Welcome to The Elite Extremophile’s Top Prog Albums of 2025! As usual, this is a two-part list of 50 total entries. Part two is here.
As a reminder, the music on this list spans December 2024 through November 2025. Music from December 2025 will be on the 2026 list. I’m sure there is plenty of good music I missed, but when it comes to the reviewing, this is a one-man operation. (My proofreaders/editors, Kelci and Dan, have been very helpful, as always.) There are also certain trends and styles I simply don’t like very much.
2025 was a fantastic year for progressive rock and related genres. I was spoiled for choice with this list, and this may be the overall-strongest batch of recommendations I’ve given to date.
This instrumental release heavily incorporates jazz and classical elements into its compositions. Reed and wind instruments can be found among the many slinking themes present here. Things swell and retreat fluidly, and there are a lot of great tonal and textural choices. While I enjoy it overall, this isn’t the most distinctive record. It’s solid, jazzy instrumental prog, if that’s what you’re looking for.
Score: 74/100
Band: An Abstract Illusion | Album:The Sleeping City | Genre: Progressive metal | Bandcamp
An Abstract Illusion’s latest record is a noticeable step down from their last release, 2022’s excellent Woe. The Sleeping City isn’t a bad record, by any means, but it’s unimpressive. The biggest problem for me on this record is the production. Everything is very clean and clear in a way that robs the band’s death metal of its impact. The clean parts of this record also come off as overly glossy and sterile, with many of the synth tones sounding out of place. There are still good ideas in the compositions, but the sound of the album itself is lacking.
Super-prolific Chicagoans Cheer-Accident are back with their 26th full-length release. This album has a more electronic feel than most of their releases. It’s still rooted in oddball, angular progressive rock, but the synths help smooth out some edges. Coupled with some smart and infectious melodies, I would rank this as among the band’s best. (At least of the half-dozen or so of their albums I’ve heard.)
Score: 81/100
Band: Eden Lantsêm | Album:My Guts Rest upon Your Lips Like the Breath of Forgotten Lovers | Genre: Zeuhl, Progressive metal | Bandcamp
The latest solo project from Swiss multi-instrumentalist Tim Nyss sees him exploring the world of zeuhl with an especially heavy twist. The four long instrumental cuts on this release lurch and thunder with the power of sludge metal, but it’s all in service of Magmatic oddness. Rhythms vary between martial and irregular-but-urgent, and avant-garde chords slash and slam across this record. This is a harsh, heavy release and is one of the few successful meldings of zeuhl with metal that I’ve run across.
Norwegian bands Jordsjø and Breidablik team up on this album to each deliver one epic apiece, fittingly titled “Kontraster” (“Contrasts”). Jordsjø’s composition is some of their best music in a long time, featuring a thrilling mix of classic prog that filters the influences of Genesis and King Crimson through their Norse folk-tinged lens. This work is balanced against many pretty acoustic moments that feel like they’re rooted in scenic fjords, but still with a foot in the modern prog-rock movement. Breidablik’s offering is much more electronic. Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, and other early prog-electronic acts are their obvious inspiration. Hints of their homeland still peek through, though. Airy flutes and twinkling guitars shine against the backing of looping synths.
Score: 91/100
Band: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard | Album:Phantom Island | Genre: Progressive pop | Bandcamp
King Gizzard’s latest album is a bit borderline for this site, but I enjoyed it overall. On this release, the band has incorporated a full orchestra into their music, and it’s a successful experiment. The lush soundscapes complement and elevate the band’s smart, Southern-inflected art rock, and it pushes the album from “fine” to “pretty good.” Their previous record didn’t really resonate with me; this is in a similar vein, but the freshness of all the strings and winds helps the band better realize their ideas.
The latest EP from this Catalan quartet blends hard-hitting heavy psych with complex song structures and exciting playing. The four songs here range from crushing, Elder-influenced stormers to lighter pieces that draw equally from acts of the late ‘60s and the relatively sunny prog of the early ‘90s. It’s a diverse release with a lot of strong songwriting.
Murrayglossus’s second release is a doomy-yet-warm collection of instrumental compositions. Guitar lines are expansive and unpredictable, and the band is successful at infusing the usual vocabulary of post-metal with a bit more vigor. Influences from stoner metal, krautrock, and even a bit of jazz help to keep this release varied and interesting.
