Upcoming Metal Releases: 5/3/26 – 5/9/26
Gadget — Coerced | De:Nihil Records | Grindcore | Sweden (Gavle)
Coerced is notable because it’s Gadget’s first new material since a 2021 split with Retaliation and marks the recording debut of touring guitarist Kristofer Jankarls and new vocalist Emilia Henriksson. A revitalized Gadget are viewing Coerced as the first salvo in a “fresh chapter” in the veteran unit’s evolution. Henriksson’s addition is immediately noticeable on “Flatline,” a gnarly flesh-ripping detonation with the lyricist offering up a pandemic era meditation on “isolation, sickness, frustration and giving up.” “Gnistan” is a bleak, blistering slice of grindcore with raw, biting vocals. “Nonsense” is a furious, relentless battering ram blitz that amply demonstrates Gadget’s renewed sense of purpose and power.
–Dennis J. Seese
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Old Moon — Home to Nowhere | M-Theory Audio | Melodic Black Metal | United States (Portland, OR)
Home to Nowhere is prim metal that’s best prescribed to someone who loves drama and stakes but not abrasiveness. Old Moon, with their pianos and choral vocals, are as bashful as a Broadway play, making music that would convert non-believers into curious (and probably goth) fans and rebuke devoted black metal fans, though I doubt that’d bother them.
–Colin Dempsey
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Darkthrone — Pre-Historic Metal | Peaceville Records | Old Metal | Norway (Trysil)
At this point, Darkthrone can be likened to some ancient, shambling creature; a folk legend that crawls out of the forest every few years to release another album of primitive heavy metal. Pre-Historic Metal is somehow even more stripped down than It Beckons Us All…… and Astral Fortress, and plays up the rawer, in-your-face punk chaos that has long been a part of the band’s sound for something a bit more energetic than the creaking doom-laden riffs of the past few releases.
–Kevin Zecchel
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A Forest of Stars — Stack Overflow in Corpse Pile Interface | Prophecy Productions | Avant-garde Black Metal | United Kingdom (Leeds)
Emerging from a haze of opium smoke to conduct more theatrical death worship shadowplays, Stack Overflow In Corpse Pile Interface is the first album from A Forest of Stars in eight years. The English septet offer another otherworldly record that sounds like it could have been played in an alternate Victorian-era theater. It’s unhinged, shadowy, and abstract in spots, giving you a glimpse into the madness that lurks beneath the society’s decadence.
–Kevin Zecchel
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Frozen Soul — No Place of Warmth | Century Media Records | Death Metal | United States (Fort Worth, TX)
Frozen Soul’s latest record features contributions from Gerard Way, Robb Flynn, and Devin Swank of Sanguisugabogg. It was produced by Josh Schroeder, who has produced a few Lorna Shore albums. Now, dear reader, is your chance to control your fate. You know Frozen Soul. Do you like them? Do you want to hear them collaborate with My Chemical Romance or Machine Head, and do you want to hear that collaboration being polished by Lorna Shore’s basketweaver? I cannot answer these questions for you. Grab the steed of your destiny and ride it to your horizon!
–Colin Dempsey
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Lago — Vigil | Everlasting Spew Records | Death Metal | United States (Phoenix, AZ)
Serve up all the dissonance in your death metal that you want, but give us a treat, maybe a solo or two, please? Lago, eight years removed from their last album, do just that, crafting tasty and slick death metal that’s paradoxically challenging. They recall the late-90s scene that played death metal with their brains first and their bodies second, and wind their tracks around central grooves or solos that act as hooks. Vigil is, then, good for the heart and the mind.
–Colin Dempsey
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Voidthrone — Dreaming Rat | Total Dissonance Worship | Black Metal + Death Metal | United States (Seattle, WA)
Voidthrone is back with their latest fever dream of an album. Dreaming Rat is an absolutely uncompromising listen—a hellish descent into chaos and decay loosely divided into three non-chronological acts. “Dissonant” does not cover the breadth of Voidthrone’s cacophony: chromatic tapped riffs chitter away like the laughter of demonic imps, monkish throat singing is interrupted by a savagely sneered HUEGGHH (this is the actual typed lyric), and springy mouth harps meet fretless bass in a rare moment of calm before being blasted away by hail of bone fragments and bile. I would say that this one will need time to digest, but it may very well consume you before you make it to the end.
–Alex Chan
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Panopticon — Det hjemsøkte hjertet | Bindrune Recordings | Black Metal | United States (Ely, MN)
Austin Lunn’s atmospheric black metal powerhouse Panopticon returns with his 11th full-length record Det hjemsøkte hjertet, capping off the “Laurentian Trilogy” that began with …And Again Into the Light and continued with The Rime of Memory. Though the entire trilogy touches on the subject, Det hjemsøkte hjertet in particular ruminates on things that have passed; time, our lives, and ultimately… us. The album is also significantly centered around the life and culture of the Scandinavian immigrants who settled in Minnesota. There are a wide range of ideas that are touched upon throughout this record, and I encourage you to take the time to read through what Austin has to say about the album on its Bandcamp page.
Musically, Det hjemsøkte hjertet is one of the most emotionally moving albums I have ever heard. Every song makes a compelling case for being the best song on the record, but “Ghost Eyes in the Fire Light” is the highlight. If you have even a shred of love and appreciation for Minnesota, this song will tear you apart. Austin’s continued inclusion of prodigious virtuoso Charlie Anderson into the creative fold once again proves to be one of the best decisions he’s ever made, as Charlie effortlessly adds luscious orchestration and compositional excellence on top of the already rock-solid foundations that Austin has planted firmly into the fertile soil of the north woods. Det hjemsøkte hjertet is monolithic, astounding, and an unquestionable year-ender. Do not miss it.
–Eric Wing
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