2026/10 Listening Log

Genre: Deathcore

A deathcore EP with focus on the ’core. This female-led band has some serious chugs and power in their delivery. It’s just an absolutely overwhelming and overproduced wall of distortion coming at you. The guitars barely seem real, and that will probably put a lot of people off, but the sheer aural force of this sound is enough to make me widen my eyes and do the not-bad-face.

I don’t think the songwriting here is enough to give it any staying power, but it makes a hell of a first impression.

Tier: B
(Better than average)

Genre: Blackened Melodeath

Another debut album for October 2026, this time from Canada. I think I’d dig this more if it had more low end and punch in its production, because the music here is quite dynamic and cool. It just sounds a bit anemic really, and it turns me off.

Tier: C
(Cool)

Genre: Death Metal

On its own – and especially as a debut – I’d say this is pretty darn good. Considering the hypersaturated musical environment that we find ourselves in however, this simply ends up being fairly mid. There’s just so much other music in this genre that I’d rather listen to instead of this.

Tier: C+
(Cool, I like it)

Genre: Industrial Nu-Metal

I have a very hard time describing whatever genre blend this record is. There are definitely elements of both industrial and nu-metal here, but somehow it kind of ends up not sounding like either of those. It’s not Manson-like shock rock either, it’s more sophisticated than that.

Whatever it is, I am very much enjoying it. This record is musically varied, creative, and original. It has this early 2000’s charm to it as well, tapping right into my millennial music sensibilities.

Tier: B+
(Better than average, and then some)

Genre: Death Metal

The BLEGH that starts off this record feels quite apt. The HM2 style of the guitars and the focus on extremely downtuned and stankface-inducing chugs is quite cool, but the production on the album unfortunately sounds a bit too much like it was recorded in an empty parking garage or something. I guess I’m just not a fan of all this reverb they insist on putting on death metal albums.

Tier: C
(Cool)

Genre: Death Metal

Very riffy Belgian band here, clearly locked in on the core ideas of what death metal is and should be. Great musicianship, a dark grim atmosphere, blast beats and savage imagery. It comes off as very “typical” death metal though, and that’s either a good or a bad thing depending on who you ask. Personally, I don’t mind it.

Tier: B-
(Better than average, but just barely)

Genre: Death Thrash

Some real shit here from this fairly young German band. Pure metal, through and through. It’s basically thrash but with a death metal edge which makes it a tad more sinister in tone than regular thrash fare. It doesn’t quite have the gravitas to really tickle my fancy, but it’s definitely good.

Tier: C+
(Cool, I like it)

Genre: Nu-Core

On its face I just love music like this; It’s heavy as shit, punchy, gritty, and groovy. It’s not particularly impressive from a technical standpoint, but when you just enjoy the sound of the music that hardly matters as long as it’s competent enough. Sometimes simple really is better.

Tier: A-
(Awesome)

Genre: Blackened Death Metal

This is the first time I’ve heard this band and they certainly have a style of their own. It’s rare to hear Norwegian metal music where the lyrics are actually quite intelligible, which is cool for me as a fellow weegee.

These guys play their music with a good amount of ferocity, and they strike a very somber and dark tone with their choice of chords and sparse use of clean vocals. I’m quite impressed with the technical musicianship as well.

Tier: B+
(Better than average, and then some)

Genre: Sludgey Groove Metal

It’s not quite Chat Pile, but it’s still a very interesting take on this genre. There are many cool ideas here, and a delightfully amateur production style that sounds very organic and real. A raw and dystopian record that I’m glad I came across.

And is that a TMNT IV reference I see in the track list? Bonus points for you, Hexicon!

Tier: C+
(Cool, I like it)

Genre: Death Metal

This one didn’t hit for me. I think the cavernous production made it feel a bit toothless. Oh, well...

Tier: C-
(Cool, but not my thing)

Genre: Millennial-core

As with most other Linkin Park wannabe acts, they might manage to impress me for maybe ten to twenty seconds in any given track where the music is actually interesting before going back to sappy pop metal, and this pattern keeps repeating for most of the tracks on the album. I hesitate calling it bad music because I don’t think it is, but nothing about this formula actually excites me.

I might just stop listening to this genre altogether ’cause it feels like there’s nothing left to explore here. It feels spent, and really I don’t think I’ve anything worthwhile to say about it anymore.

Tier: C-
(Cool, but not my thing)

Genre: Rock & Roll

Not gonna lie, I love how these guys sound like old punks somehow even though they’re not that old. I also feel like this is more punk than rock & roll, but that’s how they describe themselves. 🤷

There’s a great vibe and energy here, despite a lot of the album being very same-y. For me, this is the most fun I’ve had with a Rock album so far this year (not that there’s been many of those).

Tier: B
(Better than average)

Genre: Blackened Progressive Metal

This is for the highbrow metal lovers out there. Amazing instrumentation, sweeping soundscapes, soaring melodies, and cosmic despair all rolled into one. This is pretty hecking good.

Tier: B+
(Better than average, and then some)

Genre: Heavy Metal

This Norwegian underground act makes some very tepid music. Not my cup of tea.

Tier: C-
(Cool, but not my thing)

Genre: Dark Folk

An interesting piece of dark folk, with chanting, percussion, and a very dark and brooding atmosphere. Not something I would choose to listen to actively again, but I might put it on for some ambience during a D&D session or something.

Tier: C+
(Cool, I like it)