Weekly Digest, Week 05 / 2026

No mercy this week, as death and doom roll in from all fronts, with releases from Invictus (JPN), Kosuke Hashida, Malignant Aura, Skulld and Tarlung.

If it gets too brutal, take a breather up above the surface:

Dead Air Divine – The Answer (technical/progressive metalcore)

Hanabie. – HOT TOPIC (EP) (nu metal/metalcore)

Hällas – Panorama (hard rock/heavy/progressive metal)

Møl – Dreamcrush (progressive black/alternative metal)

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TOP PICK OF THE WEEK

Skulld – Abyss Calls To Abyss

Genre: Death/thrash metal/hardcore

Subjective rating: 4.5/5

Objective rating: 4/5

Country of origin: Italy

It's not often I go from track to track to track on an album wondering when the hell it's gonna stop being unapologetically badass, only to find that it simply doesn't. At least until the album actually ends. This is Italian band Skulld's sophomore full-length, and it took me completely by surprise. The tone, mentality  and beefiness is all death metal, but it's mostly played like metallic hardcore and thrash at mid- to high tempos, alternating crunchy grooves with reckless stampedes and threatening tribal beats. The vocals roar, snarl and shout, and while it's always aggressive, the mood shifts between in-your-face intimidation to ominous prowling to playful spite to bloodthirsty chases. It's not super tightly performed, it's not impeccably put together, but good goddamn hell it slaps like a nuclear-powered revolving door.  

Highlights: "Le Diable and the Snake" and "Mother Death"

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Invictus – Nocturnal Visions

Genre: Death metal

Subjective rating: 4/5

Objective rating: 4/5

Country of origin: Japan

If you want to liven up classic, lurching, groaning, graveyard-grinding death metal without losing that feeling of merciless dread, then I can think of few better ingredients than thrash. Japanese band Invictus have added just the right amount to avoid speeding off and leaving the ominous-toned malevolence behind, while supplying murderous riff candy in spades. It's a hungry beast that lures you in with nod-along grooves, then strikes from below and churns up the ground around you in bedrock-crushing jaws. It's not exactly what I'd call a fun album, but it does appeal to that primitive appreciation for raw, chugging wickedness. Not hugely varied, but solid from start to finish.  

Highlights: "Lucid Dream Trauma" and "Frozen Tomb"

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Kosuke Hashida – Moment Of Silence

Genre: Grindcore/death/thrash metal

Subjective rating: 4/5

Objective rating: 3.5/5

Country of origin: Japan

Here's a band that will not wait for you one single second. They rip away on their unstoppable killing spree from the very first second, and pull you - joints dislocating and feet flapping in the slipstream - along for the indiscriminate carnage. Kosuke Hashida is a deathgrind project out of Tokyo further supercharged with thrash and speed metal, resulting in a runtime of roughly 20 minutes spread out over 14 blistering tracks. I was fully onboard for last year's "Outrage", and on "Moment Of Silence" they've achieved a crisper production and tighter performances overall, with about the same balance of all-out rampage and high-tempo riff grooves. With the last one they narrowly escaped the feeling of repetition, managing a moderate variation in tempo and ferocity, but this time around I'd say they've tipped the scale, making for a few noticeably interchangeable sections throughout. That being said, the savagery has been upped considerably, which I hardly thought was possible, and the delivery is absolutely on point, meaning I can't help but have a great fucking time from tip to tail.

Highlights: "Left in Pieces" and "Tokyo Calling"

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Malignant Aura – Where All Of Worth Comes To Wither

Genre: Death/doom metal

Subjective rating: 4/5

Objective rating: 4/5

Country of origin: Australia

Australia's Malignant Aura know how to effectively employ ugliness in their death doom, and they hit the sweet spot balancing between the pitfalls of messy ear torture and disturbing theatricality on this their second full-length. This isn't the kind of stuff that gets lost in winding tunnel systems for minutes on end, only occasionally rearing its head to let out a ragged roar from decomposing vocal chords. This thing thunders along with purpose, crashing through barriers and only occasionally slowing to chew the prey and random debris it's scooped up in its monstrous maw. It's got strong momentum, but enough patience to creep you out from time to time with stalking crawls and unnerving, wet gurgling. It might be a bit too preoccupied with mood and style to go anywhere revelatory, but it's a savage beast of several talents that successfully expands beyond narrow genre confines to deliver both pulse-raising brutality as well as subterranean discomfort.

Highlight: "An Abhorrent Path to Providence" and "Beneath a Crown of Anguish"

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Tarlung – Axis Mundi

Genre: Doom/stoner/sludge metal

Subjective rating: 4/5

Objective rating: 4/5

Country of origin: Austria

Fuzz-crunchy, moderately muted, groovy, coarse-vocal goodness all the way. Austrian band Tarlund sounds like one of those stoner-doom bands that's out on a steadily marching journey. "Axis Mundi" presents a back-to-basics, deliberate, unadorned kind of sound that lays bare a few imperfections, and boosts charm as a consequence. It's not an altogether tame kind of experience, as dreamy, slow-flowing melodic and clean parts are contrasted by rumbling storm fronts of crashing heaviness. It never gets out of hand, but secures a sense of slight unpredictability and adventure that involves both revelation, relaxation, whimsy and danger.

Highlights: "Axis Mundi" and "The Valley of Nowhere"

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HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Circular Ruin – A Sermon In Tongues

Genre: Progressive black metal

Country of origin: Sweden

Lone Wanderer – Exequiae

Genre: Doom metal

Country of origin: Germany

Sanctvs – De l'Abîme au Plérôme

Genre: Atmospheric black metal

Country of origin: Canada

Stabbing – Eon Of Obscenity

Genre: Brutal death metal

Country of origin: USA

Urne – Setting Fire To The Sky

Genre: Metalcore/sludge metal

Country of origin: England