Rolling 2026 METAL \m/ thread

I probably bought fewer new metal albums last year than most (still a LOT) but 2026 is rife with potential

I've been listening to Eximperitus' third album, Meritoriousness of Equanimity, which comes out January 30 from Willowtip.

https://eximperitus.bandcamp.com/album/meritoriousness-of-equanimity

A metal album whose title translates from Metal to English as "It's Good To Be Chill" seems like a good way to start 2026.

omg sounds amazing - so into those song titles lol

the last few updates from the 2025 thread really gave me a boon of great stuff to listen to at the gym and on runs:

coroner - dissonance theory
i thought this was kinda cheesy at first but it's really grown on me. middle aged in the best sense.

glorious depravity - death never sleeps.
high energy and headbangable

hedonist - scapulimancy
kind of a slow burn

sanguisugabogg - hideous aftermath
just a monster of an album. zeroed-out eyes-rolled-back brutality. missed nominating this for the eoy poll.

Definitely stoked for that Eximperitus album, I loved their last one quite a bit. Seems like the logo still has their, ahem, full name - Eximperituserqethhzebibšiptugakkathšulweliarzaxułum. I can see why they've shortened it elsewhere.

Seems like the logo still has their, ahem, full name - Eximperituserqethhzebibšiptugakkathšulweliarzaxułum.

I was wondering what was going on there. The logo did seem a little long and complicated.

Hails! I wasn't around very much last year. I hope to rectify that this year.

Revolver did a 60 Most Anticipated Albums of 2026 which should be good for discussion, if nothing else!

Alice in Chains
ALISSA
Alter Bridge
Amon Amarth
Anthrax
At the Gates
Bad Omens
Zachary Baker
Better Lovers
Black Label Society
Black Veil Brides
Burn Eternal
Clutch
Converge
Corrosion of Conformity
Deafheaven
Dimmu Borgir
Down
Electric Callboy
Amira Elfeky
Evanescence
Evil Island
Exodus
Five Finger Death Punch
Gojira
I Promised the World
Ice Nine Kills
Imminence
In This Moment
Incubus
Kim Dracula
Kerry King
King Diamond
Knocked Loose
Korn
Lamb of God
Limp Bizkit
Loathe
Marilyn Manson
Mastodon
Megadeth
Ministry
Motionless in White
Mudvayne
Nine Inch Nails
Paleface Swiss
Poison the Well
Poppy
Power Trip
PRESIDENT
Primus
The Pretty Reckless
Puscifer
Sevendust
Shinedown
Slipknot
SPEED
TOOL
Jay Weinberg
Rob Zombie

My own list of things I want to at least list to... Bearing in mind I listen to everything vaguely interesting though there's a bunch of things I am dubious I will like...

7-Jan
Epica

9-Jan
Bullet
Skindred

16-Jan
Gluecifer
Kreator

23-Jan
The Damned
Megadeth
Pelican

30-Jan
Buzzcocks

6-Feb
KMFDM
Mayhem
Puscifier

13-Feb
Converge
The Hellacopters
Malefic
Worm

27-Feb
Rob Zombie

From that big Revolver list, the only ones I'm interested in hearing are At The Gates, Converge, Corrosion Of Conformity, Gojira, Ministry (Paul Barker's back!) and Rob Zombie (the first two singles have been really strong).

Time was, every Amon Amarth record was an automatic purchase for me, but the last one I bought was Jomsviking and The Great Heathen Army was terrible.

Seems like every nu-metal band has an album coming out.

And probably allegations coming out as well

Seen this MTV Rewind site? It's got over 33,000 videos going back to the 1970s, with sub-channels for 120 Minutes and the Headbangers' Ball (which has 1600 videos all by itself).

https://wantmymtv.vercel.app/player.html

The two Mayhem songs already released are strong, that's promising.

The new Kreator album is GREAT fun, because of course it would be.

A new Draconian (Sweden, gothic doom) album is coming out this spring, the studio return of their 2001-2011 female vocalist - https://www.instagram.com/draconianhorde/p/DRzjllKji50/

New Exhumed track rips, suitably gory cover art too.

https://exhumed.bandcamp.com/album/red-asphalt

This morning I got a promo email about a black metal album literally called Hate Speech. In 2026. Deleted that shit immediately.

hellhammer is reissuing the PARIAH albums (what Satan became for a while). great stuff

still catching up on 2025 releases and really enjoyed oromet’s mournful funeral doom:

https://transylvanianrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/oromet-the-sinking-isle

really hit the spot on a particularly shit day!

hellhammer is reissuing the PARIAH albums (what Satan became for a while). great stuff

― J Edgar Noothgrush (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Monday, January 12, 2026 4:46 PM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

i looked this up and the kindred sounds great indeed but i'm wondering if you meant "steamhammer" the name of the og label, not "hellhammer" the band, which are obviously two words to get easily mixed up?

oromet’s mournful funeral doom: really hit the spot on a particularly shit day!

this is sounding gorgeous thx

and that exhumed track is insane

Really dig that Oromet album, it's great.

Missed the Alkaloid listening party, but stoked to check out that album.

Missed the Alkaloid listening party, but stoked to check out that album.

The Bach one? It's pretty good in a prog-death-with-multiple-songs-about-Cthulhu way. The Bach interpretations are... done with great seriousness.

I really liked the last Alkaloid album so I was mostly curious to hear those new songs. But JCLC was raving elsewhere about the Bach interpretations.

I liked it enough that I'm including it in an upcoming newsletter devoted to classical albums.

new immolation:
https://immolation.bandcamp.com/album/descent

teaser track sounds great, as usual. album in april. hope there's a tour.

I like the brief but descriptive tags on there:

Tags
metal death metal Yonkers

Fun piece on IO. I love this cover art aesthetic.

https://www.invisibleoranges.com/the-top-20-old-school-black-metal-photoslop-album-covers-1990-2005/

oh man, have that apotheosis disc somewhere. haven’t thought about that one for quite some time.

Loving this debut from Exxûl, another project in the Longueuil lads universe (Ch'theilist, Zeycrideus, etc.). It's dark, doomy USPM, very much like Crypt Sermon. https://productionstso.bandcamp.com/album/sealed-into-none

The album cover is beautiful too.

ok this rules. sounds a bit like early confessor with some modern polish.

damn ok i love this.

i can't take this news of Carson dying every few hours guys my heart is weak

ok very wrong thread wtf

hails to carson, metal’s reigning king of riffsmaxxing

love the keys on this exxul record - adds a little “i am the black wizards” drama to an already very dramatic sound

also, i myself invoked confessor but any excuse to post their texas water park set aka the best live performance ever

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5CgB4dB0NU

great video. wiki says they're still active today with three og members.

nice. i remember thinking that their comeback record (now 20+ years old…) was surprisingly good despite the new and prominent grunge influences deployed at what must've been the least cool time in history to really go for that. i should prob spin that again sometime.

Fun piece on IO. I love this cover art aesthetic.

My personal favourite is Maniac Butcher - Barbarians, which features the band members (crudely) superimposed on horseback, in full corpsepaint.

And then on their next album cover, they did it again!

they realized four people to photoshop was just way too much work lol

still cant get enough of this exxul record. the gang vox are another unexpected element that im really into - RIYL biohazard lol

behold, Dave Mustaine in 2026
--------------------------------

I don't care if I'm out of line
I don't care 'cause this life is mine
I don't care you don't like what I say
I don't care, and I won't obey
I don't care if you're gettin' high
I don't care when the truth is a lie
I don't care when the rope gets tight
I don't care if you live or die
I don't care what the headline said
I don't care if all hope is dead
I don't care if I'm not your class
I don't care, you can kiss my ass

He was a hater and a thief, a maggot in dead meat
A traitor and a creep, a jack-off and a sheep
You know a rat never learns, you get what you deserve
You gotta know that I just don't care

You gotta know, gotta know, gotta know
You gotta know, gotta know, gotta know
You gotta know, gotta know, gotta know
You gotta know, gotta know, gotta know

I don't care if you're standing tall
I don't care if you take the fall
I don't care who you try to blame
I don't care, I don't play that game
I don't care if you're wrong or right
I don't care if you came to fight
I don't care if you call my bluff
I don't care, enough is enough

He was a hater and a thief, a maggot in dead meat
A traitor and a creep, a jack-off and a sheep
You know a rat never learns, you get what you deserve
You gotta know that I just don't care

He was a hater and a thief, a maggot in dead meat
A traitor and a creep, a jack-off and a sheep
You know a rat never learns, you get what you deserve
You gotta know that I just don't care

You gotta know, gotta know, gotta know
You gotta know, gotta know, gotta know
You gotta know, gotta know, gotta know
You gotta know, gotta know, gotta know

I'm just going to cling to my 40 year-old Peace Sells cassette and pretend that never happened.

if theres one thing megadave is known for, its for taking things in stride and not caring about what other people think or say

still cant get enough of this exxul record.

