When it comes to February 2025’s best heavy metal albums, there are some well-known veteran bands along with a newcomer. Here are our picks.
1. Dream Theater – Parasomnia (InsideOut)
The headline for Dream Theater’s latest album is the return of drummer Mike Portnoy. He left the band in 2010 and reunited with his bandmates last year for Parasomnia, the group’s 16th studio album. Dream Theater had quite a few instrumentals on their early albums, but they became a bit less common over the years. Parasomnia opens with the instrumental “In The Arms Of Morpheus,” easing deliberately into the proceedings before kicking in about two minutes in.
The album has everything DT fans want and expect: lengthy songs with frequent shifts in tempo, texture and intensity. From the urgent “Night Terror” to the expansive “Dead Asleep,” the band fires on all cylinders, showcasing impeccable musicianship and songwriting while not neglecting hooks and melodies. The album closes with the nearly 20-minute tour de force “The Shadow Man Incident,” a microcosm of the album in toto delivering dynamics, variety and total engagement. As you’d expect from a Dream Theater album, each listen reveals something new. It’s great to have Portnoy back in the fold as Parasomnia honors Dream Theater’s past glories while creating new ones as they expertly balance their legacy with their future. It’s our pick for February’s best album.
2. -(16)- – Guides For The Misguided (Relapse)
-(16)-’s sludgy serenades have reached their tenth album with Guides For The Misguided. They feel as strong as ever with Bobby Ferry and company continuing their upward trajectory with each new album release.
-(16)- are true to their sound from their outset and flat out rocking out and crushing their expectations right from the very first riff on the album. This album has a backbone heavily rooted in the blues rock foundations of metal, the general melancholy and pain that usually accompanies sludge and the raucous, top tapping and headbanging of the best stoner rock. This album has it all. Having sacrificed nothing in their sound, Guides For The Misguided is easily -(16)-’s most accessible album yet.
3. Saor – Amidst The Ruins (Season Of Mist)
Despite being album number six from Saor, Amidst The Ruins still possesses the vitality and candor of the band’s early releases. I say band, but Saor has been a project of Scottish dude Andy Marshall, who plays most of the instruments and writes and composes all the songs. Having said that, this album also contains contributions of various musicians from around Europe. Amidst The Ruins can loosely be categorized as folk metal but has elements of black metal and prog (Saor also uses the epithet Caledonian metal).
The five songs collectively clocking at almost an hour provide a steady stream of emotional experiences. “The Sylvan Embrace” is a foray into psychedelic rock, the title track touches on doom death territory (amongst other things) while “Echoes Of The Ancient Land” is notable for its musical aggression. But whatever musical ideas Saor happen to be exploring, there’s always a strong sense of melody that underpins the music, even in the more aggressive excerpts. Whistles and other wind instruments, cellos and violins only further enrich the music. Amidst The Ruins is well produced, a creative work and boasts superlative songwriting.
4. Retromorphosis – Psalmus Mortis (Season Of Mist)
Retromorphosis is the rebirth of Spawn Of Possession by a different name, as four-fifths of that former band have realigned for technical death metal supremacy on Psalmus Mortis. Thirteen years have passed since Spawn Of Possession’s final album Incurso, and Psalmus Mortis comes off as the long-awaited follow-up to that phenomenal record.
This is fluid, jaw-dropping tech death; something Spawn Of Possession did so well, and Retromorphosis lives up to that legacy. It’s hard not to get giddy when vocalist Dennis Röndum barks out 100 words a minute without taking a breath like it’s the late 2000’s all over again. Psalmus Mortis is not a reinvention, but a restart that is justified.
5. Killswitch Engage – This Consequence (Metal Blade)
It has been a quarter century since metalcore stalwarts Killswitch Engage released their self-titled debut. All these years later they still display the passion and energy that have made them one of the genre’s most beloved bands. After a five plus year span since Atonement, they emerge with their ninth studio album This Consequence.
The album has all the hallmarks of Killswitch Engage: crushing riffs, catchy melodies and passionate vocals. Songs like “Aftermath” and “Forever Aligned” have singalong choruses, but also throat-shredding harsh vocals from Jesse Leach. Most tracks have a fairly even balance between brutality and melody, but that balance tilts more toward the extreme on songs like “Broken Glass” and “Where It Dies.” There’s not even a hint of filler on This Consequence, which gives notice that Killswitch Engage are as vital and relevant now as they’ve always been.
6. Abduction – Existentialismus (Candlelight)
Abduction explore a familiar formula on Existentialismus — one I like to call “black metal from the highway.” However, the band manages to create an interesting balance between the aggressiveness of Spectral Wound and the emotional depth of Groza. The album demonstrates a great balance between these two styles, which don’t always see eye to eye. Despite the length of the tracks, there’s enough here to keep even the most distracted listener engaged.
If you’ve been into black metal long enough, you might not find this album particularly novel, but I believe its strength lies in the details that start to reveal themselves after a few listens. So, if anything, the album does demand a certain degree of patience — a quality not commonly found in similar albums.
