our favorite arkansas ALBUMS OF 2025
A record release is a major milestone for any artist. The time, creativity, and sweat needed for such a project are often overlooked. Writing, demoing, recording, mixing, and mastering can take half a year or more—not including visual art. The process demands hard work, and 2025 delivered some great results.
Most people agree they’d like to leave 2025 behind. While I understand, it’s important to note that this year produced some great music. Surrounded by bleak, dystopian news, music became escapism—and we needed that in 2025. As Sir Elton John said, “Music has healing power. It has the ability to take people out of themselves.”
Whether your itch is scratched by the relentless bludgeoning of death metal riffs, the anthemic chants of shrewd punk bands, or something a little more laid back, 2025 had a little something for everyone in The Natural State. Here are a few of this year’s releases that kept our pulse on beat.
ZASHED
HUE AND CRY
The debut LP from Searcy, Arkansas metalcore outfit Zashed shows the band taking pride in their craft and presenting themselves as the exception to the rule of what a band’s expected progression and potential can be on a sophomore release. The expectation for bands making the jump from EP to LP is that they’re taking a major step up in the quality of their output. Zashed didn’t do that. They skipped several steps. This falls somewhere between the southern metalcore pioneers of the early 2000s, with a unique modern stride all their own. This record, much like the band, feels so urgent and generational. I would not be surprised to hear people Hue and Cry about this record a decade from now.
nick shoulders
Nick Shoulders’ Refugia Blues feels like a quiet act of defiance in an era that rewards volume over substance. Rather than chasing nostalgia or flattening folk traditions into something palatable, Shoulders leans all the way into lineage, place, and intent. This record is steeped in old-time country, Ozark folk, and protest music, but it never feels like revivalism for revivalism’s sake. The songs carry a deep sense of ecological grief, class consciousness, and rural resilience, delivered with a voice that feels lived-in rather than performed. There’s a patience to Refugia Blues, it trusts the listener to sit with it, to hear the weight behind the melodies and the politics embedded in the poetry. Much like the landscapes it’s named after, the album offers refuge without escapism. It’s grounding, purposeful, and quietly radical. This is the sound of an artist fully aware of where he comes from and unafraid to say exactly why it still matters.
refugia blues
Rwake
To return from a decade and a half hiatus as a band is one thing. To return with a new album either feels like a move that completely lacks self-awareness or is so audacious that it feels like the group has a point to prove. The Return of Magik is an example of the latter. Rwake proved once again why they are one of the most important names in Arkansas music. This is the band at the top of their game, at the point in the band’s lifecycle that they’re taking creative risks and pulling in new influences and absolutely nailing them. A concoction of prog-metal, doom, sludge, and more, the pacing of this record feels like a multilayered story, like a movie that you notice new details upon rewatch. It has so much playback value. This is the incarnation of a band rebirthing in a new era. While the Rwake discography is so prolific, it is hard to say whether this Rwake record is my favorite; it’s kind of hard to say it isn’t.
the return of magik
Peach blush
Eradication of the mind
Peach Blush has been a staple in the Little Rock punk scene for years. This new 7” is a short but energetic blast of commanding post punk riffs laden with a foamy layer of alternative buzz. Eradication feels like a breath of new life for the band. The EP is fast and raw and will make you wonder how a band whose nearest major body of water is the murky Arkansas River could soundlike they’re playing a beach party. Sunday Drive Records once again made the trek through I-30 to release another Arkansas banger, and that connection has got me excited to see what Peach Blush will do next.
death rattle
Another night above ground
Four tracks in under nine minutes and not one single second that allows you to catch your breath. Another Night… is exactly what Little Rock hardcore needed in 2025. This is Arkansas hardcore, with a strong New York influence, executed flawlessly. This EP is so pissed off but has so much more to offer than another angry, heavy record. It has an extreme level of bounce and swagger, but it feels effortless and natural, which is hard to pull off for this lane of hardcore. While the band is relatively new on the scene, this EP has a veteran sound to it. I cannot wait to see this band put out a proper LP and take off like a rocket. If you’re not on the Death Rattle train yet, then get on before you’re out of time.
open kasket
trials of failure
Equal parts slam, hardcore, and death metal, this 30-minute sledgehammer from Open Kasketisn’t for the faint of heart. It leans into deathcore territory, but done tastefully, without compromising the raw aggression within the spirit of the record and still sounding massive without being overproduced, which is a balance that’s hard to find in these respective genres. With driving drums, a decent serving of downtempo groove, a burning vocal delivery, and guitar-driven breakdowns that’ll make you grit your teeth, Trials of Failure is a can’t-miss release if you need something misanthropical in your life.
The phlegms
gulp!
Gulp! is a record overflowing with personality. It’s unmistakably a punk record, but to limit it to that one singular genre feels like a major disservice. Tracks like “Puppet” and “Medicine” are peppered with riffs that would make High on Fire fans’ ears perk up a bit. The vocals are filled with so much character, which makes the record feel so fun. The Phlegms bag of influences for this record seems to be bottomless, and that’s probably why this band continues to win over anybody and everybody.
the chores
clock out
I admire bands that make great, hard-to-classify music and lean in fully. Clock Out blends synthwave and pop, evoking the final dance in an '80s movie. While the songs hint at Pet Shop Boys, Duran Duran, and Culture Club, The Chores still drive in their own lane.
first to burn
baptism by fire
Brooding. Methodical. Anxious. Words often used to describe horror movies. First to Burn’s new EP feels devoid of a soul, and I mean that as a compliment. When I say it sounds like it doesn’t have a soul, I don’t mean that it’s bland or empty, quite the contrary. The instrumentals are so precise and intentional, the vocals sound evil. What I mean is that this record feels like you’re being hunted. The record sounds like bad things are about to happen. Occupying a space that is somewhere between a Dillinger-style metalcore and a Sanction-style hardcore. If you’re looking for hardcore that feels like you’re trapped in a slow-moving hydraulic press, then let Baptism by Fire crush your skull.
Immolation is such a cool record. It's a thrash album with punk rock charm—fast, with killer riffs, driving percussion, and anthemic, snotty vocals. Any song could fit on a Tony Hawk Pro Skater soundtrack. This is 26 minutes of energetic, fun, well-crafted headbangers. What’s not to love?
little rock massacre
immolation
penalty
no punishers
It’s an extremely brazen move for a band to come straight out of the gate and just skip the demo phase. Penalty did just that but executed masterfully. The execution and structure of the songs have a precision to them that you just don’t see on a band’s first release. With a sound that feels plucked straight from a '90s episode of Headbangers Ball, Penalty takes the metal-and-hardcore crossover grey areas of that era and puts its own modern spin on them.
