Albums of March 27, April 3, and April 10 2026

The most interesting albums of the week!

Infinite Illumination, released on 20 Buck Spin, is the biggest and most exciting surprise drop since, erm, last month. But that is more impressive than it sounds. Spirit Adrift play American doom metal in the style of Pallbearer or Khemmis, and on Infinite Illumination they continue their run of impressive and morose music. Nate Garrett does an excellent job of writing earworm hooks. But Infinite Illumination‘s biggest strength is its patience. Tracks unfold one step at a time, with melodies evolving continuously over the long track lengths in a manner that both is satisfying and adds to relistens. All performances are tight, and the songwriting emphasizes some of the softer moments, giving added depth to the album. This probably won’t be Spirit Adrift‘s desert island album for you. But it is another excellent release from a band that hasn’t missed.

Sentinels of Shamash was released on Reigning Phoenix Music. Melechesh‘s newest release is an EP consisting of 3 longish thrash tracks. As usual, the riffs are excellent and the vocals expressive. The band’s choice to release the tracks as a EP was a good one because it allows Melechesh to stretch out their ideas without exhausting the listener. The drums shine on Sentinels of Shamash, with a variety of interesting beats allowing the band to repeat ideas in the guitars while maintaining some variability and keeping things fresh. “Raptors of Anzu” is a step below the other tracks, but is still a pleasant enough listen.

I’ve never gotten very enthusiastic about Strotregn. No Plenitude Without Suffering, released on Transcending Obscurity, hits a nerve in a way that Apolaustic‘s pseudo-parent band hasn’t been able to. Apolaustic play high-energy melodic death metal. While all doom influence has been boiled off, there are a variety of interesting interludes peppered throughout No Plenitude Without Suffering, mostly arranged to showcase the guitars. The riffs are excellent, although in the heavier moments Apolaustic gets a bit too chaotic for any melody to retain its oomph. Individual performances blend into the background seemingly by choice. But the band’s cohesion is excellent, and they play in a manner that allows the spotlight to shine wherever it’s needed.

Anthems For The Grand Collapse is the second full-length release from the Spanish doom metal group Solnegre, and was released on Meuse Music Records. There’s a sprinkle of the Peaceville sound here, but Anthems For The Grand Collapse‘s long tracks and emotional focus give the album more of an epic doom feel. Fans of Saturnus will enjoy. Solnegre do a great job giving their songs arcs and maintaining interest over 10-minute runtimes, although some of the songs do start to blend together after multiple listens. The clean and harsh vocals fit each other wonderfully and provide another way for Solnegre to shift their sound and grow their songs over time.

III was released on Reptilian Records. Palmar De Troya play entrancing punk music that fans of Sonic Youth or Spanish Love Songs may find appealing. The reverb-drenched vocals work well with the on-beat drumming and thick guitars. Palmar De Troya do a good job projecting confidence. I wish there was a bit more aggression from the instruments at times to match the excited peaks that the vocals reach, but Palmar De Troya‘s approach of keeping sustained waves going does a good job of tying the songs together and keeping their music focused.

A Dark Poem, Part II: Sanguis was released on Season Of Mist. The album starts out by building off of a repeated organ melody that shifts into Green Carnation‘s signature style of introspective doom. Sanguis contains some of the best vocals of Green Carnation‘s discography. And while the emotional depth isn’t quite present as much as it was on the band’s best albums, Green Carnation continue to write beautiful melodies and wrap them in earnest and raw progressions that leave the listener feeling emotionally exhausted. Green Carnation also make good use of repetition to give their songs some direction, such as the frequent returns to the organ motif on the opening track, which allows them to write longer songs that maintain their identity.

Tortural Symphony Of The Flesh was released on Svart Records. Unearthly Rites play muddy, crusty death metal that fans of Tomb Mold‘s early demos may find alluring. The band does a good job writing and performing with precision. Nothing gets lost in the mud, the listener can clearly hear the effort that went into making each song. While the riffs got stuck in my brain for quite a while after each listen, Tortural Symphony Of The Flesh‘s biggest strength is the transitions. The band changes tempos and styles with the snap of a snare drum hit. And whether these transitions are written to be abrupt or to sounds natural, Unearthly Rites captivate the listener.

Mordeo play a suffocating sludge style similar to Primative Man but with more of a focus on the beat. Their self-titled album was released on Hypaethral Records, Forever Never Ends Records, and Shove Records. Mordeo‘s punk influence comes through stronger than most sludge groups, but the album really shines starting with the second track, which adds a soft instrumental passage and gives another dimension to the music. This makes the heavier sections sound far more oppressive.

Rotting On A Golden Throne was released on Dying Victims Productions. Zerre plays a throwback style of crossover thrash. Their machine-gun guitar riffs pair well with the raw, hardcore-infused vocals. And while this is an album that any metal listener has heard a hundred times before, Zerre write and perform well enough to make Rotting On A Golden Throne worth the time. This album will be a good time for fans of Toxic Holocaust, Anthrax, or a million other bands along that same line. The most impressive aspect of Rotting On A Golden Throne is the guitar work. There is a solo near the end of “Pigs will be Pigs” that has the lowest notes per second of any thrash solo I’ve heard in a will, and instead consists of wailing on sustained notes while twisting around the tone of the notes. That takes guts, and they pull it off.

I guess it’s not a cheesy power metal album unless it features Fabio Lione at some point. Becoming The Dragon was released on Crunchtronic Records. This is the exact style of power metal that you think it is. The album’s primary vocals are a highlight, with strong tone and plenty of flair and personality. The songwriting is a bit standard, but the expressive performances make up for any shortcomings there. Becoming The Dragon won’t reshape the power metal genre, but it is a thoroughly entertaining listen that I plan on returning to often.

Planned Obsolescence was released on Season of Mist. Only Human make prog music that blends Tesseract-style djent and electronics. While the words “progressive” and “catchy” don’t often go together, Planned Obsolescence always prioritizes the entertaining over any sort of wankery. The harsh vocals are a bit rough at times. However, the clean vocals are excellent, and the entire band grooves together quite well. The songwriting is smooth and songs slowly shift to their final form over time.

Consecrated Abysses Of Dread was released on I, Voidhanger Records, and it sounds like it. Bekor Qilish are one of the bands on I, Voidhanger’s roster that best showcase the label’s style, with wild riffs flying in all directions, dissonances for the sake of them, and song structures that are designed to sound as off as possible propping up a death metal core that always sounds like it’s one step away from collapsing into a heap of rubble. The band’s albums don’t always hang together well, but Consecrated Abysses Of Dread is their shorted and most focused album. Fans of Krallice and Atheist will enjoy. The guitar tone is gorgeous, the drums are tight, and the vocals are somehow the most out-there thing about this album. When Bekor Qilish hit, they land on the entertaining side of weird.

First off, yes, the ai music video is garbage and everyone involved should be embarrassed. Second, Descent is about a track too long. Beyond that, this is the best release of the year so far. Descent was released on Nuclear Blast. Almost 40 years in, Immolation are still using the formula that made them one of death metals greatest bands. The unique riffs with harmonics that no one else can write are back, as are the absolutely apeshit drum beats that sound like fills falling over each other. The slow tempos used to wildly exaggerate syncopation in the guitars, and the chaotic subdivisions that vary from the guitars to the drums resulting in a hectic frazzle of sounds that always slam together precisely on the beat because Immolation are great songwriter. The amazing vocals. Immolation remain on top of the world and I am thankful for everything except that terrible video that will age worse than 50 Cent‘s “Piggy Bank” video.