Every year I sit and think about what should constitute a mid-year report. What are the albums I keep coming back to? What are the criteria for “coming back to it”—does an album have to have zero filler? Be “important” somehow (and how do you even begin to define “important”)? And considering we’re only six months into the year, it’s almost guaranteed my feelings will change; last year’s lightning bolt that was Turnstile was an anomaly; and despite my adoration of the latest Deep Purple, I’ll spare you that one (though you can read about it on my personal site).
So we come back to the question: how do you determine where things stand at the mid-year point, frankly, I can leave behind any time. And so I took a look at everything I’ve checked out to date, and out of the 126 albums listened to so far, here are the ones I’ve actually shelled out my hard-earned cash for physical copies of. Did I buy it on vinyl, or CD, or…shudder…cassette? Then it’s here, and was worth my spending money instead of abusing low-res promos or streams.
Let’s do it. Let’s get into…
Chris’s Mid-Year Report, Vol. 1 – The Physical Stuff
Somber, darkly melodic while sucking the marrow out of the earth with some rigid black metal fury. I could be talking about any of the albums from Norway’s Bizarrekult, usually the output of mastermind Roman V. And in fact, I was so bowled over by Alt Som Finnes that when I grabbed the vinyl, I picked up 2023’s Den Tapte Krigen as well as 2021’s Vi Overlevde, an album whose artwork feels ripped from my dreams. But we’re here to espouse the virtues of Alt Som Finnes, something I think the remarkable bass and clean vocals on “Blikket Hennes” can do better than my paltry words…
If I had to wait almost a decade for a standalone Converge album, I don’t think the guys could have done better than Love Is Not Enough…oh, except yeah: I’m still digesting (and waiting for my vinyl of) Hum of Hurt, the metalcore heroes’ second full-length of the year. But this is the record that needed to be made, both for the band and for me. Front to back there is not a bad moment on the album’s 31 minutes, but my Converge naming convention theory still holds: if a song title is three words made up of two sounds connected by a joiner, you’re in for some blunt force trauma. See “Distract and Divide” and “Force Meets Presence” for evidence.
Every year I seem to discover a new band taking the stoner/desert rock sounds and injecting all sorts of things into it, and every year they always make the inner circle of my list. Howling Giant, Sergeant Thunderhoof, Bask…and now Desert Collider. An out-of-nowhere debut coming out of Italy (thank you Small Stone Records Co.), Generation Ship: Endless Drift Through Infinity has everything I want from a heavy rock album. It starts with the cover, continues with the sprawling low frequencies of the two-part “Orphans of the Sky” that opens and closes the album, and fuels its journey with some of the deepest, blissed-out fuzz grooves this side of the universe.
Here’s hoping Circadian Promise, the latest from Connecticut’s Fires In The Distance, can steal back adjectives like “regal” and “magisterial” from the chains of power metal. Because there’s a grace embodying every melancholic note new vocalist/guitarist Brendan Hayter croons on the Woods of Ypres-inspired “Of Radiance and Levitation” not there on 2023’s incendiary Air Not Meant For Us. There’s more solemnity here, but also more moments that grab the ghost of my hair, mandating righteous head-banging.
I’ve gone back a few times over the last few months to Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags, trying to glimpse why I continue to be largely ambivalent to its charms. My “meh” remains a mystery, but there’s nothing mysterious about Coronach, the latest slab of wickedly sharp black and roll from Scotland’s Hellripper. Maybe there are deeper riddles and treasures to be plumbed within songs like “Kinchyle (Goatkraft and Granite)” beyond their incredible hooks and solos, but I tell you what, that’s about all I need. I mean, how do you have songs like “Hunderprest” and—dear lord, thank you—”Blakk Satanik Fvkkstorm” and not hear the spirit of the ’80s bursting through?
The surprise return of Neurosis could not have been more perfect. It’s weird how that morning is ingrained in my head, all of us seeing the album, most likely via email along with the announcement of Aaron Turner joining ranks and providing the new voice behind An Undying Love For A Burning World. If there was a better opening moment on an album this century than “We Are Torn Wide Open,” I can’t think of it. Is this a perfect record for the pain and turbulence of our times? It just might be.
I’m not sure how much more my heart can take in the searing soul-searching department, between Converge, Neurosis, and now Panopticon arriving with single handedly the best album in Austin Lunn’s Laurentian Trilogy. Each album built upon the last sonically, but as Lunn becomes increasingly vulnerable, it’s with a confidence that comes across on Det Hjemsøkkte Hjertet more than ever. The production and orchestral choices are phenomenal, and Lunn’s cadre of friends and collaborators push him on epics like “Woodland Caribou” or “A Culture of Wilderness” to explore new possibilities at every turn. I needed this album so badly this year, and I continue to marvel with every spin.