Yeah, it's a gem. It's sending me back to the amazing Zeicrydeus album too.

still haven't gotten to it. gonna prioritize that, thanks!

Came to see what others thought of the new Megadeth.
Suffice, I'm not buying.

on first listen, it was fairly middling. there's not as much effect on Dave's voice as on other late-era Megadeth and he sounds really old

Yeah, it's not great. They've made better albums, even in the 21st century. But the closing cover of Metallica's "Ride The Lightning" is... OK, from a performance standpoint it's competent. Musically, it's a precise soundalike - the band adds NOTHING to the arrangement or the performance. Mustaine didn't even write himself a new guitar solo. The vocals are bad, but he's been a shit vocalist for 40 years, why change now? But as a thing that exists, it's an act of artistic surrender that's frankly inexplicable. He spent so many years allowing "guy who was kicked out of Metallica and will never, ever stop resenting them for it" to be half his artistic identity, only to now cover one of their songs on what he claims is his final album? It's just weird. And pointless.

yeah, haven't listened yet, but just seeing that this particular way was how dave chose to go out actually made me feel kinda sad. like, for all of his faults, rust in peace is undeniable and considerably better than any metallica record imo!

The new Ruins of Beverast is so good. I have "Last Theatre of the Sea" practically on repeat.

oh shit thanks for the tip on RoB

Brazilian thrashers Nervosa are basically a Destruction clone, but I like them. They've got a new album coming out in April.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bOpQD6eJnY

This Metal Lourd compilation of recent French trad heavy metal is wonderful: https://metallourd.bandcamp.com/album/metal-lourd-compilation

I knew Herzel already, but the rest are new to me.

At Nunslaughter/Deceased/Vio-lence*

*Sean Killian and 4 recent hired guns

Will report back

Nunslaughter were incredible

new Invictus LP (japanese dm) is excellent - https://mesacounojo.bandcamp.com/album/nocturnal-visions - check out "Altar Of Devoted Slaughter"

oh, this is fun, thanks for the heads up. loving the closer.

The German DM band Teratoma is putting out their second album, Longing Voracity, in March, so I've been checking out their debut, Purulent Manifestations, from 2022. If you like chugging, floor-punching DM in the vein of Celestial Sanctuary, you'll like these guys.

https://teratomadeathmetal.bandcamp.com/album/purulent-manifestations

https://teratomadeathmetal.bandcamp.com/album/longing-voracity

Also, I like their cover art a lot:

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1072522009_10.jpg

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1239130477_10.jpg

At the other end of the metal spectrum, if you like Ad Infinitum I definitely also recommend singer Melissa Bonny's new solo album, Cherry Red Apocalypse, which is metallish at least some of the time, although a couple songs would pass for straight electro-pop out of context.

https://stereogum.com/2486859/earths-bologna-show-canceled-over-bands-objection-to-venues-palestinian-flag/news

Earth’s Bologna Show Canceled Over Band’s Objection To Venue’s Palestinian Flag

fuck you Dylan. fuck Earth.

well, that’s unfortunate. tho i can’t say im super surprised that a gen x guy who was really into heroin for a long time is a crank…

i do enjoy the records but a friend said they kinda sucked on their tour last year anyway. ah well.

Coroner is actually playing Montana on their current tour! Unfortunately, they're gonna be in Billings, which is 6 1/2 hours' drive one way. That shit ain't happening.

they're playing in slc but it's on a wednesday night and it's 35 dollars so i don't think i'm gonna go.

i love the new album. there are thrash and prog elements but there's a lot of melody and catchy stuff going on plus some fun 'arty' touches like a jazz organ solo (lol) on one of the last tracks. it's just a really solid and inspired modern rock album imo. i gotta say though that after listening to it a ton it suddenly hit me that it might kinda sorta be a christian rock album? song titles "sacrificial lamb" and "trinity" hint at it. it's vague and allegorical but definitely there i think. can't catch all the lyrics in that swiss accent lol.

that also occurred to me on a listen this week; guys probably have to read a fine line to not turn off some of their audience, but its certainly in there

My refusal to pay attention to lyrics pays dividends once again!

This band, Broken By The Scream, have signed with Metal Blade. This song is 14 minutes long and totally insane:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PzH-4fcYcY

Scottish prog metal band DVNE has released their remastered 2023 Hellfest show as a live album & the video is on youtube again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aml2Ulab9Q0

freakin cold today but the latest old sorcery record has been nice company for a chilly walk

https://avantgardemusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-outsider

kinda reminding me of the blizzard blast parts on paysage d’hiver records but with more twinkly bleeps and bloops

fourth track has some real summoning moments too

Stumbled across this video from 2019 tonight; it's a band called The Native Howl combining Metallica's "Harvester Of Sorrow" with the bluegrass song "Man Of Constant Sorrow" and it rules. Bluegrass is the thrash of country.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVOBYmLbzWc

fairly crushing new finnish death doom:

https://ironcorpse.bandcamp.com/album/kuoleman-ulottuvuudet

truth be told, i think i preferred the rawer sound on their demo:

https://madatys.bandcamp.com/album/demo-2022

felt like a little closer to something like coffins. but this new one is pretty good too.

I saw Seven Spires last weekend (in the middle of a great melodic-metal bill with Tulip and Ad Infinitum), and have been going back through their catalog since. Highly recommended both on record and live if you like melodic progressive metal. I had paid more conscious attention to the other two bands beforehand, and only really realized how many Seven Spires songs I had heard by checking my playlist history, so I was surprised to find that they were my favorite of the show. All three bands' singers are technically excellent, but the other two don't commit to the aesthetic as completely as Adrienne Cowan does...

I caught Agriculture's show in Montreal a few nights ago, which drew quite a cross-section of music snobs, performative soft boys, goths, and salt-of-the-earth metal fans. Last time I saw them, they opened for Chat Pile and failed to impress me at all, almost as though they were swallowed by the large venue. In a room with 150 capacity, however, they were sensational. The new material translated exceptionally well, especially "Bodhidarma", "Flea", and "Micah". And of course, I loved it whenever the lead guitarist went all metal shredmeister with his solos. Oh, and that drummer is unreal, he played a nuanced, expressive drum solo that didn't bore me. Great show.

any thoughts on the new worm record?

https://wormgloom.bandcamp.com/album/necropalace-24-bit-hd-audio

it’s, uh, quite different from foreverglade. that was way more in my wheelhouse tbh but i haven’t quite decided how i feel about this one yet. (except for the cover, which obv rules)

also… marty friedman shreds on the 14min closer!

I think it's a blast. There's a diffuseness to the compositions, but it sounds intentionally indulgent to me.

The video for "Necropalace" is awesome too. It's amazing what you can do with some fog, lighting, and low-res video.

ok that video is _extremely_ fun, a bit like jean rollin doing a symphonic black metal vid, i think i’m all in now

I don't know the band, but the 14 minute song was pretty cool, if not very heavy. Video seems like a campy send-up of black metal? Marty Friedman in corpse paint? Are they jockeying for the opening slot on the next Ghost tour?

I love the worm record

Not for me but I respect it.

This pic of frontman is great.

https://i.ibb.co/cSMzz8b2/669224-artist-1.jpg

I have a thin connection to the band. They are or were based in Orlando at one point and a friend of mine is the person that guested on drums on entirety of Foreverglade.

What happened is a he-said/he-said of which I've only heard one side - my friend claimed something like he was supposed to be made a full-on member of the band, and that they stole his music and kicked him out right as they got featured in Decibel and blew up, and he was broken up about it.

Cannot make any claim to veracity - i only hung out with him a few times before he had a bit of an episode while intoxicated and started acting aggressive and rude toward my other friend and I had to take him home because she didn't feel comfortable being around him. That was 2024, haven't seen since.

So grain of salt, no idea what happened.

The album itself i like a lot. Kind of surprised to see the Decibel slam but I haven't heard their earlier work or seen them, the last time they headlined here I was already at the Cavalera show.

Feels like a young band who grew up with 90s symphonic black metal who want to pay homage to it without subscribing to the mega-serious pretension of the bands from that era. I guess the "excessive arpeggiod" have put some off

loving that solo on "Necropalace" good lord. video is great fun too. thanks for the heads up. I was into Foreverglade but didn't keep up.

yeah the dB review was surprising but the staff is in accord on it I think. I am the target market for "we got Marty Freidman to solo on our black metal album"

What did Decibel say?

I'm willing to give a lot of time to anything featuring Phil Tougas at this point. He is like a legend in the making.

