11. Coheed And Cambria - The Father Of Make Believe (Expected: March 14)
After embracing their most ostentatious side on 2022’s prog metal epic Vaxis II, Coheed And Cambria seem to be returning to their post-hardcore/emo roots for new album The Father Of Make Believe - at least if lead single Blind Side Sonny is anything to go by. Blind Side... also introduced a new villain into their Amory Wars mythos. “Perception can be your worst enemy,” frontman Claudio Sanchez cryptically wrote of the track.
12. Cradle Of Filth - The Screaming Of The Valkyries (Expected: March 21)
Is 2025 the year we finally get the Ed Sheeran/ Cradle Of Filth collab? Either way, The Suffolk horrors plan to go big with their 14th album – recent single Malignant Perfection dialling the clocks back to some of the gothic black metal stylings of their post-2000s output. Speaking to Hammer, Dani Filth explained, "It's got elements of everything we’ve done, really. It has a few head nods to works like Midian and Dusk…, especially in the atmosphere and the subject matter. It’s also got a very brilliant production, courtesy of Scott Atkins.”
13. Darkthrone - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
The frost has barely melted on 2024’s It Beckons Us All, but Darkthrone’s vocalist/guitarist Nocturno Culto revealed in an Instagram post in October he was already working on a follow-up. “Worked on that since November last year,” he said in an Instagram post, hinting that he and drummer Fenriz will be joined by other musicians for the first time since the 1990s.
14. Death Pill - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
Given their first album was recorded against the backdrop of an invasion of their homeland and its bandmembers being spread across the globe, Ukrainians Death Pill have remained upbeat going into their second full-length. Clips shared on YouTube suggest they’re still very much rooted in the speed and frenzy of 80s-style hardcore punk.
15. Deftones - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
Deftones have apparently finished recording the music for their new album. But speaking to Metal Injection, Chino Moreno admitted he hadn’t recorded vocals yet and that it would take “as long as that takes”. At the same time, he added “overall, it’s an invigorated kind of sound”, suggesting exciting things ahead.
16. Dimmu Borgir - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
Dimmu Borgir take their time working on albums, but guitarist Silenoz offered a promising update on their 10th album in March 2024, including the direction the band may go. “We always had [orchestration], but we took it as far as we felt we could take it [on 2018’s Eonian],” he told Finland’s Rauta. “Who knows what the next one will sound like?” Frosty, we’d expect.
17. Dream Theater - Parasomnia (Out now)
The prog metal world went into meltdown when drummer Mike Portnoy returned to Dream Theater in October 2023. He recently revealed that the new record would “pick up where [2009’s] Black Clouds & Silver Linings left off”, adding that Parasomnia “definitely sounds like classic Dream Theater”.
18. Epica - Aspiral (Expected: April 11)
Following Simone Simons’ 2024 solo album, Vermillion, The Dutch band are promising a new spin on their symphonic sound. “Sometimes life can take unexpected turns and you have to reinvent yourself,” Simone told Hammer. “The music and lyric writing is like therapy in a way. You can get the demons out and you can process.”
19. Evanescence - Title TBC (Expected: TBC)
After 2021’s successful The Bitter Truth, Amy Lee revealed Evanescence would be hitting the studio in November 2024 to work on a follow-up. “We’ve been doing a lot of creating, and we have, like, tons of ideas,” she said following the band’s performance at last year’s Rock In Rio.
20. Ghost - Title TBC (Expected: Early 2025)
Papa Emeritus V is coming. Following the revelations of 2024’s Rite Here Rite Now, it was anybody's guess how Ghost's succession would work going forward with Papa IV - formerly Cardinal Copia - now established firmly as the head of the order. Then, as part of the upcoming Black Sabbath/Ozzy farewell shows, it was revealed Tobias Forge would be participating... as Papa V Perpetua. The plot thickens. Ghost’s world tour suggests we might get a new album sooner rather than later – especially given the tour title is currently censored.
