The Top 10 EPs Of 2025

Time to give the little things in life a bit of love! These are Top 10 EPs of 2025!

All records must have been released on or after 01/01/25. Only one release per artist.

10. Girl Group – Think They’re Looking, Let’s Perform

RATING: 81/100 – Very Good

As of writing this, boys club saboteurs Girl Group have amassed over 50,000 monthly listeners with only a handful of singles and a debut EP to their name. Giving ‘Think They’re Looking, Let’s Perform’ a listen, however, makes those impressive numbers easy to understand. This is post-punk with a real punk ethos, focused on dismantling and ridiculing patriarchal narratives whilst delivery wickedly catchy melodies, sharply witty lyricism, and luscious soundscapes that refuse to be hemmed in by genre or expectation. It truly is Girl Group’s world, and we are just living in it.

9. Take Breath – fable.

RATING: 82/100 – Very Good

Alternative three-piece Take Breath continue to evolve their sound on the ferocious ‘fable.’, and the result is their most complete listening experience to date. Immense, groove-laden riffs surge towards the listener atop of swaggering, incendiary percussion, all whilst vocals snake between captivating melodies and vicious screams. It’s a monstrously good EP that shows the continued growth of one of the brightest hidden gems of the underground UK heavy scene.

8. So Far So Good – So Far So Good

RATING: 83/100 – Very Good

London’s So Far So Good delivered an absolute rampage of a listening experience with their sophomore eponymous EP. A hardcore backbone draped in elements of metalcore, deathcore and jungle, the band set fire to your senses through electrifying rhythms, ruthless vocals, and pummelling riffs, never letting the listener know quite which ring of hell they will be dragged through next. Violence has never sounded so fun.

7. The Orchestra (For Now) – Plan 76

RATING: 83/100 – Very Good

One of two EPs that progressive art rock outfit The Orchestra (For Now) put out this year, it could have been easy for either of these to have found a place on this list. The complex, dizzying sounds that this seven-piece conjure up are spellbinding to behold, and pure cinema in sonic form. The latter of these EPs, ‘Plan 76’, simply has a boldness and variety that secures its place over older sibling ‘Plan 75’. From the magnificent twists and turns of ‘Hattrick’ to the raging inferno of the climax of ‘Deplore You / Farmer’s Market’, there is not a single dull moment on this electrifying release.

6. Careful Gaze – one day this will let you go

RATING: 83/100 – Very Good

The ambient bridge to Careful Gaze’s next record, much of the backstory of this EP was divulged when we discussed the title track in the Top 10 Tracks of 2025. A deeply unexpected excursion from their usual post-hardcore sound, this is a release that can only come from a place of necessity; an exorcism of the past, and a bold step towards an uncertain future. The soundscapes are sometimes daunting, sometimes captivating, and always painfully beautiful, sorrows conveyed through layers of glittering synths and minimalist vocals. Careful Gaze’s next record was already a hotly anticipated release here, but that was increased tenfold after beholding this wondrous experience.

5. rozemary – The Lies They Made Me Believe

RATING: 84/100 – Very Good

Purveyors of baddiecore and Craig Reynolds’ worst nightmare, Merseyside five-piece rozemary have been ripping up your favourite grassroots venues for around two years now, and this year unleashed their blistering debut EP, ‘The Lies They Made Me Believe’. For the two-steppers, there’s the phenomenally catchy ‘starlit ballroom’, with a riff that we simply cannot stop talking about. For the moshers, there’s the blistering ferocity and unrestrained violence of ‘mule’ and ‘prey’. For those attending Radar Festival in 2026, this band is a must-catch.

4. House of Protection – Outrun You All

RATING: 86/100 – Mostly Excellent

We already indulged in a little House of Protection on our Top 50 Songs of the Year listing, with the tsunami of a track ‘Godspeed’, but to not shine a light on how good the rest of the duo’s sophomore EP was would be a grave mistake.

Aric Improta and Stephen Harris have followed up the phenomenal ‘GALORE’ with an EP that knows just how to ensnare the senses, and just how to bulldoze them entirely. ‘Fire’ is a devilishly catchy alternative rock cut that sucks you in with its wickedly fun hooks and gang-vocal bridge, whilst ‘Afterlife’ leans heavily into the electronics whilst maintaining a hardcore weight. It’s an urgent rallying cry to defy stagnancy at all costs, and stands head and shoulders above the crowd because of that.

