2025 Emo Tier List: B+ Tier (Final) - A- Tier
Bubble Scary - Featherweight (B+ Tier)
Bubble Scary (loosely) carries the tradition of loud and cacophonous music from the same hometown as Orchid, though their approach is completely different; they utilize harsh Noise Rock tones, Emo songwriting tactics and frenzied Post-Hardcore upheavals. The band leverages this with harrowing and contrasting clean female vocals, conjuring an atmosphere reminiscent of a full moon hanging over a cloudy night. The contrasts between their distorted, riotous sections and their chilling clean passages is particularly impressive.
Teardrinker - Killing the Flowers Will Not Delay Spring (B+ Tier)
Teardrinker is a brand-spankin’ new Screamo band from the Netherlands whose debut EP is one of the freshest Skramz releases of the entire year. Teardrinker’s distinctiveness comes from their use of Black Metal and Sludge Metal elements to craft overwhelming yet melancholic aural experiences. Even without the Post-Rock influence that accompanies so much good Screamo these days, Teardrinker still weaves a dark and atmospheric record with simple but effective volume dynamics. With metallic riffs, blast beats and foggy guitar tones, these two songs go hard in the paint.
Summerbruise - Infinity Guise (B+ Tier)
Summerbruise are scene stalwarts, having released multiple studio albums and EPs over almost ten years! This Indie-tinged Midwest Emo band has always strived for the perfect “Bummer Summer” vibe, and they’ve succeeded on numerous occasions. This latest LP is no different, though it is the most ambitious project the band has ever committed to with 12 songs and over 30 minutes of pleasant, sunny music. Despite the amount of tracks, each song has some fun lyric, melody or reference that distinguishes it from the last. The sum of this record is indeed greater than its parts, so let this one grow on you if it doesn’t hit right away.
at first, at first - The Courage of Shutting Up (B+ Tier)
The Courage of Shutting Up is at first, at first’s very first release, a Screamo EP with absolute reverence for the greats that came before. Although definitely influenced by Post-Rock and other Post-Rock-wielding Screamo outfits, they keep the influence quite tasteful, utilizing it to emphasize the tranquility of the melodies. Complementing this is a soul-baring vocal performance and penchant for the occasional violent surges, which rounds out this tremendous record.
Massa Nera - The Emptiness of All Things (A- Tier)
At this juncture, Massa Nera is an indispensable part of modern Screamo canon, having formed a decade earlier in the fabled Emo state of New Jersey. These would-be legends of the scene have crafted one of their best pieces yet with The Emptiness of All Things. Desolation, darkness and distortion characterize this sinister Screamo album, with lots of noise and chaos gluing it all together. However, there’s also a comfortable amount of melody, a few jolts of Mathcore mania and extremely abrasive atmospheric corridors that keep you unnerved until the final moments.
Nuvolascura - How This All Ends (A- Tier)
Nuvolascura is the shining beacon of SoCal Skramz, having been around in one form or another for about a decade. Their legendary 1-2 punch of albums in 2019 and 2020 gave them instant credibility as scene leaders, and their mythos has only grown in the five years since their last release. Their third studio album, How This All Ends, flows as a natural extension of their previous works; uncontrollable fits of pure rage, stiflingly punishing sections of pure instrumental virtuosity and dynamic song structures continue to define this band’s sound, though they’ve reached deep into the heavy chugging and breakdowns as common songwriting tools as well.
La Dispute - No One Was Driving The Car (A- Tier)
No One Was Driving The Car is La Dispute’s most massive, grandiose release since 2011’s Wildlife; the band technically released this album in parts throughout the year. Clocking in at over an hour in length and standing at a staggering 14 tracks in depth, this is a glorious return to form featuring Dreyer’s incredible screaming / spoken word vocals, energetic and demanding Post-Hardcore songwriting and intense, stark shifts in volume dynamics. Though the flames of youth burn brightest, the worldweariness obtained through over a decade of grinding and experimenting is just as chilling and almost as scintillating.
Jingwei - Songs Only We Knew (A- Tier)
If last year’s six-minute EP was merely a herald of things to come, Songs Only We Knew is a Fully-Fed Galactus upon Midwest Screamo. Nick Strutsman returns with maximum superlatives, including never-ending kineticism, blistering, melodic lead guitar and punchy vocals. At nearly 15 minutes, these songs zoom by with countless musical ideas jampacked into each moment. For that reason, even in its softest and quietest moments, there’s a lot of MPS, or music per song, compared to most releases this year.
Mitsubishi Suicide - For The Last Toll (A- Tier)
On this list, we’ve already seen several successful Post-Rock / Screamo fusions, but one band that I forgot to include two years ago, Mitsubishi Suicide, is perhaps one of the best current practitioners of this specific craft. Hailing from the UK, this trio is extraordinarily familiar working with lengthy songs, instrumental ambiance and unbelievable dynamic changes. With just two tracks, each 10+ minute song unfurls into sprawling, epic territory, balancing the ferocity of their emotions with the calmness of pure instrumental bliss.
Gingerbee - Apiary (A- Tier)
Gingerbee is perhaps the most 5th Wave of all bands, featuring artists who collaborate through the internet from across the globe and a litany of genre playbooks at their disposal. While their debut EP was an experimental hodgepodge of different musical styles, their predominantly Electronic palette colored the record. On Apiary, while still prominently featuring Electronic components, is largely indebted to Pop, Jazz, intimate Chamber instruments and even Samba! This is definitional International Emo composing at its finest, taking inspiration from many corners of this planet.
Febuary - Run Like a Girl (A- Tier)
Following up on their nearly perfect debut album, Febuary’s Run Like a Girl is another intimate and melancholic experience. There’s a certain dark cloud that hangs over each song on this EP, likely caused by the many contrasting sections of clean guitars with soul-wrenching screaming. While this EP lacks some of the explosiveness of their previous release, listeners will nonetheless be impressed by this band’s control of the record’s flow, leading to striking highs and depressive lows. After the year this band has had, it’s good to see that their momentum continues to ramp up.
Fake Pollacks - Livestock (A- Tier)
Livestock is a masterclass demonstration in Math Rock x Midwest Emo, not content to play the typical chill and noodly music that a lot of these bands are trapped in. With only five songs on offer, the band packs each track with tenacity, playfulness, dynamism and kineticism; the vocalists utilize clean vocals, screaming and (often silly) spoken word stylings with more than their share of absurdist lyrics. This is one of the better gritty Midwest Emo releases of the year.
recuerdo acariciar con miedo las alas de un ave herida - recuerdo acariciar con miedo las alas de un ave herida (A- Tier)
Formerly basuraastillada, recuerdo acariciar con miedo las alas de un ave herida is one of the hardest bands out of Bogota, Colombia. With the name change, this s/t sophomore album is slightly less direct than its predecessor, but also has a dearth of the former’s bird screeching, so I suppose there are tradeoffs here. Ethereal and cathartic don’t even begin to describe how each track sounds, but they all function toward the same shared goal: creating an album intended for full playthroughs. South American Screamo has never looked better with bands like this at the forefront.
Algernon Cadwallader - Trying Not to Have a Thought (A- Tier)
Emo Revival forerunners Algernon Cadwallader have returned, releasing their first material in nearly 15 years! Don’t go into this expecting the frenzied, youthful Algernon of 2006-2008; rather, Trying Not to Have a Thought is a natural evolution of their final album Parrot Files, leaning into poppy, mathy songwriting. The boys are still noodly, jangly, drug-addled and complete oddities, and their songwriting prowess hasn’t diminished in the slightest.
We’re almost done! One more drop before we can finally shine a light on the top 10 of the year!
