Among S.L.A.M.’s Core Values is a deep appreciation for great music – – especially for the musicians who are making it today. It’s one kind of life for me this music you hear.
What follows is a list of 2025 album releases recommended by our Executive Director, Jack Mangan. This is not a Year’s Best countdown, just some suggestions for interesting, enjoyable new music. All of these are albums that should hold their luster in the future, after the shiny newness is gone.
S.L.A.M.’s focus remains on the fight to protect musician and fan mental health and well-being. This list is served up purely for your listening pleasure. That’s a positive and healthy thing in itself, isn’t it? There will be a brief note about each so you know what you’re in for.
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A few notes on this list:
Unless otherwise noted, these weren’t selected for their relevance to Support Life And Music’s mission of protecting musician and fan mental health and well-being. These were chosen just to share some aural beauty with your ears, your mind, your heart, your soul.
Jack’s professional music background is steeped in Heavy Metal. There’s a fair bit of that here, but this list is NOT Metal-focused. There are probably about 45 different genres crammed into the 17 selections listed below. If you want the denim and leather, then check out Rich Catino, Jack Mangan, and S.L.A.M.’s own Mark Pruett covering their Top 20+ Metal albums of 2025 at MetalAslylum.net .
Why 17? Why not a round number like 10 or 20? . . . . Dunno.
If you know any music geeks, then you know it was impossible for one of them to limit a list like this to only 17 albums. Please bear with Jack at this difficult time.
These are presented in no particular order.
On with the show.
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- Professor Elemental – The Love Album.
Quietly one of the wittiest, cleverest, funniest, nerdiest, and most talented Rap MCs working today; the Professor consistently delivers tight, mesmeric lyricism over some of the best beats in the business. You need to get into Professor Elemental – – and his rival/friend/peer, Mr. B., the Gentleman Rhymer (whose 2025 album “B-CURIOUS” is also smashing.) Chap-Hop is a delightful niche sub-genre.
- Vintage Caravan – Portals.
Wait, you aren’t familiar with Vintage Caravan? They started out as teenagers, but their 70s Rock retro tunage has been brilliant from the get-go. Their songwriting chops keep reaching new levels of depth and maturity with each release, and “Portals” continues that trend. They’re the greatest thing out of Iceland since Bjork.
- David Judson Clemmons – Everything a War.
Blends of 90s Folk Alt Rock blended with touches of The Arcade Fire and hints of Pink Floyd. The songs on this record ache with sincerity and beauty. This one flew under the radar, but I’m grateful to have spotted it.
- nine inch nails – Tron Ares Soundtrack.
Ever-dependable Trent Reznor hearkens back to a lot of his old tricks (along with his recent nin collaborator, Atticus Ross). It is no mean feat to follow up on Daft Punk’s masterful “Tron: Legacy” soundtrack, but nine inch nails do a heckuva job, with songs that are hooky, catchy, meaty, and perfectly crafted for the techno-unreality of Tron.
- Roswell Six: Terra Incognita: Beyond the Horizon.
A fantastic, star-studded Prog-Rock odyssey based on Kevin J. Anderson’s lush “Terra Incognita” Fantasy novels. This is no vanity cash grab; these songs are well-written and meticulously executed. We had the honor to talk to some of the Roswell 6 crew (Kevin J. Anderson, Michael Sadler [of Saga], Bob Madsen) on SLAM: Music Survival Guide 34 – Terra Incognita.
- Johan Niemann – The Vast Expanse.
Solo instrumental album from Evergrey guitarist, Johan Niemann. Hauntingly beautiful in a Gilmour-ian way, with some lovely subdued Satriani touches too.
- Gösta Berlings Saga – Forever Now.
Gösta Berlings Saga’s music is primarily instrumental. It sounds like the soundtrack to the most exciting, tense, edge-of-your-seat espionage thriller on the big screen. Put on your sunglasses and drive around with this on. You’ll feel like the coolest mother****ker on the road.
- Galactic Empire – Cinemetal
Virtuoso musicians doing Djenty Prog-Metal instrumental covers of the greatest cinematic scores of the past 50 years, with a predilection for John Williams. The songs are heavy and thumping, but still retain their grandeur and elegance. Do not miss GE’s version of the classic Toho Godzilla theme.
- The Reticent – please
OK, this one is highly relevant to S.L.A.M.’s mission. It’s an emotionally devastating, unflinching look at suicide in modern society. The music is unforgettable and gut-wrenchingly beautiful.
- Say She She – Cut & Rewind.
Try to dislike Say She She’s 2025 Discodelic Soul album, “Cut & Rewind.” You cannot. It’s impossible. Song after song, their infectious, Pop-friendly, smooth, grooviness will get under your skin. Kudos to past SLAM: Music Survival Guide guest, Nathan Carson (episode 36), for making me aware of them.
- Blood Vulture – Die Close.
A gorgeously dark vampire-themed wall-of-sound with crunchy downtuned power chords and the mightiest of clean vocals. It actually functions as a full album listen (!), building up the climactic masterpiece of the titular final track. For pure listening enjoyment, this was my favorite of the year.
- Castle Rat – The Bestiary.
Gorgeously dark. . . wait, I’m repeating myself. This has very little in common with the Blood Vulture record. There’s a reason why Castle Rat were the breakout stars of 2025. “The Bestiary” is loaded with lush, D&D-informed Stoner/Folk/Doom/Classic Rock. Top-tier songs, actively-engaged production, and Riley Pinkerton’s killer vocals = instant classic.
- Gento – Bioscope.
Fans of modern-era Tangerine Dream take note: this one is for you. No surprise there, since Thorsten Quaeschning (Tangerine Dream) and Steve Rothery (Marillion) are the masterminds behind it. Smart; entrancing, magnetic: “Bioscope” is everything I want from Electronic instrumental music (that used to get lumped into the New Age section of the record store.)
- Nite – Cult of the Serpent Sun.
Raspy monotone vocals on to-the-point, melodic, Ghost-meets-AC/DC-meets-Accept Traditional Heavy Metal, loaded with power chords, open chords, single notes, and arpeggios. Great songwriting, great music. Acknowledged: some may find Van Labrakis’s guttural voice offputting, but I love it.
- Brass Against – VI.
A brass band accompanied by some other instruments and a rotating cast of amazing vocalists interpreting classic Hard Rock songs of the 1990s? So much could go wrong, but these vocalists bring so much soul to their performances. These songs just crackle with life and energy.
- Durand Jones and the Indications – Flowers.
A 2025 discovery for me. Durand Jones and the Indications are part of the modern Psychedelic Soul movement, along with bands like Thee Sacred Souls and Black Pumas. They bring a modern sensibility to sounds steeped heavily in the traditions and genius laid out in 1970s non-Funk/non-Disco R&B by the likes of Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Roberta Flack, Al Green, Stevie Wonder, et al. Nick Hornby must be listening to this on repeat.
- Jason Bieler and the Baron Von Bielski Orchestra – The Escapologist.
Jason has consistently been one of the best and most ambitious songwriters of the past decade, delivering music that resists categorization. He takes you on turns from playful to bouncy to dark to neck-moving to disturbing to uplifting to heart-rending – – sometimes in the same song. His Baron Von Bielski work is brilliant, and feels like a continuation of what began with his beloved 80s-90s band, Saigon Kick.
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