Welcome one and all to episode 439 of Signals
from Mars. I'm your host Victor and for this
episode we bring you the 2025 albums countdown.
You guys, the audience, voted. I tallied the
votes. Put all the numbers together. The numbers,
folks. And from that, this show came straight
out of what you guys voted for. I'm ready. Quick
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.com to learn more. I usually leave this. for
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Signalsfrommars .com is where you can find all
of the different social media platforms, where
you can find news regarding this show. You can
find links to not only the audio version, but
also the video version of each episode. There
hasn't been a just audio version in a very long
time. Last one was Michael Wilton, and that was
a long, long time ago. I think we were still
called Mars Attacks at that. Anyway, I want to
send a quick shout out to my patrons who are
a big part of today's show. Sean Richman, Tony
Espin, Anthony Mackey, Ed Ferguson, Johan Edestrom,
Metal Dan, Chris Vaglio from the Song Swap Showdown,
Gabriel Ruiz, Mark Striegel of Talking Metal,
Brad Dahl from Yarg Metal, Mike Jones, Jeremy
Weltman, Steve Hoker, and Steven Saylor. Pretty
much all of these people voted, and a bunch of
them appear. During this episode, if they're
not on camera, they're in the chat. So Tony Espin
is in the chat. Got Sean Richmond in the chat.
We've got, let's see, Brad Dahl and Ed Ferguson.
And we've got Jeremy Weltman joining me as well
on camera. This is a super fun episode. It was
to recap all these great albums. I'm not going
to give away too many things. I think for most,
this was a surprise winner. Hang out all the
way until the end and let me know what you think.
Let me know if it's a surprise or it may have
been your number one for the year. And for people
that say that there's no good music coming out
in 2025, 2026, here's proof. There is. Welcome
to the 2025 Countdown, Albums Countdown here
on Signals from Mars. We're joined by Jeremy
Weltman in the UK, Ed Ferguson in Kentucky, and
Dr. Poison, president of Yard Metal in Idaho.
Also joined in the chat by... Edgar Winterson
and Tony Espin. And there may be a few others
that may pronounce themselves throughout the
show. So cool. Glad to have those guys in the
chat. That's cool. There's Sean Richmond. Cool.
So we, I've compiled a list of albums that people
have voted on. They've sent me their, 10 favorites
of 2025. And for those of you that are new to
this and joining us, what I do is for everyone's
number one album, that gets assigned 10 points.
Number two gets assigned nine points and it goes
all the way down to number one or number 10,
excuse me, which gets one point. 80 total albums
were voted on. So there's a lot of good stuff
that came out this year. As I like to say all
the time, we help kind of fuel the fire for you
guys to check out new music from new bands, old
bands that maybe you lost track of, other bands
that have come along the way that maybe you've
never heard of, that may be just new to you,
but they're not necessarily new. But anyway,
we're going to go over the top 10 here. And this
should be an interesting discussion. I'm trying
to think if everyone that's here got an album
in the top 10. Let me see. I hope so. I was going
to say it's been good talking to you guys because
usually all of mine are at the bottom. So I'm
a spectator most of the time. Maybe Testament
will get me in there somewhere. Surely. But if
not, I'll catch up with you guys at the end of
the show. I'm sure there are other albums that
you got a chance to listen to that maybe you
could comment on. There's some of these that
I've listened to the majority of the top 10.
I can't say that all of them made my top 10.
There are some that were nowhere near consideration
for me. And there's one that I didn't really
get a chance to check out. But anyway. Yeah,
that's true. Yeah, yeah. Shots fired across the
bow there. All right. Let's, oh, shit. I'm missing
an important component here. This is what happens
when you're rushing to try to get things done.
You forget things. So bear with me one second,
folks. I knew I was missing something. All right,
there we go. So, all right. So this is an exciting
part of the show where I am uploading graphics.
Anyway, Brad, what do you think the number one
is? Ooh, wow. I don't know. I don't know. I'm
not ready for this question. I'm going to go.
I feel like Testament's very strong with this
group. So I'm going to I'm going to I'm going
to go Testament. OK, Ed, what do you think? Remind
me, did Ghost have an album this year or was
it Sleep Token? I can't. It's one of those bands.
All right. Well, then I'll I'll say Ghost. OK,
they they they won the last time they had. Fair
point. Jeremy, what do you think? I was going
to pick one or two of those two. It's going to
be an old ghost because I thought, yeah, likely
that most of us have voted for them in our top
ten. So I'll just give you an outside bet then
as just a bit of fun. I'll say Fury. All right.
Okay. People love that. I don't think it will
be, but you never know. Would it surprise anyone
if one of the bands that you guys just mentioned
didn't make the top 10? Yes. Yes. That would
surprise me. Yeah. Yeah. Very much so. I think
there are. I know who's going to be number one.
No, you've already said it. Who? Don Airy. It's
a good album. That Don Erie album isn't bad,
all right? It's better than bad. It's good. It's
really good. There's some great stuff on there.
