Heaven’s Metal Magazine, which celebrated its 40th year in 2025, has released its second back-in-print edition this year, including a sure-to-be-controversial list of “The Top 25 Christian Metal Albums Since 2010.”

 

The respected magazine published a “Top 100 Christian Metal Albums of All Time” list when it released its 25th Anniversary issue. “We did not want to tackle that beast of a project again,” said Editor Doug Van Pelt, “so we decided to just pick up where we left off.”

 

Human Code, featuring George Ochoa of Deliverance, Recon, and Worldview fame, won the coveted spot of #1 with its 2024 release, Break the Silence.

 

“Honored to be considered,” said Ochoa.

 

The list was compiled by veteran staff writers and editors from the Heaven’s Metal Magazine team, which includes Van Pelt, Chris Gatto, Keven Crothers, Jonathan T. Swank, Seth Metoyer, Jimmy Sorrells, Loyd Harp, Todd Walker, Chris Beck, Jeff McCormack, J.H. Tomblin, Brad Bowman, Jason McLaren, Stephanie Jordan, and Corran Lategra. Each journalist turned in their top 25 votes out of a plethora of releases from the last 15 years. “The numbers were tallied, and this is the list we came up with,” explained Van Pelt.

 

“We actually broke one of our rules. We wanted just one album from each band represented, but when we saw Theocracy show up at the top of most writers’ lists, we knew we should bend that one. Both Ghost Ship and As the World Bleeds placed in the Top Five.

 

“Metal fans should find plenty to explore and debate. While it might spark an argument or two, these are the kind of disputes that can be lots of fun among friends.”