Yup, we needed a second post. And in the time between I got my copy of the new At The Gates, so even though it’s kicking off the digital list, know that I’m most likely blasting the CD in my den as you’re reading this.
Do we need any more preamble? The first post is here; catch up with the commentary there and then jump into another batch of fantastic releases that graced us in the first half of 2026. I promise I’ll attempt brevity, but really: all these bands deserve your attention, and some might even elicit an “Ah! So THAT’S why it wasn’t on Chris’s previous list…that cheeky monkey!”
Or, I guess, conversely it could be “HOW COULD THAT FREAKIN’ $#@! NOT PICK UP THE SPLATTER GLOW 180G LIMITED GATEFOLD WITH PATCH, TOMATO SEEDS, AND THE FINGERNAILS FROM THE BASS PLAYER’S SECOND COUSIN?!?!”
Le sigh…see my Stormkeep review. With that, let’s dive in.
Chris’s Mid-Year Report, Vol. 2 – The DIGITAL & Subscription Stuff
The impact of At The Gates came during my metal hiatus, so when I finally discovered Slaughter of the Soul, it was years after the scene had arrived. Why does The Ghost of a Future Dead excite me now, 25 years after the initial punch came and went? Some of that is the knowledge of Tomas Lindberg’s passing, and how his performance on tracks like “The Fever Mask” and “The Unfathomable” is colored by the fever to leave something, to color the wake of his passing. Mission accomplished, sir.
I still prefer Visitations From Enceladus as a complete experience, but damn if the weirdness Cryptic Shift brings on their latest Overspace & Supertime doesn’t dazzle. That’s right: this technical death metal dazzles. Listen to the odd psych moments and math-riff breaks that adorn “Cryogenically Frozen” and give up; there is no better adjective. Review here.
You better believe I have a copy of Through Zero on vinyl. So why is Elder, one of my favorite bands, relegated to this pile? Since becoming a subscriber to the Postwax series from Blues Funeral Recordings, I automatically get limited editions of all their releases, and Elder’s latest (and possibly greatest) serves as the group’s full-length debut for the label. The first listen of “Sigil to Ruin” solidified it for me; everything else was just as good, which was icing on the cake. Review here.
Indescribable…and indescribably heavy. And poppy. And brutal. And glitchy, and all sorts of things I’m sure folks scream about but, and hear me out here: WHO CARES ABOUT THEM? Fire-Toolz is the most fun discovery I made this year. Lavender Networks has beguiling moments of beauty amidst the chaos, and I’ll probably wind up getting a physical copy when it arrives stateside. ’80s synth pop, black metal, and…King Crimson-esque glitch? Take my money…
Listen to Descent, and then marvel over the fact that Immolation has been around since the ’80s. I missed out on 2022’s Acts of God entirely, but was enamored at how vital 2017’s Atonement sounded. That was a wheeze compared to the full-throated roar of tracks like “These Vengeful Winds,” but it’s the slower, more dynamic twisters like “God’s Last Breath” that have me raging across the back lawn like a lunatic.
I have a conflicted relationship with Khemmis. I find their first three albums completely forgettable; crazy, I know. Then when 2021’s Deceiver reared its head, I was hooked…but still could not get into the Denver doom unit’s earlier output. Even saw them live (ruled); didn’t help. I’m ready to give it another go because Khemmis, their self-titled fifth studio album, is their best offering yet, on par with Spirit Adrift for heavy rock album of the year.
Your eyes don’t deceive you: Lovebites is here, with a proper Bandcamp embed because their latest power metal opus Outstanding Power is being distributed by Napalm. No more excuses, indie metal nerds. The guitar attack evokes the best of Downing/Tipton and Murray/Smith in the ’80s, but the riffing, the production, and everything else is up-to-the-minute modern, from the mix to the K-pop major melodicism the group can wield gracefully on anthems like opener “The Castaway.”
Pharmacist is carrying the torch for old-school Carcass in a way no one else is. Or should, for that matter; the Japanese “duo” by way of Ukraine delivers another platter of killer riffs and intestinal damage in Vertebrae After Vertebrae. The production is raw and unforgiving, but close listens reveal surgical intricacies.
Did you think you were getting out of here without another killer record from Blues Funeral? Temptress was the first band in the current series of releases I had zero familiarity with. That changed quickly after listening to Hear, which currently takes the crown for me in that gloomy, doom-laden rock that strays into desert stoner without falling down the shoegaze hole, a space already adequately covered by Blackwater Holylight, who incidentally also put out a great album this year.
So many more I could have covered, but I suspect even as I wrap this up there’s more great music from this year that I still haven’t heard.
Guess which one I’m choosing?
In the meantime, keep it heavy. Keep it safe.
– Chris
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