Finally, summer is ending, the heat is retreating, and I can fully enjoy my black metal in the weather it was meant for. The one that really got me in the right mood is the new Hanternoz. As they pulled back their folk leanings, they showed more of the latent Scandinavian influence with its colder touch. From there, the gateways opened, and suddenly I was revisiting the long-awaited return from Haemoth that was released a few months ago. Just an exercise in controlled chaos and production aesthetics. Simply masterful.
It did not take long to pivot into the death metal realm, and it was difficult to ignore the third record from Static Abyss. Though I feel like they have retreated to their psychedelic death/doom, letting some of the more traditional death metal and punk elements show, it was still a very good experience. On the darker side, Nedgravd introduced themselves with a festering record of old-school death metal that owes much to Soulside Journey, particularly Infester. That and much more, so dig in!
Best Metal Albums of August 2026
Haemoth – Black Dust (Agonia)
Black metal has a long history of raw production aesthetics, and while many acts embrace them, relatively few treat them as integral to their identity. Throughout their career, Haemoth have treated production as an extension of their music, an approach that has evolved alongside them. It did not become softer or more pristine, but it always served Haemoth’s compositions, aesthetics, and structures. Returning after a 15-year silence with Black Dust, it is good to see that this has not changed.
Unlike raw black metal projects, where the lo-fi quality comes from simple recording techniques, Haemoth make the application of distortion their focal point. Every element of Black Dust is drenched in thick layers of distortion, making it feel like everything is on the verge of clipping. This can transform their traditional black metal structures into something much nastier. “Incense of the Last Rite” is such an example, where the fast, tremolo-picked passage turns into a brick wall of distortion, adding to the already oppressive and volatile nature of the composition. At the same time, this disfigured production moves closer to early Thorns works with their latent industrial influence, especially in moments like “Dead Frequency,” where the distorted guitars take on the same mechanically asphyxiating character found in Ruch’s “Underneath the Universe 2”.
While the distortion’s effect on the timbral dimension is expected, Haemoth use it to shape their rhythmic backbone. This is reminiscent of their sibling act, Spektr, and it moves them closer to the industrial domain. The drumming contributes greatly to this side, following a repetitive, mechanical rendition for long stretches while also switching patterns unexpectedly. The start-and-stop motifs of “When the Dust Finally Settles” are unsettling to follow, not only because it moves effectively between fast and slow pacing, but because it abruptly switches patterns while retaining the same speed.
This switch from martial double bass to a Mysticum-like blastbeat rendition is very surprising, adding to the tumultuous nature of Black Dust. Haemoth also escape the rhythmic domain and include deeper breaks in their song structures. Noise and dark ambient interludes can occur in almost unnatural fashion, as with the break halfway through the title track, where the black metal side completely gives way, and the track descends to a feedback frenzy.
Haemoth’s approach to the production, while not drastically different from In Nomine Odium, has become more sophisticated. At times it feels like the production values take precedence over the compositions. This tension is palpable in Black Dust, with the production being so assertive that it occasionally obscures the underlying composition. It is a productive struggle, one that makes the overall result that much harder-hitting and more cohesive. It also better represents Haemoth’s journey through time, paying homage to their early, raw production, their orthodox leanings, and their latent industrial influences. In that way, this dichotomy helps make Black Dust their most complete work to date.
Hanternoz – A hed an noz, a noz, a noz (Antiq)
A Hed an Noz, a Noz, a Noz is an unexpected turn in Hanternoz’s journey. After their most complete work to date, 2021’s Au fleuve de Loire, it would have been easy for Hanternoz to return to their established folk-and-black-metal pastiche. Instead, the duo of Hyvermor and Sparda ask a very different question. If the majority of their folk influences were to be stripped away, what would remain? This is exactly what A Hed an Noz, a Noz, a Noz answers.
Au fleuve de Loire stood out partly for its extended instrumentation. The introduction of bagpipes and flutes, along with choral vocal arrangements, interacted finely with the aggressive tremolo-picked black metal tradition. The balance now shifts, with the instrumentation primarily focusing on the black metal side. The knock-on effect is counterintuitive, moving Hanternoz closer spiritually to the Scandinavian scene’s early interactions with their own folk heritage.
Much like Ulver, but also Borknagar and Windir, this time around Hanternoz approach folk in a less heavy-handed manner. Structurally, they borrow the rhythmic backbone of their native tradition, resulting in song structures that feel closer to a long-forgotten primal dance than to black metal’s trademark monotonous blasting. The contrast between “La Lessive des Trépassés” and “Quand j’ai tué le Roi de la Forêt” is telling, with the former reveling in its ecstatic form, while the latter heavily favours the epic long-form black metal practice.
