We’re covering some of our most anticipated albums of 2026 all week. This is the second part of this series. The first is located HERE.
IMMOLATION – DESCENT
Not too long after 2025’s balls dropped us into the new year, the boys of Immolation dropped even bigger balls of great news that they were using the first half of 2026 to finish their next record. Unsurprisingly, this inspired many among the walls of the Last Rites castle to binge a significant amount of the back catalog. Do you know what we discovered? Absolutely nothing new but that Immolation does in fact kick all the asses. One notable takeaway is that, at least for me, Immolation records can often be exhausting (in a good way). Each album, and even every individual track, is so dense and wrought with precise violence that a single album can be a musical marathon even when they are on the shorter side. Of course, that meant the 52 minutes and 15 tracks of Acts of God was particularly bruising. In this case, too much of a good thing is certainly fine, but I wouldn’t object to a crisp 40-minute assault from the Yonkers quartet this go around.
Do we know how long album number 12 will be? No. (Editor’s note: Now we do. 42 minutes) Do we know the name of it? No. (Editor’s note: Now we do. Descent.) Do we know when it will release? Narp. (Editor’s note: Now we do. April 10th.) But, you know what? I’m still 100% confident it will continue Immolation’s tradition of obliterating my brain and ears in equal measure. I bet they might even get a little crazy and say something mean about God. Wouldn’t that be wild?
Anywhoo, I’ll be sat and ready on release day to give this a few spins and probably for many days, weeks, months and years after. Can’t wait for the tour schedule to fire up, so I can try and get close enough to the stage for Robert Vigna to karate chop my head off with his guitar as he plucks through a million new angular riffs. [SPENCER HOTZ]
Quality Confidence Factor: 100%
GORRCH – STILLAMENTUM
Gorrch. It’s pronounced “gork,” which is the sound you make when someone kicks you in the throat while you’re eating a hot dog. Don’t mind me. Anyway, 2020’s Introvertere, a painfully brief EP, became a word-of-mouth hit among a specific set of damaged headbangers lured by loud, frantic, discordant noises. I snagged it from the Lavadome store if that’s any indication of the Italian duo’s ability to go strident mode. [Starship Troopers voice] Do you want to know more? How about this: Encyclopaedia Metallum’s Similar Artists tab, which is about as reliable as Russian roulette, places Deathspell Omega as the ranking gorker. I guess that’s an OK-enough comparison, as long as we’re talking about the Frenchmen’s glory days before they crawled up their own b-holes. Because, well, Introvertere is pretty stripped down as far as these things go, favoring a slashing immediacy over the ‘smoking a pipe and stroking a Van Dyke’ pedantry these bands sometimes Peter Principle themselves into.
“Nimbus” is the tasting pour of the upcoming Stillamentum, Gorrch’s second full-length, which has a title I can’t read without hearing the voices of Dr. Dre or Snoop Dogg. Again, don’t mind me. What’s the difference? Not a whole lot. The band still flashes the serrated blade it swished around on Introvertere. The tremolos retain a particular death-by-a-million-needles quality, as if you’re standing in front of a prickle of porcupines that just tripped a landmine. And the tempos will continue to appease the send-it demands of black metal Colin McRaes. But “Nimbus” is more structured and considered than the blasts from days past, suggesting Gorrch has graduated from the same architecture school that taught Thantifaxath how to position its building blocks for maximum effect. The mysticism has also been nudged up, giving Gorrch a sort of Fallen Empire Does Iceland dealio. Finally, the songs are noticeably longer, which hopefully aren’t the early warning signs of Iron Maiden Bloat disease. Again, not a whole lot has changed. And paraphrasing Frankenstein’s monster: Song…good. Then again, the subtle differences are…interesting. I hope you bros didn’t buy pipes. [SETH BUTTNAM]
Odds It’ll Actually Come Out: I have seen a promo with my own eyes. Then again, World Renown had a promo, and that got shelved.
Quality Confidence Factor: 70%
DIMMU BORGIR – TBA
Eight years removed from Dimmu Borgir’s last full-length, Eonian, 2026 seems like the perfect opportunity for the band to right the ship with a statement album. And despite no title or release date — Fall 2026 seems likely, given the European headlining tour that’s been scheduled — Dimmu Borgir apparently has some skin in the game with an album recorded with Fredrik Nordström.
