And that's a wrap! As we come skidding into mid-December, and the final stretch of 2025 looms, we're about ready to call time on another brilliant year of new music. All year, we've been bringing you regular round-ups of the best new metal songs around, and now all of that work is coming to a head in this, our final, massive vote of the year where you can crown the official top 50 best metal songs of 2025.
But, before that, how about the results of our final poll of the year? Even with Guns N' Roses making a surprise appearance, our top three remained a (fairly) new school affair. Poppy took third place with Guardian, while Alter Bridge bagged second on the riffy Playing Aces. The overall champ though - and our final winner of the weekly round-ups for 2025 - were thrashers Divine Chaos, with the absolutely excellent Hate Reactor.
So where does that leave us with our songs of the year vote? Below you'll find the massive playlist of our top three from each week, but we've added a few honourable mentions as extras in the running for the final vote, especially considering we've only allowed one song per artist. That means, generally, that the song that earned the most votes in a weekly round-up has made this final pick, or if the song has otherwise made ripples in the metal world.
We've already told you which metal songs we thought defined 2025, but now we want to know which new metal songs have excited you most. As with previous years, you have 10 votes to allocate, so feel free to browse through the list, find your favourites and maybe even discover a few new tunes along the way.
So have at it - have an excellent holiday season and we'll see you on the other side in 2026. Voting closes December 22 at mid-day (GMT), so you've got until then to make your choice. Happy listening!
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