We’re in the thick of the Year End now (make sure you check out parts 25-16 of our Top 25 here if you missed it yesterday), and are looking forward to catching up with other sites and friends’ retrospective lists and write-ups, especially those from well outside of Our Thing. That being said, our own understanding and parameters for what does and doesn’t fall into I Die: You Die’s purview is an organic and flexible affair, and frankly we’d be a bit disappointed in ourselves if our tastes hadn’t changed an iota since we put the first such list together all the way back in 2011. In any event, regardless of definition or frame, here are ten more records which we couldn’t get enough of this year.
15. Ye Gods
The Arcane & Paranormal Earth, Black Moon, and May Your Love Shine Brighter Than The Sun
self-released
The Ye Gods project was already a break from the paths forged by Antoni Maiovvi in giallo, post-punk, and other fields, but the releases which formed the Equilibrium Trilogy took the project’s occult electronics a step further. On one hand, the philosophical symbolism and themes which link and distinguish each component can offer hours of debate and deep listening for the hermetically inclined. But for all that consideration, this is incredibly personal, not academic music, with Maiovvi’s own read on experimental synthesis feeling surprisingly direct and free of guile, even at its most outre. Make some shroom tea, cosy up, and get lost in yourself. Read our reviews of The Arcane & Paranormal Earth, Black Moon, and May Your Love Shine Brighter Than The Sun, and listen to our interview with Maiovvi.
14. Rotersand
Don’t Become The Thing You Hated
Metropolis Records
As of 2025 Krischan Jan-Eric Wesenberg and Rascal Nikov have been active for two decades as Rotersand, and are still putting out relevant, song-driven records that push the boundaries of their take on synthpop and club-EBM. Don’t Become the Thing You Hated is less a return to form than it is a testament to what the German act have always been good at; you’ve got big propulsive club cuts like “Private Firmament” and “Higher Ground”, melodic synthpop cuts such as “I Will Find You”, and moody electro like “Father Ocean”, all rendered in pleasingly modern, yet timeless style. Where so many of their contemporaries chase past successes and lose the core of their sound while trying vainly to reinvent themselves, Rotersand stay the course: they don’t need to be anything other than who they’ve always been on Don’t Become the Thing You Hated to stand apart from the crowd. Read our full review.
13. Das Ich
Fanal
Danse Macabre
Fanal, the alleged final statement from Neue Deutsche Todeskunst paragons Das Ich, is rooted in the duo’s legacy of baroque darkwave-tinged industrial, and informed by vocalist Stefan Ackermann’s health struggles, and the bond forged with partner Bruno Kramm in facing the inevitability of death that has always been at the thematic center of their work. You can hear it in their vocal interplay on the orchestral storm of “Brutus” and through the theatrical abandon with which they attack “Was Bin Ich?”; their history, their shared hardship, and their perspective on an ending that looms ever larger on the horizon. Fanal isn’t the sound of defiance of the inescapable, it’s an embrace and an understanding of it, and in Das Ich’s grand style, about erasing the arbitrary lines we draw between the comfort of beauty and our fascination with the grotesque. Read our full review.
12. Gatekeeper
Wrong Planet
self-released
Decloaking out of nowhere after eleven years like a Romulan warbird warped by an aeon spent lost in subspace, Gatekeeper don’t exactly pick up where they left off with Wrong Planet, but rather take an acid-soaked look back at the influential moves they’ve made in EBM, synthwave, and techno. With menacing rhythmic swagger taken care of in the low end, the duo go ham with melodic and harmonic programming, sending a flurry of detuned hypercolour synths zigzagging through bioluminescent caverns and deep space nebulae. Far too busy to be “cinematic” and frankly just too proggy for a large portion of clubgoers, Wrong Planet doesn’t compromise one bit, but it’s the sound of a sneakily influential act zeroing in on a very particular aesthetic and squeezing it for every psychedelic drop that it’s worth. Read our full review.
11. Zanias
Cataclysm
Fleisch
Alison Lewis is one of the most influential figures in modern dark alternative, and her work as Zanias has shown both her acuity in the darkwave, EBM and ethereal electronics that made her name, but in her vision for a genre-defying take on them. 2025’s Cataclysm takes markers from trance and techno and weaves them into Lewis’ borderless take on synth music; while you’ve got rave-ups and euphoric builds to spare on cuts like “Human” and “Serpentsmile”, there’s an equal amount of lush atmospherics and flowing textures to be had, as on the sublime “Naiad” and “Ashes”. And while Lewis has never lacked for elegance, her poise here is remarkable, sounding as confident and as present as she ever has in each and every moment, both vocal and instrumental, her towering charisma turned to face a shrouded and unknowable light. Read our full review.
