Exodus |Goliath |Napalm Records

Release Date March 20^th, 2026
Format CD/LP/Digital
Genre Thrash Metal
Country United States

Exodus formed in the San Francisco Bay Area and helped birth the entire thrash metal movement back in the early eighties. Decades later, the veterans are still tearing heads off and surviving changing trends. For "Goliath", Rob Dukes is back on the microphone, teaming up with Gary Holt, Lee Altus, Jack Gibson, and Tom Hunting. It is an awesome reunion for those who remember his punishing vocal run. They tapped Mark Lewis for production duties, making their jump to Napalm Records a huge metallic event.

I have seen plenty of fans complaining online because "Goliath" drops the constant light-speed aggression. We all worship violent circle pits and non-stop thrashing speed. Only a maniac expects every single album to just be endless neck-breaking tempos. Exodus stepped into a heavier, technical enough, and strictly groove-driven territory this time around, and they made the completely right call. You get serious musicianship and skull-crushing mid-tempo rhythms giving the songs a massive, destructive punch.

"Hostis Humani Generis" brings out the absolute beast in Rob Dukes. His screams cut through the chaotic riffs blasted by Gary Holt and Lee Altus. When you get to "The Changing Me", the guys throw in intense dual guitar work and bring in Peter Tägtgren for extra vocal insanity. The title track, "Goliath", slows things down into a total doom-laden crawl, using pounding drums and eerie strings from Katie Jacoby to build pure menace. "Violence Works" and "2 Minutes Hate" supply a lethal dose of rhythmic rage, seeing Tom Hunting and Jack Gibson destroy everything in their path.

"Summon Of The God Unknown" drags you through twisted melodies and punishing heavy metal darkness. Then "The Dirtiest Of The Dozen" finishes the entire siege with wild dueling solos, crazy bass lines, and insane drum patterns. The guys just unleash everything they have left in the tank. Mark Lewis gave the whole thing an absolutely massive sonic treatment, making every riff sound huge and deadly. Exodus is four decades deep into their career, and they are still out there crushing skulls, taking names, and refusing to play it safe.

Score: 8.0

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https://exodus.bandcamp.com/album/goliath

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Gus Drax |Theories Of Imperfection |Theogonia Records

Release Date April 3^rd, 2026
Format CD/12″ Vinyl/Digital
Genre Progressive Metal (Instrumental)
Country Greece

Gus Drax spent the last decade tearing up stages globally as the lead six-stringer for thrash maniacs Suicidal Angels. Before that relentless touring cycle, the Greek guitar phenomenon carved out his name with UK prog-metallers Biomechanical and his own heavy outfit, Sunburst. He built an international reputation, delivering blistering speed and face-melting technicality. Now, he returns to his solo roots via Theogonia Records to unleash his second full-length monster, "Theories Of Imperfection".

To execute this instrumental prog metal assault, Gus Drax assembled an elite death squad of musicians. Bringing in George Kollias to demolish the drum kit, George Charalampidis to annihilate the bass frequencies, and Bob Katsionis to command the keyboards elevates the entire project to absolute mastery. Gathering such a formidable roster of world-class metal veterans guarantees flawless precision and supreme technical dominance. Every musician fires on all cylinders, turning insane time signatures and massive grooves into a masterclass of progressive destruction.

The sheer velocity and emotional aggression injected into "Sentio Ergo Sum" and "Nocturnal Waltz" will immediately snap your neck. The monstrous riffing continues across the wild shredding of "Sombrero Attack" and the soaring horizons of "Ethereal Horizon". Bringing in guest heavyweights like Andy James for a massive guitar duel on "Cosmic Shadow" adds pure firepower to the arsenal. The inclusion of John Koutselinis for sweeping orchestrations and Lefteris Pouliou dropping wild saxophone lines turns these tracks into massive sonic explosions. Simone Mularoni at Domination Studio (best choice) engineered the mix and master into a crushing auditory weapon, delivering massive low-end punch and screaming highs.

Remedy Art Design delivered a visual nightmare of chaotic beauty for the cover art. The surreal imagery and explosive colors perfectly mirror the insane guitar acrobatics and heavy onslaught found inside. "Theories Of Imperfection" reigns as a towering monument of progressive metal superiority. Gus Drax proves he remains one of the most lethal guitarists in the metal scene today, delivering massive riffs, chaotic speed, and unyielding metal fury.

