Critically? I’ve seen some reviews of Dream Theater’s most recent album that approach fawning. It deserves it, imo.

I’ve seen hype for Cryptosis here and there, again quite justified. Same with Vitriol, and their most recent album is still in my heavy rotation playlist.

Eschaton always gets praise.

Oh! Can’t forget Obscura.

2025 has been a slap fest of great metal so far, so there’s a lot of buzz going on.

Judas Priest’s new album is one of their best, depending on exactly which critics you run across.

Tbh though, because of how I run across critics of metal, you might notice a bias towards tech death in that mini list. I don’t seek out critiques, but I have a friend that does, and sends me links. Guess what his favorite subgenre is lol.

We’re in a great wave of metal now. The established bands over the last few years have been bringing solid albums, and there’s a fairly noticeable boom in new fans seeking metal out, which means there’s traction for new bands too. Gonna hype Oklahoma Blood in that regard. Crunchy as fuck, just a great trio that released their first album this year.

Which is just me being happy to see it, it isn’t on topic with what you asked.