As we near the end of the year, many heavy hitters tend to gather between October and November. This month is no exception, with a mix of established acts and newcomers making an appearance. On the black metal side, Trolldom, the majestic/melodic vehicle of the ever-prolific Swartadauþuz, returns with their most complete work to date in Tronen. At the same time, two famed representatives of this expression return at the intersection of black and death metal. Spirit Possession’s third full-length, Cathedral Speaks, excavates the proto-extreme metal spirit, with a dash of 1970s progressive inclinations for good measure.
On the grittier, more monolithic side, Temple Nightside make a comeback with another decadent work that funnels black metal eeriness through death metal structures, with a few touches of extreme death/doom. In the same gritty death metal vein, but without many black metal inclinations, Sépulcre’s debut awakens the genre’s ritualistic essence.
While Spirit Possession look at the origins of black and death metal, Deathwards’ debut looks at the time before that. Their foundation relies on thrash aggression and energy, and aided by a strong technical aptitude, they unleash a perfect storm. Staying in the same death/thrash intersection, Dissimulator make a substantial change from the more ragged sound of their debut, turning their Voivod-ian influences towards something more overtly ambitious. Finally, two records that defy categorisation for different reasons are amongst the strongest of the month.
Great Falls make a mighty return, their despairing hardcore unleashing a heavy monolithic assault through heavy riffs, intricate structures and strange tempo shifts. Urarv, Aldrahn’s project, reminds us of the volatile instability that made records like 666 International and A Umbra Omega stand out. Something for everyone this month, so dig in!
Best Metal Albums of October 2026
Deathwards – Realms of Sin (Sepulchral Voice)
Although they operate within the proto-death metal tradition, Deathwards have never simply followed its conventions. As early as their first demo, Towards Death, they channelled the frenetic energy of late 1980s thrash and early death metal, but with a more technical, throwback thrash twist. It was an exciting and, within the genre’s norms, novel take that raised expectations for what a full-length from the band would sound like. And though it took nearly a decade, Deathwards finally present their full vision with Realms of Sin.
The central conflict at the heart of the record is the one that always drove Deathwards. It is the moment when thrash turns into death metal, when the early works of Slayer and Possessed stretch the genre’s limits through an even more exhilarating sense of urgency and a ragged, punk-derived approach. Deathwards slide into the death metal sound now and again, adding abrasiveness to their structures, with the occasional blast beat taking over in a blaze of fury.
For the most part, their riff structures are much closer to traditional thrash methodology than to its more extreme edge. The guitar work here isn’t defined by unhinged, discordant riffing and crazed solos. Instead, it arrives with a clear, crisp definition that asserts the genre’s trademark razor-sharp character. This results in a more economical approach to guitar work, where short, to-the-point lead parts (“Supplicum (Lust)”) or more militant, staccato rhythms (“Worms of Malebolge (Fraud)”) dictate the progression.
Similarly, their melodic vernacular draws heavily from the NWOBHM tradition, rather than solely the dissonant approach favoured by proto-death metal. “Unbound From Divine Omnipotence (Heresy)” is the clearest example, where the guitars unleash pristine, almost moving lead parts inspired by traditional heavy metal acts. Even when a more hellish, dissonant approach is appropriate, as with the fantastic closer “Lawless Fire (Lucifer)”, Deathwards don’t push the melodies to their discordant edge; instead, they walk a fine line between the two.
Beyond the melodic structures, Deathwards also distinguish themselves through a more technical style of playing. Though their approach is in-your-face, the assault itself is more intricate and ambitious, closer to Sadus and with a touch of very early Pestilence. Deathwards aren’t flashy about it, but it is the force that keeps their heavier passages from descending into a derailed mess. “Sullen Blood (Wrath)” is an example of this, where the heavy groove keeps pummelling with determination, but it never loses its grip.
On the surface, Deathwards might seem like a heretical act. Within the proto-death metal revival, they are the outcasts who don’t follow the path. I would argue that Deathwards instead shed light on a different side of the early extreme metal days. They showcase how thrash and traditional heavy metal both informed proto-death metal, whether through melodic language or technical aptitude, and they do so brilliantly with Realms of Sin.
Dissimulator – Artifice Dissolves (20 Buck Spin)
Dissimulator’s 2024 debut, Lower Form Resistance, was exactly what the technical thrash scene needed then. It was a record that captured the raw, ragged essence of early Voivod, favouring aggression and emotion over technical aptitude and progressive inclinations. At the same time, Dissimulator made a conscious choice to cross over into technical death metal only when the music needed to shift into a higher gear. However, their sophomore record, Artifice Dissolves, moves away from both these choices, seeing a band that is hungrier and more ambitious.
While Lower Form Resistance is complex and nuanced, Artifice Dissolves feels more labyrinthine and boundless. The rhythmic patterns that Dissimulator employ are extravagant, with the shifting time signatures of “Apophenic Rage” becoming increasingly difficult to follow. It is impressive how the Canadian act can control the time domain, leading to nearly incomprehensible tempo manipulations toward the end of “Alloyed”. The increased complexity, thankfully, has not resulted in a flamboyant showing off of technical capabilities. Dissimulator might have become more maximalist, but they remain driven by a sense of purpose, with each erratic shift and unexpected deviation serving the whole.
It is therefore only natural that, with this increased complexity, Artifice Dissolves also wanders more freely into progressive territory. To that end, Dissimulator extend their latent Voivod-ian language to include more melodic interpretations. That is especially apparent in their solos, which show a subtler, more moving presence than their earlier cacophonous renditions. “Proprioceptor” applies this methodology very well, its guitar reaching fantastic peaks closer to Fates Warning than technical death/thrash.
