returning to time and time again, and is a huge leap forward from their debut EP, Only Eye (which is still very good, FYI!). They really could produce a landmark release in screamo if they continue on this trajectory.
LISTEN HERE

124: Θλίψις – Servants Of Apathy
Θλίψις (Thlipsis) ignited my mind with this three song EP of their Hellenic black metal. Raw, red metal this release is dedicated by the band “to the ongoing struggle of the Palestinian people, who despite decades of continuous displacement, impoverishment, genocide and the [unsuccessful but tolerated] concealment of war crimes, continue to resist and fight for the freedom and independence”. Furious music for the horror of our time.
LISTEN HERE

123: återstod / meißel – Split
återstod is the new solo project from Suis La Lune‘s Henning Runolf, while meißel are a duo that are based in Karlsruhe, Germany (and who only released a very good five-way split with ikigai, apousia, azzacov & portrëit a week or so earlier!). Both artists contribute three songs each to this breathtaking split of emotional hardcore come emoviolence par excellence. There’s not much more I want to say – you need to listen and experience it.
LISTEN HERE

122: Clique – DEATH IS NOT OUR ONLY OPTION
Five tracks of utterly menacing, tripped-out hardcore punk from Californian band, Clique. A clarion call to wake up, come together and take action – i.e., not to resign oneself to the status quo and that death is the only option, but to ACT – this is a moving, urgent and polemic EP. These songs send a surge throughout the body, providing energy for the fight ahead, especially the rousing closing title track.
LISTEN HERE

121: cóclea – Modus Operandi
cóclea from Santiago, Chile also feature lower down on this list, but are also present here in the form of a short release, that they have dubbed a “mixtape”. Post-hardcore and noise rock merge and drift apart again on these intriguing set of songs. There’s a vibrancy to the composition and performance that makes the band ones to watch and simply irresistible to my ears.
LISTEN HERE

120: Llewelyn – Borrowed Bones
A heady mix of post-hardcore, skramz and noise rock, Dallas, Texas’ Llewelyn have quietly been building something quite special. The Ghost is Clear Records released this EP on vinyl with the B-side being the band’s wonderful 2023 EP, Disposable Culture. The new EP is sharper, more condensed and has all the elements to bring in a wide arrangement of potential fans. Excellent stuff.
LISTEN HERE

119: Twine – Deer in the Headlights
If you managed to catch Twine‘s intricate, understated album, New Old Horse at the tail end of 2024, you will no doubt have been utterly delighted they gifted us with new material less than a year later. Admittedly, the Naarm/Melbourne band only gave us three more songs, but what a trio of tracks they are! The earnest passion of noise rock and post-hardcore somehow funnelled through the kaleidoscopic lens of delicate alternative rock. I already want more…
LISTEN HERE

118: nvage – nvage
Sludge and shoegaze infected post-metal is the order of the day from this Parisian duo. nvage gave us six taut, tightly wound and carefully constructed tracks on their self-titled debut EP. With just vocals, drums and a six-string bass the pair create a fascinating sound that is begging to be explored at more length. I’d also love to hear these tracks live ASAP!
LISTEN HERE

117: Missouri Executive Order 44 / Usurp Synapse – Split
New kids on the block (Missouri Executive Order 44) do a wicked 7″ split with legends of the game (Usurp Synapse). The former deliver two of their best ever tracks in the form of ‘Twister of ’79’ and ‘youaregoingtodie.com’, while the latter offer forth four typically frantic, dislocating tracks. Mathcore done differently from one another and both very different from the standard fare one can endlessly sift through on Bandcamp.
LISTEN HERE

116: open carry state – i’ll live in this discomfort
Atlanta, Georgia trio open carry state did a one-two-punch in 2025, delivering a demo early on, before following it up swiftly in the summer with their debut EP, i’ll live in this discomfort. The five songs on this are the epitome of emoviolence, brimming with emotion, passion and despair. It hits the bullseye of being inventive enough to grab the attention while also being familiar enough and executed so incredibly well as to have you on board by the time you’re halfway through the first track.
LISTEN HERE

115: El Peso De Respirvr – La vida se obstruye conforme avanza este inviero
A debut EP from El Peso De Respirvr, a gut-wrenching screamo band all the way from Antofagasta, Chile. There is just so much feeling poured into these four short songs – they’re positively bursting at the seams. The tracks almost fall apart under the weight of such emotion, but the impassioned vocals knit the parts together, creating an awe-inspiring whole.
LISTEN HERE

114: lorrrel – 4 songs
As might be increasingly apparent at this point of the list, the EP format is the best friend of screamo and all it’s subtle derivations. And so here we have another fantastic four songs of skramz / emoviolence from a trio from the Bay Area, California, lorrrel. The band explain that “these are songs about fruitless existence in a capitalist world [where] we fight in the skin we were given”. The desperation that is palpable behind their material is keenly felt. Their music, infectious.
LISTEN HERE

113: NEWANDYKE – Consequential Madness
2025 was another year of “comebacks” but this was one I had not forseen whatsoever. The first new release from the Connecticut math-grind stalwarts NEWANDYKE in over twenty years (?!?!), Consequential Madness showcases the band’s violent and precise style as though they never left. They’ve not missed a beat. Seriously impressive. If you’re unfamiliar with the band, any fans of Ion Dissonance and As The Sun Sets should stop what they’re doing and tune in.
LISTEN HERE

112: Forteresse – À Couteaux Tirés
Métal noir Québécois is how one probably ought to refer to Forteresse. This new two-track EP is nothing short of stunning. Black metal of the highest order, the ‘A-side’ carries the title track, a wondrous pummelling of riffs and the first new song from the band in nine whole years. The ‘B-side’ is a purely instrumental piece, ‘Torpeur Hivernale’, but no less impressive. With a new LP promised, if ‘À Couteaux Tirés’ is anything to measure the rest of the material by, we are in for something very, very special indeed.
LISTEN HERE

111: Purging – Purging
The Long Beach, Californians deliver a mind-altering five song self-titled EP in just over twenty minutes running length. Dazzling death metal that incorporates small, subtle touches of black metal and doom into the mix, Purging is a breathtaking ride and some of the biggest extreme metal labels are surely queueing up to release whatever they record next. That said, only now have I realised that they did bequeath us with a new standalone track, ‘Stygian Descent’, at the end of 2025! Awesome.
LISTEN HERE

110: Keeley Forsyth & Matthew Bourne – Hand to Mouth
Keeley Forsyth occupies a special place in my brain – she’s rewired it with each of her releases (EP The Photograph, and LPs Debris, Limbs, and 2024’s, The Hollow) – and just so happens to be from Oldham. I was not as familiar with pianist and composer Matthew Bourne’s work, although I had come across his album this is not for you. (2024), as the title reminded me of the opening inscription to my favourite novel, House of Leaves. Anyway… Forsyth and Bourne’s work are characterised by compositional austerity – boiling ideas down into skeletal simplicity. Hand to Mouth pushes this process to the limit. This collaboration is magic.
LISTEN HERE

109: YARD – YARD II
A trio from Dublin, Ireland, YARD are doing something weird to punk. Warped and warping electropunk blurs with stuttering post-punk, all spread like a turbulent paste on a bed of pensive, oblique alternative rock. It’s an onslaught that will leave you hyperventilating but wanting to dive right back in. This and their previous self-titled EP, were released on a very lovely Dinked Edition.
LISTEN HERE

108: Hallucivore – Shrouded in Exogaian Petrichor
Weird, avant-garde metal always seems to exude from Boston, Massachusetts. I should know – I was lucky enough to release the debut LP from Ehnahre years ago. Hallucivore may couch themselves far more in the death metal realm with their imagery (stunning cover and logo!), but the music they produce is definitely colouring outside the lines of genre. Extreme, punishing and constantly surprising, the five tracks on their debut EP, Shrouded in Exogaian Petrichor suggest a bright future, where this quartet will soon be influence on others.
LISTEN HERE

107: Otala – Fire! To the River
London-based Otala are ostensibly a post-rock band. Except they’re not. They allow post-punk, experimental and art rock to burrow into their foundations, causing havok and allowing the seven tracks on their MLP Fire! To the River to wildly deviate from all expectations. The five-piece first came into my view in 2024, with their 7″ Commedia / Guatavita already proving they had a unique sound and the quality of performance to back it up. It’s very exciting to think where they might travel sonically from here.
LISTEN HERE

106: Mourn Recif – Mourn Recif
A screamo quartet from Van Isle, Mourn Recif are already such a special band. It’s sort of frightening what they might after this and the awesome split they did later in 2025 with A Recorded Dawn. On the three tracks on their self-titled debut EP, they tear the skramz rulebook up, stitch it back together again, only to eventually set it on fire. Their recording, production and mixing is also very unique – blending an almost raw demo quality in moments with crystal clear snapshots the next. Could be and should be huge.
LISTEN HERE

105: Chatterton – Tiny Empire
Oxnard, California’s Chatterton follow up their beguiling 2024 album Fields of This with a gorgeous little EP in the form of Tiny Empire. Their pretty but dark and murky slowcore mixes with intimate indie with echoes of American folk and country lightly touching the sides but never coming to the fore. Completely gorgeous and utterly enchanting, this duo can really capture the heart and the mind.
LISTEN HERE

104: Blackwater Holylight – If You Only Knew
I distinctly remember hearing Blackwater Holylight for the first time in 2018 and being extremely excited, sharing it with a handful of people [no names!] who shrugged, were largely unimpressed, and didn’t see their potential. I have felt exonerated throughout every step of their career since. If You Only Knew is a three song EP (plus a cover of Radiohead‘s ‘All I Need’) that felt like a lovely little appetiser as the band started to roll out their new 2026 LP, Not Here But Gone. A subtle shift can be detected from the first moments of opening track ‘Wandering Lost’, as the quintet continue to grow and evolve, mining new ground for their dreamy, doom-inflected shoegazing hard rock. A subtle but brave step forward, as they continue to traverse this familiar sonic terrain, finding hidden territory just for them in the shimmering, careening vista.
LISTEN HERE