10. Nevada Hardware
Split Scene
Thinkbreak Records
After a promising 2018 debut, the mothballing of original Nevada Hardware material left us with a handful of tantalizing remixes as proof of the one-man Chicago act’s concept, but Split Scene more than made up for that absence, roaring into our headphones and DJ sets as one of the most dense, immediate, and undeniable club records of the year. Soldering throwback big beat and industrial rock together with a mindfucking array of samples, scorchers like “The Suburbs Dream Of Violence” and “Split Scene” evoke a slew of memories: Mortal Kombat, 90s techno thriller club scenes, and most importantly the vintage bravura rave-ups of PWEI, Messiah, and The KLF. Packing more club heat into 25 minutes than most acts can muster in a decade, Split Scene‘s low flash point makes every one of its cuts an incendiary device. Read our full review.
9. Black Dahlia
The Imposter
School Of Dahlia
From TBM to dark electro to art pop, from Australia to London, it’s been a winding path for Black Dahlia over the past few years, but the confidence, playfulness, and range of emotion to be found on The Imposter shows that it’s all been worth it. The rare concept record that doesn’t end up rehashing itself for the sake of theatricality or leitmotif, it’s a listen which hearkens back to an era of new wave when Nina Hagen and Lene Lovich held sway, and when experimentation and a sense of fun weren’t mutually exclusive. Linking italo, cabaret, and synthfunk via a “man who fell to earth” frame, The Imposter is a quirky tour de force which has us looking forward to Black Dahlia’s next move, which we have to suspect will completely reinvent the project again. Read our full review.
8. Sally Dige
Holding the Sun
Dige Records
There’s a deep comfort in the sound of Vancouver by way of Berlin singer songwriter Sally Dige’s 2025 LP Holding the Sun. Where Dige has never lacked for a fine tune in her dreampop and ethereal darkwave songs, the stop-you-in-your-tracks beauty of her voice and the folky, string-inflected sound of the album is an entirely new development, with cuts like “Sow the Path” and the anthemic “I Will Be the Sun For You” transcending genre into broadly appealing pop territory. Whether finding the power in the simple arrangement of “You” or allowing the build of “Strength in Me” to lift her aloft, Dige’s grace and unabashed charm pervade every moment, finding the light and warmth alluded to in the record’s title in each and every moment. Read our full review.
7. Assemblage 23
Null
Metropolis Records
Assemblage 23’s superb 2025 LP of synthpop and club industrial Null is lit from the ashes of its predecessor Mourn, leaving behind that LP’s recriminations and pointed tone for grander and more hopeful territory. Tom Shear’s tremendous skill as a songwriter, vocalist and producer are apparent in a collection of songs that have the inspiration and emotion of his classic material, but show even more of who he is as a musician living in troubled times. Shear sounds positively energized on “Gone”, incensed and strident on “Lunatics” and “Overthrow”, and wounded on “Tolerate”, backed by his signature programming and arrangements and ready to charge forward into the whatever lies ahead with honesty and passion. It’s during the album’s closer “Waited”, possibly the best and most touching single song Tom Shear has ever released, that the album cinches its portrait of the artist at his most heartfelt, and his most stirring. Read our full review.
6. Pixel Grip
Percepticide: The Death Of Reality
self-released
When the Travis Scott debacle blew up, we were partially amused simply because there were scant few entities in our scene capable of playing the hand they’d been dealt better than Pixel Grip. And while the combination of arch wit, cyberpunk cool, and horniness on Main which put Pixel Grip at the vanguard of modern dark clubbing is easy to find in Percepticide (and has certainly aided in their broader continued ascent), it’s the more subtle moments of composition and albumcraft which kept us coming back to the record throughout the year well outside of club contexts. Pacing and varying the BPM and density of affairs allows for the chill nod of one cut to stand out in juxtaposition to another’s fury, or for both elements to shine in one track, as in the case of unlikely hit “Reason To Stay”. Read our full review.
That’s all for today! Thanks for reading, and tune in tomorrow for the grand finale.
