Go and live your passion

  The most noticeable event in July 2026 was that I turned 48. Besides that, it was another pedestrian month for the new releases. And thank fk (again)!  I like and believe in consistency. That's why I keep on doing these posts and lists. In this respect Rolling Stones put out a new album in July 2026 too! Monsters! Honestly, I did NOT check a lot of new albums; I simply wasn't willing to do so. From the ones I did, though, I managed surprisingly to put here 23! And I guess I'll continue my life with not more than 4 or 5; the rest I won't pay much attention to in the future.  Not much to describe and discuss around my choices REZN won against Coprolith, Cabinet, and Sallow Moth. Left to Die left me hesitant, and surprisingly I liked the new Moonspell. As usual, my list is in some order, so the second half of it I enjoyed in this particular moment in time, but they are not having the staying power. Let's see. Anyway, below are the best July 2026 new releases for me. ...

Thank fk June 2026 was weak af! Basically, I can take very few albums with me. The new ROTTEN TOMB is my album of the month and death metal album of the year so far for me. Stormkeep is The Kovenant rip-off, right? I liked it a lot though ...And this is the most important of all. Some other proper BM albums, and that's it. I had expectations for Morgal, but it is really weak compared to everything they have done before. I didn't like the new Evergrey either.  Let's leave this publication for history only. I hardly listed 17 albums below, but it should have been 10. Here are the June'26 releases that I liked the most: ROTTEN TOMB - Vestiges of Tortured Souls ( Bandcamp ) STORMKEEP - The Nocturnes Of Iswylm ( Bandcamp ) ENEVELDE / GJENDØD - Elegier fra avgrunnen ( Bandcamp ) HORN - Apokalyps 1618 ( Bandcamp ) GRABUNHOLD - Frostheim ( Bandcamp ) ORDER OF THE DEATH'S HEAD / KAEVUM - Décomposition / Abstand ( YouTube ) ASTRIFEROUS - Atavistic Unraveling ( Bandcamp ) VÉHÉ...

  May 2026 was a relatively "unstable" month for new releases. What do I mean? One week it is ok, next is great, third - meh, and then in the end - here comes the flood, out of which I had to pick the best... The thing is that I listed here 30 records, and probably 2/3 of them I won't listen to very often, or at all anymore. But hey, every list is a momentary snapshot. It depends on the mood, the circumstances, the events surrounding the listening, etc. So it is always subject to change.  Frankly, it was difficult for me to select the album of the month, too. Finally, I just put Restless Spirit, supposedly because I am going to listen to it a lot in the future. There were some other very good releases, in fact, too. One of the biggest surprises for me was the new Dimmu Borgir, who turned into a complete shit around Spiritual Black Dimensions. So if anyone goes through my lists, he/she should know that I enjoyed all these thirty albums during the past month for some reason...

  April 2026 was a hectic month again. Too many new releases dropped, and the list here demonstrates it. I am not comfortable with having 36 albums here. It means I can't decide properly, or the month was mediocre and they were equally bad without having a distinctive leaders... My album of the month, naturally, is HAJDUK - Хвърковата чета. No doubt. I think it is also my BM album of the year (I know it's early). I am in direct contact with Belgun. Then, Reeking Aura - an absolute and addictive death metal banger. Then the rest, in more or less particular order, and always depending on the mood. There are quite good albums there, very enjoyable and very underground. I think I'll take some of the names to the AOTY list; others will stay in April 2026 only, for liking them in this very moment. Let's mention here for the sake of nostalgia - the last Spirit Adrift and the last At The Gates. Sad. I don't want to write brief reviews on each and every record. Let me save t...

