Morgue Supplier - Mastering the Disease (2026)

Driven by inhuman, mechanical blasting rhythms that collapse and contrast against its more meandering, atmospheric grooves, Mastering the Disease seems a fit evolution for the previous Morgue Supplier record, Inevitability and its subsequent single tracks. But where its stylistic frame is comparable, there's something even harsher and more 'checked out' sounding about some of this newest material. A collision of death, grind, industrial vibes, even some noticeable progressive elements in the structuring, they really swing for the fences. I'd liken it to a sort of 'cybergrind', only you replace almost all of the futuristic (or at this point, retro futurist) synths and sound effects with loads of dissonant, death metal guitars more central to that genre, and a gruesome vocal exhibition which is actually quite detailed and technical as it's laid out.

A good example of the varied carnage this band can create of its listeners would be "Pupils of Insularity", starting off with a pensive flow, cleaner melodic guitars and thick bass, almost Godflesh-like vibes, which escalates into a head-spinning, dissonant bender that feels like you're testing a drum machine to hear how fast it will go before exploding; all the while the other instruments crash along with abandon and Paul Gillis wretches and sneers and vomits all over the riffing. This is not for the faint of heart, anyone wearing a pacemaker, or anyone retaining a warm view of humanity. Other dizzying tracks include the psychotic "Annihilated Thinker" with its broken beats that descend into strange sampling and drugged, dissonant riffs that ooze around the meat of the distorted bass-lines. "Next World Consumes" is a harrowing endscape soundscape, oppression thicker than concrete, but by the time you hear that you're probably already either dead or suffering a severe headache.

Thankfully, if you DO survive that, the closer is a brilliant dark ambient track, "Indifferent Majesty", which is one of my favorites on the album, even though it's completely different to everything before it. Spacious but intense, it shows the flip side of what these creators are thinking but from an entirely different, non-percussionist perspective. The cover art here also reminds me a lot of the post-modern cyberpunk/body horror film Tetsuo: the Iron Man by Shinya Tsukamoto, and it unquestionably might serve as a sort of aural counterpart to that visual experience. This is the future, here, ugly as fuck, and not what we were hoping. While not as brilliantly riffy as the band's eponymous 2016 album, my favorite, and a little less sublime than Inevitability, Mastering the Disease is still very intense, with just enough devil in the details, especially the myriad abusive vocals and provocative bi-polar shifts between blasting and grooves that litter its debris-ridden labyrinth of noise.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100075977500489

Kreator - Krushers of the World (2026)

I've been with Kreator for nearly 40 years at this point; no, not as a member, but as a fan of this institution that has swept the thrash metal genre for pretty much all its existence. The band has rarely stumbled, much less fallen, and even then they were at least trying to experiment within the dimensions of their own sound and not prime themselves as radio sellouts. But since their 1999 nadir Endorama, which really isn't that bad, there's been nothing but upside, consistent and professional quality which you can count on every time a new record is sitting on the shelves. There was a point where they modernized their production to keep with the times, and some melodic death metal influences crept into the sound tastefully (and continue to do so), but you also had some albums where they were returning to the structure of their later 80s stuff.

If you're still guarding the gates of old and never made it passed Pleasure to Kill or Terrible Certainly, two of their best albums to be fair, then Krushers of the World is probably not going to be for you. It's a modern marvel of production, busy yet accessible, but a pretty far cry from the savage Teutonic thrash of Endless Pain or Pleasure to Kill. That's okay, we still have those albums and can listen to them as long as we breath (hopefully beyond). This is more of an omnibus of the ideas they've implemented in the 21st century, from Violent Revolution to Hate über alles, and yeah, while few of the songs are going to be as stick as they once were back in the 80s when this was all so much more novel...this is still a pretty damn good album. In particular they manage to get these anthemic tunes like "Tränenpalast", "Krushers of the World" or "Satanic Anarchy" where you've got the strong melodies in the chorus that can contrast against Mille's barking. And yes, the guy still sounds much the same, but he's got that timeless, raving thrash vocal that works as well alongside the modern studio glitz as it did back in the flesh-peeling debut. Recognizable in an instant, charismatic and plays well with melody and harshness in equal measures.

The guitar playing is top shelf, with atmospheric chords running against semi-complex, dextrous riffing patterns, keeping the ears' attention throughout, and great leads whipping out on top of the refined German engineering. Mille and Sami are quite a duo by now, and they never let you down here. Ventor's drumming is spotless and Leclercq, the newest member (but quite a veteran himself from DragonForce, Loudblast and a metric ton of other bands) solidifies himself as the anchor to the sound. You even get a guest vocal growl from Britta of Cripper and Hiraes, which was a little unexpected. Not a weak song here, and even though it's not reshaping my life as the band did with Pleasure to Kill, Terrible Certainty, Coma of Souls, nor does it even have some of the throwback infectiousness of Hordes of Chaos and Enemy of God, I still love this arena-oriented modern Kreator sound, it's almost infused with a bit of Angela-era Arch Enemy. Young me, 40 years ago, would be totally blown away to think this band would even still exist! But to be doing it in style, that's just a testament to a band that loves what it is.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

https://www.kreator-terrorzone.de/

Galibot - Euch’Mau Noir bis (2026)