103: Slutavverkning – Skräp
Stockholm, Sweden’s Slutavverkning first put their “nose to the grindstone in 2018 to explore the sweet spot between proletarian noise-rock and unhinged acid-jazz”, according to their Bandcamp. Can’t argue with that. Skräp does, in four short tracks, what many an album fails to archive with an expansive runtime. Hardcore punk is also very much involved in the fray, as the quintet almost boil over in their ferocious, concentrated performances. To my shame this was my initiation into the band – I am happily exploring their back catalogue now.
LISTEN HERE

102: Glixen – Quiet Pleasures
Shimmering dreamy pop shoegaze from Phoenix, Arizona, Glixen are truly rode a wave of notoriety in 2025. The quartet seem so unassuming, but they are a powerhouse of catchy pop played behind a gossamer thin, but obscuring nonetheless, curtain of noise and dynamic shifts. Playful both live and on record, the five sumptuous songs on Quiet Pleasures tease, delight and release with a paradox – both careful and carefree. Entering into their sixth year in 2026, it feels as though the band might be poised for a significant levelling up.
LISTEN HERE

101: dogwhistle – textile waste
dogwhistle, from Toronto, Ontario, are a post-hardcore band that are not interested in messing around with subtlety. The time for that is over, they proclaim on this debut five song (plus intro) EP – no justice, no peace. Time to face down your oppressors. A lack of subtlety does not mean, however, that complexity lies in ruin. Far from it. The Canadian quintet mix the heyday of 90s post-hardcore (and noise rock) with the contemporary blasted-out noise and experimentation of a band such as Uniform on textile waste to devastating effect.
LISTEN HERE

100: Ashen Hands – Ashen Hands
This Bologna-based Italian emoviolence quartet of Ashen Hands have produced something really special on their debut self-titled EP. Their brand of utterly caustic screamo caught me off guard and it’s not hard to see why the ever-excellent Tomb Tree Tapes got involved with other fabulous skramz labels (Dingleberry, Khya & My Back Hurts) to release a limited edition cassette of this beaut.
LISTEN HERE

99: Mil-Spec – Mil-Spec
More quality hardcore punk tunes from Toronto band Mil-Spec. The band have been going for close to a decade at this point, so any self-titled release always raises the eyebrow. Happily, this five track EP distils everything great about the six-piece punk band into one very palatable dose. You also have to respect a band that is making waves in the hardcore scene that doesn’t have any social media to speak of. Your link for some updates is likely the label they’re on: lockinout.
LISTEN HERE

98: life – drifting in the moonlight. It became even louder than before
Damián might disagree with my classification of this as an MLP, but I had to squeeze this in. It was an insanely prolific year for the musician, none more so than with life, the beloved screamo project of his. After a number of fallow years, life had SO MANY releases in 2025. While I’ve tried to limit too many repeated bands in this list to make sure I can shine a light on other artists, Damián’s incredible output needed to be an exception. All five tracks on this non-“demo” release are amazing, but eleven-minute closer ‘orange sunset in your name’ is an absolute showstopper.
LISTEN HERE

97: Constrict – Kadavergehorsam
Constrict is a grindcore band from Potsdam, Germany, formed in 2015. Fusing fast, aggressive blasts with death metal elements, their sound combines raw speed with relentless heaviness. After several DIY releases they returned in 2025 with Kadavergehorsam, released by 7Degrees Records, Loner Cult Records, and 783Label, and is their most furious and focused effort to date.  In some of their most virulent moments Constrict breach into powerviolence territory, too. A dizzying display of destruction.
LISTEN HERE

96: Velvetine – wisteria
An alternative rock band suffused with a heady dose of all things goth, the quartet of Velvetine from London, UK, deliver an understated bewitching five song (plus intro) EP of the highest quality. I’d seen them live once before the EP was released and was impressed, but listening to the recording and being at the launch gig, it was immediately apparent that the band had massively levelled up in a short time. I hope this release finds its way into the right ears, because it deserves to be listened to far and wide, and a UK underground hit.
LISTEN HERE

95: The New Eves – Red Brick / Whale Station
Brighton’s The New Eves will certainly feature on my Albums of the Year list later on, with their debut LP The New Eve is Rising, but only a month following that, we were gifted a further two tracks in the form of ‘Red Brick’ and ‘Whale Station’. The magnificent quartet garnered so much praise for their LP (and rightly so), that these two songs went rather under the radar, even for those singing the album’s praises. ‘Red Brick’ is a track that wouldn’t fit on the LP, as it feels like more of a ‘jam’ but certainly follows in a similar vein, whereas ‘Whale Station’ is a singularly unique piece, following a stream-of-consciousness lyrical approach and a sparser, more expansive approach. This band is so special.
LISTEN HERE

94: Church Tongue – You’ll Know It Was Me
The midwest five-piece Church Tongue returned to the fray in 2025 with a stunning six song EP entitled You’ll Know It Was Me. An EP all about love and all the different ways it can be expressed – how it can be euphoric, healing, or painful. As such, the EP was released by the band and Pure Noise Records on Valentine’s Day! Punishing hardcore with riffs for days, the band excel at infusing their heaviness with razor sharp emotion. There are guest vocals on half of the songs, most notably on the closing title track where deafheaven‘s George Clarke lends his inimitable howl.
LISTEN HERE

93: jamais vu / Razones para el olvido / PORTIA / Löri / Ümit – 5-way split
As I believe I have already written, anything over a three-way split always seems a little too indulgent to me, and really struggles to be a cohesive listen as well as maintain consistent quality. Once proven wrong with a five-way split earlier in this list, here we are again with another (and a label behind this did a pretty damn good eight-way split!). If anything this release should be more unlikely, given the band’s provide different number of tracks [Ümit (3), jamais vu (2), Razones para el olvido (2), PORTIA (1) & Löri (1)]. What is true though, is that every single band knocks it out of the park although I just can’t get over how good jamais vu are.
LISTEN HERE

92: Pogarda – Czarne Obrazy
Imagine blackened punk coexisting with experimental black metal and you may have a vague approximation of what Pogarda from Krosno, Poland sound like on their debut EP. The name of their band means ‘disdain’ and the quartet of musicians certainly live up to that meaning via the five tracks offered up here. Like many bands on this list, Pogarda are a young band – both in age and (relatively) in how long they’ve been together. Similarly to previous comments, I think they could deliver something even more special on future releases.
LISTEN HERE

91: Decrepit Altar – Egregious Defilement
The insanely promising three song debut EP from Croatian death doom outfit Decrepit Altar, Egregious Defilement is a masterclass in concentrated heaviness. The Zagreb natives produce blasting drums and overwhelming gloomy guitars that would give the singularity of a black hole a run for its money when it comes to intense pressure. The gravity of what they have achieved across this trio of tracks cannot be understated, with the rumbles of the last notes played enough to cause seismic shifts in distant lands. Whether any of us can survive the onslaught of a full-length album is yet to be seen, but I’m more than willing to be tested.
LISTEN HERE

90: Shit Happiness – лес 1, лес 3
Russian instrumental noise-rock due Shit Happiness produced a spectacular EP (translated as Forest 1, Forest 3) in 2025. The four tracks that constitute this unhinged record are almost singular in their creativity and compositional approach. Deeply experimental the guitar and drums of Evgeniy and Andrey respectively don’t need any other elements to tell their strange and winding tales. There are elements of hardcore punk, noise rock, grunge, math rock, and much more all interlaced within these dense “songs”.
LISTEN HERE

89: KNUB – CRUB
Baltimore’s KNUB write riffs with the same density as the core of the Earth. I’m going out on a limb and classifying CRUB as an MLP rather than an LP. At seven tracks and less than twenty-five minutes, I still think that makes sense. Anyway, back to the music… The tectonic might of their riffs aside, the rest of the band thunderously provide more heaviness to their overwhelming noise rock assault on the senses.
LISTEN HERE

88: Lepre – Mortuus Morgana
The stunning debut from Lepra features four reveries of romantic death metal in the Stockholm tradition. On Mortuus Morgana, the trio masterfully reanimates the finest elements of their regional predecessors. Brooding, mid-tempo melodic riffs and thoughtful arrangements all combine for a fresh take on a tried and true formula. Imagine golden eras of Katatonia and Tribulation at their most rich and darkly romantic with the contemporaneous Këkht Aräkh fronting them. Truly unique and utterly amazing.
LISTEN HERE

87: Ira Glass – Joy is no knocking nation
OH MY! Ira Glass from Chicago produce an incredible febrile juxtaposition of sounds – moving between noise rock, post-hardcore, free jazz and experimental art rock seemingly at whim. And yet… it all makes sense?! Five tracks of the best panic attack you’ve ever had – a cacophony of almost indecipherable vocals, squealing & squalling saxophone and serrated guitars. Let it pummel you into anxiety and drag you, kicking and screaming, into a wry smile. The band did a limited cassette, but I’m begging for an edition of this on some nice wax.
LISTEN HERE

86: Mar de Árboles – Ausencia
Puebla, Mexico’s Mar De Árboles produce some totally righteous post-hardcore/screamo on this incredible debut EP. Ausencia features six amazing tracks that flow exquisitely together, building upon one another until ‘El Sonido Del Caudal’s triumphant denouement. Brilliant, urgent music that also incorporates elements of hardcore punk and midwest emo with a particular Central American flavour, this band are so impressive. In fact, they have already released a new EP, Los Últimos Días Del Mar, in January 2026.
LISTEN HERE

