{"id":381814,"date":"2026-01-01T15:22:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T15:22:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/381814\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T15:22:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T15:22:18","slug":"favorite-hardcore-releases-of-2025-musician-label-owner-picks-lists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/381814\/","title":{"rendered":"Favorite Hardcore Releases of 2025: Musician & Label Owner Picks | Lists"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n

\t\t\t\tBy No Echo |
\n\t\t\t\t@noechonet<\/a> |<\/p>\n

\t\t\t12.31.2025<\/p>\n

Hardcore in 2025 came from everywhere and hit from every angle. For this article, I asked musicians and label owners across the scene to share the releases that hit hardest for them this year. <\/p>\n

Thanks for reading the website, and stay tuned for much more hardcore music coverage in 2026!<\/p>\n

-Carlos Ramirez<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Aaron\u00a0Jamili (Alpha & Omega)
Hardcore has had a resurgence in the past few years, and 2025 was no different. I\u2019d argue these are some of the best releases of the year in general, not just in hardcore.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Combust \u2014\u00a0Belly of the Beast
End It \u2014\u00a0Wrong Side of Heaven
Scarab \u2014\u00a0Burn After Listening\u00a0
Skinhead \u2014\u00a0It\u2019s a Beautiful Day, What a Beautiful Day
Propagandhi \u2014\u00a0At Peace<\/p>\n

Justin Vela (Stand Tall)
Dynamite \u2014\u00a0Settle the Score
Scarab \u2014\u00a0Burn After Listening
Firestarter \u2014\u00a0Still Holding On\u2026
C4 \u2014\u00a0Payback\u2019s a Bitch
It Comes From Within…\u00a0(compilation featuring\u00a0Envision, Statement of Pride, and Destiny)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jacob Tyler (The Chain)
Iron Eater \u2014 Demo
Wits End \u2014 Demo I and Demo II
Mil-Spec \u2014 Mil-Spec
No Idols \u2014 No Idols
Bulls Shitt \u2014 Bulls Shit
C4 \u2014 Payback’s a Bitch
Scarab \u2014 Burn After Listening
Iron Mind \u2014 Test of the Iron Mind<\/p>\n

Guillaume Scaillet (Sorcerer)
Hellbound \u2014\u00a0Seventh Seal
A bunch of friends I made this year released this killer EP while we were touring together. I love this kind of raw hardcore stuffed with metal. Glasgow rules.<\/p>\n

Excide \u2014\u00a0Bastard Hymns
Is it really hardcore? \u00a0Nevermind, I was expecting this one, and I was not disappointed. Insane production, several hits, can\u2019t wait to have them in Europe. Shoutout\u00a0to our friend, Tyler.<\/p>\n

Cross of Disbelief \/ Impunity \u2014\u00a0New York vs North Yorkshire
Good connections usually make a good EP.<\/p>\n

Age of Apocalypse \u2014\u00a0In Oblivion
I’ve been digging this band since day one, and this one is their best release to date. I wish they toured more cause they are also really impressive live.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Nick Acosta (New Morality Zine)
Method of Doubt \u2014 Total Soul Ignition
\u201cThere\u2019s gotta be a different way!\u201d This record pulls out all the stops for me – extraordinary lyricism (drawing one-liners from some of my favorite bands), chunky start\/stop riffs, and powerful\u00a0side-to-side breakdowns.<\/p>\n

Scarab \u2014\u00a0Burn After Listening
Wow. I wasn\u2019t sure how an LP from this band would stack up against their previous releases, but this record absolutely did it. It feels written with the intention of crawling into the darkest parts of one\u2019s own mind and letting that push to the forefront. Brutal in all the right ways. Plus, it features a menacing contribution from one of my favorite hardcore\u00a0vocalists, back in the pocket with his signature sound.<\/p>\n

Excide \u2014\u00a0Bastard Hymns
A record that truly stands on its own. Since its inception, this band has always done what felt right to them. While some of the comps here are obvious, it\u2019s the weirder, more dynamic influences and sounds that really keep my attention.<\/p>\n

What Counts \u2014 The Brigade
A record for the people, through and through. This band talks the talk and walks the walk. If you want the Youth Crew sound with a harder edge while still being fun, this record is for you. Putting on for Indiana and the Gulch Brigade.<\/p>\n

