Whatever happened to Satanic death metal? I was pondering if, in 2026, it just became labelled "blackened death metal"? This Wisconsin band certainly seems to make an argument for this theory. There is a little chaos involved that could be thought of as a "black" element, but it could also be heard as grindcore. The second song, "Filth of Rebirth' is more like 90s death metal. Lyrically, things are much more vague than Deicide. The vocals are also lower and more gurgled, less articulated than the hymns to Satan that came out of Tampa in the 90s.
Granted, how many of those bands were sincere? Trey might have taken too much acid while reading the "Necronomicon." Even Glen Benton has said something that led me to believe he was more about giving the middle finger to God than about that infernal life. "Scavenger's Daughter' blasts by in a manner that is almost too fast to really put an ear to what is going on, but it also tells me it was nothing that hooked me in with the initial listen. These guys are brutal as hell and are comprised of members of Jungle Rot, Emblazoned, and Slam Pig. You hear more of Slam Pig and Jungle Rot, even though it only accounts for the two guitarists.
The last song, "Iron Sacrament," is more deliberate. The vocals have more purpose , in their snarled rasp and grunts, as the guitar allows for them the space to do that in rather than just forcing the vocals to be an afterthought. I appreciate the brutality, though I could use a little more darkness and dynamics, but it's great for what it is, so I will give this one an 8.5.
Scottish sludgesters Void of Light try to label themselves as being on the more post side of things, but the vocals betray them. The band's debut full-length finds the vocals being howled with a throaty anger that overpowers some of the more ambient underpinings. But it works well for them, creating a layered approach not unlike what latter-day Neurosis used to do, but with some more overt metal riffing. With three guitars involved, there are more layers than most bands can summon. I have always stood by the fact that sludge is what happens when punks try to play metal, and this album is not proving me wrong. For an almost 11-minute opening track, they just sprawl things out , so one might surmise that punks who started smoking weed more than they drank is what fueled this genre of music.
Only two of the five songs are not 10-minutes long. With that said, "Silver Mask" is 9 minutes long. It is also driven by a pretty mean chug. Moving with more locomotion than doom, the momentum breeds tension, and they have the riffs ready for the payoff. Cleanly sung vocals fly up in the background, but the coarse bark is the narrative at the forefront. The softer vocals shift position midway through the song when it descends into a more melancholy atmosphere. "Ends" is a more aggressive shift to an in-your-face hardcore assault. Which tracks, as there is a great deal of crossover in the early sludge scene with hardcore bands. Miway into the song, things ebb down into a more melodic brooding, before hurling into a more blackened section.
"Still Night Skies" is darker, with the heavier sections being pretty catchy, though the song rides a stormy tension. The song touches on a great deal of different dynamic places over the course of its ten minutes, which I appreciate, as they at least use the time wisely if they are going to sprawl things out. The last song almost has a more Tool-like hypnotic slither that captures you with its serpentine groove. The vocals take on a more baritone croon midway through the song.This touches on the more progressive side of the band.I will give this one a 9.5, and see how it grows on me while it is a bit on the longwinded side when it comes to the songwriting style , there is enough going on to remain engaging, fans of sludge metal should make this a priority. Out April 3rd on Ripcord Records.
This band made the top 5 of our top 10 Post-punk albums of 2022, so I am going into this album with high expectations. This time, there seems to be a somewhat less aggressive, more introspective vibe, so much so that I had to go back and listen to the previous album to make sure it was the same band. The mix is different, though a similar reverb-tinged haze lingers over both albums. It is a cleaner mix this time around, even when the vocals lie further back in the mix on "Favorite Game" as they subtly flirt with a more goth sound at times. Which is why I don't mind the changes.
By the third song, I had to break it up and start giving the song a more careful listen to differentiate some moments. Some of this lies in the hazier fashion in which this album is recorded. There are some great guitar tones on this album. They obscure the vocala tad on a few songs; it's just a juggling act of compromises. Despite sounding like a different band, I like the more new wave vibes of "Flowers in Bloom". Which makes sense as that is where the actual bands from this era went, we were jsut discussing this on our podcast episode about Killing Joke. This sort of thing is not really riffy music like rock or metal. Yet the guitar parts are more defined for "Say Nothing." It does carry that more Killing Joke-like new wave edge post- "Night Time".
"Hand of Malice" has more punch to the bass line, almost recapturing the feel of the previous album, but the vocals are more shrouded in atmosphere and a more cautious croon. In this case, it creates a mood clsoer to the Smiths, so it's hard for me complain about it. "Fields of Woe" has a cool, melancholy sound, but not long enough of a sound to dynamically shift them. Their cover of Asylum Party's "Julia" works, but the vocals sit too far back in the mix. But it's cool to hear a more obscure cover like this. The last song has some cool 80s-sounding drums. There is a glum vibe to the song, not unlike early Cure. Though it's possessed by more layers of guitar to bury the vocals in. I will give this album a 9, as it really depends on how attached you were to the more punk side of the last album to embrace this one, but it's a logially step of growth for this band.
Another February is done, so let's get you abreast of new releases. This might help you, casual readers, with what you might have missed. I am not doing little blurbs on them, just linking the reviews. This helps me organize my lists for the end of the year by listing the album's genre. This does not mean that these albums have been released this month, but it is a list of new or upcoming albums I have enjoyed the most. I have albums in my in-box that are not coming out til June, so I am normally way ahead of the curve in this regard. They are ranked in order of what I have listened to the most. This month, there is a wide variety from pagan folk pop to grind-core to black metal, so perhaps you will find your new favorite among them. Here are the Top 10 albums for February of 2026.
