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Weekly Rundown June 05 – 2026
Reviews of metal albums released May 30 – June 05
It’s a hardcore vs black metal slug-it-out for the top spots this week, with us as the audience being the only obvious winners.
100 Demons – Embrace The Black Light
Genre: Metallic hardcore/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: Calm down, crossover thrash fans. This is, in fact, mostly a hardcore record. But with riffs like that, who cares what you classify it as? This is dang heavy, gravel-vocal chug heaven, for non-stop, full-body headbanging. And yes, the boys from Connecticut can thrash pretty fucking good when they feel like it.
The rhythms have different levels of energy to them, but it’s lethal in every form. There’s powerviolence, thrash, melodeath-derived-old-school metalcore and groove metal to be found, all with the same, mean-spirited tone. It reminds me of Spiritworld at their absolute heaviest, only that it’s like this for the entire duration of the album. It’s not really attempting anything new, but if you’re looking for kickass in sonic form, it hardly gets any better than this.
Highlights: “Meat For The Beast” and “Night Parade Of 100 Demons”
August Burns Red – Season Of Surrender
Genre: Metalcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: This is a back-to-basics album from these metalcore mainstays. Rhythmic, lean, speedy riffing and acrobatic melodic leads à la early 2000s with consistently harsh vocals and a few breakdowns thrown in for good measure. At times it’s very As I Lay Dying, at times nearly Hatebreed, but it’s all pretty aggressive, with the expected emotional underpinnings.
If this sounds like just the ticket, then simply jump on board and ignore it. If you were hoping for something a little more varied and genre bending, that’s not what you’re getting this time around. It’s got a hardcore straightforwardness and simplicity to it, which ends up being both refreshing and a bit limiting.
Highlight: “Sonic Salvation”
Converge – Hum Of Hurt
Genre: Hardcore/mathcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: Certainly wasn’t expecting Converge back so soon, let alone any band who’s already had a release drop in 2026. So I half-figured this would be some sort of conceptual companion to February’s “Love Is Not Enough”, but no. This appears to be entirely its own thing, and it even features a clear stylistic shift for the band. We’re into a distinctly hardcore-rooted sound, with the intricacy of its structures and rhythms turned up since last time, although still keeping the complexity to a moderate level.
The trademark, noisy harshness of the band persists, and at times takes on the bludgeoning feel of sludge. While, as a metalhead, I miss the metallic heaviness of the last album, this feels like more of a statement – a little more like music for the sake of the message, while somehow being more interesting musically at the same time. I tip my hat.
Highlights: “Hum of Hurt” and “Dream Debris”
Evanescence – Sanctuary
Genre: Alternative metal/rock
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: I’ll keep it brief, so as not to embarass myself, cause the sum total of what I know about Evanescence spans about exactly the 3min 55sec runtime of “Bring Me To Life”. But the early 2000s are (for some unfathomable reason) back, baby, and with them a big, gargoyle-festooned plinth just waiting for this band to claim their rightful spot on it. And so they do, although not giving precedence to neither the majestic flourish of billowing, black capes nor the angsty attitude of their genre-defining origins. But, perhaps most importantly, both of those things are still present, without it sounding like a re-run of past glory.
Highlight: “Rapture”
Evergrey – Architects Of A New Weave
Genre: Progressive/power metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: I’ve been pretty on board with Swedish veteran power proggers Evergrey’s last couple of releases, even though I very quickly get my fill of their style of epic melancholy. For those to which this is the main reason they gravitate towards the band, this album will likely be like a comforting cold breeze on a sweltering summer day. The problem with this album is that there’s really not all that much more to it. You get some nice, riff-driven energy up front, and then it’s Michael Bolton-style ballad-metal for pretty much the rest of the duration. Mix it up a little, guys.
Guilt Trip – Armour Of Angels
Genre: Hardcore/groove metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Again, crossover-lovers, if you’ve got your hopes up seeing another hardcore/metal compo this week, I gotta disappoint you, as this is also, and quite firmly so, putting the emphasis on the former of the two genres. It’s a stompy as hell album with so many breakdowns that it becomes downright routine. That being said, the riffs rip pretty damn hard, and it leans fairly heavily into a Machine Head harsh groove and pinch harmonic style.
The album doesn’t blow me away with its ferocity, and the rhythm style becomes a bit too predictable and formulaic after a while. Also, an intermission on a hardcore record? Hmmm… But the energy is good throughout, there’s some great Alien Weaponry-style thrashing, and it finishes really strong and aggressive.
Highlight: “Resurrected”
Horn – Apokalyps 1618
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: 24 years and now 11 albums in, and this is the first I hear of Horn. Shows how well versed I am in German black metal. But this album proved to be quite the wake-up call. At first it seemed I was being presented with pure, second wave Norwegian grimness, but the sound quickly expands. First of all, the production is excellent, and even though the tone remains suitably melancholy, it also has black feathered wings with which to soar.
The songs on this album build beautifully, and certainly not always in the classic bottom-to-top order. It dips into atmospheric, doom-like lulls and charges on with riff-powered, mounted-reaper-assaults, before ascending to crashing peaks of near blackened death metal force. It allies itself with folk-leaning melody for that pagan feel, without this making it feel less dark in any way. That being said, this isn’t the bleakest, most evil stuff out there, and not all of it feels equally fresh, but it retains a strong identity, delivered with conviction and obvious proficiency.
Highlights: “Am Abgrund steht der Junker” and “Apokalyps 1618”
Nights Of Malice – Chaos Exordium
Genre: Deathcore/technical death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: If you like a bit of Aborted and Summoning the Lich technical brutality and the melodic style of The Black Dahlia Murder, then these Jersey boys (pardon the pun) have you covered. This is deathcore-styled tech death that doesn’t go for the incessant breakdowns or groove-killing djent chugs. Instead you get the kind of explosively violent aggression that moves with the terrifying speed of an apex predator.
This is definitely the kind of extreme metal for the person who takes one look at the album cover and immediately want to see the movie, regardless of quality. This is brutal entertainment from start to finish. Not flippant, but also not boundary-pushing. Great stuff for that heavy gym session.
Highlight: “Ex-Mortis”
Pharmacist – Vertebrae After Vertebrae
Genre: Grindcore/death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: Miss Necroticism-era Carcass? No worries, as Japan’s one-man project Pharmacist is very much keeping that unhinged, fun-loving, constantly experimenting, autopsy-obsessed (no, not the band) spirit alive. On “Vertebrae After Vertebrae”, Pharmacist lean heavily into filthy death metal, which might have prompted the fairly muddled production. I think it’s a bit overdone, but still suits the menacing style.
The vocals consist of a wide range of snarls and growls, all well performed and just perfect for the monstrous sound. The riffs feel hungry and deliver a stupid amount of groove. If this doesn’t get you headbanging, you seriously need to check your pulse. Perhaps not quite as visceral as it could have been with more audible detail, but still an absolute beast of an album.
Highlight: “Endogenica” and “Vertebrae After Vertebrae”
Revolting – Supernatural Anthems
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: It’s Rogga time again! For those unaware, Rogga Johansson is the man behind probably half of all the old school death metal coming out of Sweden these days. Among the many, many projects he’s involved with are Paganizer, Ghoulhouse, Eye of Purgatory, Leper Colony, Ribspreader (I promise I’ll stop here in a second), Dead Sun and, of course, Revolting.
While I’ve yet to hear anything actively bad from the man, and every now and then he really strikes the bullseye, a fair amount of these releases feel a bit… recycled. It’s crunchy, morbid death metal with a solemn melodic streak not totally unlike (very) early Arch Enemy, and it does the job and scratches a certain itch. Most of the time it’s quite satisfyingly raw and brutal. But a bit too much of it feels repetitive, and I’m wondering if it’s actually less repetitive within the confines of the album itself than it is in regards to the rest of its creator’s discography.
Highlight: “Dungeon Overture”
Shroud – Pax Nocturna
Genre: Black/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: Whoa, did this one come out of nowhere. Well, not nowhere exactly – it did come out of Montreal, Canada, but for a debut album from a band that formed in 2022, this is nothing short of phenomenal. To be fair, at least some of its members have been in the game for a good amount longer, but coming out of the gates swinging on a new project like this is still a great thing to see. Shroud play black metal with a high-revving thrash/speed engine, which is just what you want for spreading this kind of devilry all the faster.
Because of its mostly mellow, piano-featuring intro track and fairly flat production, the album starts off feeling a lot more understated than it should. You really need to crank your speakers to fully enjoy it. They certainly don’t skimp on the occultist, venomous black metal feel, but the thrashy riff rampages are absolutely the stars of the show. The fact that they build up to these dominant sections with a bit of hooded nihilism just makes them all the more satisfying once they get going. It’s on the ever so slightly long side for a blackened thrash album, and a crisper sound overall would have really elevated it, but I just find myself enjoying the hell out of track after track after track regardless.
Highlights: “Death Blows Over” and “The Eternal Void”
Üga Büga – Valley Of The Wolf
Genre: Stoner/sludge metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: An exciting young stoner/sludge band out of Virginia, USA, whose style revolves around a fantastical, comic-inspired concept. This mostly matters for the lyrics, but the music itself is also far from conventional. It swings from crashing riffs and throat-rending coarseness to floaty psychedelia and jazzy progressions.
Variation and imagination are the great strengths of this album, along with the performances themselves. It sounds really good throughout. The issue, at least intermittently, is that some of the tonal- and rhythm transitions can feel fairly abrupt and, at times, unmotivated. There’s more than enough cool stuff on here to warrant a higher rating, it’s just that the way it’s all put together is a bit messier than what really suits it. Still, it’s a lively, enjoyable and truly creative effort.
Highlight: “Valley of The Wolf”
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
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Weekly Rundown May 29 – 2026
Reviews of metal albums released May 23 – May 29
It’s a triumphant week for the progressive and avant-garde, with some of the most dependable names in the business dropping absolutely stellar work.
Crocell – Swarm Of Insects
Genre: Black/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: Denmark’s not exactly a hotbed for black metal, but dig deep enough and you can evidently find some of that Nordic misanthropy simmering down by the bedrock. Crocell have been going since 2007 but never made a huge splash. This album seems to be part of a rejuvenated push from the band, now going full in on the (very) blackened death metal.
This is clearly for the listener who wants misery to come seeping out of their speakers. There’s absolutely an aggressive push on the album as well, but it feels mostly like a means of spreading the hopelessness more effectively. A bit too much of it comes off as fairly anonymous, but every now and then there are glimmers of infernal creativity and a bit of riffing goodness.
Highlight: “Wolfen Man”
Elder – Through Zero
Genre: Progressive/psychedelic rock/metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5Review: Elder have become one of those “can do no wrong” bands, which makes reviewing their material a fairly predictable affair in terms of score, but no less a pleasure in the chance it provides to immerse yourself in their music. “Through Zero” is a ride into an alternate version of reality that you take safely strapped in and expertly guided the entire way, never once being at risked of getting shaken off by unexpected turbulence or even mildly inconvenienced by the odd pothole in the road. You arrive having been deeply immersed and undergone a therapeutic kneading of your mental processes.