Indecision \u2014 Unorthodox (remastered reissue)
An all-time album from an all-time band got the remaster it deserved. While it\u2019s not wholly new, it certainly felt new. This version sounds monstrous, and it\u2019s so much easier to pick up on the nuances of the guitar playing and the details the band captured. A chance for them to really flex on their past work.<\/p>\n

Seudo Youth \u2014\u00a0Nobody Gets Down Like\u2026
I\u2019m not going to lie, the second I heard this, I was transported back to hearing Minor Threat for the first time. The somewhat discordant, underproduced, amateur-pitched vocals, paired with the raw sense of urgency and absolute zero frills of youth playing hardcore music. Fucking love it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Matt Weltner (Chopping Block)
Dry Socket \/ Violencia split
Both these bands walk a line between punk and hardcore, and I freaking love it. Raw, honest, and unhinged. The song “Shame Convictions” has been on repeat for weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wits End \u2014\u00a0Demo II
The first demo was great, but the blue demo broke my brain: all killer, no filler. Every band should sound just a little bit more like Wits End.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Step By Step \u2014\u00a0New World View
We know skatepunk is a thing. Is skatecore a thing? This album makes me want to bomb hills. Or let\u2019s be real, I\u2019m too clumsy for that, so let\u2019s say this record makes me want to speed down windy roads with the windows down.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are 15 more records I could list here, so I\u2019ll leave it with this: Go Seahawks, fuck ICE, free Palestine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Shae Alexander (Terminator)
No Idols \u2014 No Idols\u00a0
Bulls Shitt \u2014 \u00a0Bulls Shitt
Fatal Realm \u2014\u00a0“Of No Consequence” (single)
Identity Shock \u2014 Traces\u00a0
Unmoved \u2014 Demonstration\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Andrew Kline (Strife, Berthold City, WAR Records)
Scarab \u2014 Burn After Listening
Scarab\u2019s debut LP, Burn After Listening, stands as my personal favorite hardcore release of 2025, and to be honest, nothing else even comes close.\u00a0With just eight songs in twelve minutes, the band distills the crushing intensity of\u00a0Satisfaction Is the Death of Desire-era Hatebreed while injecting the unhinged volatility of Nails. The result is a record that feels brutally immediate yet sharply focused, and it’s heavy without lapsing into beatdown clich\u00e9s. Truly a debut that lives up to the hype!<\/p>\n

Method of Doubt \u2014 Total Soul Ignition
Method of Doubt\u2019s Staring at Patterns quietly landed in 2021 and immediately carved out a place in my top ten of the year. It was a record that felt both fully formed and criminally overlooked. Released with little fanfare and followed almost immediately by the band\u2019s breakup, the\u00a0band seemed destined to become a footnote. Earlier this year, Method of Doubt announced a few\u00a0shows, and I was excited to see that they released a new EP in November.<\/p>\n

Rather than reinventing themselves on Total Soul Ignition, Method of Doubt pick up exactly where they left off, delivering sharp, melodic post-hardcore that recalls the emotional urgency of Guy Picciotto fronting Supertouch. It\u2019s another strong statement from a band that never quite got its due. Now bring it to the West Coast!<\/p>\n

End It \u2014 Wrong Side of Heaven
Ever since Unpleasant Living dropped in 2022, we have all been waiting for the arrival of a full-length record from End It. In the years since, they\u2019ve been tearing up stages worldwide and cementing their reputation as one of the best live bands in hardcore today. This LP wastes no time and delivers precisely what longtime listeners have been waiting for: sharp, direct, and uncompromising songs that hit with total confidence.<\/p>\n

What truly sets End It apart, though, is a quality many of its peers lack: personality. It\u2019s the kind of presence that can\u2019t be manufactured, and it\u2019s what truly elevates this record.<\/p>\n

The Final Agony \u2014 Depraved From Darkness
The\u00a0Final Agony arrive\u00a0as a bruising hybrid of Cleveland grit filtered through Baltimore and DC, now sharpened further with Aaron Melnick on guitar. Their first EP showed promise, but Depraved From Darkness is where everything locks into place, pushing the band into truly commanding territory. For anyone who holds\u00a0Humanity Is the Devil-era Integrity sacred, these 4 songs carry the same suffocating weight and conviction.<\/p>\n

Combust \u2014\u00a0Belly of the Beast
Belly of the Beast is NYHC done right, played by true students of the game. The record channels the songwriting of Killing Time’s\u00a0Brightside with the swagger of The Icemen – some huge shoes to fill. Combust is a band putting in real work, and their relentless touring over the past year has only solidified their role in helping put NYHC back on the map.<\/p>\n

