2026

Blackwater Drowning – Obscure Sorrows Review

By Lavender Larcenist on March 4, 2026 in Reviews, Groove Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Metalcore, 80 comments

“I’m going to come out and say it. Arch Enemy has done untold damage to female-fronted metal bands. While their influence is undeniable, every iteration of the band has featured monotone vocals, cringe-inducing lyrics, and leather-clad frontwomen. As a woman, I have no issue with these things in a vacuum, but in the larger music sphere, they created simultaneously high and absurdly low standards. Requiring frontwomen to be stereotypically hot, thin, and sport bright hair, while also plummeting standards on the musical side with their milquetoast melodeath slop. This is an ill omen for North Carolina’s Blackwater Drowning.” Enemies and expectations.

Temple of Void – The Crawl Review

By Steel Druhm on March 4, 2026 in Reviews, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 44 comments

“Detroit’s death-doom institution Temple of Void had an interesting journey over their 12-year career. Their 2014 debut split the baby between 90s Peaceville doom and nasty death metal like Asphyx and Bolt Thrower, and the end product was heavy as fook. 2017’s Lords of Death shifted toward death metal without losing any of the crushing, venomous intensity. It wasn’t until 2020s The World That Was that Temple of Void really started experimenting with the scope of their sound as influences like post-metal crept in. When 2022s Summoning the Slayer arrived, it seemed like the band was losing the plot, as their sound became overly pared down and simplistic, causing tedium to set in. That brings us to their fifth album, The Crawl.” Null and void?

Erbeet Azhak – Only the Vile Will Remain Review

By Tyme on March 4, 2026 in Reviews, Black Metal, 11 comments

“I’ll take “Global Notables” for $600, please, Ken—The clue: Country famous for its waffles, chocolate, beer, and castles. The answer—What is Belgium?! Correct! Belgium is also home to some pretty decent black metal bands—Lugubrum, Enthroned, and Wiegedood, to name a few. Here to add another branch to that blackened Belgian family tree is Erbeet Azhak, the side project of one pretty busy Corvus von Burtle—C.V.B.(Cult of Erinyes, Wolvennest, LVTHN, Aerdryk).” Belgium bulging with blackness.

Abstracted – Hiraeth Review

By Samguineous Maximus on March 3, 2026 in Reviews, Djent, Progressive Death, Progressive Metal, 31 comments

“Abstracted have been a band since 2013, and their long-gestating debut record, 2022’s Atma Conflux, was an effective and varied slab of djenty progressive death metal, marred by tepid production and less-than-stellar clean vocals. More than anything, though, it showed potential as a record brimming with ideas that was so close to being great. With Hiraeth, can the Brazilian group finally unify their influences into something more than the sum of their parts?” Add and Abstract.

Triumpher – Piercing the Heart of the World Review

By Kenstrosity on March 3, 2026 in Reviews, Epic Metal, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, 54 comments

When Greek trve metal heroes Triumpher drop a new magnus opus, it requires 2 reviews to cope with all the glory. Will Piercing the Heart of the World impale you on the lance of majesty and honor?

Dusk – Bunker Review

By Kronos on March 3, 2026 in Reviews, Black Metal, Industrial Metal, 14 comments

“Dusk have been at it for a while now, toiling in the shadows to scrape together an acid concoction of abrasive noise and screaming menace. But who hasn’t? Newcomers to the blog, or the metal scene in general, may not have enjoyed of the deep sadness of early-2010s underground metal, when the promo pit burst with bedroom black metal from a seemingly inexhaustible trove of men who owned a guitar and made up for their lack of talent, and bandmates, and vision by pure profligacy. Though we’re now blessed with far more in the way of interesting music, the Vardans of the world are still out there, now and again transformed by their toil into something worthy of remark. And the crisp mashup of industrial synthesizers and black metal intensity has been worth a listen for the last decade in which Dusk have operated.” Gloom in the gloaming.

Malefic – Impermanence Review

By Andy-War-Hall on March 2, 2026 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, Thrash Metal, 22 comments

“A tabby cat is what you get when you let nature take its course. Nearly every stray is a tabby because, without selective breeding from human interference, cats just end up looking like that most of the time. Similarly, Atlanta’s Malefic feel to me what you’d get if you let the faster variants of extreme metal reach their natural conclusion. Playing a style that draws from thrash, black and death metal, Malefic formed in 2007 with the stated goal of modernizing black metal. In doing so, they’ve imbued in their slow-cooked debut Impermanence, an intensity and drive befitting a genre-forwarding record.” Maleficent.

Exhumed – Red Asphalt Review

By Saunders on March 2, 2026 in Reviews, Death Metal, 33 comments

“Unfortunately, the mighty Relapse stable now floats down the shitty stream for promos. As such, we are slow on the uptake with the latest platter of splatter from legendary underground gorehounds, Exhumed. Always searching for fresh inspiration for their deathly brand of precision butchery, tenth album Red Asphalt channels inner road rage via good old carmageddon mayhem and vehicular violence as its overarching conceptual theme.” Blood upon the highway.

Hoaxed – Death Knocks Review

By Maddog on March 2, 2026 in Reviews, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Occult Rock, 19 comments

“Death Knocks isn’t the most extreme album out there, but it straddles the metal boundary more than enough to earn a spot here. While I hadn’t heard of Hoaxed before, their new release caught my eye through its album art and its impressive lead single, “Where the Seas Fall Silent.” This three-piece from Portland plays metal-edged occult rock that aims for an eerie atmosphere as much as for melodic gems.” Deep fake or deep cuts?

Frozen Ocean – Askdrömmar Review

By Grymm on March 1, 2026 in Reviews, 19 comments

“One of the biggest challenges I’ve encountered as a music reviewer is trying to describe a band’s musical aesthetic when their discography is all over the place. Now, I know what you’re thinking: Blut Aus Nord, and you would be correct, but at least there’s an intangible thread connecting the various gnarled branches to their undulating, pulsing roots. Vaarwel, the mastermind and sole proprietor of Russia’s Frozen Ocean, takes his project to where it needs to be, and how he feels it should be delivered, musically.” Oceans of despair and dread.