  March 2026 was solid, delivering a lot of new releases, among which I'll take a few to my AOTY list. There are big names on my March list as well as very underground ones. In the end, I picked the 27 records I enjoyed most from the ones I checked. Of course, I haven't listened to all the albums released in March, it is absolutely impossible. According to The Metal Archives, there are 1885 entries for the period 1 March 2026 - 31 March 2026!!!! This is completely insane, and I bet there were even busier months... Why do we need this? I just can't comprehend.  I noticed that it shaped as a serious black/death list, but I am listening to BM most of the time this year. For the release of the month, I chose The Crawl by TEMPLE OF VOID. Another glorious album by the Americans, digging my favourite death doom area. Hooks, mood, and heaviness. Just a reminder that their Summoning the Slayer was my death metal album of 2023. Lomsk's second album was uper close to take the firs...

  February 2026 was a proper month for the UG. It delivered some very good new releases, especially in the black metal area. My list here demonstrates this exactly. It is packed with solid black metal and, here and there, some death metal albums. I enjoyed the month, as I was in a particular BM mood. I am going to carry with me many of these releases into the year, and I believe most of them will make my end-of-year (black metal) lists.  I was hesitant about the album of the month - either MAYHEM or DIABOLUS, MECUM SEMPERTERNE!. I put MAYHEM in the end, although all the albums below are very close to one another, and listing them in a somewhat particular order does not really matter. There is a small comment next to each one, describing my thoughts, so I won't spend much time here discussing the albums and what is good and what disappointed me. To make a long story short, all these albums released in February 2026 deserve a listen (or a lot of listens).  GO! MAYHEM - Lit...

  It was like yesterday when I was summarizing 2025 and publishing all the AOTY lists. January 2026 is already gone, so I am again in the monthly lists preparation pattern. During this past month, I wondered whether and how to continue here, what could be added, altered, or scrapped. I still don't have the answers, and therefore I keep on doing it the old way that I adopted in the past year.   January 2026 didn't offer much. Few major events were recorded, though. Megadeth released their very last album (everybody knows), Kreator released a monster and destroyed my scepticism, and some very enjoyable underground albums came out and found their place on my list below. I was hesitant about my album of the month. In the end, I put Kreator. Megadeth was my second choice due to nostalgic reasons and the lump in my throat. However, just put against each other, "Krushers of the world" is definitely the better one.  It is way too early to predict how the year will go, but th...

Do you remember 1996? I do! So this is a selection of records released in 1996 that celebrate their 30th anniversary in 2026. Among the hundreds of albums released 30 years ago, here are my most preferred ones.  I am surely missing something, but from the distance of time, it is difficult to recall everything that moved me back then. Most of these turned into klassiks, and 30 years later they are still in heavy rotation. Others just mark the particular moment in time... Play them loud! Metallica - Load Hypocrisy - Abducted Dimmu Borgir - Stormblåst Cradle of Filth - Vempire Cradle of Filth - Dusk and Her Embrace Cemetary - Sundown Anathema - Eternity Burzum - Filosofem Type O Negative - October Rust Sepultura - Roots King Diamond - The Graveyard Edge of Sanity - Crimson Satyricon - Nemesis Divina Gates of Ishtar - A Bloodred Path Katatonia - Brave Murder Day Algaion - Vox Clamentis EP Helloween - The Time of the Oath Manowar - Louder Than Hell Borknagar - Borknagar Pantera - The Gr...

  When I prepare my lists I always ask myself a few questions. Will I listen to this album in several weeks/months/years? Is there a staying power? Does it really excite me? Can I sing along and/or remember the songs (if the genre allows it, actually). The AOTY lists most of the time are snapshots of a moment in time, and very soon after, all can change... With all this in mind, plus the shortlisted albums and the already published lists of death and black metal, I sat down and developed the final list of 2025 releases.  2025 marked the death of too many heroes of our scene. You know who they are. Let's not forget them.  And here's the AOTY list featuring 50 albums. No surprises. It is a mix between MY TOP 50 DEATH METAL ALBUMS OF 2025 , MY TOP 60 BLACK METAL ALBUMS OF 2025 , and, of course, the rest of the genres/albums that I loved the most during the year. For the sake of consistency. Is it a good list or a bad list? It is a mixed bag. It is my list, though, and I make...