Release Round Up - May 22nd, 2026
Every week there is a tidal wave of new music released unto the world. Each Friday we'll round up some of the best new music available, some we've reviewed, some we haven't, but all worth checking out!
Theres a lot of new heavy music hitting the airwaves this week, everything from black metal, death metal, gothic metal, Stoner rock, doom, thrash metal and even some of your traditional heavy metal!
Here's what we think you should check out today!
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Just a few short weeks since Converge released 'Love Is Not Enough' the band return with their second record of 2026, 'Hum of Hurt'.
"the voice of Jacob Bannon is the living embodiment of rage, with each utterance dripping with primitive angst!"
Read our full review here
UK Black metal force Iselder return with 'The 38th Division', released via Marwolaeth Records.
"incisor-sharp riffs ridged with permafrost."
Read our full review here.
A.A. Williams expands her sonic world with 'Solstice' released via Reigning Phoenix Music.
"complex, sophisticated, and stimulating, representing A.A Williams most mature and refined release to date."
Read our full review here.
Denver’s cosmic death metal visionaries Blood Incantation return with 'All Gates Open (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)' released via Century Media Records.
"All of Blood Incantation’s work is a vessel for transportation, and this is no exception, so settle back into the cockpit, set controls for the heart of the sun and enjoy."
Read our full review here.
Copenhagen death/doom entity Dead Void release 'Cranial Devastation' via Dark Descent Records/Me Sacu Un Ojo.
"a blitzing, ferocious ride"
Read our full review here.
Bristol based progressive sludge metal outfit Urzah release their new album ‘A Tranquil Void’ via APF Records.
"By combining elements of sludge, doom and post-metal, they have allowed themselves scope to open more people’s minds"
Read our full review here.
Gothenburg’s masterminds of melancholia, Evergrey, release 'Architects Of A New Weave' via Napalm Records.
"A masterclass in dark, melodic metal."
Read our full review here.
Heavy French trio Slift release 'Fantasia' via Sub Pop.
"genre defying songs, weaving complex soundscapes into intense patterns that layer across each other"
Read our full review here.
British sludge at its finest, Gurt release new EP 'Survival of the Shittest'.
"gritty guitars and a sickening bass line keep the sludge tones low and the pace slow."
Read out full review here.
Cinematic doom act Sleepbomb release 'Songs in the Key of Conan' via Koolarrow Records
"a lovely ebb and flow to the soundscapes as they all join and work in perfect harmony"
Read our full review here
Progressive sci-fi metal innovators Voivod team up with Quebec Symphony Orchestra on 'Symphonique' via Century Media.
"Listen loud and you will be transported to another dimension"
Read our full review here.
And thats just the tip of the iceberg! Other releases today we think you should check out include...
Rock
Daughtry - Shock To The System [DELUXE] (Big Machine)
Hammok - When Does This Place Become Our Scene (Sargent House)
Henka - Catharsis (Independent)
Lovelost - Picking Petals By Your Graveside [EP] (Year of the Rat Records)
Seahaven - Seahaven (Pure Noise Records)
Sons of Ghidorah - Raining Fire (Argonauta Records)
The 69 Eyes - I Survive [EP] (BLKIIBLK)
Veins - A New Forever (Independent)
Heavy Metal
Cyhra - Requiem For A Pipe Dream (Reigning Phoenix Music)
Devilz By Definition - Devilz Knight (SelfMadeRecords)
Iron Kingdom - Shadows and Dust (Steel Shark Records)
Pretext - Riot of the Ruined (Darkside Records)
Seven Metal Sins - Legacy Of Chaos (Independent)
Tidal Wave - Volume Tree (Ripple Music)
Black Metal
Aeger Anima - The Falling Leaves [EP] (Eerie Sounds)
Horn - Apokalyps 1618 (Northern Silence Productions)
Kybalion - Make The World Bleed (Non Serviam Records)
Death Metal / Death-Doom / Grindcore
Art|EST - Evil Embodiement (Independent)
Diabolic Oath - Unholy Barbaric Hymns (Sentient Ruin)
Ditheist - Cosmic Liar (Independent)
Godless - Adverse Parousia (Nuclear Winter Records)
Revolting - Supernatural Anthems (Xtreem Music)
Rotten Tomb - Vestiges of Tortured Souls (Nuclear Winter Records)
Thorium - Suburban Rot (Emanzipation Productions)
Vithial - Awakened Ancient Spirits (Independent)
Vølus - Grim Dark Execution (Independent)
Xenosis - Hermetic Transmutation (Transcending Obscurity Records)
Doom / Stoner Rock / Sludge / Psych
Abysmal Growls of Despair - Torn (WormholeDeath Records)
Aetere - Theogonie (Octopus Rising)
Alunah / Samavayo - Embers of Belief [SPLIT] (Heavy Psych Sounds)
Blüdwyrm - The Blissful Sleep Of Ignorance (Road To Masochist)
Clutch - Earth Rocker [Clutch Collectors Series] (Weathermaker)
Gurt - Survival of the Shittest [EP] (Indie Recordings)
Sleepbomb - Songs In The Key of Conan (Koolarrow Records)
Metalcore
August Burns Red - Season of Surrender (Fearless Records)
Guilt Trip - Armour of Angels (Roadrunner Records)
Halcyon Days - Nothing To No One // Something To Someone (Indei Recordings)
Post-Rock/Post-Metal
Apostle - A Splinter in the Infinite Noumenon (Terminus Hate City)
Callous Faulter - Callous Faulter (Gutter Prince Cabal)
Chullachaqui - Epiphanic Perdition (Independent)
Dutch Elm - Dutch Elm (Ripcord Records)
Progressive Rock/Metal
Maneating Orchid - Cold Logic (Subcontinental Records)
Voivod - Symphonique (Century Media Records)
Thrash Metal
Shroud - Pax Nacturna (Independent)
W.M.D. - Against All Warnings (Independent)
... and the rest!
Dwarves - Jenkem (Greedy Records) [Punk]
Frusen Sorg - Smärtpunkter (Widsith Records) [Crust/DBeat/Hardcore]
Nights of Malice - Chaos Exordium (Bleeding Art Collective) [Deathcore]
Seahaven - Seahaven (Pure Noise Reocrds) [Post-Hardcore]
Seven Metal Sins - Legacy of Chaos (Rockshots Records) [Power Metal]
Be the first to comment