I don’t even know what to say about this album to give it justice. Everything is so perfectly placed. Stefanie Mannaerts steals the show with her immaculate vocals and somehow delivers with top notch drumming as well. Miles Away has to be one of the best openings to any album ever and the segue into the masterpiece that is Brave with the loose guitar and the emotional atmospheric vocals right off the bat just gives me goosebumps every time I turn it on. This is my album of the decade so far without question.

This album gets compared to many other prog acts, but it stands alone. Royals with its vocal delivery like it’s proclaiming a passage of Leviticus. Light the Witch setting mood for your trial by fire. That majestic chorus in Golden. And is it even possible not to loudly sing along to Departed? No other album gives me the feeling of this one. It’s hard to believe this was written by one man.

This band is obviously not for everyone. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Chat Pile several times when they come my way and that really elevated my enjoyment (or lack thereof) for this album. It feels like the perfect soundtrack to the last decade in America. It’s dirty, it’s ugly, it’s brutal, it’s polarizing, it’s unapologetic, and most of all, totally unhinged.

A follow up that surpassed my expectations and, in my opinion, outdid its companion. I love the opening of Triassic with its monotonous delivery of the processed vocals. Jurassic | Cretaceous also gives us some of the best drumming I have ever heard. ‘Nuff said, this is a banger of an album.

Hard to explain my love for this one. This is a band that has long been a favorite and I followed closely. It feels very much like an electronic album taken heavier at time. I really love the different styles of vocals pulled off effectively, and even though it falls into modern metalcore tropes it fully embraces them and does it well. It has a lot 2000s metalcore vibes and as someone who was getting into heavy music during that era it also brings back some nostalgia.

Blending Darkwave, Jazzy sections, and one of the best bands in Doom currently was always going to be a win for me. The driving post-punk rhythms in the first two tracks made them some of my most listened tracks of the last couple years, and I can’t get enough of that blackened doom outro of Thicker Blood. Best of all they fit it all into a 40-minute package that makes it great for repeat listens.

You could say it’s Unexpect in Japanese, but you’d be doing it a real disservice. I understand none of it but I love all of it. I recommend just listening to it.

Spent way too many night getting stoned while I let the dreaming vocals and psychedelic guitars wash over me in waves. At first I found the vocal hooks slightly offputting, but they’re kept getting stuck in my head and every time I would play a song again I would get hooked until I just left this on repeat for a few days straight. Cannot recommend enough.

“What are you looking for? Black? Death? Sludge? Doom? Gothic Country? Something weirder?” “Yes” Cue New Heaven, one of the most hard to pin down albums in this list. It has a bit of everything, while staying somewhat centered in Blackened Doom. The first three tracks are a brutal barrage of extreme metal, the a beautiful interlude opens the way to three doom tracks and a gothic country closer.

Absolutely gorgeous mix of Folk and Blackgaze. Verdalet, Crystalline, and A Luminous End are some of the most beautiful songs I’ve heard in black metal, and songs like Sphaera and Mythical Creatures add excellent folk melodies that can stand on their own. Perfect follow up to the first album and well worth the wait.

Most bands that try to blend too much in their post-everything sound don’t do it successfully, but this is a masterpiece.

The best Stoner album of the decade flew under everyone’s radar. Andromeda alone is worth listening for.

Not quite on the level of the two before, but still delivers one of their best tracks in Burning of the Velvet Fires.

Maybe a bit too on the nose with its themes, but this is Riverside and they simply don’t (didn’t) make (made) bad albums. It’s a shame it will be the last but it was a great note to end on.

One of my go-to non vocal albums (except that song, wtf). It’s so easy to get immersed in.

Some of the catchiest songs and most depressing vibes of the 2020s. A bit better than Ray Wars. Ordinary Loss, Trash Decade, and Wasted Years got some of the most plays of 2025 and are still regularly in my rotation.

Perfect intersection of Post-Metal and Hardcore. Pulled Down is a masterpiece, but the whole album is a banger.

More harrowing tales of the worst sides of humanity. And also that time they got fired from a haunted water park. Absolutely incredible performance from Megan and the live concert from Roadburn is truly wild.

Obviously still Grayceon, but still the best Giant Squid album we’ve had in awhile.

Julie is my favorite artist of all time and I can’t express how glad I was to hear new music from her again. It doesn’t reach level of her best works but it has that signature Julie charm that I can’t get enough of.

They’ve pushed the Djent sound to the limit here and I do think it’s hard to top this in that genre for me. In my opinion this is the best male vocal performance of any album on this list. So many different styles and Legion is just nuts.

Lots of Chat Pile/Daughters influence here but also a totally new sound at the same time. All Hail is my most listened song of the 2020s so far and it’s not particularly close.

More beautiful gothic doom with heavenly vocals from Martina Horvath, and the best one so far.

Amazing proggy sludge that felt like a huge leap from their debut.

Like God’s Country but a little more straightforward in the song structures

Atmospheric Black Metal done to perfection. I don’t know how they’re gonna top this one, honestly.

Such dreamy soft vocals over cosmic psychedelia. Really perfect collaboration.

Thankfully they didn’t need another 13-year gap to deliver another top tier album

After pretty much ditching death metal entirely, I just needed a little more Pink Floyd to bring me back

This one has not aged quite as well as most of the others on the list for me, but it is still a beast of an album when I have patience to get through the whole thing

Thanks to Andy for turning me onto this album, it’s a blast

Love the synth driven madness that is this album