Elders brand of psychedelic prog is not the one you go to for harshness or a riff-based pummeling, but it earns its “metal” classification by virtue of some decently heavy stoner-like riffs and powerful buildups of intensity. It just takes a while. The most dynamic tracks are also pushed to the fore of the album, making for a fairly protracted and mellow, near-15 minute finish to the experience. That being said, it never bottoms out or even stutters, always staying on the move and delivering new wonders around the next bend.
Highlights: “Capture/Release” and “Strata”
Erdve – Epigrama
Genre: Atmospheric sludge metal/hardcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: This Lithuanian band builds on a djent-riffed hardcore foundation with sludgy coarseness, a good deal of melancholic atmosphere and an industrial-grade harsh production. I’m not sure exactly what to compare it to, but if the combination of elements listed above sounds appealing to you, then you’ll very likely have a good time.
Slamming, rhythmic heaviness is the star of the show, but the bitter-tinged melodies are what makes it stick in your mind. To me it doesn’t really move to much away from the stylistic sphere that it establishes with the first couple of tracks, and while it’s not exactly conventional, I also don’t really feel challenged in any particular way. It is, however, quite consistent and confidently performed.
Highlight: “Ydos”
Eternal Evil – Forever Feared
Genre: Thrash/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: If you like back-to-basics, shredding, aggressive heavy metal the likes of Vulture and Bewitcher, then this should be right up your alley. Swedish band Eternal Evil transport you back to the early days of thrash metal and infuses it with a playful, solo-tastic flair and a pinch of black metal evil.
Parts of this album reminds me of early Trivium, with the desire to round off aggression with melodic memorability and a bit of epic oomph. It also has some of the same early unevenness of said band. Most tracks have sections of seemingly effortless, characterful playfulness, but the way that they get to these sections isn’t always as smooth. A real diamond in the rough, this one.
Highlight: “Eyes Of Wrath”
Funebrarum – Beckoning The Void Of Eternal Silence
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: How about some malignant old school death metal that’s just dug itself out of the mulch after many years of decomposing hibernation? New Jersey’s Funebrarum haven’t released a full-length since 2009, and the last of anything we got from them was an EP back in 2016. Now the beast has reared its hideous head and is ready to chase you at mid-tempo through the dead gloom of the snow-covered forest on the album cover.
While there’s a surprising amount of faster paced riffing and soloing going on, the dominant feeling is that of wading through a thick layer of thick low-end rumble. The production is quite muted, which suits the feeling of abyssal dread, but robs it of much of the visceral quality it might have had. But if you’re on board with the slightly lumbering style, then you have an album full of brutal highlights to look forward to.
Highlights: “Anhela Odor Mortuoruom (The Adepts)” and “Beckoning the Void of Eternal Silence”
Galvanist – The Silence Between Stars
Genre: Death/doom metal/hardcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: If you’re of the opinion that your average nightmarish death doom is in desperate need of more harshness and rhythmic drive, then you are in sync with Montana’s Galvanist. They whip up what would otherwise be a lurching, light-shy behemoth of a creeping terror and send it rampaging with randomly malevolent intent. They also expand on this recipe with plenty of unnerving atmosphere, mildly experimental song progressions and an arresting influx of surprisingly uplifting melody.
Personally I find this to be too much of a clash of styles, with the hardcore rhythms and raw-howling vocals pulling me in a jarringly contrasting direction to the rest. As an experiment though, this is well executed and inarguably boundary-pushing.
Highlight: “Dreich”
Hecate Enthroned – The Corpse Of A Titan, A Lament Long Buried
Genre: Symphonic black/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Veteran UK band Hecate Enthroned are back with their first full-length in 7 years, and their seventh overall since starting out in 1995. Given the title of the album, you’d expect a full-on plunge into epic, dark fantasy, and in that you’d be absolutely correct. This is a comprehensive album steeped in atmosphere, and unlike the style of fellow countrymen Cradle of Filth it feels like it’s meant to be taken pretty seriously.
Overall this is a fairly aggressive album, with moments of death metal force, symphonic intensity and thoroughly harsh vocals, which do tend to get locked in to the same style and register for fairly long stretches of time. It’s quite indulgent in terms of interludes and buildups, but if you agree that this is a necessary part of constructing the grandeur of this kind of sound then I think you’ll welcome it all. At its best it’s all-enveloping and hair-raisingly powerful.
Highlight: “A Gallery of Rotting Portraits”
Monolord – Neverending
Genre: Stoner/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Monolord I’d say is one of the go-to bands in metal for consistency. If you know what you like and want more of it, these Swedes are sure to deliver. The formula for their brand of stoner-riff doom metal can be said to be as old as the metal genre itself, with Sabbath being one of the obvious influences and points of comparison. Slow, bluesy groove is the name of the game, and “Neverending” is nothing if not a refinement of this recipe.
As you would hope from a Swedish, old-school-leaning band, the riffs have a real tasty crunch to them. To me they are the star of the show, and I finding myself wanting more of them. I’m not a huge fan of the production, suitably muddled as it might be. The vocals are more then characterful enough that I want them brought forward in the mix, and I’m missing texture. It feels like an album for the purists, and it does what it does solidly. With this obvious songwriting talent though, I find myself hoping for a bit of playfulness that never really arrives.
Highlight: “You Bastard”
The Scalar Process – Agnomysticism
Genre: Technical/progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: It’s not an unproven feat to be able to marry technical, vibrantly melodic complexity with spacey, atmospheric introspection, as exemplified by the likes of Fallujah and Fractal Universe, but it is still very much a feat to be able to do it well. If you’re a fan of the aforementioned bands, might I highly recommend you check out the sophomore full-length French progressive tech-deathers The Scalar Process.
While there’s plenty of mow-you-down precision aggression going on, it doesn’t end up sounding too clinical, and it shares the space fairly equally with more patient, marvel-at-the-wonder-of-the-universe cosmic exploration. While they’re absolutely proficient riffers and shredders, I find myself leaning towards the writing of the melodic sections, and so the tech assaults tend to feel more like a distracting nuisance than fully earned peaks of intensity at times. But there are also plenty of moments where the balance is struck really well.
Highlight: “A Breathing Moment”
Serpent Lord – The Once Forgotten Ways Of Old
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Serpent Lord is very much the resurrection of a forest demon first brought into the world in the early 2000s, now returned with a debut full length and a well-matured set of pagan maledictions to be cast upon the world. “The Once Forgotten Ways Of Old” definitely carries that feel of being carried on icy winds emanating from a ritual carried out among neolithic ruins.
The music is unmistakably a kind of atmospheric black metal at its core, that’s not really allowed to drift off or take much of a rest underway. There’s melody, great scope, backing vocals, traditional instruments and the like, but not really to the point where it crosses into folk. It feels focused, yet epic – grave, but far from rooted to the spot. I’m missing some truly standout moments, but it’s a solid foundation on which to build. Let’s hope it doesn’t take another 20 years.
Highlight: “A Pagan’s Spell”
Devin Townsend – The Moth
Genre: Progressive/symphonic metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5Review: Heading into a new Devin Townsend album with any sort of clear expectations, certainly regarding style, is a perilous endeavor. Half the time the man seems to live to take our collective breath away, and the other half he appears to be either daydreaming out loud or actively trolling us. This is a big one though, apparently ten years in the making, and you can tell by more ways than just the daunting number of tracks. This is, for most of its substantial runtime, a truly symphonic, fully orchestrated album, and feels operatic in scope. There are still metal elements, and they are very much recognizably Devin in tone and force of impact, but they are not the “point” of the album.
This is an indulgent passion project that in many ways sums up what Devin is about as a songwriter. It defies you to try to define it – to demand that it should be heavier, faster and more concise. Everything is sort of scaled up and exaggerated. If you love it, you will happily devour it all, like an avid LOTR fan that insists that the ending of Return of the King is perfectly reasonably long if you consider it as the closing of a single, 13-hour movie. It’s an album you have to be prepared to let take you wherever it wants, and trust that it will reward your open-mindedness by pulling out all the bells and whistles, serenades and farts included.
Highlight: “The Big Snit” and “Orion”
Trelldom – …by the word…
Genre: Avant-garde black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: Wow, if you ever wondered whether black metal still has the ability to pull you out of your comfort zone and conjure shapes in the darkness yet unseen, then trust in this album to confirm this for you. Newly reactivated, Gaahl-fronted Trelldom know how to put the weird back into the subgenre, without sacrificing the projection of actual dark conviction or feeling of partaking in something ill-advised.
“…by the word…” feels like a descent into self-conscious madness, as if embracing a kind of reality distortion as a way of communicating. This is far darker than “Gaahls WYRD”. Not a ton more technically aggressive, but certainly more oppressive. It’s like experiencing the perception of a deranged wraith, only to finally snap out of it and realize that you’ve unwittingly taken part in committing terrible atrocities.
Highlights: “Folding the Mind” and “I Speak Forgotten Voices”
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
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Weekly Rundown May 22 – 2026
Reviews of metal albums released May 16 – May 22
A week for both unhinged aggression and conceptual exploration, predictability and surprises, mostly in its best forms.
Armored Saint – Emotion Factory Reset
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: Time to go old school. Think Saxon and the like from the 70s with a bit of the 80s hair metal swagger and hard rock simplicity, and you’re there. Unfortunately, it’s also quite obvious that this is not, in fact, from 40 years ago, but that the musicians behind it has aged by that much. There’s plenty of charm, but it doesn’t quite make up for the flat-falling melodies, tired lyrics and fairly rigid rhythm- and vocal performance.
Highlights: “The Monochrome Blade” and “Cold Heavens”
As The Sun Falls – Songs From The Veil
Genre: Melodic death/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Been too long since you got a fresh hit of Insomnium? I’d be surprised if this didn’t do it for you. As The Sun Falls (I mean, it’s all in the name, isn’t it?) make melancholic, atmospheric melodeath that sounds like it’s emanating from the deepest, darkest, most remote forests of Finnish winter. Thanks to a coldly vivid, mildly uplifting quality to the melodies, this doesn’t really feel depressing, nor come close to the bitterness of black metal.
As is typical with Finnish epic extreme metal, it’s not what you would call lean, but while it sounds nice and rich, it also doesn’t pack too elements into its production. Acoustics and background vocals are reserved for the calmer sections, and the guitars and drums mostly get to drive the rest. It’s not particularly characterful, and could benefit from a few more outstanding moments, but it certainly doesn’t feel derivative. From what I’ve heard it’s a step up for the band, that sees them balancing heaviness and thoughtfulness just as well as the very best in this corner of the subgenre.
Highlight: “As Night Devours”
Blindead 23 – Deuterium
Genre: Progressive extreme metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: Newly reformed from the remnants of Blindead, which existed from 2003-2022, this new iteration of the band features an impressive lineup that draws its experience from such acts as Behemoth, Katatonia, Vltimas and more. And the talent behind the performances is quite obvious on “debut” album Deuterium. I’d describe it as a mix between the rhythmic smoothness and melodic cleans of Leprous with the driving, harsh brutality of Cult Of Luna at their heaviest.