If there is any justice in the world, the 6th album from this Scottish band will find them getting the recognition they deserve. They have toured with the Cure multiple times, but also had some hardships in their daily lives, which led to their bass player and drummer being replaced with Arab Strap's drummer and Mogwai's bass player. Vocalist James Graham's distinct voice is centerstage, with guitarist Andy MacFarlane providing the needed backdrop. Graham's voice is as emotive and fluid as ever as he swings up into his falsetto on "Designed to Lose."
This record has a more rock n roll mix, with a rawer guitar tone and not as much space for the vocals to fill. It is much clsoer to their live sound. The vocal lines are as catchy as any of their work, which makes for an engaging listen. Their dynamics are always emotionally powerful; this album is no exception. No wonder Robert Smith loves they are always consistent. Robert Smith adds guitars to "Waiting for the Phone Call". There is more of an electronic pulse to this. It rocks out pretty hard for post-punk coming out of the chorus. I had to listen to "Ceiling Underground' three times to wrap my head around it for some reason. The vocals kind of fade, and it works off a similar formula as what they normally do, so not sure why there was a disconnect before it clicked, but it did. Think I just needed something more solid in mind before I commited an opinion to review. It's actually darker after closer listening.
Robert Smith plays synths on "Dead Flowers" which finds them heading into the Cure-like sounds. Since Smith plays on it, they can have all the similarities to the Cure they want, but James ' voice sets them apart as their own identity. He's singing something about 'water off a duck's back, ' and it works as he always puts his voice in the best places. There is a more 80s feel to the guitar tone of "Inhosptiable/ Hospital." It's a pretty catchy song depsite it's bleak nature. In fact, it's one of the album's best songs. Oddly upbeat considering the subject matter.
There are some cool guitar tones on "Chestwound to the Chest". The verses are more strummed, with James singing out with his urgent plea that marks their earlier work. It has a little more rock drive to it. Robert Smith plays a 6-string bass on " Back to Fourteen." Here, some of the lyrics become more entwined in mystery rather than the more introspective outbursts. James has said many of the lyrics deal with mental health struggles, so I can only guess this song is included in that. The last song finds the vocals opening the song at the back of the mix, and things slowly come more into focus. It's more experimental, but still possesses the urgency they are so adept at conveying. I will give this album a 10. In some ways, it is more experimental and raw, but it holds up well against their legacy. Drops March 26th.
This band from Finland plays a hyper-aggressive blend of metal and hardcore that is in-your-face when it wants to be, without forsaking melody. When they kick back into things after wandering into more atmospheric places, they kick back in with full-on anthemic gang vocals. Then you begin to hear the touches of black metal perhaps in their DNA, jsut from the geography. Gratned there is also a great deal of goth metal in Finland, but darker music seems to be the vibe. It is more aggressive in a hard-core sense than a death metal one, so perhaps atmospheric blackened hard-core might be your best category for these guys, which at this point, we are making this shit up as we go.
However, the first two songs kind of run together, so while they are dynamic, there is acertain uniformity to their songwriting which thankfully gets broken up with."Flowerless Grave", I suppose it could also fall within the bound of metal cocre, at least where it crosses over with what is going on here, as it hold more in common with traditional metal than Myspace derived hard-core. The romanticized darkness and grandeur they capture in the larger-than-life moments also feel more black metal, just not having much in common with Darkthrone, nor is that the genre's only defining sound. It is certainly closer to black metal in many ways than the new Bosse-de-Nage.
Rather than build off breakdowns, they take gloomy riffs and kick them into more dynamic places for "A Lifetime Spent on Dying," which puts melancholy sonics to good use. "Rupture" splits the difference between hard-core and black metal for one of the most rabid moments yet. This comes with shimmering blast-beaten tremolo-picked guitar to appeal to the more hardened black metal fans who will find this album to be more produced than they like. The last two minutes of the song offer the first breakdown that is bathed in ambient sound.
There is more space created by the ringing atmosphere of the guitar leading into " Esscence of Sorrow". Perhaps the goal was to be dark, atmospheric, and hardcore, and it crossed over into depressive black metal? There is a great dynamic call and response to "Apollonia" . They go back into a more black metal mood on the last song. I will give this album a 9 as it mixes hardcore with black metal atmosphere in a very organic fashion.
Here is the debut from this Polish electro goth project. It has a sharp-edged tension in the combative synths that open the album. These are contrasted by the sultry swagger of Inga. Peter, the other half of this duo, had a stint in the Electric Hellfire Club, so the industrial influence makes sense. Though they are also capable of dropping things down into a more 90s alt-pop groove on "Cosmic Power". An almsot trip -hop f;avor lingers in the beat. The more Middle Eastern vocal passages begin to surface on "In Unity." Its more of an up-tempo dance floor churner. Layers of synths swirl around your ears on this one.
There are some moments that sound like newer, more EDM minded KMFDM, with "I Don't" being one of these though it is perhap more n the industrial side. "Strong Inside" brings Lords of Acid to mind with its more sexualized pulse. "God" feels more like something Danny Elfman might do. "Lost and Found' would have been suited for mid 90s alternative radio. "Temros" is a more dramatic ballad, granted it's the symphonic mix.
"Forest" has more of a dance groove to it that holds my attention better. Then they get more exotic for the Middle Eastern vibe that will bring Dead Can Dance to mind for most people. The album closes with a reprise or re-envisioning of the first song thugh it really sounds nothing like it as there is poken and wailing vocals in the background to create more of a mood, until more gothy music creeps in at the halfway point to create more of a Siouxsie feel. Overall, I enjoy the darker 90s vibes it gives a change from the normal retro 80s batcave goth. I will give this a 9.
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