Score: 9.0

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https://www.youtube.com/@GusDrax

Vanir |Wyrd |Mighty Music

Release Date April 3^rd, 2026
Format LP/CD/Digital
Genre Melodic Death Metal
Country Denmark

Vanir has been churning out their own brand of history-infused melodic death metal from Denmark for well over a decade. They merge heavy, crushing riffage with massive tales of ancient battles, myth, and destiny. They have steadily built up their arsenal as one of the prominent extreme acts in their homeland, constantly charging onto sonic battlefields with swords drawn and shields battered. Now they are back to wage war once more with their newest assault, "Wyrd".

The newest album, "Wyrd", dumps listeners straight into the trenches of humanity's bloodiest conflicts and the unyielding grip of fate. We get a massive history lesson focused on warfare and destruction. The visual representation on the cover art by David Troest features the legendary Winged Hussars during the 1683 Battle of Vienna. The music perfectly matches that scene of charging cavalry and clashing steel. Tracks like "Never Surrender" and "Boudica" unleash a relentless assault of driving guitars and thunderous drums, mirroring the chaos of those ancient battlegrounds. Vanir delivers pure aggression mixed with huge epic melodies.

Martin Drageholm growls through the chaos with total ferocity, leading the troops over the dual guitar attack of Kirk Backarach and Lasse Heiberg. The riffs are colossal, driving the narrative of fallen warriors and hard-fought victories. Demigod Recordings handled the mixing and mastering, and the final sound is massive. Everything is dialed in perfectly, giving the drums of Jon Elmquist Schmidt a colossal punch alongside Mikael Christensen on bass. Stefan Dujardin weaves his keyboards through the madness, adding epic atmosphere to the destructive riffs.

This album simply kicks a massive amount of ass. Vanir delivers supreme melodic death metal tailored for massive mosh pits and headbanging sessions. The crushing intensity combined with victorious melodies makes "Wyrd" a formidable release in their catalog. The band brings pure fire and heavy metal thunder. They unleash what a fan of historical war metal wants to hear, leaving total devastation in their wake.

Score: 8.0

https://www.facebook.com/Vanirband

https://www.instagram.com/vanirdenmark/

https://vanir.bandcamp.com/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjjLRXN2ECP7fe0GSJ8eNZg

Rats Will Feast |An Evocation |Time To Kill Records

Release Date 03.04.2026
Format LP/CD/MC/Digital
Genre Experimental Hardcore
Country Finland

Rats Will Feast is an experimental hardcore outfit from Jyväskylä, Finland, crafting a musical landscape of extreme aggression, unyielding emotion and hallucinatory chaos. Active in its current form since 2018, the band has built a reputation for intense live performances and innovative sound. The bands earlier releases “Scarcity” (LP, 2019), "Songs Of A Racehorse" (EP, 2020), and "Malady" (2021) move fluidly between crushing hardcore and noisy psychedelia, occasionally dwelling in more mellow post-rock atmospheres. Their 2024 album "Hellhole" pushed the band’s signature sound to its extremes, delving further into destructive chaos, aggression and desolation. Rats Will Feast’s forthcoming release, "An Evocation" EP continues their evolution, standing as their most focused and defined musical expression and proving that the band shows no signs of slowing down.

Rats Will Feast drops "An Evocation" into the pit, bringing ten years of noise into a short burst of hardcore violence. The Finnish crew merges harsh screaming with jarring melodic sections, creating an atmosphere of sheer hostility. The riffing on "Frail Bones" and "Smartless" attacks the listener head-on, delivering erratic speed and relentless distortion. The slower parts offer gloomy, quiet moments, immediately followed by total aural destruction. The execution is definitely savage, providing an abrasive listening experience for maniacs seeking chaotic noise.

The music works fine for a brief burst of aggression. The transitions between tranquil segments and chaotic breakdowns occasionally disjoint the overall listening experience. "First Snow" tricks the ear with quiet strumming before the storm hits, leading into the massive auditory beating of "Observer" and the title track, "An Evocation". The constant shifting between extreme noise and melodic downtime gives the release a split personality. Sometimes the collision of sounds delivers a satisfying punch. Other times the sudden changes derail the momentum. It amounts to an adequately vicious collection of raging tracks.