85: Můra – Needle Cathedral
Three tracks of blackened death doom released in January 2025 from Prague, Czechia based Můra. Weirdly ‘catchy’ this release crawled into the inner sanctum of my mind and refused to leave. Despite the death doom tag, I feel the band would feel just as at home sharing the stage on a night with crust and hardcore punk bands. The cavernous, guttural vocals certainly signpost the band as being heavy, but there is a great sense of melodicism here, with raw production hammering home the blackened edge and genuinely adding to Needle Cathedral‘s sense of atmosphere.
LISTEN HERE

84: Ethel Cain – Perverts
A ninety-minute EP, you say? Well, I have to be different don’t I? I’ve fought against artists claiming something something is an LP when I think it’s an EP/MLP, and here I am now accepting what Hayden Silas Anhedönia – aka Ethel Cain – has labelled this drone behemoth, when other reviewers and listeners freely refer to it as an album. Oh well… This was a pleasant surprise for me (less so for some of their newer fans, I think!), expanding on a side of their artistry exhibited on Preacher’s Daughter, that I didn’t think they would dare to explore further. This was a mesmerising, hypnotic piece of work, operating firmly in the peripheral world of drone, noise, and ambient music. I need a physical release of this, please & thank you, Mother.
ONLY ON NON-BANDCAMP STREAMING

83: Thin – the overlapping nature of things
Slowly but surely I believe New York’s Thin are finally getting the recognition that they deserve. I discovered them in the early days of the Covid pandemic in 2020, just as they were releasing their debut full-length, dawn. Since then I’ve been on the hook. The short, six-song the overlapping nature of things is mathy screamo/grind executed just how it should be done. The trio repeatedly punch their fans in the gut and we thank them for their service. Opening track ‘Every Day A New Atrocity’ lays down the law and remains my standout from this incredible EP.
LISTEN HERE

82: Umulamahri – Learning the Secrets of Acid
Demented in its dynamism, Umulamahri comprise of death metal vocalist institution Doug Moore (Pyrrhon, Weeping Sores, Glorious Depravity, Scarcity & Seputus) and unholy guitar swordsman Andrew Hawkins (Baring Teeth & Molting). Seething, twisting, crawling experimental death metal slithers into the unquiet depths of dark industrial ambience from a duo of musicians who are accustomed to exploring the hidden shadows of extreme music, it’s perhaps unsurprising that this is an utterly remarkable debut EP. Skittering, fevered session drum work from Kevin Paradis (The Seven Gates, Mithridatic, Benighted, Svart Crown, Melechesh, Shining, and much, much more session work!) completes this caustic piece of insanity.
LISTEN HERE

81: Misere – Misere
Absolutely stunning frosty post-punk from Berlin. All seven tracks on this debut MLP from Misere are excellent, summoning images of industrial towns brought to a halt in the depths of a blizzard. Released on vinyl by Static Age Musik and cassette by Mangal, two great labels and proponents of the sub-genre in Germany, the band stand out among other great acts. Really quite special.
LISTEN HERE

80: Westside Cowboy – This Better Be Something Great
If you listen closely enough you can positively hear the momentum of buzz that Westside Cowboy are receiving. This debut EP seemed to be on the tip of most people’s tongues when it came to the UK indie rock underground. They have already doubled down with a new EP, So Much Country ‘Till We Get There, released at the very beginning of 2026. It’s richly deserved, with their unique blend of power pop, rock n’ roll and weirder eccentricities all complimenting one another and going down a treat.
LISTEN HERE

79: thisworldisnotkind – death
thisworldisnotkind are a band from Iowa City who play heartbreaking, soul-tearing skramz. They released two EPs in 2025 – death at the very beginning of the year and grief at its close. Both are incredible, so I chose the former to list but both to highlight. There is something so pure about this band – everything feels extremely authentic and true. Lived. A special shout out to the honest and unfraid standalone single ‘I Wish My Friends Would Stop Fucking Killing Themselves’, too. They’re raw, unfiltered and all the better for it. I can’t wait to see what they do next.
LISTEN HERE

78: Cross Bringer – Healismus Aeternus
Five years after their uncompromising debut LP, The Signs of Spiritual Delusion, which I reviewed for Echoes & Dust and that I feel was still horribly overlooked by far too many, Cross Bringer returned with a no less feral follow-up with their MLP, Healismus Aeternus [another where some reviewers have classed it as an LP]. Aggressive, blackened crust / hardcore with some very intentionally dissonant high-pitched guitar riffs, that also features passages of ambience and shoegaze adjacent soundscapes. Still a band separated by vast geography, it would be great to see this played live at some point in the future.
LISTEN HERE

77: Millpool – One Last Midnight
London’s Millpool released their anticipated debut four-track EP in October of 2025 and delivered on all the promise their live shows had exhibited. Experimental rock provides the foundations for explorations into post-hardcore hardcore, jazz and post-rock across these four concise songs. There should be waaaaaay more buzz about this band than there already is, so why not get on the hype train with me? I’m extremely excited to see where they go from this brilliant start to their recorded output.
LISTEN HERE

76: Löri / Letterbombs – Split
Berlin’s Löri contribute two songs on this magnificent split, offering forth their signature blend of screamo, crust, and post-metal, carrying on the fine work from their self-titled debut in 2024 (which was a year-end highlight). Letterbombs‘ contribution is four short, sharp audio attacks of their trademark Finnish powerviolence. I’m so happy to highlight these two incredible bands, particularly the latter who did put out a great split with another band in 2025 but unfortunately allegations rather overtook the release (as well as another good one with fellow Finns, Claire Voyancé). No mind – this was the pick of the crop, anyway!
LISTEN HERE

75: Car Bomb – Tiles Whisper Dreams
Every now and then it’s worth reminding oneself and ruminating on the fact that the Brooklyn quartet called themselves Car Bomb. It is an extremely accurate name to describe their music, especially when considering their approach on a much more concentrated audio explosion such as a three song EP. Tiles Whisper Dreams is auditory annihilation – a jackhammer working its way through your eardrum with style. It had been a long time since 2019’s Mordial but, as ever, the New Yorkers sound as if they had never been a way, and certainly not missed a beat. We can only hope that the EP proves to be a stop-gap before they return with a new full-length soon.
LISTEN HERE

74: after – after ep2
It felt as though the duo of Graham Epstein and Justine Dorsey – otherwise know as after – came out of nowhere in 2025 with their pair of self titled (ish) EPs, but they had actually been releasing a steady drip of standalone singles since early 2023 (and have continued, with a new song, ‘Cold’ released in January 2026 already!). There’s something so life-affirming on the songs on after ep2, and honestly, the six tracks on here might be better than the first, but after ep just hit me hard on discovery! What a wonderful, lovely band. I’m so looking forward to seeing how they morph the project in years to come.
LISTEN

73: Deki Alem – Forget in Mass
Maybe I’m greedy, but I’m going to go against how the artist themselves are labelling this release for the first and last time with this inclusion. Stockholm, Sweden’s Deki Alem are calling this their debut LP, and I respect that. But at eight tracks and twenty-five minutes, I personally see a future in their catalogue where they’re releasing ten to twelve tracks with a running time around thirty-five minutes and it still feeling just as vital. I hope so… ANYWAY… it’s staying on this list as a CKW approved MLP! Forget in Mass is remarkable. Old school rap production mashed with forward thinking electro trip-hop vibes sat underneath alternative, experimental hip-hop vocal delivery with a heady does of swagged and fun. So, so good.
LISTEN HERE

72: Tear Drinker – Killing the Flowers will not Delay Spring
As my good pal Gary Davidson writes on their Bandcamp page, “Some of the finest blackened post-hardcore since Oathbreaker.” Can’t say it any better, quite honestly! Only two songs on this EP, but damn are they so powerful. The epic eight-minute opener ‘Water / Well’ is expansive and punishingly heavy – post-hardcore vocals sat atop roaring sludge metal. Second track ‘Equilibrium’ feels far more like a screamo song elongated into an epic itself. Tear Drinker are clearly on a different wave-length; warping extreme sub-genres in new and unexpected ways. The Rotterdam-based quintet also produced a really interesting standalone single called ‘To the Ones Whose Bodies Shall Shake the Heavens’ honouring and a poem written by Kai Cheng Thom from her incredible book Falling Back in Love with Being Human.
LISTEN HERE

71: .22LR – Relief
I’ve been hooked on this band since their debut self-titled 2024 EP and I was hoping they would provide some new tunes in 2025. We had to wait until the final month of the year, but Relief was bestowed upon us in the holiday season. Split between Atlanta and Istanbul (!), .22LR are a five-piece screamo / emoviolence band that provides some of the most impassioned and caustic music out there. Relief is nowhere to be found on this bruising five track offering. The songs here feel a little more ‘built-out’ than the debut, but still maintain their frenetic, impassioned delivery.
LISTEN HERE

70: Porridge Radio – The Machine Starts to Sing
Just a few short weeks (or perhaps even days!) after finally managing to catch Porridge Radio live, they announced they were disbanding. This wonderful EP is the perfect swansong to a captivating, albeit far too short, discography. A spiritual successor to what would be their final album, 2024’s Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There For Me, The Machine Starts to Sing is a batch of songs from those writing and recording sessions that were of high quality, but didn’t fit into the former’s cohesive whole. There’s still magic in Dana Margolin‘s voice and guitar – and the rest of the band underpin and magnify that at all times with their brilliant performances. Here’s hoping all of them come back with new music projects sooner rather than later.
LISTEN HERE

69: Noverte – Life in minor
Bologna, Italy seems to have a great little ecosystem of screamo at the moment. One of their finest proponents is Noverte. With plenty of punk heart and post-hardcore spirit also baked into the soul of the band, the message of Life in minor is an acute and crucial EP, perhaps somehow more than their seven-track debut, Con uno sguardo solo, from 2023. Hopeful but raging against the world nonetheless, this is a band that really needs to be discussed in the same sentences as some of the foremost names in the sub-genre right now.
LISTEN HERE

