take 5 in 2025

 

Welcome to a whale of a wacky tale this week!  Well, not much of a tale, just a challenging couple of weeks over here at the WMW shack. You see, I have locked myself away for the last 17 days in order to not only create a top albums list (NEAR IMPOSSIBULL) but also create a top 5 favorite tracks list!!

Gather around, hit play on some of these tracks and read my words!  Are you sitting? Are you cozy? Good- ok...  So I've always looked at albums like I look at cinema or a story. A lot of albums have songs that don't necessarily stand out, but you're damned sure that you love certain vibes after a rad banger of a track, and I have always respected artists in the way they piece together records in ways to share an experience or theme. I think of the Beatles, Metallica, Type 0 Negative, Opeth and Amorphis as perfect examples. I almost always want to dive into entire albums after hearing certain works, just to sink back into that feeling of hearing the entire story again. 

Great musical tracks are like scenes in a movie. Sure, a LOT of times I'm good with just sharing a hilarious scene with someone or a sketch and we laugh or get excited, but doesn't that make you want to check out the entire album now?  No? well, mayhaps it's just me then. Regardless of all that, here are 5 tracks that I just could NOT get enough of in 2025. They're in order, but not really in order of greatness, just more or less how I feel about them as of this writing. 

#5- MaD wOrLd by GUNSHIP:

#4- Transylvanian Buffet by Vittra:

I love GUNSHIP's covers, and man does MaD wOrLd hit every note perfectly! Their annual Halloween offering didn't disappoint this year. A lovely synthwave recreation of the classic tune by "Tears for Fears". Meanwhile, Vittra rolls in with Transylvanian Buffet and blows my socks off!!  The riffs, the pianos, it's fun, it's death metal!  Exactly as it should be. Easily one of the coolest songs I've heard this year and I can't wait to hear what kind of album they put together!

#3-Water & Time by Rivers of Nihil:

#2 - The Lantern by Amorphis:

#1- House of Light also by Rivers of Nihil:

We wrap up this top 5 with two of the most legendary bands I've ever had the pleasure of listening to. Rivers of Nihil and Amorphis. Now.. I'm gonna drop a spoiler alert, one of these two bands will NOT be in my top 10 favorite albums list (coming soon!), however.. and I'm trying really hard not to spoil this.. Amorphis did put out a couple of great (if not stellar) tracks on their most recent album "Borderland". This goes a long way in my view of what makes a great song, and what makes a great album. 2 of the 5 songs listed today are (as of now) not included in an actual album release! 

"The Lantern" by Amorphis is one of their best songs since "The Bee" all the way back in 2018. Lovely track on a very good album!  However, "House of Light" and "Water & Time" are two of the finest tracks I've heard all year. Rivers pulls off everything perfect in each song. What sound we came to love and admire they've somehow reconnected with and created a genuinely amazing story. 

Alright, that's all I've got for you this time. Now I'm going to lock myself in a closet again for the rest of the year and return with not 1, but 2 weeks worth of the best albums of the year!  Hold onto your butts, it's about to get WILD!!