Tats (Blow Your Brain Out)
Wits End \u2014\u00a0Demo\u00a0II
Demo of the year. \u201cBig Time\u201d is the biggest tune of 2025. Packed with pure HC essence.<\/p>\n

Discontent \u2014\u00a0Processing Upheaval
I am anti “Anti purposefully shitty sound production”.<\/p>\n

Dynamite \u2014\u00a0Settle the Score
You probably have a favorite early \u201980s NYHC band. Try imagining it\u2014this record has elements of all of them.<\/p>\n

The Final Agony \u2014\u00a0Depraved From Darkness
Arpeggios, the guitar solos, the dime bombs and the vocals that sound even more Dwid than Dwid himself.<\/p>\n

Bruo \u2014\u00a0Demo 2025
Another demo of the year. If Negative Approach devoured power violence, it would sound like this\u2014a perfect four minutes.<\/p>\n

These were the other ones that totally ruled: Dead On Your Feet, Corrosives, Nihilistic Easyrider, No Idols, Weighted Class, and T.S Warspite.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Che Figueroa (Flatspot Records)
End It \u2014 Wrong Side of Heaven
I was an integral part of End It during the band’s\u00a0formative years. \u00a0I\u2019ve been there during the pre-End It formation phase and have seen their rise all the way up until now. \u00a0This record is a product of everything they\u2019ve gone through to get to the point where they are now. \u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been a fan of Baltimore hardcore since I went to my first Baltimore hardcore show in 2002, and this record makes me proud of the city that adopted me as one of its own. \u00a0This record has been on repeat since it came out. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Adam Lentz (Revelation Records)
Destruct \/ Svaveldioxid split
Destruct already have released\u00a0two LPs of Bastard-worshipping hardcore. Still, on these three tracks, they actually got even harder and dirtier, with vocals that sound more like Framtid this time around, but this is a huge step up from an already excellent formula. Svaveldioxid do more d-beat madness and are from Sweden, and if there is one thing Swedes do well, it\u2019s blazing d-beat. See Infernoh, Paranoid, etc. if that\u2019s your shit.<\/p>\n

Big Laugh \u2014\u00a0Days of Dissaray
I might be partial cause I helped put out their previous record. Still, this record is more of the band making a really unique sound, which is a difficult thing to say about a hardcore record\u2014straightforward hardcore\u00a0but with lots of Die Kreuzen and now Rorschach influence.<\/p>\n

Seudo Youth \u2014\u00a0Nobody Gets Down Like
Self-described \u201canarcho Youth Crew\u201d from LA with some fun guitar effects. Lying somewhere between Youth of Today and Neighborhood Brats.<\/p>\n

Alienator \u2014\u00a0Meat Locker
Flawlessly executed late-’80s NYHC played by tru punks. Think DFTS-era Warzone and Cause for Alarm-era Agnostic Front.<\/p>\n

Planet on a Chain \u2014\u00a0Ritual Routine
Another one that I am biased towards because I put it out, but Brian Stern can really do no wrong. Look Back and Laugh was the best live band I have ever seen, and these are three of its members.<\/p>\n

Scarab \u2014\u00a0Burn After Listening
A more modern-sounding hardcore band I actually like. Skitsystem-influenced fast parts but with breakdowns? Yes,\u00a0pls.<\/p>\n

No Idols \u2014\u00a0No Idols
Stomping, pounding hardcore in the vein of Violent Reaction, 86 Mentality, etc. I\u2019m a sucker for that shit.<\/p>\n

Ultimate Disaster \u2014\u00a0For Progress
You know what else I am a total sucker for? Shit that sounds like Disclose, Bastard and Framtid, but I think we already covered that.<\/p>\n

Identity Shock \u2014\u00a0Traces\u00a0
Fast straight edge hardcore punk.<\/p>\n

Hedonist \u2014\u00a0Scapulimancy
I was obsessed with the demo, and I swear I sent a link to Greg from Southern Lord, who put out this LP. Yeah, I’m going to take credit even though that probably isn\u2019t how it happened. Lots of Bolt Thrower and Nihilist (the pre-Entombed band) influence. Heavy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Tommy Harte (Anxious,\u00a0Price of Redemption)
My personal favorites were the new LP from Killing Me Softly [To Forever Fall Through God’s Safety Net] and Neolithic’s new EP [Barbarism]! Both bands are making music that pushes hardcore into more interesting places!<\/p>\n