68: Spy – Seen Enough
Spy, the Californian wrecking ball of hardcore punk, returned in 2025 with their new EP, Seen Enough. These guys just do not miss. Six tracks of direct, taut and tense hardcore with crazy levels of metal groove and punk swagger, Spy continue to grow into one the leading lights of this new generation. Their live show is something to behold and 2026 already seems like it’s going to be a busy year for them. I’m ready to be destroyed once again. I definitely haven’t seen enough.
LISTEN HERE

67: Lugubrious Garment – Demo MMXXV
Lugubrious Garment emerges as the latest creation of Milan-based multi-instrumentalist and relentless sound explorer Gabriele Gramaglia (Cosmic Putrefaction, Vertebra Atlantis, Turris Eburnea, and more). Conceived in the spring of 2025, the project was born out of an urge to channel a more brutal, ravenous instinct compared to Gramaglia’s other ventures, giving shape to a merciless yet dynamic form of extreme metal. Three tracks were forged and appear on this gritty, annihilating demo. Adding to the intensity is session drummer Claudio Invidia (Defacement & Devoid of Thought) contributes relentless percussion, underpinning a surge of scorching riffs, despairing screams and merciless rhythmic assaults.
LISTEN HERE

66: Sussurant Void – Ontological Degradation
Atmospheric death doom magnificence is the only way to describe Ontological Degradation, the debut demo (!!!) from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s Sussurant Void. A two minute intro gives way to three songs all cusping past the nine-minute mark. I can only assume that both members – C.B. – guitars/vocals & J.L – drums – have been in plenty of other bands, because this sounds so self-assured. I’m going to tempt fate again and say that I would be absolutely stunned if this duo didn’t release a longer release with a weighty label within the extreme metal scene.
LISTEN HERE

65: after – after ep
Having already written about the duo’s follow-up to this, after ep2, earlier on in this list, I can focus on the heart-pounding excitement of discovering after and the glorious happiness that this, their debut EP delivers to the listener! First things first: the 2000s are back. This transports me back to a time where I had ZERO time for pop, so it was less nostalgia-bait for me, and more flickering memories and a gateway to discovery/rediscovery. Frutiger-Aero-era chart music distilled and re-bottled with a soupçon dose of hyperpop on Valium. If there were around at the time they are so clearly influenced by they would no doubt be on a free with XYZ magazine compilation CD alongside Alanis Morissette and Avril Lavigne. I imagine I’m not selling this to some readers – but imagine that entire period was produce like and actually operated like the indie & alt rock scene on Bandcamp does now.
LISTEN HERE

64: thistle. – it’s nice to see you, stranger
Another incredibly exciting young band from the UK joins this list in the form of thistle. Melding sub-genres as diverse as punk, shoegaze, noise rock, and loft, with vibes recognisable from the trending augmented sounds of nu-gaze, the Northampton group are a must-watch band live and they managed to pour that energy and vitality into it’s nice to see you, stranger. They had a busy 2025, also releasing the excellent standalone single ‘tied’ which I covered in my previous ‘Singles’ list. Signed to finger-on-the-pulse record label Venn, the sky’s the limit for this underground alt rock group.
LISTEN HERE

63: Mo’ynoq / Urocyon – Split
Mo’ynoq are an American black metal band influenced by the likes of Ash Borer and Wolves in the Throne Room, creating a pummelling sonic labyrinth, spinning dire narratives on exquisite wrath. Urocyon was born from the ashes of the long-running Appalachian black metal band Shadow of the Destroyer. With a more melodic sound they still summon the same desperate rage over the destruction of our planet at the altar of capitalism. The pair contribute two tracks each, both of which happen to be their best material to date. A fearsome split.
LISTEN HERE

62: Cages – Better Mistakes
German post-hardcore band Cages released a powerful new sophomore EP in 2025, following on from the extremely impressive second thoughts (2022). Emphasising the influence of 90s screamo and punky emotive hardcore on this new six song effort, the band produced some of their most poised and focused music yet.
LISTEN HERE

61: Y – Y
The four songs that comprise the short self-titled EP of London’s almost-impossible-to-search-for band Y are nothing short of extraordinary. One of the strongest bands to come out of the Windmill scene in a while (and GOD DAMN is that saying something at the moment…!!), the quartet are an ear bending anomaly. Live they sound like much of the noise might be pre-recorded; recorded it all sounds so organic. They really are a band where one can choose your own adventure when it comes to making up a new sub-genre. Heavy, but with incredible grooves, riffs for days, technicality, noisy, beautiful, sax to the fore, rumbling bass – and at the end of the day the result of that mash-up is music to dance to.
ONLY ON NON-BANDCAMP STREAMING (very odd…)

60: Man/Woman/Chainsaw – Adam & Steve / MadDog
Despite the two links below, I promise this is a little double A-side single / EP, as the pair of songs were released as a 7″. That’s how I’m classing it anyway. As previously detailed in the ‘Singles’ of 2025 post, Man/Woman/Chainsaw are another London band that could lay claim to the assertion that they’re the hottest musical property in the UK capital right now. Art post-punk rock with just bags of personality and originality, the six-piece should have a huge 2026 if there’s any justice in the world. If they can coalesce the buzz, the songwriting and the live performances up and distill it into a coherent full-length sometime soon, they will blow up, of that I am sure.
LISTEN HERE (‘Adam & Steve’) & LISTEN HERE (‘MadDog’)

59: stitching – stitching
What a debut set of tracks these are! stitching from Flagstaff, Arizona released a self-titled EP with six unbelievable songs on it. We were gifted a further two on their very, very good split with my friend, my urn, too. Across the brief runtime, the quartet produce some of the most beautifully woven and poignantly performed screamo – heavily indebted to math rock and old-school emo, too – that one could sample in 2025. Endlessly re-playable, this band is one to watch in the coming years, for sure.
LISTEN HERE

58: Apple of Basilisk – His Crowned Skull Raised to the Sun
Before I started writing these lists of the best releases in 2025, I highlighted a few countries that felt like they had an extraordinary year – Ireland, Chile, Mexico and particularly Poland, for reference – but I really ought to have included Canada, too. Apple of Basilisk hail from Toronto and are one of my finds of the year. Incorporating elements from across the extreme metal spectrum – think the grind of Full of Hell, the experimental black metal of latter-era Altar of Plagues, underlined crawling sludgey death doom. Dare I mention that it even gave me some MARE vibes…?! If you like the sound of that, you MUST listen to this.
LISTEN HERE

57: Grim Harvest – Demo 2025
From the deep recesses of the United Kingdom comes Grim Harvest, the newest project featuring members of Crows-AnWra, Battle of Wolf 359, Meandgoliath, Jackals, and Cady. With such experience and musical mendacity, it perhaps should have been unsurprising how awesome their demo would be. And yet… this thing still blew me away. Great live, too! I’m always wary of hoping for too much in the screamo-adjacent underground – particularly in the UK – given the febrile nature of the scene when it comes to longevity of projects, but I really do hope we hear plenty more of Grim Harvest soon.
LISTEN HERE

56: BLOOD CHARIOT – CHARIOT OF BLOOD
Raw, psychedelic blackened death metal. Two tracks. Just over thirteen minutes. An absolute barnburner. The trio from Portland, Maine announced themselves to the metal underground in 2025 and for the life of me, I cannot understand the lack of discussion around this new band. If they don’t bring out an EP or LP on a respected label, I’ll be truly stunned. ‘Absolute War’ kicks proceedings off with dizzying, technical whirlwind, before giving way to the slightly longer and expansive ‘Horsemen of the Black Divine’, which is admittedly no less heavy and dazzling. This is why I listen to demos and EPs – to discover bands with this much ability and promise at such an early stage.
LISTEN HERE

55: Sans Visage – drowned / resistance
In December 2025 sans visage from Tokyo released their new EP, downed / resistance. Five tracks of energetic, top tier Japanese skramz, it was in rotation across the month, battling against the piped in Christmas tunes! The central track ‘sinking’ is worth the price of admission alone. I would love to see them live, if they can ever make it over. Here’s hoping. Good news fellow vinyl nerds too, with the ever wonderful Dog Knights Productions will be releasing this sometime in 2026 on a no doubt lovely wax edition(s).
LISTEN HERE

54: Melvins & Napalm Death – Savage Imperial Death March
Originally released in this EP format exclusively on vinyl via the legendary Amphetamine Reptile, in 2026 this will be expanded by two more tracks (‘Awful Handwriting’ and ‘Comparison is the Thief of Joy’) into an album released by Ipecac. This is NOT a split release – this is a full-on collaboration between two of the most legendary heavy bands still plying their trade today. If I’m honest, I didn’t think this would work and it would be a bit awkward. I had, of course, momentarily forgotten how experienced and creative these musicians are and so this turned out to be – you betcha! – incredible. If you don’t have the vinyl and want to hear the tracks then I’m sure there’s uhh… places… you can go to manage to do so. Ahem.
ONLY AVAILABLE TO LISTEN TO ON PHYSICAL VINYL (or later in 2026 HERE)

53: Demersal – Vi kunne ikke blive her for evigt, vel?
Demersal, a hardcore/screamo band based in Odense, Denmark, returned to us with this jaw-dropping new EP, Vi kunne ikke blive her for evigt, vel? in 2025. Through an imperious, aggressive performance, their music explores feelings of grief and meaninglessness in this modern world, communicated through sections of chaotic, expressive hardcore, and melancholic post-rock, joined with vocals that switch between confident screamed commands and fragile peons that sound on the edge of mental breakdown. Diversifying their sound even further than 2024’s incredible self-titled LP already exhibited, the quartet show no signs of slowing down.
LISTEN HERE

