Every year we diligently assemble a list of our favorite albums of the year. Each SPB staff member enters the large arena we nickname THE DOJO, and yells out the name of their top album of the year. Rival staffers quickly assemble and shout out their own highly-favored record, and quickly the battle begins. Whoever is left standing after surviving the onslaught of music-loving nerds is crowned and anointed as the SPB CHAMPION, and their album duly takes the #1 spot on our list (below). The second-place champ gets to call their preferred choice our #2 album, and so on and so forth. Some might say this is a needlessly brutal way to assemble a site-wide list of our favorite albums of the year, but we believe it's raw, democratic, and we can't really think of another way of deciding on the best albums of 2025. If you have any ideas, please email us. But for now, let's put our differences aside, stock up on anti-bruising medication, and read Scene Point Blank's Top 30 albums of 2025. Check out the final page for our individual staff lists, too. Read more
For many years now, Scene Point Blank has taken the opportunity as the year ends to formally "pass the mic" … Read more
Another twelve months have passed. Even though it's our job to make predictions and call things before they happen, it … Read more
When two bands come together on a split release, it’s more than just sharing music on vinyl. It’s a conversation … Read more
Crippling Alcoholism have always navigated a delicate balance between musical depth and immediacy. A blend that few bands attempt, let alone master, but Crippling Alcoholism's two previous full-length records, When The Drugs That Make You Sick Are The Drugs That Make You Better and especially With Love From A Padded Room did exactly that. With a foundation formed through post-punk … Read more
There are no signs of slowing down for Australian jazz masters The Necks. Following the release of the excellent Bleed in 2024, the legendary trio makes a return with their 20th full-length record, Disquiet. Long-form compositions are nothing new for the trio, but here they dive headfirst into a three-hour tour de force, traversing the abstract and meditative territories they … Read more
Is The Eradicator a joke that's been going for 10 years (the band), or for 35 (the skit)? Does it matter? Well, only in the sense that I question how much material the Kids In The Hall-inspired hardcore band can cull from a 5-minute skit. (Maybe 10 minutes. The character was revived in 2022's Season 6.) Why do I bring … Read more
Standing between genres can act as a vantage point. For Prayer Group, sitting at the intersection between noise rock and hardcore has armed them with the necessary arsenal to propel their anger and frustration forward. And so, through a series of EPs and singles, this work culminated in their 2022 debut full-length, Michael Dose, where The Jesus Lizard methodology collided … Read more
For experimental rock artists torn between noise-rock abrasion and torturous drone immersion, one side usually wins. It is either a certain sentimental and ethereal quality or an oppressive noise dimension … Read more
I believe the first I heard of this album was when Wild Honey released the limited edition It’s All About The Music concept 7” EP back in July. Exclusively released … Read more
Formed around the tight-knit chemistry of brothers Xavier and Vincent Morency with drummer John Muggianu, Canada’s Second Harbour are that rare modern post-hardcore band that sound equally comfortable bleeding and … Read more
Hailing from Wichita, Kansas, Stay The Course brings their brand of pop-punk/easycore onto the scene. This is the band’s second album and is being released courtesy of Punkerton Records out … Read more
Straight out of Boise’s unforgiving hardcore pipeline, the band Witness Chamber returns with Bronze Gates, their most suffocating and sharpened release yet. Seven tracks with zero breathing room. If you’ve … Read more
There's a song on Watch It Die called "Dancing With Anxiety," a title that wraps up Home Front's style quite well. Because I like to beat metaphors to a pulp, … Read more
Formed in the mid-2000s, PitchBlack have always been one of Danish metal’s most overlooked heavy hitters. A band is sitting between old-school melodeath grit and European thrash aggression, building a … Read more
After a string of singles, darkwave project EFF will release debut album Zero on Dec. 8. EFF started in 2023, with the songs that comprise Zero were written after July 2024 and take the sound in a new direction that balances reflection with transition. To steal some perfect language from … Read more
Better Lovers, the band featuring Greg Puciato (vocals), Jordan Buckley (guitar), Will Putney (guitar, producer), Steve Micciche (bass), and Clayton "Goose" Holyoak (drums), will make their Australian debut in 2026, … Read more
A new book titled All I Really Need to Know I Learned from Punk and Hardcore is out now, officially available since Dec. 12. The book collects 14 essays about … Read more
The previously announced and unique live recording film, Alive in the Catacombs from Queens of the Stone Age is now streaming on YouTube. The 30-minute concert was filmed and recorded … Read more
Overdrive/Invisible Records will be releasing a collection of rarities from Killing Joke entitled Extremities, The Albini demos and live beginnings '88. The collection includes a secret show that took place … Read more
The latest DCxPC Live album is out now, Vol. 43 features a split between Hudson Valley punk bands RBNX and Negative Raxxx pressed on 12" vinyl. RBNX was recorded one … Read more
Following their two EPs thus far, Jaguero has announced plans for a full-length album, presumably in the coming year. The news comes, of course, with a lead single, "Lit." The … Read more
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