Say what you want about the chaotic state of our planet, but it also bred the moment Sub Pop Records is releasing both sunn O))) (see below) and Slift records. The French outfit doubles down by releasing their most compact, accessible album to date in Fantasia, a kaleidoscope of rock tunes clocking under an hour and featuring so many hooks I temporarily forgot I was listening to a Slift record. For a taste of what to expect, you could do a whole lot worse than letting the nine-minute opening title track permeate your whole being.
Thank you, Nate Garrett, for the music. The bitter sting of the final Spirit Adrift album being the BEST Spirit Adrift album is made better by the fact there are musical horizons beyond Infinite Illumination, and you put your family first. I’m now guaranteed to follow whatever you do next. More Neon Nightmare? A solo effort? Bring it on, I’m here. And thank you again for the music.
Do I have it in me to be brief? Have I ever? And when has the word “restraint” ever been in my vocabulary when it came to buying music? Here’s another dozen physical purchases, all great in their own way and deserving of your time, with (fingers crossed) a minimum of commentary.
Chris’s Mid-Year Report, Vol. 1 – The Physical Stuff Chris Also Bought But Doesn’t Have The Energy To Write Another Novel-Length Post, So Will Attempt to Briefly Outline
I won’t say Pre-Historic Metal is in the same league as the other albums. But Darkthrone is my totem to making music, and the record is hella enjoyable, and that cover is ridiculous and I don’t care. At this point, Fenriz and Ted are content to be the Motörhead of their era; who am I to fault that? Check my review here.
Didja know yur guy sometimes likes to have his face punched in by death metal? Ectovoid has hung in throughout the first half of 2026 with In Unreality’s Coffin, and there’s much to be said for keeping razor-sharp riffing alive, the kind of death metal with dive-bomb requirements, and groove reigns over all.
The Moth feels like the inevitable apex of Devin Townsend‘s musical search. I felt that way about Empath too, and here we are half a dozen projects later. I continue to get drawn into the palette of colors Townsend and his brother in arms Mike Keneally have constructed. I go in again and again, delighted by what I find.
More punch-your-face death metal from Mr. Matt Harvey and Exhumed. Every year I find myself drawn to certain death metal releases, maybe as mental counter-programming to all the prog and jazz. Is Red Asphalt any different from smashers like Horror or Death Revenge? Not really, and I don’t care.
Deep, dark, gloomy metal in the vein of bands like Sorcerer? Godthrymm—coming together from former members of the Big Peaceville Three—knows a thing or two about keeping it dark, gloomy, and grandiose. Distortions was an excellent late discovery for me, so I immediately jumped on Projections when it was announced. And you know what? Not disappointed in the slightest.
I mean…I barely have any stoner rock on here. And Italy’s Lord Elephant kinda bowled me over with that cover art, the trio format, the instrumental stoner groove, and of course its presence on Heavy Psych Sounds. Ultra Soul is aptly named, and killer cuts like “Gigantia” go a long way to propping this as an early favorite of the year.
The confluence of events in the universe is a marvelous thing, huh? One of my favorite extreme bands of all time hooks up with another legendary band, one who I’ve been slowly getting more and more into. So sign me up for Savage Imperial Death March, the collaborative album from Melvins+Napalm Death. There’s a little more groove and rock than you’ll typically get from the fathers of grindcore, but this is a rewarding pocket of “what if” music I’ve been steadily coming back to since its release.
Even I, the ultimate cheerleader for NewPeth, still relish a little classic blackened pig death every once in a blue moon. I can keep returning to the Åkerfeldt catalog, or I can find bands pushing that angle for themselves. Ordh is bringing heavy My Arms, Your Hearse vibes on debut Blind in Abyssal Realms, so if you’re craving that kind of fix, you’ve come to the right place.
I’ve written at length about Stormkeep and their latest salvo, The Nocturnes of Iswylm. But what might not have come across on that initial assessment (but can be glimpsed more fully here in my revisit) is that in capturing the more symphonic aspects of bands like Emperor and Dimmu Borgir, the band has honed their supergroup attack to something truly deadly and gleaming with a razor’s edge.
I didn’t understand the monolithic peace to be found in the music of Sunn O))) until much, much later…with the 2019 double punch of Life Metal and Pyroclasts. I’ve been hooked since then, and their eponymous debut for Sub Pop Records is a gorgeous collage of sonic distortion I’ve yet to pierce, but love each attempt. If you’re new to the alchemical wonders of Meisters Anderson and O’Malley, Sunn O))) might be a great place to start.
When I say WORMED, this is the band I’m referring to. Or this one. Another strong example of a band showing their facility with form and some elastic thinking, Worm and Necropalace step away from the previous gloomy death-doom and into some serious black metal worship. When you have a 14-minute epic featuring extensive guest soloing from Marty Friedman…and you’re keeping pace? You know you have something special, and even though I’m in slight agreement with Colin over his production concerns, the music is strong enough to lift me past it.
2,000 words later, and you’re telling me there’s a Vol. 23 coming? What did you expect? Have you read my other lists?
Until next time, keep it heavy…keep it safe.
– Chris
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