52: Touchdown Jesus – It’s All Feast or Famine
Just over two years on from their outstanding debut EP, You Must Not Know Who You Are To Them, Touchdown Jesus returned with their sophomore, It’s All Feast of Famine. Experimental rock with caustic post-punk and bouncing math rock bubbling up and frothing over throughout the manically inventive five tracks, one can only assert that the Cincinnati quartet may well be evil geniuses. They might be as close to an American version of the Windmill scene as I can think of (see Black Country, New Road, Squid, etc.), were it not for the penchant for daring to be heavier than most that emanate from London’s Brixton landmark, and as such you can only rest on comparisons to SWANS and when John Zorn collaborates with metal bands such as Cleric.
LISTEN HERE

51: Mourir – Insolence
French dissonant black metal quartet Mourir have been (not so) quietly building their reputation for a number of years now. Screaming their arrival on the scene with debut MLP, Animal Bouffe Animal in 2020, before following it up with another MLP in the guise of Disgrâce two years later, their momentum continued unabated and unabashed. Still… perhaps the Toulouse band remain criminally underrated. I’m sincerely opening 2025 EP Insolence changes that completely. The only word to describe this band and certainly this new release is INTENSE. Crushing force contorted into these bouts of sonic hell… A feat of composition and production. Truly awe-inspiring.
LISTEN HERE

50: SARMAT – Upgrade
SARMAT returned with a conceptual sequel to their Dubious Disk debut EP that destroyed all ears who encountered their exploratory approach to alchemically melding jazz and extreme metal. In just over twenty-one minutes, recorded live at Gojira‘s renowned Silverchord Studio and expertly mixed & mastered by Colin Marston, they expand that sound further. Bassist Steve Blanco from Imperial Triumphant also plays synthesizers, Niko Hasapopoulos upright bass and James Jones’ sprawling, spider armed drums, always creative and powerful remain the pivot on which the unheimlich troupe build their furious jam sessions. The band’s new guitarist and composer, Zachary Blakeslee Reid, a student of the renowned New York avant-jazz guitar master Elliot Sharp proves he knows where to lead the project next and Upgrade also features new vocalist Ilya Belko debut recording for the band.
LISTEN HERE

49: Locusts and Honey – Shadow of My End
Dark and ambient blackened doom? Sign me up. Locusts and Honey, based in London, return with the twenty-minute opus, Shadow of My End, with the excellently named song ‘Come, Appalling Sleep’ constituting half of the running length of the five song EP. Following up the excellent debut in 2024, Teach me to live that I dread the grave as little as my bed, I thought I should keep my expectations grounded, but it turned out that the band easy superseded what they had achieved before. Looking forward, it’s scary to think what this UK extreme doom band could produce next.
LISTEN HERE

48: PARADE – Lightning Hit the Trees
Despite being ten tracks and nearly half an hour long, Lightning Hit the Trees from London’s PARADE finds itself here due to the fact the seven-piece band classify it as a “mixtape” and I’m going to slide that categorisation within the field of MLP. M’kay? In many ways the band feels as thought they must be adjacent to the oft-referenced Windmill Scene, but I don’t believe there is any connection, although I am sure they have interacted with artists in the past and it wouldn’t surprise me if members frequented the venue themselves. PARADE are an odd band – with art rock and punk certainly their bedrock, they explore strange cuts and loops of electronic music, spliced within. It can be jarring, disconcerting, and create a flurry of juxtapositions within a single short ‘song’, but it always transfixing to listen to (and watch).
LISTEN HERE

47: Clay Birds – a separation from vanity
It is absolutely crazy to me how fast and how far Mission Viejo, California quartet Clay Birds have progressed and transformed in only three short years since their already excellent demo, a reflection of…. A split with Knumears and a remarkable 2024 album (Bled Out and Painted Blue) were incredibly impressive and I was already a card-carrying fan, but a separation from vanity still stopped me in my tracks. Five songs that find the perfect balance between light and dark, simplicity and complexity, beauty and rage. Lofi screamo of the very highest order.
LISTEN HERE

46: Whitehorse / Uboa – The Dissolution of Eternity
Two Australian heavyweights team up for a split of almost unimaginable intensity. Whitehorse deliver two brooding, masterful epics of crushing, pulverising, sludgy doom that are further blemished and disfigured by acidic noise raining down upon them. Uboa contributes four tracks that sound like they are melting from the inside – despairing vast drones skewered with towering walls of furious industrial walls of noise. An overwhelmingly bleak affair that somehow still has flashes of beauty within its sonic terror, this had my eyes as wide as they can biologically go from the first listen!
LISTEN HERE

45: Nourishment – Tar
One of the most unique listening experiences that I had in 2025 – not just for short-form releases, but just in general – the prolific output by Nourishment and particularly their EP Tar still confounds easy classification or, quite frankly, how it actually results in a bold, cohesive sound. Imperious icy post-punk and dark death rock instrumentals are disfigured by raw black metal vocals to create a mutated milieu. It shouldn’t work – and in the first few moments of listening I didn’t think it did. In fact, I remember finding myself shaking my head with disdain… Only to find myself shaking my head with disbelief and wonder moments later when the band locked me in. They released two other EPs (Nourishment and Coiled Cross) and what I’m erring towards calling an MLP (Effervescent Gaze) in 2025. On a creative streak, the first day of 2026 saw them release a self-titled LP.
LISTEN HERE

44: palecistus – something happens and remains
Seoul, South Korea’s palecistus insist on #makeskramzhardcoreagain and they needless to say they accomplish this on something happens and remains with aplomb on their debut EP. I mean: woah. I had stumbled across their demo and rehearsal tracks in years previous and thought they were a very promising band, but they missed a few steps to get to quite this level… This is a huge leap forward. Firstly, this desperately needs a physical release. Secondly, it’s extremely exciting to think of how the quintet might evolve (and improve?!) from here.
LISTEN HERE

43: ostraca – Eventualities
Four new tracks from Richmond, Virginia’s ostraca is always going to be a good time. The band have been around for around a decade now but Eventualities finds them still exhibiting the same vim and vigour that they always have. More so, perhaps! These sharp bursts reminded me why I fell for them all those years ago. They are irresistible – producing screamo with a light post-metal tweak that feels as though it’s been around forever. Urgent, impassioned and joining the greats that have gone before them this has me hyped for the band all over again, and I can’t wait for a new full-length whenever it may come. In the meantime, listen to everything they’ve ever done, won’t you?
LISTEN HERE

42: cóclea / canut de bon – No esperan por nadie
cóclea, who have already featured in their list with their EP Modus Operandi, team up with fellow Chilean band canut de bon who they share a member with (and I believe both bands also share members with the incredible Hesse Kassel), for an extremely impressive split release. Aside from a short intro presumably made together, both bands offer up four songs each. Despite No esperan por nadie perhaps not working all that well as a split, due to the very different natures of the two bands, it still places this highly due to the quality on display. cóclea are the more expansive of the two; math rock influenced dirty punk with post-hardcore-esque vocals, that confounds and amazes. canut de bon are South American sasscore with a penchant for a metalcore riff appearing out of the blue. A raw exhibitiong (almost demo/live) of two stupendous bands.
LISTEN HERE

41: chest. – All Good Things End
Parisian quintet chest. released their debut EP All Good Things End in 2025 and what an introduction it is. I enjoy their own wry description of their sound – post post-punk – but it also does a rather good job. Using classic post-punk as a base, the five-piece blend in alternative indie and a touch of noise rock into the mix. Big things will surely come for them and they are seemingly supercharging the momentum they have attained with a new single (‘cor’) having been already released in 2026. If you’re into any version of grimy punk or rock in the underground spectrum, then this group are very much worth keeping tabs on.
LISTEN HERE

40: Falsus Evangelium – Veneficvs, Barratry, et Magnvm Peccatvm
Progressive, dissonant avant-garde black metal from Surakarta, Indonesia, the debut EP from Falsus Evangelium is a jaw-dropping four track musical monstrosity. A one man project from the mysterious Sprntrl, one can only hope there will be more to follow soon. Reminiscent of 夢遊病者’s (Sleepwalker) 2019 EP Ѫ, except far more aggressive and metal at its core, and other deeply complex, atypical acts such as Skáphe, convulsing and LASTER, this is a four track release focused on the concept of ‘Vaskania’ (‘βασκανία’) or “the evil eye” that is considered harmful not only for the one whose envy is inflicted on others but also causes the progenitor to suffer as well. Stunning.
LISTEN HERE

39: Gout – Born Rotting
One of the most promising bands in the UK – let alone from Glasgow, Scotland – Gout released the short, three song Born Rotting EP all the way back at the start of 2025, in January. But it very much stayed with me throughout the entirety of the year. ‘Bloodworms’, ‘Sullen’, ‘Bed Sores’ and ‘Newcastle’ (released as a standalone single a few months later – a ‘cover’ of a traditional folk song that also features on my #1 Album of 2023 False Lankum, by Irish cursed folk band Lankum) are the sum total of the recorded output of the band that we have heard thus far, and yet already show me enough to asset my opening statement. Sludge and doom metal infected noise rock is their medium and I rot in their bludgeoning wake.
LISTEN HERE

38: Vexations – A Dream Unearthly
Formed in Edinburgh in 2023, Vexations (named after composer Satie’s infamous piano piece that was banned because it was deemed too unsettling to perform live) create frenetic and off-kilter psych-drenched post-punk, with layers of dissonant guitars, unorthodox song structures, and vocals that oscillate between spoken word and emphatic screams. Their debut EP, A Dream Unearthly, consists of five disparate yet harmonious songs that the quartet are a new force to be reckoned with. Like some of the other exciting Scottish bands on this list, I really do home they find their way down to London soon. If this is what they can do on their debut, I’m so excited to find out how they grow and evolve, before new disturbed material is offered forth.
LISTEN HERE

