Animals as Leaders — Parrhesia
The instrumental trio push the limits of the guitar: 82/100 for a record of dizzying virtuosity.
8/10 June 15, 2026
An Autumn for Crippled Children — Closure
The Dutch band's diaphanous melancholy reaches its purest form: 82/100 for a blackgaze of mist.
8/10 June 6, 2026
Amyl and the Sniffers — Cartoon Darkness
The Australians broaden their horizon without losing any of their rage: 84/100 for their most accomplished record.
8.5/10 June 8, 2026
Amorphis — Halo
The Finns continue their mythological epic without ever faltering: 82/100 for a fourteenth album of sovereign breadth.
8/10 June 10, 2026
Amon Amarth — The Great Heathen Army
The Swedish Vikings go to war again with the same axe: 78/100 for a record faithful to its legend.
7.5/10 June 9, 2026
Amenra — De Doorn
The Belgians' sonic ritual reaches a new intensity: 84/100 for a record of liturgical gravity.
8.5/10 June 18, 2026
Alter Bridge — Alter Bridge
Press anoints it (85/100), public checks out (65): the year's widest critics-fans gap.
8/10 January 13, 2026
Altarage — Cogwheel
Deconstructed death metal, 74 minutes of liquid cement: 9/10 versus 2.5/5, the press splits clean.
7/10 August 4, 2026
Allt — Ataraxia
Muscle, heart and one banger called "Enemy" — but a cold public hearing only the recipe. 7.
7/10 August 4, 2026
Alcest — Les Chants de l’Aurore
The father of blackgaze finds the light again: 84/100 for a record of luminous grace.
8.5/10 June 19, 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
Agriculture — The Spiritual Sound
86/100: the Californian "ecstatic black metal" crew turn darkness into light.
8.5/10 August 29, 2026
Aborted — Vault of Horrors
The Belgian steamroller invites its peers to a gore feast: 79/100 for a death metal as swift as it is well-signposted.
8/10 June 5, 2026
Abigail Williams — A Void Within Existence
80/100: Ken Sorceron's American atmospheric black metal continues its evolution.
8/10 August 11, 2026
A.A. Williams — Solstice
80/100: the Briton weaves a dark, cinematic rock of rare beauty.
8/10 August 11, 2026
A Forest of Stars — Stack Overflow In Corpse Pile Interface
88/100: the Victorian-psychedelic English collective deliver their maddest black metal.
9/10 August 8, 2026
200 Stab Wounds — Manual Manic Procedures
83/100: the Americans' old-school, gory death metal hits with contagious glee.
8/10 August 3, 2026
1914 — Where Fear and Weapons Meet
The Great War set to music: 82/100 for a brutal, documented record on the horror of the trenches.
8/10 June 18, 2026