Doug’s Top 10 Albums of 2025!
I doubt it’s a secret at this point that we at The Progressive Subway weren’t thrilled with the overall quality of music released in 2025. Still, having the space to ruminate on the year offers a chance for catharsis and to call out the handful of proper gems that somehow snuck their way into the midst of an otherwise forgettable year. I don’t mean to diminish the accomplishments of any of the artists that feature here: I feel strongly that every album featured here is a memorable and meaningful contribution to the genre that should be shared as widely as possible. Read on, dear audience, to see what joy we can salvage together from this challenging time.
Honorable Mention: Elder – Liminality / Dream State Return: One oddly specific corner of the music world that did have a good year was the realm of two-track stoner prog rock releases (more on that later). Early September brought us an unexpected treat as Elder dropped this pair of previously-recorded tracks that didn’t quite make it onto Omens or Innate Passage. While it’s hard to give much analysis about less than twenty minutes of music, it’s always good to have more Elder to listen to—they’re in peak form here.
10. Mantra – Celestial
Style: Progressive metal, alternative metal (Clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Tool, Karnivool, Soen (pre-Lotus), Leprous
Is it cheating to start my end-of-year list with an album that started its release cycle in 2024? Maybe, but I’m doing it anyway. Mantra brought forth their latest opus Celestial in a series of four EPs, one released each season on the corresponding equinox or solstice. After a slightly disappointing start in the fall of last year, I decided to hold off on reviewing any of the pieces until they could all be assembled, and I’m glad I did. Taken as a whole, Celestial represents the most complete and fulfilling experience Mantra has yet delivered. The rotating seasonal themes support the album’s slow development from a simple start to a grandiose conclusion, telling of a dying star and a chosen messenger who will lead the faithful to salvation. Although the wait was long, it was worth it to see this project finally come together.
Recommended tracks: Winter I – Isolation, Winter II – Vessel, Spring – Home, Summer I – Transcendence
Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | original review
9. Object Unto Earth – The Grim Village
Style: Progressive rock, post-hardcore, math rock (Clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Eidola, Hail The Sun, Protest The Hero, Thrice
Episode VI: Return of the Forg
The Progressive Subway writers’ Discord went through a moment early in the year where frogs (and playful misspellings thereof) were the hot meme commodity, partially fueled by the dashing figure on this album cover, so it seems appropriate that we get one final appearance from the caped amphibian to round out the year. Although it took a little while to grow on me, The Grim Village turned out to be an album I kept coming back to throughout the year, ever more drawn in by its relentless energy and tight, catchy songwriting. It’s rare to find a group who can showcase this much musical talent while keeping their music easily listenable, but Object Unto Earth barely break a sweat. This is a prog album to take home to your family: full of talent, deep in its composition, but accessible even to the untrained ear.
Recommended tracks: On A Pale Horse I Thrive; Onward With Blinding Speed; Death is the Test of It; Bombina, Bombina!!
Related links: Bandcamp | Instagram | original review
8. Phantom Spell – Heather & Hearth
Style: Progressive rock, hard rock, NWOTHM (Clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Iron Maiden, Rainbow, Hällas, Rush
The musical traditions of years past remain alive so long as artists like Phantom Spell continue to celebrate them. Like guitarist Kyle McNeill’s past work, including that of his other band Seven Sisters, Heather & Hearth is a love letter to traditional heavy metal of the 70s and 80s, and a compelling one at that. Untempted by the flashy baubles of most twenty-first-century music, Heather & Hearth works hard to remain grounded in the past and hide how much the music quality has been improved by modern sensibilities and production techniques. Although this fixation on the past can be a weakness in some, for Phantom Spell it drives a noble purpose of honoring the things that worked well the first time around and don’t need to be improved upon. In complicated times, this time capsule from the past delivers much-needed nostalgic comfort without compromising the progress and improvements made in the intervening years.
Recommended tracks: The Autumn Citadel, A Distant Shore, Heather & Hearth
Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | original review
7. Jacob Roberge – The Passing
Style: Progressive rock (Clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Steven Wilson, Neal Morse Band
Based on how little discussion of Jacob Roberge took place among the Progressive Subway writers (aside from Andy’s initial review), I was caught off guard by how strong The Passing turned out to be. Normally I would expect a debut of this quality to generate a bit more buzz, especially considering our general malaise over 2025’s offerings, but this one seemed largely overlooked. Although classically talented vocal work sometimes seems like a rarity in this genre (as Andy rightly noted in his review), Jacob Roberge‘s uplifting vocals provide the foundation and the number one highlight for The Passing. Beyond the singing, the other instruments make critical contributions to the emotive and symphonic supporting atmosphere, with piano, strings, and acoustic guitar all taking their turn in the proverbial spotlight. Clever compositional flourishes throughout The Passing, including a minor recurring motif, further set it a tier above being merely another prog rock album. If you’d like a change from all the death metal and other extreme genres my colleagues have inevitably highlighted, look no further. (Well, maybe finish reading this list first before you take off.)
Recommended tracks: The Long Way Home, Garden of Souls, Petrichor, The Passing
Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | original review
6. Khan – That Fair and Warlike Form // Return to Dust
Style: Progressive metal, stoner metal, psychedelic rock (Clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Elder, Pallbearer, Mastodon
Remember when I said it was a good year for two-track stoner prog rock releases? Khan offered up the second such outing in 2025 with their more developed full-length take on the two-track format. Each of these twenty-plus-minute tracks feels almost like an EP in itself, shifting gradually through multifaceted stoner rock landscapes, submerging the listener in a sonic fluid so rich there’s no need to come up for air. Although minor seams can be found here and there between the segments that would normally be called “tracks,” Khan’s virtually unbroken flow from one thought to the next delivers an impressively self-contained musical experience to great effect. Plus, their musicianship and atmospheric songwriting are top-notch, crafting a precise balance between somber soundscapes and intense passages of ruinous weight. You may want to keep them away from Spock’s Beard, but it couldn’t hurt to let Khan chase you ‘round the moons of Nibia for a bit.
