SHOUTS - Music from the Rooftops!

A person with a guitar looks at a map while standing at a crossroads with signs for 2025, engulfed in flames, and 2026, adorned with flowers.

What an awful year. A genocide continued to unfold in Gaza, over 20 million people are in desperate need of food and medical aid in the DRC, and the war in Sudan, now in its third year, is showing the rest of the world how truly horrific the human species can be – with systematic rape used as a weapon of war and over half a million people on the brink of starvation.

As the rest of the world watches these horrors unfold, the powerful don’t take even the slightest break. While breaking international rule of law, the president of the USA started the year off with a literal bang by doing what that government does best: dropping bombs and kidnapping a head of state. With no rest for the wicked, Trump then threatened to colonise Greenland. And in Iran, two weeks into 2026, thousands of people have been killed, largely by authorities, after protests erupted in the country in December.

The year is off to a rough start.

However, we can’t give up, and we can’t give in. While global media often focuses on the negative, we can’t forget that there are so many people dedicating every ounce of their being to protecting our environment, helping people in need, fighting poachers, reporting the truth under a rain of bombs – the list goes on.

Governments around the world are threatening artists with long, harsh prison sentences – yet they continue to sing; corporations are pressing criminal charges against people for rescuing animals from being murdered – yet they continue to save animals; people are being oppressed for their sexual orientation, colour of their skin, or religious beliefs – yet they continue to march in protest.

From Bulgaria to Nepal to Morocco, young people stood up to old powers and demanded immediate action – calling for better healthcare, more funding towards education, an end to corruption and impunity, and real environmental action.

And a whole bunch of kind and brave people defiantly sailed to Gaza, with aid.

We should all do what we can. Everything matters, and a thousand small actions amount to a big ball of kindness. In 2025, artists did what they do best: they analysed what was unfolding in front of their empathetic eyes, and they created music. Music that brings awareness, music that fights fascism, music that unifies.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll keep saying it. Protest music never died. There is a plethora of protest musicians out there and plenty of independent media covering their work. And for further proof, check out our recently published list of top 40 protest songs of 2025 (a list DJ General Strike narrowed down from over 1,000 songs) and our Selected Protest Music of 2025 Playlist, which holds over 7 hours worth of revolutionary music.

We must stand in solidarity with everyone who is oppressed – whether that be our fellow humans, the animals, or Mother Earth herself. And we’ve got the music to go along with the resistance.

Below are ten examples, a few favourite albums of the friends and collaborators of Shouts.

This is music from the rooftops.

Contributing to this list were Salma Ahmed, Kevin Gosztola, Santiago Campodónico, Mat Ward, and Riley Rowe.

Armageddon In A Summer Dress by Sunny War

Sunny War’s Armageddon in a Summer Dress is one of the beautiful tapestries that were woven this year. War’s album captured many genres through its songs, and these genres were accompanied by diverse stories narrated in every song. She gives you hope and then takes it away, only to give it back again. Her songs about loneliness and poverty feel fitting for the times one finds themselves in. The same can be found in the songs that tried to fight against fascism and the corruption suffocating America.

Armageddon in a Summer Dress is the kind of album that stays with you even if months have passed since you first listened to it. You might catch yourself singing “Bad times, stay away” without realising it. And when everything gets dark in the world around you, you start hoping that War’s words, when she sings “But you did it once before / I know you’ll do it once more,” will come true. Even if nothing changed, War’s masterpiece would be the speck of hope convincing you that it is never too late.

Words by Salma Ahmed, contributing writer for Shouts – Music from the Rooftops! Read her full review of the album here, and more of Salma’s articles can be found here.

Andrija Tokic did such a fabulous job producing, engineering, and mixing this record. It’s full-sounding, and without losing any edge, there’s an effervescence to Sunny War’s music as she provides a working-class soundtrack for late-stage capitalism. Standout track is “Walking Contradiction,” a collaboration with Crass co-founder Steve Ignorant.

Words by Kevin Gosztola, journalist, writer, and curator of The Protest Music Project

viagr aboys by Viagra Boys

The Viagra Boys’ newest album, viagr aboys, is an ironic, beautifully arranged, hilariously self-aware, crude, and profound meditation on contemporary life. Its power as a protest album lies in the band’s ability to point at the inherent absurdity and injustice of the systems that underpin everyday life, and either mock them, portray their consequences, or lament their effects.

