Best of 2025 with Filip

Hello there! It’s been a few years since I’ve posted my AOTY list. I’ve been reviewing individual releases every now and then. In 2025, there has been tons of good music, and we’ve had so much to cover that I think it’s due time I make my own for this blog.

So here we go!

Albums

Black Eyes – Hostile Design

One of the beloved DC-based Dischord sass classics reunited a few years ago and dropped what might be the most overlooked album since their self-titled and Cough. Hostile Design comes off like a combination of those last two albums, with a much more precise balance. Clocking in at roughly twenty-nine minutes, this album offers another burst of manic post-punk energy, just enough to make the entire listening experience more satisfying. Don’t sleep on this one!

Trauma Bond – Summer Ends. Some Are Long Gone

Formed in London, this powerviolence duo dropped their third album, which eventually became one of my favorite bangers this year. They combine sounds from both their older and newer material, blending industrial, sludge metal, and grindcore across roughly thirty minutes. A technical, ominous, noisy, and deliciously frenetic album indeed.

Plastika – Sijamski Blizanac

A relatively fresh hardcore punk band from Zagreb released their second album, packed with fourteen minutes of fast and furious energy. Loaded with adrenaline and fury, it wastes no time bullshitting around and delivers a DIY statement straight to your face. Easily one of the most promising contemporary acts from the ex-Yu region. Read my longer review here.

Noise Trail Immersion – Tutta la morte in un solo punto

Another day, another dissonant black metal record. This Turin-based band dropped their fourth album in June, and I didn’t expect it to be this skin-peelingly ominous. I was clearly unprepared, and dare I say, I really enjoyed the ride. It doesn’t get much heavier than a literal trip into the dark abyss.

First Day Back – Forward

This album hit me like a tidal wave. Minimalist cover art, moody vocals, and ’90s post-hardcore elements make for a surprising comeback, and these kids from Santa Cruz are absolutely killing it.

Falesia – Self-Titled

This Trieste-based Midwest skramz quintet, sharing members from Italy and Slovenia, released their self-titled album in February. It came out like freshly baked bread. Killer mathy guitar work, deep and evocative lyrics, and gorgeous artwork all come together here. An immensely beautiful emo album.

kaleido – Čiji je ovo pas?

This debut album by an indie/jazz-punk band from Zagreb offers something far beyond the surface level. Anyone who labels them simply as “indie rock” is clearly underestimating what they’re capable of. Explaining why isn’t enough, you really need to listen to it yourself. Read my longer review here.

Fear of Horses – Self-Titled

The sole debut from this Australian skramz trio reads like a collection of diary entries, moments where words alone aren’t enough to express inner turmoil and music becomes the only outlet. Recorded entirely DIY with no post-production, this is raw and passionate skramz at its core.

Bemnoz – Self-Titled

This debut by a post-punk band from Brest, France, popped up on my radar unexpectedly. Lyrically, Bemnoz frame the city as both prison and battlefield, capturing the exhaustion of lives caught between militarized order, urban erasure, and a stubborn refusal to vanish quietly. Their somber but catchy instrumentation amplifies an otherwise bleak worldview.

Scalp – Not Worthy of Human Compassion

These deathgrind/metalcore folks from California just keep getting more evil and brutal. Imagine Integrity, but more vicious in both theme and sonic brutality. Nasty guitar tones, bombastic drums, and vocals reeking of unrelenting, wide-eyed anger fill these nineteen minutes. Definitely appropriate listening for the fucked-up times we live in.

Serotonin Mist – 現実の鏡 (Mirror of Reality)

Based in Takadanobaba, Japan, this band’s latest output completely blew the lid off for us. It’s reminiscent of ’90s screamo and early chuggy hardcore punk bands like Frail and Unbroken. Despite being recorded entirely by the band themselves, the production is impressively crisp. The lyrics are a central focus here and are translated into English. If you’re interested in the band, check out our interview with them.

Now let’s go to the EPs…

Trholz – Interlude

Second EP by a Toulouse-based riot grrrl band from France. Six tracks of slow, uncompromising, and confrontational material that largely tackle themes of paranoia, fetishizations, and loss of identity, pushing the boundaries of silence/noise dynamics. A longer review is coming soon.

Junipero – Kinship

The San Francisco–based screamo band changed direction slightly from their demo, exploring more of the Midwest spectrum while extending themselves further. Picture Honeywell, but severely depressed and heartbroken. More crying, more screaming. An uncomfortable but cathartic experience.

Ashen Hands – Self-Titled

This Bologna-based band came out with one of the most ferocious forms of metallic awesomeness out there. Four tracks of killer guitar melodies, insanely tight drumming, and inhumane vocals all come together into a fast, frantic, and heavy burst of metallic emoviolence.

