2025 is set to be a massive year for metal. Yes, again. With confirmed releases from the likes of Architects, Spiritbox, Killswitch Engage and Machine Head, the year already has some impressive heavy hitters, but add to that rumoured new releases from the likes of Ghost, Babymetal and Sleep Token and we're looking at a seriously big swing for the metal spectrum.
But which albums should you be most excited about? We've dug through pages and pages of rumours and studio updates from across the internet - as well as just doing it old fashioned and calling artists direct - to find out which albums are coming our way in 2025, and the 50 metal albums you definitely need to hear.
1. A.A. Williams - Title TBC (Expected: late 2025)
No release date has been confirmed for A.A. Williams’ third album, but work is underway on it. “I’ll be hiding myself away over the winter months to explore new ways of working,” she told Hammer. “I’m looking forward to challenging myself, to take myself to places I’ve not yet been both musically and lyrically. I can’t wait to see what emerges.”
2. Anthrax - Title TBC (Expected: Early 2025)
Anthrax’s 12th has been much discussed, but often delayed due to constant tours. The band finally hit the studio in 2024 with producer Jay Ruston though, with drummer Charlie Benante telling Hammer one song “revolves around the journey we’ve been on in the band” and has the “same epic feel” as In The End from 2011’s Worship Music.
3. Arch Enemy - Blood Dynasty (Expected: March 28)
Melodeath has been having a resurgence recently, so Arch Enemy’s 12th album is perfectly timed. Early singles Dream Stealer and Liars And Thieves suggest the Swedes are making fine adjustments to their sound rather than overhauling it. Speaking to Hammer, guitarist Michael Amott explained, "Something we did do was throw out the rule book. Let’s be a little more free in the arrangements. As we’ve become better musicians and songwriters, we’ve missed a bit of that chaotic thing that was part of our early style. We wanted to do that a little bit on the album.”
4. Architects - The Sky, The Earth & All Between (Expected: February 28 2025)
Singles Seeing Red, Curse and Whiplash suggest Architects are going back to basics after the more electronic underpinnings of 2022’s The Classic Symptoms Of A Broken Spirit. But with former Bring Me The Horizon keyboardist Jordan Fish lending some production help there’s likely still surprises in store. Speaking about their November single, drummer Dan Searle hinted: “Whiplash marks the beginning of a new era for Architects."
5. Avatar - Title TBC (Expected: Late 2025)
Avatar are eyeing up the end of the year for the follow-up to 2023’s Dance Devil Dance. “Every album is based on wherever we were at that given time,” frontman Johannes Eckerström told Summa Inferno. “We never really worry about what we have already done. We go for the next great thing.”
6. Babymetal - Title TBC (Expected: Early 2025)
Babymetal hinted at a new album to come in 2025 when announcing UK and European tour dates. “In 2025, Babymetal will enter a new era,” they wrote. “The Metalverse will expand and we will travel to a world we have never experienced, with new songs.” When’s it coming? Only the Fox God knows.
7. Backxwash - Only Dust Remains (Expected: March 28)
After concluding a semi-autobiographical, emotionally charged trilogy, trap metal star Backxwash is plotting a new album for March 2025. On Halloween, she posted an update on Instagram: “The record will mark a new direction, and we’re so excited to share more info with you soon!”
8. Black Label Society - Title TBC (Expected: Late 2025)
Zakk Wylde has plenty going on in 2025. Touring with Pantera at the start of the year, he's then set to hit the road with Sabbath covers band Zakk Sabbath before popping up at the massive farewell show for Ozzy Osbourne/Black Sabbath in July. But he hasn’t forgotten about his regular gig with BLS. “We’ve been recording a batch of stuff while we’re home,” he told YouTuber Scott Lipps, but added the album wouldn’t materialise until “late 2025, maybe early 2026”.
9. Bloodywood - Nu Delhi (Expected: March 21)
Returning with new single Nu Delhi in October, Bloodywood’s mash-up of nu metal and bhangra remains potent as ever. Of album number two, the band’s founder, guitarist and main composer Karan Katiyar told Hammer: “It’s a risky new sound we’re doing, going heavier and darker but also more fun, if you can believe that.” Considering the band also released a Babymetal collab in December, it's safe to say this one will make massive ripples for the Indian band.
