Wisborg : "Phantomschmerz"

 Getting caught up with things that passed under my radar andd this band was suggested to me on Facebook. This came out way back at the first of the year. The German band singing in their native tongue. The chorus is more crooned, and the verse's muttered tension. It works for what it is, but hopefully they do not just stick to this formula, or I am going to get bored after four songs. I know enough German to get the gist of where they are coming from. Maybe four songs was too optimistic, as thigns get kind of cheesy on the second song. This translates to way too happy for goth. 

"Melancholia" reminds me more of H.I.M.; it does not surprise me that there is a scne for this in Germany. At times the cadance of the vocals brings Merchandise to mind. This is my favorite song so far. They balance hard rock guitars with electronic production choices for "Moloch" . It finds a more muttered vocal on the verse than building upon the chorus, which is predictable, but the bass and drums have enough drive to make me overlook this. Some of the riffs on this album remind me of Post-"How the Gods Kill" Danzig. In terms of heaviness, they are middle of the road, but that doesn't seem to be the point of what they are doing.

"Midbight" translated)  finds the verses more restrained. It follows a more 90s-leaning formula. It works pretty well, and I have not gotten tired of it yet." Norman Bates" has a more nu-metal feel leading into it./Then the dynamic drops way down. Almost likea German version of Deftones. This song has what is likely the album's best riff. "Adeiu" is only missing Ville Valo. Tou hears a little of the singer's higher register. The title track is more dramatic than it is brooding. The palm-muted riff keeps the song moving. They roll out the baby grand again for the last song. It's more of a ballad than not. I will give this album a 9.5 and see how it grows on me. 

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July's Top 10 Albums

July is in our rearveiw, 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 end-of-year lists by including each album's genre. This does not mean these albums were released this month; it is a list of new or upcoming albums I have enjoyed most. I have albums in my in-box that won't come out until October, so I am normally way ahead of the curve in this regard. They are ranked in order of how much I have listened to them. This month, leaned more on heavy stuff ranging from Nu-metal to Indie Pop, so perhaps you will find your new favorite among them. Here are the Top 10 albums for July of 2026.

10- Pretty Reckless,-"Dear God" 

Rock

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-pretty-reckless-dear-god.html

9-Taylor Bickett- "Nothing I Can't Undo" 

Indie Folk

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2026/07/taylor-bickett-nothing-i-cant-undo.html

8-DIE ANTWOORD- "ZAMA ZAMA"

Experimental hip-hop

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2026/07/die-antwoord-zama-zama.html

7-Dead Pony-"Eat My Dust" 

nu-metal

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2026/07/dead-pony-eat-my-dust.html

6-Eartheater- "Heavenly Body" 

Pop

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2026/07/eartheater-heavenly-body-if-im-bottle.html

5-Deathgrave- "Hell is Evil" 

Death-grind

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2026/07/deathgrave-hell-is-evil.html

4-Show Me The Body- "Alone Together"

3-Kacey Musgraves- "Middle of Nowhere" 

Country 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2026/07/kacey-musgraves-middle-of-nowhere.html

2-Ceremony- "Tell Me Your Dream" 

Punk

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2026/07/ceremony-tell-me-your-dream.html

1-Charli XCX - "Music Fashion Film" 

Pop

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2026/07/charli-xcx-music-fashion-film.html

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Bestial Mouths : "Dead Lines"

 

When it comes to post-90s goth artists, these guys are one of my favorites. They have appeared on both our yearly Top 10 Industrial Albums and 10 Top 10 Goth albums lists, always scoring in the top 5. This album seems to lean more in the darkwave direction, with Lynette's vocals creating lush, evocative melodies that flow over the sometimes more apocalyptic crunch of the beats . I can hear where this might be mistaken for industrial, but it's just aggressive darkwave. With the first hints of Halloween starting to show up on shelves, this is a welcome soundtrack.

The groove of "SILK" anchors the vocals, and it all balances perfectly. There is a hint of Siouxsie influence that merges in a more obvious manner than what I recall from their previous work. I have always preached that darkness is heavy, and this album might not prove that as well as their last album, but it is still relevant to the sonic scope that unfolds here. There is enough sklink to its stomp that might find forward-thinking goth DJs working these songs into their sets. One day I will drag my laptop to a club and make this point, so make some noise in the comments if that is something you would like to hear. 

"Deadening" opens with a sample that casts a more political shade on the theme. This is more on the industrial side of things, as politics is not something that defines goth, and industrial being too adjacent to goth also blurs the lines in this regard. This is also one of the more dance floor ready pulses of the album so far. "Garras" finds the vocals being used more as an instrument against the beat, which is an interesting approach. "Shuttered" has a darker ambiance to it. The slow burn lingers with the beat swelling its pulse until midway in. More of a hypnotic dirge than a dancefloor banger. "Choke" closes the album with more tension ebbing forward. I will give this album a 10 as all the songs pretty much instantly clicked for me andd it is what I wnat from dark music. Making this album a must for goth fans in 2026 This album comes out September 4th on Negative Grain.

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Purest Form : "Resistance"

While I like what this duo is doing with their aggressive approach to the more electronic side of industrial music, since I am such a big fan of Youth Code, it's hard not to draw comparisons, particularly when she is using her angrier vocal tone. The breakbeat in the second song helps break away from this a little longer when she uses the more purred vocal tone. They also have used more guitar on the first and third songs, respectively, than I have heard Youth Code employ in their entire discography. 

They start raving til dawn with a more techno feel to "MOVE". The vocals have a snotty punk attitude, and guitar surfaces midway into the song before she drops down into lower spoken vocal. This is more unique to what they do, and I think the more they experiment, the better, as if it solidifies their identity. I had to listen to "Bass Resistance" before it clicked enough for me to pay attention, and when it did it reminded me more of the Prodigy. Not as memorable as the first four songs.