Lyrically, the words explore human struggles and the harsh realities of everyday survival. The themes examine resentment and acceptance, looking for a safe harbor away from modern society's constant turmoil. Pouring these frustrations into a screaming microphone serves as a coping mechanism, turning raw pain into a physical sonic assault. "An Evocation" supplies enough hostile energy to satisfy regular listeners of dissonant hardcore. The chaotic mixture gets the job done for a quick spin, resulting in an acceptable dose of audio violence.

Score: 6.5

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https://ratswillfeast.bandcamp.com/album/an-evocation

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Schattenmann |Endgegner |Perception Label

Release Date March 13^th, 2026
Format CD/Vinyl/Digital
Genre Alternative Metal
Country Germany

Schattenmann crawled into the German music scene around 2018 and clawed their way up the ranks. They dropped four full-length attacks over the years, including "Licht An", "Epidemie", "Chaos", and "Día De Muertos". That 2023 release pushed them into the top tier of German charts and packed venues across Germany and Austria. They cut their teeth sharing stages with heavy metal acts like Eisbrecher, Feuerschwanz, and Hämatom. Now, Frank Herzig and his crew return with "Endgegner", bringing a massive shift in their sound. They stripped away a lot of their older electronic parts and injected straight-up metal and core aggression into their DNA.

"Endgegner" delivers a serious metal beating. Frank Herzig screams and shouts the German lyrics with total aggression. The guitar riffs from Jan Suk smash through the speakers, backed by a relentless rhythm section courtesy of drummer Nils Kinzig and bassist Luke Shook. Henning Verlage handled the production, dialing in a massive guitar tone and booming drum acoustics. Schattenmann unloads crunching grooves and heavy breakdowns. The new core influence works well for them. A few sections get slightly predictable. The formula is very simple. They stick to a specific verse-chorus structure throughout the entire runtime.

"Kein Kommando" strikes fast and leaves a trail of destruction. The guitars chew through the distortion, dropping massive core-influenced breakdowns right in the middle. The title track, "Endgegner", provides massive gang vocals and a stomping groove built for the mosh pit. "Einen Scheiß Muss Ich" delivers pure aggression and a giant middle finger to the mainstream. The chorus gets stuck in your head instantly. Then you hit tracks like "Schna-Na-Naps" and "Wir Sind Das Ende Der Welt", where the energy shifts into a massive live-arena anthem mode.

Schattenmann took a huge risk changing their sound, and the payoff is mostly positive. "Endgegner" brings a hell of a lot of heavy riffs and screaming vocals. "Besser Als Der Rest" and "Kamikaze" keep the speed high, tearing through the speakers with zero compromises. The band successfully transitioned into a heavier core-driven machine. A couple of tracks blend together near the end, making the album lose a tiny bit of steam before "Gelegenheit Macht Liebe" closes things out. "Endgegner" remains a killer spin for anyone needing heavy German metal raging in their car stereo.

Score: 7.0

Schattenmann:

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SolNegre |Anthems For The Grand Collapse |Meuse Music Records

Release Date: April 3^rd, 2026
Format: CD/Digital
Genre: Epic/Death/Doom Metal
Country: Spain

SolNegre emerged from Spain in 2022. The members cut their teeth in heavy hitters like Helevorn and Golgotha, cementing their names in the Spanish doom and death metal scenes over previous decades. They dropped their debut, "The Spiral Labyrinth", and established a massive, solitary sonic footprint. Now, they return with "Anthems For The Grand Collapse", an expansive and totally crushing expansion of sorrow-drenched extreme metal.

This music tears into your psyche and breaks your spirit. "The Axiom/Song For The Inert Part II" tears open with immense chords and agonizing vocal deliveries. You get dragged right into the storm. SolNegre harnesses serious emotional distress and channels it through massive guitars and total darkness. The riffs crash down on you, dragging you deep into the abyss.

Tracks like "The Hollow Inside" and "For All That Could Have Been" provide a relentless barrage of pain and beauty. Roaring, desperate vocals clash against huge, mournful melodies. Female vocals and violins tear through the darkness on "In The Stillness Of The Womb", adding a chilling layer of sorrow. "A Path Of Aloneness (I & II)" brings sweeping majesty and solemnity into the mix, closing things out with pure musical devastation. They build massive walls of sound and bring them crashing down around you. You get crushed by sheer agony and spectacular leads.

