7 Must-Listen Hardcore Punk Records from Early 2025

The first new record I listened to in 2025 was MEM//BRANE’s self-titled LP, and what an introduction to the year it was. Their debut full-length is a scathing sonic assault, harking back to the ‘90s crust and stenchcore classics with a relentless barrage of thrashing metallic riffs, galloping d-beat fury, and slower, ominous atmospheric sections that weigh heavy with impending doom.

At the forefront of this crust punk masterpiece is vocalist Ellie, whose ghastly, reverb-drenched guttural howls cut through like a blade. Beyond just being one of the finest DIY releases of the year, the album is a visceral reflection of a world steeped in hatred, genocide, and systemic abuse. Across these eight pummeling tracks, Ellie unleashes a searing rage, channeling both personal and communal struggle as part of the transgender community. Themes of trauma, resistance, and existential despair are woven into every lyric, making this a battle cry against the very forces that seek to erase and oppress. What a crushing release. Up the trans and queer punx!

Born out of the European DIY network of friends, Oust brought together members from across the continent, all of whom have been involved in bands, labels, social centers, and political activism for decades. Before the pandemic, they were a straightforward hardcore band for the punks, but as the world spiraled further into right-wing rhetoric, their sound sharpened into something even faster, angrier, and more unforgiving.

Their latest and most blistering effort, Rather Be a Fuck Up, is seven tracks of no-frills, high-intensity hardcore punk that melds claustrophobic riffs with a rhythm section that will please both folks into the fast, crusty, d-beat sound and hardcore stompers alike. Lyrically, there’s no ambiguity—the album kicks off with “Rather Be a Fuck Up Than a Fascist” and ends with “Our Anger Is Appropriate”, making it clear where they stand on social and political issues. They’re also dead-on when it comes to mocking the digital-age overlords of today’s capitalism. “Death to the Valley” takes direct aim at the “data-driven pestilence” of Big Tech, calling for “hang the tech bros” and “bring in the guillotines” to the likes of Musk and his ilk. “Make It Stop” rails against both environmental collapse and the rising tide of European fascism, name-dropping parties like Fratelli d’Italia, Néa Dimokratía, PVV, and AfD as part of the plague. “Körperkultur” takes things in another direction, skewering influencer culture and the obsession with self-improvement, health, and fitness that feeds into a dehumanizing cycle of image and control.

Rather Be a Fuck Up isn’t just Oust’s best release yet—it’s one of 2025’s most urgent political statements. Death to fascism and death to capitalism.

The latest recording from veteran British punks Armoured Flu Unit—whose singer is a fellow DIY Conspiracy contributor—Carnyx arrives three years after their excellent The Mighty Roar LP (mentioned here), and it absolutely delivers. Fierce, focused, and fired up, this is political hardcore with both teeth and claws.

Opener “Inertia” sets the momentum with a scathing critique of performative protest: “Words without action is a waste of energy.” This line becomes a mantra for the entire record, which gears through themes of apathy, state violence, and collective resistance to capitalist greed with fast-paced, thrashing urgency. “Hidden Face” offers a much-needed portrayal of domestic abuse—a theme the hardcore scene must continue to confront, especially as it grapples with its own ongoing issues of abuse and accountability: “The smile that they wear—don’t take it at face value.” Tracks like “Supplicant” and “Nothing Sticks” throw a wrench into the machinery of capitalism and complicity as lines like “Happy to be cattle, buried under shopping malls” and “Teflon lawyers laundering facts” (inspired by the 2019 documentary Dark Waters) strike with indignation and righteous anger. “Thorn in the Claw” becomes a rallying cry for everyday resistance: “One voice, one match, one crack—be the thorn.” And the closing title track, referencing the ancient Celtic war horn, is a call to remember our roots and keep fighting.

AFU might be old dogs, but Carnyx shows they’ve lost none of their bite. This is vital hardcore punk for today’s political climate. Don’t be a passive consumer—actively listen, think, and act!

After a decade of delivering some of Europe’s finest d-beat, France’s Bombardement return with Dans La Fournaise—their most cohesive and accomplished album to date. For the first time, they’ve crafted a concept-like LP that flows more like a single, scorching narrative than a collection of songs.

Musically, they’ve never been tighter. The twin-guitar interplay, always a strong point for Bombardement, now takes center stage, creating layered melodies and occasional solos and moments of genuine catchiness amid the usual d-beat fury. From the opener “L’Ère du Calvaire,” you’ll hear those triumphant Japanese influences (think of Death Side or Paintbox), yet what truly elevates Dans La Fournaise is its seamless flow and clear musical evolution. It’s an album about collapse, control, and clawing through the smoke. Instead of repeating the usual “war bad” haikus that clever bands like Active Minds mocked in songs like ”Dis is Getting Pathetic,” Bombardement delivers bleak French poetry brimming with epistemological warfare and an indictment of violent systems demanding obedience. The closing track of the band’s name, “Bombardement,” is a noisy, chaotic finale that fits the album’s narrative perfectly. Featuring guest vocals from the band’s former singer Emilie (now in Faucheuse) and Cora (Naatlo Sutila), it wraps up the concept arc in a real epic way. I’m not French, so hearing French lyrics, even if it’s just a d-beat band, might evoke images of Baudelaire, Rimbaud, or Éluard for me, though I suspect actual French listeners might see it quite differently.