While there’s absolutely a starkness to the sound, I wouldn’t describe it as harsh, instead going quite meaty and punchy when the intensity builds, more like death metal than black metal in that regard. Led by highly competent and expressive vocals, the progress of the album flows on mostly steady and patient currents, although with a few unexpected detours along the way. It requires focus, but rewards it by unlocking a whole host of different layers and deep immersion. A bit over-stuffed with atmosphere, but really well produced and mature-feeling in every way.
Highlights: “Deuterium” and “Immersion II”.
Dimmu Borgir – Grand Serpent Rising
Genre: Symphonic black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: We’re not exactly spoiled with Dimmu Borgir releases, so when a new one marches out of the mist, it’s always a bit of an occasion. As far as expectations go, it’s not the kind of black metal you think to take too seriously. Big, bombastic drama and catchy riffs, yes. Actual, sinister, unholy conviction? Perhaps not so much. In this regard, it seems the band have taken a few steps to slightly shift their image.
“Grand Serpent Rising” is a mountainous mass of an album, both in a good and bad way. It’s melodically quite intricate, and feels very mature and concise in its symphonic scale and tone. But it also feels a bit like moving through soup-thick fog with how densely it’s layered, with the instruments often fading into the background. Standout melodies and riffs get buried, making for an overall experience that’s a bit poor on highlights. That being said, it’s darkly majestic in an un-flippant way that I really didn’t expect, and feels aggressive and epic in a Keep of Kalessin kind of way that’s a welcome change of pace. I’ll understand people who find it a bit forgettable, but give it time to really sink in and I think you’ll appreciate just how much nuance there is.Highlights: “Ascent” and “Slik Minnes en Alkymist”
Makkmat – Syke Fantasier
Genre: Grindcore/punk
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Makkmat (worm food) is a ferociously aggressive, grindcore-driven punk band from my original home town of Bergen, Norway, which allows me the insider’s privilege of extra-layer amusement at some of their lyrics and song titles. So yes, I’m a bit biased, but if you’re a fan of the ragged-edge and extremely in-your-face end of the metal spectrum then there is plenty of objective reason that you should have a blast with “Syke Fantasier” (sick fantasies).
Most of the time they pour on ripsaw riffs and charging drums with shrieking vocals on top, keeping track lengths to a minimum (averaging just over 1 minute), and all of a sudden you’ve got a bit of death metal, hardcore, crust, and of course a few, obligatory samples. The stuff in between the standout tracks does blend together a bit if you’re not paying strict attention, but blink and the album takes a new, sharp turn in an attempt to snap your inattentive neck. It’s a sandpaper face slap of an experience that’s far from too chaotic to have fun with.
Highlight: “Shahed-136” and “Arna Verdenskrieg”
Membrance – Resa Marciana
Genre: Death/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: Sometimes you just gotta love a band that say “yes please” to pretty much all the classic, aggressive metal subgenres and proceed to splice it all together with great enthusiasm. On this latest release by Italian band Membrance you get death, black, thrash and heavy metal with a good bit of rock ‘n’ roll jump-around-ness and plenty of shred-y melody.
Now for the kicker: Is it actually well written and put together with purpose? Not really. It’s a bit of a mishmash with some fairly heavy handed rhythm work, and there’s little sense of an overarching idea for the album. It’s fun though, and plenty energetic. Try it, and see if it doesn’t put a big smile on your face.
Highlight: “Sentensa da resa”
Noituma – Yhdeksän sairautta
Genre: Folk/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Yes, despite what that album cover might lead you to believe, this is actually full-on Finnish folk metal that’s somewhat of a clash of traditional solemnness and punk rowdiness. You get hoarse-throated, belted-out vocals, classic doom riffs with a bit of black metal darkness to the tone, lots of energy but also plenty of melodic beauty from the violin and fun texture from the jaw harp.
This is not an impeccably put together album, nor expertly produced, nor well-matured in terms of concept. But it more than makes up for it with raw enthusiasm and well-balanced conflux of stylistic elements. It’s a bit like a proto-Finntroll if they decided to go the pagan route rather than the antic-y goblin-ear one.
Highlight: “Kynnen ja kulmahampaan laki”
Psyclops – Bound to Burn: Melody of the Martyr
Genre: Progressive metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: If you think this is gonna be the type of conceptual, story-driven prog that treats tracks like chapters in a tale and absolutely blows up the runtime with spoken-word segments and wild, unending instrumental tangents, then you are right on at least one count. Yes, this is storytelling in musical form, but at less than 33 minutes, it doesn’t overstay its welcome in the least. And sure, if you’re allergic to musical theater-reminiscent vocal delivery and a thematically driven flow, then it might not be your cup of tea. But you’ll be missing out on some great music.
The variation on the album is expertly managed, and ranges from chugging harshness to meditative pools of laid back, atmospheric melody. The vocals are wildly competent and display a wide spectrum of styles. It’s not the heaviest or most intense, but feels incredibly well-considered, with organic, reassuring pacing that’s devoid of tropes and never makes a single misstep. Will it win over a lot of people outside the prog sphere? Probably not. And that’s okay.
Highlights: “Consequences III: Swallowed Skies, Sea of Eyes (Pg. 12)” and “Indomitable I: Depths of Dissent (Pg. 26)
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
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Weekly Rundown May 15 – 2026
Reviews of metal albums released May 09 – May 15
A slightly low-profile week allowing some low-flying radar evaders to grab a bit of attention.
Acid Reign – Daze Of The Week
Genre: Thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: I wouldn’t worry too much if you’ve been sleeping on England’s Acid Reign, ’cause they’re one of those bands that have been sleeping on themselves for most of their career. After releasing two full-lengths at the end of the 80s, they called it quits in ’91 before reuniting in 2015. A new album didn’t manifest until 2019, and then a lot of lineup changes brings us here, with vocalist “H” as the only remaining original member.
So what do they sound like? It’s thrash that’s knocking on the door of melodic hardcore. Especially considering the vocal style I’m reminded of early, punky Rage Against. They manage to sound young and hungry for most of the album, delving into frantic high speed and mid-tempo grooves. The main issue is that, especially with the choruses, they’ve a few too many turns into fairly uninteresting and repetitive riff patterns. Most of the songs start out really well, but don’t always hold up. Still, they’ve got enough character to their sound that I really want to hear them crack on and punch it into the next gear, which I think they’re capable of.Highlight: “The Who of You”
Arroganz – Death Doom Punks
Genre: Death metal/punk
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: I mean, the album title kind of says it all, but I suppose I can offer a few more words. Arroganz are a German death metal band that play fast and loose with the rhythms, and unlike others of their ilk that are teetering on the edge of the blackened and doomy, they’ve got a fairly under-loaded production. This makes them light on their feet, despite the obvious, Asphyx-like harshness.
At the same time, this isn’t some tunnel-vision, hardcore-derived gang vocals-touting kind of thing. They take unexpected routes and do things to their grimy death metal base style that might catch you off guard if you’re unprepared. It’s a bit low on groove and pure heaviness, and doesn’t quite land with as much rebellious, up-yours attitude as I might have hoped for. But it’s damn refreshing to get the traditional morbidity served up in such an unconventional way, while still dedicating a significant amount of space to pure riff nastiness.Highlight: “Die For Nothing”
Atavistia – Old Gods Awaken
Genre: Folk/melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Imagine a mashup of Finland’s Mors Principium Est and Finntroll, except it’s not Ensiferum and it’s not actually Finnish, although you’d be easily forgiven for assuming so. Atavistia are now on their fourth original full-length and going full-on pagan warrior on violent adventures. In contrast to 2023’s “Cosmic Warfare”, which was my introduction to them, the symphonic grandeur has been scaled back and the fun factor tuned up.
“Old Gods Awaken” is just as shred-y and dazzlingly melodic as you’d hope for, without ever really stepping into power metal. The balance between magical playfulness and aggression is handled just as well as you’d hope for, sending your mind straight to the glory days of the previously mentioned bands. Embracing this vibe though, while whole-hearted and producing plenty of satisfaction, leaves very little room for personality. It’s a great, tankard-whirling time that puts the band’s innovative powers on pause for the time being.
Highlight: “Mystic Tavern”
Defect Designer – Depressants
Genre: Experimental/avant-garde death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: If you think you might be able to appreciate death metal as an experimental jazz experience, then there’s hope for you and this album getting along. I came across Defect Designer back in 2024 with their album “Chitin”, which I found to be a refreshingly weird kind of dissonant death metal that did itself a huge favor by not taking itself too seriously. This attitude is even more pronounced on “Depressants”, as the album makes huge stylistic jumps and stays very structurally loose throughout the entirety of its 56+ minute runtime.
There are a few instances of blackened hostility, but also groove, prog rock, epic melody, alternative moodiness and other variations that make it seem like there are in fact three or four very different bands performing. Coherency is almost non-existent, and only about halfway through do I feel like they come to a vague consensus regarding the general direction they should be heading. Still, there’s a lot of cool moments on here, and none of it follows any sort of prog tropes or gives completely up on listenability.
Highlight: “Carte Blanche”.
Desiccation – Legatum Mortuorum
Genre: Doom/black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Do you ever get to places, physical or mental, that feel unsettling and alien in a way that makes you doubt you were ever really meant to get there, but something about it is so arresting that you can’t get yourself to leave? That’s what it feels like to me, being sucked into the soundscape of Desiccation’s sophomore full-length. It’s like wandering vast, stark, echoing halls of harsh light and deep shadow, and the immensity of it takes on a life of its own.
Speaking more plainly, this is blackened doom metal with a soft, round production that allows for an almost tangible presence of atmosphere. There’s sharp aggression and heavy riffs, but also melancholy melody that swells and abates gradually as a river level rises and falls. Not every song takes you to equally rewarding places, but at its best it’s both deeply immersive and more directly engaging with its steadfast rhythms and standout solos.
Highlights: “Lamentations Beyond the Veil”
Gozu – Gozu VI
Genre: Stoner rock/metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: I’m so happy that there are bands out there like Gozu to prove that stoner rock is more than just half-humorous southern grooves set to rock ‘n’ roll rhythms. Unlike last week’s Restless Spirit, this stands more firmly on the hard rock side, but knows how to bring the heaviness when a bit of headbanging is called for. While not a conceptual-feeling album, it’s also not straightforward. It visits doom, heavy metal, sludge, alternative and progressive hard rock, but also never letting its groovy motor choke.
Personally I find myself losing focus a couple of times as they let the energy wane, and not all of their hooks and melodies are quite strong enough to quickly pull me back in. But If you’re looking for semi-heavy crunch with strong writing, that dares to lean outside the box now and then, then look no further.Highlights: “Corinthian Leatherface” and “Corvette Summer”
Lorn – Searing Blood
Genre: Atmospheric black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: With this Italian black metal project you get both jarring dissonance, progressive structural shifts and atmospheric melody that is both ethereal in feel and electronic in execution. These different sides to the music don’t clash as mush as they are allotted their separate spaces, which makes the experience a bit jumbled.