10. Bury Tomorrow - Will You Haunt Me With That Same Patience (Expected: May 16)
Unlike their metalcore buddies Architects, Bury Tomorrow went heavier with their last album, 2023’s The Seventh Sun – and recent single Villain Arc suggests they’ll go heavier still. “This track was written to highlight the brutal elements of the band,” says vocalist Dani Winter-Bates.
11. Coheed And Cambria - The Father Of Make Believe (Expected: March 14)
After embracing their most ostentatious side on 2022’s prog metal epic Vaxis II, Coheed And Cambria seem to be returning to their post-hardcore/emo roots for new album The Father Of Make Believe - at least if lead single Blind Side Sonny is anything to go by. Blind Side... also introduced a new villain into their Amory Wars mythos. “Perception can be your worst enemy,” frontman Claudio Sanchez cryptically wrote of the track.
12. Cradle Of Filth - The Screaming Of The Valkyries (Expected: March 21)
Is 2025 the year we finally get the Ed Sheeran/ Cradle Of Filth collab? Either way, The Suffolk horrors plan to go big with their 14th album – recent single Malignant Perfection dialling the clocks back to some of the gothic black metal stylings of their post-2000s output. Speaking to Hammer, Dani Filth explained, "It's got elements of everything we’ve done, really. It has a few head nods to works like Midian and Dusk…, especially in the atmosphere and the subject matter. It’s also got a very brilliant production, courtesy of Scott Atkins.”
13. Darkthrone - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
The frost has barely melted on 2024’s It Beckons Us All, but Darkthrone’s vocalist/guitarist Nocturno Culto revealed in an Instagram post in October he was already working on a follow-up. “Worked on that since November last year,” he said in an Instagram post, hinting that he and drummer Fenriz will be joined by other musicians for the first time since the 1990s.
14. Death Pill - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
Given their first album was recorded against the backdrop of an invasion of their homeland and its bandmembers being spread across the globe, Ukrainians Death Pill have remained upbeat going into their second full-length. Clips shared on YouTube suggest they’re still very much rooted in the speed and frenzy of 80s-style hardcore punk.
15. Deftones - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
Deftones have apparently finished recording the music for their new album. But speaking to Metal Injection, Chino Moreno admitted he hadn’t recorded vocals yet and that it would take “as long as that takes”. At the same time, he added “overall, it’s an invigorated kind of sound”, suggesting exciting things ahead.
16. Dimmu Borgir - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
Dimmu Borgir take their time working on albums, but guitarist Silenoz offered a promising update on their 10th album in March 2024, including the direction the band may go. “We always had [orchestration], but we took it as far as we felt we could take it [on 2018’s Eonian],” he told Finland’s Rauta. “Who knows what the next one will sound like?” Frosty, we’d expect.
17. Dream Theater - Parasomnia (Out now)
The prog metal world went into meltdown when drummer Mike Portnoy returned to Dream Theater in October 2023. He recently revealed that the new record would “pick up where [2009’s] Black Clouds & Silver Linings left off”, adding that Parasomnia “definitely sounds like classic Dream Theater”.
18. Epica - Aspiral (Expected: April 11)
Following Simone Simons’ 2024 solo album, Vermillion, The Dutch band are promising a new spin on their symphonic sound. “Sometimes life can take unexpected turns and you have to reinvent yourself,” Simone told Hammer. “The music and lyric writing is like therapy in a way. You can get the demons out and you can process.”
19. Evanescence - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
After 2021’s successful The Bitter Truth, Amy Lee revealed Evanescence would be hitting the studio in November 2024 to work on a follow-up. “We’ve been doing a lot of creating, and we have, like, tons of ideas,” she said following the band’s performance at last year’s Rock In Rio.