House of Protection love you, and there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s a good job you’ll end up loving them too.

3. Bouquet – Feel In Colour

RATING: 86/100 – Mostly Excellent

If you’re an emo in the Iowa region and you have yet to check out Bouquet, then pardon my crudeness, but what the fuck bro?

Winners of the Vinyl Fantasy Reviews EP of the Year 2021 with their magnificent debut ‘Cardinal’, Bouquet have remained a force to be reckoned with within the DIY emo scene; lyricism combines diaristic confessions with moments of esoteric wonder, whilst soul-rending melodies sprawl out atop of cinematic soundscapes. ‘Feel In Color’ continues this winning formula, and pushes the band’s sound into even more expansive territories. The EP’s highlight, ‘Blue Hour (A Stream of Consciousness)’, is a driving anthem of glittering guitar riffs buoyed by a tidal force of a rhythms sections, whilst vocalist Nick Booth sounds stronger and more compelling than ever, with screams that rage with desperation.

The debut full-length of Bouquet is perhaps the single most hotly anticipated record here; this is emo at its very, very best. The third place of the Vinyl Fantasy Reviews EP of the Year 2025 list goes to ‘Feel In Color’ by Bouquet.

2. male//gaze – TOO LATE NOW

RATING: 86/100 – Mostly Excellent

Some releases are truly special; the sound of something fundamental shifting within a given musical space. It’s what Bring Me The Horizon did with ‘Sempiternal’, what Loathe did with ‘I Let It In And It Took Everything’, and it’s what male//gaze have done with ‘TOO LATE NOW’.

The latest EP from the Pacific Northwest outfit brings together elements of hyperpop, shoegaze, twinkle emo, and hardcore, and transforms them into hyperpunk. Harsh screams rage against an aether soaked with synths, whilst vocal melodies swirl from sumptuous lows to soaring highs, reflecting upon the ways we live with our traumas, and how to forgive the parts of you that never truly healed. It is a breathtaking affair to behold from start to finish; it is more than simply genre-blending, and is the active construction of a whole new sound that both deserves and demands your attention.

Your favourite band will one day cite male//gaze as an inspiration for their sound. The runner-up of the Vinyl Fantasy Reviews EP of the Year 2025 list is ‘TOO LATE NOW’ by male//gaze.

1. Purge Of Sanity – The Expense Of Striving To Heal

RATING: 100/100 – Perfect

Prior to this year, I had often wondered as to whether I would come across an EP I could score 100/100. EPs offer a wholly different listening experience compared to full records, and often exist as a way for a band to collate releases, experiment with their sound, or provide an insight into to what they are capable of. By that very nature, they often lack the cohesion and structure that make the very best records what they are.

Purge Of Sanity said “fuck that”, and sculpted an absolutely monstrous EP that pushes the boundaries of what metalcore is capable of.

A cohesive body of work that flows from point A to point B without losing any momentum, energy, or creativity, this is a complete tour-de-force of what Purge Of Sanity are capable of. Bludgeoning hardcore dance beats meld with the industrial scraping of guitars before plunging into utterly incendiary breakdowns. It exists as a rallying cry to defy the systems of oppression that each of us face, a declaration of unrepentant self-expression and a determination to burn in all down unless the masses are listened to. The title track serves a gloriously melodramatic closer that rises from smouldering embers to raging inferno, and dies out with the intensity of a supernova. Then, after a moment to catch your breath, it all starts again when you inevitably hit replay.

‘The Expense of Striving To Heal’ pushes the boundaries of what an EP is capable of, and delivers a paradigm shift of an experience. The Vinyl Fantasy Reviews EP of the Year for 2025 is ‘The Expense Of Striving To Heal’ by Purge Of Sanity.

VINYL FANTASY REVIEWS’ EP OF THE YEAR

2021: Bouquet – Cardinal

2022: nightlife – fallback

2023: the great nothing – no one.

2024: The Throwaway Scene – On Death & Dying

2025: Purge Of Sanity – The Expense Of Striving To Heal

Come back tomorrow, as we’ll be closing out our 2025 end of year lists with the big one: the Top 10 Albums of 2025!