Tonally and technically, this is very clearly stark black metal, but it’s reaching for depths of expression that the aforementioned elements help it reach. On an album level it’s perhaps not joined together in the most elegant or cohesive way, but if you don’t mind the shifts in personality this is absolutely a characterful offering that suggests a very interesting direction for the band.
Highlight: “Gallows”
Periphery – A Pale White Dot
Genre: Progressive djent/metalcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: I wouldn’t normally use “djent” as a subgenre term, but given the title of the band’s last album, I feel (once again) strangely compelled. On their latest non-numbered release, Periphery take a partial break from progressive complexity in order to better flex their stylistic range. The album encompasses everything from straight pop to symphonic deathcore, and for the most part the guys can’t help themselves but throw in a few dissonant chugs here and there and massively crank up the aggression to go with them.
So what this album does well is variation, and calling it unoriginal would be unfair. But at the same time, for significant parts of the album, it feels like the band taking a bit of a breather, not underperforming, but far from pushing their songwriting capabilities. And that’s okay. It’s not gonna win prog album of the year, but it plays around with expectations while delivering plenty of technical excellence and strong melody.Highlight: “Malevolent”
Pro-Pain – Stone Cold Anger
Genre: Hardcore/groove metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: If you’re craving some good old-fashioned coarse-groove hardcore, then you’ll be delighted at the return of NY’s Pro-Pain. This thing delivers exactly what it says on the tin from the very first second, and apart from a a small influx of melody it doesn’t veer from the path. I’m not gonna hold it too hard against it, but rhythm wise it’s pretty damn dull, and conceptually there are absolutely no surprises. It makes up for it with punk attitude and chunky riffs, and if that’s enough for you then by all means dig in and have your fill.
Tyrannus – Mournhold
Genre: Black/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: It’s such a great feeling when a band you have no real expectations for proceed to bitch slap your blasé face, take you by the ear and pull you into a fresh musical landscape the like of which you didn’t realize how much you were ready to embrace. On the surface, this Scottish gang might strike you as straight-up blackened thrash metal with a bit of death metal monstrosity latched on, and not much else. But keep listening and they’ll keep showing new sides to themselves. There’s a whole underbelly of gothic-ish melody with a bit of a spacey feel to it, and it expands their style beyond the expected speed riff bad-assery.
But even as they build on their core sound, they never forget about the thrashing, bitter-tinged, rebellious energy that’s actually driving the music. Again and again they reach new highs of energetic, solo-tastic coolness reminiscent of Hellripper and Midnight, and it’s done with a highly convincing level of enthusiasm. Some of the slower, doom-leaning sections don’t quite hit as hard, but I think that with a bit more maturity we will see them nail these as well.Highlights: “Seize the Stars” and “Reignfall”
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
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Weekly Rundown May 08 – 2026
Reviews of metal albums released May 02 – May 08
This week doesn’t hold back for a single second, throwing both surprises, affirmations and unexpected changes your way.
Darkthrone – Pre-Historic Metal
Genre: Heavy/black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: You can’t really accuse Darkthrone of not evolving their sound, because even as they seem to be mining the same primitive black metal ore as they did thirty years ago, the way they refine it is never quite the same. On the surface it might seem like we’re getting more of the same doomy, eccentric-occult proto-black metal as on 2022’s “Astral Fortress” and 2024’s “It Beckons Us All”, but just like those two were quite different in execution, so is this.
At its core it’s crunchy, riff-driven, mid-to-low tempo old school heavy metal, but with that unmistakable nihilistic tone to it. The production is suitably low-fi, but managing a more-than-decent low end heft this time around. It allows for a bit of punchy groove, while retaining the “secretly recorded in an abandoned warehouse basement” feel. It’s not quite the focused riff worship that I had hoped for given the name, and will divide the listener base on the perception of its stylistic charm, but has the band realizing what’s clearly been a very distinct vision for the album.Highlight: “They Found One Of My Graves”
Draconian – In Somnolent Ruin
Genre: Doom/gothic metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: You can forget about cheering up for the next hour if you decide to undertake this sonic journey. On their eighth full-length, Swedish long-going band Draconian fully embrace the doom side of their sound. This is very much in the vein of My Dying Bride, only perhaps a bit less miserable, a tad more “big” and epic, and a reserve of aggressive heaviness that actually borders death doom. Dark emotions are described with melancholy, gothic beauty, very much as you would expect from a band that dress like elves at a Victorian funeral.
Shocking absolutely no one, it’s an album that likes to take its time, and for the most part it’s a sublime thing to listen to, with excellent fullness, clarity and melodic impact. But if you’ve listened a bit to this kind of stuff before, you’re gonna end up finding a lot of similarities to comparable bands. And it does drag a fair bit at times, not helped by the addition of a 2,5 minute interlude, on an album that’s already packed with atmosphere. However, the different moods and levels of intensity are blended together masterfully, making for a near-impeccable listening flow.
Highlights: “The Monochrome Blade” and “Cold Heavens”
Eradikated – Wiring Of Violence
Genre: Thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: Swedish thrashers Eradikated pour on all the traditional ingredients on their sophomore full-length. Versatile rhythms, banger-friendly chug sections, ripping solos and political commentary. If you’re looking for youthful energy mixed with technical precision and true genre adoration, look no further for a great time. If you apply a more critical mindset though, you’ll probably find it a bit lacking in ferocity and originality. I’d love to see them take this pleasing basis and run wild with it, discovering a more distinct voice of their own.
Highlight: “British Petroleum”
A Forest Of Stars – Stack Overflow In Corpse Pile Interface
Genre: Avant-garde black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5Review: If you’ve never come across this British vaguely-black-metal band before, then best prepare yourself for an experience unlike anything else. This is violin-accompanied, lightly surrealist, dark contemporary art theater in sonic form. At once manic and composed, you’re presented with a rhythmically stable, beautifully melodic sound that flows steadily and shifts organically, with a half-spoken, highly dramatized vocal performance that radiates unhinged conviction.
As a black metal album, it’s far from the heaviest or most aggressive. Expectations of classic, technical genre traits must be abandoned. But the misanthropic mood is certainly there, and at times you’re taken aback by the unsettling force of it, not too different from that achieved by Blut Aus Nord. It doesn’t always manage the big, majestic turns as well as the smaller, understated ones, and overall I’m missing a bit of hair-raising grandeur, which I’m sure it could accommodate. But take it for what it is, and it will transport you far, far off the overtrodden center path and into the rarely imagined.
Highlights: “Street Level Vertigo” and “Roots Circle Usurpers”.
Frozen Soul – No Place Of Warmth
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: For an album called “No Place Of Warmth”, by a band called “Frozen Soul”, this is a decidedly toasty-sounding collection of death metal. In contrast to 2023’s “Glacial Domination” the Texans have stuffed in as much low-end boom as can possibly fit, to the point where, if you’re listening through particularly bass-accentuating headphones or speakers, it might get downright distracting. This is the band consciously charting a middle way between the old and new school of death metal, with both rusty, rotting morbidity and modern slam and breakdowns.
Fortunately, it does not come off as a calculated affair, and despite the typical “new band growing fast” antics of piling on guest performers, the album is saved from the whiff of poserdom by simply being damn cool. It clocks in at just over an ideal 35 minutes runtime, and has tracks as short as 53 seconds that go just as heavy as the rest, if not more. It’s also genuinely, straightforwardly and pleasingly brutal in that caveman manner that will excuse it pretty much anything. So unless you’re allergic to anything sounding post 90s, you’ll likely dig it.
Highlights: “Invoke War” and “Eyes of Despair”
IATT – Etheric Realms Of The Night
Genre: Progressive extreme metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: 2022’s “Magnum Opus” made some waves in the prog metal community, and rightly so. But now, four years later, can the band top their self-declared masterpiece? IATT is an indulgent kind of band, hovering around the spheres of black- and death metal and going, seemingly, wherever strikes them at any given moment. This is not the kind of album where you can expect an even flow. Mood, tone and instrumental approach can shift at a moment’s notice, and only a vague sense of direction is left as a guide.
This doesn’t fall into the category of “unhinged” prog, but it’s certainly exploratory to the degree that you feel like they’re making it up as they go. For my taste it’s too broken up, feeling fragmented rather than complex. But if you’re happy to let your prog take you through a labyrinth of unexpected impressions, then this will likely be just the kind of challenge that will tickle your brain in all the right spots.Highlights: “Somniphobia” and “Walk Amongst”
Ingested – Denigration
Genre: Brutal death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: Full disclosure – my introduction to Ingested was their 2022 album “Ashes Lie Still”, and I absolutely loved it. Turns out, I loved it for pretty much all the things that the band figured “Denigration” could do without. This is a full-on return to their slamming origins, shedding pretty much any notion of melody, groove and technical complexity. Does that make it more focused? Absolutely. Does it also make them sound exactly like three dozen other, unimaginative bands in the same niche? Unfortunately, yes. It’s heavy as fuck, but not in any way that leaves a lasting impact.
Jungle Rot – Cruel Face Of War
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Alright, if for at least a single release this week you’re hoping for the reassurance of genre faithfulness and relative predictability, then Jungle Rot are your guys. Active since 1992 and now on their 12th full-length album, the band are in no hurry to reinvent the formula. Like with the war machine that’s become the album’s actual cruel face, the intention here is grim, dependable, no-prisoners destruction.
The album feels rigid, with a clear set of objectives in mind. The thrashy, Sodom-reminiscent savagery is present, but not in the driving seat. It feels well-practiced at this point, and more than a few tracks land with a fairly by-the-numbers impact. The urgency is indeed lacking. At the same time it oozes malevolent groove, and the bad-assery of its abundant mid-tempo riffs cannot be denied.Highlight: “Apocalyptic Dawn”
Lyrre – Nothing Is Promised
Genre: Folk metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Strongly featuring the hurdy-gurdy will earn you a “medieval” trait in most people’s book, and that is certainly not to the detriment of Polish band Lyrre. Founded by ex-Eluveitie player Michalina Malisz, the band opts for an epic but fairly grounded sound, bringing to mind the perspective of a low-flying bird sweeping across misty forest landscapes.
It’s a strongly melodic kind of folk metal, but quite understated in comparison to some of the more symphonic or rowdy projects out there. At times it’s probably a bit too laid back, coasting on lazy rhythms and the effortless beauty of the vocals. But it’s also not overstated or tacky in any way, so feels a lot more genuine than most of its peers.
Highlight: “Still Human”
Panopticon – Det Hjemsøkte Hjertet
Genre: Atmospheric black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: Minnesota’s Panopticon is back with another mammoth undertaking of atmospheric black metal that sounds like it’s been crafted solely by elements found in the arctic wilderness. “Det Hjemsøkte Hjertet” (the haunted heart) joins typical folk elements like the use of violin, rousing rhythms and vibrant melodies with the obligatory cold harshness of the subgenre, giving you both the sun-bathed clearings and shadowy forest depths of northern winter.