20. Ghost - Title TBC (Expected: Early 2025)
Papa Emeritus V is coming. Following the revelations of 2024’s Rite Here Rite Now, it was anybody's guess how Ghost's succession would work going forward with Papa IV - formerly Cardinal Copia - now established firmly as the head of the order. Then, as part of the upcoming Black Sabbath/Ozzy farewell shows, it was revealed Tobias Forge would be participating... as Papa V Perpetua. The plot thickens. Ghost’s world tour suggests we might get a new album sooner rather than later – especially given the tour title is currently censored.
21. Halestorm - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
Halestorm have long been on an upward trajectory, but it feels like things have really taken off in the last few years. With their as-yet-untitled sixth album – plus a support slot on Iron Maiden’s 50th anniversary tour and an appearance at the Sabbath mega-gig – in the pipeline, 2025 is shaping up to be theirs for the taking. Speaking to Hammer, Lzzy Hale revealed one track was sounding "very Motorhead." One time, I was jamming on my baritone guitar, just walking around the house, and Dave [Cobb, producer] swoops in and goes, ‘We need something like that! Run to the studio, right now!’ And the track has made it onto the record – it sounds very Motörhead. Everything has been absolute madness. You’ve got to be careful with what you’re doing, or someone’s gonna think it’s a good idea.”
22. Harper - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
After making her Download festival debut in 2024, metal wunderkind Harper looks likely to release her debut album in 2025. The single Bird In A Cage hinted at her Spiritbox-inspired metalcore inclinations, while a November post on Instagram confirmed she was “working on new music”.
23. Ice Nine Kills - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
After suitably OTT Terrifier 3 tie-in A Work Of Art, Ice Nine Kills’ frontman Spencer Charnas confirmed new music was “definitely coming” in 2025. “We’ve got some very violent, exciting and perhaps unexpected turns to take in the Ice Nine Kills universe over the next couple of years,” he told Hammer.
24. Tony Iommi - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
It’s been more than a decade since Black Sabbath legend Tony Iommi released a new album, but in an interview with Full Metal Jackie he confirmed he was working on things – and that teaming up with Ozzy Osbourne for songs on the latter’s Patient Number 9 had helped kickstart some ideas. “I am writing stuff now for my own album,” he said. “I’ve really enjoyed doing this stuff, as I did [working] with Ozz when I did a couple of tracks for Patient Number 9. It was good to work with Ozz again.”
25. Jinjer - Duel (Out now)
Jinjer have had plenty on their minds for the past couple of years due to the Russian invasion of their homeland of Ukraine. But they’ve processed it by focusing on their fifth album, as previewed by singles Kafka and Someone’s Daughter. Speaking to Hammer, Tatiana Shmayluk shared a bit of background info on the record. "There’s something of a concept to it, shall we say," she said. "I don’t want to say too much, but I worked on the lyrics and artwork and carried in my mind the idea of dual, or Duél. It’s really about two opposing sets of words, of opinions, of ideas and the battle between those things. It’s about conflict; outside conflict, the conflict that lives inside of all of us."
26. Killswitch Engage - This Consequence (Expected: Feb 21)
Six years is a long time between albums, but the follow-up to 2019’s Atonement finally arrives early in 2025. And, as frontman Jesse Leach reveals, This Consequence finds the metalcore vets as raging as ever. "The first eight songs I wrote for this record, the guys were like, ‘This is not your best work’," he admitted to Hammer. "I initially came at this record with words of wisdom and hoping to inject some positivity, but I don’t think it came off genuine. It took me a while to realise that, and it was kind of an ego death. Long story short, I came out the other side with a new perspective. The first song we came out with from that was called Broken Glass and it’s probably one of the most pissed-off songs we’ve written.”
27. King Diamond - The Institute (Expected: Summer)
King Diamond still isn’t done with The Institute – though he’s getting close. New songs Spider Lilly and Electro Therapy popped up in setlists for the King’s recent North America tour, with guitarist Andy LaRocque revealing the album is set for release after the band’s summer dates.
