Richard HolmesDenim and leather brought us all together this year, as retro-clad upstarts and veteran riff-slingers showed that classic heavy metal will never die.
But who truly rocked our world… and who had us reaching for the air guitars?
Check out our Best Trad Metal Albums of 2025 to find out…
10. Nite – Cult Of The Serpent Sun (Season of Mist)
A spectral aura shimmered around Cult Of The Serpent Sun, as Nite put every part of their dark souls into conjuring album number three.
The blend of slick, 80s-style riffery and Van Labrakis’ necro rasp was intoxicating.
The leadwork dazzled.
And the Californians delivered some of their finest performances to date, with Carry On, Winds of Sokar and Crow (Fear The Night) embodying their unique take on classic metal.
A cult classic. Rich Holmes
Get the full lowdown on Cult Of The Serpent Sun here.
9. Heavy Pettin’ – Rock Generation (Silver Lining Music)
Anyone concerned that Heavy Pettin‘ had gone soft since their 80s heyday needn’t have worried.
A first studio album in more than 35 years kicked proverbial ass as a band that always treaded the middle ground between trad metal and hard rock rolled back the years.
Frontman Stephen Hayman’s ‘razor blades coated in honey’ vocal style still hits home – the versatile singer comfortably switching between the manic and the melodic across Rock Generation’s 10 tracks.
And there are NWOBHM-styled riffs aplenty courtesy of dual axe attacked Dave Aitken and Richie Dews.
Rock Generation proved to be one of Heavy Pettin’s weightier efforts. Simon Rushworth
8. Tower – Let There Be Dark (Cruz Del Sur Music)
Tower went full power on their third opus: the hard rock of their earlier work had crumbled away… and in its place was a gleaming heavy metal edifice.
Sizzling performances (most notably from singer Sarabeth Linden) abounded, as the New Yorkers lit up 2025 with a stratospheric set.
The evocative Don’t You Say brought on the goosebumps, while the scintillating title track was NWOBHM heaven – think Satan with gang vocals.
The Hammer? Quite simply, it was a masterstroke. A near seven minutes of adrenalized anthemic heavy metal was brought down on our heads, as Linden soared over James Danzo and Zak Penley’s dazzling fretwork. RH
Read the full review of Let There Be Dark here.
7. Burning Witches – Inquisition (Napalm Records)
Trad metal’s familiar tropes were writ large over the Witches’ headiest brew yet.
Think anthemic songwriting, epic melodies and tales of medieval persecution and religious oppression.
If producers Damir Eskic and V.O. Pulver clearly pushed their charges towards the extremes of power metal and thrash then this was undeniably trad at heart.
High Priestess Of The Night screamed early Saxon, Priest and Leppard – underpinned by a grinding NWOBM-styled riff and a ripper of a solo.
Release Me, meanwhile, would have bagged Rushonrock’s Epic Power Ballad of the Year Award at a canter (if we had one).
Romana Kalkuhl and co. were on fire. Indeed, Inquisition was the Burning Witches at their spellbinding best. SR
6. Castle Rat – The Bestiary (Blues Funeral Recordings/King Volume Records)
“A conceptual book of beasts containing a collection of mystical creatures from a world forgotten,” was how The Rat Queen described her band’s second album. And this weighty tome certainly leant on metal’s predilection for the fantastic, as Dragon, Serpent and Wolf I sunk their fangs in.
Castle Rat wrapped The Bestiary in elegant songcraft and warm, vintage tones… and while clearly nodding to Sabbath and Pentagram, the New Yorkers moved a few steps away from the doomier sounds of their debut, Into The Realm – to stunning effect.
Yes, there’s plenty of hype around this band. But they’re more than living up to it, live and on record. RH
Read more about The Bestiary here.
5. Dirkschneider And The Old Gang – Babylon (Reigning Phoenix Music)
Sandwiched in between pin sharp NWOBHM vets Tygers Of Pan Tang and Saxon on a sumptuous Newcastle City Hall bill earlier this year, poor Udo Dirkschneider was a pale imitation of his thunderous best.
