Gatecreeper — Dark Superstition
Arizona death metal gains melody without losing power: 82/100 for a record built to last.
8/10 June 21, 2026
Gel — Only Constant
Nineteen minutes of raw, frontal hardcore: 82/100 for a record that hits fast and true.
8/10 June 11, 2026
Ghost — Impera
The Swedish cult fully embraces the stadium and pop: 78/100 for an ambitious, divisive record.
7.5/10 June 9, 2026
Gilla Band — Most Normal
The Irish band make saturation a sonic material: 85/100 for a radically inventive record.
8.5/10 June 10, 2026
Gorod — The Ember Gone
Bordeaux tech-death dares to be vulnerable. The craft is unanimous; the pacing divides.
7.5/10 August 30, 2026
Green Carnation — A Dark Poem, Part III: The Messiah Complex
Trilogy finale bordering on critical genuflection: 9.8/10 at Sonic Perspectives. Out September 4.
8.5/10 September 1, 2026
Green Lung — This Heathen Land
English folklore and the Hammond organ: 85/100 for an irresistible occult heavy-rock record.
8.5/10 June 23, 2026
Guilt Trip — Armour Of Angels
80.2/100 and four reviews in unison: Manchester delivers Europe's pit record of the year.
8/10 June 9, 2026
Haken — Fauna
The London collective cross virtuosity with an imaginary bestiary: 82/100 for a playful, learned record.
8/10 June 15, 2026
Haken — In a Fever Dream
Slimmed to a trio, Haken reinvent themselves in 27 minutes: "ingenious and classy", yet "the least Haken-y" release of their career.
8/10 July 19, 2026
Hamferð — Men Guðs Hond Er Sterk
86/100: Faroese death/doom reaches an overwhelming solemnity.
8.5/10 August 4, 2026
Havukruunu — Tavastland
82/100: Finnish pagan black metal in all its epic splendour.
8/10 August 25, 2026
HEALTH — CONFLICT DLC
79/100 across eight reviews: the Angelenos push their industrial noise toward apocalyptic pop.
8/10 August 22, 2026
Helloween — Giants & Monsters
81/100: the inventors of European power metal, reunited, keep the flame.
8/10 August 27, 2026
Hellripper — Coronach
84/100: Scottish riff-machine James McBain unleashes his blackened speed metal.
8.5/10 August 23, 2026
High on Fire — Cometh the Storm
Matt Pike's beast still roars as loud as ever: 81/100 for an implacable sludge record.
8/10 June 16, 2026
Hooded Menace — Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration
78/100: Finnish death/doom in all its melancholic heaviness.
7.5/10 August 14, 2026
Horrendous — Ontological Mysterium
The Americans reconcile old-school death metal and progressive freedom: 88/100 for a record of rare elegance.
9/10 July 15, 2026
Hulder — Verbolgen
Hulder softens her black metal: "finest work to date" for one, missed venom for another. 76/100.
7.5/10 August 10, 2026
I See Stars — THE WHEEL
83/100: the electronicore pioneers deliver an acclaimed return.
8/10 August 13, 2026
IDLES — TANGK
The Britons trade rage for love and gain in depth: 83/100 for a daring turn.
8/10 June 8, 2026
Igorrr — AMEN
83/100: the French mad scientist returns, between metal, baroque and breakcore.
8/10 August 28, 2026
Ihsahn — IHSAHN
85/100: the ex-Emperor mastermind unfurls an orchestral, black-metal album of wild ambition.
8.5/10 August 5, 2026
Immolation — Descent
Thirty-five years, zero drop-off: 85/100 for a direct and devastating death metal statement.
8.5/10 April 12, 2026
Immortal — War Against All
Norwegian black metal pared back to its icy open sea: 80/100 for a convincing first record after Abbath.
8/10 June 7, 2026
In This Moment — Witch
Press applauds (77/100), listeners check out (49/100). The season's biggest gap.
6.5/10 August 31, 2026
Incantation — Unholy Deification
The patriarchs of cavernous death metal do not falter: 85/100 for a record of absolute darkness.
8.5/10 June 23, 2026
Ingested — The Tide of Death and Fractured Dreams
The Britons widen their brutality without betraying it: 80/100 for a finely crafted deathcore.
8/10 June 6, 2026
Insomnium — Anno 1696
The melancholy Finns turn a tale of witchcraft into a sonic fresco: 82/100 for a record of rare coherence.
8/10 June 10, 2026
Invent Animate — Heavener
The Texans' atmospheric metalcore clears a hurdle: 81/100 for a record of rare elegance.
8/10 June 13, 2026
Job for a Cowboy — Moon Healer
85/100: the Americans' return confirms their shift into a first-rate progressive-death band.
8.5/10 August 6, 2026
Judas Priest — Invincible Shield
82/100 across fifteen reviews: the heavy-metal gods prove they've lost nothing.
8/10 August 6, 2026
Kamelot — Dark Asylum
Karevik masterful, formula unchanged: press splits (8/10 vs 2.5/5), consensus lands at 6.5.
6.5/10 August 31, 2026
Karnivool — In Verses
Thirteen years of waiting, 78/100, press and public aligned: "the bar for progressive metal in 2026" per Metal Hammer.
8/10 February 10, 2026
Katatonia — Sky Void of Stars
Melancholy made record: 84/100 for an album where the Swedes elevate their art of elegant despair.
8.5/10 June 24, 2026
Khemmis — Deceiver
The Americans' luminous doom grows heavier: 83/100 for a fourth album shot through with grief.
8/10 June 18, 2026