37: xWeaponx – Demo 2
Not many bands in the underground hardcore scene enjoyed quite the blow-up like xWeaponx did in 2025. Perhaps in part because Anthony Fantano (aka The Needle Drop) chose to review this [when demos/EPs aren’t the bread & butter of his schedule], but no doubt because this thing is also utterly irresistible. They won’t thank me for this – but this straight edge hardcore is more potent than crack. It’s a great truism that once you have mastered the technicalities of your craftsmanship and recognised the complexities of the artform, potentially the most daunting and difficult thing to achieve is to write something uncomplicated that impresses just as much as something dizzyingly intricate and is as powerful as something epic in scope and length. xWeaponx have achieved that – this is short, sharp and “simple” – yet it resonates with the same unbridled elemental power as of a neutron star.
LISTEN HERE

36: Rosemary nods upon the grave – EP 1
Another early 2025 release that stayed with me until the very end of the year was the debut from Savannah, Georgia’s Rosemary nods upon the grave. The quartet also released an excellent split with HEAVEN THROUGH VIOLENCE. Four short tracks of potent skramz with a core of deeply emotional hardcore comprise EP 1, all of which cut to the bone before sucking out the marrow. All adrenaline; no anaesthesia. It’s rare to find a band fully formed and yet 2025 seemed to be brimming with them. Here, again, was yet another example. Screamo is and always has been ephemeral – bands sparking and fading with almost reckless speed and abandon – but I hope this band stick around to treat us with a number of releases yet.
LISTEN HERE

35: at first, at first – The Courage of Shutting Up
San Antonio’s at first, at first were yet another screamo band in 2025 who released a seismic EP that caused ripples throughout the entire international scene (they also released an awesome split called Texas, Hold Me with fellow state pals my point of you right at the end of the year). The Courage of Shutting Up consists of five songs all of which are completely gut wrenching. Jaw dropping performances and compositionally adept and exquisite the quartet thrill and confound with every twist and turn. Each of the first four tracks clock in at under three minutes long before ‘In Spite of Artillery’ closes the EP with a mind-blowing six and a half minute tsunami of emo, post-hardcore and skramz.
LISTEN HERE

34: Pains – Blistering Wrath
Read the band name and the EP title and you have a perfect distillation of what you’re in for. The Rockford, Illinois trio certainly weren’t hiding their intent. Pains had been on my radar before but Blistering Wrath ensured that in 2025 my attention became laser focused. Combining elements of death metal, grind, hardcore and sludge into three songs whose sum total is still less than ten minutes in length, this barrage of noise is PURE SONIC TERROR. Eardrum obliteration on demand, this EP does make you wonder whether this carnage should even be allowed. Nightmare fuel.
LISTEN HERE

33: mount junior – Forever, Always, Never-ending
Another gorgeous, surprising release that took over my brain right at the end of 2025. A solo project, mount junior created something very special indeed on this debut five-track EP. A throwback to the most earnest of indie & alt rock informed midwest emo, Forever, Always, Never-ending is tear-inducing, breath-takingly honest while never being discouraging. Instead, this is the sort of emo that resonates, acknowledging mistakes, difficult decisions, upsetting moments, but finds beauty and some form of emotional resolution within the catharsis of music. A lament the project also touches upon math rock and post-hardcore, creating intricate, rousing moments with which to cast of the heavy clouds and look forward.
LISTEN HERE

32: Pretty Mouth – Dead Ends
When I first saw mention of this release, I thought I had stumbled upon a new band who had also called themselves Pretty Mouth. But no, it turns out that Dead Ends is the first new material in over a decade from the Toronto-based quartet. They quite remarkably pick up their unique, unhinged mathgrind / noise rock chimera as powerfully and frantically as if they hadn’t been silent for ten long years. Released on a limited edition cassette via Vamonos Records, there really needs to be a sweet little 7″ of this appear sometime. Pretty please? In the meantime, allow your brain to be repeatedly melted by the Canadian’s barrage of metallic fervour.
LISTEN HERE

31: Cancer Void – First Metastasis
Czechia’s Cancer Void completely blew me away with the debut EP, First Metastasis. Four songs (plus an intro and interlude) are offered forth, infecting and spreading through the mind and body. You know what you’re getting from the band name, title and gloriously disgusting artwork by Serus – this is gurgling, despicable death metal (or “Prague Immigrant Death Metal” according to the band themselves!). Across the four cursed tracks ‘Breeding Pyramid’, ‘Encased in Veins’, ‘Ammonia Baths’ and ‘Cosmic Caverns of Extinction’ the five-piece enthral and confound. I am personally extremely particular about this niche of death metal – I quickly pass over most projects in this lane – but there’s something about First Metastasis that has me addicted and afflicted. It’s virulent destruction too sickly to ignore.
LISTEN HERE

30: Haunted Horses / Facet – Split
Released by Hex Records, this split between Seattle Washington’s Haunted Horses and Oakland, California’s Facet is a truly wondrous split – and pretty damn generous, too. We’re not getting one or two tracks from the pair of artists here. Both bands contribute five songs each. Hot on the heels of their incredible new LP Dweller (more on that later…), Haunted Horses’ material comes from writing and recording sessions across the aforementioned record and their 2022 album, The Worst Has Already Happened. Their harsh industrial punk’d noise rock is addictive and getting another shot in 2025 was very much welcome. My biggest criticism of Facet’s debut 2023 self-titled record was that it was a bit too polished. Here the band seemingly read my mind, amping up the grit on their oddball sound, reminiscent of Unwound and early Quicksand. Really inventive packaging on the vinyl edition of this, too!
LISTEN HERE

29: The Blood Mountain Black Metal Choir – Demo I – “Folklore”
One-man antifascist black metal from Atlanta, Georgia, The Blood Mountain Black Metal Choir both won an excellent artist name award and stunned the underground with this ‘demo’ in 2025. Annos, the musician behind the project, also had two other great ‘bands’ to his name – isleptonthemoon and Wounds of Recollection – of which they and TBMBMC did a “split” together called All Things Which Came Before at the tail end of the year that was also excellent. But was certainly the five-track EP that pierced and froze my heart, refusing to let go. The Appalachian region has a long and painful history of exploitation of natural resources, abuse of labor rights, genocide of indigenous peoples, addiction, and a plague of predatory evangelism. According to Annos, this release sought to address the pains of the place they call home. Incredibly emotive, brain-altering post black metal.
LISTEN HERE

28: nabeel (نبيل) – ghayoom (غيوم)
I’ve been keeping a close eye on “Iraqi indie 4 all” artist nabeel (نبيل) since his first Bandcamp utterance in December 2022, and it’s been wonderful to see the growth in songwriting, confidence and popularity up until 2025’s enchanting EP, ghayoom (غيوم). I was also very lucky to see him and his band live, that was nothing short of magical. The fact the band were so friendly, humble and self-effacing was extremely endearing, too. Consisting of eight tracks, all written by the Harrisonburg, Virginia based Yasir Nabeel Razak – most of which err on the side of intentional brevity – the EP mixes grunge, indie rock, slowcore and of course a heady dose of shoegaze into the compositions.
LISTEN HERE

27: rotting in dirt – anabiosis
HOLY SHIT is the only suitable response to listening to this hurricane of an EP. I discovered rotting in dirt back in 2022 with their slightly lengthier EP, I Am Eating My Shame. Since then they had only done a fantastic split with The Holy Ghost Tabernacle Choir (RIP), before anabiosis came along. Their previous material was brilliant, but these four tracks are in another league entirely. The North Carolina quintet tear the fabric of the universe apart with their juggernaut bleak, raw, and punishing mathcore, death metal, sludge, screamo concoction. I have to “demands” – this needs to be released on vinyl and they need to somehow make their way to the UK (or mainland Europe!). These two things need to happen. ASAP.
LISTEN HERE

26: Trelkovsky – Le stesse cose ritornano
Hailing from Modena, Trelkovsky produce a unique take on screamo (with intriguing doses of both black metal and post-metal) had my jaw on the floor upon first listen. Le stesse cose ritornano (The Same Things Come Back) offers forth six tracks of this sophisticated, beguiling blend of heavy sub-genres. My jaw remained rooted to the floor when I read on my third-in-a-row listen that the band are just a trio. They’re definitely one of those bands that sound larger than the sum of their parts! An Italian rallying call against the toxic reality of the politics and culture spreading within their country, Europe and worldwide, the band sound desperate, energised but also hopeful despite the raucous, thunderous fire of their debut.
LISTEN HERE

25: life – demo seven
The last inclusion on this list from Damián, demo seven was my pick of the CRAZY amount of releases life put out in 2025. Six screamo tracks that probably had the most emotive hardcore infused within them compared to the other releases, but also went utterly wild with the sheer intensity of the skramz vocal delivery. ‘perfect kiss’ had me by the throat, choking back tears, as it brought memories flooding back and I felt the tear of a broken heart keenly once again. Gorgeous, heart-rending music once again, this felt like the perfect distillation of what life represented in 2025.
LISTEN HERE

24: Latter – What Lives Inside Me
How can a duo sound so massive?! From Chicago, Illinois, Latter – Meredith Haines (MAIR) and Jonathan Alvarado – released their sophomore EP in 2025, What Lives Inside Me. Four songs that encompass all the greatest facets of hardcore punk, noise rock and screamo, the sheer zeal of delivery and the compositional chops on display belie their relative early days as a band. Raw, honest, unyielding and unrelenting music for the heart and mind, Haines delivers impassioned line after impassioned line, screaming into the void, hoping for answers and solace. Cathartic, bold, and with so much room to grow, Latter feel as if they might be on the cusp of ‘levelling up’. 2025 was a big year. I imagine 2026 may be even bigger.
LISTEN HERE