This pic of frontman is great.

enormous respect for the sunglasses

well, the corpse paint sunglasses, the marty friedman guitar battles, the cosmic necropalace realm as depicted on the cover, the foggy lofi vampyre video… jeez i’m only human, i think i _have_ to love this album (which is def growing on me - “blackheart” is currently my go to)

You are all cordially invited to my part of Montana this July. The Fire In The Mountains lineup is just becoming insane.

Fire in the Mountains 2026 lineup:

Special Guest Headliner [to be announced]
16 Horsepower
Enslaved
Between Two Worlds (Abbath, Ice Dale, and Armagedda)
Baroness
Amigo the Devil
Borknagar (U.S. exclusive)
Agalloch
Yob (presented by Firekeeper Alliance)
The Ruins of Beverast (U.S. exclusive)
SubRosa
Full of Hell (presented by Firekeeper Alliance)
Gallowbraid (U.S. exclusive)
Sigh
Wayfarer
Old Man Gloom
Raven Chacon & Iggor Cavalera
Midwife
Dreadnought
Phobophilic
Tarantella
Yaotl Mictlan
Savage Oath
Galvanist
Nocturne
El Welk

it looks so cool. i've thought about it. i saw raven chacon many years ago at a tiny venue in slc before he got his flowers. amazing noise / drone set.

if i have it in me to do one festival in an outdoorsy location this summer it's king gizzard's field of vision in buena vista colorado but fire in the mountains is a close second. i'm a little worried about actual fires in the mountains though to be honest. it's gonna be a fiery summer.

I'm trying to decide a) whether to go at all and b) whether to rent a merch table spot or just stuff CDs into a backpack and walk around selling them in the crowd like a drug dealer. "Hey man, wanna buy some avant-garde jazz or skronky instrumental rock? We're a Montana-based label, if that helps..."

Exhumed continue their solid run with Red Asphalt. Almost everything zince Necrocracy has been great really as they've incorporated catchier, more melodic riffs and moved further away from the pure Carcass worship of their earlier days. Though I like that era too

nice. always been a fun band but hadn’t realized that they’d leveled up.

been enjoying the new stabbing, lots of slams:

https://stabbingtxdm.bandcamp.com/album/eon-of-obscenity

nice 'n chunky deathgrind from ukraine:
https://strup-gurglinggore.bandcamp.com/album/abyssurge

I could use a little more grind tbh (as usual) but this is a promising debut. last track has a great lurching groove.

new Cryptic Shift is 80 minutes... including one 30 minute song, one 20 minute song. definitely a step up.

Yeah... Listening now. It's a lot.

I like it, put part of the reason why the last Blood Incantation was such a big success, was that they really worked with the structure, so it made sense and was easy to grasp, especially on vinyl. Here, one of the songs is split over two sides, and I really can't here when the 'Sagittarius-Carina Galaxic Marine Corps: Deploy To HD 10180 h' of 'Stratocumulus Evergaol' turns into the 'Into The Atmospheres Of A Gas Giant' part. I still like it, but it's going to take some time to take in.

yep definitely one where i'm letting it flow over me and enjoying the cool parts popping out here and there.

so far in 2026, have very much been into the newies from: Domhain, Qasu, Tailgunner, worm, Hallas, Kreator, Invictus.

hell i'll throw in the Megadeth too which is dumb enough to be enjoyable gym music?

(just got to the bit 16 minutes into the 2nd track of Cryptic Shift where they turn into a dischord-ish emocore band for a minute?)

2. Stratocumulus Evergaol
I Informant On Capathine
II Reconnaissance On Ichneaumonoidia
III Sagittarius-Carina Galaxic Marine Corps: Deploy To HD 10180 h
IV Into The Atmosphere Of A Gas Giant
V Alien Sorceress: Entrance Theme
VI Fossil Cargo

*sigh* I guess I'll listen to this. Maybe it'll be somewhat enjoyable.

It's basically a make-out song in the end.

Mesmerised
Immediately handed a molten cup with no prior word spoken
Physically like a zenith
Kaleidoscopic robes heaving unto the dais
Lithe and pulchritudinous
We singe the veil and release The Thousand-Soul

Waiting for Cryptic Shift to get here today, also ordered the last one after streaming it a lot.

I loved the last one, and the new one is really fun too. It's just overwhelming :) There's a really cool passage in the title track, where the whole thing sounds like a warp hole.

My 2026 favourites so far in rough order: The Ruins of Beverast, Exxûl, Worm, Converge, the Metal Lourd compilation, Funeral Dancer

That Metal Lourd comp looks pretty cool, but dammnit Circle already claimed NWOFHM for New Wave of Finnish Heavy Metal.

jeez this new converge album is sounding incredible

agreed, been really into it as well

Two 'war metal' (or one definitely 'war metal' and one more likely war-metal adjacent?) recs that I recently bought on BC:

Necropolissebeht - Teurunovem: Th'Astraktyan Serfdome (bludgeoning, on the edge of blown-out-while-still-sounding-quite-hi-fi production style, a German band apparently but they have a sensibility that reminds me of some of the Aussie/New Zealand war-metal-crossed-with/connected-to-Portal bands that I really like): https://necropolissebeht.bandcamp.com/album/taurunovem-th-astraktyan-serfdome

Coscradh - Carving the Causeway to the Otherworld (Irish band, 20 Buck Spin debut after all their prev albums were released by Invictus Productions, two singers, one of whom is more gutteral and the other of whom occasionally goes upper-register/sounds more like an orc raised on power metal, some swung/triplet blasts and thrash-era cymbal-hold sections, solid mid-period-Morbid Angel-style solos, lots of blackened-death evil fun IMO): https://20buckspin.bandcamp.com/album/carving-the-causeway-to-the-otherworld

those sound up my alley, thanks for sharing!

checking out this cryptic shift record... was holding off since I expecting something more stoner rock given the cover and the long track lengths, heh

well, it _is_ fairly exhausting (def feeling the length on that second one...) but there are also catchy vektor-ey riffs all over the place so far too, which is neat

yeah i feel like i could get into the cryptic shift record but it will take some work, or at least a full listen!

seconding the "thanks for sharing" regarding war metal recommendations. the german band sounds interesting. i'm pretty into coscradh right off the bat i think.

Four former Ozzy sidemen - Zakk Wylde on guitar, Adam Wakeman on keyboards, Rob Trujillo on bass, Tommy Clufetos on drums - came out to pay tribute to him at the Brit Awards this weekend. For some reason, they had Robbie Williams sing, and they played "No More Tears." Was that one of his bigger songs in the UK?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6TzxHeQAhI

"No More Tears" is imo a top 10 Ozzy solo track. I have complex opinions about Robbie Williams but having him do this is an interesting acknowledgment that Ozzy is not niche: he is mainstream, he's fully absorbed. and that's really ok by me, I don't think of it as a loss to metal -- the first six albums minus the hits are still essential metal texts forever. Williams does an ok job here but one thing I LOVE about people trying to cover an Ozzy tune is they learn that his range is actually tricky, that there was actually a very specific skill he was deploying when he sang and it's very hard to find a way in that's anywhere near as good, which this of course isn't.

really feeling this new incandescence:
https://incandescenceband.bandcamp.com/album/hors-temps

reminds me of mgla in that there are these soaring, bittersweet moments everywhere but they still sound fairly vicious. maybe even a little drudkh when things get extra pretty. but this is more direct and aggressive - every track here is about 5 or 6mins. and since they're canadian, maybe they’re nicer too.

misotheist also hitting the spot:
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/misotheist/de-pinte/

similarly soaring - this has some big crescendos and everything. but also some chugging wrestler intro moments. and the vox sound nice and mean.

oops meant to link to the bandcamp instead of where i was logging my obsessive nerd score:
https://terraturpossessions.bandcamp.com/album/de-pinte

I just checked out and wishlisted the Misotheist album the other day--parts of it make me think of Ulcerate if they went for a slightly more BM superhero sound, which this band does very well (really nice production on it IMO)

(There's even an unexpected breakdown groove at 3:24 on Track 2 to keep the pit happy: https://terraturpossessions.bandcamp.com/track/blinded-and-revealed-2)

haha yep that was the “wrestler intro moment” i was thinking of above, good stuff

Today's BA newsletter is a broad-spectrum roundup of metal and metal-adjacent reviews: Rob Zombie, Teratoma, Eximperitus, Ritual Arcana, and Lycanthropic Warhead.

feeling this misotheist album. dude is fucking a goat in the missionary position in their bandcamp image 👏👏

The new Immolation album rules every bit as hard as I hoped it would.

Justin Broadrick struggling a bit with his health, send him some love...

https://www.instagram.com/p/DVem5y3iO40/

oh sorry, just seen unperson already updated the godflesh thread. instruction still stands though :)

aw man… glad the old legend is hanging in there and he's already given us some classic shouting, so i won’t be greedy. didn’t even realize there was gonna be a new godflesh record!

that new immolation is my most anticipated record of the year, glad to get confirmation that it rules. not shocked tho… they’ve been on a career long ruling streak.

