Go and live your passion

  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...