Deftones Crowned Rolling Stone’s Best Metal Album Of 2025

Rolling Stone mag have dropped their list of The 15 Best Metal Albums Of 2025, and in a year that’s been stacked with heavy releases, it’s Deftones who’ve come out on top – taking out #1 with their tenth studio album, private music.

Yep, the Sacramento legends have officially been anointed kings of metal for 2025, beating out heavy hitters like Ghost, Dream Theater, Deafheaven and Whitechapel to sit comfortably at the summit. Not bad for a band who’ve been bending genres, breaking hearts and inventing entire aesthetics since the late ‘80s.

deftones – ‘my mind is a mountain’

The list itself is actually pretty bloody solid, featuring underground cult favourites like Runemagick and Chepang alongside mainstream titans – but perhaps the loudest statement of all? Sleep Token are nowhere to be found. Which feels especially spicy considering The Guardian’s music editor just declared their album the “worst of the year.” Two major publications, two very different lists – but one very loud absence.

Interestingly, metal once again barely cracked Rolling Stone’s broader Top 100 Albums Of 2025 list, with only two heavier records making the cut: Deftones at #76 and Turnstile at #31.

Here’s how Rolling Stone ranked the Top 15 metal records:

Coroner – Dissonance Theory
Deafheaven – Lonely People With Power
Runemagick – Cycle Of The Dying Sun (Dawn Of Ashen Remains)
Chepang – Jhyappa
Castle Rat – The Beastiary
Rwake – The Return Of Magick
Whitechapel – Hymns In Dissonance
Deadguy – Near-Death Travel Services
Blut Aus Nord – Ethereal Horizons
Halestorm – Everest
Primitive Man – Observance
Dream Theater – Parasomnia
Ghost – Skeletá
Agriculture – The Spiritual Sound
Deftones – private music

And if that wasn’t enough to get Aussie Deftones fans frothing, here’s the cherry on top: they’re heading back to Australia in May 2026 for their first full-blown arena tour here in almost a decade, bringing Interpol and Ecca Vandal along for the ride.

Two nights at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena on May 2 and 3, then Brisbane Entertainment Centre on May 6, before wrapping with two massive Melbourne shows at Rod Laver Arena on May 9 and 10.

Details below if you wanna have a suss!