I'm a total metal dilettante and only occasionally get grabbed by something, but I got hooked by this song and found I liked the latest MØL album. I've been aware of blackgaze as a thing but not really dug into it. This feels like it has some metalcore in its DNA too? Anyway it's catchy if also inevitably kinda goofy. (apologies if too floofy for the metal thread!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq94LUIUJws

The Immolation Decibel book is good BTW. As with all of these type books, it loses interest once they get on a major label, but reading about them navigating the fledgling DM scene was fun

I've been enjoying that MØL album, too!

but reading about them navigating the fledgling DM scene was fun

there's a really fun and very long cannibal corpse doc that similarly spends a ton of time on the late 80s/early 90s DM scene in buffalo, ny. loved that stuff.

...and it's _still_ up on the metal blade YT channel after all these years, I'll be damned

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGPot3rP53o

Finally getting around to Megadeth and.. well, I think it'd be more fun as an instrumental album?

xp 3 hours!! lol. i might just have to take the plunge.

re: megadeth, i haven't heard any at all because i'm relatively new to metal, so i checked out rust in peace and while i thought it was cool instrumentally i wasn't feeling mustaine's vocals/lyrics at all. afraid i'm just going to have to quietly not be a fan and leave it at that.

I love MØL! I didn't think the new album was as great as the last one.

I guess I need to get caught up on my MØL-øløgy.

i wasn't feeling mustaine's vocals/lyrics at all. afraid i'm just going to have to quietly not be a fan and leave it at that.

absolutely valid take with Mustaine. but hoo boy if you can't handle his vocals and lyrics on Rust in Peace well then... just, stay far away from the new one.

Last one seemed like they tried to see how pop they could make black(gaze) metal. They went pretty far:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2vjkHI2CJQ
It was fun. And the metalcore thing is definitely true, and it seems much more subversive than when they go a bit Coldplay, like every other blackgaze band ever. But I still hate metalcore.

hahaha I love megadave's vox but mostly for comedic reasons. marty friedman is obv the real megaMVP, sorry dave (x-post)

Yeah...I've always been an apologist for Dave's vocals because I felt that his cartoonish snarl fit the band perfectly. But when age caught up he really couldn't figure out a way to pivot. It's hard to do that voice at half-capacity

On Dystopia, they overproduced his vocals so that they sounded robotic. I hated it. On the new album, they've fortunately left it pretty naked, but we'll of course now he sounds old and tired (and understandably so - few untrained singers in metal bands for 40 years don't sound that way. I prefer his old and tired to the robotic vocals, but the album just doesn't do much for me. The previous one didn't either.

Like, he'd actually started doing the Metallica strategy of tuning down (a full step in some cases). I didn't love it because it really hurt the intensity of songs like "Holy Wars" and "Skin O My Teeth" when I saw them last. It was still a good show but they'd sounded much better a year earlier when I saw them.

The Cannibal Corpse documentary is fun because for the most part they're really good, happy-go-lucky dudes.

the cannibal corpse doc is worth every minute. the part where paul says he "has no way to record himself" is an in-house favorite over here

Yeah it's a classic

All the parts of the new MØL record seem like things I would be allergic too together, but somehow I really enjoyed that record.

Two "Fuck ICE" chants at Exhumed show tonight.

One from crowd. One from band.

Harvey also targeted Trump and TERFs.

Made me smile.

Also they sounded so fucking good

sick

https://dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/italian-dark-sound

Looking forward to this one from Mirdyasi's Kult. The title track is so catchy.

haha that rules

Definitely lives up to its awesome cover art.

New Frozen Soul album in May - guest appearances from Gerard Way, Robb Flynn, and Devin Swank of Sanguisugabogg. Pretty Bolt Thrower-ish on first listen; not bad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzKKOXVcD4Y

I cannot stop listening to the Worm album. I was already a fan, but holy shit it rips so much more than I expected.

Digging that Draconian track, though I've never really checked them out before. For some reason I thought they were more power metal leaning, but I'll have to check them out! Thanks for posting.

Remember Spread Eagle? No, you don't. They were a NYC hair metal band who arrived just too late; MCA put out their first two albums, neither of which went anywhere. Anyway, they're back and about to release album #4, and it seriously sounds like if Al Jourgensen made a hair metal record:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yyhQQQYp5M

yeah Draconian is really good. haven't checked out the new track yet but they are cool

The more I spin Red Asphalt, the more I think this might be the best Exhumed in... a quarter century?

ugh i'm really psyched for italian dark sound to come out! that title track is so good.

going back to the exhumed album and i am digging it, there's an elegance to it or something haha.

Cavity reissuing Human Abjection, touring, view as Web page here for lotta links and graphics:
https://myemail.constantcontact.com/CAVITY--Reptilian-Records-To-Reissue-Remastered-Human-Abjection-Debut-LP-From-Infamous-Miami-Sludge-Metal-Crew-On-May-29th--Preo.html?soid=1114457189250&aid=WaqFZUo1QM0

Really do not like the new Gaerea at all.

They more or less sound to me like Stabbing the Drama era Soilwork with tiny amounts of shoegaze/post-metal but it's not assembled well. The vocals are a one dimensional roar now and at transition ls between heavy and quiet/moody are jarring and clunky. The heavy bits aren't committed enough, the mellower bits too rote to work.

Shame as I used to love these guys.

I can't claim to have been a particularly attentive Gaerea fan, but my playlist history reports that I discovered them with Unsettling Whispers, and have enjoyed at least every single from "Salve" onwards, including all four advance tracks from this new album. But it also reveals that I didn't really listen to any of their albums as wholes. I'll start with this one and work backwards.

A reunited Neurosis, with Aaron Turner replacing Scott Kelly, will be headlining the Fire In The Mountains festival.

Fire in the Mountains is excited to announce that the legendary Neurosis will reunite for a worldwide exclusive performance at this year’s festival. Presented by the Firekeeper Alliance — a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing suicide in Indigenous communities — the band’s long-awaited appearance will take place on the sacred lands of the Blackfeet Nation. Neurosis will appear with their new vocalist/guitarist Aaron Turner (ISIS, SUMAC, Old Man Gloom) against the backdrop of the mountains this July.

In addition to the performance announcement, Neurosis have dropped a brand new album titled An Undying Love For A Burning World today via Neurot Recordings.

...

Fire in the Mountains 2026 lineup:
Neurosis
16 Horsepower
Enslaved
Between Two Worlds
Baroness
Amigo the Devil
Borknagar (U.S. exclusive)
Agalloch
Yob (presented by Firekeeper Alliance)
The Ruins of Beverast (U.S. exclusive)
SubRosa
Full of Hell (presented by Firekeeper Alliance)
Gallowbraid (U.S. exclusive)
Sigh
Wayfarer
Old Man Gloom
Raven Chacon & Iggor Cavalera
Midwife
Dreadnought
Phobophilic
Tarantella
Yaotl Mictlan
Savage Oath
Galvanist
Nocturne
El Welk

Fire in the Mountains was originally created to highlight the symbiotic relationship between heavy music and mountain landscapes. It was a way to bring people together to experience something extraordinary: the primal power of heavy music combined with the majesty and wildness of the Rocky Mountains. What transpired was a truly unique and inspiring musical experience for the audience and bands alike. Now, Fire in the Mountains is evolving to be much more than just a concert in the mountains— it’s the deliberate curation of music, art, education, food, social responsibility, and adventure with the intention to cultivate our intrinsic nature through the act of rewilding; that is, to reconnect and immerse oneself with the natural world.

Fire in the Mountains is committed not only to raising awareness of the prevalence of suicide in Indian Country but also to actively participate in the solution by providing support for suicide prevention initiatives. Fire in the Mountains aims to create a platform that brings this issue to the forefront of public consciousness and fosters a supportive community dedicated to change.

Holy shit, that's a hell of a lineup!

xp to Neando - glad it wasn't just me, I sampled some of the new Gaera and was scratching my head

also, holy fuck, i missed the new Neurosis album announcement buried in there as I was too busy admiring the lineup!

yeah shit i'll be checking that out for sure.

Yeah they broke the internet today with this news

whoa, in case anyone else missed it, not only was the new album announced... it's out!
https://neurosis.bandcamp.com/album/an-undying-love-for-a-burning-world

fuck it's real good.

So good..what a treat.

Man I needed this tonight.

it's just beautiful. unexpected gift on the first day of spring. album of the year material tbh.

Liking this.

I think I've heard Through Silver in Blood but otherwise don't really know them.

i don't either! i've never heard them i don't think, don't sue me! they kinda nailed me with that opening chant tbh. powerful! and just the sound of this thing. it sounds amazing! totally its own sound world. so many things about it i'm into.