This is just as mystical and multifaceted as you would hope it to be. It’s not looking to challenge you with abrupt rhythm changes or huge shifts in mood, and yet it feels like it travels a vast distance, braving bitter elements as well as basking in the full marvel of a living nature. It’s long, yes, but only very rarely does it feel dragged out, and offers so much more than the typical examples of the subgenre.
Highlights: “The Great Silence, Extinct” and “A Culture of Wilderness”
Restless Spirit – Restless Spirit
Genre: Stoner/doom metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: Let’s be real, the stoner/doom niche isn’t exactly one of the more innovative spheres of the metal realm. Throw on a wooly mammoth theme, crank the fuzz and set off at a lazy pace across imagined, warm-toned moonlit desert dunes while projecting psychedelic imagery, and you’ve pretty much nailed it. But the cool part of dealing with such obvious stereotypes is that defying them in only a few key areas will clearly set you apart. For Restless Spirit that means breaking through the smoke haze and delivering their groove with clarity and persistent energy.
On their fourth, self-titled release, we find them loaded with heavy metal adventurousness and melodic potency, while retaining classic doom heaviness and stoner cool, with a killer vocal performance. Effortlessly circumventing tropes, you still get an excellent balance of dynamic, even mildly complex rhythms, and straightforwardly engaging riffs. While not revolutionary in any way, it’s going all in on what makes the band both exciting and reliable.
Highlights: “The Burning Need” and “Desolation’s Wake”
Voidthrone – Dreaming Rat
Genre: Experimental black/death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: If you ever wondered what it would feel like to have a rat burrow its way into your brain, this might be as close as you can get to the sonic equivalent. Voidthrone is one of those bands that aim for the opposite of listener friendliness, which often results in some nightmarish form of death doom. This, however, doesn’t have anything near that kind of patience. What you get is a form of completely insane blackened death metal that would no doubt somehow manage to eat its way out of its padded cell.
There’s a raw fury to the album that’s only held back by its own, easily distracted form of madness, that has it shifting pace at a moment’s notice and jumping between dissonance, unnerving atmosphere and punishing riff assaults. On top is a vocal performance straight out of Satan’s mental ward, that moves between brutal-style gurgles, banshee shrieks, maniacal cackling and several other steps in between effortlessly. Boy have you got to be in the mood for this one, but if you are, then it might very well blow your mind.
Highlight: “I-I. Bergen” and “I-III. First Blood”
Yoth Iria – Gone With The Devil
Genre: Melodic black/gothic metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Greek melodic black metal band Yoth Iria are back and looking to make a statement. That statement being “WE WANT TO GET NOTICED!”. “Gone With The Devil” marks a significant turn from their cold, aggressive and menacingly atmospheric past into something far more (yes, I’m gonna say it) accessible. Don’t get me wrong, the vocals are still (fairly) snarly, and the guitars are still distorted, but the weight of extremity has all but evaporated. Add to that a worrying amount of filler-grade material and a full-on fantasy video game cover, and thing’s aren’t looking good.
But hold on. At its best the songwriting really is premium, and so are the performances. Yes, the danger has gone, but it’s still a darkly rousing, engrossing experience saturated with strong melody and a fair bit of heavy metal charm. I still think they can do far better in this slightly tamed-down version of themselves, but for all the new fans they are guaranteed to make, there is little doubt that they are fully able to improve.
Highlight: “The Blind Eye of Antichrist”
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
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Weekly Rundown May 01 – 2026
Reviews of metal albums released April 25 – May 01
A for the most part heavy ass week that draws on the eternal, blood-red wellspring of death metal for its displays of neck-snapping displeasure.
Ashen Horde – The Harvest
Genre: Progressive death/black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: Ashen Horde are a band that clearly don’t want you to care too hard which camp of extreme metal they actually belong to. Both tech death and progressive black metal are clearly present, but then they throw in some avant-garde-like clean sections here and there that break up the flow and drastically shifts the tone. It’s technically competent as all hell, and not without strong sections, but overall it’s quite unclear whether there was any sort of cohesive idea for the album from the onset.
Cage Fight – Exuvia
Genre: Groove metal/hardcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Originally a thrashy, metallic hardcore band, Cage Fight make a bit of a departure on their sophomore full-length. I’d say that they’re now competing with bands like Lamb of God and Bleed From Within for level of groove, and is much closer to a metalcore band like Employed to Serve in their use of melody than a heavy hardcore band like Terror. It’s more versatile, slicker, more willing to dip into trendy traits like deathcore breakdowns, slams and pig squeal vocals. Does that mean it’s no longer good?
No, for what it is, this new direction of the band still packs a punch. It’s aggressive, highly energetic and avoiding getting stuck in mires of sappy emotion. It’s basically the same octagon warrior – super fit and lethal if you underestimate it – just with a more developed fashion sense. The rhythms get a bit predictable and stale at times, killing off some of the ferocity, but, even so, most of the songs have no trouble standing out. The gloves are firmly on, but this fighter will still give you a concussion if you don’t keep your guard up.
Highlight: “Pig”
Cognizance – In Light, No Shape
Genre: Technical death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Much like on 2024’s “Phantazein”, which I needed a little time to let grow on me, “In Light, No Shape” is not the kind of tech death that slaps you in the face with its exuberance. Again, this is closer to melodeath and progressive death metal than the inhuman speed extremes of the likes of Archspire or The Zenith Passage. The rhythms are still complicated, but in a way that makes the average listener more able to appreciate the thinking behind it.
While it feels more organic and approachable, it also feels a bit monochromatic in terms of mood, and it’s not the kind of album where you easily tell most of the tracks apart. Instead, you get moments as part of a cohesive listening experience that feels like you’re following the same agile beast on its exploratory way through the gloom. There are pauses and events along the way that provide spice and variation, but it’s all tackled with more or less the same demeanor. This is still a compelling and highly competent alternative to its more hyperactive subgenre peers, that rewards attention and multiple listens.
Highlight: “Witness Marks”
Creeping Flesh – God’s Acres Rife with Flesh Adorned
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: Creeping Flesh join the ranks of rumbling, crunchy Swedish death metal that feel like it’s got the power to wring the top off mountains. On this album they’re heading down a doomy path of crawling pace and hydraulic press momentum. It’s heavy as all hell, but also far from the most engaging of its sort.
Devenial Verdict – Old Blood – Fresh Wounds
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Finnish band Devenial Verdict are quickly becoming one of the most-reviewed bands here on The Metal Dispatch thanks to their steady release frequency and consistent quality. Each album so far has seen a slightly different iteration of the band, but the core ingredients of aggressive, meaty death metal still remain. Sticking to the bread and butter of the genre has never been enough for these guys, and on “Old Blood – Fresh Wounds” we get a kind of groove-centric, moderately progressive iteration of their style. The production is warm and massively full, like a colossal sand dune toppling over you.
The guys like to play around with dissonance, and while it’s still present, it feels scaled back in favor of head-on beastly heaviness and Gojira-like prog-groove techniques. There’s a bit less melody and overall variety than on 2024’s “Blessing of Despair”, but it makes up for it with a touch of death doom ominousness and a never-ending supply of earth-shaking riffs.
Highlights: “Elysium” and “The Corinthian”
In Malice’s Wake – The Profound Darkness
Genre: Thrash/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Sometimes you just want your thrash metal to grow spikes out of its spine and rip your head off. Australian band In Malice’s Wake do indeed sound like there’s been some underworldly soul bargaining going on during the recording process. “The Profound Darkness” plays very much like regular mid-to-high-tempo thrash metal, but there’s a raging hellfire burning underneath it all. Every part of the performances has an extra level of infernal muscle behind it, raising the threat level far beyond your average shred fest.
This thing is all menace, almost like it delights in it. A fair bit of the time, that means it loses sight of the pedal-to-the-metal fun factor that is so important for thrash to feel vital. Instead you get growling, hellhound bloodthirst that does occasionally explode into a focused frenzy, looking to devour you with one of several snapping maws.
Highlight: “By Tongues of Demons”
Lair Of The Minotaur – I Hail I
Genre: Sludge/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: How about some Black Label Society-like doomy groove mixed with sludge hostility and crunchy thrash riffs? On “I Hail I”, Lair Of The Minotaur take on the mentality of classic Swedish death metal in their mix of pleasing, riff-driven badassery with skull-collecting monstrous malice.
It’s not what you would call a dynamic record, with many of the songs sticking to the same riff-and-rhythm formula throughout their runtime. But the uncompromising, near-industrial heaviness and locked-in, murderous mood hit you so square in the face that you’re left with lasting imprints of the song identities whether you like it or not. It’s an album that forces you to dig it through sheer force.Highlight: “Prowler Twin SIster”
Spell – Wretched Heart
Genre: Heavy/gothic metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: Reviewing Spell’s 2022 release “Tragic Magic” I likened their sound to that of early Ghost, and I’ll repeat that sentiment for “Wretched Heart”. What truly sets them apart is their gothic-romantic approach to melody and synth-powered atmosphere, with more than a few nods to cheeky glam ballads. They cover it with a light layer of tomb flower morbidity and mostly stay within a classic, slow-tempo heavy metal instrumental realm, which produces some delicious solos and driving riffs.
The energy you get from this iteration of Spell is all costumed charm and no heft. In fact, the whole thing feels rather feeble. But the delicate frailness is part of the album’s character. It’s the kind of sound you absorb for the vampiric, mansion-dwelling daydream factor. And it delivers this immersion almost impeccably.
Highlights: “Unquiet Graves” and “Wretched Heart”
Venom – Into Oblivion
Genre: Blackened speed/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5Review: Here’s the one half of Venom that got to keep the unaltered band name, back with more unholiness forty-five years after the legendary debut album “Welcome To Hell”. In this day and age, what you’re getting is a kind of darkened heavy/speed metal with steadfast rhythms and the kind of “metal is religion” approach to lyrics that you’d expect from a band that’s looking nowhere but backwards. Yes, there are a few pretty cool riffs and solos on here, but for the most part it’s a fairly stiff and lukewarm affair with a wooly production.
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
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Weekly Rundown April 24 – 2026
Reviews of metal albums released April 18 – April 24
A week of double farewells, a return to form and assurances that the spirit of dark innovation and heaviness will live on.
Armed For Apocalypse – The Earth Is Breathing Beneath Me
Genre: Sludge metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Apparently you’ve been bad, ’cause it’s time for a sonic beating. Armed For Apocalypse are a sludge band in deep worship of the sledgehammer riff, and guess what? You’re the recipient. On their third full-length they shed a good deal of the groove that made 2022’s “Ritual Violence” such a banger-friendly beast, and they have replaced it with a doom-oriented, morose kind of mood that gives the crushing heaviness an almost cruel quality.
