White Reaper showcase another side of Kentucky’s musical identity. Built on garage rock, power pop, and punk foundations, their songs favor massive hooks without losing grit. Their continued success reinforces the idea that Louisville exports more than hardcore and does so without abandoning its DIY backbone.

Gates to Hell represent the violent, metallic edge of Louisville hardcore. Their music is confrontational and punishing, designed for sweaty rooms rather than polished playlists. In a year when heavy music often leaned safe, Gates to Hell stood out by sounding genuinely dangerous.

Inclination continue to carry Kentucky’s straight edge lineage with discipline and focus. Their approach is direct and uncompromising, avoiding nostalgia while staying rooted in hardcore tradition. Every release and performance reinforces their commitment to clarity and intent.

xWeaponx push Kentucky hardcore into its most aggressive territory. Short, explosive bursts of metallic hardcore define their sound, built for maximum impact and zero excess. In 2025, they remain a vital part of Louisville’s ongoing hardcore momentum.

Knocked Loose operate on a global scale, but their sound remains unmistakably tied to Kentucky. Even as their reach continues to expand, they’ve held onto the hostility, emotional weight, and urgency that defined them early on. In 2025, they remain a benchmark for what modern hardcore can achieve without sacrificing intensity.

The Sardine is Night Court’s home away from home, we even wrote a song about it! One of the benefits of being on Recess is we sometimes get added to epic shows like this one (thanks Todd!) We’re all long time fans of Pegboy so this was a dream come true until that drunk asshole from the EpiFat band started acting like a real privileged piece! We actually booked an entire tour around this one show which in hindsight might have not been the greatest idea ever but was still worth it to get to play with these absolute legends.

Canadian indie darlings released their classic album Apologies To The Queen Mary 20 years ago!? I’m not a die hard fan but I think if you were into indie rock at all in the early oughts, in Canada at least, you’d be familiar with Wolf Parade. This band originally came out of the same scene in Victoria that produced Hot Hot Heat but then they relocated to Montreal and became part of the scene that birthed Arcade Fire, talk about being in the right place at the right time… twice! Anyway very nice of them to ask Autogramm to open for them. I’ve never played the Vogue before so check another one off the old bucket list.

A few days after returning from Spain I flew with Night Court down to Texas to play four shows with our BFFs The Dumpies and their labelmates Faulty Cognitions. I first met their singer/guitar player Chris Mason through our mutual friends Needles//Pins when he still lived in Portland. We have gotten to know eachother via messaging on socials over the years so it was really cool to get to see and play with eachothers bands this year. FC are a great live band and all the dudes in the band are super nice. I actually had them in the #2 slot on here but it worked better chronologically to have them in third place. Again tho I don’t really like to pick favourites!

As mentioned Night Court continued our ongoing weird love affair slash never ending tour(y) with Portland OR’s The Dumpies. Along with the Texas dates, we played a couple amazing shows with them in Oregon earlier in the year. We just keep riding eachothers’ coattails to the midtime! We’re in love and don’t care what you think about it Jordan.

I’m sorry I’m just going to go ahead and call this a 10-way tie for fifth between My Dolls, Rad Dog, Gadfly, Worrywart, Fan Club, Paul Rodie, City Mouse, Tranzmitors, Los Jumping Beans, and Big Ethel. There’s so many more I want to mention but it’d probably be ridiculous for me to list every band I played with this year so if I played with your band and you’re not on here I apologize and blame my notoriously bad memory!

One of my favourite songs of the year, from Brighton duo Lambrini Girls, just got, uh, cuntier? I’m not sure that’s a word. Put that aside and put some respect on Peaches’ name. This remix drags the original into fuzzy electroclash territory with distorted beats and a catchy hook. It feels less like a remix and more like a provocation thrown straight at the dancefloor. Check out our full review of Lambrini Girls’ first LP Who Let The Dogs Out released earlier this year.

Kneecap are a Belfast trio who blur rap, punk and cultural defiance into something uniquely their own. ‘Sayōnara’ hits with pounding beats courtesy of Orbital’s Paul Hartnoll. It is confrontational, funny and dangerous in the way only Kneecap can manage. ‘Sayōnara’ is also my favourite music video of the year thanks to Jamie-Lee O’Donnell and some 90’s rave-worthy dance moves.

Nothing excites me more than a live recording of a song I love. ‘Slick Rick’, a 2023 track from Bay Area punks Spiritual Cramp, gets a new lease on life in this 2025 BBC version. The live cut crackles with tension and confidence, driven by a wiry groove and sharp-edged vocals that sound even meaner in broadcast form.

Ekko Astral are a DC band stitching art-rock sensibilities into a punk mentality. ‘horseglue’ is restless and jagged, shifting moods while keeping a nervous pulse that never settles. It feels anxious, smart and deliberately uncomfortable. 

UK band Heriot operate at the intersection of hardcore, metal and pure hostility. ‘Commander of Pain’ is crushing and mechanical, built on industrial weight and suffocating breakdowns. It is a blunt-force impact that leaves no room to breathe. I highly recommend it during tense family gatherings this holiday season; it might not help, but it will drown out the arguing. 

If you look quickly at the artwork for this crust record, as fast as the music so to speak, you may miss how incredibly detailed this is. It is structured like those old triptics, but this is speaks to us with a completely different lexicon. What it shares is that it is a work of love (from the artists for their work) and that it conveyes a strong message. However, Maria and Edu (bandmembers themselves) took a year to work on this and their work paid off! Once you slow down you can keep discovering details.