I never liked their singer, so I was stoked that that they swapped for Turner. Sounds good to me so far, too.

released Jan 25, 2025 so I'll count it as 2026, but Century's "Sign of the Storm" is some excellent trad metal, really good songwriting and melodies

https://electricassaultrecords.bandcamp.com/album/sign-of-the-storm

Yeah, that Century record is good. If you like them you'll probably also like Anchorite, who put out an album back in August:

https://anchoritedoom.bandcamp.com/album/realm-of-ruin

awesome, my allergy to black metal aesthetics makes it hard for me to find new bands

New Cruel Force is great (loved their last - Dawn of the Axe) - epic metal/speed metal hybrid practically. Can tell this will pair nice with new Worm.

Achorite and Cruel Force are definitely up my alley, thank metal thread from a long time lurker

Can't wait to spin the Hellripper

My surprise metal joy of the week is the new album by unapologetically producer-assembled five-female-singer pop metal band Venus 5. Sounds a bit like what we might have ended up with if Queensryche had hired Lita Ford to replace Geoff Tate.

ugh i'm really psyched for italian dark sound to come out! that title track is so good.

Out today. Catchy horror doom with disco-like beats, obviously I love it.

I also love how their Bandcamp page and writeup keep misspelling the band name.

https://dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/italian-dark-sound

Aggressive Perfector is another new great UK lp out today - motorhead/early maiden/venom
Cryptworm is good but not sure if it'll beat the last one for me...
will spin Hellripper later, looking forward to the london show with Devastator and Schizophrenia soon!

The Hellripper is great. McBain is a riff machine, a one-man master composer.

I grew sick of black 'n roll/blackened speed metal years ago because a lot of mediocre acts were basically just trotting out slightly reheated Motorhead/Venom riffs with witchy screams on top, almost like they were too afraid to veer off formula.

But Hellripper takes their songs through peaks and valleys in a way that's pretty fuckin cathartic on every track. Their traditional heavy metal backbone is taut, harkens more to Maiden, Saxon, Dio, and the black metal elements are just kind of seamlessly interlocked with it.

From the last album, "The Nuckelavee" is one of my favorite metal songs, like, ever...it's only a few years old still but it was one of those "holy shit" moments when I heard it

The Hellripper is great. McBain is a riff machine, a one-man master composer.

thought i was in a simpsons thread for a second

Haha!

I interviewed the Hellripper dude for Bandcamp Daily a few years ago. The piece got taken down, but I found the email Q&A in my Gmail, so here it is:

How would you describe the evolution of the music from the last album to this one? What are you better at (as a writer, as a player) in 2023 than you were in 2020?
I think that the overall sound is perhaps more diverse on this album. In order to keep things interesting for myself, I wanted to branch out and bring some new elements into the sound from bands that typically wouldn't influence Hellripper's music. The only rule I set for myself was that the album would stay true to the black/speed/thrash style at the core, and so the goal was to incorporate these new things in a way that would compliment that style while being careful not to dilute the end product.

I think that I am better as both a writer and as a player, as well as a producer. With the many live shows we've played over the past couple of years and the amount of time I spent writing the tracks on this new album, I feel like I just naturally improved as a musician. But, I feel like I have improved as a songwriter and perhaps more importantly, I have grown more confident as a songwriter. As I mentioned previously, I wanted to bring in some different influences, and I don't think I would have been able to do some of the things that I've done here on the last album. It all comes from experience I guess.

I think the album is the best sounding Hellripper album to date also, and again that comes from experience in recording/mixing my own music over the years. Like with the songwriting, I wanted to try some new things production-wise on this record, and a lot of these ideas came from albums outside the black/speed metal genre. The process involved a lot of trial and error and there were some things that just didn't work out, but it was a really fun process for me.

Your lyrics are a mix of history, pre-Christian religion and anti-Christianity, but you've avoided drifting into bonehead "cultural nationalism" disguised as headbanger misanthropy - what advice do you have for other metalheads, to help them avoid that pitfall themselves?
Well, first of all, I'm not a bonehead, so I guess that helps!

From having conversations with my non-Scottish friends, I've gathered that what you describe might be the case in other countries, but this is not the case in Scotland, and Scotland may be an exception in this matter. People may want independence for example and enjoy the culture, but in general it has no connotation to right wing views - in fact it's usually the contrary.

I don't know what advice I would give to other metalheads other than to do research and know what you're reading about/listening to. Don't fall into the trap of "National Myths" - where history is twisted or reappropriated to make a point that fits a personal opinion.

You play almost everything yourself on the records, but you have musicians you use for shows. Why not use them in the studio? Is it a question of geography/logistics, or something else?
I just prefer the process of working alone mostly. The convenience, cost, and ability to change things myself at any point also play a part in that! I guess geography would be a factor also!

I am constantly changing things throughout the whole process and replacing/removing songs at all times. With about one month or so to go until I had to submit the album for mastering and to the label, I realised that one of the tracks just didn't fit and I wasn't 100% happy with it. So I made the decision to remove the track (which was almost fully recorded and mixed) from the album, and work on another half-written track instead. I was able to do that because everything is done at home by myself. That just wouldn't have happened if I had to go through the process of contacting other people, getting them to learn the track and hiring a studio for them to record it, and I would have been left with an album that I wasn't completely satisfied with.

It's a hobby and my passion, so I just really enjoy being able to write or record something whenever I want to with little thought for anything else.

Not a question, an observation: Good for you, using real bagpipes and not a keyboard on the title track!
Thank you! I wish I could have played them myself, but I'm just no good unfortunately (or fortunately for my neighbours)! Antonio did a great job on the recording and I think they fit with the track nicely.

debut from Speglas is superb: https://speglas.bandcamp.com/album/endarkenment-being-death

also looking forward to the new The Silver lp!

late to the party but really loving the Neurosis. I thought I was done with them forever. What a rebranding!

New Nervosa out today - Slave Machine, their sixth album. For those who don't know, they're an all-female thrash band from Brazil. They were a straight Destruction clone when they started; now they sound like Angela Gossow-era Arch Enemy. I'm into it.

https://nervosa-brazil.bandcamp.com/album/slave-machine

Looking forward to that!

only audio for now, video soon - a second Draconian song from the upcoming album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GIFkDKIyh0

The Scalar Process, a French prog-death band, have a new album coming out at the end of May:

https://thescalarprocess.bandcamp.com/album/agnomysticism

I pre-ordered it and bought their 2021 album, which I recommend to fans of Obscura and that type of squiggly/chugga-chugga prog-death.

Draconian: video already

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nvd8IKYsZ9E

it's new immolation day:
https://immolation.bandcamp.com/album/descent

And it's great as always

New Spirit Adrift too, also good (if not as good as Ghost At The Gallows):

https://20buckspin.bandcamp.com/album/infinite-illumination

This is the end of the band, apparently; Nathan Garrett's wife is very ill and he's had to hang it up to take care of her.

Oh man, that's rough. I was wondering why this was the last album.

In addition to the Spirit Adrift and Immolation, two of the my fave tech death bands re-emerged after 5 year breaks today
Archspire: https://archspire.bandcamp.com/album/too-fast-to-die
Inferi: https://inferi.bandcamp.com/album/heaven-wept

At the end of the day, I'm probably most excited about the new Trichomoniasis (New Standard Elite experimental brutal death nonsense that sounds like an anthropomorphic bag of vomit falling down a flight of stairs)
https://trichomoniasis.bandcamp.com/album/containment-facility

haha i’m also psyched for the new trichomoniasis (+the new split) but am waiting to be in a _specific_ mood i suppose

that is cray - pretty cool!

I loved the last Trichomoniasis, Harvest Of The Killing Fields, but didn't know there was a new one coming.

Also new albums this week from the Neptune Power Federation, IKINÄ, Aryem and Lord of the Lost. And new Yoth Iria, Cripped Black Phoenix, Mob Rules, Narnia, Evanescence and Halocene songs. And a Behemoth "Festival Anthem". And I'm still doling myself out one more song each week from the recent LOVEBITES, Machinae Supremacy, Venus 5, Gaerea, Hanging Garden and Nervosa records.