Recommended tracks: Both of them
Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | original review
5. Psychonaut – World Maker
Style: Post-metal, progressive metal, psychedelic rock (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: DVNE, The Ocean, Mastodon
I have been accused on occasion—probably rightly so—of having impenetrable musical tastes. Psychonaut are one of the groups that could be considered “out of character” compared to the bulk of my listening. Even this list is a great example, being the lone artist with fully mixed vocals amidst a sea of cleans. What can I say, though: Psychonaut’s offerings are hard to resist. World Maker is their most mature offering yet, aged like a fine alcoholic beverage to enhance the notes of psychedelic rock that have always been subtly paired with their main body of post-metal. Although less in your face than their last couple albums, World Maker provides as much variety and talent in its darkly effervescent depths as we’ve come to expect, including a groovy all-instrumental outing with “Origins” at the midway mark. Even if this album doesn’t sound like it would normally be your thing, it’s worth a listen just to see if their finely crafted blend can win you over.
Recommended tracks: You Are The Sky…, And You Came With Searing Light, Origins, Endless Erosion
Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | original review
4. SubLunar – A Random Moment of Stillness
Style: Heavy progressive rock, post-rock (Clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Riverside, Lunatic Soul, Porcupine Tree, Airbag
In a cultural climate so focused around climactic, shareable moments, showing effusive appreciation for an experience that “just” maintains the same high bar of quality from start to finish can be hard. But let me try: even more so than the remaining albums ranked above it, A Random Moment of Stillness is consistently great. You could drop the proverbial needle on any minute within any track and I would feel compelled to keep listening through the remainder of the album. SubLunar trade the inconsistency of swinging for the fences and sometimes missing for the enviable talent of landing a solid hit every time. This is where the practice of assigning numbers and ranks to art breaks down. Every album on this list is good, and for different reasons that suit different tastes. If what you want is a steadily brilliant journey to hold your attention from start to finish, maybe SubLunar should top the list instead.
Recommended tracks: Unmanned, Falling Upwards, Attract / Deter, A Sun Blur
Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | original review
3. Messa – The Spin
Style: Progressive metal, doom metal, dark ambient (Mixed vocals, mostly clean)
Recommended for fans of: Windhand, Chelsea Wolfe, Pijn, Latitudes
I’m not sure there’s any better encapsulation of my mood for 2025 than The Spin. Messa’s characteristically melancholy atmosphere captures exactly the kind of “everything sucks but there’s not much I can do about it” feeling that permeated the year for myself and many others. At the same time, there’s a unique strength behind the bleak tones and unhappy words, a way of channeling misfortune into motivation that’s at once inspiring and a little terrifying. The Spin also features my top individual song and musical moments from the year in “The Dress,” while other headliners like “Thicker Blood” and “Immolation” rank close behind with their own stirring takes on doom metal ambiance. For established Messa fans, The Spin features few surprises, but the band’s steady, reliable formula still supports their upward climb to stardom.
Recommended tracks: Void Meridian, Immolation, The Dress, Thicker Blood
Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | original review
2. Chercán – Chercán
Style: Progressive rock, jazz fusion, psychedelic rock (Clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Vulkan, Thank You Scientist, The Mars Volta
Which is the better treat: an unexpected novelty, or the familiar taste of something you love? Chercán offered a little of both. Before starting my review, all I knew about the band was that they sounded a little like the perennially underrated Vulkan but with a bit more jazz. What I earned for my troubles was a tantalizingly familiar yet refreshingly novel experience, one that gave me high hopes for the year to come (expectations which the year was largely unable to live up to). Jazzy latin rhythms fused with sharp psychedelic tones and a spicy touch of saxophone forge a uniquely enthralling atmosphere for Chercán, adjacent to numerous other styles and artists but never a complete copy of any of them. Heartfelt and multifaceted vocals enhance both gentle moments of reflection and forceful, intense breakdowns that throw you back in your seat. It was a surprise (though a welcome one) that this early frontrunner remained my top pick for so much of the year, but fate ordained that one more contender would arrive before the year was done…
Recommended tracks: La Culpa, Kalimba, Tiempos Paralelos, Relato De Una Obsesión (both parts), 7 Colores
Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | original review
1. Ihlo – Legacy
Style: Progressive metal, djent (Clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: TesseracT, Ions, Karmanjakah, Earthside
Anticipation is a dangerous activity. Anticipation breeds expectations, and unmet expectations fester into disappointment. Nevertheless, after six long years of anticipation, Ihlo made their long-awaited return to stamp their sophomore Legacy upon the music scene. While some may have spared little thought for a “mere” TesseracT-inspired djent band such as this, for those of us who loved their first outing Union, expectations have been high. Luckily, Legacy is not a rote repetition of Union, but a re-development of all the components that made their debut great. Legacy’s towering, futuristic soundscapes have the most emotional effect on me of any music released this year, and that in itself deserves recognition. More than that, though, it’s a vision of refined stylistic focus and a testament to the progress that can be made through iteration and directed effort.
Recommended tracks: Empire, Cenotaph, Legacy, Signals
Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | original review
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