Everything from the quick solutions often sold for coping with eating habits (with songs like Pyramid of Heath), to the unfocused and radical subgroups the precarious job market has created (Dirty Boyz), this album has something to say. Moreover, it says it concisely, backed by one of the most focused punk recordings of the decade. viagr aboys, like all great records, enters through the ears but sticks in the brain for what lies underneath the layers.

Words by Santiago Campodónico, contributing writer for Shouts – Music from the Rooftops! More of Santiago’s articles can be found here.

Ül by Mawiza

Since its British birth, metal music has been shaped, led, and seen as an art form of and for European and American crowds. And while artists from Brazil, Japan, or other cultural hubs have broken through the international veil, it’s often seen as a boundary-breaking statement to make metal music if you’re outside the norm of the aforementioned demographic. For example, Mawiza is a metal group based in the Mapuche Nation territory in Chile. They use their indigenous roots and musicalities to make very distinct and powerful music, chanting in their Mapuzungun dialect and riffing in earthy rhythms. With a guest feature by Gojira and praise from the likes of Slipknot to Mastodon, Ül by Mawiza is a stunning example of a protest album, not only for bringing awareness and legitimacy to metal music made by indigenous people, but also for the anti-logging and decolonization messages in certain songs. If your interest is piqued by folk-groove metal like The Hu or Sepultura, enjoy this album, mastered by Alan Douches (Converge, Chelsea Wolfe).

Words by Riley Rowe, founder of Metal Has No Borders

Black Spring by Samora Pinderhughes

Samora Pinderhughes is a US composer, pianist, vocalist, and multidisciplinary artist who, in collaboration with The Healing Project, a community-engaged arts initiative he leads, released a very special mixtape this year. Black Spring honours the 100 years since the birth of writer and activist James Baldwin, connecting Baldwin’s legacy to contemporary struggles. The work blends poetic piano, electronics, and neo-soul, bringing together musicians, vocalists, and poets from his New York community to create a collective artistic voice.

Words by Halldór Kristínarson, managing editor of Shouts – Music from the Rooftops!

Social Cohesion by Mudrat

I listen to 30 protest albums a month for the monthly political albums round-up I write at greenleft.org.au. A standout for me this year was Social Cohesion, the debut album from Naarm/Melbourne-based punk-hip hop artist Mudrat, who is creating a real stir with his innovative and uncompromising music. This was solidified by seeing him electrify an audience of activists at Rising Tide, a blockade of the world’s biggest coal port in Muloobinba/Newcastle. Check out his earworm “I Hate Rich Cunts”, which has passed 1 million plays on Spotify alone.

Words by Mat Ward, musician and author

Temple of Hope by Saba Alizadeh

Saba Alizadeh’s Temple of Hope is the kind of album that could be enough to carry an artist’s legacy on its shoulders with no backup. The music composition by the Iranian artist takes you to a different world. One that is filled with hope, dreams, loss, and even death. With the protests recently happening in Iran, Temple of Hope feels like it predicted it ever since it was released. The song To Become a Martyr, One Has to Be Murdered could be played while you are on the edge of your seat, watching a nation rise up. It’s not just Alizadeh’s composition that makes the album one of 2025’s best, but the vocals, carefully chosen and placed in the right songs, are the missing piece of the puzzle. Maybe as the years passed, Iranians will find themselves walking into a new nation that they made become their own temple of hope.

Words by Salma Ahmed, contributing writer for Shouts – Music from the Rooftops! Read more of Salma’s articles can be found here.

They’re Burning the Boats by Bambu

One of my favourite albums of the year is They’re Burning the Boats, by Filipino-American rapper Bambu. The veteran musician has been in the rap game for a minute – and it shows. There’s a layer of maturity and understanding in his lyrics, something that comes with experience. Bambu is a father, and his hope for a more just world for his daughter shines through on this album. He wants to leave a legacy, and he makes sure he spits the truth in every song he makes or is part of. He gets straight to the point and tears down the fascist forces that are trying to divide us all. He takes hard shots with harder rhymes and makes it look easy. With sometimes carnival-sounding beats from Fatgums and each song holding its own, this is one piece I’ve been spinning again and again this year. It makes me want to go out and fight fascists and also stay at home and hold my daughter – all at once.