Regardless, Dans La Fournaise stands as Bombardement’s best effort, still firmly rooted in the classic d-beat sound but daring to craft something bigger from the rubble.

Toronto-based hardcore punk band Siyahkal takes its name and inspiration from the 1971 Siyahkal uprising, when Iranian guerrilla fighters stormed a gendarmerie outpost to free two imprisoned comrades. Thirteen people, including the liberated prisoners, were subsequently executed. Staunchly embedded in this legacy of political violence and repression, Siyahkal’s debut album transforms historical trauma into a cathartic exploration of societal constraints and the yearning for liberation.

The record ignites with “Your Head In My Arms,” a relentless track that depicts guerrillas preparing for upheaval, evocatively capturing the the physical and psychological toll of their actions. Siyahkal’s frontman Kasra Goodarznezhad passionately delivers lyrics entirely in Farsi, interweaving historical and religious connotations. Tracks like “Evin Fire,” referencing Iran’s infamous political prison, and “Karbobalaa,” invoking symbolic historical events, underscore the band’s purposeful and reflective approach. Featuring both new material and re-recorded tracks from their earlier demo and EP, the album consistently questions the nature of justice, identity, and survival under conditions of existential threat.

Musically, Siyahkal balances brutal hardcore intensity and precise execution with a psychedelic drive enhanced by subtle cultural elements drawn from the singer’s Persian heritage. The result is a fiercely charged record that confronts cultural narratives and challenges Western complacency, privilege, and fragility head-on.

Remember when NYC’s Japanese hardcore worshippers Tye and Ryan crashed the pose with one of the best demos of 2021? I sure do, it landed on one of my lists of top EPs of that year.

These guys have already cut their teeth in bands like Warthog, Dollhouse, and L.O.T.I.O.N., but with Nisemono, they finally unleash a full-length barrage of sheer hardcore insanity. Across nine tracks, Nisemono 偽者 take the incendiary power of their demo and crank it up with absolutely scorching riffs and searing solos, straight from the Far East textbook as well as Scandinavian tradition. The influence of Gauze, Bastard, and Totalitär is all over this thing, and of course some of the sickest guitar work you’ll hear in hardcore today. The production is razor-sharp, balancing calculated chaos with just the right amount of primal aggression. This Toxic State release comes with killer artwork and a poster, and they even dropped a music video for “酷い思い出 (Hidoi Omoide)”, which is as wild as you’d hope.

For anyone obsessed with the Japanese hardcore’s wild guitars, the urgency of Scandinavian kängpunk, and the total destruction we love in the genre, this is mandatory listening. It may come from NYC, but it feels straight out of Japan’s most feral performances. The verdict is clear, every track rips.

In the early ’90s, The X-Files broke through as a groundbreaking sci-fi series, cleverly merging paranormal craze, government conspiracies, and existential dread into a pop-culture phenomenon. Created by Chris Carter, the show ran for 11 seasons and spawned several feature films seen by audiences all over the world. While certain seasons and episodes had questionable plots and directive choices, the series undeniably became a defining cultural cornerstone for an entire generation.

Cornwall, UK’s fast hardcore band F.Emasculata takes its name directly from the iconic season 2 episode of the same name, infamous for its grotesque disease outbreak storyline and incisive commentary on corporate and government cover-ups. Although F.Emasculata is a side project featuring members of Rash Decision and Swansong, the trio spares no effort in transforming their fandom into something genuinely impactful. The band’s latest album, Bright Lights, Drilled Teeth, continues their streak of brilliance, channeling iconic episodes into a frenetic exploration of paranoia, authority, skepticism, and horror.

It’s an intense ride through constant stop-n-go tempo changes and charged vocals, surpassing expectations in a typically formulaic genre. The opener, “Ice,” reimagines the tension of the show’s infamous Arctic thriller, tapping into themes of isolation, mistrust, and bleak survival. Lines like “I’m not turning my back on anyone, as far as I’m concerned you’re all infected” reflect today’s fake news climate and paranoia’s corrosive effect on human solidarity. “Duane Barry” is a classic X-Files-themed track, painting an abduction-induced terror with the lines that inspired the album’s title: “Bright lights, drilled teeth, mouth held open, he tries to scream.” With dark humor, tracks like “Bad Blood” question subjective reality—”Mulder killed a vampire—or was it just pointy teeth?”, while “Clyde Bruckman” concisely explores the fear of fate: “Better than autoerotic asphyxiation—it’s more dignified.” Finally, “Folie à Deux” closes the album with collective paranoia: “Did he see it because he was disturbed, or disturbed because he saw it?”

Ultimately, F.Emasculata continue to convey X-Files storytelling into a great slab of fast, hard-hitting hardcore, proving they’re much more than a novelty act riding on TV nostalgia. The fastcore truth is out here.