It's heavier than anything that Deep Purple has
released in ages. I'll say that. Who's the singer
on that, Jeremy? Do you know? No, I don't. I
can't remember. It's been quite a while since
that was released, yeah. The singer on that album
is Jimmy Souvlaki. Jimmy Souvlaki? I like Souvlaki.
Very tasty Greek dish. That's why. That's the
first thing that popped into my mind. All right.
I am now ready to commence. I apologize. All
right. So here we go. Number 10. All right. This
album was released in September. September 26th
of 2025. It had guest appearances from... I can
never pronounce his name correctly. It is Michael
Achenfeld from Opeth. Is that how you pronounce
his name? Yep. The name... of the album is portals
and it is the vintage caravan so this is one
that i did not check out this is one that obviously
i need to check out um did anyone listen to this
and anyone have any thoughts on it brad you listen
to it yeah this uh this Was right there at my
top 10. This was going to be in the middle of
it. I don't know. Well, other things pushed it
out. I really like this album a lot. It's a good
sounding album. It's just, it's not the same
old stuff that, you know, anybody else is doing.
Yeah. And Ackfeld, whatever his name is, I don't
know that his contribution was that great to
the album, but I think it's fantastic. So well
done. Well done, lads. Jeremy, did you get a
chance to listen to this one? Yeah, I did. And
I think when we did our regular monthly reviews,
I think I gave it a good review at the time.
I'm not sure whether it was actually my album
of the week or anything, because it's quite a
while back. But yeah, I really enjoyed the album.
And in fact, if you remember, Victor, I sent
you my top 10, but I also sent you sort of three
that were trailing behind that. And it was one
of those. So it was there, you know, it was on
the cusp of my top 10, really. And it was only
because there was just so many albums and it
just had to push out of the top 10. So, yeah,
really good music, very well produced. They've
got like a nice, unique sound to it. And, yeah,
really enjoyable. Okay. Yeah. Excellent. I highly
recommend it. And the boys are from Iceland.
How about that? I don't know if they really work
out of Iceland or if they've moved their headquarters
somewhere else. But yeah, really, really nice
stuff. They deserve to be heard. And one thing
I like about them as compared to some of the
other albums that I like that came out last year,
this is a real band. These guys actually go out
and play. And they're the real deal. Their live
album that came out, I think, two years ago,
Monuments Tour Live. Get that, okay? Listen to
that. That is some serious live music and just
fantastic. These guys can play. They can rock.
Okay. Ed, anything to say about Vintage Caravan?
No, I've not heard this one. Tell me what they
sound like real quickly. Wow. What would you
compare them to? Because I've not heard it. That's
a really, man. Is it hard rock or does it cross
on over to metal? Yeah. It's kind of, I'm going
to say, got a 70s vibe to it. Yeah. But it's
rock. I would say it's like 70s hard rock is
where I would place it. I don't have a band that
I would say, Oh, these guys sound just like these
guys. That does it. I get what you're saying.
Yeah. Yeah. I'd love, I'd love to chat with them
now and find out what their influences are. And
I mean, I think they're youngish guys, but not
even sure of that. I think this is the fourth
or fifth album. I'm not sure. Let me see. This
is their. I mean, it says their influences are
Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple and those sort of
bands, so you can get the feel of what, you know.
Yeah, okay. Yeah. Yeah, I would say Deep Purple
as far as the live stuff, because there's a fair
amount of just jam in there where they're just
blowing off each other. It's really good stuff.
I play a fair amount of their music on Yard Metal.
Victor, make sure later on this week that you
post our list on Patreon so that I can remember
to go back and check that out. Yeah, yeah. When
I post this episode, which should be next Friday,
I'll post the entire All 80 albums that were
voted on. All right. Number nine. Number nine
was released on August 8th, was recorded at Georgia
May Studios and the Dark Garden. Clock's in at
48 minutes, 31 seconds. The label is Atlantic,
produced by David Cobb or Dave Cobb. It is the
sixth studio album by this band. Singles that
came out. off of this album. Like a Woman Can,
Rain Your Blood on Me, Darkness Always Wins,
and the title track, which is Everest. This is
Hailstorm. Oh, wow. Quite a few people voted
for this one. I have to say, I'm not a fan of
this album. This is like the first Hailstorm
album in a few releases that just did nothing
for me. There's two songs that I like off of
it. And listen, if this is your thing, then what
the hell do I know? Enjoy it. But this album
just kind of did nothing for me. Anyone want
to discuss it? Yeah, I didn't have it in my top
10, but it was, again, another one that was very
close. I listened to it again quite recently,
thinking I might put it in the top 10. I really
enjoy it. I think it's good. I really enjoyed
them playing at the Black Sabbath show, you know,
for Ozzy. I thought Lizzy Hale was really good
there. There's some real good rockers on here
and some really good sort of choruses and melodies
that she's doing. Yeah, it's a good album, a
good rocker, and I can see why it's in the top
ten. Okay. Anyone else? It's interesting to hear
the two of you, one who doesn't quite like it
and the other who thought it was really good.
