Xadaa's Mid-Year AOTY Check-In

Because people like a list.

Well folks, it’s fucking June - somehow - which means it’s probably time to check in with the music I’ve been listening to and see if anything good has been released this year (spoiler: so much has been) - as with all albums indicating something is good, my list is right and if your favourite record isn’t on here it’s because its bad. Obviously.

So here they are, my 10 favourite albums of 2025 so far.

Honorable Mentions: Propaghandi - At Peace, Ashenheart - Tales From Eternal Dusk, Messa - The Spin, Magnolia Park - VAMP, Scowl - Are We All Angels, Flying Lotus - ASH (OST), Grima - Nightshade, Paris Texas - They Left Me with a Gun/the Sword, Sleep Token - Even in Arcadia

10. Lorien Testard - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (OST)

Not only did I not think that I was going to like this game as much as I do, I didn’t expect to be as enthralled by the soundtrack, but Lorien Testard’s work on Expedition 33 is on of the things that makes this game work as well as it does. The gameplay may be great, but this soundtrack is equally important, as far as I’m concerned. It is wildly diverse and shows so many facets to this artist and if you haven’t played the game - at least check out the soundtrack.

9. Mares of Thrace - The Loss

I’m just now realizing how much Canadian music is on my list this year… (I’m writing these in reverse order so that’s not weird) and honestly, I’m really grateful for that. There is such an incredible music scene across this country and I think sometimes we (Canadians) forget that. Mares of Thrace is a bracingly offputting record that whips so fucking hard. Listen to it.

8. aya - hexed!

   

   Holy shit. An album as offputting as its cover that is also fun, danceable and experimental enough to feel superior about it when you listen? This was my first foray into the music of aya and I’m stunned. It manages to confront “Internalised phobias and suppressed traumas” while also have some absolute bangers on it.

7. Am I In Trouble? - Spectrum

   

   First point of order, I don’t like … most black metal. In particular raw black metal, but it does seem like there is a condition of making black metal that requires it to sound like absolute piss, and the more like piss it sounds, the blacker and cvlter it is. Then a band like Am I In Trouble? comes along and puts the whole fucking genre on notice. Not only can your black metal be beautiful and experimental, but also colourful and, frankly, beautiful. I can not say enough good things about this record, and if you haven’t heard it then what the fuck are you doing?

6. Idle Heirs - Life is Violence

Fuck me. This album is stunning. Honestly, just the way it moves from clean to screamed vocals is so satisfying and beautiful. The issue with post- genres is that there isn’t a consistency to what that means but THIS is the post-metal that I love. Emotional and powerful from end to end.

>

5. clipping. - Dead Channel Sky

Everytime I listen to clipping. I have the same thought: “Oh shit, this is the guy from Hamilton”. It’s such a wild disconnect from the liberal utopian view that Hamilton gives to the absolutely scathing and politically charged music that clipping. brings with every album. This one is no different, hitting hard as fuck, with a whole lot to say. There’s also a lot of (at least in my view) influence from The Prodigy here which is extremely fucking cool.

>

4. Backxwash - Only Dust Remains

If Montreal’s Backxwash is releasing an album you can fucking bet on it being one of the best thing’s you’re going to hear all fucking year. Only Dust Remains is no exception. This experimental hip/hop metal crossover masterpiece hits so hard and will linger long after its done. If you - for some reason - don’t think you’ll like it, listen to WAKE UP and then try and tell me you don’t like it with a straight face.

>

3. Emma Goldman - all you are is we

   

   One of the great things about making a weekly radio show is that I am constantly looking out for new music, and even more engaged if that music is Canadian. It is thanks to that that I stumbled across Emma Goldman’s all you are is we. This absolutely insane Vancouver-based group have released easily one of my favourite screamo records of the year, and probably the last 5. An album that brings to mind bands like foxtails in its raw emotion and at times it even starts to tread into grind. This thing goes fucking hard, and it is a must-listen without question.

>

2. Ethel Cain - Perverts

To be totally honest, I thought this was going to be the AOTY. It seemed impossible that anything would top it. This is one of those albums that is going to haunt the dark corners of my mind for a long time. I’m sure it will trickle in to my own creative work going forward. There is something so compelling and sinister about this record and it’s another great example of realizing you’re inspired by an artist you hadn’t heard before.

>

1. Sumac & Moor Mother - The Film

Sometimes you hear something and you know instantly that it’s going to be your AOTY. Sometimes you hear it early as fuck in the year, but you just know that you’re never going to recapture the feeling that this particular record hits you with. The Film is that, it’s the album, this is my AOTY. To be upstaged at the end of 2025, this one is going to need something truly transcendent to be dethroned. The collaboration between Sumac and Moor Mother almost seems like it shouldn’t work, but holy fuck does it ever. The sludge metal creates so much emphasis and pathos to the spoken word and vice-versa, honestly, I think about this one a lot.