Now that 2025 is coming to a close, we at Tuonela Magazine want to share the releases that we have most enjoyed. Each of our staff members will share their own list, so here is the list of our reviewer, Lykle.
Have you ever had a year in which everything seems to break down and fall apart? Well, that summarizes my 2025. However, chaos breeds opportunity, so it was a great chance to improve my skills in plumbing, painting, and repairing things around the house. There is nothing like unwinding with some great music after such activities, and 2025 has not been disappointing in that matter. Sure, it doesn’t match the Gothic metal revival of 2024, but great music has been released by established legends as well as new, upcoming talent. There were great surprises too, like THE MAN-EATING TREE recruiting GHOST BRIGADE‘s Manne Ikonen for their comeback album, SUEDE impressing in the post-punk space, and PARADISE LOST releasing some of their greatest music since the 1990s. And how about OPIA? Their debut album has rocked the Gothic doom/death metal scene, breathing some much-needed fresh air into the genre.
All-in-all, it was a good year for my favorite kind of metal. I’m also having high hopes for 2026 with some highly anticipated releases already in the pipeline, but so far without release dates or titles. And maybe we can hope for the CHARON reunion to lead to a new album? Time will tell!
Top 10 International albums
10. Florian Grey – Beautiful Nightmares
9. Lik – Necro
8. Hangman’s Chair – Saddiction
7. Blackbraid – Blackbraid III
6. Der Weg Einer Freiheit – Innern
5. Nailed To Obscurity – Generation Of The Void
4. Eluveitie – Ànv
3. Opia – I Welcome Thee, Eternal Sleep
2. Suede – Antidepressants
1. Paradise Lost – Ascension
Top 10 Finnish albums
10. Mors Principium Est – Darkness Invisible
9. Red Moon Architect – October Decay
8. Amorphis – Borderland
7. Ceresian Valot – Uumen
6. The Bleak Picture – Shades Of Life
5. Bloody Valkyria – In Our Home, Across The Fog
4. Omnium Gatherum – May the Bridges We Burn Light the Way
3. Dawn Of Solace – Affliction Vortex
2. Kaunis Kuolematon – Kun Valo Minussa Kuoli
1. The Man-Eating Tree – Night Verses
Top 3 EPs
3. Hanging Garden – The Unending
2. Grand Cadaver – The Rot Beneath
1. Aeonian Sorrow – From The Shadows
Top 5 international songs
5. Katarsis – Tavo Akys
4. Paradise Lost – Savage Days
3. Paradise Lost – Lay A Wreath Upon The World
2. Eluveitie – Ànv
1. Paradise Lost – Serpent On The Cross
Top 5 Finnish songs
5. The Man-Eating Tree – To The Sinking
4. The Bleak Picture – Without The I
3. Aeonian Sorrow – Mist Of Oblivion
2. Kaunis Kuolematon – Maailman Ainut Ihminen
1. The Man-Eating Tree – Abandoned
Top 5 Album Covers
5. Blackbraid – Blackbraid III
4. Amorphis – Borderland
3. Kaunis Kuolematon – Kun Valo Minussa Kuoli
2. Aeonian Sorrow – From The Shadows
1. Red Moon Architect – October Decay
Best collaboration
Shores Of Null & Convocation – Latitudes Of Sorrow (Split EP)
Best concert
Ziryab @ Plaza de la Mezquita, Benalmádena
Most promising act
Opia
Top 5 most anticipated releases of 2026
5. Lacrimas Profundere – TBA
4. Impure Wilhelmina – TBA
3. Sojourner – TBA
2. Draconian – TBA
1. Moonspell – TBA
Want to share your lists with us? Comment below with your lists.
The whole Tuonela Magazine team wishes you an inspirational 2026 filled with a lot of new music to discover. We hope to see you back next year!