You see how every album hits people differently,
doesn't it? Yeah. And I haven't heard it, so
I can't comment on it. But now that Jeremy said
he likes it, I feel like I should listen to it.
I listen to Jeremy. He's like the EF Hutton of
music. He speaks. I listen. He's like EF Hutton
to you? Yeah. Were you telling everybody to sell
silver today, Jeremy? Telling everyone to get
a haircut today. All right. I'm going to listen
to that album, though. I will listen to it. Yeah.
Did Edgar Wenderson just send us some Venom logos
there? What is that? It's so tiny, I can't tell
what it is. Let's see. It doesn't translate when
it pops up on the screen. From back here, it
looks like snowflakes, and from up here, it looks
like the Venom logo. Yeah, could be. What the
goat said. Yeah. All right, so at number eight,
this is the 17th studio album by this band, released
on August 29th, recorded between 2024 and 2025.
This was recorded all over the place. It was
recorded in Spain. It was recorded in Germany.
Comes in at 50 minutes, 35 seconds. The label
is reigning Phoenix producers, Charlie. I can't
pronounce this last name. And Dennis Ward of
69. Yeah. And when I say these singles. I know
one of you is going to recognize this if they
haven't already. But the singles in June, they
released This Is Tokyo. And in July, they released
Universe. This is Halloween with giants and monsters.
Jeremy? Yes. You've been on a Halloween kick.
I have. I have. I didn't like Halloween until
very, very recently, I must admit. I never really
got into the music. I even saw them once at Download
Festival for about five minutes and walked away.
But then I heard this album, and this album is
monumental. It was just incredible. I just loved
it. I loved every bit of it. I thought every
song on it was amazing. I give it a 9 out of
10. It was my number one. I then went back and
listened to the previous album and I like that
just as much. But anyway, on this one, it just
starts off with, you know, with a great track
and it just ends with a great track. It's got
a song called Majestic on it, which is incredible.
Sounds like exactly the name that it's been given.
The playing is fantastic. The singing is fantastic.
And it's a very varied album. You know, there's
some very commercial tracks on there, but there's
also some sort of... you know, more power metal
rockers. But they just know how to create a song.
They are one of the greatest power metal bands
because they, you know, listening to their music,
they play the great songs of power metal. And
that's all I'm going to say about it. It's fantastic.
Did you buy that album? I did, yeah. I bought
it on vinyl. And yeah, I'm really glad I did
because it's a cherished one in my collection.
Yeah, it sounds like it. Black and Yellow Swirl,
if I'm not mistaken. Yes, that's right. I've
seen it on social media. Yeah, yeah. I will say
that I enjoy this album a lot more than the previous
album. Like the previous album, it felt like
they were trying too hard to make a Halloween
album where I think this album is a lot more
varied, as you said, Jeremy. And I appreciate
that. I like that. There are elements that are
classic Halloween from different parts of their
career, but that they've also tried different
things here where, you know, I feel that before
they put this lineup together, they had become
a Halloween tribute band. And for as much as
people will say with other bands, oh. Judas Priest,
they've only got two original members. No, but
Priest is still putting out really good music.
You know, Halloween, in my opinion, wasn't. For
a good stretch of albums there, they put out
a bunch of boring albums. In my opinion, that
was just them copying themselves. So I appreciate
this album. I like it a lot more. than what i
expected i would have um it was in my top 10.
i don't remember where i put it but i listened
to it these last few days to try to get the ranking
um and and i enjoyed it so a pink bubbles goes
ape has has some pretty good songs on there so
don't know um all right Let's move on here. Number
seven. Number seven. All right, this is the ninth
studio album by this band. It was released on
June 6th, was recorded between October to November
of 2024. Clock's in at 44 minutes and 10 seconds.
Released on Vertigo. Republic and Universal,
produced by Jacob Hansen and Michael Polson.
The singles off of this include By a Monster's
Hand, In the Barn of the Goat Giving Birth to
Satan's Spawn in a Dying World of Doom, and Time
Will Heal. Wow. Can we have that? that song title
again i just want to hear what that in the barn
yes in the barn of the goat giving birth to satan's
spawn in a dying world of doom that must be the
most metal song title i've ever heard in my life
yeah um this album is this the peter chris's
album hey the peter chris album made this list
So I'm not going to say where. Wow. Multiple
people voted for it. I've yet to listen to it.
All right. You don't want to spend the money.
So it is Gods of Angels Trust or Goat by Volbeat.
This is a band that I was supposed to see last
summer before. Um, everything that took place,
um, while we were on vacation took place. Uh,
it is a band whose, whose early career I thoroughly
enjoyed. And then they lost me for a few releases
and the last two they've kind of right ship again.
Um, this is in my top 10. This I think is my
number three, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah, it is.