A cover of Prodigy's "Breath" closes the album, which kind of clashes with my rule of not covering a band that is clearly one of our influences., They do nail it and add some of their own sonic touches while being true to the 90s sound. There is something unique to the synth sounds employed here. I guess there is a gap to be filled when it comes to this sort of thing, as they are not as heavy as Youth Code, so they might have a different audience. I will give this one a 9.5 andd see how it grows on me. It drops on Dias Records September 4th.

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Dreamwell : "Hymns For The Denial Of God"

 

Thi band beat out Sanguisugabogg in 2023 to claim the number one spot on the Top 10 Extreme Metal albums list, thus earning a spot on that year's Top 10 Metal Albums list, making expectations high for this album..Unless the title track is an anomaly, they are less extreme this time around, and leaning into the more screamo side of what they do. With grooving riffs and lyrics that are speculating about religion. There is a hint of nu-metal in the riffing, but that was always a thing in metalcore. "Sissy Haat Machine" is a little more straightforward.

A cool bass line leads the way into the darker "The Anti-Christ's Testimony". The riff is also more memorable than the previous song's. They have an angular style that balances melody with dissonance. Their drummer is pretty impressive, throwing in double bass in tasteful little spots rather than hitting you with a full-on assault and numbing you out. The screamo feel is dialed up for a "Crisis of Realization". The sung hook is even more emo than anything we have heard from them before. The proggy tension of "Apostates and Gentiles" works really well.

"Plath vs Kafka Vs Romance" is lyrically the intersting so far; the sung vocals are less 90s emo. There's a hardcore punch that puts them more in league with Dillenger Escape Plan. I like the more melodic moments of "I Dreamt I Survived an Extinction Event".The more screamed sections work as well, in this context. I am obviously not opposed to harsh vocals done right  'Carrion Birds on the Ark" has a great breakdown toward the end, but some moments are not as memorable. It balances out to be decent enough to not feel like filler. Aside from the opening track, they keep all the songs at a compact three-minute range, which is impressive considering what they pack into them,

They close the album with the marginally darker "Cherub Rock of Gibraltar". It has a cool creeping feel. Despite the slight shift in intensity that makes it more progressive screamo than the more intense feel of the previous album, the concept here is intriguing and will likely make me come back and dig into this one for deeper listens. Sure it's a little more accessible in some way, but more challenging lyrically, so I will give this a 9.5, putting it on par with the previous album. It drops August 28th on Prosthetic Records 

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Showing Teeth : " A Fate Worse Than Loneliness"

 This is a solo artist who works with session musicians. This would not be odd if it were a pop artist, but instead it's a commentary on where the genre is heading. She has a very specific vocals paproach that is not broken up with clean sining until the second song. Her clean vocals are the kind of smooth pop hook that we now expect from the pop-focused corner of the genre that is spreading the fastest; you can hear Spiritbox influence in this but without the same scope of songwriting. My first thought was this was being done by AI, as it takes a middle-of-the-road approach even at its angriest. 

"Make It Out" employs more groove. The pop vocals lead the way here; the chorus is not as explosive, and the song itself backs away from the metallic approach until midway in and then it feels predictable. She has a decent voice but is not Courtney.  Laplante has a more defined personality. Once we get to 'Rip," things take more ofa turn toward generic. There is a more technical aspect to the riffs bringing the chaos to this one that jerks you around a bit. 

"Shallow Grave" finds the screaming and chugging back in place.     It really does feel heavy or hooky at this time as it follows the formula KillSwitch Engage laid out over 20 years ago. "Paradigm' closes the album out. It's a ballad that finds you waiting for the other shoe to drop, because you know it will, as it's basically a power ballad. A pop beat comes in to keep it moving before the guitar comes in.  Like Nostradamus, my prophecy comes true, and the harsh vocals come in before the song ends. This drops on Spinefarm September  4th, and I am sure she will be hitting the big rock fest circuit stages. I will give ths album a 8.5, as it is effective at what it does. 

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Taake : "En skog av nidstang"

 

This is the Norwegian project's 9th album. It finds Hoest continuing to perfect his take on the country bision of black metal with chilling riffing employed in a somewhat jarringly dissonant fashion on the opening track. I have not paid attention to the lyrics, which are normally screamed in a fairly incomprehensible manner. It seems to be nature based mytholgy draped in metaphor.  The second song has an equally intense static build of tremolo-picked guitars that plays it closer to the traditional expectations of the genre. The drums are largely buried in the mix. 

Drummer Rune has played with him for seven years, making him familar with the chaos this music tends to unfurl.  This one carries more drone than the opening track. The bu blurs into the background as the rabid picking falls into a wave of sound. More straightforward than what I expect from this project who has often thought out side the box to create more memorable black metal in the past. "Engler" finds more purpose in the drums slowing down and building a more epic nood. The drummer provides the space needed to do so. The scathing scowl of the vocals feels more uniform on this album. At the four-minute mark, I am surprised that I still have five minutes to go as I can not fathom how that is going to happen given what the song has become.The song deconstructs and builds back into some thing more tortured heading into the six minute mark.

The last song opens with a eeire guitar line before going into what I think of as the triumphant black metal gallop, though there is a darker slant this time around, This album feels like it carriesa rawer edge. production wise.With this comesa more traditional black metal feel.At two minutes in things break down for more melodic speculation to create more of the experimental feel.Certainly a better choice than more blast beats and adding more nuance to the album without backing down from it's confrontational nature. I will give this album a 9, it holds up against this porjects body of work and gives black metal fans what they want in a manner that's more than the status quo for the genre.

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