I am not going to do a top 100 like Justin. I’m super impressed with anyone that has the will and the fortitude to make a list that large. Just the idea of that starts filling me with anxiety. I fully admit I AM 100% OCD about quite a few things, or as my wife and friends would say, fucking anal retentive. That being said, I think it is why doing what we do here for the podcast actually works. I have a very intense condition of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and I was basically already doing what we do for the show already. Only difference is I take it way more seriously about trying to find everything that is on my release list.
I think this is a good spot for a bit of ass kissing. Well, not really as I am genuinely grateful to these human beings and if you know me personally AT ALL you know how much I dislike most humans so if you made the short list, congrats! Everyone that works on the site and I do mean WORK. All the writers for the site truly understand the idea of a “labor of love” as no one is doing this for all that sweet cash that gets thrown at us constantly not to mention all those groupies that throw themselves at you when they find out you are a writer for THE Harsh Vocals Website and Podcast.
Even with all the wild parties with wading pools filled with baby oil AND UNLIMITED breadsticks at the pizza buffet in the lunchroom, this IS still something that takes effort and a love for this music and I truly appreciate anyone spreading this art form. Ive been writing about music for a long time (check out MetalCrypt.com to read some of my first attempts from the early 2000s) and I should thank Michel Renaud for allowing me to “learn on the job” so to speak. I’m sure my grammar was atrocious back then (it is still pretty damn shitty now) so I can only imagine how many eyerolls happened while reading those for editing purposes. That laid the ground work for how deeply I got into underground music, until the culmination about a decade ago when I started tracking all new releases and giving them a shot to find those hidden gems. Once I started down that road there was no turning back. I became friends with Cary Gordon and Sean Komar and the rest of the Houston metal/podcast crew involved with Metal Geeks and the MSRCast. From there I met my brother from another mother. Someone else that is just as crazy as I am to listen to all this music every week, Justin Corbett. The amount of work he puts into this is absolutely insane. Editing the podcast alone takes hours as making ME sound like I’m not a moron takes some serious effort. I joke a lot but I 100% would not be podcasting if not for Justin and I thank him profusely for bringing me along for the ride.
Enough with feelings and shit (gross)…year in review for 2025 time! The beginning of the year had a few bangers, but to be honest Justin and I started out nervous as the level had dropped a bit from 2024. Then July happened. All of a sudden, someone tossed us a bomb made of metal music because holy shit, did the quality just explode. I was legit feeling bad about the albums that were released in the beginning of the year thinking they would all get overshadowed. Well the crew at Harsh Vocals wont let that happen! We keep playlists and searchable databases of everything we have listened to just like all good little nerds do (remember when I mentioned my Anal Retentiveness?? I wasnt kidding).
So I can guarantee, unless we flat out missed it which still happens more than it should, we take everything into account when setting up our end of year lists. We figure that some of these artists have been putting YEARS of work into some of these albums so we should take it as seriously as they do or at least try. Of course the big news this year as I mentioned on the EOY podcast epidsode, was the final concert and death of the godfather of Heavy Metal himself, Ozzy motherfucking Osbourne. I didn’t cry when my grandmother passed but I did when Ozzy passed. That sounds bad but it really isn’t as I probably spent more time with Ozzy and his music than I have anyone else on the planet. Not to mention all the amazing artists I was exposed to because of Ozzy and how he NEVER flinched at taking a hot band with him on the road. People knew if you were opening for Ozzy you are on the fast track of “hitting it”. Plus, he stopped taking all the medication that helped him make it through the day simply because it is the only way he could perform and say his one last goodbye to the fans that meant the world to him…. He did that show, raised a shit ton of money for charity, and once again showed how GENUINELY caring he was. He went on that stage full well knowing it could probably kill him and he did it anyway because THAT was Ozzy and THAT WAS METAL AS FUCK!!!! He will be missed tremendously.
Once again I would like to say a truly heartfelt thank you to everyone that has helped this podcast and website grow. This truly is a labor of love (just a fyi but a labor of overflowing cash flow would not be turned down) from everyone involved and lets not forget the significant others in this as well. My wife is not a fan of ANY extreme singing/yelling/shouting and she tolerates my constant listening like a saint plus she actually likes me (I think). Of course my bulldog Isabella who is working overtime taking care of my mental health. I’ll just end it here before people think I am not actually an asshole which would 100% be a complete shock to anyone I work with at my day slave job. Here is hoping 2026 keeps this metal train rolling (New kreator album in two weeks!!!!), FUCK!!! I LOVE HEAVY FUCKING METAL!!!!
My top30 playlist for easy access:
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