I had to listen to this several times again this
week just to solidify its place within my top
10 to say, did I really like it that much? Did
it really have, you know, the amount of songs
that I really like? I thought that I liked off
of this and it did. So for anyone that hasn't
listened to Volbeat, Uh, they're accused of sounding
like Metallica at times. They're accused of sounding
like misfits at times. Um, they're a mix of a
lot of different things and I can see why people
would say those things, but, um, yeah. Uh, Sean
Richmond is saying it's it, uh, first, First
one on the list that I've listened to and also
voted on, I believe. So, yeah. Anyone else listen
to this album or just me? No. All right. Just
you. You and Sean. Sean, get on here and tell
us what you think about this album since you
voted for it. Come on. All right. We have yet
to meet you, Sean. Come on. All right. Goodbye,
citywide whatever. Number six. Great. This is
the 10th studio album by this band, released
the 14th of February, 2025. Recorded between
April and July of 2024. Recorded at Spun Studios.
Clock's in at 46 minutes, 41 seconds. Label is
Century Media. Producer is Marco Cotti Delanti.
Six singles off of this album. They started,
yeah, so their songs that they started releasing
before the full album started to be recorded.
So Never Dawn was released 15th of June, 2023.
In the meantime, 18th of April, 2024. Hosting
the Shadows, 31st of July, 2024. Oxygen, October
2nd, 2024. Then Gravity. January 9th of this
year, and I Wish You Were Dead, February 10th
of this year. There's a bunch of guest appearances
on this album. You've got Randy Blythe from Lamb
of God, and you've got Ash Costello from New
Year's Day. This was my number two, actually.
This was number one for a good part of the year.
Until I went away on vacation last summer. So
this is Lacuna Coil and Sleepless Empire. Not
sure if I'm the only one that's listened to this
one or not, but I'm a huge fan of the band. Their
last few albums have always been within my top
three with these lists. album felt kind of cold
to me initially and then i started listening
to it and then certain songs started to pop out
to me and again much like everything else in
my top 10 i gave it a few whirls the last few
um days week and decided that it would be my
number two so if you're into their style of music
i Recommend you checking it out. All right. So.
Number six. Right. This is the 10th album by
this band released on May 30th and recorded at
Studio Bose in Sweden. Clocks in at 40 minutes,
25 seconds. The label is Century Media produced
by Jens. And they released two singles off of
this. Both videos I posted on Patreon. On March
21st, they released Warhead. And on April 30th,
they released In Fire, Reborn. I'm laughing because
of Sean's message. So anyway, all right. So this
one, I don't know that anyone here listened to
it. Ed, you may have given this one a listen.
This is The Haunted with Songs of Last Resort.
I recognize that, and I'm pretty sure I did,
but I can't remember it now. And also. Repeat,
what number did you say that was? I felt like
you said six twice. Okay, so my mistake. Am I
right? Number five. It is five. Wow. Yeah, quite
a few people voted for this one. Yeah, remind
me what it sounds like. Oh, they're categorized
as thrash metal, melodic death metal, groove
metal. This is the band that Ola Englund is currently
in. Yeah, so I bet you it's probably still in
my iTunes. You know, the problem with doing that
monthly albums thing is I keep listening to the
new stuff and I'm not getting to sink into the
stuff I've been listening to along the way as
much. So I can tend to forget something here
and there. So glad we're reviewing it here. So
that's what I tend to do is I have, outside of
what you're mentioning, I have a 2025 playlist
where I just start. throwing things that stood
out to me so that when I go back and review,
it's there. And that's how I kind of came up
with my top 10. I was like, okay, well, what
albums had the most amount of songs that I dumped
into this playlist? And then I started going
by that and then remembering which of those really
just stood out to me. I like Ola. I like watching
his YouTube channel. He's great. Yeah, he's got
lots of interesting content. And he's a very
good player. And he's got his own guitars. Yeah,
he does. Yeah, he's been very successful. Yeah.
If anyone's ever checked out, see that? Sean
Richmond is saying that was his number one. Yeah.
So, yeah. I just lost my train of thought. Anyway.
So Ola Englund is all over the place. He's a
fantastic player. He's in The Haunted and he's
in a few other bands. Their music to me is either
hit or miss. I either really like it or just
kind of not into it. But I get that there's a
lot of people that are into the band. All right.
So moving on here. Number four. This one was
released on September 5th, 2025. There are two
versions released on vinyl, two different colors,
and it was limited to 500 copies each. This will
either. Make people happy or make them say, why
didn't this get up higher? But I think a lot
of people will just be happy that it's on the
list. I don't know. I know there's a diehard
that will enjoy seeing them on here. I'm happy
it's on the list. I don't even know what it is.
It is fear. Interceptor. Jeremy? Yeah. Anything
to say about? Yes, it was on my list. It was
in my top 10. I think they're a very, very solid
band, play quite fast and furious hard rock,
I'd say, rather than just metal, although they
cross over to sort of metal -y stuff. I think
they like to call themselves a heavy metal band.
They write good songs. They have a good sound
to them, good vocal. Of course. I'd love to see
them live at some point. It was a really good
album because some of these bands, when they
release one or two albums and then they get to...
Is this the third one? Maybe the third one, I
think. Good question. Let me see here. At least
three, maybe four. Yeah, three or four, I think.