The studio work done at Diorama Sound captures maximum devastation. The drums pound into your chest. The guitars rip through the speakers, and the vocals sound totally tortured. Every single element works together to inflict total emotional damage. "Anthems For The Grand Collapse" is a monumental tragedy caught on tape, arriving with a massive physical release that includes the "Annihilation Of The Self" EP.

Score: 8.5

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https://www.meusemusicrecords.eu/

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Golgotha |Hubris |Abstract Emotions

Release Date April 24^th, 2026
Format CD/Digital
Genre Melodic Doom/Death Metal
Country Spain

Born from the sun-scorched soil of Spain, Golgotha has been haunting the underground since the early nineties. After decades of line-up shifts and a massive return with "Spreading The Wings Of Hope", these veterans have dragged themselves back into the light, or rather, the lack of it. They’ve always been about that heavy, sorrowful crawl, and their latest offering, "Hubris", is a jagged, bitter pill that tastes like real-world misery.

If you were expecting another golden era of soaring melodies, "Hubris" is going to slap that smile right off your face. This album is a heavy, suffocating descent into the rocks of reality. The transition from the massive sound of their last outing to these darker, more rugged textures is like moving from a funeral to the actual dirt of the grave. It’s an album that focuses on the wreckage of life, trading in polish for a sound that is as raw as a fresh wound.

The interplay between the musicians is where the real damage is done. You’ve got Maria J. Lladó’s vocals starting things off in a way that’s almost too vulnerable, before the rest of the band comes in to crush the air out of your lungs. The trade-off between the monstrous, cavernous growls and those clean, haunting melodies gives "Hubris" a dual personality that actually works. “Broken Toy” is a massive highlight, where the riffs crawl like a dying beast before opening into something genuinely melancholic. It’s not about being pretty; it’s about being honest.

The production from Davide Billia gives the guitars a massive, crushing edge that the band’s previous stuff sometimes lacked. “Too Late” slows things down to a agonizing pace, hitting you with that old-school death metal spirit before a solo cuts through the murk. By the time you get to the end with “Intolerance”, you’re left feeling completely hollowed out. It’s a relentless exploration of grief and pain that doesn't offer many exits, just a deep dive into the shadows of the human spirit.

This isn't an album for a sunny day at the beach. Golgotha has managed to bottle the feeling of watching your world shatter and turning that debris into a wall of sound. While it’s heavy and depressing as hell, there is a tarnished majesty to songs like “Blind” that keeps you coming back for more. It’s a strong, bleak chapter for the Spanish masters that proves they still have plenty of fire left in their cold hearts.

Score: 7.5

https://www.facebook.com/GolgothaOfficialBand

https://abstractemotions.com/en/

https://www.facebook.com/abstractemotions1995

Antrisch |Expedition III : Renitenzpfad |AOP Records

Release Date 27.03.2026
Format CD/LP/Digital
Genre Atmospheric Black Metal
Country Germany 

Antrisch emerged in 2020, crawling out of a year defined by isolation and the kind of mental rot that fuels the best underground art. They’ve spent their existence obsessed with the brutal intersection of nature’s extremes and human fragility. After freezing to death on their first two outings, they’ve traded the ice for the humid, suffocating madness of the Amazon, proving they have a serious obsession with historical disasters and the people who lose their minds in them.

Antrisch has officially ditched the frostbite for the jungle, and "Expedition III : Renitenzpfad" is a disgusting, beautiful descent into the heart of madness. Following the trail of Lope De Aguirre’s doomed 1560 trek, these guys have managed to bottle the feeling of hacking through vines while your sanity unravels. This isn't just a collection of riffs but a relentless atmospheric hammer that mixes that jagged, modern djent mechanical feel with a blackened doom weight that actually has some teeth.

The vocals on this album are absolutely possessed. Maurice Wilson sounds like he’s actually starving in the mud, spitting out his lines with a level of desperation that makes most modern black metal vocalists look like they’re reading a grocery list. Behind him, the guitars weave these massive, suffocating walls of sound that shift from high-speed aggression to those agonizingly slow, dark ambient moments. It’s a dense, heavy-handed experience that refuses to give you a moment of peace, reflecting a story where everyone ends up dead or insane.

What really sticks is how the production handles the chaos. It’s got enough punch to satisfy the gear-heads who want to hear every kick drum, but it stays filthy enough to keep the elitists happy. The transition from the more melodic black metal parts into the cold, narrative sections keeps the tension high. You can almost smell the rot and the fever dreams of the conquistadors as the album drags you deeper into the foliage. It’s a massive step forward for the band, proving they can handle complex storytelling without losing the raw aggression that makes this subgenre actually worth a damn.