Band: Chafouin | Album:In C | Genre: Minimalism, Krautrock, Math rock | Bandcamp
For their latest release, Chafouin tackle minimalist composer Terry Riley’s 1968 work, In C. This work has been covered by a number of other rock bands, most notably Acid Mothers Temple. The music has a tense, anxious feel to it, and the ritualistic repetition calls to mind other proggy subgenres, like krautrock and zeuhl. King Crimson’s work on THRAK also bears similarities, with the jagged, hypnotic, interlocking guitar lines.
Score: 79/100
Artist: Clarissa Connelly | Album:World of Work | Genre: Progressive folk, Experimental pop | Bandcamp
Before addressing the music, let me just compliment this album cover. I love that goofy, devious-looking piano. The music on World of Work is piano-forward, and Connelly’s voice is distinctive and emotive. Arrangements are minimal but inventive, and the vocal arrangements are intricate and charming. Things are rather sonically similar song-to-song, so it can kinda bleed together into a bit of a mush by the end of the album. I still like it overall, but a bit more variation would’ve been nice.
Band: April 1830 | Album:The Adventures of Space Pig | Genre: Progressive rock | Bandcamp
This Philadelphian band claims to write songs about “pig failure,” and that alone grabbed my attention enough to give this record a spin. (For what it’s worth, the vocals are relatively low in the mix and somewhat willowy, so actual themes of pig failure can be hard to discern.) The music is energetic, often drawing from pop and punk. Certain passages remind me of Cardiacs, if Cardiacs were a very synth-forward, female-fronted band. It’s fun and inventive, and I had a good time listening to this.
Custard Flux’s fifth full length album is their first fully-electric endeavor. They’ve ditched their (mostly) acoustic schtick, and it has resulted in a pretty good release. The band tightened up their songwriting after 2022’s bloated-as-hell Phosphorus, and that renewed focus is appreciated. The music here is catchy and punchy, and the swirling, psychedelic textures are enjoyable. Hints of alternative rock crop up on occasion, too.
Band: Agusa | Album:Prima Materia | Genre: Progressive rock, Psychedelic rock | Bandcamp
The newest release from this (mostly) instrumental Swedish act sees them push in a more overtly psychedelic direction. In the opening track, blues flavors are prominent alongside jazzy flourishes. “Under bar himmel” has a dreamier feel to it; it strongly channels Camel’s gentlest moments. This cut features a great slow build, and it’s probably my favorite on the album. “Ur askan” is bouncy and organ-forward, and the closing “Så ock på jorden” has some fun, funky wah-wahed guitar that complements the band’s usual Camel-isms quite well. Parts of this album can run a bit long, but it’s overall another solid release from this band. If you like Camel or some of the jazzier classic prog acts, you’ll probably like this one a lot.
Bands like Bear Ghost always split my opinion. On the one hand, there is no denying that they’re fantastic musicians who write unique, creative music full of twists and surprises. On the other hand, there’s an overwhelming atmosphere of camp, corniness, and self-aware goofiness. I don’t need my prog to be as dour as King Crimson, but I’m not looking for something with its tongue always and invariably in-cheek. In that way, they remind me a lot of Devin Townsend, an artist for whom I have similarly mixed feelings. Despite their technical prowess, a lot of this material comes off as purposelessly weird-for-weirdness’s-sake. (The vocals are also just way too over-enunciated, and that gets under my skin. It reminds me of children’s music at times.) So, I would say, if you like the overt silliness of acts like Cheeto’s Magazine, or Devin Townsend’s cartoonier music (such as Z2), you’ll probably like this a lot. But if you’re like me, and you tend to be more annoyed than enthused by kitchen-sink weirdness, you might want to skip it.
When I first had this album recommended to me, I was a bit skeptical. When I think of mixing big-band jazz with rock music, my mind immediately goes to Diablo Swing Orchestra, and I hate Diablo Swing Orchestra. However, the person who recommended this to me is a reader who has given me a number of other good suggestions, including Daniel Rossen’s You Belong Here, so I decided to give this a shot.
I’m glad I did. The massive ensemble assembled by bandleader, guitarist, and vocalist Monika Roscher manages to form amazingly coherent songs from disparate musical ideas. Aside from rock and jazz, electronica, blues, and avant-garde music all get their moments across this sprawling record.
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