This might be four. But I think they're keeping
the quality up. That's the thing about them.
And they've got their unique sound to them as
well because of the vocal and the pace of the
songs that they play. It's kind of a unique thing
for them within that sort of new wave of classic
rock sound. So, yeah, they deserve to be in the
top 10. They're flying the flag for the new rock
and metal, really, and getting other young ones
into it as well, which is great. So this is album
number... Oh, it's five, is it? Right, okay.
The first album I have by them is The Lightning
Dream, which is 2014. Okay. They've been around
for a while. Holy crap. Yeah, it's been a long
time. Yeah, that's their first album. So they
released The Lightning Dream in 2014, Lost in
Space 2016, The Grand Prize 2020. Then they released
a live album. A year later. And then I interviewed
them when they released Born to Sin, which was
2022. That was a great album. Four years ago
at this point. Yeah. Brad, you also voted for
this. So your thoughts on this album? Yeah. I
mean, they've certainly developed their sound
over the years. I mean, where they were pretty
much a straight up metal band. to start with.
And now I'd say the, they're bringing in more
accessible, you know, songs that I think could
cross over to, to other people that aren't just,
you know, heavy metal. I mean, you know, they've
added, I think the, the woman who's singing quite
a bit on this album, I think she's been around
for, for quite a while, but never as much as
on this album. Right. you know she she's she
does a lot of the singing so it's very polished
um yeah it's it's a good listen and there's nothing
i mean there's a couple of songs on there i'm
kind of like yeah on but my problem is i can't
get the album because they've got a problem with
the us and getting that getting that over here
so i can't even download it i'm still looking
for a place to download it from wow So come on,
U .S., be better. Let these people get their
music into our country. We need more good music
in the U .S. Have you tried on eBay? Ooh, no,
I haven't tried eBay. Is that still around? It
actually is. Newsflash, breaking news here on
Signals from Mars, eBay, it's still a thing.
Uh, if not, maybe, uh, I can take it to the States
and mail it to you. If there's a way of, that
sounds like a lot of work. You got an, you got
enough, just getting your family over here. You
don't have to worry about a CD for me. I think,
uh, I think I might have to just go visit Jeremy
and then we'll go buy it in the shops there.
There you go. Can you actually like go buy this
CD? Do you think in a, in a, in a store there
in the. Well, that's a good question. In a specialist
rock store, I guess, yeah. But, you know, if
you were over here, obviously we could order
it online and it would arrive the next day. Ooh,
there you go. How can I pronounce this without
having Jeremy reprimand me? Go on. I'm waiting
for this one. Me too. Worcester, West Midland.
Worcester. Worcester. Worcester. Worcester. Worcester.
So it's said exactly like in Massachusetts then.
Worcester. Worcester. Worcester. All right. Yeah,
I like how, you know, New England, Jeremy, has
pretty much every place there is named after
something in England. The East Coast, the entire
East Coast. That's how creative the people who
left England to come here were. What shall we
name this place? Then again, you've got Mechanicsville
and Intercourse, Pennsylvania. Well, Pennsylvania
is a totally different thing. That doesn't fit.
That's not any kind of England. All right. So
we're getting into the top three here. Are we
still betting for the same bands at number one?
Jeremy, what did you say? I said it was going
to be between Testament and Ghost. Obviously,
I said an outsider I was just going to go for
was Fury, and we've gone past Fury now. Okay.
You got top four. That's good. It's better than
probably my guess. No. Ed said ghost. And Brad,
what did you say? Testament. Testament. Okay.
That's what I'm crossing my fingers for. Yeah.
After listening to, which by the way, if you're
watching this or listening to this and you haven't
listened to the monthly new album review that,
that these three guys do, it's, it's the best
thing on the internet. I'm saying that right
now. But after hearing these guys rave, all three
of these guys raving about this Testament album,
and I did listen to it. We did. I did listen
to it. Yeah, you can't deny that it's a great
album. So there. So there you go. Voted number
one. The number one voted album review show.
So there you go. That's the time that everybody
picked the same album. Well, I mean, I realize
Ed hasn't been there for the whole time, but
it's probably the only time it will happen. I'm
going to say that. No, I mean, there are times
where we overlap, but I mean, I think we try
to give everyone different flavors so that, you
know, there's more music to talk about. So that's
what I think. That's another reason why this
show is so great. Signals from Mars, everybody.
I know you're watching, so I'm speaking to the
choir here, but tell your friends, tell your
neighbors, tell people you don't like. Number
three. All right. Number three is the sixth studio
album by this band, released on the 25th of April,
clocking in at 46 minutes, 43 seconds. Saying
the label may give this away, but it's on Loma
Vista. It was produced by Gene Walker. These
singles off of this, on March 5th, they released
Satanized. April 11th, Lacrima. And April 22nd
was Peacefield. Jeremy is nodding his head yes.