CMD+F didn't yield results for Mors Verum or Fossilization, but I like both of them. Trichomoniasis is wild, Immolation sounds great as I knew it would (can't wait to see them next week). '26 has been a great year for metal already.

have given the new immolation three listens so far. although i don't think it will touch my personal fave from their later era (atonement), this is about on par with the last one, ie it rips and is better than basically any other death metal band.

i love how they sound kinda like an old death metal train, switching gears, speeding up, slowing down, maintaining a groove the whole time. watching robert vignas satanic conductor dance moves live really drives this propulsive dynamic home for me.

great cover too.

looks like there's a new funebrarum on the way, bandcamp has two new tracks up:
https://funebrarum-death-metal.bandcamp.com/music

sounding great but how morally questionable is this band at this point? haven't kept up.

very nice gothic funeral doom from québec:
https://memorandum.bandcamp.com/album/enrob-e-pour-toujours

^^^ one of the solos on this sounds kinda like “shine on you crazy diamond (funeral doom ver)”

I'm excited to check this one out as I've recently become semi-obsessed with Alice Simard and her confusingly prolific release schedule across (checks metal archives) 26 or so active projects, almost all of which she's either the sole member or main member ranging in genre from slam, brutal death, grind, tech death, atmo black, raw black, funeral doom, noisecore, emo, hardcore etc. And she's only 22 and has been releasing stuff since she was 15 and at least everything I've heard has been pretty good.

First I've heard of her. Really impressive stuff.

ha, i’ve heard some of those other bands but had no idea this was the same person. have any recs for the rest?

xpost

Since I'm more of a death metal lunkhead, the full lengths from FILESHAREMAIDEN (experimental brutal prog tech death with copious fretless bass) and Codex Cruelitas (slammy brutal death) are two of my favorites of hers; and if you're more into more melodic proggy tech death, the Luminesce full length from earlier this year is also excellent.

Her main black metal projects Coffret de Bijoux and Turpitude seem to be the most popular ones and are also, of course, worth a look as well.

*Codex Crudelitas

many thanks!

really enjoyed the 2010s trilogy of "dissonant black metal" releases from this swedish act that I assumed was over but they're back with a new one and it's supposedly part one of the next trilogy:
https://mylingar.bandcamp.com/album/t

"af" is pretty sick on the new record. if you like that, you'll probably like the rest.

woah i love that

also: name your price!!

i'm having trouble with the immolation album tbh. none of it locks in or coheres for me idk.

this mylingar album is kinda jaw-dropping, thanks for the tip. great vocalist, beautiful guitar work and drumming.

repeating this but i really latched on to the exhumed album. there's something uniquely flow-y about how they play. weirdly catchy and groovy with an impressionistic noir kinda feel. a lot of fun to listen to.

Should I buy tickets to see Oranssi Pazuzu in a few weeks?

yes, they're great live

seconded. I am seeing them again in a few weeks.

I love this Trichomoniasis album so much.

I'm excited for the new Scimitar album this Friday. Their 2025 LP was basically my metal AOTY. The production on this one seems a bit different - more oomph to the bass and drums. https://cryptofthewizard.bandcamp.com/album/scimitarium-ii

Hoping "Lunacy Jewels" keeps some of the messy rawness of the demo.

Scimitar a fantastic live band too - tempted to catch them for a second time, night before Incineration London soonish

The new At the Gates album is something special. Not since Blackstar have I heard an album so deeply satisfying yet so horribly sad.

Saw some online chatter that he did the vocals in one day, that being the day before his throat operation, and without any backing tracks. Band then had to finish composition/recording after his passing? It's pretty wild.

Looking forward to checking it out. I actually liked their last album (after never really being a fan), and saw them live for the first and only time in 2019.

I love the video for Spell's "Lilac" (and the song too).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDIrnA4i5dw

Great track! I love what Spell is doing, the new album rules.

just watched vastum a couple of hours ago at this fest. they lost shelby, they lost the necrot guy, leila not to be seen today (yeah, ik, wtfsad). yet they were terrific. balmog came after and they were very good too. no, they were excelent

yeah, I caught vastum last year and they absolutely killed it. exceeded expectations. also brought a friend that had literally never been to a metal show before (spare ticket) and it went over BIG with him as well. they rule.

got excited thinking this was a new cognizant and was like, "uh, where'd the grind go?"
https://cognizance.bandcamp.com/album/in-light-no-shape

pretty good tech death tho, I suppose haha

Great track! I love what Spell is doing, the new album rules.

― A. Begrand, Wednesday, April 29, 2026 1:03 AM (three days ago) bookmarkflaglink

Yeah, great stuff. "Iron Teeth" especially. I've been dimly aware of them for a while but this is the first album to fully connect for me.

Picked up the new Venom.

Cronos's voice is overproduced to the point where he sounds like Rob Zombie on a few tracks.

And definitely not everything lands, but it's pretty good for a 2026 Venom album. Just know there are a few skippable tracks

like on every Venom album since 1982?

Pretty much but there are some dreadful post-82 Venom albums that have few listenable tracks too

catching up on a few releases after some time away and this new pigs blood stood out:
https://darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/destroying-the-spirit

war metal with lots of big riffs and big drums. nothing new here, not a problem for me tho. i hope dark descent releasing it gets em some shine since i liked their last two as well.

the new portrayal of guilt ultimately didn’t do it for me but they get an e for effort :
https://portrayalofguilt.bandcamp.com/album/beginning-of-the-end

the (sub-)genre mixing is interesting enough - the explicit nods to nu-metal are pretty fun and funny - but felt too hodgepodge-ey for me, i guess? maybe others might dig it tho? i def _wanted_ to!

in theory like the Portrayal Of Guilt; but i'm not sure the material lives up to the sound/atmosphere on this one; nothing stuck with me and one listen felt like enough. contrast that with Chat Pile where the korn influence is tied to really great and impactful songwriting...

was at Incineration in London on saturday; Tomb Mold, Hypocrisy and Vacuous my highlights which was not unexpected. Tomb Mold having a singing drummer made them even more great than i'd previously realised? Dragged Into Sunlight also incredibly impressive but I only stayed for 10 mins or so; for something that oppressive I guess i want a club show rather than it being part of a day long fest running about between venues in the sunshine...
overall though the fest felt undersold compared to last year; that meant some bands like Grave opening to very small crowds in the biggest venue (due to everyone walking down the road to see them after the end of Dragged); meant the atmosphere felt a bit lacking at times. saw a bunch of people were into the headlining Bathory tribute, but Faust drumming for that meant I didn't fancy it - went for Vacuous in tiny hot venue instead.

My brother texted me from the Amon Amarth/Dethklok/Castle Rat show tonight, so I had him buy me an Amon Amarth shirt. I bought one when I saw them in 2005 (Gojira opened) but it died many years ago. I had no idea T-shirts were $50 now! WTF? The last time I saw Amon Amarth was in 2019, and I bought a Grand Magus shirt and I think it was $30.

this new pigs blood stood out:

feeling this

i'm checking out amon amarth's berserker and i quite like it. what's the best amon amarth album?

The two I return to most often are Versus The World and Twilight Of The Thunder God.

I am at Gigan and Barren Path
at a tiny dive.

Well, not Gigan. Bus broke down.

whoa, jealous! no east coast dates… :/

how were barren path?? i loved the record

They were pretty ferocious. I enjoyed their set. They played a bunch from an upcoming album. It's not my favorite genre - it kind of all sounds the same to me - but I respected their craft and they seemed like nice guys.

Third Draconian preview track before the album is released (on Friday)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONph7R88GWo

I genuinely don't know how to respond to the news that Alissa White-Gluz, formerly of Arch Enemy, is the new singer for DragonForce. Her voice isn't a good match for their music at all, and didn't she just announce a solo project?

i thought amon amarth were too cheesy for me but berserker rules!

They were pretty ferocious. I enjoyed their set. They played a bunch from an upcoming album.

hell yeah. glad to hear that there’s already a new record in the works too.

really enjoyed reading youse posts above about those live shows. very curious about seeing vacuous

(ftr re:vastum, leila broke an elbow, that's the sole reason she's not playing right now in europe with em, uff) vastum4 kills tho

so... beherit live then. O.O it's an experience, indeed. one of the best shows i've ever seen and i was far from beeing a beherit fan. until now that is

plus caustic wound rule. plus matt harvey is peaking in 2026 and we love it

I've never been a huge Cryptopsy fan, but I'm seeing them this week. It's the 30th anniversary of None So Vile, so I think they are going to play mostly that.

so... beherit live then. O.O it's an experience, indeed. one of the best shows i've ever seen and i was far from beeing a beherit fan. until now that is

hell yeah. similar experience here, tho i really like the albums. (well, some of them…) but a very different experience live. was on the fence about going since tix were quite pricey but they were incredible and it was totally worth it. really got everyone’s fists pumping, huge grins everywhere my eyes could see. for sure one of the best shows i’ve ever been to as well.

today’s lago record is pretty cool btw. morbid angel-ey.

https://everlastingspew.bandcamp.com/album/vigil

Man, Oranssi Pazuzu was great last night. I saw them in 2019 and they blew me away then, too. I will see these guys whenever I get the opportunity and recommend any fans who haven't seen them yet do the same. They are masters of tension and release.

it's here. it's not for the faint-hearted

https://effluence666.bandcamp.com/album/anticholinergic-derangement

"Endogenous Polypharmaceutical Communion Rite Of The Oracular Virgin Priestess" is a vibe. The lyrics on this album are terrific.

yeah, not for me

A few years old, but Sonja's Loud Arriver is killing me right now. The gothic heavy metal of my dreams.

