The Heavy Desert Podcast – My Top 25 Favorite Albums of 2025

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · January 16, 2026

Dan Sierras and I just recorded a podcast for our top 25 favorite albums of 2025. The Heavy Desert Podcast episode can be found on either or both, Apple and Spotify. Have yourself a listen and please subscribe to the show for all the latest interviews and discussions that Dan has with artists and people from the scene. I have really enjoyed doing these quarterly episodes that you can review here (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarter). I do struggle trying to decide what bands to include and the order to which they place also. I must have shifted and changed my list countless times leading up to the episode. In fact, I was still moving things around as we were recording it! Needless to say, I had a difficult time structuring this list in the order of favorites. Any one of my top 5 listed could have been in the number one spot. I don’t know how many times I changed it right up until the very end. The order could be totally different in a day or two but I have decided on this order for our recording. I am still excited and amazed about how many outstanding releases came out in 2025. I have reviewed over 150 full length albums and EPs this year and I am still discovering more, to this day. There is definitely not a shortage of great music being created in the heavy underground music scene. I want to thank all of the bands and artists that have corresponded with me and sent me stuff to review. I only review recordings that I really like and will not diss anything that I don’t. This is a blog about promoting these fantastic bands and hopefully introducing new audiences to their wonderful music. Thanks for reading and I am looking forward to hearing all of the exceptional music that will be coming out in 2026. Here is my list of my favorite full length albums from 2025. Dig in!