28. Korn - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
2025’s Download headliners are working on their 15th album. “It’s the best and heaviest Korn stuff in years,” guitarist Head told WSOU 89.5 FM. “I think it’s gonna be raw and more basic.” He also suggested the band were spending more time in the studio. Untouchables take two? We can but hope.
29. Lacuna Coil - Sleepless Empire (Out Now)
Although Lacuna Coil revisited their 2002 breakthrough for Comalies XX, the Italians aren’t returning to their goth metal roots any time soon. Lead single Oxygen showed they were upholding the ferocity of 2019’s Black Anima, the band suggesting they’d found plenty to be pissed off about thematically for their next album. “Sleepless Empire captures, through our eyes, the chaos of a generation trapped in a digital world that never stops,” they wrote. “Where social media consumes identity and every day pushes us one step closer to becoming soulless zombies.”
30. Limp Bizkit - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
Limp Bizkit are back in the studio working on a follow-up to 2021’s Still Sucks. Or, as Fred Durst put it in an Instagram story in November that showed him in the studio with John Otto: “Let’s get that funky funky.”
31. Lord Of The Lost - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
The German industrial metal peacocks have a “five-year plan”, according to frontman Chris Harms. “We are full of hunger to create,” he told Metal Kings, also suggesting the band had an “emotional concept” for the record. Chris is also about to release his first solo album, 1980.
32. Machine Head - Unatoned (Expected: April 25)
When Machine Head dropped megacollab These Scars Won’t Define Us in November, they let slip they were eyeing up a new album “slated for April release TBD”, later confirmed to be April 25. There’s no word on how it’ll sound, but with ex-Havok guitarist Reece Scruggs in their ranks our money is on “thrashy”.
33. Malevolence - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
Malevolence are eyeing up 2025 for their fourth studio album. Recorded in Dave Grohl’s Studio 606 in Los Angeles with producer Josh Wilbur, vocalist Alex Taylor admitted in a YouTube vlog that their first overseas recording session had them “pushing the boat out”.
34. Mercyful Fate - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
The Institute won’t be the only record to feature King Diamond this year – his original band, Mercyful Fate, are planning the long-awaited follow-up to 1999’s 9. Guitarist Hank Shermann has reportedly laid down eight or nine songs, though the album won’t be out until after The Institute.
35. Mastodon - Title TBC (Expected: Late 2025)
Mastodon spent 2024 in nostalgia mode, celebrating the 20th anniversary of their Leviathan album. But it’s eyes facing forward in 2025, with the band working on the follow-up to 2021’s double album, Hushed And Grim. "[The songs are] all over the place," Brann Dailor tells Hammer. "I hear some punk rock in there, but then I hear some insane prog and I hear the heaviest version of ourselves poking its head out again. You can talk all day about what you want to do, but at the end of the day it governs itself - it pulls you where your heart is.”
36. Ministry - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
Preparing to ride off into the sunset (again), Ministry will bring things full circle in 2025. Not only is Al Jourgensen threatening a re-recorded version of their long-disowned debut, With Sympathy, he’s also working with former bassist Paul Barker for the first time since 2003 on what he promises will be Ministry’s final album. We’ll believe that when we see it.
37. Nova Twins - Title TBC (Expected: Early 2025)
The British alt metal breakout stars have finished work on their third album. Have stellar performances at Glastonbury and Download, plus a Mercury Prize nomination, piled on the pressure? Nope. “We love it, we’re excited about it, and we believe that our audience will be too,” vocalist/guitarist Amy Love told NME.
38. Ozzy Osbourne - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
Ozzy’s battle to get back on the road might still be ongoing, but it hasn’t dulled his appetite to create new music. In 2023, he revealed he was planning to hit the studio in 2024 to work on a follow-up to 2022’s Patient Number 9. “I want to take my time with this one, do a good rock album!” he told Hammer.
39. Satyricon - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
After getting a taste for more experimental approaches on 2022’s Satyricon & Munch, the Norwegian black metallers are apparently heading back to more familiar ground for their 10th full-length. Maybe. “It’s gonna be a more conventional album in a way, but there’s gonna be a lot about it that is not conventional,” drummer Frost told Rauta. “The album will be very, very varied.”