There are still a good few instances of hardcore and grindcore ferocity to spice things up, but overall it’s a more serious-feeling album that seems to delight a bit too much in oppressiveness. It didn’t need to slow things down to be heavy, and some energy is lost in the process. Still, it’s far from stale, and just as relentless as you’d expect sludge of this caliber to be.Highlights: “FISTS LIKE FEATHERS” and “LOST WITHOUT A LIGHT”
At The Gates – The Ghost Of A Future Dead
Genre: Melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 5/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5Review: Sigh… Writing this review feels a bit like writing a eulogy, but I’ll try to not make it read like that. At the Gates are back for a final time with their fourth album post 1995’s legendary “Slaughter of the Soul”, after reforming in 2010, and it’s their eighth full-length overall. On it you get a lot of the fairly solemn melody of 2021’s “The Nightmare Of Being”, but with the aggression turned way up and the thrashy groove and clarity of 2014’s “At War With Reality” returned. At the same time the variety and depth of the songwriting is the best it’s been in this modern era of the band, and there’s a fierceness and deft technicality in the performances that makes it feel almost youthful. There’s hardly a single track on here that in itself couldn’t make the argument for this band’s legendary status.
Objectively, this is a seriously strong Swedish old school melodeath album that’s not really trying to do anything but put the band’s subgenre-shaping stylistic essence on full display. Subjectively though, this is a gift that shakes the core. It’s the kind of album where you don’t want to let the last track play till the end, because then it would feel like a conclusion. The final conclusion. Alright, screw the “no eulogy” thing. RIP Tomas Lindberg.Highlights: “The Fever Mask” and “Tomb of Heaven”
Atreyu – The End Is Not The End
Genre: Metalcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: Full disclosure, I was pretty into Atreyu’s brand of melodic metalcore back in the day, at least post their emo-laden beginning. But after 2007’s “Lead Sails Paper Anchor” my taste migrated towards heavier things, and I stopped paying attention. Brief re-visits through albums released in the wake of vocalist Alex Varkatzas’ departure did very little to rekindle my interest. But that changes with “The End is Not the End”. I won’t say that it’s a return to the early days, ’cause it’s not, but it feels like the creative energy is back.
The songs are unapologetically melodic, but there’s heaviness as well, and not the staccato, djent-obsessed stuff that’s been the fashion for the last few years. The band stick to their guns and prioritize groove and memorable songwriting. And it really works. There are a few songs that feel a bit too slick and by-the-numbers, but they are outnumbered by the really fun and energetic ones.Highlights: “Death Rattle” and “Ego Death”
Aversio Humanitatis – To Become the Endless Static
Genre: Atmospheric black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5Review: I’m not saying that this is what I wanted the new Gaerea album to sound like, but I am saying that (at least to me) it would have been a far more interesting way for them to evolve their sound. This is Spanish band Aversio Humanitatis’ third full-length in 15 years, so we can assume that they put some real thought into their compositions. This becomes evident anyway, as you get sucked into their dense, all-encompassing soundscape like a leaf into a cyclone. Inside rages a mighty gale made up of thundering riffs, an earthquake-level bass rumble and a colossus’ howl of a vocal performance, sweeping along with it great masses of semi-dissonant melody.
The tone is predictably dark and speaks of debilitating madness and suffering. This point is made early on, and I find myself wanting a bit more nuance and contrast towards the end of the album. But the fact that they’ve managed to compress such a monumental expression into a sub-35 minute runtime is pretty phenomenal, and keeps you from getting completely worn out. Seriously impressive stuff.
Highlights: “Long Stretch the Shadows” and “Blackened Mold Marrow”
Blood Countess – Imperatrix Sanguinis
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: This is a black metal band that’s out for blood. You get non-stop hostility and harshness apart from a 2-minute spooky interlude, with little interest shown towards melody or atmosphere. There are some cool thrash-like riffs in here as well, but they’re unfortunately mostly swallowed up in the mix. A little short on character, but full of sadistic energy.
Cnoc An Tursa – A Cry for the Slain
Genre: Melodic black/folk metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: This Scottish band grab a hold of you with bony talons and dive straight into a world of epic, Celtic legend. This isn’t your typical Finnish-style, tankard-clanking, synth-infused solo fest of a folk sound, though. There’s a somber mood to the music, as it conveys lamentations from, and longing evocations of, a long lost time. All of this is carried on the back of hot-tempered yet melodic black metal with some classic heavy metal thrown in there to dampen the bitterness.
The immersion is great and the music itself quite engaging. It’s not the most distinct thing you’ll ever hear in terms of traditional influences, and its atmospheric tendencies do kind of dampen its aggressive energy overall. But the passion feels genuine, and they more than justify their stance on keeping their blackened folk metal serious rather than flippant.Highlight: “Cailleach and The Guardians of The Seven Stones”
Scimitar – Scimitarium II
Genre: Heavy/black/gothic metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: Scimitar’s full-length debut “Scimitarium I” was a bit of an underground darling last year, but I unfortunately missed out on it completely. No worries, as the Danes are already back with the follow-up. For those still unfamiliar, this is blackened heavy metal that sounds like it’s being played in a cult’s secret hideout in some forgotten underground bunker.
There is very little about this that’s conventional, and yet I wouldn’t go so far as to call it progressive. The woe-stricken vocal style and tone provide a strong gothic flair, and there are absolutely gloomy atmospheric tendencies present, but for the most part the guitars and drums run wild on intense, speedy charges. They balance dissonance with ripping riffs and wicked lead guitar work, and occasionally focus their aggression into peaks of black metal harshness. It takes a bit of getting used to, and won’t necessarily be for fans of more classic, blackened thrash or speed riffing. But if you’re into bands doing their own thing, then you shouldn’t hesitate to jump on board.Highlights: “A Reverence Warning” and “Mobula Mobular”
Sepultura – The Cloud Of Unknowing (EP)
Genre: Groove/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: I don’t tend to review EPs for Metal Dispatch, but when a band like Sepultura decide to call it a career, you grab onto whatever they give you. “The Cloud of Unknowing” is a fairly brief experience that, a bit like 2020’s “Quadra” showcases the band from four different sides. You get all-out thrashing, calmer, ballad-like melody, progressive tribal aggression and slow-building groove with a hard hitting finish. It’s all well made, but there’s not all that much more to say about it, honestly. Nothing mind-blowing, but I’m very glad they go out with a short bang rather than try to drag out a full-length just for the sake of it.
Highlight: “All Souls Rising”
Six Feet Under – Next To Die
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: Here we are again with another Six Feet Under album, and as usual reviewing it is a big question of what to prioritize. Clear improvements have been made since last time in terms of production, and if you’re on the lookout for uncomplicated old school death groove, there’s plenty to be found. The album cover is also pretty cool. Chris Barnes’ vocals are just as (severely) stunted, but he’s staying more in his range. But the good things are outweighed by some laughably bad stuff (chief among which are the whisper-vocals on “Ill Wishes”), and overall it’s almost entirely devoid of enthusiasm and originality. Still, there are some actual traces of irony, and general lack of seriousness, which is how it should (and needs) to be at this stage with these old timers.
Volcandra – Beyond The Will Of Mortals
Genre: Melodic black/death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: Volcandra quickly became one of my favorite melodic black metal bands with the 2022 EP “Border World” and 2024’s full-length “The Way of Ancients”. Their video game references are what pulled me in, and their playful attitude to songwriting is what made me stay. On “Beyond The Will Of Mortals” the band leave the references be and seek to carve out a dark fantasy realm of their own.
Their mix of epic melody with black metal sharpness and death metal force is just as strong as before, and they add to it with high energy thrash and a touch of heavy metal adventurousness. The mood swings between borderline bleakness and jolliness, which might be a bit too much for some, and I wish they would be a bit more consistent with their stylistic traits. But once you finish you’re left with the feeling of having been part of a grand tale.
Highlights: “Marauders of the Cosmic Vortex” and “Venom Marsh Enchantress”
Xorsist – Aberrations
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: Did someone order classic Swedish death metal? As far as I’m concerned this stuff should always be on the menu for when you inevitably get that specific craving. Xorsist deliver the goods with a dark, doom-like tone that sends your mind straight to the graveyard. There are absolutely crunchy grooves and evil guitar solos to be found on here, but it’s more about straight savagery and gloom than crowd pleasing, this one.
At times that makes it fall in between two chairs, as they seem to build up to these massive moments of headbanging heaven, only to subvert expectations. And it does start to drag a bit towards the end. But that original, vicious spirit is there, which elevates it above the run-of-the-mill.Highlight: “Faceless”
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
albums, armed for apocalypse, At The Gates, Atreyu, Aversio Humanitatis, black metal, Cnoc An Tursa, death metal, grindcore, groove metal, metal, metal albums out this week, new metal releases, new releases, progressive metal, review, Scimitar, Sepultura, six feet under, thrash metal, volcandra, Xorsist -
Weekly Rundown April 17 – 2026
Reviews of metal albums released April 11 – April 17
It’s a week for fresh and emerging bands that still manage to sound like they’ve spent a lifetime on the scene.
(From last, last week) Bragging Rights – A Comedy Divine
Genre: Progressive sludge/groove metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: I’ve a shoutout to make from a couple of weeks back that I was too disorganized to review in time for its actual release date. Continuing steady on the same trajectory as last year’s “Carpe Jugulum”, this is early Gojira (although I’ll insist I can hear some “Magma”- and “Fortitude”-stuff in there this time) style dark prog metal that’s sludge-d, and also kind of doom-ed, down to an even, crushing pace propelled by balled-fist anger.
My main critique is that there’s not a lot of development going on from start to finish in many of the songs, so you’re locked in to the same kind of mood and rhythm for fairly long stretches. But it’s also full of hard hitting moments, especially in the second half, so well worth checking out if my initial description intrigued you.
Doodswens – Doodswens
Genre: Black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: The sophomore release by three-piece Dutch black metal band Doodswens (death wish) takes you to a place where suffering is both expected and accepted. That’s not saying that it’s the sort of black metal that’s physically painful to listen to, but it invokes the feelings of being trapped in the darkness, addressing the different shades of agony that is your only companion.
The album deals with this through expressing wrath, bitterness and anguish through both vocals and instruments, delivering both full-on aggression with wicked riff assaults and more restrained, slow burn stewing. Compelling stuff that I hope can keep evolving into something even more distinct.Highlight: “Driven by Death”
Draken – Here Be Draken
Genre: Stoner metal/rock
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Here’s some genre bending stoner metal from Norway. Saying that you’re in for a bit of a trip and a truly diverse experience should be taken as me saying it’s really exciting and unconventional within reason, and not as a suggestion that this is some incoherent super-proggy whack-job.
The trio that is Draken utilize tons of spritely desert groove, some sludge and hardcore aggression, a bit of psychedelic and doom mood-altering, and plenty of heavy rock get-up-and-go-ness. The variety is great, and the creative effort both inspiring and engaging. The flow through the album becomes a bit tumultuous, as you get pulled in quite a few different directions, but at least to me that’s a big part of its charm.
Highlights: “Jólablót” and “Of Demise and Men”
Infestuous – Unfathomable Mutagenic Abominations
Genre: Technical death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Imagine the head-spider from “The Thing” on cocaine and flitting rabidly around biting and snarling at people while foaming copiously at the mouth, and that you’re watching it all played back at 3x speed. That pretty much sums up this brutal-style tech death debut album from Infestuous.