If only the live show had sounded something like the brilliant, ballsy, breakneck Babylon: a glorious throwback to trad metal’s golden era.
Near faultless in its riff-laden execution and featuring Dirkschneider in all his gravel-toned glory, this was a debut album for the ages.
Never missing a trick, wily old fox Udo traded vocals with the haunting Manuela Bibert – a partnership that peaked on the expansive six minute-plus title track.
Mid-set banger Time To Listen said it all: Dirkschneider proved the Old ones are the best. SR
Photo: Dirkschneider And The Old Gang by Eddi Bachmann Photography.
4. Phantom Spell – Heather & Hearth (Cruz Del Sur Music / Wizard Tower Records)
Phantom Spell’s debut, Immortal’s Requiem, saw Seven Sisters’ Kyle McNeill indulge his love of 70s prog – and it bagged a spot in our Trad Metal Albums of 2022.
Clearly, that was no flash in the pan, as Heather & Hearth took us ancient Albion, with McNeill as our guide, and dramatic epics like The Autumn Citadel as the soundtrack.
McNeill is a supreme talent – that’s long been clear from his work with Sisters. But Phantom Spell has given him the chance to spread his wings even further.
And on Heather & Hearth, the results were magical. RH
Take a deeper dive into Heather & Hearth here.
3. Helloween – Giants & Monsters (Reigning Phoenix Music)
Dirkschneider’s label mates and fellow German heavyweights Helloween are fast approaching the 40th anniversary of masterpieces Keeper Of The Seven Keys parts one and two.
And the oversized trad metal extravaganza that was Giants & Monsters proved these Teutonic powerhouses have never lost their talent for full-on fantasy pomp.
There was no slow burn where a riotous record was concerned: opener Giants On The Run set the epic tone with dual vocalists Michael Kiske and Andi Deris immediately hitting their stride.
Helloween’s tried and tested triple axe attack – forged in the finest traditions of classic Maiden – paced a truly exceptional return to form.
We Can Be Gods was the stirring standout. But surely Helloween already are?
Giants & Monsters was the glorious sound of Hamburg’s metal gods securing a legacy. SR
Read the full review here.
Helloween photo by Mathias Bothor.
2. Wytch Hazel – V: Lamentations (Bad Omen Records)
Those smock-wearing, riff-wielding Plantagenets were back again in ’25, with a clutch of arena-level, retro metal hymns.
Maiden-esque opener I Lament felt like an Arthurian battle charge; Run The Race balanced drama and delicacy; and Heavy Load cast Wytch Hazel as sonic pilgrims.
According to chief writer Colin Hendra, V came from a “more introspective, doubting, darker place” than its predecessors, but thankfully, songs such as Woven and The Citadel bore a life-affirming vitality – and the record was sculpted by the same elegant songcraft that anchored IV: Sacrament and III: Pentecost.
Another triumph, from one of the NWOTHM’s most important acts. RH
Check out the full review of V: Lamentations here.
1. Seven Sisters – Shadow Of A Fallen Star Pt.2 (Dissonance)
We’d been counting the days until the release of brand new Seven Sisters.
We admitted news of Shadow Of A Fallen Star Pt.2 had our trad metal radar twitching.
And, for a while, the weight of expectation cast a horns-shaped cloud over Rushonrock HQ.
Would our denim and leather clad brothers in Seven Sisters deliver another battle jacket-ready blast of mosh-pit ready metal?
Could the standard bearers for NWOBHM’s proud legacy possibly eclipse the steel-plated of 2021’s SOAFS Pt.1?
Or might that excruciatingly long four-year stretch between studio albums have somehow blunted one of the sharpest bands on planet metal?
As if! SOAFS Pt.2 packed a thunderous punch with side two’s Andromeda Descending (A Fallen Star Rises) as compelling as it was ambitious.
Seven Sisters put the rad into trad. Always did, always will. SR
Read the full verdict here.