Surprisingly, Galibot is not my first encounter with mining-themed black metal, as the Germans in Dauþuz have been exploring the niche for years, albeit from a more Medieval and folkloric perspective. This younger French act has a slightly more modern vibe about them, with a lyrical focus bent more on 20th century industrial era mining, which was prominent in Northern France until well into the 60s. I admit that's a fascinating subject to deal with, and as much as I love the wintry, naturalistic, Viking and Satanic schools of black metal, the older me is definitely paying attention to wherever else this beloved music might journey conceptually. The question is, how does Euch'Mau Noir bis translate this theme into its music, and does it succeed?

This is a remaster/remix of an album a couple years old with another track tacked on so it's still pretty early on in the band's development, which formed around three years prior. It's about as straightforward as melodic black metal can get, and apart from a few sound effects, the machine-like efficiency of the drums and overall performances, and the desperation that this niche create through its surging rhythms, rasped vocals and melodies wrought with sadness...I didn't connect the music much in my imagination with the subject. It's there in the din of the cover photography and lyrics...perhaps in the narrative interlude track, but the sense of melody and urgency created through the battering percussion and ceaseless atmosphere of the riffing has an extremely orthodox black metal feel. There are some female vocals, some slight flourishes of other eccentricities or atmospherics, I think the band I was most reminded of here was Switzerland's Borgne, who have a comparable, mechanical feel to the black metal process, although theirs is more tinted by the industrial music fundamentals.

The drums here definitely feel like a relentless machinery, whether it's the intense fills or the precision blasts and kicks, but often they feel a little too flawlessly monotonous and over the top, where some more dynamic balance would have served the album as a whole. The rhythm guitars are vicious and powerful, but I always got the impression they were only about two-thirds of the way into memorable hooks when they rinse and/or repeat. Vocals are well mixed and full-bodied for the genre, trad rasping but with a slightly suicidal edge to them, but they often follow the course of the riffing without leaving much of an impression. Galibot has a powerful, competent sound to it, but it needs a few more peaks and valleys to chisel out the experience into something more soul-crushingly effective, and perhaps some more ambience, samples and other instrumentation to deliver the rich theming.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10]

https://galibot.bandcamp.com/album/euchmau-noir-bis-les-nords

Archvile King - Aux heures désespérées (2026)

Archvile King's debut saw the immediate rise of a new force in French black metal, perhaps lacking in the dissonant nuance of that scenes most popular artists like Blut Aus Nord of The Great Old Ones, but just a riff driven, scathing record with a bit of a black/thrash influence. When you gaze upon its successor, Aux heures désespérées, you immediately get the impression that they've gone rank and file with the other French bands performing in the Medieval theme, and where that was also true of the debut to an extent, it's even more here. In fact, this album does drop a little of that thrashier nastiness for something more atmospheric and antiquated sounding, but make no mistake, the sole guy responsible here, 'Baurus', is still writing excellent black metal, and the fact that he is performing ALL the instruments makes it even more impressive.

The lush synth/orchestration that he weaves through the album is excellent, usually for intros so that the bodies of the songs have a more traditional BM structure, but they're all great at giving a little bit of a tasty dungeon synth element to the proceedings. As for the heavier stuff, it's majestic and surging, not as overly melodic as other bands in this niche, but enough that the riffs will seer themselves into your memory and leave you with that fulfillment that a very balanced black metal attack can give. Certainly, there are some riffing and blasting passages throughout that are purely savage and feel like they came out of the din of the early to mid-90s, but even these are contrasted off against more graceful, slower rhythms to great effect. Baurus' vocals are nothing unusual for the genre, some rasps with an added layer of guttural, but always a blend of glorious and creepy. The instruments are all mixed really well, with audible bass lines that enforce the majesty and morose intensity constructed by the melodies. The beats are mixed very well, they largely just do their job but the guitars and atmosphere are strong enough that no more is necessary.

Yes, a lot of this is old hat, you won't find a bag of new tricks in Archvile King's composition, although the precise way it all forms together doesn't always emulate any other bands in particular. This is totally for fans of the 90s black metal, were it was going from the necro creep of earliest second incarnations to the more expansive, semi-symphonic rush of records like In the Nightside Eclipse, Nemesis Divina and Stormblast. If you also like some of this bands' countrymen, Aorlhac or Seth or Darkenhöld then this is one of easiest recommendations I can make you, because Baurus has that same sense of proficiency in both performance across all his instruments, production, and knowledge of genre to create a 47 minute escape into the past, without any breaks of disappointment in the consistency. An awesome talent with a high level of potential, and already two very underrated records (and a good split) under his belt.

Verdict: Win [8.7/10]

https://archvileking.bandcamp.com/