Of course, much has happened since 2018, including the relatively recent lineup change (no Galder — left to revive Old Man’s Child). And the now quite rich world of melodic and symphonic black metal has moved on, rightfully, without their input. Yet that would, seemingly, give Dimmu every incentive to dig in and mine those creative juices for all they’re worth.
And no, I don’t expect Enthrone Darkness Triumphant Pt. II. I’d be quite happy with something — anything — that sounds inspired and focused, whether it’s progressive Dimmu or symphonic Dimmu or uber-melodic Dimmu or pick your pre-Abrahadabra era Dimmu. Basically, I kind of miss that Dimmu Borgir that led many of us into heavier things. [CHRIS C]
Quality Confidence Factor: 50%
LOVEBITES – OUTSTANDING POWER
What would you do with unlimited power? Conquer the world? Purge the evil in it? Put the coke back in Coke?
Well it doesn’t matter anyway, because Lovebites has it. They have all the power. And what they do with it is knock your damn socks off every 2 to 3 years and this year they aim to do it again with Outstanding Power.
Look at that. They’re not even pretending to be humble about it. They’re telling us straight up what we’re getting because they know what they’ve got: Outstanding Power.
If past albums are any indication it will absolutely be that, but two questions do present themselves, both of them fairly common and one a little more provocative.
First, can they keep it up? This will be album number five. By the time a great band gets to their fifth full-length, the chances are way up that they will have lost their magic or squandered it on some silly gimmickry. Now typically there’s some foreshadowing in the form of an arc already bending downward. Not so in the case of Lovebites, whose albums have all been great even in the shadow of those prior and against the pall of familiarity. Even the EPs have been great and fun. And yet that might just as well suggest they can’t keep it up, to which the band would surely refer us kindly to the album title.
Second, directly related to the first, even tenured bands have lineup changes and, in this case, Fami has replaced Miho on bass. Now, Fami featured on 2023’s amazing Judgement Day but only as a player; Miho wrote at least a couple tracks on every album prior. Fami has released a solo album as a primary songwriter and that music suggests a playfully progressive approach to eclectic rock and pop music. With unofficial sources around the web suggesting that she has songwriting credits on the new one, there’s a bit of intrigue there, too. Then again, if we were to ask Fami herself, she’d surely redirect us back to the album title.
Shifting from speculation to observation now, lead single, “The Castaway,” starts off pretty straight forward with steady, just-below-the-redline pacing; reliably awesome even if it doesn’t immediately light the ol’ BVDs aflame. But rousing choruses raise the bar and, just after the second one, a funky little bridge spotlights Fami and lights the fuse for the second stage. And then a full 70 seconds of kickass dueling solos and tandem leads light up the skies like silver-azure lightning. Strong, tight, lively, and invigorating, same as it ever was. Outstanding Power. [LONE WATIE]
Quality Confidence Factor: 90%
AFTERBIRTH – TBA
I like it when bands get weird without having “the weird” feel as if it’s the prime directive to rule over everything else. Be naturally weird, you delightful weirdos, and wave that freak flag without fully losing sight of the North Star. From my perspective, that’s a crucial element to the overall Afterbirth windfall, as these New York brutalists continue to make an interesting career out of navigating this often tricky fringe. The band’s last foray into the bdm sphere, 2023’s excellent In But Not Of, pushed things to new heights by underscoring alt rock / shoegaze elements, and their latest check-in from Afterbirth HQ makes it clear that they’re interested in continuing to emphasize that AND MORE as they hammer out their fresh demo material in the studio this Jan/Feb:
“[The new work is] a combination of our most violent and maniacal material, along with our always evolving progressive and out-there material. Also, throw in the usual deathly and brutal approach we’ve always had, and more than a handful of alternative rock/shoegaze, and you’ve got the general sense of what will be overtaking your earholes. Some new genres and styles were also attempted with this one, you can be the judge of its success (or not).”
