Welcome to 2026, friends. The horrors persist, but so do we. So, as it turns out, do metal and hardcore, because the one month under the year’s belt provided us with plenty of damn good albums. Below are the ones we feel deserve the spotlight most.
In the interest of featuring as many great records as possible, our spotlight releases won’t include any albums that we’ve reviewed in full. This month, we reviewed new music from Eximperitus and Malignant Aura–click on those links if you’d like to read about them.
Ellis: Crush Your Soul – Ice Water
Metallic hardcore from the US
Another January rolls around and for the third year in a row it brings with it a ridiculously swagged out Crush Your Soul record. This oneโs a full-lengthโalbeit still a brief one at a tight 17 minutesโand it allows the band more space to flesh out their whole hip-hop-influenced gangster movie vibe while delivering easily their moshiest and most memorable set of tracks yet. Also, Iโve said it before and Iโll say it again: Jay Petagine is the best frontman this side of Scott Vogel in all of hardcore. Mindforce Expanded Universe in full effect, hereโs hoping for new music from Fatal Realm and Cape Fade this year too.
Kirk: Deathraiser – Forged in Hatred
Thrash metal from Brazil
One of the great things about being part of the Noob Heavy writing team is the many different tastes in and affinities for different styles of music we all bring to the table. Kep and I may not (musically) agree on a lot, but one thing we have in common is each of us is Not a Thrash Guy. That being said, the sophomore album from Brazilโs Deathraiser is literally one that gave me pause and grabbed my attention. More often than not, thrash just sounds like Michelob Ultra as music to me, but Forged in Hatred has some serious meat on its bones. Thrash Guys are gonna love it, but itโs good enough to make believers out of us all.
Kep: Polaris Experience – Drifting Through Voids
Progressive thrash metal from Japan
This absolute fucking delight dropped out of nowhere on the second day of the year, and I’m oh so glad I stumbled across it. Drifting Through Voids is a vibrant experience that features tremendous songwriting and brilliant production; and yeah, I’m usually Not a Thrash Guy but this is too spectacular not to love. There’s so much life and feeling in this record, jagged riffs bursting with energy and lush passages of lulling calm. Raspy snarls, infectious grooves, attention-grabbing syncopation, drums that couldn’t be more natural yet striking. This damn thing is almost an hour long and I can’t get enough.
Kep: Stabbing – Eon of Obscenity
Brutal death metal from the US
The best young brutal death band in the country returns with a sophomore effort that will utterly flatten you. They’ve gone through a lineup shift since 2022’s Extirpated Mortal Process, with Matt Day now on bass and Aron Hetsko on drums, but that hasn’t hurt their ability to write ass-whipping riffs. This new record is better paced and has more variety song to song–a true virtue when it comes to brutal death–and Marvin Ruiz‘s axework feels a bit techier than in their older material. Meanwhile, Bridget Lynch remains a bonafide beast of a vocalist, and the band is tight as hell without any of that processed sound. Eon of Obscenity is brutal death done fucking right.
Kirk: Blackwater Holylight – Not Here Not Gone
Doomgaze from the US
So I havenโt kept up with Blackwater Holylight since RidingEasy Records was giving away all those free Bandcamp codes during COVID and I got Veils of Winter for free, but I just kinda knew this album was gonna be good. Like, I just had a feeling, yโknow? Marisa Tomei would say Iโm, โDead on balls accurateโ (itโs an industry term)โthis album is just so warm and lush and achingly beautiful. Wild to think we have albums this good with another eleven months left to go…
Ellis: Feels Like Heaven – Within Dreams
Melodic hardcore from Sweden
Featuring three members of Speedway who put out my second favourite album of the year last year, Feels Like Heaven offer similar levels of hardcore exhilaration but with a fair whack more melody and emo-y wistfulness that puts them more in league with Title Fights and Praises and Fiddleheads of this world. At 23 minutes this album just flies by, urgent, catchy, vibrant and catharticโanother one to file under โdrinking water musicโ which I have made it my mission to make catch on in 2026.