And we’re past the halfway mark! Seven months into 2026 and the summer is at its peak, which means a whole heap of new albums are just around the corner. Naturally, that also means an even bigger heap of singles to sift through.
That in mind, here are the results of last week’s vote! The King Ultramega project – a tribute to Chris Cornell – showed its star power off by nabbing third place with the excellent, Lzzy Hale-headlined Loud Love cover. Just ahead of that were Mongolian metal stars The Hu, but our overall winners for the week were returning arena conquerors Five Finger Death Punch, whose De Oppresso Liber took the crown.
This week we’ve got a weird and wonderful mix to share. From the strange sounds of “peasant metal” (yep, another colourful subgenre) to former black metal bands and musicians shucking off the past to explore new realms, thundering beatdowns and straight-up great metal, there’s a little of something for everyone. Don’t forget to cast your vote in the poll below – and have an excellent weekend!
Netherwilds – Return The Goat
If there was a prize for weirdest single of the week, Netherwilds would walk it. With its medieval peasant video and SOAD-like sense of eccentricity, it isn’t long before the track is veering off in wild directions. If you’ve ever wondered what post-hardcore would sound like fronted by a medieval peasant… Now you know.
Distant – All Will Be (N)One
If you want to stand out in deathcore in 2026, you’d better put some serious work in. Dutch/Slovakian brutes Distant are certainly doing their legwork with yet another slab of angular, pummelling violence in new single All Will Be (N)One, drafting in Ricky Myers of Suffocation for some extra lung-shredding nastiness.
Xenith – Killer Instinct
Expanding out into the realms of the epic, Manchester newcomers Xenith are gearing up for the release of their debut album To No Avail, due August 28. It might be early doors for them, but Killer Instinct lays out a stall of gorgeous guitars and explosive breakouts, bringing to mind Skeletonwitch or Black Dahlia Murder.
Haken – Delirium
Even with their 20th anniversary as a band looming, Haken are showing no signs of dialing back their expansive sonic palette. Delirium comes from new EP In A Fever Dream, due July 17, and finds the band blending brittle notes with pounding breakout moments and more than a few skittering drum beats.
Moonspell – The Great Wolf In The Sky
Portugal’s goth metal kings, Moonspell never get the credit they deserve. At the time where Type O Negative were blowing up, they pioneered a similarly vampiric take on darkness that would help inspire the likes of HIM. You can hear echoes of both those other bands in new single The Great Wolf In The Sky, a dark, melodious track which captures some of their crepuscular charm. New album Far From God is out today and well worth a listen.
Enslaved – Spirit Helper (feat. Kevin Kicking Woman)
This far in, it’s become accepted that Enslaved have the capacity to venture far from their black metal roots. Even after sidelines into prog, folk and beyond, a track like Spirit Helper stands out for just how starkly different it is to their core sound, the band drafting in an Elder of the Blackfoot Nation – Kevin Kicking Woman – to create a track that is sparse yet loaded with heavy atmospherics. Even when they go full Wardruna, there’s some of the grandeur inherent to Enslaved still popping up, particularly towards the song’s closing minute.
Trelldom – When This Way Was Young
From one maverick to another. Gaahl has also long since shed his black metal roots to explore more oppressive sonic realms, and nowhere is that more apparent than in Trelldom. The band’s new album …By The Word… arrived on May 29, and new single When This Way Was Young showcases their evolution towards a dread-filled sense of abjection that feels both doomy and gothic whilst being neither of those things, with the cold, dark atmos of his black metal past. It’s certainly one way to beat the summer sun.
Kamelot – Ashen World (feat. Ignacia Fernández)
Set somewhere between the realms of power and symphonic metal, Kamelot can always be relied upon to bring a sense of grandeur. Ashen World comes with the announcement that the band’s fourteenth album Dark Asylum will be out August 28, the single also drafting in Decessus vocalist Ignacia Fernández for some extra heavy ballast.
Living Weapon – The Leaving Process
We hardly need an excuse to get sweaty right now, but Living Weapon have provided the perfect soundtrack to a skull-stomping beatdown nonetheless. The Boston hardcore mob are going right for the jugular on new single The Leaving Process, melody left gathering dust while they kick the ever-loving shit out of the listener. Keep your eyes out for new album Death In The Family on August 14.
Koh – Golden Death
It might be short and sharp, but Koh’s Golden Death isn’t your usual in-n-out hardcore rager. There’s a sense of sublime melody early on in the track that gives way to a blasting maelstrom of noise, feeling akin to the likes of Harakiri For The Sky. The Aussie band’s debut EP of the same name is out now and well worth a listen if you like your heaviness to feel expansive and powerful whilst also not overly self indulgent.
I want to apologize in advance for delaying the biggest review of the summer that we all have been waiting for. While I know everyone here is chomping at the bit for more Christian-adjacent metalcore, you need to wait patiently for another moment so I can introduce the legendary August Burns Red. Jokes aside, the veteran genre stalwarts have released their tenth record, Season of Surrender, and to my surprise, as a longtime fan of the act despite their religious inception, S.O.S. is one of their most brutal albums to date. August Burns Red turns to the past to inspire its sound for the future, but is this shallow nostalgia-bait or an evolution of the band’s most refined records?