Our favorite black metal/grindcore space explorers are back! And not only did they bring great music, they also brought incredible artwork. It is inspired by The Expanse. If you are a returning reader you might have noticed I have soft spot for sci-fi art and this years best example of the style is right here, made by Graphic No Jutsu.

Enrico, singer of the band, creates the artwork for their own releases. This time he has outdone himself with this (at first sight) very simple piece of work. Simple as it may seem, it harbors a certain tenderness and vulnerability while at the same time it speaks to me about a silent strength. It’s kind of crazy one can evoke this much (interpretation) with only two colors, but here we are!

I am usually not a big fan of photos on covers, but over the course of last year I have grown to appreciate photos as art more and more. This reflects also on what I appreciate in art used on album covers and this is a good example of that. The composition is fantastic and the choice to print it in black and white only adds to it’s strength. This is the kind of picture that speaks to me, that captivates me and therefore more than deserves its spot in this list. So hats of to Kata Ulloa for a fantastic shot!

Another piece of art by a band member (the bands singer Heike Langhans), it seems to be the theme of this year! It looks very digital, but somehow it doesn’t bother me, even though I usually don’t prefer it. Somehow it fits what I read in it. To me this transfers a feeling of loneliness and calmness and a warning against digitization, almost a plea for a life away from our screens and that resonates with me (as a screen worker it just does, funny that one of my hobbies, this site, also glues me to a screen…). It invites me to slow down and enjoy the moment, let my mind wander. I love it when art manages to convey that feeling. 

Listed in alphabetical order, here are our band/artist/industry interviews from 2025:

• 999
• Arms Aloft
• Channel 3
• Chuck Ragan
• Peter Jesperson
• Pulley / Fire Sale
• Retirement
• Rotary Club
• The Saints
• Sell The Heart Records
• Sumu

• ADD Records Picks 5 Favorite Leatherface Songs
• Caterwaul 2025
• Steven Fairweather (Gob)
• Bree / Allegedly Records

Highlights of 2025 from our quickie interview series, festival coverage, and staff columns:

• One Question Interviews
• What's That Noise?
• Don't Quit Your Day Job
• History 101
• Demos You Want To Check Out
• FEST 23
• A Tribute To Shane Herrell

Check out the full archives of our 2025 podcast.

And some of the albums we streamed in 2025:

• ASkySoBlack - Touch Heaven
• Righteous Propaganda / Mycelium Cloak
• Tonguecutter - Minnow
• Alien Boys - Live at Rain City Recorders
• Neckscars - Unhinged
• Wavers - Look What I Found
• william h. travis - ruby
• Gus Baldwin - s/t
• EFF - Zero

I hold Murder by Death near and dear to my heart. It's bittersweet that the band decided to hang up their hats this year. On Halloween, I was able to capture the band dressed as cryptids. Some of my favorite photos from this year came from that show, but one of cellist, Sarah Balliet, really stuck out. The lighting and coloring, coupled with her calm demeanor, feel so alluring to me.

Gouge Away were such a joy to cover. Frontwoman Christina Michelle is constantly in motion and screaming her head off, making every shot bold and exciting. There's plenty I could have chosen from that set to make this list, but I ironically chose this shot of her locked onto Mick Ford's guitar playing from a distance.

Horse the Band were a huge part of my adolescence, and I never thought they'd be a band I'd get to cover 20 years later. It was nothing short of riveting. There was never a dull moment with Ed Edge on stage. He may have been my favorite person to photograph this year. His imposing form and figure dominate the photo and left a lasting impression on me. 

Spencer Moody is a madman. I would hope this photo of him with the microphone lodged in his gaping mouth makes it clear. One of my prouder moments as a photographer was getting this shot (plus a few others from this moment in the set). 

Tim Kasher and Cursive are my favorite bands to photograph, and I believe they are the band I've shot the most. I never grow tired of capturing Tim Kasher's mannerisms and stage antics, but in the end, I just love a good screaming-into-the-void photo. 

This reunion hit hard. The Format were one of those bands that got me through an incredibly rough time in my life. I had missed my opportunity to see them before their initial break-up in 2008. I was set to see their reunion tour in 2020 before it was canceled just a few days from happening due to COVID. Finally seeing them in October was cathartic. 

Bear vs. Shark did a number of shows throughout the year, celebrating the 20th anniversary of Terrorhawk -- an album arguably in my top 5 of all time. Their performance was chaotic and disciplined at the same time. To top it off, the band also played 95% of Right Now, You're in the Best of Hands...

All three of these concerts were neck and neck. I've been a Weird Al fan for decades, but I only got to see him for the first time this year. Where the top 2 spots get points for the emotional attachment to the music, Weird Al's show takes the top 3rd spot on production alone. This guy really went through the trouble of doing the whole shebang. Costume changes. Music video reenactments. An outstanding production!

Refused are calling it quits this year. Even in a larger venue, they still manage to make it feel like a basement full of like minded people screaming and sweating their hearts out. It was one of the few shows I saw this year with minimal phone usage from the crowd. Everone living in the moment and savoring their last chance to see such a monumental band. 

AFI continues to be one of the best performers in the business. I couldn't tell you how many times I've seen this band. Lost count a few tours ago. They sneak in deep cuts, fan favorites, and songs from their new album, which is a far cry from their younger days, and somehow, they make it all work.