Welcome to the top half of The Elite Extremophile’s Top Prog Albums of 2025. Part One can be found here.
Continue reading “Best of 2025: Top 50 Prog Albums Part 2: 25-1”Best of 2025: Top 50 Prog Albums Part 2: 25-1
Tag: psychedelic rock
Best of 2025: Top 50 Prog Albums Part 1: 50-26
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.
Continue reading “Best of 2025: Top 50 Prog Albums Part 1: 50-26”Best of 2025: Cool Songs
Welcome to the first installment of The Elite Extremophile’s Best of 2025! Today, I’m starting off with Cool Songs. Tomorrow will feature the Top EPs, and the Top Albums will follow on Wednesday and Thursday.
Before we get to it, let me give my usual Best-Of disclaimers. This is a one-man operation, in regard to writing the reviews. (My proofreaders Kelci and Dan are very helpful.) I’m sure there was plenty of great music I just simply missed. I’ve also got my own personal biases against certain styles and trends.
As a reminder, this list covers what I call the “music year” 2025, which covers December 2024 through November 2025.
This segment is meant to show off great tracks that do not appear on my other year-end lists. If a release makes my best EPs or best albums list, it is disqualified from appearing in this particular segment.
Without further ado, let’s get to it!
Continue reading “Best of 2025: Cool Songs”Odds & Ends: December 29, 2025
Band: Doom Gong | Album: Megagong | Genre: Psychedelic rock | Bandcamp
Doom Gong’s latest record is by turns exhilarating and idyllic. The band nimbly alternates between speedy instrumental antics and moments of lush abstraction. In general, the tempo is upbeat, and the easiest stylistic comparison here would be King Gizzard. These guys have a bit more fuzz to them, often channeling Ty Segall and Ty Segall-adjacent acts, like Wand or Fuzz. The sound is maximal, often bordering on suffocating, but Doom Gong makes it work.
Score: 82/100
Band: Eyes Twitch | Album: … | Genre: Progressive metal | Bandcamp
The debut record from this instrumental duo is an engaging excursion. Riffs are speedy and complex, and song structures are often surprising. The synth inclusions are a lot of fun, and the band demonstrates a good knack for knowing when to take their foot off the gas for a moment.
Score: 80/100
Continue reading “Odds & Ends: December 29, 2025”Odds & Ends: December 15, 2025
Artist: Gianni Carlin | Album: In nessun luogo | Genre: Progressive rock | Bandcamp
In nessun luogo features a mildly-lo-fi sound, but it works well. Flute is always prominent, providing some great, breathy contrast to the fat and rubbery bass that underpins much of the music. The songwriting is overall solid, though the 21-minute album opener is a bit unfocused at moments. There are some surprisingly catchy passages mixed in, and with the occasional dash of jazz and blues, it makes for a well-balanced record.
Score: 73/100
Band: Hesse Kassel | Album: La Brea | Genre: Post-rock | Bandcamp
The debut record from this Chilean ensemble features intricately structured epics that unfold slowly. Delicate moments contrast heavier passages. Post-punk and art rock influences abound, and there is also clearly a deep debt to Windmill scene bands like black midi and Squid. While I overall like this record, it does have one glaring flaw, and that it is way too damn long. 78 minutes across eight songs leaves a lot of fat to trim, even when taking into account the fact that this is a post-rock record. This band is at their best during their heavier moments, like on “A. Latur”.
Score: 75/100
Continue reading “Odds & Ends: December 15, 2025”Odds & Ends: December 8, 2025
Band: creamcheese | Album: schallplatte | Genre: Psychedelic rock, Post-rock | Bandcamp
The new record from this one-man instrumental act draws quite heavily from Pink Floyd. Drifting rhythms and wavering guitars float about, occasionally interrupted by sharper tones. Acoustic guitar is deployed for the occasional bit of earthiness, balancing out this record’s more astral moments. “Maha Nakhom” sees creamcheese dabble in some semi-electronic Ozric Tentacles worship, for a nice change of pace. And though overlong, the closing “3L3K7R0K4CK3” is a charmingly diverse cut.