Words by Halldór Kristínarson, managing editor of Shouts – Music from the Rooftops!

The Film by SUMAC and Moor Mother

The Film is a visceral jaw-dropping concept album constructed like an original motion picture soundtrack. The pairing of a sludge metal band with a bona fide artist like Moor Mother delivers on all fronts. The compositions pound away at you. Is this what it’s like to decolonize your mind? Standout track is “Scene 1,” but it doesn’t really have songs. Each “scene,” and the few tracks in between, have to be heard together to appreciate this statement of artistic freedom.

Words by Kevin Gosztola, journalist, writer, and curator of The Protest Music Project

Viribus Unitis by 1914

In the same vein of anti-war films like ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ or ‘Warfare,’ 1914 shines a light on the pain and loss of war to demonstrate an anti-war message through blackened death metal. On the surface, their new album – Viribus Unitis – may appear to glorify the violent battles of WWI, however, the sheer terror and death tolls that are lyrically showcased become a clear warning against continued wars in modern day, and therefore, the perfect protest album, especially considering the band’s Ukrainian origin. Mastered by Tony Lindgren (Enslaved, Leprous), be sure to give this album a listen if you’re into Rotting Christ, Kanonenfieber, or even Type O Negative.

Words by Riley Rowe, founder of Metal Has No Borders

Miss Black America by Kirby

Grit and soul is what you get on Kirby’s new album, Miss Black. After years of working deep inside the music industry, living in New York, the Memphis-born, Mississippi-raised artist went back to her homeland to create her newest work. She describes it as a record “about growing up in Mississippi and understanding how the fight of your ancestors, the love of your family, the blood on the land and the joy of the Sunday choir shaped how you see the world.” And it simply sounds amazing.

Words by Halldór Kristínarson, managing editor of Shouts – Music from the Rooftops!

A bald man with tattoos passionately speaking into a megaphone while performing on stage at a music festival. — Dobromir Ganchev of Bulgarian hardcore band Urban Grey uses a megaphone during their Hills of Rock 2025 performance in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Photo by Diana Nikolova, used with permission.

At Hills of Rock 2025, Bulgaria’s premier rock and metal music event that takes place annually in Plovdiv, Sofia’s hardcore veterans Urban Grey transformed a festival set into a statement of defiance. In a country where corruption scandals, rising costs of living, and mistrust of institutions regularly send people into the streets in protest, their music channeled those frustrations into a blend of raw sound and rallying cries.

A male vocalist passionately performing on stage, energetically engaging with the audience, while wearing a graphic t-shirt. — Dobromir Ganchev, vocalist of Bulgarian hardcore band Urban Grey, performing at Hills of Rock 2025 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Photo by Diana Nikolova, used with permission.

Formed 25 years ago by guitarists Nikolay “Bebo” Berberov and Chavdar “Chavo” Valchev, the band has spent more than two decades building a reputation for independence. “We live here, we’re children of the city…[we call ourselves] Grey, because we don’t try to make ourselves visible at all costs,” Bebo once explained. Their choice to stay outside the commercial music machine has gone a long way to keeping their message uncompromised.

A guitarist with a shaved head passionately playing an electric guitar on stage during a rock concert, wearing a graphic t-shirt. — Nikolay “Bebo” Berberov, guitarist of Bulgarian hardcore band Urban Grey, performing live at Hills of Rock 2025 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Photo by Diana Nikolova, used with permission.

That message often takes aim at Bulgaria’s realities. In “The Solution is the Problem,” from their 2014 album Age of Awareness, vocalist Dobromir Ganchev spits, “Banks, bills, taxes — we’re debt slaves for life.” The song echoes the widespread frustration over the country’s low wages and predatory lending patterns. Songs like 2014’s “Freak Show” tackle financial manipulation, while 2022’s “Control” warns of authoritarian tendencies — themes that resonate in a country still reckoning with democratic backsliding and concentrated media ownership.

Even earlier tracks, such as “Behind the Mask of Justice” (2008) and “Treachery” (2014) confront political deceit, offering a critique that has remained relevant through years of corruption scandals and mass protests, including the anti-corruption demonstrations of 2020.