The duo behind the madness are usually preoccupied in The Black Dahlia Murder and Doctor Smoke, so you know there’s some talent involved, which becomes evident anyway if you just play the album. There are traces of melody and quite a few really clever rhythm transitions that took me by surprise, elevating it well beyond a randomly chaotic gore slinger. There’s definitely room for a lot more personality, but this is a solid starting point.Highlight: “Palace of Rot”
The Last Ten Seconds Of Life – The Dead Ones
Genre: Deathcore
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: The latest from these deathcore stompers is monumentally heavy, as you would expect, but judging by the way it moves I’d say that far from all of this heaviness is attained though muscle growth. It feels lumbering, dragging its boated mass along and occasionally rolling down a hill, as gravity would be the only thing capable of speeding it up. It’s pretty rad when it does, although painfully predictable rest of the time.
The Moon And The Nightspirit – Seed of the Formless
Genre: Melodic folk/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: A gothic-tinged, mildly progressive and silkily melodic kind of sound that exists vaguely inside a doom realm, but demonstrates too much flexibility and verve to be tied down to any one subgenre. There are dark trickles of black metal every now and then, but the vocals are mostly serenely beautiful, hovering between sadness and hopefulness. They do best in the middle of the extremes of aggression and solemnity, where the passion rolls steadily like waves and currents.
It fizzes out a bit towards the end, but there’s a good amount of energy further back, in between the calmer sections. Definitely one to get lost in.Highlight: “Astromorphosis”
Ordh – Blind In Abyssal Realms
Genre: Progressive death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: Progressive death is an exciting niche these days, as it attracts a lot of really creative talent, and can surf on the wave of the massive OSDM resurgence. It’s challenging both for the artists and the listeners, but the guys in Ordh seem to have got it right from the start. Not that they’re newbie musicians or anything, but the formula for this swirling vortex of chugging riffs, semi-dissonant melody and atmospheric doom feels like it must have taken quite a bit of consideration to nail down.
At its best it builds organically to spine chilling highs, delivering both savagery and complex technicality with a warm yet space-y kind of vibe holding it all together. Other times it gets quite lost going on curious tangents, and at the end I’m actually left wishing for a more bone-jarring impact. Still, mighty impressive stuff.Highlights: “Apis Bull” and “Blind in Abyssal Realms”
Pilori – Sans Adieu
Genre: Black metal/hardcore/grindcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Pilori is a French mostly black metal project that uses hardcore and grindcore ferocity to spice things up, with a bit of death heft to add to the impact. They strike an appealing balance between catchy, aggressive riffage and hooded atmospheric skulking in the shadows. A few of the songs feel a bit too similar, and overall I could have wished for bigger contrasts and more intensity, but it’s nonetheless a hard hitting and coherent album.
Highlight: “Lèse Majesté”
Reeking Aura – On The Promise Of The Moon
Genre: Progressive/melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: Reeking Aura’s brand of death metal isn’t progressive to the same degree that this week’s Ordh release is, but like a mycelium network it’s spread out beyond the controllable confines of the core subgenre and established connections with its neighbors. There’s a strong influx of insidious-toned melodeath, a bit of atmosphere and, to counter it, a good deal of brutal-style rhythm work and old school technicality. They weave it all together into a truly compelling whole that’s frankly unlike anything I’ve ever heard before, adding new layers and showing new sides of themselves pretty much every step of the way.
Although the vocals are, overall, quite versatile, they are also my main issue with the album, as the predominant style is the kind of unintelligible kitchen sink gurgle that could be fine poetry or a toad burping for all you know. I’ll likely never get the appeal, but that’s a personal problem. Even if you’re of the same opinion, you shouldn’t let it stop you from checking this out, as you’ll be missing out on a whole heap of excellence.Highlights: “What Only Worms Witness” and “Sifting for Fungal Inheritance (A Mildewy, Acrid Mulch”
Sabiendas – Puppeteer Of Doom
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: Straight up, nasty death metal from these Germans, delighting in the subgenre’s most classic thematic realm of visceral horror. What you’re in for is a steady parade of headbanger-friendly riffs, pummeling drums and serrated vocals. The menace is ever-present, the energy level is just right, and the balance between savagery and groove works very well. Production wise it lacks a bit of edge and force, and creatively it’s no revelation. Just good ‘ol ear candy for the morbidly inclined.
Highlight: “Freak of Nature”
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
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Weekly Rundown April 10 – 2026
Reviews of metal albums released April 04 – April 10
Death metal seems to have staged a coup this week, as it’s broken out of the obscure shadows and into dominating positions in the headlines.
Archspire – Too Fast To Die
Genre: Technical death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: There must be some significant pressure for bands that are talked about in the music community as “the heaviest”, “the most brutal”, “the most evil”, and, in the case of Archspire, “the fastest”, to keep outdoing themselves. Thankfully, at least to me, that’s not become an all-encompassing obsession on “Too Fast To Die”, contrary to what the title might lead you to expect. In fact, the title track is among the furthest from crossing into comedy as a result of its pace.
But don’t get me wrong, relentless speed and brain-tenderizing technicality are what we all crave from these guys, and they deliver like an ant hive on Red Bull. Crucially, they’re able to see the silliness in the extreme velocity, and lean into it as a balance to the obvious dedication that’s evident from their super tight and dynamic compositions. There are a few tracks that sound a bit “same old, same old”, but nothing remotely bad, and a good few mind blowing monsters of envelope-pushing tech death.Highlights: “Carrion Ladder” and “The Vessel”
Battlegrave – Enslavement
Genre: Thrash/death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: This one took me by surprise, as I’d never heard of this Australian band before. What comes raging out of the speakers is a hyper aggressive strain of thrash that’s spread well into death metal and its neighboring extreme subgenres. Giving the band’s last, sophomore full-length a quick listen I instantly noted that “Enslavement” is a significant step up in production and tightness of the performances. I hear Scour-like blackgrind, Werewolves-style groove-forward death metal and the kind of deathcore-y tech death you’d expect from a band like Summoning the Lich.
It’s dark, with clear ambitions of expanding into an unsettling horror-themed soundscape. That’s not unwelcome, but ultimately the more atmosphere-loaded tracks in the second half of the album end up pulling in a slightly different direction than the high-energy, adrenaline-fueled tracks you get in the beginning, and so it feels a bit like a veering off from what initially built my enthusiasm. Still, it’s got great energy throughout and radiates a suitably foul mood.Highlights: “Bonesaw” and “The Grand Machine Of Despair”.
Immolation – Descent
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: It’s time for some death metal legends to step back into the spotlight. What’s immediately evident on their 12th full-length is that Immolation is the type of band that faithfully sticks to their core formula while not ignoring advances in production capabilities, and also not looking backwards in terms of technicality. This is a crisp and exceptionally tight sound that also rumbles like the advance of hell’s collected arsenal of siege engines. It knows exactly what it wants to be and doesn’t stray from the path or experiment.
But the guys have also far from given up on trying to impress. They strike a highly mature and confident balance between demanding sonic punishment and infernal groove that sounds well considered and convincingly ominous.Highlights: “Adversary” and “Descent”
Inferi – Heaven Wept
Genre: Technical/melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: This is not gonna be an unique take in the least, but Inferi sound like The Black Dahlia Murder if they decided to openly pursue tech death. In fact, I think that this description is so accurate that if a sufficiently devil-may-care mood struck me on the day, I could leave the entire review at that. But it is not (quite) this day. The band are by no means newcomers, which becomes quite evident from their world-class technicality and ability to write songs compositions that are both impressively complex and accessibly melodic.
My main personal gripe is that even in such an insanely busy album, I’m struggling to find anything that sounds genuinely fresh. It’s fairly loaded with stylistic tropes, particularly in the vocal department. But it’s also effortlessly expansive, and both majestic and sharply aggressive at the same time.Highlight: “Godless Sky” and “The Rapture of Dead Light”
Lord Of The Lost – Opvs Noir Vol. 3
Genre: Atmospheric black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Apparently Lord Of The Lost don’t think that there’s enough gothic metal being made these days (at least not good) and are intent on filling the void, as they’re already back with the third part in their “Opvs Noir” series, with both part 1 and 2 having been released last year. They still sound big, on the verge of symphonic, with the occasional leaning into industrial. Once again there are far too many ballad tracks for my taste, but the writing is mostly really good (although very on the nose), and a couple of the more attitude-laden tracks are probably gonna stick with me for a while.
Highlight: “My Funeral”
MIRE – Pale Reflection
Genre: Groove metal/metalcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: Existing somewhere between the technicality of Sylosis and the catchy groove of Bleed From Within, with the solid melodic sense of both, MIRE has finally followed up their 2021 debut “A New Found Rain”, which I had a pretty good time with. Their sound has been sharpened and added definition, and feels more emotionally charged this time around. There’s a heap of exciting tech-y guitar antics and some really cool riffs, but in the end the overall impression is not that of an inspired writing process, as it feels a bit stiff and unimaginative.
Highlight: “Pale Reflection”
Nukem – The Grave Remains
Genre: Thrash metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: The river of thrash, once nearly run dry, now surges stronger than perhaps ever, and has provided yet another feral, clawing animal of an album, this time from sunny California. Nukem sound as pissed of and impatient as a thrash band should, with strained, shouted vocals (that sound quite a bit like those of Obituary’s John Tardy) and the kind of tone that convinces you there’s plenty in the world to be mad about. They slap you around with savage, charging speed as much as locked-in riff execution, an active, agile bass and some surprisingly melodic solo sections.
Not every track hits quite as hard, but the ones that do really hit the spot. It took 10 years for them to follow up their debut with this. Let’s hope the wind blows in their favor and they get to expand even further on this bangin’ foundation.Highlight: “Torture, Murder, Mutilate!” and “Into the Kill Zone”
Skaphos – The Descent
Genre: Death/black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: EDIT: After publishing this review it came to my attention that this album is in fact a compilation of re-recorded songs from the band’s first two albums. It’s not immediately evident, as they’ve renamed the tracks, and production wise it’s such a massive step up that some of it is hardly recognizable unless you’re already well familiar with their earlier work. In either case, it won’t change my score, but it’s worth keeping in mind that this is actually not original material, and doesn’t necessarily indicate the band’s stylistic trajectory for the future.
Ready for some deep sea terror? Last year’s “Cult of Uzura” was not this French blackened death metal band’s first outing into abyssal dread (it was their third), but it was the first I’d heard of them, and the album made my top 100 list of the year. I found it to be a refreshingly “dangerous”-sounding alternative to the much more by-the-numbers “The Shit of God” released that week by subgenre peers Behemoth. In comparison, “The Descent” feels more cleaned up, technically minded and, dare I say, modern (yuck?).
It doesn’t have the strongest opening tracks, but you quickly get the gist of its theme, and soon you’re being pummeled by unforgiving heaviness, with increasing measures of tribal savagery and atmospheric oppressiveness. I suppose you could say we’re making a… descent… into the realm of unspeakable subsea horror where this band is at its most outstanding, and, whether you like it or not, you’re stuck here for the duration. A little less wild? Sure. Still unsettling and brilliantly punishing? Hell yes. Also, that album art is just perfect.Highlights: “Mireborn” and “Horror Squid”
Spirit Adrift – Infinite Illumination
Genre: Doom/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: For someone who just got into these guys, it’s sad to learn that this will be their last album, as they announced their split-up last month. 2023’s ultra groovy, upbeat and memorably melodic “Ghost At The Gallows” was one of my favorite releases that year. That was the band leaning strongly into the heavy metal iteration of their sound. “Infinite Illumination” sees a significant step back into classic doom, with an accompanying gloomy mood. The riffs are punchier, the tone darker, the tempos slower, and there’s a mournful tinge to Nate Garrett’s vocals.