If you want music that makes you feel like you’re losing a war against the environment and your own brain, "Expedition III : Renitenzpfad" is the answer. Antrisch have delivered a massive, sprawling nightmare that lives in the shadows of history. It’s aggressive, it’s emotional, and it’s arguably their best work to date. This is how you do atmospheric metal without sounding like a bunch of nerds in a basement.

Score: 8.5

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Redwood |Time To Lose |Self-release

Release Date January 30^th, 2026
Format Digital
Genre Heavy Psych, Stoner Rock, Desert Rock, Doom Metal
Country USA

Redwood is the brainchild of Sheafer McComber, a Northern California native who has been churning out heavy psych and stoner riffs with a relentless work ethic. Following the momentum of the 2025 release "Cloud Colony", Redwood didn't waste any time getting back into the studio to cook up more cosmic noise. This project has always been about that intersection where the desert sun meets the deep reaches of space, blending a massive low-end with enough fuzz to coat a mountain.

Look, if you want something to vibrate the loose screws in your skull, "Time To Lose" delivers exactly that. It's a trip through the Northern California redwoods and straight out of the atmosphere. The riffs are thick and hairy, sitting right in that sweet spot between a slow-motion avalanche and a fever dream. The production isn't some over-sanitized plastic garbage; it sounds like a real amp being pushed to the edge of a total meltdown, which is how this music should be played.

There are some legit surprises on this one that’ll catch you off guard. "Highway Is My Way" is a total bruiser, switching up the vocal delivery to something much meaner than what we usually hear from Redwood. It’s got a jagged, aggressive edge that provides a nice kick to the ribs. On the other side of the coin, "Titan" leans hard into the synth pedals. It creates this floating, hallucinatory vibe that makes you feel like you're drifting through a nebula before the final hammer drops.

The massive finale "Blue Mass" is where everything culminates into a massive, 11-minute journey. It’s a huge, expansive track that demands your attention, pulling together all the fuzzy textures and cosmic energy McComber has been building. This album shows a lot of growth without losing the heavy-as-lead foundation. It’s a strong addition to the collection for anyone who lives for the riff.

Score: 7.5

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Cultist |Spiritual Atrophy |Awakening Records/Futhark Records

Release Date March 20^th, 2026
Format CD/Digital/Vinyl (later pressing)
Genre Death Metal
Country Canada

Hailing from the frozen urban sprawl of Calgary, Canada, Cultist isn't here to play nice or give you a catchy chorus to hum. They first crawled out of the crypt in 2022 with their debut, and while that album was a savage introduction, their new offering shows a band that has fully embraced the void. This isn't just about speed; it’s about a specific kind of mental rot. They take that classic, dirt-covered foundation and smear it with an interstellar madness that makes the music feel like it’s vibrating at a frequency meant to liquefy your brain.

"Spiritual Atrophy" is a relentless assault that manages to be sophisticated without losing its primitive edge. The transition from the tension-heavy opening of "Divination Whispers" into the total carnage of "Coursing Between Worlds" sets a high bar for violence. The guitar work is jagged and sharp, cutting through the mix like rusted wire. There’s a frantic energy to "Neophyte" and a warped, shifting structure in "Ascension" that keeps you on edge. The guest solo by Scott Oliphant on that track is a particular highlight, sounding like a desperate scream echoing through a collapsing dimension.

What really gives this record its own identity is the triple vocal attack. Having three different voices tearing through these songs adds layers of desperation and savagery that most bands can't touch. Tracks like "False Prophet" and the title song "Spiritual Atrophy" are massive, dense, and punishing. The production is exactly what it needs to be, thick, bloody, and devastating, thanks to the engineering work of Scott Oliphant and the mastering of Rolando Rodas. It sounds like it was recorded in an open grave under a black sun.

This is a hellish journey for those who crave death metal with a bit of a cosmic, deranged twist. It’s heavy as a lead coffin and just as suffocating. If you want music that sounds like your sanity is slowly leaking out of your ears while ancient gods watch from the shadows, this is it. Cultist has delivered a record that is characterful, rampant, and genuinely disturbing.

Score: 7.5

https://www.facebook.com/cultistcanada

https://www.facebook.com/AwakeningRecordsCN/

https://futharkrecords.com