23: Mr Beast Death 2030 – Mr Beast Death 2030
Hoboken, New Jersey has a lot to answer for and explain, it seems. Namely, what on earth kind of music it’s producing?! Mr Beast Death 2030‘s self-titled EP is just about the strangest thing I heard in 2025 (and that’s saying something). Their measured, experimental art rock is spliced together with a willingness to dislocate their sound, in some ways tapping into the feeling of listening to Outsider Music. The quintet deliver four “songs” that confound and intrigue. Opening up with the nine-minutes-and-change ‘Amazon Prime’ they set their stall out quickly, creating the equivalent of a musical food blender without its lid on. All three of the other tracks are shorter, but still warp and diverge in strange and unusual ways, before the band finish off with ‘Cool’. Where this came from, I do not know, but I genuinely hope the five-piece continue.
LISTEN HERE

22: Killing Me Softly – To Forever Fall Through God’s Safety Net
2000s metalcore is baaaaaack, baby!!! By the time this EP introduced me to the Leeds band, Killing Me Softly had a debut EP (Cries of a Dying Dawn) and first LP (Autumn Lost in Silence) under their collective belt [holding up baggy jeans]. Formative steps, for sure, before they released this absolute gem of their discography to date, To Forever Fall Through God’s Safety Net via Northern Unrest (UK) and Streets of Hate (USA). The British band conspired to create six songs for this EP, each of them an utter banger. They channel the rage one would expect from any hardcore / metalcore band, but have the ear for just enough melodicism and catchy riff to mean that if there’s any justice, these guys will catch on internationally, too.
LISTEN HERE

21: Lagrimas – I’m not strong enough for this
In September of 2025, Los Angeles, California’s Lagrimas released two EPs. There was this, I’m not strong enough for this, an EP of five new songs, and like when i was a kid, which is a slightly reworked and completely re-recorded EP of the four tracks from their first demo. As such, I discounted the latter (even thought it’s awesome to hear those songs get that treatment!), but included this. I had to include this – as it’s so, so, so good. I’ve been following the band since around 2020, but they came to attention for many others when both they and Habak put their best material to date together on an awesome split. This EP supersedes that material, showing just how far the quartet has come. It has my mouth watering for new material already.
LISTEN HERE

20: Wretched Blessing – Psychic Barriers to Entry
Despite absolutely adoring this EP, I clearly took my eyes off the duo of KV (guitar/vocals) and RA (drums/vocals) because they released two standalone singles after it that I’m only just checking out – ‘Ẓulm’ and ‘Histrionic Martyr’. Another band that seemingly defy what my brain can compute – i.e., how is this utter mayhem the result of only two people?! – Wretched Blessing left me further dazed and confused after the first furtive, overwhelming listen of Psychic Barriers to Entry. Their second EP, the seven tracks allow the pair to explore even more genre-bending, shifting speedily through crust, grind, punk, black metal, hardcore, death metal and more to form something singularly theirs. Absolutely stunning – emphasis on the stunning, literally.
LISTEN HERE

19: Amenra – With Fang and Claw
Anyone who knows me will be aware of my deep connection and love for Amenra. In 2025 they returned with a pair of EPs, both of which somewhat inhabit this spot [that’s me cheating!], but With Fang and Claw is the one I connected with the most. The other EP, De Toorn, allowed them to finish what they started with De Doorn in 2019, offering another glimse at their cultural heritage and where they come from, with artwork reached back, artist Aline Gorsen interpreting the earliest beginnings of the band (MASS I). On With Fang and Claw, the band call back to the sheer fury and cathartic release of the initial MASS albums, particularly reminiscent of I, II and III. Consisting of two songs each, the band sound as huge and all-encompassing as ever, with this EP’s ‘Forlorn’ and ‘Salve Matter’ transporting me back into the ritualistic transcendence that comes with Amenra gigs.
LISTEN HERE

18: Magdalena Bay – Nice Day: A Collection of Singles
Magdalena Bay released a flurry of four pairs of singles between September and November 2025. Prior to Christmas they announced they would release them physically, collected into a box-set titled Nice Day. The eight tracks therefore, in my mind, have come together to form an MLP of more pop gold. Following on from their masterpiece sophomore album Imaginal Disk, and a third and final volume in their mini mix series, the duo of Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin used these eight songs to explore new and unfamiliar ground, pushing the boundaries of their songwriting and influences. The best pop band on the planet, pure and simple.
LISTEN HERE, HERE, HERE & HERE

17: DRAWN BOW – VISITATIONS
A spiritual follow-up to the debut DRAWN BOW (sometimes stylised as DR/\WN B( )W) EP, VISIONS, from April 2023, VISITATIONS is the stunning new record from Drew Speziale (visual artist, regenerative farmer, and singer/guitarist of the legendary screamo band Circle Takes the Square). A single twenty-eight minute track broken into four movements (‘Watershed Reclamations’, ‘Vistas of Disintegration’, ‘Time Variations’ and ‘Visions’), Speziale further explores the droning, doom experimental folk that he debuted with VISIONS and its’ own quartet (‘Pale Revision’, ‘Visitations’, ‘Within Division’ and ‘Wave Formulations’). It’s an intoxicating, soothing and sometimes jarring listen – the man can’t write bad music whatever he turns his hand to. Production and mastering came from his Junius bandmate, Joseph E Martinez.
LISTEN HERE

16: The Orchestra (For Now) – Plan 75
All aboard the hype train! Toot-toot! Another band from the incredibly fertile Windmill Scene, The Orchestra (For Now) have been making waves for ever since they formed in early 2023. I think many would choose the debut Plan 75 as their preferred of the two EPs that the London-based seven-piece band released in 2025, but not me (spoliers…). That said, it’s still demonstrably extremely high on this massive list. An incredible, fearsome band live already, there is seemingly no ceiling for this band. All four songs are absolutely brilliant in their own right and it’s hard to choose a favourite between ‘Escape from New York’, ‘Skins’, ‘The Strip’ and ‘Wake Robin’. Catch them live in a small room ASAP, because I doubt they’ll be playing them too much longer.
LISTEN HERE

15: Sunrot – Passages
New Jersey’s Sunrot are one of the most special bands in the underground right now. Not only due to their supernatural ability to reinvent sludge into something hopeful and fun as well as caustic and headbang-inducing, but due to them shining as truly wonderful people, actively working to change the scene they inhabit for the better. Passages is the new EP from the band released in January 2025, swiftly following on from their mercurous split LP with Body Void, released on and celebrating Trans Day of Remembrance. Six bludgeoning tracks of sludge and doom, with an (un)healthy dose of crust punk to help them go down. ‘The First Wound’ features guest vocalist Dylan Walker of Full of Hell and ‘Sleep’ features Brandon Hill, drummer of Cloud Rat. Another triumph in their catalogue, I can only hope 2026 finds the band as active as they have always been.
LISTEN HERE

14: Belliciste / Úir – Split
The two Edinburgh-based bands combine for a monolithic split that runs just shy of an hour. The duo of Belliciste contribute four individual songs to the split, each a meticulously well-worked piece of medieval folk-inspired black metal. The bands then combine on the five-minute ‘Of the Fire’ a stirring transitional moment that is a rousing piece in its own right. Úir, a quartet occasionally expanded into a five-piece, then take over with three lengthy cuts of black metal that summon a dense, claustrophobic atmosphere of dread. The release day of the split fell on the day known as Lughnasadh in Irish Gaelic or Lùnastal in Scottish Gaelic, a reminder of both bands bringing a voice from the remote ends of the Celtic world and the depths of a forgotten past.
LISTEN HERE

13: Glasshouse Red Spider Mite – What Do You Mean the Monster?… Hahaha
Growing up together in Devon, and initially forced together by the encouragement of a secondary school music teacher, Glasshouse Red Spider Mite eventually began in 2023, musically reconnecting after the dissolution of various other projects. Now based in Brighton, What Do You Mean the Monster?… Hahaha was recorded by producer Louis Milburn in the back of an audio equipment shop. Lofi sad slowcore indie rock with post-punk vibes and a willingness to bend into more experimental, art rock territory too, it’s immediately apparent that the band have known each other for over half their lives, as the chemistry is next level. The EP consists of four songs (or five, if you were lucky enough to snag the exclusive Dinked vinyl edition), all of which are between the six to seven minute mark. Languid, almost “laborious”, but thrilling and enchanting with every subtle move, listeners can only hope the band has a busy 2026.
LISTEN HERE

12: Aduanten – Apocryphal Verse
Featuring members of Obsequiae, Vex, Panopticon, and Horrendous, who have combined to create the dark textured collaboration of Aduanten, the band unleashed their sophomore release and second EP, Apocryphal Verse. Combining ferocious, intricate riffs with a profound sense of sorrow, the trio with a number of guests craft a sound that is both aggressive and beautifully, hopelessly melancholic. Melodic death metal at its most potent and atmospheric, their new quartet of songs cement the band as a force to be reckoned with. Enjoying a physical release for the first time, the band have included their superb four-song EP, Sullen Cadence, as bonus tracks on all formats. Apocryphal Verse builds upon the foundations they laid with that debut, realising all their potential, and pointing towards a future where they may eclipse the achievements of their constituent parts.
LISTEN HERE

11: febuary – Run Like a Girl
febuary appeared seemingly out of nowhere and dropped their outstanding debut LP, February, in 2024. Then, shortly afterwards, the only news I could find about them was that they had decided to part ways. That clearly didn’t take, as the quartet returned in 2025 with the similarly incredible EP, Run Like a Girl. Hailing from Las Vegas, Nevada the four-piece created some of the most intense and emotive screamo I heard in the year. A glorious exorcism of pure frustration and anger, the five songs on offer here shed blood and tears, even skin, as the band brutalise themselves and the listener with their heartfelt, near devotional skramz. At the time of writing they have just been announced on the line-up for a German festival in June. I am crossing all fingers and toes that this means a larger tour is in the works!
LISTEN HERE

