Vitriol — Suffer & Become
85/100: the Americans' furious tech-death impresses with its controlled violence.
8.5/10 August 5, 2026
Voivod — Symphonique
83/100: the Québécois prog-thrash legends re-orchestrate their catalogue with a symphony orchestra.
8/10 August 26, 2026
Vola — Friend of a Phantom
The Danes wed djent, pop and electronics with grace: 81/100 for an immediate, refined record.
8/10 June 14, 2026
Warning — Rituals of Shame
Twenty years away, 87/100 and a Kerrang! 5/5: the year's most devastating doom comeback.
8.5/10 June 22, 2026
Wayfarer — American Gospel
Black metal turned crepuscular western: 84/100 for a fresco on the myth of the American West.
8.5/10 June 19, 2026
Wednesday — Rat Saw God
A noisy, devastating portrait of the deep American South: 86/100 for one of the records of the year.
8.5/10 June 8, 2026
While She Sleeps — Self Hell
The Britons of independent metalcore persevere: 80/100 for a combative, sincere record.
8/10 June 12, 2026
White Ward — False Light
When the saxophone haunts black metal: 85/100 for a Ukrainian record of nocturnal beauty.
8.5/10 June 20, 2026
Whitechapel — Hymns in Dissonance
79/100: the Tennessee deathcore kings reconnect with pure brutality.
8/10 August 15, 2026
Wiegedood — There’s Always Blood at the End of the Road
The Belgians broaden their palette without losing their edge: 83/100 for a black metal mid-moult.
8/10 June 21, 2026
Winterfylleth — The Unyielding Season
83/100: the English weave atmospheric black metal steeped in landscape and history.
8/10 August 25, 2026
Witchsorrow — The Devil And All His Works
Twenty years in, their best album — "the devil's work!": 80/100, a rare doom communion.
8/10 July 7, 2026
Worm — Necropalace
Three 9/10s and a « modern classic » tag: symphonic black metal gets its delusions of grandeur back. 84/100.
8.5/10 February 17, 2026
Wormrot — Hiss
Singaporean grindcore reaches peaks of expressiveness: 85/100 for a record as violent as it is heartrending.
8.5/10 June 22, 2026
Wyatt E. — Zamāru ultu qereb ziqquratu, Pt. 1
80/100: the Belgians' ritual doom summons ancient Mesopotamia in sonic trance.
8/10 August 12, 2026
Yard Act — Where’s My Utopia?
The English band flee the post-punk cliché and embrace excess: 82/100 for an audacious second album.
8/10 June 7, 2026
Zeal & Ardor — Zeal & Ardor
The negro spiritual meets black metal: 82/100 for a third album consolidating a stroke of genius.
8/10 June 19, 2026
Zulu — A New Tomorrow
Los Angeles powerviolence becomes an African-American manifesto: 88/100 for a record as brief as it is vital.
9/10 July 14, 2026