So, yeah, if you’re like me (my condolences) in that you very much appreciate it when brutal bands with a proven track record for bending in seemingly disparate elements announce new plans and pathways, get ready to whiz the floor like an over-stimulated Golden Retriever for the upcoming fourth full-length from these cuddly placentas. Placentae. Placenti. THESE AFTERBIRTHERS. [CAPTAIN]
Quality Confidence Factor: 90%
HELLRIPPER – CORONACH
All hail the goat!
Put simply, Scotland’s Hellripper is fun.
Categorized as speed metal and black thrash, mastermind James McBain consistently draws inspiration from legendary extreme acts like Venom and more recent titans like Midnight. His most recent album, Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags, was his strongest work to date, and I’ve waited ever so patiently for a new release.
And friends, I think we’re getting one soon — at least that’s what I’m concluding from his various Instagram posts over the last few months. (Editor’s note: We are. See above.)
Nonetheless, McBain signed on to Peaceville Records back in 2020 for The Affair of the Poisons, but more recently announced his signing with metal powerhouse Century Media. He also made his live U.S. debut last year at Hell’s Heroes. It definitely seems as though there’s a clear upward career trajectory going on here. To new listeners, it may seem random, but the guy’s been doing the damn thing since 2014. In other words, he’s paid his dues.
For the new record, of course, I’m expecting nothing short of blazing speeds and face-melting riffs backed by McBain’s devilish screeches mimicking a burning witch — or VVitch, if you’re Robert Eggers.
I’ve heard rumblings of a release date and album title, but I refuse to spoil it. (Editor’s note: It’s Coronach, and it’ll be out on March 27th.) But, man, visually, it looks like a throwback…ripper.
I’ll see myself out. [BLIZZARD OF JOZZSH]
Quality Confidence Factor: 90%
COMA CLUSTER VOID –
ABSURD ROMANTICISM
It is 2016. Coma Cluster Void releases Mind Cemeteries, an aggressive assortment of skronks and lurches that sounds like the many-membered band is answering the RSVP sent by Ingurgitating Oblivion’s Continuum of Absence with something even more outlandish. It’s a spiky sucker, jagged, with riffs that feel like how an anglerfish’s mouth looks. Coma Cluster Void tags Morbid Angel as a point of comparison, which is accurate if we’re talking about Formulas Fatal to the Flesh forcing itself through an Ion Dissonance-sized hole at Amigara Fault. Mind Cemeteries contains the best vocal performance on record by Mike DiSalvo.
Coma Cluster Void strikes while the iron is hot, releasing the 22-minute suite, Thoughts from a Stone, in 2017. It expands upon Mind Cemeteries‘s already avant-garde thinky-thoughts while turning up the Negativa-derived discordance. There’s a pioneering progressiveness present, something that will only become more commonplace in arty death metal when labels like Total Dissonance Worship open their doors to like-minded squelch-smiths. Thoughts from a Stone contains the best vocal performance on record by Genevieve DiSalvo. She dies of melanoma in 2018. She is 44.
It is 2023. Coma Cluster Void announces a preorder for Absurd Romanticism, its anticipated second full-length, with a release date one year hence. The release date comes and goes. “Hey all – we are no well-off rich kids, but normal, hard working people with jobs and families to care for,” the band writes in a dispatch a few months later. “Life also doesn’t always play nice and likes to throw a wrench in the works – or much worse – once in a while. That means it takes a bit longer for us to release new music. But rest assured, we’re actively creating songs (guitar, drum and vocal tracking in progress as I am posting this).” The new plan is to update the Bandcamp page with new songs whenever they’re completed. Coma Cluster Void needs to catch a break.
It is 2025. Four of the eight songs from Absurd Romanticism have been uploaded. They’re good — more focused than Mind Cemeteries, and sporting a weightier sonic oomph thanks to increased production values. Perhaps this is the year. Coma Cluster Void sends a message in March: bassist Sylvia Hinz has cancer. Another message is delivered in November: “…the 5th song will drop soon! :)”
It is 2026. Four of the eight songs from Absurd Romanticism have been uploaded. The album has a new release date: February 1, 2026. Right below that promise is a clarification that has been pinned to this Bandcamp for years: “ACTUAL RELEASE DATE: TBA.” Perhaps this is the year. [SETH BUTTNAM]
Odds It’ll Actually Come Out: I’m not going to curse a snakebitten band worse with a prediction.
Quality Confidence Factor: 70%