The hardcore bands you should check out are the ones in your local area who are making the youth most excited! You’ll be seeing a lot more of them, so get familiar.<\/p>\n

Buddy Armstrong (Stigmata, Unbeaten Records)
Sin Against Sin \u2014\u00a0Demo
Final Resting Place \u2014 Bound by Affliction
Skinhead \u2014\u00a0It\u2019s a Beautiful Day, What a Beautiful Day
End It \u2014\u00a0Wrong Side of Heaven
NOIR \u2014\u00a0Pointless Existence<\/p>\n

Bjorn Dossche (Wrong Man, Rise and Fall)
What I noticed in 2025 is the incredible influx of demos and EPs. Men and women much wiser than I have pointed out that those are the perfect formats for hardcore punk, and well, they could be right. Here\u2019s my top 5:<\/p>\n

Radioactivity \u2014 Time Won\u2019t Bring Me Down
I know, I know. This is adjacent at best, but this records just hits all the right spots for me. Incredible songwriting, full of feeling, and closing the album with “Shell Into Pain” is a power move.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Method of Doubt \u2014 Total Soul Ignition
When they dropped that LP and almost immediately broke up after, that hurt. But coming back with this perfect synthesis of 1991 and your best songs yet is beautiful.<\/p>\n

Speedway \u2014 A Life\u2019s Refrain
The passion and energy we all love about hardcore, perfectly captured by these rocking Swedes. Taking that early ’00s sound but planting it firmly in the now. Sick.<\/p>\n

No Idols \u2014 No Idols
After a perfect demo, a perfect EP. The ideal balance between stomping caveman music and intelligent songwriting. Love this.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Combust \u2014 Belly of the Beast
A lot of swagger, a lot of attitude. A deep love for NYHC that shines through in every song. Classic style done just right: Combust has the sauce.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Darren Nanos (Born Sinner, Death Certificate, Runnin\u00a0Hot)
I\u2019m sure I\u2019m not the first to offer the sentiment that 2025 was a solid ass year for hardcore. When you consider the number of new bands, countless epic nights to remember, and perfect records released by seasoned vets over this year, anyone would have a tough time picking a favorite anything! But, since that\u2019s precisely what we\u2019re here to do, I guess I\u2019ve gotta narrow it down\u2026<\/p>\n

My most anticipated release of the year also turned out to be my favorite. I began following Oxnard, California\u2019s Dead Heat when I stumbled upon their 2019 LP Certain Death while browsing the Edgewood Records back catalog. They say you shouldn\u2019t judge a book by its cover, but when I laid eyes on that album, I had a feeling there was something to this band. All it took to get me hooked was to notice they had recorded a cover of Long Island\u2019s own answer to crossover-perfection, the Crumbsuckers, and I was sold.<\/p>\n

Since then, I\u2019ve been loving everything they\u2019ve done, and I head out to see them whenever I possibly get the chance. It\u2019s their newest LP, Process of Elimination, released by the Goliath of metal labels, Metal Blade, that\u2019s my top choice of 2025. Sounding huge under the production of Paul Fig, the band elevated their game across the board on this one. Every song is bigger and better, more complex, and has even more swing. My top track of the record is \u201cEnemy\u201d – it\u2019s got everything I love about the genre: an endlessly pummeling riff, pounding rhythm section, high-energy vocal rasp, and gang vocals that feel like something Suicidal would\u2019ve done in the late ’80s. Throw this shit on and bang your head until your neck hurts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The other album that really got me hyped up is from the torch carriers in the realm of what a lot of folks would consider \u201ctraditional hardcore\u201d: Restraining Order. In 2025, these dudes have been busy as hell criss-crossing the world more than a few times, signing to Blue Grape Music, and releasing their latest long-playing entitled Future Fortune. With a band like Restraining Order, you know what you\u2019re getting, and I mean that in the most admirable of ways!<\/p>\n

They consistently deliver what I believe is the perfect blend of punk-rooted hardcore with catchy hooks, relatable, anthemic lyricism, as well as some of the best live performances from any band you\u2019ve ever seen. With every new release, the band wears more and more of their varied influences on their collective sleeves. The pacing of Future Fortune slows just slightly on some of the tracks, but in a way that blends a Tell Us The Truth-era Sham 69 with Hidden World from Fucked Up. \u201cThe Suffer\u201d has to be my favorite on this one because it delivers both the speed and the groove, and a couple of classic r\u2019n\u2019r licks to boot. As the band that has best tackled a \u201cclassic\u201d hardcore sound of recent years, I can\u2019t recommend this one enough.<\/p>\n

