June 2025 Best Heavy Metal Albums

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

1. Katatonia – Nightmares As Extensions Of The Waking State (Napalm)

The headline for Katatonia‘s latest album Nightmares As Extensions Of The Waking State is that it’s the first without founding member Anders Nystrom. While his guitar abilities will certainly be missed, when comes to songwriting, it’s status quo as frontman Jonas Renske handled those duties, just like their last few albums.

Katatonia’s style is well-established, and they continue down that path. The album gets off to a heavy start with “Thrice” and “The Liquid Eye.” The band’s hallmarks of dynamic songs and emotional vocals keep the listener fully engaged from beginning to end, and the impact grows with each listen. From the proggy “Lilac” to the mellow “Warden” to the majestic closer “In The Event Of,” Nightmares As Extensions Of The Waking State is a master class in songwriting and musicianship, another triumphant Katatonia release. It’s our pick for June’s best album.

2. Deadguy – Near-Death Travel Services (Relapse)

Returning from 30 years of LP silence are New Jersey legends Deadguy with their sophomore release, Near-Death Travel Services. Their 1995 debut Fixation On A Co-Worker is a staple metallic hardcore album, one that influenced burgeoning bands like Converge and The Dillinger Escape Plan among others to become the aggressive stalwarts that they are today. Starting with “Kill Fee,” the listener finds themselves properly transported back to a time when the music scene was a bit different, but one feels like a proper follow-up to an album three decades in the past.

Very few bands can make the transition from 1995 to 2025, but Deadguy have done so with aplomb and by simply continuing to do what defined their career to this point. Fans of the aforementioned metal/mathcore bands and even fans of more recent critical darlings, Chat Pile (especially vocally) have so much to digest here. This is an essential record for any metal and hardcore fan. For a band that age-wise feels towards the end of their tether, Near-Death Travel Services breathes life into a career revival that doesn’t appear to be going away any time soon.

3. Cryptopsy – An Insatiable Violence (Season of Mist)

Cryptopsy, Canadian titans of death metal in its most brutal and technical form, show no signs of slowing down. Just two years after the acclaimed As Gomorrah Burns, they return with An Insatiable Violence — a masterclass in overwhelming aggression and compositional precision.

The band’s ninth studio album is another triumph in the luminous canon of the Canadian death metal scene. Groove and brutality coexist within an intricate web of complex riffing, where technical twists and contorted melodies collide with surgical intensity. At the heart of it all, Flo Mounier — still the sole remaining member of the classic lineup — delivers some of the most jaw-dropping drumming of his career: a performance both punishing and awe-inspiring. An Insatiable Violence stands as one of the year’s defining extreme metal releases. Once again, Cryptopsy prove they never fail to astonish and never, ever disappoint.

4. Byzantine – Harbingers (Metal Blade)

It has been more than eight years since Byzantine‘s last full-length, The Cicada Tree. The West Virginia groovers have issued a live release and EP since then, paving the way for their seventh proper album Harbingers.

Byzantine write songs that are progressive yet groovy, with hooks and catchy choruses flowing into dynamic and proggy sections. “The Clockmaker’s Intention” is a highlight, shifting from mellow to heavy with memorable riffs and extended instrumental sections showcasing their musicianship. They bring the thrash on “Riddance,” while the title track features a solo from co-founding member Tony Rohrbough, who rejoined the band after the album was completed, expanding them to a quintet. Even after a quarter-century, Byzantine remain underrated, but the quality of Harbingers should help draw deserved attention to their long history of excellent releases.

5. Gruesome – Silent Echoes (Relapse)

Continuing their homage to all things Death, Gruesome return with an ode to the album Human called Silent Echoes. Adding in a layer of originality to the sounds of these different Death eras is quite an inspired idea, and Gruesome are already up to the task by treading ground they had done on 2017’s Fragments Of Psyche EP, the single from that has understandably made the cut for the new album. Matt Harvey, Gus Rios and Dan Gonzalez all contribute in equal amounts to create an air of authenticity around the album considered to be the genesis of progressive death metal.

“A Darkened Window” chugs along until an absolute barnburner of a solo get unleashed, making it feel as though Chuck Schuldiner is in the room with you. The attention to detail that has gone into making this album is staggering, as it becomes a sonic mirror to the source material without being a carbon copy. Silent Echoes is some of Gruesome’s best material to date, as they take Death’s Human from 1991 and give it the proper 2025 glow that the album deserves.

6. Reflection – The Battles I Have Won (Pitch Black)

Formed over 30 years ago in Athens, Greece, Reflection never seem to be in a rush to release an album. The Battles I Have Won is just the band’s fifth album but it encapsulates all the hallmarks of metal. Lyrically the album celebrates epic battles, some from history and some from ancient mythology and all tales are tied together with an introspective slant. The music aptly reflects these lyrics in that it is breathtakingly epic.

“Once Again (Crime in the Valley of Death)” has a triumphant vibe and a memorable instrumental passage towards the end. “March of the Argonauts” feels like a forgotten track from Iron Maiden’s Piece Of Mind sessions. “City Walls of Malta – The Great Siege” is about the 1565 invasion of Malta by the Ottoman empire, a compelling story vividly brought to life by the music. Epic vocals, tasteful orchestrations, powerful hooks, mighty riffs; The Battles I Have Won has it all. Even the artwork is impressive. This is an album that should gain Reflection quite a few new fans.