Welcome to June 2025, where festivals kicked off, beer gardens overflowed, and the metal gods gifted us a stack of albums so loud they scared the sheep in the Valleys. ๐
This wasnโt your typical summer soundtrack. Nah, this was blast beats instead of barbecues, growls instead of garden parties, and riffs instead of rosรฉ. Letโs dive into the savage sonic smรถrgรฅsbord that June threw our way, butt-first!
๐ฃ JUNE 20 โ Pirate Metal, Unearthed Lemmy & Nordic Carnage
๐ดโโ ๏ธ Alestorm โ The Thunderfist Chronicles
Scotlandโs rum-chugging, parrot-loving pirates are back with a vengeance (and a hurdy-gurdy). This time itโs cinematic AF โ think sea shanties meets power metal musicals. The 17-minute closer “MegaโSupreme Treasure of the Eternal Thunderfist” is a prog-pirate masterpiece with Patty Gurdy and Russell Allen cameoing. Yes, really.
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FFO: Gloryhammer, Korpiklaani, being drunk on a boat
๐ง Must-Listen: Sea of Spite, Thunderfist Rises, Plunder Symphony
โฐ๏ธ Motรถrhead โ The Manticore Tapes
STOP EVERYTHING: a lost Motรถrhead album from 1976 just dropped. Yes, this is real life. Lemmy, โFastโ Eddie Clarke and Philthy Animal live in a time capsule of raw, nasty, no-nonsense rock โnโ roll. Itโs gritty, itโs glorious, and itโs like finding a sacred relic in a bikerโs glovebox.
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FFO: Motรถrhead (duh), raw early NWOBHM
๐ง Must-Listen: No Class (Demo), Iron Brawl, Motorblast
๐ฅ Sodom โ The Arsonist
Still angry. Still fast. Still louder than your daโs hangover. Sodom drop their 17th album, and itโs full of thrash fury and militant stomp. Tribute tracks honour their fallen comrades, while the rest burns like a petrol bomb in a dive bar. Proper German steel.
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FFO: Kreator, Destruction, Slayer
๐ง Must-Listen: Black Ops Messiah, March of the Arsonists, Agent of Oblivion
โ๏ธ JUNE 27 โ Comebacks, Deathcore, & Melody Meets Mayhem
๐ Deadguy โ NearโDeath Travel Services
OH. MY. GOTH. Deadguy are back after 30 years, and theyโre not here to play nice. This is chaos-core brutality that rips through genres, ears, and your will to sit still. The riffs are unpredictable, the vocals unhinged โ and itโs glorious.
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FFO: Botch, Converge, coiling anxiety
๐ง Must-Listen: Exit Wound Welcome Pack, Shatterstar, Boarding Gate 666
๐ฏ๏ธ Shadow of Intent โ Imperium Delirium
Symphonic deathcore? More like apocalyptic opera of pain. Imperium Delirium swings between tech-death devastation and orchestral grandeur, with guest howls from Corpsegrinder (Cannibal Corpse) and bombastic keys by Francesco Ferrini (Fleshgod Apocalypse). Melodic brutality, thy name is Shadow.
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FFO: Lorna Shore, Septicflesh, Cradle of Filth at the symphony
๐ง Must-Listen: Crown of Flesh, Echoes Through Flame, Imperium Delirium
๐ฅ Heaven Shall Burn โ Heimat
Album ten for Germanyโs melodic metalcore masters. Heimat translates as โhome,โ but donโt expect hugs โ this is a 51-minute scream into the void about injustice, identity, and inner rage. Passionate, political, and punishing. Proper job.
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FFO: Caliban, As I Lay Dying, Raised Fists of Fury
๐ง Must-Listen: Blutland, Rebellion in Silence, Heimat
๐ฃ Riff Reportโs Top 7 โ June 2025
| Rank | Album | Why It Rules |
|---|---|---|
| ๐ฅ | Near-Death Travel Services โ Deadguy | Comeback of the decade. Wild. Unfiltered. Vital. |
| ๐ฅ | Imperium Delirium โ Shadow of Intent | Deathcore drama, symphonic as hell. |
| ๐ฅ | The Arsonist โ Sodom | Veteran thrash that still punches teeth in. |
| 4๏ธโฃ | The Thunderfist Chronicles โ Alestorm | Pirate metal’s cinematic masterpiece. |
| 5๏ธโฃ | Heimat โ Heaven Shall Burn | A metalcore warcry for identity and rebellion. |
| 6๏ธโฃ | The Manticore Tapes โ Motรถrhead | Lemmy lives. Vintage, raw, beautiful filth. |
| 7๏ธโฃ | Birthing โ Swans (Late May drop) | Sonic doom art. Still echoing into June. |
๐ค Final Thoughts from the Front Row
June didnโt give us a summer breeze โ it hit us with a blast furnace of riffs. Comebacks from the dead, unreleased Lemmy, German thrash legends, deathcore symphonies, and seafaring nonsense from metalโs drunkest pirates.
If this is June, what the hell is July gonna look like? ๐ซฃ
๐ฌ What About You?
Which June 2025 album left you speechless (or hoarse from screaming)?
Did Deadguyโs return ruin your spine in the best way?
Are you still doing pirate jigs around the kitchen?
Let us know below or yell at us on @theriffreportuk
Written by: The Riff Report Team
Brought to you by tinnitus, Tescoโs energy drinks, and that one guy in the pit who never wears a shirt.
