It’s April and you know what that means. It means that March fucking flew in, punched us in the nose, and left. Thank the metal gods we’ve got music to keep us steady. We had a bunch of favorites last month, and here they are.
No/Mรกs – No Peace
Deathgrind from the US
I wonโt pretend that I was as familiar with No/Mรกs as much as I was with the fact that I should be, but No Peace has proven a wonderful place to rectify that. 22 minutes of blistering deathgrind with a welcome emphasis on sick riffs and plenty of swaggering grooves and mosh parts in amongst all the expected blasts and punk beats to grant the album a level of variation and memorability that can often elude music this violent. Stand-outs like โBlood Soaked Soilโ and the title track show off a lot of the bandโs range within tight sub-two-minute runtimes, while sixth track โLeechโ provides a highlight that borders on straight crossover thrash with its killer riffing and catchy harmonised leads.
– Ellis
Alicia Cordisco – My Restless Temple
Power metal from the US
Another month, another hell of an Alicia Cordisco record in our roundup article. This time itโs her solo project, and My Restless Temple is a far cry from last yearโs melodic black metal release: this timeย Cordiscoโs stylings are of the power metal variety. As per usual, the guitar work is killer, with hooky riff after hooky riff ruling the runtime and soaring leads that uplift the spirit. Along for the ride are a number of vocalists, primarilyย Jordan Rutledgeย (also ofย Cordiscoโs side projectย Justicar) andย Aya Druรฏd, the latter of whomโs vocal timbre has an uncanny resemblance to that ofย Amy Leeย ofย Evanescenceย fame. Also joining the festivities are vocalistsย Kristin Starkeyย (Twilight Force),ย Bethany โBeefโ Pitts (Transgressive),ย John Yellandย (Judicator,ย Behรถlder), andย Lux Edwardsย (Soulmass), plus bassistย Joshua Payne, who handles the low end across the album. All work together with glorious synergy in service ofย Cordiscoโs tremendous songwriting, and it amounts to an exhilarating yet thoughtful listen thatโs worth revisiting several times over.ย
– Kep
Axe Dragger – Axe Dragger
Trad heavy metal from the US
Blame it on me being a guy in his mid 40s, but when I first saw mention of Axe Dragger, I rolled my eyes and assumed it was some lame attempt to cash in on the surge of popularity surrounding Castle Rat (the first song on Into the Realm is literally โDagger Draggerโ). Boy, oh boy, was I ever wrong; this is a full-on supergroup comprised of such metal legends as Bob Balch, Pete Campbell, Terry Glaze, and Frederik Isaksson, and this is most certainly not another โdoom โnโ rollโ album. This is true, in-your-face traditional heavy metal from the early โ80s, so get ready to bang your head after you cut the sleeves off all of your t-shirts. I hope your body is crop top ready, because youโre gonna want one by the time you get to the end of this record.
– Kirk
Dropkick Murphys / Haywire – New England Forever
Hardcore Punk from the US
THE BOYS ARE BACK THE BOYS ARE BACK THE BOYS ARE BACK AND THEYโRE LOOKING FOR TROUBLE!!!!!!!!!!!
– Ellis
Foetorem – Incongruous Forms of Evergrowing Rot
Death metal from Denmark
Yโall may remember that death metal is my true love, and Denmarkโsย Foetoremย came directly for my heart with this one. The projectโs first proper release,ย Incongruous Formsย brings the grimy, gristly goods in the form of utterly filthy riffs that lurch, groove, plod, toll, and brutalize in equal measure. This is death metal of the doom-tinged variety, with plenty of grisly atmosphere and an overall feel of grime and entrail stench. The bandโs overall mix is a well-balanced one and the riffs feature a surprising amount of variety, from your typical gritty chugging to nifty bile-drenched angularity to Autopsy-core slow gore death, even going so far as to expand the texture and get atmospheric with clean tones on โMors Viaturis – The Death Travelerโ. Thereโs no denying that even here on their first record Foetorem have the juiceโbut I wouldnโt be too eager to drink it.ย
– Kep
World I Hate – Total Nuclear Annihilation
Hardcore from the US
The third entry on my provisional AOTY list to clock in at under 18 minutesโafter the Crush Your Soul and Killing Pace LPs detailed in our January and February spotlights respectivelyโTotal Nuclear Annihilation is every bit the ripper its runtime, title, artwork and creatorsโ previous efforts all promise. Hard, fast and mad as hell, the bandโs label Convulse Records puts it best: โThis is bludgeoning hardcore for end times. The bomb’s gone off and now you’re stuck here. Tough luck. You won’t survive.โ Shout-out Milwaukee.
