August 2025 Best Heavy Metal Albums

Here are our picks for August 2025’s best heavy metal albums:

1. Blackbraid – Blackbraid III (Self)

The success of their first two albums has made upstate New York’s Blackbraid an attractive artist for labels, but the band’s founder Sgah’gahsowah has rebuffed all offers and prefers to remain independent. Atmospherics are prominent on Blackbraid III, with acoustic guitar making an appearance on tracks like “The Dying Death Of A Sacred Stag,” but they are mostly showcased on the several instrumental interludes.

Traditional black metal is front and center on songs such as “God Of Black Blood,” “Tears Of The Dawn” and the nearly 10-minute epic “And He Became The Burning Stars,” the album’s most dynamic and varied track. They end the album with a cover of Lord Belial’s “Fleshbound.” The interludes are anything but throwaways, adding depth and texture along with interesting musical moments. They provide contrast to the black metal songs, which unfold deliberately with new revelations on each subsequent listen. Blackbraid III is the band’s most ambitious album so far, and also their most potent. It’s our pick for August’s best album.

2. Helloween – Giants And Monsters (Reigning Phoenix)

Helloween’s vaunted Pumpkins United lineup returns with Giants and Monsters, their second consecutive full-length album as the three-headed monster of Michael Kiske, Andi Deris and Kai Hansen aim to continue the grandeur that was established by their 2021 self-titled full-length and the EP from which the new moniker was established.

There is a reason why power metal in general owes such a great debt to these Germans. Helloween always do a great job of balancing the “bend but don’t break” aspect of power metal’s campiness allowing for metal traditionalists to hang with the band when other Euro power bands would otherwise bowl them over. Helloween have had this long-sustained success for a reason and with this all-star lineup that has been present for nearly a decade, there is nothing standing in the way of even more. Giants And Monsters is the sound of Helloween’s importance and dominance on the power metal genre in the past, present and the future.

3. Burning Witches – Inquisition (Napalm)

In their decade of existence, the Swiss heavy/power metal band Burning Witches have been prolific, issuing a new album every year or two. Inquisition is their sixth album. They’ve had a lineup change as well. After appearing on three tracks on 2023’s The Dark Tower, guitarist Courtney Cox is now a full-fledged member.

As on previous album, the songs are driven by classic metal riffs, guitar harmonies and the potent and varied vocals of Laura Guldemond. “High Priestess Of The Night” channels an ’80s vibe while the intensity is ratched up on tracks like “Shame.” Power metal is front-and-center on the title track, contrasted by the power ballad “Release Me.” Burning Witches showcase a variety of styles and approaches on Inquisition, making for a well-rounded and interesting album.

4. Unleashed – Fire Upon Your Lands (Napalm)

Swedish death metal legends Unleashed have readied their 15th full length assault for the masses in the form of Fire Upon Your Lands. The album opens with “Left For Dead” which goes full bore, while also balancing some of the more riotous material with slowed sections giving more weight to Johnny Hedlund’s famed vocals and meaty bass riffs.

“The Road to Haifa Pier” has a solid guitar solo as the drums pound to the shouts of “march!” a command that Unleashed demand be followed or else the ensuing “War Comes Again” will be locked and loaded. Themes of war and loyalty are well established throughout this fifteenth fray and longtime fans should be happy to hear this is one of the band’s most consistent albums in recent years and feel inspired to “Hold Your Hammers High!”. Fire Upon Your Lands is the sound of Unleashed giving their all in the heat of battle.

5. Bask – The Turning (Season of Mist)

Asheville, North Carolina natives Bask return with album number four, The Turning. It’s another album that toes the line between early ‘00s metal that is bathed in the Americana of the US Southeast. I was introduced to the band on their previous effort, 2020’s III an album whose sultry vocals helped balance heavy guitar riffs, but never felt quite metal. Expect more of the same on The Turning.

On “In the Heat of the Dying Sun” the album continues it ascent by creating a grandiose path to the celestial. “The Cloth” uses the band’s vocal harmonies well, mixing them with guitar lines that are equally beautiful and haunting, making sure to not skimp on the presence of a banjo in the most authentic way possible. “Dig My Heels” is a perfect balancing act by the band of hitting the right amount of heavy and folk-influenced, exactly what makes Bask so great. The Turning is a welcome return by Bask, an inspired effort that has mass crossover appeal.

6. Innumerable Forms – Pain Effulgence (Profound Lore)

Innumerable Forms hit all the right marks in making a great death/doom record with Pain Effulgence. They’ve had a while to get there, with the band starting out as a solo project for musician Justin DeTore in the late 2000s before he expanded it to a full lineup starting with 2018’s Punishment In Flesh. With Pain Effulgence, they are able to fit the sorrow and weight of the genre into only 35 minutes.

Even within that stringent timing, the songs aren’t in a race to get done, evident by the mournful closer “Austerity And Attrition.” The guitar solos sprinkled across all of Pain Effulgence are where Innumerable Forms’ soft spot for melodic persuasion is formed. They provide the album with the slightest glimpse of optimism, which is in short supply.