Punk Rock Record Reviews: The Best of 2025, Part Five.
2024 was a great year for punk rock. If you followed my reviews last year, you know that I listened to around 400 new releases, and I liked nearly 150 of them enough to review. If you didn’t follow, check out my countdown of the top 50 releases of 2024. But 2024 is over, and we are now on to 2025.
I listen primarily to punk, with my preferred subgenre being street punk. Speed rock, garage, skate punk, hardcore, pop punk, oi!, ska, grindcore, and even rockabilly fit the bill if done right. If I can catch a live show, it gives the release an edge. Here are a few releases from 2025 that I recommend you check out. These are in no particular order; however, I’m only reviewing releases that are in contention for the best release of the year. If I’m reviewing it, I liked it. When the New Year rolls around, I’ll put them in order and do a final article of the best of the best. Drop a comment at the bottom if there is a 2025 release you think I should check out; I most definitely will.
Commitment - Demo
Released: March 10, 2025
Format: Digital download
Label: Self released
From: Philadelphia, PA
Anti-Imperialist Philly hardcore. This is their first demo and it's intense, top shelf hardcore that I will be turning WAY up every time it comes on. I listen to a lot of raging hardcore, most of which packs a punch but eventually blends in with everything else. It takes something special to play this kind of hardcore, but with songs that are memorable and make me want to play them again and again. This band has that and I'm already looking forward to their upcoming LP (and maybe a live show if I ever get the chance). I'd like to hear a couple of these songs amped up (louder, faster, cleaner) on the new LP as well as some new ones of course. "Send The Deposit" and "Pluto In Aquarius" were early favorites, but with 6 songs all under two minutes (and a couple under 1 minute) you may was well just blast through the entire thing (in the end, I felt like every song was amazing). If you like hardcore BUY THIS NOW! Fans of G.L.O.S.S.,Bad Beat, Speed Plans, Anklebiter, Slutbomb, Terror.
Templars "Reconquista Volume 3: 1996 - 2011"
Released: March 18, 2025
Format: Vinyl LP, digital download
Label: Templecombe
From: New York City
I'm a fan of Oi! music (going way back to Cock Sparrer, Sham 69, and The 4-Skins, but more recently bands like Haymaker, The Chisel, and Violent Way). In conversation, The Templars always come up and I honestly have not listened to them enough to even recall one of their songs. When I saw that they are in the process of re-releasing a bunch of their old material (this is Volume III, with Volume II coming out back in 2020), I decided to go back and check out some of their best song before spinning this. "Just Like Them", "Skins and Punks", "The Glory It Once Was" and "Police Informer" are all really good songs ("Skins and Punks" was my favorite), and I'm glad that I took the time to check them out. This compilation was a lot better than expected, it wasn't a bunch of poorly recorded demos and outtakes of substandard songs. These songs are high quality, and many just as good as anything else that they had ever done. "Take On The World" and "Politicians" were stand-outs. Fans of Cock Sparrer, Sham 69, The 4-Skins. “Shout Oi! Oi! Oi! if you want some more”.
Heathcliff “Postacard From A ParaHell Universe”
Released: March 28, 2025
Format: Vinyl LP, CD, digital download
Label: SBAM, Bearded Punk, Double Helix, Pee Records
From: Munich, Germany
Melodic skate punk from Germany, that for the most part rips. This follows their full lengths in 2019 “#chilloutradio” and 2021 “Stay Posi”. There are deep growls (vocals) in key parts, as well as reggae and metal influcences, and the recording is clean and loud. I think "Friends 'Til The End" (Millencolin) was an exceptional choice for a cover, and while they made it their own they also kept it fast and mostly true to the original. There is also a cover of Stand Up Stacy's "They Won't Get Us Down", a song I hadn't heard before but the Heathcliff version is great. Apparently Stand Up Stacy did an album with 9 different versions of this song (Regular, punk, hip hop, rock, jazz, skate punk, piano, choir, and choir only) and Heathcliff collaborated on the skate punk version (which is also included on this album). Anyway, aside from the covers, I really like this album when they kept it fast and punk. There were some parts where they slowed down too much, and a few of the songs were a bit long for me (three of them went over 4 minutes), but the fast made up for the slow. "Mirror, Mirror, FUA" (which starts with whoa's that are reminiscent of old AFI, ends with deep growls like you might hear in beat down hardcore, and has a great video to go with it) and the Millencolin cover were my favorites, and will be moved over to my monthly playlist.
MDOP/Cemetery Girl “Asymmetrical Warfare” Split
Released: March 16, 2025
Format: 7" vinyl, digital download
Label: Indolent Records
From: Detroit and Grand Rapids (Michigan)
I've seen Cemetery Girl live twice now, the first time at Edgemen Printing with Speed Plans and Bad Beat and then at the record release party for this 7" at Metropolis Cycles with Slutbomb and Body Farm. Both were beat down hardcore, straight edge shows where they fit right in. They have three songs on this EP, with only one barely breaking 2 minutes. Cemetery Girl keeps it a bit slower with more focus on their message. They have a lot of anger towards society, and it comes through in their energy. MDOP on the other hand leans toward faster hardcore/powerviolence and two of their four songs are well under a minute long. "Cardinal Sin" is the only song on this EP that breaks the two minute mark, and that's only due to an intro overlaid with low growls before the mayhem starts. I wish there were lyrics for the MDOP (Malicious Destruction Of Property) songs, because I can't understand any of it (but it rips!). MDOP were also at the Metropolis Cycles show, and are playing again in a few months with Weekend Nachos (I'll be there as well).
