The Callous Daoboys — I Don’t Want to See You in Heaven
85/100: the wildest mathcore around reaches an unexpected maturity.
8.5/10 August 28, 2026
Agriculture — The Spiritual Sound
86/100: the Californian "ecstatic black metal" crew turn darkness into light.
8.5/10 August 29, 2026
Mayhem — Liturgy of Death
77/100: the Norwegian black-metal legends deliver a solid if debated record.
7.5/10 August 29, 2026
Sunn O))) — Sunn O)))
79/100 across twenty reviews: the drone kings' self-titled album, a mass of low frequencies.
8/10 August 29, 2026
Deafheaven — Lonely People With Power
83/100 across twenty-one reviews: the blackgaze pioneers reconnect with fury.
8/10 August 29, 2026
Spiritbox — Tsunami Sea
89/100: the new benchmark for modern metalcore, driven by Courtney LaPlante's extraordinary voice.
9/10 August 30, 2026
Deftones — private music
87/100 across nineteen reviews: the alternative-metal masters return to near-unanimous acclaim.
8.5/10 August 30, 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
Turnstile — Never Enough: Versions
From Elton John to Dying Fetus, twenty-two wildly uneven reworks: not an album, a flex.
7.5/10 August 30, 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
Beartooth — Pure Ecstasy
Beartooth's pop-rock turn: press applauds (77/100), fans grumble (59/100). Divisive — therefore interesting.
6.5/10 August 31, 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
Mastodon — Marrow Deep
Mastodon's first post-Hinds album is an acclaimed grief record (83/100 Metacritic), cathartic and often magnificent.
8/10 September 1, 2026
Airbourne — Airbourne
Zero evolution, maximum execution. The year's best AC/DC record isn't by AC/DC.
6.5/10 September 1, 2026
Russian Circles — Nine
The season's best-reviewed record: 83/100, zero reservations. Instrumental post-metal at its peak.
8.5/10 September 1, 2026
Chat Pile — Who Loves The Sun
Rapturous early reviews: "the fury has metastasized". Out September 4.
7.5/10 September 1, 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
MØL — DREAMCRUSH
Denmark's blackgaze spearhead delivers one of the year's highest-rated records (85/100) — but the gap with the public marks it as divisive.
8/10 September 5, 2026