At number three, it is Ghost with Skeleta. I'm
surprised that it's that far down the list. So
for me, when I started reviewing the albums,
my initial thought was I remember not liking
this album as much as the last few. And then
thinking, okay, let me listen to it first. So
it was one of the first albums that I checked
out when I started doing my review. And it was
at the top of my list. And then little by little,
it kept getting pushed down. So for me personally,
this is my number nine album. It's got good songs
on it, in my opinion, but it just isn't as strong
as the last two. The last two had songs that
were, I think, a little bit more diverse. You
had some straight -ahead 80s hard rock riffs
in some of those tracks. that really made the
songs stand out, the lyrics as well. And not
that this album is bad, but it just seemed like
this one wasn't as good. I don't know if the
album was rushed. I don't know if he just didn't
have the same themes in mind when, well, the
themes are the same, but maybe he just didn't
have, you know, the same luck with the music
he was composing. I don't know. But a lot of
people voted for this. It didn't end up at number
one. It ended up at number three. So anyone else
want to talk about Skeletor? I will. I actually
thought when this album first came out, I thought,
well, this is going to be my number one for the
year. And then I've been listening to so many
other things after it came out, and I thought,
well, I better, as the year was getting to an
end, I better go listen to that again. And I
listened to it again, and I was kind of like,
eh, I don't know. It doesn't feel number one
to me anymore. But I listened to it just yesterday
again, and I really enjoy it. I think it's a
very, very good album. I really don't have much
to say negative about it other than I think Victor's
right. It doesn't have like that, you know, songs
that just grab you. And, you know, I think, I
think the overall sound of it is a little bit
just kind of, it's the same thing through the
whole album, especially the drums. I have a real
beef with drums nowadays that people don't, you
know, take everything sounds too sterile. and
just like, it'd be like, now this is the same
drum sound I heard on this album and this album
and this album. Come on guys, bring some real
drums into the studio and get some real drum
sounds. Spend some time on the drums. That's
just me. I got off on a tangent there, but it's
a great, I think it's a really good album. Very
strong. Deserves to be, deserves to be in the
top 10. And I'm seeing that, What's their last
album? Their last album is Empira, previous to
this. Yeah, I think Empira was a peak for the
band, really. I think that it was an amazing
album. It's a little bit like ACDC when Back
in Black comes out and it's a peak for ACDC.
And then what was it for those about to rock?
There was the next one. And for those about to
rock, it's a very listenable album, but it's
just not there. And I just feel it's a bit similar
with this Ghost album. It's got songs on it that
are great. But overall, it just doesn't have
that appeal that Impera had. Impera had a great
theme going through about the fall of empires
and that sort of thing, rather than just purely
discussing ghosts and Satan and various things
like that. It had a real theme to it. And really
great songs on the previous one. This one, yeah,
three or four. Great listen. It's like Brad said,
it's a good album. There's nothing wrong with
it. It's just not... you know up there was the
greatest yeah and i even think uh the prequel
album or however you pronounce that i think that
had some really really good tracks as well that
puts it above this this one but yeah number three
so all right um number two All right, so this
band's 14th studio album was released October
10th, was recorded May to December 2024. Wow,
this was recorded all over the place. Trident,
Dragon Lair, Skull, Classic Recordings is 50
minutes, 24 seconds. Released by Nuclear Blast.
Once I say the producers, you're going to know
exactly who it is. I already know exactly who
it is. All right, so anyway. Produced by Chuck
Billy and Eric Peterson. Singles were... Wow,
I can't pronounce that. Infanticide AI? Infanticide.
Infanticide AI. And then shadow people. As we
all know at this point, it is Parabellum by Testament.
Yeah, I'm not surprised. They deserve it. What
made this album stand out to you above? other
albums i mean we just recently we discussed this
as recently as as last month actually but yeah
what made this album stand out to you ed the
added metal influences um especially the black
metal influence was just super interesting and
you know it's the kind of thing to where if someone
tells you that they've done that before you hear
it you're gonna feel you're going to wonder how
that's going to play out. But when you hear it,
they did a wonderful job. Chuck Billy, as always,
he can handle vocals of almost any genre, I feel
like. I've never heard him do a style that I
don't like, except I just don't care much for
the slow ballady stuff he does. We discussed
how they have a new drummer, and that might be
adding some new influence. I know that Eric...
peterson says that he spent time listening to
some black metal bands in the last few years
so i think that's influenced it too but don't
be scared by that description of black metal
there's not so much there that it's not testament
it's still very much testament they just in some
of the songs they just add some extra spice and
flavor and just uh and they keep they keep it
interesting and and they do it in a way that's
it's not cheesy or or You know, it's not like
they're trying to copy what the kids are doing.