Absent from the Morning Headcount – Compos Mentis

Orchid worship never seems to end. This female-fronted emoviolence band from Austria takes notes from Echelons, a.k.a. Unable to Fully Embrace This Happiness, and drops yet another EP that feels like a small masterpiece.

Ubili su Batlera – Self-Titled

A long-awaited debut EP by one of the newer acts from Serbia, and one of the very few Midwest emo bands from the entire region. Four songs of glittery, colorful songwriting that match pop-punk energy with introspective, stream-of-consciousness lyrics. Definitely one to look out for.

Leda – Self-Titled

Italian blackened screamo never ceases to amaze me. Supported by No Hope Records, Rome’s Leda comes straight for your throat with plummeting blast beats, bittersweet melodies, and cryptic, poetic lyrics, bringing a great amount of desperation that oozes throughout the EP.

Totalna Tama – Self-Titled

A promising release by Oakland-based hardcore band Totalna Tama, blending dark hardcore with hints of deathrock, crust punk, and cold-wave melancholy. Buzzing synths cut through heavy bass, fractured drums, and Damir’s desperate vocals, shouted entirely in Croatian. That’s what makes Totalna Tama more than “just another dark hardcore band.” They carry diaspora melancholy and inherited Balkan collectivism and drop it right into the heart of Oakland’s punk scene… and somehow, it fits.

flowersforpersephone – a temporary stay

Faux grind from Columbus, OH, that’s been gaining traction in the underground scene. I kid you not… nasty lo-fi production, switches between quirky high-pitched girly squeals and unhinged screams, and, of course, full-on MySpace aesthetics. What’s not to love?

Up next are S/P/L/I/T/S/

Told Not To Worry / Blouse

Rhode Island’s Told Not To Worry are not afraid to get rowdy with their white belt faux-grind and in-your-face political lyrics. Each and every track is simply entertaining. New York’s Blouse differ from the former band production-wise, but still deliver an enjoyable dose of metallic emoviolence.

eris | disnomia / piot. / drive your plow over the bones of the dead / tng / plein de vie.

This highly anticipated international five-way split continues to blow my mind. Eris I Disnomia (Peru), Plein de vie. (Turkey), piot. (Finland), Drive Your Plow (Canada), and TNG (Philippines) all come together to deliver some of the most dazzling punk compositions imaginable. Highlights include Eris’ waltz-like moment on the opening track, piot.’s frenetic and fast European skramz with a nod to La Quiete, Drive Your Plow’s claustrophobic emoviolence driven by explosive bass, and the contrast between TNG’s bittersweet melancholy and Plein de vie.’s darkened despair. Taken as a whole, the combination is simply phenomenal.

HEAVEN THROUGH VIOLENCE / Rosemary Nods Upon the Grave

Man, this one is brutal. Two bands based in Boston, MA, and Savannah, GA, respectively, clearly outdid themselves here. From the manic outbursts and shrieking vocals of Heaven Through Violence, giving nods to bands like Index of Potential Suicide, to the melancholic, depressive despair of Rosemary Nods Upon the Grave, rooted in post-rock screamo territory, this split is simply amazing.

My Point of You / At First, At First

And now something warmer. I’ve just discovered the new subgenre “cuddlecore,” a term that would definitely piss off plenty of genre purists, but who cares. This is the good stuff, perfectly aligned with ’90s twee/emo. Both songs from the respective bands are unbelievably warm, catchy, and full of energy. More than enough to make this an obvious “split of the year” contender.

Off we are to…

Demos 2025

thisisit.stalingrad

A metalcore/skramz trio from Nashville, TN, dropped this bad boy into the depths of the internet, and I happened to find it by accident. Four tracks of pure, good old emoviolence shit, screaming its way back to the Y2Ks with a serrated edge of spastic awesomeness, all wrapped up in nine minutes.

Eccco

An upcoming duo from Austria. While slightly different from the two aforementioned Austrian skramz acts, this one leans pigfuck-ish in a really good way. Blaring feedback, half-dead microphones, and lyrical themes of total despair.

Junipero

Early Loma Prieta (Our LP Is Your EP) worship screamy emocore. Three tracks of painful memories and broken dreams. Makes one cry immensely.

Stranded in dog city

An emerging Slovenian band from Ljubljana. It’s been a while since I’ve heard With Engine Heart. Although completely unrelated, this comes surprisingly close. Three tracks of heartfelt, somber, and passionate skramz.

Honorable Mentions

• Plima – Oblik/Pukotina
• Death Spa – Ewwwphoria
• Notte Fonda – Demo
• Catharsis – Hope Against Hope
• Latter – What Lives Inside of Me
• chivàla – Boato
• Štrik – S/T
• STATICØ – Absurdity Of This World

Wish you all the best in 2026!