August 2025 didn’t just sizzle in the sun—it exploded in flames of feedback, breakdowns, black metal gloom, and one very kawaii uppercut to the jaw. 🤘 Whether you were roasting in a tent at Bloodstock or doom-scrolling from your mum’s basement, this month delivered the goods.
Let’s dive into the absolute carnage that August brought us…
🦊 AUGUST 8 – The Fox God Returns, and Blackened Forests Burn
🎀 Babymetal – Metal Forth
They’re back! With new vocalist Momoko Okazaki joining the frontlines, BABYMETAL’s latest release under Capitol Records is full of technicolour madness, stadium-ready anthems, and genre mash-ups so chaotic they’ll give your nan a headache. It’s their heaviest and most futuristic album yet.
📝 Su-metal says it’s about “levelling up the Metal Galaxy” — whatever that means, it bangs.
✅ FFO: Crossfaith, Electric Callboy, sugar with steel
🎧 Must-Listen: Gravity Error, Shinigami Kiss, Metal Forth
🌲 Blackbraid – Blackbraid III
Nature-worshipping, blisteringly emotional Indigenous black metal returns. Blackbraid III is pure atmosphere, pain, beauty, and darkness. Like being dragged through a forest by ancestral spirits while blast beats echo off pine trees.
✅ FFO: Wolves in the Throne Room, Panopticon, ancient wrath
🎧 Must-Listen: River of Ashes, Bound in Smoke, Hollow Moon Offering
🦀 Attack Attack! – Attack Attack! II
Crabcore isn’t dead — it just got shinier and angrier. With the OG lineup nowhere to be seen, this new evolution still manages to tap into breakdown bliss, glitchy synths, and meme-worthy swagger. It’s dumb, fun, and somehow… catchy?
✅ FFO: Falling In Reverse, I See Stars, Monster Energy at 9am
🎧 Must-Listen: Corequake, Singularity Pit, Just Press X (ft. Lil Lotus)
🎸 AUGUST 15 – Alt Kings & Stormy Melodics
🧠 Chevelle – Bright as Blasphemy
The Loeffler bros hit album 10, and it’s a moody belter. Guitars grind, grooves slither, and lyrics cut deep. Darker than Niratias but just as catchy, this self-produced record proves Chevelle are still alt-metal royalty.
✅ FFO: Tool, Breaking Benjamin, 2000s core memories
🎧 Must-Listen: Carbon Sleep, Misfire, Worship Design
🌌 AUGUST 22 – Deftones & the Atmospheric Tsunami
🌫️ Deftones – Private Music
Let’s just say it: They nailed it. Their tenth studio album is layered, dreamy, heavy, and weird in that oh-so-Deftones way. Chino’s vocals whisper and scream, Steph’s riffs go from fuzz to full nuclear fuzz, and the textures are hypnotic.
This is a slow burn masterpiece. 🔥
✅ FFO: Team Sleep, Gojira’s lighter side, sensual earthquakes
🎧 Must-Listen: My Mind is a Mountain, Private Music, Veins in Bloom
💿 Honourable Mentions – Other Bangers This Month
🎤 Halestorm – Everest
Lizzy Hale and the gang are back with their most ambitious album yet. Everest balances melodic hard rock, thunderous breakdowns and empowerment anthems perfect for belting out in the shower (or the front row).
👽 Three Days Grace – Alienation
Original vocalist Adam Gontier returns to the fold for the first time since 2012. This album’s got that old-school angst with a polished 2025 twist. Fans are calling it the real sequel to One-X.
🛸 Fit for a King – Lonely God
Blistering metalcore with a sci-fi flavour. Think intergalactic breakdowns and space-age clean choruses. Insanely tight production and just the right amount of pit-starting filth.
🌀 Sinsaenum – In Devastation
Supergroup madness with Joey Jordison’s legacy still echoing. Blackened death metal with melodic intricacy, this EP is short but utterly punishing.
🧙 Helloween – Giants & Monsters
Power metal majesty! You want twin guitars, triple-vocal harmonies, and dragons exploding out of moons? You got it. It’s goofy, glorious, and SO European.
🏆 The Riff Report’s Top 7 – August 2025
| Rank | Album | Why It Rules |
|---|---|---|
| 🥇 | Private Music – Deftones | Ethereal alt-metal that hits the soul |
| 🥈 | Metal Forth – Babymetal | Max-energy chaos with massive replay value |
| 🥉 | Bright as Blasphemy – Chevelle | Alt-rock with bite and emotional guts |
| 4️⃣ | Blackbraid III – Blackbraid | Forest fury and spiritual venom |
| 5️⃣ | Everest – Halestorm | Arena-sized rock with a heart |
| 6️⃣ | Alienation – Three Days Grace | OG-era angst for the new age |
| 7️⃣ | Attack Attack! II – Attack Attack! | Nostalgic breakdown joy with crab legs |
🎤 Final Thoughts from the Pit
August 2025 was a month of evolution and return. We had:
- Babymetal finding a new voice
- Deftones crafting emotional soundscapes
- Chevelle pushing boundaries
- Blackbraid grounding black metal in tradition and pain
- Halestorm still ruling the rock throne
- And a pinch of chaos from the Attack Attack! crew 🦀
Whether you were in the mood to weep in reverb or swing elbows in a club toilet pit, August had your back.
💬 Sound Off, Legends!
What was your favourite August drop?
Did Deftones break your heart (in a good way)?
Are you still humming Babymetal choruses?
Was that Blackbraid album everything you needed to scream at the sky?
Let us know in the comments or scream your heart out to us at @theriffreportuk 🖤
Written by: The Riff Report Team
Fueled by riffs, rain, ramen and too many vinyl pre-orders.
Michael is the founder, editor, and chief riff wrangler behind The Riff Report, an independent Welsh rock and metal publication built by fans, for fans. With a lifelong passion for loud guitars, unforgettable live shows, and the incredible community that surrounds rock and metal, he created The Riff Report to celebrate everything that makes the scene special—from legendary headline acts and grassroots venues to rising bands that deserve to be heard.
A familiar face at festivals across the UK, Michael spends much of the year covering events including Download Festival, Bloodstock Open Air, Steelhouse Festival, Firevolt, Plumpton Revival, and many more. Whether he’s battling the Welsh weather on a mountainside, surviving a weekend in a muddy campsite, or squeezed against the front barrier with thousands of fellow fans, he’s always searching for the next great story to share.
As editor of The Riff Report, Michael writes festival guides, breaking news, album reviews, gig reviews, interviews, opinion pieces, nostalgia features, and behind-the-scenes stories from across the rock and metal world. His writing combines honest opinions, humour, and a genuine love for live music, bringing readers closer to the bands, festivals, venues, and people that keep the scene alive.
Michael is particularly passionate about supporting independent artists, local venues, charities, and the wider UK rock and metal community. He believes every band deserves a chance to be discovered and every festival has a story worth telling. Through The Riff Report, he aims to shine a spotlight on both the biggest names in rock and the future stars waiting to break through.
When he’s not writing or interviewing artists, you’ll probably find him exploring festival campsites, photographing live shows, chatting with fellow fans over a pint, or planning the next road trip in search of more riffs, bigger crowds, and unforgettable moments.
Above all, Michael believes rock and metal are about more than music—they’re about community, friendship, and creating memories that last a lifetime. That’s exactly what The Riff Report exists to celebrate.
Proudly Welsh. Proudly Loud. Always chasing the next great riff. 🤘
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