Best debut album by a metal band in many years!

one day I'll actually listen to an effluence album but I'm just never actually in the mood. I guess today is not that day.

excited to catch oranssi pazuzu again next week. they ruled last tour too, yeah.

ok, I kind of like that Effluence. I guess I'm getting a taste for brutal death metal or whatever this is.

lorn are back but instead of clean, tasteful dissonant black metal, they're doing clean, tasteful atmospheric black metal now:
https://i-voidhangerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/searing-blood

really like “gallows,” which starts and ends like a peppier drudkh and gets spacey and even kinda motorik in the middle? that part reminded me of circle a little.

to me, this kinda thing doesn’t feel like a band playing a couple songs, exactly. more like a techno or ambient-adjacent model. thats prob why i find this music a bit hard to evaluate beyond “like it” or “don’t like it” but i do like this, and prob more than their previous mode too.

Amenra were miraculous tonight. Hit that tonal sweet spot where the heaviness hits you in the chest. That pop is devastating, and I am amazed at how rare it is for me to experience that. And I go to a ton of shows. It's one of the best things about metal, that patient, Roadburny heaviness that bands like Amenra pull off so masterfully.

nice

enjoying this auzawandils record:
https://auzawandils.bandcamp.com/album/laste-eclipse-ouer-golgothas-pytt

more black metal, this one's pretty psychedelic with lots of pulsating delayed waves of guitars. I esp like it when the drummer slows down and plays some tough mid-tempo beats over it.

enjoying the new desecresy as well:
https://xtreemmusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-secret-of-death

death/doom from finland with an emphasis on doom. also pretty psychedelic. have found this band spotty in the past but this is best I've heard from them.

been waiting for this one:
https://funebrarum-death-metal.bandcamp.com/album/beckoning-the-void-of-eternal-silence

haven't listened but have high hopes

Nice, I loved the preview tracks. Such a heavy, satisfying sound.

well, unsurprisingly, i like it. subsequent plays will reveal exactly how much but didnt hit me quite like the sleep of… does. but that’s a personal all-timer for me, so trying to not get too excited.

didn’t know a new pharmacist was on the way but this is a pleasant surprise for sure:
https://pharmacist-japan.bandcamp.com/album/vertebrae-after-vertebrae

sounds killer so far

Loving thr Pharmacist...not surprisingly

I've always been "fine, not fantastic" with Frozen Soul, but the new one is hitting for me, I really like it. Awesome cover art too!

https://frozensoultx.bandcamp.com/album/no-place-of-warmth-24-bit-hd-audio

ha, immediately after I posted that I read unperson's newsletter and see he pretty much agrees!

Was just coming to post the link: I wrote about Dimmu Borgir and Frozen Soul, plus two modern classical recordings very different from each other and a drum 'n' bass compilation.

Frozen Soul somehow manage to make one idea with 30 slight variations work for them. Think this one is their best.

They're a vibe more than anything and for the moment, one I enjoy

I'd like this Frozen Soul a lot more if it wasn't so reverb'd out. And yet somehow still sounds like it goes into the red, especially when they do the "now it's time to mosh" sub-bass drops.

Anybody with an opinion on the Kaataira album ? One-man folk-leaning acoustic black metal project from Brazil. Based on Rio sem Nome, it's pretty nice, the songwriting is this extended free form that is not really my cup of tea, but I do like the sound and the fact that the vocals are pretty sparse.

To add to the above, it's going in interesting directions that only retain metal as a basis. Sometimes a little rich but manages to be quite organic. I see now that the project was discussed as Kaatayra but seemingly not since the spelling was changed.

And to end my live review, the atmosphere and flute on the title track (Caminhos de água) are beautiful and will suddenly remind you of Bergtatt in the best way.

I feel kind of bad for making negative comments on the Frozen Soul production. This album is tuff af.

i gotta check these new releases out but my latest metal development is falling for amon amarth. so much dumb fun, everything is right there in the production so you don't have to listen hard at all, surprisingly affecting, even kinda inspirational lol.

Haven't heard anybody talk about them at all about Mors Verum is one of my favorite metal albums of the year so far. The label, Transcending Obscurity, seems to be based out of India. If you buy a t-shirt on Bandcamp they give you a voucher for an album download. Did that with their labelmates, Glorious Depravity a few months ago, too. Their shirts are high quality.

Mors Verum's "Canvas" is what I should have written.

oh this one’s fun. i like the airy, punchy production. the lightness feels like an invitation to focus on all of the twists and turns.

and yeah, they label puts out some good stuff. tho i do get a little cranky when you gotta scroll thru endless merch to get to the bottom of a bandcamp page and they’re prob one of the worst offenders there. (but i guess you’re in luck if you need a death metal baby onseie or whatever…)

*that label

Yeah, I really like the production on it. It really lets you hear each instrument.

They sent me a ton of stuff with the shirts. Bandcamp download codes to other albums, stickers, a patch, and a nice heavy guitar pick - all for bands I don't know anything about. haha. High quality stuff, though.

this is sweet. i like that sort of metallic prog sound. so cush-sounding too as bgm says.

i liked this in the bandcamp description: "The experience feels at once liberating and cathartic, as though having achieved epiphany after constant, dogged exploration."

"for fans of" mentions gorguts and it does remind me of that final gorguts album a little bit. gorgeous and unique. kinda wish it was longer!

im checking out some other recentish stuff on transcending obscurity after enjoying the mors verum so much. although im not 100% sold on it, i keep laughing at how much this one sounds ulcerate if they were asked to do a j-rpg soundtrack, collaborating with the falcom sound team on a new ys game or something (if this means nothing to you, you may be even less sold than me):

https://thescalarprocess.bandcamp.com/album/agnomysticism

The latest Trelldom is good. Much more King Crimsony black metal

My next newsletter, out on Tuesday, is gonna be about Galvanist, a sort of post-black metal meets Isis/Neurosis/Converge band from Montana. (They're from Bozeman, about 300 miles from me.) Their two releases, Connection and The Space Between Stars, are pretty different from each other, but I recommend both.

https://galvanist.bandcamp.com/

debut from Speglas is superb

Two of the three members of Sweven (guitarist and the drummer) - if you liked Eternal Resonance then you'll probably dig this.

Here's the piece about Galvanist. I really like this album.

... i keep laughing at how much this one sounds ulcerate if they were asked to do a j-rpg soundtrack, collaborating with the falcom sound team on a new ys game or something

ok, I had to wishlist it based on that description.

really enjoying the first new one in quite some time from chile's godless, whose back catalog I apparently now need to check out:
https://nuclearwinterrecords.bandcamp.com/album/adversus-parousia

something about the very live and somewhat raw feel of the production really makes it sound nice and mean, a bit like a grindcore band might do it, even tho this isn't grind

new devourment ep is also pretty satisfying, if you're into that kind of thing:
https://devourment.bandcamp.com/album/pious-impiety-ep

Do Khemmis fans like Trivium? Because I'm listening to the new Khemmis album and it sounds a lot like Trivium to me. (With Mikael Åkerfeldt doing death growls on a couple of songs.)

"Stations" from the new Warning album is beautiful

https://warningdoom.bandcamp.com/album/rituals-of-shame

new Sleep song... but Sleep is now Pike-less and has Dale Crover plus dude from VOID ?

seems weird given next Al thing should have been new Om... all can put it down to is bigger promoter guarantees for the Sleep name. but yeah the fans are a bit confused and sad.

Ha, yeah, just bumped the Sleep thread with the same news.

Here's the thing: "dissonant microtonal experimental black metal" ...still just sounds like black metal. (That said, Agonanist is an objectively hilarious band name.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GesK8qnwY34

gotta have an extra describer to differentiate yrself on bandcamp i guess. microtonal is the new angular.

off to the london Cryptic Shift/Death To All show tonight, hyped.

New Rotten Tomb hitting nice tonight. Bummed that rekkid/CD of that Speglas won’t ship to US.

was stoked for this one:
https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com/album/nirriti-dhrupad-anutpada-apophatic-ragas-of-non-origination

i mean, how can you not want to listen to “apophatic ragas of non origination”? some cool things happening here but the feeble production isn’t really doing it for me, unfortunately.

remaster of convulse’s early demos:
https://convulseband.bandcamp.com/album/from-resuscitation-to-reincarnation-the-early-years

its no world without god but… what is?

remaster of adramelech’s second lp, which includes an earlier, scrapped version:
https://xtreemmusic.bandcamp.com/album/pure-blood-doom

its no psychostasia but… what is?

new reeking aura is tight:
https://reekingaura.bandcamp.com/album/on-the-promise-of-the-moon

love the carcass-ey intro for, um, “manure like magma”

Worm was incredible live

agree

oh man, missed it :/

Just listened to the Egregore record - this is fun. Great atmosphere & licks, and I’m fine with throwing a little Mercyful Fate into the mix!