Sistema Obsoleto "Esmagado Pela Engrenagem Capitalista"
Released: April 10, 2025
Format: Vinyl LP, digital download
Label: Neon Taste Records
From: Macedonia
Neon Taste Records from Calgary has put out some ragers lately, you may know them from bands like The Imploders and Chain Whip. This may be their best yet. It looks like the title is Portugese for "Crushed by the Capitalist Machinery" and the band name would translate to "Obsolete System". D-Beat hardcore with snarling vocals that are filled with energy and anger, and it never slows down. There are a lot bands that attempt this, but very few that do it this well. It's hard to put my finger on exactly what it is that makes a record like this stand out, but this one has it (I don't even need to know what they are saying, although English translations are included with the album). I liked this immediately, and after 5 or 6 full play throughs I like it even more. If I had the time, I'd like to learn Portugese just so that I could scream along. Fans of Anti-Cimex, The Casualties, Terror Attack, Acidez.
Zero Again "Ever Changing Is The Art of Death"
Released: March 21, 2025
Format: Vinyl LP, CD, digital download
Label: Sanctus Propaganda, Engineer Records
From: South Wales, UK
"Insight Into Ignorance", "Border Con/Troll", "Uneasy Reflection", "A Graveyard for Children", "Construct of Hate" were early favorites when looking for faster hardcore songs. They compare themselves to Killing Joke and Rudimentary Peni, two bands I'm not all that familiar with but I may have to look into if they go as hard as this band. This is their second album, and it's mostly anarcho-punk and hardcore even getting close to beat down hardcore at points. There were some slow songs that I admittedly skipped after the first playthrough, and metal influences, but this is well worth it (to the discerning punk rocker) for the abovementioned songs. Really great cover art as well, and I found a great video on YouTube with live clips and an interview (from Killed By Hardcore Festival 2023) if you want to dig deeper.
Kicked In The Teeth “Watling Street Chambers”
Released: May 9, 2025
Format: Vinyl LP, digital download
Label: Rare Vitamin Records
From: Chesire, UK
"Savor The Victory" and "There Will Be Nothing" were early favorites, although maybe not the fastest songs on the album. "Plastic Lungs" was another standout, as the shortest. While they cite bands like Bad Religion, Black Flag and The Descendents as influences, they struck me as more of a dirty rock-n-roll sound ala Nashville Pussy, The Hookers, The Supersuckers and Throwrag, and at times even Poison Idea. They have two previous full length releases ("Kicked In The Teeth" from 2019 and "Salt Rocket To Nowhere" from 2022), and also did a split cassette with The Queers among various other singles and EPs. They sent me a pre-release link to listen to the full album, and I'm glad they did because I would have ran out of listens on Bandcamp. I think I played it 10 times all the way through before I was able to fully sort out the best songs and the overall sound. Recommended if you like any of the abovementioned bands.
xWeaponx “Everybody Breaks”
Released: March 17, 2025
Format: Digital download
Label: Daze
From: Louisville, KY
This is a straight edge beat-down hardcore band on the Daze label, that includes two members of Knocked Loose. Their first releases were in 2022 and 2023, and admittedly I have not heard those or Knocked Loose. This song, however, is killer. I usually don't review single songs, but I absolutely did not want to lose track of this one. Download this from bandcamp now, and be on the lookout for what I hope is an upcoming, more extensive release. Fans of Bad Beat, D-BLOC, Phane, Torena, M.D.O.P., and the like.
Visions of War/ Phane “..Is This 2024, or 1984” Split
Released: April 3, 2025
Format: 7" vinyl, Digital download
Label: Phobia Record
From: Vancouver, BC Canada
Phane's "Maniac" LP made my reviews last year, including the top 50 releases of the year, so this easily made it into my review list for 2025. UK82 style hardcore, with great cover art as well. I'll also admit that I like cover songs, especially when they are good songs and done well. Phane does a great cover of Abrasive Wheels’ "Vicious Circle" on this one (although I would have preferred a sped up version of "Burn 'Em Down"). Phane have two songs and Visions of War have three, which are in the same vein (fast, pounding hardcore/grindcore). Since I didn't find anything on YouTube from this release, I'll leave you with the Phane LP from 2022, and if you like that then you need this.
47 Million Dollars - "T.I.K.E."
Released: March 20, 2025
Format: CD, Digital download
Label: Self-released
From: Germany
German hardcore since 1999. It looks like this is their first full length since 2012, and if so it was worth the wait. Fast clean hardcore, with song titles and lyrics in German. A few of the songs get a little long (the title song is 3:50 and a few more are over 3 minutes) but there are a also a few shorter blasts. It was the International “P.E.A.C.E./War” 2xLP from the 1980's that first made me love bands from other countries that sing in other languages, and the magic is still present today. I have no idea what this band is about but they sound great and I thoroughly enjoyed songs like "Schäbig und bedauernswert" and "So steht's geschrieben". I translated those two just for fun, which in English are "Shabby and Pitiful" and "So It's Written". It's not for everyone, but if you are into foreign hardcore (or actually speak German) this is well worth checking out.
2025 Punk Rock Record Reviews (Links): Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four