40. Scars On Broadway - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
Speaking to Hammer in October, SOAD’s Daron Malakian revealed that he’d already written and recorded the third Scars On Broadway record. “It’s heavy,” he said. “It’s my style; if you like the first two records, or anything else I’ve done, I think you’ll dig it.”
41. Slaughter To Prevail - Grizzly (Expected: TBC)
Slaughter To Prevail frontman Alex Terrible has literally wrestled a bear, so it’s no surprise that his band’s third album will be titled Grizzly. Posting on Instagram ahead of first single Behelit, he wrote, “We have extreme and stupid heavy songs. But also we want to make something different and Behelit is the first step.”
42. Sleep Token - Title TBC (Expected: Before June)
If Take Me Back To Eden was Sleep Token’s breakthrough, its follow-up could cement them as metal’s most important band of recent years. No surprise that secrecy is paramount around a follow-up, but Download booker Andy Copping did let slip in an interview that “album four should be out” by the time they headline the festival in June.
43. Soulfly - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
Though he’s stayed busy with side-projects like Go Ahead And Die in recent years, Max Cavalera confirmed he has started work on a follow-up to Soulfly’s Totem, released in 2022. “It is a little bit of return to the early Soulfly,” he told Metal Express Radio. “I feel there was a magic around those early records that kind of got lost in the shuffle.”
44. Spiritbox - Tsunami Sea (Expected: March 7)
Spiritbox’s 2021 debut, Eternal Blue, established a dichotomy of snarling heaviness and ethereal melody that only seems to have grown more extreme, particularly if their recent singles are anything to go by. Speaking about their upcoming full-length to Revolver, vocalist Courtney LaPlante admitted, “Whatever it is will feel very flexible.”
45. Suicidal Tendencies - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
Suicidal Tendencies frontman Mike Muir has been vocal about not enjoying the recording process, but the addition of ex-Slipknot drummer Jay Weinberg and Dillinger Escape Plan guitarist Ben Weinman might change his mind. “[Jay’s] just, like, going, ‘Dude, I wanna fucking make a record,’” Mike said. “I think that we’re definitely leaning towards doing it.”
46. Testament - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
Scheduling conflicts might have cost Testament beats from Gene Hoglan and Dave Lombardo, but the thrashers found their man in Chris Dovas. They’ve also recruited Nightwish’s Floor Jansen for a “slower song like we had back in the 80s and 90s”. Frontman Chuck Billy told AMFM magazine: “We’re gonna put in some string sections.”
47. Triptykon - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
Tom G. Warrior has sidelined Triptykon in recent years to focus on revisiting former bands Celtic Frost and Hellhammer, but the band have announced they’re writing a new album for release via Century Media, with an “emblematic undertone” of Celtic Frost’s debut, Morbid Tales.
48. Trivium - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
Trivium will spend much of 2025 celebrating their breakthrough second album, Ascendancy, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t also working on a follow-up to 2021’s In The Court Of The Dragon. Matt Heafy remains coy on the prospect, but does reveal they’ve recently finished their home studio in Florida. “I can neither confirm nor deny whether we’re putting out a new album,” Matt told Metal Hammer. “What I can tell you is that our new studio is fully operational as of tonight. We built our own studio, we’ve had it all wired, apparently the guys are in there right now listening to music, so I’m very excited to get in there.”
49. Volbeat - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
After returning to his death metal roots with Asinhell in 2024, Michael Poulsen is headed back to the world of rockabillymetal mash-ups with Volbeat. Speaking to Paltrocast ahead of his throat surgery in October 2023, he revealed he was working with vocal coach Melissa Cross. A video update in July suggested the songs were all written, with vocals still to be recorded, and the album and a tour to come this year.
50. Vukovi - My God Has Got A Gun (Out Now)
The Glasgow alt metal duo have teamed up with producer Machine on recent singles Gungho and Misty Ecstasy. “A new chapter of sound is about to unfold,” wrote vocalist Janine Shilstone. “These songs will speak to places we’ve all been, but few have heard.”