Hanternoz’s music heavily relied on its folk component to create a sense of the epic. With this side retreating, it would have been detrimental if the duo hadn’t found a counterweight. Unlike the Norwegian scene, which found its footing on riffs that evoked the grim and ugly, Hanternoz turned to the traditional French underground and its long-form melodic phrases. While this has been the case in the past, now unshackled from having to share the spotlight, the melodic progression can fully unfold.
It provides an almost narrative structure, with the melodies becoming a driving force in the storytelling as emotions circle from despair and tragedy to hope and redemption. Hanternoz don’t rush the emotive payoff; they take their time, chaining the melodic phrases of “La Peste à Limoges” as they gradually progress, and highlighting the addictive hooks in each part.
A Hed an Noz, a Noz, a Noz proves that the folk dimension was not simply a gimmick that covered a lack of inspiration. At its core, Hanternoz always had a great feel for the epic, the melodic and the atmospheric. Now, as they strip down what has been a key component of their sound, they not only don’t miss a step, but produce a record that sits on an equal footing with their masterwork, Au fleuve de Loire. Or maybe just a touch higher.
Hexorcist – Crucificial Imprecations (Invictus)
The ominous introduction to “Crucificial Imprecations” hints at Hexorcist’s pedigree, recalling a time when thrash started to evolve into something more extreme. The picture becomes complete when a barrage of frenetic riffs and pummelling drums rush in. This is the space and time Hexorcist inhabit, a moment when death metal had not yet severed itself from its thrash origins.
This is not a deviation for Hexorcist; their Evil Reaping Death debut already presented a proto-death metal form, in all its unhinged glory. Instead of diverging from the path, Crucificial Imprecations sees Hexorcist sharpen what made their sound so appealing: their exhilarating momentum. There is no reprieve to be found in a track like “Defacing Deities”, where every element of the music screams with intent, from the manic drumming to the vibrant guitar solos and the precise vocal delivery.
To achieve this sense of drive, Hexorcist look into thrash’s mechanics for rhythmic motion and cacophonous guitar work. And they mould this in the image of early Slayer and Possessed. Here, they rely on crude progressions that enhance the record’s frantic energy. At the same time, their guitar work takes on the schizoid style associated with the 1980s proto-extreme metal scene. The riffs shift from sharply defined patterns into increasingly angular shapes. These motifs provide Hexorcist with their forward momentum, onto which the early death metal component naturally latches.
Early death metal pushes proto-death metal beyond its limits, and Hexorcist approach it the same way Morbid Angel did on Altars of Madness. They stretch the thrash elements to an obscene extent. The drums go from fast to near-blastbeat-level execution. The riffs become more discordant and strange, echoing with a chaotic imagination in a distinctly Azagthoth-ian fashion. It turns Hexorcist more bestial, closer to Sadistik Execution at times, when it comes to being derailed by sheer aggression.
Crucificial Imprecation, much like Evil Reaping Death, captures not just the sound of early death metal, but the feeling of discovery in the genre’s early days. This makes the record less about nostalgia than about documenting the moment in time when the torch passed from Possessed to Morbid Angel. Hexorcist’s greatest asset is their ability to distinguish between the two and represent them faithfully.
Miscreance – Reminiscence (Season of Mist)
“Trait d’Union”, the opening track from Miscreance’s sophomore record, Reminiscence, immediately showcases the current stage of the Italian band. Instead of the tech-thrash assault of their earlier days, or the progressive inclinations of their debut, Miscreance reach for something more introspective and fluid. The clean introduction, with its modal progression, establishes a dreamlike landscape that favors ambience and setting over immediacy and aggression. In that sense, Miscreance have come a long way since their thrash days as Atomic Massacre, though they still rely heavily on earlier legacies. The struggle now is about finding their own niche rather than offering a truthful, yet ultimately nostalgic, representation of past greats.
The legacy of early tech death and tech thrash pioneers still defines the majority of Reminiscence. Throughout their history, Miscreance have treated thrash as their primary source of aggression and volatility. Their approach here aligns more with Sadus and Obliveon than mid-period Death. The energy they evoke at the start of “Scalp Ceremony” leans more on thrash pacing and exhilaration. Like Sadus, they take fundamental thrash ideas and stretch them to their technical extremes. The staccato drumming follows unpredictable rhythmic patterns, with off-beat snare hits disrupting the straightforward approach usually associated with thrash.
The biggest shift comes from the tech-death side. Compared with its predecessor, Convergence, Reminiscence shifts its jazz-fusion influences from Death’s Human to Atheist’s Unquestionable Presence. Miscreance’s compositions show more defined playfulness this time around, which serves as a counterweight to their aggressive inclinations. For example, the intricate, active scales halfway into “Mirage” could be twisted toward a dissonant effect, but Miscreance instead employ them more delicately. The same story applies to the clean vocal incorporations in tracks like “Vision”, where they perform a similar exercise to what Cynic did in Focus, with similarly detached but highly effective mechanical vocal arrangements.