They really set a bar with this album. And yeah,
I think we had a really great discussion about
that one on that October show. Yeah. So everybody
should play that one if they haven't heard it
already. Anyone else want to add anything about
the Testament album? Yeah, I think it was a really
varied album, which is quite unusual because
the last few, going back a few albums, I find
the last three or four songs on the album are
kind of just thrown on at the end and they're
a little bit sort of directionless. sort of very
thrashy without any real underlying melody to
them. Whereas on this album, I think it gets
stronger and stronger. For me personally, it
gets stronger and stronger as it goes on. So
I really like the second half of the album, which
is very unusual for a Testament album. I do love
the ballad on it. The ballad for me is amazing,
but it also adds that texture and tone to the
Testament album where you've got something for
everyone and it's kind of like it's a much more
balanced output than they've done. in you know
many previous albums so that i think they've
raised the bar and and to keep going at you know
their kind of ages and their stage of their career
and pull out something out the bag like this
i think it's really good because it because it
you know it's it's a really good listener all
the way through and you have to brag again about
alex and his guitar solos he just gets better
every time and Yeah, he adds a whole other level
of greatness to every song on here, especially
that last track, Parabellum. Just amazing stuff.
Excellent. So let me recap 10 through 2. So none
of us got number one. Oh, one of you guys got
number one. Oh, whoopsie. Number one, and I'll
get to that in a second. So let's see here. Let
me go back. So at 10, we had the Vintage Caravan.
Nine, Hailstorm. Eight, Halloween. Seven, Volbeat.
Six, Lacuna Coil. I like the white noise in between
albums. Five, The Haunted. Not sure where that's
coming from. Four, Fury. Three, Ghost. Two, Testament.
And that's where that white noise is coming from.
I think it's me. That's easy. That wasn't me.
I think it's Edgar. Somebody better check in
on Edgar. I think he's kind of gone. I don't
know what's happening in the chat. It's Ed. Ed,
you've got the white noise going on. I do? Yeah.
Yeah, when I muted you, it went away. But, I
mean, it's not really noticeable. I'm hearing
the fan rev up in my notebook. It could be that.
You think you're hearing something like that?
Yeah, but that would be the fan. It must be heating
up. I might have to disconnect it. Can you just
mute me for a bit while you continue on with
your numbers? Yeah, I mean, it's not noticeable.
Yeah, so anyway. So this is the 18th studio album
by this band. This was a runaway number one.
I did not expect this. Okay. This was not in
my top 10. It's only on one of our top 10s. Any
guessing? Is it Alice Cooper? Brad? Well, you
said one of us got this. I'm trying to think.
Got it. It's on one of our top titles. Oh, it's
on one of our lists? Yeah. You know, it's funny,
Jeremy, because I thought, oh, yeah, everybody
just because it's Alice Cooper are going to vote
for that album. He's the most recognizable person
on here. Oh, Peter Criss. Oh, wait. You said
Peter Criss was on this list. I did. There's
no way he could be number one. No way. Inconceivable.
He is. Who knows? He needs to come on the show.
If he's going to be number one on Signals from
Mars, you have to come on the show. I think that's
a legal binding. Yeah. If you get number one,
you've got to be on the show. Ed, so who do you
think might be number one? So you said Sleep
Token had an album this year, right? Yes. So,
yeah, that was my second. None of us voted for
Sleep Token. No way. It's definitely not on my
list. I don't think I've heard you all talk about
it that much either. So this was released July
25th. It's not Peter. Recorded in 2024. Recorded
all over the place. In Stanford, Connecticut,
in Nashville, in Toronto, in West Los Angeles,
in Phoenix, in Glendale, in Hollywood. Clocking
in at 54 minutes, 20 seconds. Released on Ear
Music. Produced by Bob Ezrin. The singles include
Black Mamba, Wild West, Up All Night. And the
only one out of us to vote for this was Jeremy.
It is The Revenge of Alice Cooper. Wow. Nice.
Wow. Jeremy? Yeah, I knew it had to be, by the
way, because I think you said it was his 18th
album. So how many people have got 18 albums?
Right. And that's one of the things, as I was
saying, that I'm like... Oh, I missed that. Yeah.
Let's see how I'm giving this away by mentioning
how many albums by each band. But go ahead. Do
you know what? I mean, I voted for it as my fifth
album, but I'm kind of glad it's number one because
Alice is, you know, he's old in the tooth now
and he's done so much for rock and roll over
the years. So it's nice to have him at number
one because he's never going to be number one
for us again. So this is it. And it was a really,
really good album. If you listen to the tracks,
it's proper old school 70s Alice Cooper. There's
a lot of stuff on there that, you know, is just...
put it on a vinyl, you stick it on your turntable,
you get yourself a beverage of whatever you like
to drink, and you just sit there and listen to
it on a Saturday evening. And it's just one of
those albums that takes you back. You know, they've
got good songwriting ability on it. It's just
a load of old guys doing something well. And
I can see why a lot of people put it in their
top 10, because, you know, there's a good quality
about it. And I think it got good reviews as
well through the year, you know, in the magazines
and what have you. And it's very well produced.
And that's all I've got to say about it. Oh,
wait a second. Swarmy46 is saying, hey, homie,
I can share your stream in a Kik community to
help you hit 200 followers and earn $1 ,000.
Wow. That's awesome, dude. You're blocked. Yeah,
and this brings the original Alice Cooper band
together, all of the members that are still alive.
