Too many albums, too few reviewers…that’s the problem with all the metal blogs, not just this one. What do you do? How do you get a sense of what’s out there if you’re only listening to a fraction of what’s getting released? How do you open yourself up to new music? I’ll tell you how: you jump into all the unpicked promos each month and devote a sentence or two giving a sense of what you gleaned from it.

That’s right: it’s a new year and we’re back for another round of “The Month That Was…” so enough preambling. Let’s dive into this edition of Nine Circles ov… and catch up on the loud and heavy from January 2026.

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This feels like the very definition of a January release. Germany’s tech-death prog noodlers Alkaloid put out a live album of metal-fied (I considered “metalized” but that seemed gauche) J.S. Bach pieces. If that appeals to you, you’re either stuck in the late ’80s or you wish you were. Bach Out Of Bounds is perfectly fine and executed with some panache, but if I want classical I’ll go with the originals and stick to the really fun Lovecraftian-inspired tracks here like “Cthulhu” and “Haunter of the Void.”

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Forget about the fact that their logo looks suspiciously like it says “Elf Quest” – Alabama’s Ectovoid have thrown the gauntlet down early for death metal album of the year. In Unreality’s Coffin is devastating technical death that doesn’t stray into either tech-death wankery or old school pocket groove; it hits its own pace of furious death, ably abetted by some killer riffs and a particularly nasty growl delivery. Come for “Dissonance Corporeum” and stay for blistering odes to life like “Erroneous Birth.”

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When is a new release not a new release? When another label grabs your goods and releases new vinyl variants. Anyway, this feels like that rom-com with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale, because I had Godzillionaire featured on the Jan 2025 edition of this column, and here they are again with their reissue of 2020’s Negative Balance from the sweet stoned brains behind Ripple Music. I grabbed the vinyl before even realizing it was an older album, but after the phenomenal Diminishing Returns I had no regrets about the blind buy on this one, and one listen to “The Solution Is Laughable” confirmed it.

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Let’s be clear: I’m generally a Megadeth fan, and I do really enjoy Mustaine’s 17th and (supposedly) final album under the Megadeth name. I’m just not sure I like it as much as I did The Sick, The Dying…And The Dead when that came out. I’ll say this, the production is top-notch, Teemu fits in beautifully, letting some truly ferocious leads fly from his fingers. And Dave? Dave’s gonna Dave, and I kinda love his snarl and bizarro conspiracy brain. And tracks like “I Don’t Care” and “Let There Be Shred” are headbangers as classic as anything the man’s put out in over 20 years. If Megadeth is the end, it’s a fine one.

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I will continue to sing the praises of Sykofant until they become the giant rock monster they deserve to be. Their self-titled debut was fantastic, and Red Sun, released as the first part of a larger concept was one of my favorite albums of the year, despite being only half-realized. Leaves is here to rectify that, and the second half might just better the first. “Roots and Canopy” has shimming shades of Pink Floyd, while latter day Opeth peeks its head throughout, especially on the massive 16-minute finale of “Heart of the Woods.”

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I know almost nothing about Temptress, or their new album Hear. In fact, as I write this I am only now sneaking a quick listen to opening track “INTO” because my process is to always listen as I write. That’s right: I am adding this without having listened to it. And I have an excellent reason. This is coming from Blues Funeral Recordings, I’m a subscriber to their PostWax Unlimited subscription, and my vinyl is already forthcoming. And there’s (almost) nothing I love more than slithering, smoky stoner doom rock with the lights low and bass turned up. In other words, it’s a no-brainer, and oh crap…I’m on “Narrows” and there’s no way I’m taking this off.

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Hey, Textures is still a thing? Hey! Textures is still a thing! I guess it’s been a decade since the Tilburg, Holland sextet committed to a dual album sequence starting with 2016’s Phenotype, but it’s been 20 years for me – I own the group’s debut but haven’t heard anything since. Genotype picks up where a quick perusal of Phenotype left over, so if you’re craving that super processed, compressed electro-djent thing with a mix of vocals and loads of atmosphere, cuts like “Measuring the Heavens” have you covered. Not my kinda thing, but those with a penchant for European-flavored power metal will find some really fun stuff here.

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About the only thing you can expect from Ulver is for them to deliver something unexpected. I loved their warm, synth-heavy output of the past years, especially The Assassination of Julius Caesar and Flowers of Evil. So of course Kristoffer Rygg and Jørn Henrik Sværen go serpentine and leave the pop framework behind for something more ethereal, ambient, and menacing in the way some of the keyboards lurk. Neverland has just as distinct an identity as all of Ulver’s work, and that gorgeous cover feels like both an homage and thumb nose at the band’s earlier black metal beginnings.

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I made the mistake of sleeping on 2023’s A Feast On Sorrow, a mistake accentuated by the fact that I was a huge fan of SERPENT & SPIRIT, the debut from London’s Urne. That won’t happen with the forthcoming Setting Fire to the Sun, coming out this Friday. “Be Not Dismayed” is some of the best NWOAHM or whatever the hell they called it when Unearth, Shadows Fall, and God Forbid (man, these guys REALLY remind me of God Forbid at their best) hit the scene in the ’00s. Normally I’m not a huge fan of this sound anymore, but Urne do it so well, leaving a bit of visceral rawness in the mix.

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New year, same insanity. Let’s keep each other in view, and lend a hand, an ear, or a good record recommendation to somewhen when you can.

Until next time, keep it heavy…keep it safe.

— Chris