A male vocalist passionately performs on stage, captured in mid-action, with tattoos visible on his arms and wearing a shirt that reads 'SLAPSHOT'. The background features a blurred array of lights and sound equipment. — Dobromir Ganchev of Bulgarian hardcore band Urban Grey punctuates the beat with a hard stomp on the Na Tumno stage at Hills of Rock 2025 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Photo by Diana Nikolova, used with permission.

On the Na Tumno stage, a phrase that roughly translates to “in the dark,” suggestive of the more underground and intimate experience it offers as compared to the Main Stage, these themes became a setlist designed for impact: “Freak Show”, “P.I.G.”, “Compromised,” “Control,” “Behind the Mask of Justice,” and “Treachery.” For longtime fans, this was more than entertainment — it was a musical version of protest slogans shouted in unison.

A bassist passionately playing on stage, with hair flying, captured in a black and white photograph. — Sonja Traussnig, bassist for Bulgarian hardcore band Urban Grey, performs on the Na Tumno stage at Hills of Rock 2025 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Her hair whips through the air in mid-motion as she leans into the performance, bass guitar angled forward. Photo by Diana Nikolova, used with permission.

One hardcore music fan, Redji, summed it up as “expressing the everyday problems you see on the news — road deaths, political theatre in parliament, rising prices, and above all the constant injustice in the air.”

A crowd of music fans during a heavy metal concert, showcasing a young boy immersed in the energy of the performance, with various attendees expressing enthusiasm and wearing band t-shirts. — A young audience member jumps with a fist raised during Urban Grey’s performance at Hills of Rock 2025 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The black-and-white image captures the intensity of the Na Tъмno stage crowd, with fellow hardcore and metal fans immersed in the moment. Photo by Diana Nikolova, used with permission.

Such injustice has been a recurring flashpoint in Bulgaria, from demonstrations against corruption to public anger at lenient sentences for violent crimes. At Hills of Rock, the crowd’s response — fists raised, voices joining Ganchev’s megaphone shouts — emphasized how Urban Grey manages to seamlessly bridge music and message.

A couple enjoying a music festival, the man with a mohawk and beard embracing the woman who has a unique hairstyle and is laughing joyfully. — Fans enjoy Urban Grey’s performance at Hills of Rock 2025 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The black-and-white image captures a man with a mohawk and beard, wearing a band shirt, with his arm around a woman in a harness-style top and bold makeup. Both are smiling and singing, reflecting the energy and camaraderie of the hardcore and metal community. Photo by Diana Nikolova, used with permission.

For the band, the connection begins with sound. Bebo believes that “true art happens when a band follows its own ideas,” explaining, “Modern trends are fleeting. What lasts is authenticity.” The band members see themselves less as political actors and more as musicians whose style naturally channels rebellion. Just as death metal bands embrace gore, Urban Grey use hardcore to amplify resistance.

A crowd of hardcore music fans at a festival, raising their fists in the air in a show of solidarity and excitement. — Fans at Urban Grey’s performance on the Na Tumno stage at Hills of Rock 2025 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, raise their fists and shout along to the music. The black-and-white image captures the intensity and solidarity of the hardcore and metal crowd, with audience members of various ages fully immersed in the moment. Photo by Diana Nikolova, used with permission.

Their music has gathered a community that treats concerts like rallies. “Awareness of human values, and never giving up on your goals” is how Redji describes the ethos. The band agrees, urging younger musicians to first focus on rehearsals, then “say everything you think — experiment, be brave.

A male singer passionately performing on stage, dressed in a black t-shirt and cargo shorts, with tattoos visible on his arms. He is holding his fist up in an expression of intensity, while a female vocalist is seen in the background. — Dobromir Ganchev, vocalist of Bulgarian hardcore band Urban Grey, raises his fist mid-performance on the Na Tumno stage at Hills of Rock 2025 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The black-and-white image captures an intense and emotional moment, with Ganchev’s expression and body language conveying the raw energy of the band’s politically charged set. Photo by Diana Nikolova, used with permission.

At Hills of Rock, that ethos resonated with their biggest audience yet. For Urban Grey, the sound always comes first, but in Bulgaria’s climate, the message is impossible to ignore.

Find a playlist of Urban Grey’s music below and to see more eclectic music from around the world, check out Global Voices’ Spotify account.

This article was written by Diana Nikolova and originally published by Global Voices on 20 August 2025. It is republished here under the media partnership by Shouts and Global Voices.

SHOUTS – Music from the Rooftops!

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