18 July 2025
Here's how it works: The Recent Releases chart brings together critical reaction to new albums from more than 50 sources worldwide. It's updated daily. Albums qualify with 5 reviews, and drop out after 6 weeks into the longer timespan charts.
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Second full-length album from the Little Rock, Arkansas doom metal band produced by Billy Anderson (Swans, Impaled, and Sleep)
8.2
It’s quite simply moving, the sounds of dislocated souls finding a voice at last Read Review
The textural depth on the record is something to behold Read Review
They have triumphed massively again Read Review
Foundations finds a band firing on all cylinders, and surpassing what seemed like a watermark for the genre Read Review
Rather than carry a casket loaded down with the fast-tiring tropes of the doom genre, with Foundations Of Burden Pallbearer choose to breathe thrilling new life into them Read Review
Even though the album is crushing, the band’s penchant for melody is what elevates Foundations of Burden above otherwise comparable records from this year Read Review
Requisite darkness is all over Foundations of Burden, but it isn't the only shade of emotion here. There's the hint of a glimmer in each song that other doom bands can't conceive, let alone get to Read Review
Whether you’re a seasoned doom metal vet or a newcomer to metal altogether, you’ll find little burden in the walls and high ceilings Pallbearer have built Read Review
If they continue to write songs of this statue in the future then Pallbearer could well be doom metal’s light at the end of the tunnel Read Review
They mix the crushing, cold-storage riffage of stoner metal with the psychedelic interludes of, well, classic Mastodon Read Review
As a sophomore album, it does everything it needs to do to keep Pallbearer’s status as being elites in their genre Read Review
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Pallbearer: Foundations Of Burden
Wet Leg moisturizer
Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers have cracked the British charts with their playful sounds The FT
These are love songs for people who don't want to fall in love, made by a band that sounds more comfortable in its skin than ever All Music
Gwenno Utopia
This is artistic progression, and while some might miss the old, more fun, version of Gwenno, the more mature and serious version isn't half bad All Music
Sophomore slump? Not a chance. Wet Leg are only getting stranger, louder, and better – moisturised, refreshed, and ready to wreak more havoc Dork
‘moisturizer’ sees the band consolidate their position and create a more stable platform to kick on from in the future XS Noize
The Isle of Wight band’s sophomore outing is slutty, sensitive, sadistic, and superb Paste Magazine
Clipse Let God Sort Em Out
It's not the classic many of us were hoping for, but Let God Sort Em Out is a bombastic, unhinged and bitter reflection on modern hip-hop from two of the game's most creative and vicious MCs Exclaim
Growth isn’t always fun, but if Wet Leg’s development from one album to the next is this impressive, they’ll be able to channel maturity and snide detachment simultaneously before we know it Spectrum Culture
An English language work from an artist known for singing minority languages sacrifices creative bravery for a more sophisticated production sheen Spectrum Culture
BC Camplight A Sober Conversation
Brian Christinzio’s album about the source of his ongoing issues with addiction and depression combines real pain, jokes and incisive observations Spectrum Culture
Lorde Virgin
The voice that scored the coming-of-age of a generation of girls in the 2010s sounds most at home in the city that celebrates expression and self-discovery as much for the confusing journey as for the destination—New York is exactly where Lorde needs to be Spectrum Culture
Perhaps that’s why this 'difficult second album' is such a success - there’s neither complacency nor conformity here The Arts Desk
Ty Segall Possession
It’s psych-pop-rock that doesn’t need to be groundbreaking to be satisfying Under The Radar
If moisturizer feels a little unhinged at times, that’s because it is. Occasionally, it tries a bit too hard and doesn’t quite capture the chaotic charm of the debut, which still stands as the stronger release Under The Radar
Justin Bieber Swag
The album serves more as a platform for empty self-aggrandizement than self-reflection Slant Magazine
Since we've been around, that is. So, the highest-rated albums from the past twelve years or so. Rankings are calculated to two decimal places.
Kendrick Lamar To Pimp A Butterfly
Fiona Apple Fetch The Bolt Cutters
Spiritbox Tsunami Sea
Kendrick Lamar Damn.
D'Angelo And The Vanguard Black Messiah
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Ghosteen
Self Esteem Prioritise Pleasure
Bob Dylan Rough and Rowdy Ways
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Skeleton Tree
Frank Ocean Channel Orange