Miscreance break the mold when they move from jazz into something more akin to funk. This shift primarily affects the rhythmic dimension of their compositions, but it also changes how Reminiscence moves. The aggressive tech death gives way to a heavier, more danceable side in “Synaptic Cortex Dissection”, building contrast with the more subdued and introspective modal jazz ideas. While there have been such efforts in the past, with Atheist’s Elements standing out, Miscreance are striking a finer balance between their extreme metal foundations and their newfound funk sensibilities.
Ultimately, as good and enjoyable as Reminiscence is, it mostly follows the existing trajectories of the past, instead of trying to create its own. Perhaps this funk inclination is what will ultimately set Miscreance apart.
Nedgravd – Ascension (Headsplit)
It is easy to write off Nedgravd as just another OSDM revival act. While there is no denying that the Norwegian act is enamoured by the death metal of old, their obsession is with the underground possibilities of death metal that never became part of its eventual canon. Their debut record, Ascension, carries plenty of early Incantation DNA. Still, its heart is with the more sinister applications found in Soulside Journey and especially Infester’s To The Depths, in Degradation. Their mission is to unearth the moment when death and black metal were aesthetically linked.
The aesthetics are at the core of Ascension. Nedgravd harness samples and keyboards to build a horror-themed atmosphere. The samples carry a Hammer Horror aura, as sinister quotes echo between the decadent death metal beats. The production further enhances this atmosphere, with Nedgravd applying the same raw formula as the classic records from Beherit and Von.
Because their death metal is more ragged and not continuously fast-paced, the production enhances the work’s ritualistic aspect and highlights their kinship with early black metal. Keeping with the Infester influence, the keyboards create a counterpart to the twisted quality of their death metal. Their arrangements in “Paragon of Impiety” stand between the ritualistic and the primal, creating the perfect background for Nedgravd’s off-kilter progression.
This is Nedgravd’s strongest quality, their ability to make the simple and the nuanced operate simultaneously. On the surface, Ascension seems to be only after the primal, governed more by raw emotion than logic. However, beneath that lies considerably more calculation. Their compositions are long-form, and while the individual parts may look like Nedgravd are simply employing basic rhythmic patterns, that is not the whole story.
The switches in “Qhurra (Storms Of)…” are much more calculated, their unexpected transitions not the result of erratic whims, but thorough songwriting. Parts like “Severed Gate Shroud” further showcase this effectiveness, especially when Nedgravd break from their predominantly mid-tempo approach and into a blastbeat frenzy.
Ascension is more than another OSDM revival record. Nedgravd’s descent into the depths of a forgotten side of the genre makes this work much more interesting. To that end, the Norwegian act unearth a neglected strain of the genre, one that shows death metal as something much more twisted than the eventual canon it became. With Ascension, they rehash this sound, and the question is whether they can build on this foundation rather than simply preserve it, much as Dead Congregation transformed the methodology of the old school death metal revival into something distinctly their own.
Static Abyss – The Dying Hunt (Peaceville)
Static Abyss is Chris Reifert and Greg Wilkinson returning to the early death/doom of Autopsy, but with a twist. Using the same ingredients as the pivotal Mental Funeral, Static Abyss apply the Black Sabbath-derived progression and quasi-dissonant lead work toward a psychedelic end goal. More like cosmic horror than body horror, it is a recipe that served them well across their first two records, and one that they follow with slight changes on The Dying Hunt.
Despite their dedication to death/doom, much like Autopsy, Static Abyss never shied away from their punk affinity, which in turn gave them a more varied rhythmic presentation. Both Labyrinth of Veins and Aborted from Reality featured aggressive moments where the pace quickened and the underlying emotion turned from otherworldly to confrontational, but these were few and far between.
With The Dying Hunt, they gain equal footing on their death/doom side. Their latent punk influence shows in “Skull Blasted”, where new drummer Chad Gailey (Necrot) applies a simple drumming pattern reminiscent of Abscess. That simplicity evokes the primal side of early death metal, when its connections to punk and thrash were still obvious. It leads naturally to the more furious, near-blastbeat rendition of “Nowhere Forever” that escapes the confines of punk and instead inhabits the same space as Scream Bloody Gore.
Even though Static Abyss have become more varied regarding their rhythmic component, they have not changed the way in which they approach death/doom. The overarching component here remains psychedelia, used as the connective tissue between doom and death metal. Its most important effect is to add variety to the slower parts, making the music feel less circular and repetitive.