10: Christian Science Reading Room – Under the Bed and in the Eyes of Another
The debut EP from this new four-piece band from Chicago, Illinois, half the band are in the incredible Greet Death, who released a sublime new album in 2025 (more on that later…). Christian Science Reading Room are entirely their own thing and yet Under the Bed and in the Eyes of Another is of the same top-tier quality. Five songs of indie folk rock that drifts in and out of some dreamy ‘gaze elements and occasionally lilts into alt rock territory, this EP had me enchanted from the very first listen. I’m bemused at just how under the radar this release went. I’m certainly hoping that we get a physical version at some point in 2026 and that, between the no doubt busy schedule Greet Death will be following to support Die in Love, there might be the possibility of some live shows outside of the USA. Here’s hoping.
LISTEN HERE

9: Calathea – Flowers & Knives
Calathea, from Bizkaia in the Basque Country, returned in 2025 with their second EP, Flowers & Knives, two and a half years on from their great EP, Cries From The Heart. What a leap forward the four-piece have made in that short time, with these seven songs of metallic post-hardcore coalesced with deeply moving, melodic post-rock, setting the band apart from their contemporary peers and more than delivering on the promise that they exhibited on that debut. As with a lot of the bands on this list, my first thought it how to tempt them across the North Sea. I hope that can happen sometime soon. Their rousing, beautiful music needs to reverberate in one of London’s fine underground venues ASAP! Happily, they have been recognised for their talents, as a who’s who of cool skramz & hardcore labels came together to release a gorgeous physical release of Flowers & Knives.
LISTEN HERE

8: mersō – for me to feel less alone
In my bones I know that we might be lucky to get another release from mersō. I just know in my waters that they’re likely to be a short-lived flash of a project. I truly hope the Richmond, Virginia quintet prove me incorrect, because this is Grade A+ screamo right here… or “four shitty scream rock tunes” as the band put it on their Bandcamp. Well, they were correct on “four”, “scream”, “rock” and “tunes”, I’ll give them that. These tracks made me literally stop in my tracks as I was commuting to work. All four are brilliant, but the harrowing and excellently titled closing song ‘sharpening my teeth on a flat stone i found in your garden’ is of particular note. Please prove me wrong guys. Stick around, play shows, tour, and release new music. Preferably all of that done tout suite in 2026, please & thank you! Safe to say, this needs some crazy limited cassette or vinyl release. Take my money.
LISTEN HERE

7: The Orchestra (For Now) – Plan 76
If we had only been gifting Plan 75 from London’s The Orchestra (For Now), they would still be one of the most buzzed-about and critically acclaimed underground rock bands in 2025. But before the year was out, the seven-piece doubled-down with a sophomore EP, Plan 76, that to my ear somehow bettered their debut. Five more songs of awe-inspring art rock with a penchant for the progressively experimental, the band finds themselves in more melodic territory at times and in others wild with abandon the vocals become shredded and guitars bristle. In other words, this material widens their considerable palette even further, leading this listener to wonder just how far they can push themselves and what on earth a full-length will sound like. If, that is, what they’re working towards… I would most certainly be happy with a Plan 77! Whatever they choose to do, I have no doubt we’ll be hearing much more from The Orchestra (For Now) in 2026.
LISTEN NOW

6: gingerbee – Apiary
gingerbee is an internet band composed of: Melody Sohani (Toronto, Canada), Dani Giguere (South Carolina), Gustavo Nome (California and Brazil), James Witte-Cook (Illinois) and Nicholas Garza (Texas). Apiary was made using the same process as their 2023 EP Our Skies Smile, with parts being recorded individually and compiled into one project file, the quintet spending countless nights screen-sharing their DAWs on Discord, deliberating details. If I had any reason to distrust any member, I would not believe it, because this MLP sounds so organic. And of course it has been done organically in many ways, but the method of construction still feels like it should be detectable! The six tracks here are nigh-on delirious in their delivery – unique, artistic, joyous, caustic, bright, intricate screamo. There’s so many elements in this melting pot (including jazz, samba (!) and other emo sub-sub-sub-genres) that the Frankenstein monster should not live, should not work… and yet live Apiary does… unlike gingerbee who have called time on the project, with one last gig with an orchestra on 1st March 2026 in Chicago. Sad though that is, it will be recorded and turned into a live LP!
LISTEN HERE

5: KOLLAPSE & GRAVA – KOLLAPSE & GRAVA
This remains as mind-blowing upon re-listening now as it did on an initial spin. The two Danish bands, both trios, each wrote a new track and handed it over to the other band for full musical and lyrical reinterpretation (Kollapse’s nine and a half minute ‘Hæmatomets filosofi’ becomes the tightly coiled sub four minute echo in ‘(Blóðtøka)’ and GRAVA’s three and a half minute ‘Red Furnace’ becomes a sprawling seven minute epic). The result is four interconnected compositions, bound together by collective instrumental passages, where hardcore, sludge, doom, and noise-rock bleed into a single monolithic statement. After years of crossing paths live, Kollapse and GRAVA let long-standing friendship evolve into releasing something together more radical than a traditional split release. Both bands already had gained a lot of respect for their fantastic recent albums in 2024 – AR (Kollapse) and The Great White Nothing (GRAVA), but this should make anyone into extreme music sit up and follow the paths of both of these Danish behemoths.
LISTEN HERE

4: Fluisteraars – De Kronieken Van Het Verdwenen Kasteel – III – Grunsfoort
The enigmatic atmospheric black metal band completed their De Kronieken Van Het Verdwenen Kasteel trilogy in 2025, following volumes I – Harslo and II – Nergena (both released in 2023). This third and final part is the best of the three, with two eight minute songs that beat out so much of what was released in the year. The riff of ‘Sediment der Impressies’ alone would be enough for it to chart highly, with a black metal groove and catchiness that is rare and irresistible. ‘Grunsfoort in de Mist’ is equal to it, though, with a technical prowess and bewitching, ghostly atmosphere that draws the listener in, and then smothers. Having followed the trio since Dromers made waves in 2014 and been lucky enough to witness Fluisteraars live, it was a delight to hear new material of such quality. Involved in many other projects, it’s yet to be seen what the band does next, but they are making another live appearance in the UK at Fortress Festival.
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3: Porcupine – Under the Altar
Under the Altar is a direct follow-up to the celebrated 2024 LP All is Vapor, from Chicago/Pittsburgh based quintet Porcupine. It shares lyrical themes, sonic elements, and even song titles, but it stands on its own as a proper release. If the album was conceptual, then the EP is viscerally tangible. It is the band at their most personal, finding them contemplative and melodic in short stretches, until songs suffer justapositions in the extreme, with the five-piece displaying themselves at their most anarchically chaotic to date. Across the six tracks, Under the Altar ultimately documents and ruminates on the futility of life, as major themes of love, death and suffering boil down and mean little in Porcupine’s nihilistic wake. Metallic hardcore punk with explosive flashes of powerviolence rip the band’s sound apart, pointing towards an uncertain but no doubt extraordinary future for the band.
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2: Psalm – Psalm
After I first heard the self-titled three song EP from Brooklyn, New York’s Psalm – and then replayed it endlessly – I waited for the schism, the paradigm shift I expected from the underground scene. Those in the know [yes, I realise that sounds snobby] totally caught on to the band, but the huge swell of hype I had anticipated didn’t come. Or it hasn’t YET. The EP has been released as a limited edition cassette by Portrayal of Guild Records and the band are playing some very cool gigs… Momentum for their unique short form doom is surely starting to build. The triple ‘J’ threat of Jenna Graham (Vocals/Guitar), Jordan Melkin (Bass), and James Beveridge (Drums/Arrangement) is quite something to behold even across this trio of songs. Starting as they mean to go on, ‘I am the Slaughter’ grinds and gnashes, chewing and spitting out all before it. ‘Feast of the Epiphany’ is reckless and full of wrath, bludgeoning the listener into A&E. The EP closes with the wounded ‘Unworthy Son’, finishing off strained eardrums before burying our decaying mind alive. Only for us to come back into focus… and want to be destroyed all over again.
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1: Dog Race – Return the Day
It seems only apt on a vast list, populated by so many wondrous debuts so full of promise for the future, that my #1 short-form release of the year is also a debut. London’s Dog Race took my breath away in 2025 with Return the Day and they refused to give it back. The five-piece are capital-‘A’ alternative, with unusual vocal delivery and plenty of manipulation on that and the other instruments. There are elements of art rock, goth, post-punk, shoegaze, and straight-up honest indie rock in their sound. But unlike some other bands on this Top 300, Dog Race have melded all of these disparate elements together into a cohesive sound of their own. It’s genuinely like they’ve managed to make oil and water combine, flipping chemistry and physics, unmaking music theory.

‘Where the Barrel Meets the Badger’ opens up proceedings ominously with building synths and the first of many earworm riffs, before progressing into an uncanny indie hit that demands the goths start to laconically dance. Next comes my personal favourite, ‘The Leader’. Like an outtake from a post-punk rendition of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, it bounces along, unhinged, quite obviously mad, but oh so happy (and angry). ‘Return the Day (Colours)’ follows, carrying on the more upbeat verve, the synths working overtime to drive the band forward, the rhythm section refusing and attempting to slow things down, creating a restless push/pull dynamic. Fourth track, ’40 Winks to Wyoming’ finally allows things to slow down, a curious, suspenseful darkwave come experimental rock banger. Live favourite ‘It’s the Squeeze’ closes proceedings on Return the Day, amping up the energy and tension once again. If it’s possible to rank the tracks on this debut, the final song is the most strange and uncanny, yet simultaneously somehow the catchiest.

Dog Race are incredible live and I was lucky enough to see them a few times in 2025. I can’t wait to see them again. Most excitingly, it’s very obvious there’s plenty of creativity and passion still ready to burst out in new, odd, headbanging, danceable ways. Here’s to this incredible EP, here’s to the band, and here’s to their future!
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