Obviously, Glenn Buxton died back in 1997, but
his guitar work is featured on three different
tracks. This is an album that I enjoyed more
than I thought I would. It isn't in my top 10,
would probably be somewhere between 11 to 15,
maybe 15 to 20 at the lowest, but still a good
album. If you're a fan of the old 70s Alice Cooper
band, this is definitely an album that I think
a lot of fans of that band We're chomping at
the bit. Or champing at the bit, depending on
how you say it. We'll check out and get these
guys back together again. Brad, did you get a
chance to listen to this album by any chance?
Oh, yeah. Yeah, I've listened to it more than
a few times. I thought it was good. I didn't
quite have the same love for it, obviously, that
Jeremy has. I'm not saying he's, he's wrong by
any means. It's a good album and I enjoyed it,
but I just, I don't know. It didn't get me as
excited as some of the other things I listened
to. I mean, it's, it's, it's on my list, but
that's a big list. It's a lot out. A lot of albums.
Yeah. And I'm going to say I enjoyed the Days
of Jupiter album more than this Alice Cooper
album. Okay. They didn't make my top 10 either,
but it's a good album, people. Go listen to that.
Well, I think at the end of it all, we've gotten
a chance to talk about some really good music.
Is there anything that sticks out? that you're
going to check out that maybe you hadn't checked
out or didn't give it as much of a chance previously.
Jeremy, anything that sticks out to you right
away? Yeah, I mean, I want to listen to the Vintage
Caravan again because it's quite a while since
I listened to that. I'm going to give Volbeat
a go because you always mention Volbeat and I
always say, you know, I'm not so keen on them.
So I'm going to give that a go. Probably The
Haunted as well because that's an album I...
just didn't listen to at all so yeah give that
give that one again okay ed anything you're gonna
listen to after uh the show yeah that alice cooper
i need to hear that for the first time okay i
somehow missed that and then also that man you
talked about at number 10. the vintage caravan
yeah yeah i think you'll like them listen listen
to their live album okay Yeah, but you've got
to listen to this one, too. It's great stuff.
Brad, any potential new songs that you're going
to be adding to Yarg Metal after this? Anything
that you think you'll check out that you hadn't
listened to before? Absolutely. Yeah, Hellstorm,
I'm going to listen to that. Volbeat, I'm going
to listen to that. Lacuna Coil and The Haunted.
So those are the ones that I haven't listened
to that made our top 10. So good job, everybody
who voted for these. I'm impressed. It's not
the lazy listener top 10. No, not at all. There's
a mix of everything. And I hope that this serves.
Wait, 21 pilots didn't make our top 10? 21 pilots
did not get voted on. There's a lot of other
things that got voted for. Turnstile didn't make
the top 10? Turnstile is on here, just not top
10. Oh, my goodness. Okay. There were 80 albums
that were voted for. That's the most impressive
thing there, that we've selected 80 albums as
our favorite albums of 2025. And I have to say,
I keep just getting hit over the head with 2025
albums that I'm listening to. It's like, holy
crap, this is really good music. This might be
overall my favorite year out of the last 10 as
far as new music. Really, really solid stuff
people are doing. It was a good year. Yeah, people
need to listen to this stuff. I'd like to do
an honorary reminder of that song that Ozzy left
us with last year, which is now on an album to
buy. I'm sorry I forgot to mention that on our
show that we did last time, reminiscing on some
things from last year. I was reminded of it when
I saw Mark Striegel do a video on the album that
he found, which now I've got to find that and
buy that, too. That would be good to have in
the collection. And it's got the Gods of Rock
and Roll song, I think, too. The original and
maybe another version of it. I can't quite remember.
But that song was marvelous. It wasn't just any
song. hits you hard being one of the last songs
that he left us with. I don't know. He may have
had one other song after that, but that was,
that was, uh, yeah, last year was heavy losing
him. And, but it was neat to have that song left
behind. Yeah. Agreed. We'll be interesting to
see if we get any, um, any other Aussie music
moving forward. Any unreleased stuff or anything
that he had worked with Andrew Watt on before
passing away or any unreleased material. There
was also talk of him signing over the ability
of them training AI on his voice. So maybe there's
a possibility that we will have. new Aussie music
in the future, but having AI, you know, stand
in for his voice. Yeah. I don't know. That'll
be a conversation for another podcast. That is
a whole other topic. I'll have to get the whiskey
out for that one. There you go. All right. So
on that note, I do want to thank everyone. who
joined us tonight, Brad, Jeremy, and Ed. I want
to thank everyone that joined us in the chat,
Sean Richman, Tony Espin, Edgar Winterson, and
a few other scammers out there that joined us
from various platforms. Hey, Sean, tell your
wife we said hi. Yeah. Great, guys. Thank you
so much. And we will see you next time right
here on Signals from Mars. See you, folks. You
can subscribe to the show on all your favorite
podcast platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
Google Podcasts, Amazon, and more. Go to signalsfrommars
.com for more information. This concludes our
show.