Beyond these two LPs, I\u2019ve got an unfair advantage with my last pick because I helped create it. My favorite demo of the year comes from New York\u2019s Fr\u00f6thing Mad, and I was behind the boards in recording it, so I\u2019ll keep this blurb brief! But the fact that I was there for it all doesn\u2019t detract from what these guys have achieved. They had a pretty clear vision when they entered The Locker Room: to do a band that felt like it could fall in line with an album like Cause For Alarm by Agnostic Front, and with the songs they crafted, they did just that!<\/p>\n

Since the release of the demo, they\u2019ve played a handful of shows around New York, and each one has gotten livelier. Even if I hadn\u2019t helped in some way, just seeing them play, I would\u2019ve easily tapped them for a top-five list. They\u2019ve got the great combo of speed to swing, with vocal stylings that you might find on the New Breed comp. A few blistering leads paired with incredibly pit-able break downs, this one has everything you need. The demo is now being made available as a 7\u201d on From Within Records, so get into it!<\/p>\n

Philip Amos (The Few, Gumm)
Dead Heat \u2014\u00a0Process of Elimination
Contempt \u2014\u00a0You Still Suffer\u00a0
Sikm\/The Slads split\u00a0
Chaos Must Bow \u2014\u00a0EP
Bleeding Heart \u2014\u00a0Demo\u00a0
Advent \u2014\u00a0God Is\u00a0the End\u00a0
Face the Pain \u2014\u00a0Time and Dedication<\/p>\n

Tony Bavaria (Calling Hours, Don’t Sleep)
My favorite hardcore release of 2025 is Berthold City\u2019s No Brotherhood EP. 4 short rippers, good mosh parts, it\u2019s exactly what I want. Andrew sometimes stretches some words out that, to me, sound a bit Ray Cappo-esque, and I\u2019m 100% here for it every time. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Joe Kelly (Ozone)
Yo! 2025 was a dope year for the core. I had everyone in the band choose their favorite release of the year. See y’all in 2026!<\/p>\n

Jak:\u00a0Zero Mob \u2014 Demo
Omar:\u00a0Bad Beat \u2014 LP 2025\u00a0
Joe:\u00a0Order of Living \u2014 Demo\u00a0
Uri: Madman \u2014 Demo
Clayton: C4 \u2014 Payback’s a\u00a0Bitch
Ty:\u00a0Scarab \u2014 Burn After Listening\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Edo Zavarella (Blvd\u00a0of Death)
Combust \u2014\u00a0Belly of the Beast\u00a0
Crush Your Soul \u2014\u00a0Living Gracious\u00a0<\/p>\n

Speedway \u2014\u00a0A Life’s Refrain (best EU) and Square One \u2014\u00a0Demo (I fucking love the Skip Candelori<\/a> tribute in both of these picks).<\/p>\n

Cape Fade – A Dream We All Share + “Eyes to the Sky” (song included on Streets of Hate’s\u00a0Representing Hardcore compilation). This song fucks with my soul.<\/p>\n

Nick Birtles (If It Rains, Just Us, Attrition Rate,\u00a0Physical Therapy)
I tried not to pick anything I put out or played on, but special shoutout to Through and Through, The Blind, and Neolithic for representing Rhode Island Hardcore and Punk.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fr\u00f6thing Mad \u2014 Demo
From the vocals to the guitar tone, everything checks the boxes on what I love about a demo. They sound like all my favorite New York\u00a0bands, and the mosh in “My Way” with a solo over it into what should be an end verse everyone learns the lyrics to is incredible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Method of Doubt \u2014\u00a0Total Soul Ignition
I think “Aggregator” is the hardcore\u00a0track of the year. It was refreshing to hear a band give a fuck again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

9Million \u2014 9Million
My honest answer and my most listened to band this year is 9million, but for hardcore\u00a0it\u2019s gotta be Scarab. I feel like that\u2019s gotta be pretty unanimous? A couple of the moshes I had to run back immediately upon the first few listens.<\/p>\n

Joey Rodr\u00edguez (Faced Out)
C4 \u2014Payback\u2019s a\u00a0Bitch\u00a0
Azshara \u2014 Ashen\u00a0Skies\u00a0<\/p>\n

