Weekly Digest, Week 26 / 2026

I think you'll be able to find something to suit any mood among these releases by Druidess, Forsmán, Monument Of Misanthropy, Phantom and Verdun.

Nothing super exciting up top, but also not to be completely ignored:

Amberian Dawn – Temptation's Gate (symphonic power metal)

Masterplan – Metalmorphosis (power metal)

Nargaroth – Apocalyptic Steel (black metal)

Siamese – Dissolution (alternative metal/hard rock/metalcore)

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TOP PICK OF THE WEEK

Phantom – Not Midnight Yet

Genre: Speed/thrash metal

Subjective rating: 4/5

Objective rating: 4/5

Country of origin: Mexico

I tend to be hard on bands that don't manage (or care) to match the album runtime with the style of music that they're playing, so when I saw this new offering from Mexican speed thrashers Phantom breaking 56 minutes, I had my reservations. Now, after listening to it, while I still think that a bit of trimming would be in order, I find no reason to deny that it keeps entertaining greatly from beginning to end. If the fact that this is an album meant to have fun with wasn't made obvious to you by the album art and song titles, it should become abundantly clear with the inclusion of the Tetris theme at the end of the second track, "Out Of The Mausoleum".

Compared to last year's "Tyrants of Wrath", this is more concerned with complete, varied and memorable songwriting rather than all-out aggression. A fair bit of the Slayer-esque evil factor has been replaced with more melody-prone classic heavy metal, which allows for bigger tonal variation overall, and greater dynamics within each song. They even make a semi-attempt at a ballad, which (apart from the mildly off-key clean vocals) actually fit in decently. The Axl Rose-like falsetto on "Curse Your Name" however, I could have done without. It's still plenty fast and ferocious though, leaning all the way into blackened, early-Venom savagery at times. It's an album brimming with ideas, most of which I hope to see further utilized in the future.

Highlights: "Summoned To Kill" and "Sepulchral Majesty"

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Druidess – Trip Meadow

Genre: Psychedelic doom/heavy metal

Subjective rating: 4/5

Objective rating: 4/5

Country of origin: England

It's exciting to hear a young band successfully taking a spin of their own on a tried and tested subgenre, and on their debut full-length album, no less. On "Trip Meadow" they ooze self-aware style, delving deep into trippiness and fuzz but also being selective, and not overdoing any one thing. Led by a strong, Riley Pinkerton (Castle Rat)-reminiscent vocal performance and partially foregoing the typical, muffling production makeup, the band has honed in on the unadulterated cool of their sound.

The riffs are crisp, the bass just wooly enough, and (at least some of) the melodies confidently transcend the doom sphere into traditional heavy metal and rock. It's not exactly what I would call lively, but you get both uptempo tracks as well as slow crawls, and they coexist without any trouble, which is a testament to the band's songwriting skills. Goes to show that you can breathe fresh life into this subgenre without going crazy experimental.

Highlight: "Knightingales" and "Descended from Giants"

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Forsmán – Brenndar Rústir & Fuðrandi Fjörur

Genre: Black metal

Subjective rating: 3.5/5

Objective rating: 4/5

Country of origin: Iceland

There's something otherworldly about Icelandic black metal that you just don't seem to get anywhere else, and Forsmán carry on this tradition. Their debut full-length showcases a dense, full-bodied sound that's bordering on, if not fully crossing into, blackened death metal, not unlike some of the newer Behemoth stuff. But it also retains the necessary chill and shrill to keep it bitter and sharp-edged.

Most of the tracks on this album work with melodic themes, riff patterns and/or atmospheric elements that manage to stand out, but to me they don't all feel fully realized at the end of the songs. In the instances where they do though, you're getting a very complete mix of rhythmic and vocal variation, distinctive lead guitar sections, challenging harmonies and effective drum and bass work, making up a sound that's both immersive and energetic.

Highlight: "Barmafylltar fjöldragrafir" and "Andvana"

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Monument Of Misanthropy – Washington State Charm

Genre: Death metal/deathcore

Subjective rating: 3.5/5

Objective rating: 4/5

Country of origin: Austria

This band was one of my 2024 revelations, as their "Vile Postmortem Irrumatio" album easily outmatched the similarly themed and more prolific Aborted release that year. As that former album was "dedicated" to serial killer Ed Kemper, so this is centered around Ted Bundy. Once again, this is technically outstanding, brutal-style death metal that somehow manages to feel indulgent without really overdoing anything.

What's changed since last time is that some of the outright heaviness and low end bulk has been sacrificed for the sake of agility and versatility, as they dip into deathcore and straight metalcore, both in terms of riff- and rhythm style and accessibility of song structures. It by no means sounds tame, but it doesn't carry quite the same brute force as last time, and as the thundering morbidity washes over me, I simply don't find myself caught on the attention-arresting meat hook quite as often. Still, it's great to see the band not simply copying the formula, and fans of the more groove-centric and technical ends of the death metal realm might find that they prefer this iteration of their sound.

Highlight: "The 1974 PNW Spree" and "Neath Tacoma Asphalt"

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Verdun – Abyssal Womb

Genre: Sludge/doom metal

Subjective rating: 3.5/5

Objective rating: 4/5

Country of origin: France

If this week has left you feeling too cheerful, this is the antidote right here. I can vividly imagine this stuff being played in the catacombs under Paris, lit only by candles. What we've got here is French, moderately blackened doom, that draws hostility, a fitting amount of ugliness, but also a driving riff style from sludge.

One of the things this album does most effectively is set a mood - one that you're completely enveloped by for the duration. Once you're in, you discover that there are hidden rooms to explore in the darkness, the characters of which leave you feeling different shades of intrigued, unsettled, or even emboldened. Compared to the meaty, forceful middle chunk of the album, it gets a little too sedate for my taste towards the end, but atmosphere-wise it keeps a firm, arresting grip on you till the last note.

Highlight: "He Who Killed the Devil"

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HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Alkuharmonian Kantaja – Melas Khole

Genre: Avant-garde black metal

Country of origin: Finland

Boneripper – Radiant In Ruin

Genre: Metallic hardcore

Country of origin: Netherlands

Entropist – The Vision

Genre: Progressive death/groove metal

Country of origin: USA

Haggus – The Mincecore Manifesto (EP)

Genre: Goregrind/punk

Country of origin: USA

Junius – Sotera

Genre: Alternative/gothic metal/rock

Country of origin: USA

Nunslaughter – Satanic Chaos Legions

Genre: Death metal

Country of origin: USA

Speedslut – Cimbrian Rites

Genre: Speed metal

Country of origin: Denmark