Perhaps it’s the proverbial dump this year has taken on my personal and work life creeping into my assessment of new music, but 2026 has been… just fine so far? A few great albums, a few disappointments, but a lot that for me has been merely okay. The immense conclusion to Panopticon’s “Laurentian trilogy” Det hjemsøkte hjertet, Cryptic Shift’s monolithic sci-fi saga Overspace & Supertime, and one album I’ll be covering here are just about the only releases thus far that are 100% guaranteed a spot on my AOTY list. Nevertheless the new music doesn’t stop, and neither do we; perhaps the spiritual healing offered by Fire in the Mountains in just a few short weeks will serve as a mental reset. Let’s dive in to some of my picks of the year thus far that haven’t been featured elsewhere here at Nine Circles.

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A new album from The Ruins of Beverast is always a cause for celebration, and Alexander von Meilenwald started the year off right with the band’s seventh album Tempelschlaf. Aside from being more immediate than past releases, perhaps, it doesn’t break too much from the established mold of the band’s signature black/doom; heavy on ritualistic rhythms, it formulates an atmosphere equal parts eerie and epic. Like Worm’s Necropalace my only real issue lies with the production… am I crazy or are the guitars kinda buried in the mix, and hard to pick out at times? Regardless, it’s another well-crafted listen from one of the best solo acts around. While I don’t expect the band (or mother nature) to top their once in a lifetime 2019 Fire in the Mountains performance, I’m very excited to catch this new material at their return to the greatest festival in the world in just a few short weeks.

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Sealed into None is the debut from Exxûl, yet another Phil Tougas passion project that he has described as the album “most representative of what I want to say as a heavy metal musician.” Self-proclaimed “power doom” that combines bombastic Messiah-style vocals and Tougas’ legendary shredding with plodding rhythms, dark, fantastical atmosphere, and brief explosions of speedier power metal fare all wrapped up with a tremendous production job. Genre aficionados will surely be able to note all the bands from which Exxûl take inspiration from… what I like personally are the epic guitar/vocal duets featured throughout.

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Between Gallowbraid and Bergtagen, 2026 is apparently the year for dark metal reunions. Formed by a teenage Jon Rosenthal in 2006, the act inspired by the likes of Agalloch, Empyrium, and early Ulver only released a couple of demos before disbanding in 2008. He decided to resurrect the band late last year, recording two original songs and a cover of Agalloch’s “You Were But a Ghost in My Arms” for the In Forests Eternal EP. A melancholic fusion of dark folk, atmospheric black, and doom, you will likely experience as much nostalgia when listening as Rosenthal did upon revisiting these long lost tracks. Be sure to catch their first-ever live performance at Great Lakes Dungeon Siege this October.

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Formed by UE and Gamzhurm of Canada’s underground stars Nächtlich, Demented Yearning (previously known as Black Kruud) serve raw black metal just the way I like it on debut Bloodsoaked Glory of the Horde: subtly melodic and carried by ghostly synths. It’s also a reminder of how much a good drum performance and suitably demented vocals can elevate black metal, even if the whole package isn’t too different than anything we’ve all heard before. It’s not available digitally and the LP sold out right away, so YouTube is your best bet for giving it a listen. Most importantly, “Tortured in the Eighth Dimension” is my current pick for song title of the year.

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I may be a few years late to the party, but the many projects of the Wergild black metal collective have been my most important finds of the year; the album that began this journey is Iron Firmament‘s new full-length In the Land of Pre-Human Kings. A hyperborean soundscape that combines the riffage of Weakling and classic Immortal with chord progressions and songwriting not far removed from early Wolves in the Throne Room, along with some ambient sections perfectly suited for Bruce Pennington’s incredible artwork. Atmosphere with a bite, melodic yet not flashy, raw and esoteric without being impenetrable… it’s all these things, but ultimately this is BLACK METAL exactly the way it should sound in 2026.

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After a few years focusing on other projects, Brazilian phenom Caio Lemos has returned with the first Kaátaìra (Kaatayra) album since 2021’s Inpariquipê. Caminhos de água picks up where that album left off, continuing with more ultra lush, acoustic “black metal” that feels more like samba with blast beats than anything else… freeform as it appears, there’s still metal riffs at its very core. Thanks to the phenomenal production bringing together metal instrumentation, flute, nature recordings, and more, it’s an album as soothing and beautiful as the rivers it depicts. The emotional core of the album lies in the bookend tracks that serve as a tribute to Lemos’ grandmother, even featuring some heartwarming recordings of the pair together.

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Beckoning the Void of Eternal Silence was recorded all the way back in 2019, but for any number of reasons Funebrarum delayed its release a full seven years. If you’re big on classic, cavernous death metal, you’ve probably been eagerly anticipating its release for quite some time… for the rest of us, I can safely say it’s a solid album. Original vocalist Daryl Kahan is joined by a who’s-who of under-40 metal musicians — Sam Osborne (Hulder, ex-Worm), Charlie Koryn (Ascended Dead, ex-VoidCeremony), and most importantly Phil Tougas — for some gloomy, doomy death metal with keyboard-induced atmosphere as dark as the riffs are tasty. Different styles require different techniques, of course, but it’s neat to see the progression of Tougas’ soloing recorded so long ago when compared to his other output this year with Worm and Exxûl.

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When it comes to the progressive side of black metal, I tend to prefer artists that still have some roots in the works of the second wave classics (see: my undying love for Enslaved). Norwegian solo act Urkraft fall right under that description with their third album Naturens skrik. Mystical symphonic/atmospheric black metal in the vein of Arcturus’ early works (along with some hints of Bergtatt), but with plenty of progressive, experimental tendencies… extended instrumental jams, odd time signatures and syncopation, and even some hypnotic electronic elements that wouldn’t be out of place on a John Carpenter soundtrack or Lost Themes album. Old and cold nostalgia that meshes very well with a variety of modern influences ranging from Dødheimsgard to Oranssi Pazuzu (I can also pick out Enslaved’s E at times), this is an album as dynamic as it is lengthy.

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Rounding out the first half of 2026 is the self-titled debut from Solystalgia. A beautiful piece of what I’ll dare to call “post-death doom,” as it uses the trappings of the genre to transcend normal conventions in a manner reminiscent of recent favorites like Dream Unending and Gloombound. All three ambient interludes being in the first 15 minutes is a bit of an odd choice, but they’re good mood-setters so I can’t complain; this choice in pacing is completely redeemed by guest vocals courtesy of Tanner Anderson (Obsequiae, Majesties) on the 10-minute epic “Entropic.” Haunting melodic leads, crunchy riffs without stepping into well-tread caverncore territory, and a handful of distinctly blackened sections make for a great introduction to this band that’s just as emotionally devastating as it is crushingly heavy. Any fans of the more extreme side of doom are doing themselves a disservice by not experiencing this album.

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I guess the year hasn’t been so mid after all! There are no doubt big things to look forward to on the horizon, namely the possibility of a new album from Enslaved. Hope to see you at Fire in the Mountains to witness their Red Eagle debut alongside the return of the mighty Neurosis, the second ever shows from Gallowbraid and I, and many, many more. It’ll be another one for the ages.

— Colin