The ending of “Lobotomized at Last” sees the guitar arriving through a stack of reverb and delay, making the space between the notes as exciting, if not more so, as the notes themselves. At the same time, they can use their psychedelic inclinations to manipulate the atmosphere of the record. Despite staying primarily on the same dark, otherworldly trajectory, they can make things much more harrowing. “Darkness at the End of the Light” sees the psychedelic lead work operating over slugging heavy guitar chugs, their weight transforming the otherworldly into something asphyxiating.
So The Dying Hunt is less about change than recalibration. Previously, punk and death metal played a secondary role to the psychedelic death/doom core. Now, they become an equal component. That gives the album a more varied form. It also raises the question of whether Static Abyss’s identity loses some of its uniqueness as other Reifert-associated qualities take up more space.
Temple Guard – Citadel in Flames (From Within / Retribute)
Temple Guard approach the metalcore pioneered by Earth Crisis and Integrity from an unusual angle. Not because they reject the sound; they clearly respect it, but because they switch its formula around. Since their 2022 debut, Spear of the Revenant, the UK band gave as much weight to extreme metal as they did to hardcore. Their structures were equally indebted to death and even black metal, as they were to the early, violent hardcore of Cro-Mags.
With their new record, Citadel in Flames, they lean even further into the extreme metal pedigree, but they do not do this overtly. The way they connect the lineages is calculated and meticulous. For example, their groove and pacing follow the hardcore breakdown paradigm, but extend it into more extreme territory akin to death metal. Even there, the connection between the two feels natural. “Masked Resistance” best showcases this gear, where the heavy groove and melodic lead work combine for a devastating yet catchy result.
Aesthetically, Temple Guard also move aptly between dark hardcore qualities and a more blackened expression. Their clean interludes with the narrative samples conjure an infernal atmosphere that owes something to Integrity (“The Weight of Undying Shame”). At the same time, they apply latent black metal practices, like tremolo-picked dissonant leads, to heighten the eeriness in “A Vanguard Reforged”. In isolation, it might seem like a simple flourish, a small addition more for flavor rather than substance. They actually dig more into the genre with “Iron Sultanate”, where they adopt an Emperor-esque form, contorting what could have been a symphonic moment for something more primal and intense.
This adherence to extreme metal makes me view Temple Guard as a contemporary Merauder. The New York act might have been born and bred in the hardcore scene, with its heavy breakdowns and in-your-face attitude. But they never abandoned their dedication to thrash, which gave their songs a more extreme and volatile edge. Similarly, Temple Guard do not let go of their death and black metal foundation, bringing them back to the focal point of Citadel in Flames. It is this simple twist, where extreme metal comes just before hardcore, that makes their new work so enticing.
Vengeance Arsenal – Spear of Armageddon (Final Agony)
Rory Flay has spawned a myriad of projects that lurk in the deepest depths of black and death metal underground. But the primal black/death of Triumvir Foul and Osgraef, or the raw black metal of Collier D’Ombre and Garmsblood, are not the only forms of expression he has undertaken. While Vengeance Arsenal inhabit the same extreme metal space, their modus operandi diverges from the canonical black and death metal underground. Rather than rebelling against traditional heavy metal tropes, Vengeance Arsenal embraces them in their debut, Spear of Armageddon.
The guitar work isn’t solely rooted in traditional death or black metal pedigree. Spear of Armageddon does not overwhelm with a blur of tremolo-based phrases or dissonant riff construction. What you find here instead are riffs that draw from the heavy metal of the late 1970s and the crisp and precise execution of NWOBHM. “Horn of Salvation” heralds this approach. The riffs here are short-formed; their brevity gives them added clarity and definition. They push this to-the-point approach further, creating simple but effective hooks that make parts like the ending to “Crucible in Dust” much catchier and more repeatable.
Another element that thrives in traditional heavy metal is rhythmic progression. Again, unlike the common extreme metal approach, Vengeance Arsenal don’t resort to blazing fast parts. Their power comes from the galloping rhythms that echo with the Running Wild DNA in the title track. It is the natural backdrop on which their sharp guitar riffs can thrive. However, their mid-tempo moments carry added weight, with something of Bolt Thrower’s militant approach. “Commandment for Truculence” is the best example of this, with the staccato riffs at the track’s opening adding to this unstoppable, unyielding progression.
Their dedication to traditional heavy metal in an extreme metal setting moves Vengeance Arsenal closer to the early days of the Hellenic black metal scene. Their adherence to memorable rather than overtly elaborate lead work, alongside galloping rhythmic structures, points toward the early output of Rotting Christ and Varathron. Even the manner in which they structure their guitar bends, like in the midway point of “Actus Reus” where their piercing presence breaks the short riff mould, suggests as much. As the Greeks did in the early 1990s, Vengeance Arsenal reforge a broken link between traditional heavy metal and its more extreme offshoots.