Score: 74/100
Band: Flowʍolꓞ | Album: Téboly | Genre: Progressive rock | Bandcamp
Flowwolf is a Hungarian band that blends psychedelic textures with progressive song structures for a very satisfying EP on Téboly. The instrumental tones are great, and there are smart contrasts between rich textures and grittier passages. The vocal performances are strong and melodic, and I also really enjoy the dashes of alternative rock that crop up here and there.
Score: 81/100
Continue reading “Odds & Ends: December 8, 2025”Odds & Ends: December 1, 2025
Band: Agabas | Album: Hard Anger | Genre: Progressive metal | Bandcamp
The title of Agabas’s latest record is quite fitting. This record is heavy, hard-hitting, and angry as hell. The riffs are punishing, lashing the listener’s ears. There’s a neverending sense of forward momentum, with almost no breathing room. Everything here is maximal, with shouted vocals, pummeling guitars, and squalling saxophone filling up every available inch of auditory space.
Score: 76/100
Band: Ahles | Album: Between Dreams and the Waking World | Genre: Progressive metal | Bandcamp
The debut album (well, sorta; they previously released a record in 2010 under the moniker Born from the Ashes) from this Australian quartet showed a lot of promise. The opening few songs featured a lot of strong melodies, exciting playing, and intelligent structuring. Unfortunately, the second half of the album is quite a bit wobblier, and it’s only hampered by some less-than-amazing lyrics that even I couldn’t zone out. However, they show a lot of ambition and promise, so I’m optimistic they can refine things more on their next release in 2040.
Score: 67/100
Continue reading “Odds & Ends: December 1, 2025”Album Review: Gros Coeur – Vague Scélérate
Band: Gros Coeur | Album: Vague Scélérate | Genre: Krautrock, Progressive rock | Year: 2025
From: Liege, Belgium | Label: Spinda Records
For fans of: King Gizzard, Wand, Mother’s Cake
Gros Coeur is a band out of Belgium, and Vague Scélérate (Eng.: Rogue Wave) is their sophomore release. Belgium isn’t exactly some hotbed of prog; to my recollection, Neptunian Maximalism is the only Belgian band I’ve featured on here before. And even the other Belgian bands in my library are kind of…marginal. Nessie, Phylter, and Womega are hardly essential acts; and I just don’t like Univers Zero that much.
Vague Scélérate, however, is a great record. It’s rather diverse with a wonderful, distinctive sound.
Continue reading “Album Review: Gros Coeur – Vague Scélérate”Odds & Ends: November 3, 2025
Band: El Castillo de Barbazul | Album: Sobre Finales | Genre: Progressive rock | Bandcamp
This Mexican instrumental quartet has a rather fun, loose, and noisy air about them. The music is complex and chaotic, and it’s shot through with influences from some of prog’s odder micro-genres, like zeuhl and the Canterbury sound. Some songs on this album are absolutely longer than they need to be, but the band’s unbridled enthusiasm always shines through.
Score: 76/100
Band: Donella Drive | A;bum: AXON | Genre: Progressive metal, Alternative metal | Bandcamp
The latest release from this San Antonio-based duo skillfully blends alternative metal, post-hardcore, and prog into a punchy and memorable record. The band balances harsh, aggressive tones and relatively straightforward melodic passages. In addition to obvious influences like Tool and The Mars Volta, they include some funkier elements that evoke acts like Rage Against the Machine and Primus. Some individual songs can run a little long, but the overall listening experience is a fun one.
Score: 79/100
Continue reading “Odds & Ends: November 3, 2025”Album Review: Lazersleep – Gravity
Band: Lazersleep | Album: Gravity | Genre: Heavy psych, Space rock | Year: 2025
From: Helsinki, Finland | Label: Independent
For fans of: Elder, Pink Floyd
Lazersleep is a band that wholeheartedly embraces textures and sonic effects as practically instruments unto themselves. They play a variety of psychedelia awash in phasers, flangers, wahs, and more, all in service of building up powerful atmospheres. The band describes their own music as “a psychedelic delay-bath,” and the lush soundscapes on this record even prompted them to tag this record with the confusing-but-fitting term “heavy nap.” Gravity is their debut record, and it is an impressive first statement.
Continue reading “Album Review: Lazersleep – Gravity”
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