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: 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 September 2026…where roughly HALF of this month’s picks are going to make my EOY list.

—

I can’t help it (neither can Josh): I have always and will always love Anthrax. Long the runt of the “Big 4” litter, I’d argue that their sound is every bit as signature as what Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer were doing, but no one owns the term “mosh” more than the NYC boys. They’ve come a long way since the days of jam shorts and Mort Drucker illustrations, and while Cursum Perficio has moments of their ’80s crunch, the band is driving a twistier path, with “Edge of Perfection” and the title track proffering truckloads of riffs while “The Long Goodbye” and “T.O.M.B.” remember those earlier trashy moments.

—

As soon as I heard the term “nu-metal” applied to Who Loves the Sun, the latest from Oklahoma’s Chat Pile I was angry…because dammit, the shoe does in fact fit. That sense of groove never detracts or softens the hardcore and noise rock edge that made Cool World my #3 album for 2024. That bass tone on opener “Creature” is straight out of Korn’s playbook, as is the sick break after the the chorus. But there’s nothing slick or shiny here: the theme continues giving voice to the rage and confusion of a people completely at the mercy of carnivorous wolves. Right down to the album art, Chat Pile refuse to turn away. Neither should you.

—

I can get where you’re coming from, Devil Master. I remember your 2022 release and how everyone went ga-ga over it. I didn’t, so my hopes and expectations for Bloody Dreams were not the highest. The muffled, under-a-pillow production is gone, replaced by a more robust sound that lights up songs like “Sex Succubus” up to a level that puts them in league with similar-minded acts like Midnight and R.I.P. As for “album” status? All I’ll say is this is 28 minutes long, with six of its seven tracks only taking up 17 minutes. Of which almost two minutes is needless segue. So better, but after four years I definitely expected more.

—

Here’s another example where we waited years for a proper follow-up…and got one. Dreadnought feels like a band forever hanging around the outer circle of the cool kids: always bringing something cool and interesting to the table, but overshadowed by whatever is shiny at the moment. I don’t know if the wait for Wars of Spirit // Wards of Light will change any hearts, but it’s the groups strongest effort yet, and the nine minutes of “Tiamat’s Gate” is in turn luscious and defiant, setting the tone for one of the most dynamic albums of the year.

—

if there’s a better band channeling Black Sabbath in their most classic incarnation than Early Moods, I don’t know them. I don’t think I wanna know them, because Ready for the Ground continues the band’s trend of channeling the sickest, slickest riffs straight out of Tony Iommi’s dreams. “Ready For the Grave” sounds so much like Sabbath for a few moments my addled brain thought it was a cover, but it’s the spirit, firmly captured and lighting up the entire album.

—

Another prior discovery that made a best of list, Green Lung come creeping out of the shadows of their former home and move into Big Boy Nuclear Blast records for full-length #4. Necropolitan loses a bit of the rough-hewn charm of earlier records, but the shine on “Dance to the Grave” and the Deep Purple meets a witch “Evil in this House” are undeniable, and while I’m still not convinced it beats the forest majesty of This Heathen Land I’ll gladly admit I’m willing to listen again and again until it sinks in.

—

The myriad of virtues surrounding the polymorphous sounds of Polymoon heave been screamed for many moons by Zyklonius, but despite a thawing toward 2023’s Chrysalis it wasn’t until Mariposa Magic! that I made the switch from digital to full on physical media (the pink vinyl with the OBI strip, if you must know). The reason is simple: this is the most full-blown psychedelic and “rock” forward the band have sounded, and from the opening notes of “Ultra Bloom” to the ripping punk of “I End, You Begin” only to then synth into the cosmos with “Velvet Rain?” That’s a heady triple threat to open an album, and the band backs those goods up throughout Mariposa Magic!’s PERFECT 45-minute runtime.

—

Let’s get a few things out of the way: yes, the latest from Japan’s elders of extreme Sigh does sound like an old Nintendo game booting up. What else would you expect from the only band that can do that, and then immediately transition seamlessly to harmonizing black metal before an incredible drum fill brings us to traditional folk…and the actual song hasn’t even started yet. It may seem like faint praise to call Go-Kah business as usual for the band, but in this case “business as usual” equates to “creating some of the most twisted, furious, and furiously catchy metal found anywhere on the planet” so, yeah…take that for what it’s worth. Having Mikael Åkerfeldt guest on “Unputenpu” is just more icing on a cake I’m already buying and eating in the parking lot before I make it to the exit.

—

After maybe going a little too far out for their fan base’s tastes with a full on score for a supposedly “lost” ’70s giallo (I unsurprisingly loved it) the brilliantly inventive Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats return to the grooving psychedelic rock that made their name over 15 years ago. There are moments on Shapes of Midnight when the garage rock of “House By the Grave” and “When Evil Wakes” brings to mind the garage psych of Ty Segall and trying to cover Ghost as much as it does Black Sabbath, Coven, and a goth-ed up Mercyful Fate.

Those are all superlatives, by the way. I adore this record inside and out.

—

As always the surprises and discoveries continue to pile up, so let me know what we missed and what we should be on the lookout for.

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

— Chris