Any Savatage fans here?

Cos that live album they just released from 1990, Madness Reigns in the Gutter, is a scorcher. Unlike Ghost in the Ruins, it's one show, and has live tracks not done on that one

Big Savatage admirer, and yep, I'm super interested in the live album!

Some 2026 metal (metal-ish, metal-adjacent...) albums I've liked:

Amberican Dawn: Temptation's Gates
Anaria: Between Loving and Dying
Aryem: Agnes
Melissa Bonny: Cherry Red Apocalypse
Dimmu Borgir: Grand Serpent Rising
Draconian: In Somnolent Ruin
Epinikion: The Force of Nature
Evergrey: Architects Of A New Weave
Gaerea: Loss
Hanging Garden: Isle of Bliss
Harifa: Alexithymia
IKINÄ: Valkyria
LOVEBITES: Outstanding Power
Machinae Supremacy: Machinae Supremacy
Maladie: The Dance of Tragedies
MØL: DREAMCRUSH
Nervosa: Slave Machine
REXORIA: Fallen Dimension
Tarja: Frisson Noir
Teramaze: The Silent Architect
Unlucky Morpheus: Gate of Hell
Venus 5: March of the Venus 5
A.A. Williams: Solstice
Yoth Iria: Gone With the Devil

Mexican thrash act Phantom have a new album out, their fourth. I've bought their previous three, but I guess I unsubscribed from their Bandcamp emails, because I didn't find out about it until the site published their best metal list for June.

http://phantombandgdl.bandcamp.com/album/not-midnight-yet

The skeleton guy is their mascot; he's on all their album covers.

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0570137208_10.jpg

Also, this is their current band photo:

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/0043303208_10.jpg

Soooooo many metal bands ...

speaking of, finally getting around to saidan’s latest weeb metal lp:
https://saidan.bandcamp.com/album/fangdriller-scars-beneath-memorys-wrist

curious if people have thoughts. i typically really enjoy a song or two and then start getting a little tired of the formula. theyre good tho. kinda like if the new worm album was (way) more eurovision.

I enjoy the Saidan! It's good fun

Just listened to the Egregore record - this is fun.

yeah, it's really good. rizk's mixing in this beeing one of his finest magics. record sounds fantastic

Been listening to Astriferous (death metal from Costa Rica) this weekend; their 2023 album Pulsations From The Black Orb is, as that title implies, pretty proggy, whereas their new one, Atavistic Unraveling, is more caveman-ish. But I really like both, and they've got a new guitarist who takes more squiggly solos, so I might actually prefer their new style.

https://mesacounojo.bandcamp.com/album/pulsations-from-the-black-orb

https://mesacounojo.bandcamp.com/album/atavistic-unraveling

This Zorn album is some great punky, thrashy black metal. A tight 20 minutes.

https://zornphilly.bandcamp.com/album/return-to-castle-death

They share a member with Poison Ruïn, also a band that rules.

This Zorn album is some great punky, thrashy black metal. A tight 20 minutes.

Had to read this a couple of times, because honestly, if this was a description of a new John Zorn album, I would not be totally surprised.

this new agrimonia rec is rolling like it's just awaken pt II? YESPLEASE. godlike band. crying (but im crying like before crying was cool)

I'm not attending the entire weekend but it seems like I will be at Fire In The Mountains tomorrow (Friday 7/24). Looking forward to seeing Yaotl Mictlan, Wayfarer, Raven Chacon and Iggor Cavalera, and Baroness.

Fire In The Mountains: lots of fun! Can recommend.

Further thoughts on Fire In The Mountains.

enjoyed that write-up - thanks! what a cool festival.

good to be aware of yaotl mictlan - i'll watch for their shows in slc.

twisty french black metal band epitaphe have their first new one in a few years on the way:
https://epitaphe.bandcamp.com/album/iii

if the 16min teaser track is any indication, they've gone even more prog with this one

^ right on! New to me; preordered.

My friend's band Black Throne, this shit rips

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOdWoEHLzS4

What's the verdict on Taake? Does Hoest's past antics put them off limits? Or do we tolerate them as not being Nazis but just with a bonehead singer?

They have a new album out today and I am genuinely curious whether others feel about this.

If you hadn't brought them up, I would not have known they had a new album, and would likely never have thought about them at all. I listened to a couple of their albums a few years ago and there was nothing memorable or interesting about their music, so the question really becomes not so much Can I tolerate the unsavory/idiotic provocations of this awesome band? but rather With a hundred thousand better bands in the world, why do I insist on still paying attention to this mediocre band and their idiotic provocations? As far as I can tell, they have no appeal beyond the minimal frisson of Ooh, look what I'm getting away with by listening to these chuds! I'm a free thinker, I am!

Music is a subjective thing, as is where one draws the line about these things.

The only thing that can be counted on with near certainty is that you will be a self-righteous douchebag.

Well, let's do this right.

If you like Taake, make the case for them! What's their best song?

I listened to their early work and I thought it sucked, irrespective of their main dude being a POS. (He's not just the singer, as you framed it; it's his band and he hires backing musicians to manifest his vision.)

So like I said, the question(s) for me are, if this band sucks on a musical level, is there any reason to listen to them beyond provocation? And since I don't play music for other people, either publicly (on the radio, say) or socially ("You've gotta hear this awesome new Taake record!"), who am I "provoking," and why? Myself? I know what I think and believe. A band is not going to challenge my views.

(I believe you have made this very argument here in the past w/r/t some other NSBM/sketchy act you liked.)

So what is the value (to me as an individual, not to society or whatever) of listening to music that is created solely to espouse values that I disagree with?

Where do you draw the line? Clearly, not with Taake. You like them, and want to see if other people like them too. So which bands are out of bounds for you, and why?

These are honest questions. I really want to know what you think, and how you think, and why.

oh boy

anyway, new nothingness is hitting the spot. lots of chugging and pinch harmonics, very heavy:
https://everlastingspew.bandcamp.com/album/godslaughter

their last one didn’t really stick with me. we’ll see about this one (a lot of competition these days) but i’m enjoying it more than i expected.

the part in “umbral spear” when they lock in and ride out a big meshuggah-ey breakdown is a big moment

I wrote about the new Elder and Psycroptic albums in my newsletter.

anyway, new nothingness is hitting the spot. lots of chugging and pinch harmonics, very heavy:

"04. trenchant glunch 04:25"

new board description?

digging that psycroptic album. i like my death metal a little more high-energy and catchy at this moment. they're from tasmania.

Always down for a trenchant glunch.

I like my glunches like I like my message boards...

Some people are annoyed by the Subway Takes guy, but I'm not, and I love learning that Javier Bardem is a huge metal guy (and doesn't just listen to old bands):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMYyKPHBxbY

Bardem is also featured in the recent Iron Maiden documentary, which I haven't seen yet.

https://assimilatedtransdimensionalization.bandcamp.com/music

Today's big Bandcamp discovery: Assimilated Transdimensionalization, a one-man death metal project from Hungary that's like a slightly more chud-like Wormed.

brutal slamming death from indonesia:
https://comatosemusic.bandcamp.com/album/incessant-affliction

not exactly reinventing the wheel here but i like how this one grooves hard

some meat and potatoes sludgy instrumental heaviness from Iommi Watts, not a naming convention i usually like but i'll allow it.

https://iommiwatts.bandcamp.com/album/halverson

the 1990 Savatage live album mentioned upthread totally rules

the live band sound is welcome but overall they feel a liiiiittle… clunkier than i’d prefer, maybe? in any case, enjoying the thrashin new ninth realm record:

https://ninthrealm-label.bandcamp.com/album/damnations-veil

maybe “clunky” isn’t quite right but there’s a lot of open hi hats on this thing

cool cover btw

Thx for the heads-up on this Ninth Realm album! Am not always into contemporary/throwback thrash, but on first flip-through I like the production, the riffs and the vocal style (although I get what you hear with the open hi-hats being v frequent, it doesn't bother me personally)--they sound like they'd be a lot of fun live.

nice! and yeah, i usually don't go for contemporary thrash bands either but this goes harder than most.

i’ll prob hold off on the mug tho

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/0045056323_10.jpg

caught maiden last night, and believe it or not, iron maiden are extremely fun live. hard to imagine not having a blast with the stacked classic era setlist they’re doing this tour, and yep, it was great.

missed anthrax but megadeth were also a good time despite megadave’s voice sounding totally shot at this point. it was a bit sad tbh but i guess his beautiful voice isn’t really what i'm in it for anyone and he could def still shred.