CT (Yetzer Hara Records)
Even More Scene \u2014\u00a0if Pink Floyd made this album, you would’ve loved it. Arkansas, whatever-core that\u2019s equal parts metalcore, math rock, and early deathcore\u2014but not the palatable parts of each subgenre by any means. Like throwing Owls, The Chariot, Roadside Monument, and Emmure into a blender. Very, very weird and very, very fucking cool. Probably my most listened-to release this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

St. Clovis \u2014\u00a0Demonstration of Rock and Roll
Fast, fast, fast, and\u00a0dark, dark, dark. More Coke Bust than Mind Eraser, but straddling that line of fastcore and darker\u00a0fake-power violence like Bracewar\/Soul Swallower. Unbelievably good shit. One of the best bands doing it right now.\u00a0<\/p>\n

NOIR \u2014\u00a0Pointless Existence
In a world of Emmure clones, rip off The Acacia Strain. Crazy talented kids from Albany. Awesome demo, and a ton of potential. Heavy without being boring\u2014a tricky dance to do. To no one\u2019s surprise, a buddy in NY told me they do a sick cover of Carbomb. A band to watch out for in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Figurine \u2014\u00a0Air Capital Hardcore
Super talented homies from Wichita, whose members also play in Stepped On and One Big Game (highly recommend both). Another EP I wore the treads off of. Super well done, earnest hardcore for Vans Authentics skaters and Air Max 90 jocks alike. Listen to \u201cBuying In\u201d and tell me the kids don\u2019t get it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Advent \u2014\u00a0God Is\u00a0the End
They still got it because they always had it. I saw Advent play at a YMCA in Hickory, North Carolina, in 2007 when I was 14 years old, and I think that show may have been the one where I \u201cgot\u201d hardcore music, so\u00a0obviously I\u2019m partial to the band. That being said, these tracks are objectively some of their best material.<\/p>\n

The new tracks sound incredible, and the re-recording of “One Crushing Blow” is precisely as heavy as it is live. Advent has always been in their own lane sonically, even as they experimented with parts of their sound, and this EP felt like them synthesizing everything across their 20-year run into a distilled, no-frills\u00a0version of \u201cAdvent-Core.”\u00a0It\u2019s perfect.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Andy Franchere (B.D.R., Ill Communication)
My top demo is Subversive Intent, from San Diego. It\u2019s raging hardcore punk with shredding guitar solos and catchy singalong parts.<\/p>\n

Scarab’s Burn After Listening\u00a0is my favorite LP. This record is gnarly in the best ways. Mean vocals, hard mosh parts, and angry lyrics. Listening to this makes me wanna smash my enemies and the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last but not least is Tehachapi\u2019s own Step by Step’s New World View. This is probably\u00a0my favorite record overall for 2025. 13 minutes of ripping Youth Crew hardcore. It\u2019s the total package: great lyrics, a high-quality recording, and an eye-catching layout\/art.<\/p>\n

Scott Magrath (Maggot Stomp)
I can\u2019t say I\u2019m up on all things 2025 hardcore, but here are my favorites from what I heard this year.<\/p>\n

Fatal Realm \u2014\u00a0 \u201cOf No Consequence\u201d single
It may only be one song, but that one song is better than anything else I\u2019ve heard this year.<\/p>\n

Age of Apocalypse \u2014 In Oblivion
The top 2 spots go to the Hudson Valley. This record scratches several itches for me; it\u2019s heavy and catchy, and I can definitely picture dudes in North Face spin kicking to this.<\/p>\n

Firestarter \u2014 Still Holding On\u2026
Los Angeles Fucking Straight Edge. This makes me want to listen to A Life Less Plagued. Can\u2019t get mad at that, plus the cover looks like the Champion record I did<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cyclops \u2014 Demo
The most hardcore of anything on my list.<\/p>\n

Mongrel \u2014 Baptized in the Gutter
This is heavy as fuck. Heaven help us if they actually sit down and record an entire full-length.<\/p>\n

Chuck Bradford (Asidhara)
Still In Love \u2014\u00a0Recovery Language is a top album for us this year, and we were able to play their great release show.
Combust \u2014\u00a0Belly of the Beast
AFI \u2014\u00a0Silver Bleeds the Black Sun (AFI are absolutely a hardcore band)
Wits End \u2014\u00a0Demo I and\u00a0Demo II
Violator \u2014\u00a0Unholy Retribution
Scarab \u2014\u00a0Burn After Listening<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Tagged: stand tall<\/a><\/p>\n

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