We are halfway through the year, and so far the class of 2025 have been offering up plenty of headbang-worthy hits that music fans have been cranking on repeat — in two specific cases, they’ve been doing so in record numbers.
Over here at Revolver, we recently polled our readership on their favorite albums of the year so far, and they showed up en masse to rep the latest releases from Sleep Token, Ghost, Spiritbox and more — vanguard artists that continue to shape the scene in their unique image.
When we decided to follow-up last week’s census by asking this time what your favorite songs of the year has been, we’d figured there’d be a bit of crossover. And, for sure, some of the usual suspects popped up in this latest poll. But music fans have their ears tuned to music outside of the album charts, too, and came out en masse for some standout and standalone moments, as well.
These are their top-five picks, ranked accordingly.
Falling in Reverse – “God Is a Weapon” (feat. Marilyn Manson)
Love it or loathe it, the much-hyped collaboration between controversial heavy-music figures Ronnie Radke and Marilyn Manson hit the internet like a hand grenade when it dropped in May. Since then, the song has racked up more than 18 million streams on Spotify, while the music video (which also features an explosive cameo from shock rapper Dana Dentata) has been viewed over 12 million times. This is all to say, it’s left quite an impression.
Considering the parties involved, the slow-dripping alt-metal devotional — featuring a falsetto vocal turn from Radke and characteristically goth-creeped contributions from the Antichrist Superstar — is an especially polarizing pick for many. But for the many fans of Falling in Reverse and Manson that came out in droves to vote in this poll, they worship this “sinful confession” all the same.
Electric Callboy – “Elevator Operator”
“Hop in and let the journey begin.”
Truly one of 2025’s most gonzo singles thus far, German electronicore eccentrics Electric Callboy’s “Elevator Operator” is a track that definitely found favor with metal fans open to getting a bit of unts-unts dance music in their lives — so long as it comes mixed together with skull-decimating metal riffs and throat-thrashing roars.
Mixing Nineties glowstick rhythms with piston-pounding heaviness — and with tongues seemingly planted firmly in MDMA-coated cheeks — “Elevator Operator” is a gleefully unhinged and uplifting club cut that signals the inevitable rise of Electric Callboy in 2025.
Spiritbox – “Fata Morgana”
To be fair, a bunch of Tsunami Sea songs got shouted out in the votes this week, but it was the opener to Spiritbox’s sophomore LP that quenched fans’ thirst most so far this year.
And to be sure, “Fata Morgana” is an outright bruising masterstroke from the djent-pop force. Mike Stringer’s wave-warped bends and harmonic juds absolutely dominate the speakers with punishing purpose, though it’s just as easy to get swept up in the royal purple phosphorescence of the track’s ambient electronics.
Per the screams of one of her strongest vocal turns yet, sorrow follows vocalist Courtney LaPlante. Nevertheless, streaming “Fata Morgana” brings joy to countless others.
Ghost – “Lachryma”
While Papa V Perpetua gloom-croons his way through this tune about his ducts being extra depleted these days, ever since it was released as a single earlier this spring, “Lachryma” has brought sheer tears of joy to the Swedish occult-rockers’ faithful fan base. In other words: The sweet has yet to go sour. This one’s a hit.
Indeed, “Lachryma” is a SKELETÁ standout, with the tune possessing a sick and sinewy, almost Eighties-era Ozzy heaviness that’s made us wonder at times whether Jake E. Lee’s been moonlighting as a ghoul in his spare time. Full marks to spookily sartorial frontman Perpetua for the bat-wing-flapping get-up he’s got going on in the video, too.
Sleep Token – “Gethsemane”
The voters wanted us to know that if there’s one song they can’t live without this year, it’s Sleep Token’s heart-wrecked “Gethsemane.” And to be clear, they weren’t undercover lovers, either — hundreds upon hundreds of devotees cast their ballot for the Even in Arcadia highlight.
The new album’s penultimate rollercoaster vibes through tender piano minimalism towards lush, Polyphia-ish guitar virtuosity, and from melodically djent-quaked emotionalism towards ice-crisp trap beats. Above it all, Vessel goes extra vulnerable — hardly the lil robot boy he presents himself as up front, he puts his heart on his sleeve while ashing himself out of an apparently torturous relatinonship.
What might not have been good for his heart was apparently great for our ears, considering “Gethsemane” won this poll in a landslide.