– Ellis
Ravenspell – Obsidian King
Power metal from Canada
I realize this is kinda early to start talking about whatโs going to be Album of the Year, but I need yโall to understand something: THEREโS A SONG ON THIS ALBUM THAT DIRECTLY REFERENCES ARMY OF DARKNESS. It even opens with one of the best quotes in the movie much less all of cinema. If thatโs not Album of the Year worth, I donโt know what is. Yeah, sure, power metal isnโt as โkvltโ as death metal or black metal, but this album is fun and doesnโt take itself too seriously, because I think one think we as music fans forget is that metal is an incredibly unserious music genre. We just take it really seriously. I have a better idea: Start listening to Obsidian King and let your body do whatever feels natural. You wonโt regret it.
– Kirk
Power Paladin – Beyond the Reach of Enchantment
Power metal from Iceland
Sometimes a band just finds that je ne sais quois between albums and releases something thatโs on an entire different plane than their previous material. Thatโs what Power Paladin have done here, in my opinion: they foundย it. I did not care for their first recordย With the Magic of Windfyre Steelย (2022), though it had its share of fans, butย Beyond the Reach of Enchantmentย has proven to be an addictive listen for me in the short nine days (as of writing) since it came out. These are lively, triumphant tunes, and the band now feels less like a cheesy facsimile of power metal tropes and more like an actual good metal band playing power metal. The individual performances are great across the board and frontmanย Atli Guรฐlaugssonย puts up a particularly great showing, playing the ideal slick but powerful partner to some nifty riffage. Keep an ear out for the soaring tones ofย Majesticaโsย Tommy Johanssonย on โThe Arcane Towerโ, too, the two voices pairing remarkably well. This record is a super fun listen, which is all Iย want, really.
– Kep
Zerre – Rotting on a Golden Throne
Thrash metal from Germany
If 2025 was The Year I Became a Death Metal Guyโข๏ธ, then 2026 is looking like itโs going to be The Year I Become a Thrash Metal Guyโข๏ธ. Yeah yeah, I still think of thrash as โif shitty American pilsner needed a music sponsor,โ itโs incumbent to remember that German beer is exponentially better than American beer. So, if German beer is better than American beer (which it is, donโt bother arguing), then German thrash is better than American thrash (which the existence of Kreator proves beyond the shadow of a doubt). When paired with last monthโs pick of Lead Injector, youโll have a really hard time arguing with how utterly unfuckwithable German thrash is.
– Kirk
Seclusion – Sobrevivencia
Oi!/Hardcore from the US
Iโve got well into what you could probably call โsensitive tough guyโ music lately, which is ironic considering Iโm probably more of an โinsensitive weak guyโ myself, but anywayโฆ like a couple of my 2025 favourites in Skinhead and Recollection, Washington D.C.โs Seclusion combine the gruff voice of a frontperson who sounds like theyโve smoked a whole pub with that gloriously catchy brand of punk that sits right in the sweet spot between Oi! and hardcore. This is music to pile on your mates to, dedicated to โall those in struggle for human, earth, and animal liberationโ to make it that much sweeter.
– Ellis
Goatsmoker – E.R.I.S.
Stoner/doom from Denmark
Iโm not going to count the number of goat-themed metal bands because these are short write-ups, but Denmarkโs Goatsmoker is another in a long line of goat bands that will likely outlive us all. At this point, it should be no surprise to our readership that I love me some good, old-fashioned stoner/doom. The heavier the riffs the better. And Goatsmokerโs riffs are thick, viscous, and filthy as hell. Just massive, oppressive, and absolutely devastating stuff.
– Kirk
Dionysiaque – La tourbe des rรชves
Doom metal from France
I readily admit that I didnโt expect to like this album. The first Dionysiaque outingโdespite near-universal praise from those in the scene who tried it out (including our own Westin)โdidnโt vibe with me. Thatโs why itโs so damn cool that La tourbe des rรชves utterly hooked me within the first half of its first track, and just kept reeling me in with the remaining runtime. These Frenchmen fucking RIFF, man, heavy bands of thick doom licks offset by passages of raw, pulverizing thrash.ย Vocalist N.C. has a tone rarely heard in metal these days: stentorian baritone, theatrical and rough around the edges, captivating and downright spooky at times. He pushes those pipes into shouting screams, too, plus even throws in a wail or two. And the whole thing is thematically tight as a drum? Yeah, turns out I’m gonna be running this record back a whole hell of a lot.
– Kep