All that’s not to say that you can’t have fun with it. There’s plenty of groove still, and the solos taste just as sweet. But while the last album felt very in the moment, this sends the mind wandering. It doesn’t have quite the same memorable quality, but functions solidly as both a well-balanced, purposeful heavy/doom album and a full-circle statement.Highlights: “Where Once There Was An Ocean” and “Window Within”
Voidchaser – Interstellar I
Genre: Progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: Voidchaser is a prog metal band that play around in both the accessibly melodic shallows and more extreme deep end of the pool. Most of the time it feel a bit like a space opera that keeps being yanked out of its comfort zone by the pull of black holes, passing through asteroid fields and getting chased by curious and/or hostile alien vessels.
It’s playfully technical and dense with electronic atmosphere rather than being rhythmically challenging, and succeeds in circumventing the most glaring tropes of the subgenre. Melodically it’s a bit uneven, but the nature of it changes so often that missteps are soon forgotten.Highlight: “Welcome to Terra Corp”
Vomitory – In Death Throes
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: Vomitory are here to BLUUURGH! all over your fine senses and hack all your sitting surfaces apart with an axe until you’ve got no other choice but to stand up and headbang your way into the unloving embrace of the firmest chiropractor available. For those unfamiliar, this is a Swedish death metal band blending old school brutality and crunchy groove with thrashing riffs. Everything is ultra tight and performed at close to technical perfection, but not without artistic flourish and a love for the vileness of the subgenre. It is both bafflingly impressive and stirringly primal, with a sky high entertainment factor and complete disdain for trends.
The track “For Gore and Country” is probably the closest you you’re gonna get to a brutal death metal anthem before taking on traits of parody, and there’s simply not any songs on this album that doesn’t at least partially hit you with the same kind of lethal, infectious bloodlust. Not a conceptual revelation by any means, but holy hell does it lay waste.Highlights: “For Gore and Country” and “Two and a Half Men”
Witch Ripper – Through The Hourglass
Genre: Progressive sludge/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5Review: Witch Ripper’s brand of progressive sludge inevitably prompts a few Mastodon comparisons, but as on 2023’s “The Flight After the Fall”, there’s no mistaking their stylistic distinctions if you spend more than just a few seconds listening. “Through The Hourglass” feels like a patient album where every song starts out in a different yet stable place and then goes exploring. And the band seems to know all the best places to discover entertainingly puzzling rhythm- and tonal shifts, and mind-nurturing, melodic rapture.
At its best it’s fascinatingly intricate, pleasant and satisfyingly grating at the same time. It feels highly mature and creatively challenging in a listener-friendly way, and the band is likely only a real “hit” away from blowing up at this point.Highlights: “The Portal” and “The Clock Queen”
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
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Weekly Rundown April 03 – 2026
Reviews of metal albums released March 28 – April 03
Sludge, stoner, prog, doom, thrash, death and black – this week has most every flavor on the dark- and extreme metal spectrum, and only personal taste can truly decide what’s superior.
Anasarca – Achlys
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: We start off the week with some intense German death metal – not strictly technical, not distinctly old school, not overly brutal, but also not even slightly merciful. It’s apocalyptically menacing, chunky and precise, prioritizing darkness over fun.
Apolaustic – No Plenitude Without Suffering
Genre: Melodic black metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: This Swiss melodic black metal project knows how to employ razor sharp technicality without slicing apart the grimness. Sure, this isn’t the bleakest or most misanthropic you’ll come across in its subgenre, but while there’s an epic quality to the tremolo-led melodies, it’s all shrouded in darkness. It digs its claws into you whenever you start to feel too serene, and lets off when you’ve been lashed adequately by the hurricane riffs and drums. The lead melodies aren’t the strongest, and overall I could’ve wished for more personality, but it’s an impressive debut that hits the sweet spot between tame and chaotic.
Highlight: “Fragments from a Misty Journey”
Bloody Valkyria – Requiem: Reveries Of The Dying
Genre: Melodic black/folk metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: When black metal gets all melodic and epic, the “folk” label is always sort of lurking, peeking out from behind the nearest tree trunk. When the black metal is also Finnish, you can practically taste the breath of the folk coming from right over your shoulder. This is at least how I’ll justify my applying it to Bloody Valkyria’s third full-length, even though, strictly speaking, there’s more epic doom and melodic death metal than there is folk. But absent it is not, and it has a distinctly medieval and perhaps surprisingly sentimental flavor to it. If you like the idea of Mors Principium Est clad in armor and draped in black cloaks, wandering steadfastly into the unknown of the great, open wilderness, then this album delivers. A bit too leisurely in the middle, maybe, but still grandiose in the best way and with a very strong finish.
Highlights: “My Beloved North” and “Always”
Corrosion Of Conformity – Good God/Baad Man
Genre: Stoner/sludge metal/punk
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: Corrosion Of Conformity exists mostly outside the sphere of metal that I’ve actively listened to throughout my life, so expect no expert analysis of this, their 11th full-length. What they want you to have is unconventional, untamed stoner metal with a sludgy Southern feel, alternative mindset and plenty of punk rock energy. For me it’s a bit too uneven, like they’ve scattered a heap of tracks randomly across the record, that were all born of different states of mind. That being said, it goes perfectly with the band name. It’s rebellious, unbothered by expectations, free spirited and hard-hitting.
Highlights: “Gimme Some Moore” and “Baad Man”
Forlorn Citadel – An Oath Undone
Genre: Atmospheric black metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: If your D&D-campaigns are exclusively played by black metal fans, then this is what you need to have playing in the background. It’s all epic vibes with a bit of wraith-like snarling occasionally piercing through. Far too repetitive at times, and fairly odd in its contrasting moods of uplifting triumph and light-shy grimness. But pretty immersive if you’re in the right frame of mind.
Green Carnation – A Dark Poem, Part II: Sanguis
Genre: Progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: These Norwegian sad prog metallers are on a roll and already back after last year’s “Pt. I: The Shores of Melancholia”. For an album with the word “Melancholia” in the title, it’s in actuality quite upbeat in comparison to its successor. “Sanguis” is slower, and with several completely calm, acoustic songs and sections, so if you were missing energy last time ’round, you’re gonna find even less of it here. Look instead for melodic beauty and imaginative storytelling. The album takes you by the hand and guides you through a living maze of impressions – steadily rather than violently. If you’re all sold on the band’s style then you’ll absolutely love it. If you have doubts, then I doubt you’ll be convinced.
Highlight: “Sweet to the Point of Bitter”
Nervosa – Slave Machine
Genre: Melodic death/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: If Angela Gossow-era Arch Enemy at its most aggressive was your jam and you wish nothing more than for a return to that, then despair not – Nervosa have you covered. Oh, and I hope you like thrash, ’cause there’s a lot of that on here as well. “Slave Machine” (anyone else immediately thinking “Doomsday Machine”?), the band’s sixth full-length, starts overflowing with badass riffs already at the halfway mark, and there’s no letup after that. It’s staunchly aggressive, tight and suitably impatient. It’s in the songwriting department that it comes up a bit short. Once you’ve heard the first three or four songs, you’ve got the whole thing figured out. There’s no lack in energy though, nor in solos, nor in groove, nor in commitment.
Highlights: “Slave Machine” and “Beast of Burden”
Solnegre – Anthems For The Grand Collapse
Genre: Doom/death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: Take heed of where I’ve placed the “doom” in the genre description, as this is not where you want to go for “unspeakable abomination encrusted with the collected evil that seeps through the cracks of the earth” kind of death doom. This is deep, atmospheric, heavy because it’s weighed down by dark emotion, and expansively melodic. I don’t think that all the vocal style variations included work quite as well, and it does rag a bit at times, but as a maturing step for a promising young band it’s definitely heading in the right direction.
Highlight: “The Axiom – Song for the Inert Part II”
Toxic Shock – Future Is Calling
Genre: Thrash metal/hardcore
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5Review: These Belgian crossover thrashers have been active since 2010, but only now are we getting their third full-length. Let’s hope their release frequency increases, ’cause I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of this kind of crisp, riff-happy, up-yours-attitude goodness. This stuff is all riffs, coarse shouting and eager drums, mostly at groove-centric mid tempo pace. While I appreciate the headbang-ability, I do think the whole album would sound better sped up, or at least with a good portion of more frantic, pedal-to-the-metal speed thrashing. So while it could probably benefit from being a bit more unhinged, I thoroughly enjoyed myself all the way through.
Highlights: “HQ” and “Reborn”
Vanir – Wyrd
Genre: Melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5Review: If you’ve been listening to these Danes for a while (they’ve been at it since 2009), then I suspect that you know exactly what to expect on their latest offering. This is war-marching melodic death metal, kind of like Amon Amarth but a little less anthemic and without the occasional style-ironic antics. You get lots of cool riffs, rousing melody and dark-tinged aggression, but aside from its technical qualities it’s fairly by-the-numbers.
Void Of Light – Asymmetries
Genre: Atmospheric sludge metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: As debut albums go, this is an exceptionally strong one. What this Scottish band do is expand on Ghost Brigade-like crunchy and crisp heaviness with contemplative atmosphere and melody, and without overdoing it to the point of inviting tediousness. Everything feels measured, and the transitions organic. It’s powerful, hits like a brick but also flows like a firm breeze through tall grass. There’s melancholy and vulnerability, but also blackened harshness, although this is, crucially, also not overdone. I hear a bit of Cult of Luna, some Enslaved at their more straightforwardly atmospheric, but also hints of melodeath-like, on-the-hunt aggression, which suits it well. This is a cohesive yet multi-layered album that sets the bar high for the future.
Highlights: “Silver Mask” and “The Passing Hours”
(From last week) Zerre – Rotting on a Golden Throne
Genre: Thrash metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5Review: Most of the time I leave “misses” from earlier weeks lie, as I’ve usually got way too much new stuff to keep me busy. But this album greedily caught my attention and kept it in a vice grip throughout the entirety of its runtime. What we’ve got here is German old school thrash approaching crossover in the style of Municipal Waste and Power trip, with clear inspiration taken from early Anthrax and Metallica. It’s basically a non-stop assault of charging riffs and drums, with sharply barked vocals that fit the relentless, head-lobbing style perfectly. Whenever you think that they can’t possibly match the awesome riff you just banged your neck sore to on the previous track, they hit you with another. A pure shot of adrenaline that’s probably the best thrash I’ve heard since last year’s Warbringer record.
Highlights: “Deception of the Weak” and “Rotting on a Golden Throne”
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band, or need to give an album another shot, why not pop a comment down below?