In turn, this allows Dissimulator to tap into the technical death metal sound through its proximity to progressive metal. While the past pathways from thrash to death still exist—for example, the exhilarating energy of “Alloyed” shifting from its moshing attitude toward something more distinctly brutal—a subtler passage now emerges. Now it is the lead work, not the energy, that bridges these scenes, morphing the Perfect Symmetry sound into Testimony of the Ancients.
With much of the foundation remaining the same, Dissimulator have taken a clear step toward a more ambitious approach. Their Voivod-ian influence remains central, and the core pieces of their sound are still present, from the thrashing attitude and complex structures to the retro-futuristic approach. However, Dissimulator are leaping to a much more complex and nuanced sound. It works for them in the end, but I would say that there is a certain feeling of immediacy and raggedness that made Lower Form Resistance stand out, qualities that, despite everything they have gained in their absence, are sorely missed.
Great Falls – The Bite That Grows Up (Neurot Recordings)
Great Falls answered the question of where the sound of Kiss It Goodbye and Playing Enemy would have progressed, had these bands kept on going. Objects Without Pain, their 2023 full-length, capped that trajectory. A work filled with the urgency and directness of the darker side of 1990s hardcore, driven by emotion but not enslaved to it. The Bite That Grows Up doesn’t change much for Great Falls, but it does expose more of the underlying mechanics of what makes the band tick.
This is still fervent, immediate music, filled with heavy breakdowns and erratic, punk-derived progressions. The first two songs build on these foundations, with “A Small Weakness” bringing down brutal sludge riffs, while “Pinned Against Time” unleashes a frenetic, bordering-on-illogical assault. But even here, more is going on beneath the surface.
Great Falls have a keen understanding of the mechanics of dissonance, and how it can be weaponised to increase impact. This turns their sludge riffs from simple, mechanical chugs to more nuanced structures. So when they unleash the breakdown in “Nicotine In The Spine”, the bends aren’t aimed at highlighting the pacing, but at accentuating the sense of discomfort. Taken to further extremes, these ideas can fully deconstruct their songs, letting dissonance devour the guitar weight and slowly fade it into nothingness.
The mechanism on the abrasive hardcore side is equally far-reaching. Instead of staying in one lane, their hardcore assaults are heightened by a longstanding noise rock tradition, one that communes with the off-kilter guitar mechanics of Dazzling Killmen and Unsane. This leads to glorious moments of sustained derangement in “Pinned Against Time”, where the snare hits keep unrolling, and the guitar frantically alternates between leads and chugs. It can also fuel more atmospheric moments, in the vein of Sprain or Benefits, where the hardcore is decomposed into a near-drone setting of sparse instrumentation, feedback, and noise. The vocals still echo in despair, but the minimal setting gives a further sense of gloom.
None of this is exactly new for Great Falls; these have always been key components of their sound, but they show a willingness to expose these mechanics further in The Bite That Grows Up. This also adds depth to the work, especially in its more unusual aspects. The Swans-ian mechanics in “Debt Ethics” reveal where they derive their sickening structural repetitions.
The clean guitars and build-up in the second part of “Hailstone Numbers” showcase their affinity for taking the Neurosis sound and turning its sense of wonder into dread. The key is that Great Falls never simply follow these influences. They instead absorb them, turning the familiar sounds of post-hardcore, noise rock, sludge, and post-metal into something distinctly their own.
Sépulcre – Cryptic Temple of Otherworldly Abhorrations (Invictus)
Sépulcre are entranced by death metal’s ritualistic potential. While many acts are rehashing the genre’s mechanics, the Brittany band instead embraces its aesthetics. Their full-length, Cryptic Temple of Otherworldly Abhorrations, is the pinnacle of their effort, a work that still stands firmly on the groundwork laid by Immolation and early Finnish death metal. At the same time, they extend the dissonant guitar tradition and the heavy, mid-tempo weight of death metal toward something more ritualistic.
Sépulcre’s approach to ritualism is multidimensional. Their lead work can morph into different presentations, taking elements from across genres to achieve different effects. The clean guitar parts in “Ominous Path (to the Nightside)” draw an eerie quality that stems from the band’s underlying dissonance, walking a fine line between death/doom and a blackened interpretation. In turn, this leads into more esoteric moments that can tap into the psychedelic. In instances like “…of Otherworldly Abhorrations”, they fully descend into minimalism, as the instrumentation becomes sparser and the melodic lines dissolve into deconstructed contortions of the death metal tradition.
Given the tendency toward the atmospheric, the production is essential. It balances the gritty, old-school death metal sound with the heavier, more atmospheric aspects of death/doom. The result is a record where each instrument retains its extreme character, without the overall sound becoming muddy or messy. Take the vocal approach in the opening track: the reverb is abundant and could easily drown the performance, but it always stays in control, making the result harrowing yet direct.
This ritualistic foundation also feeds back into Sépulcre’s death metal pedigree, pushing their death/doom mechanics toward something more extreme. The infernal, Incantation-derived leads in the second half of “Abyssum Drakon” radiate with a more discordant quality. Similarly, their sense of progression, and especially momentum, draws from Finnish death metal while becoming increasingly more unruly and volatile. What starts in the established territory of Demigod and Adramelech in “Cryptic Temple…” becomes an even heavier manifestation, and in “Katabasis” can easily navigate between the established mid-tempo pacing and a more erratic blastbeat barrage.
Sépulcre understand the difference between reviving a genre and merely reproducing it. Their identity is moulded by ritualism, which they bring to death metal rather than allowing death metal revivalism to define them. It is a subtle difference, but it separates bands that merely repeat a sound from ones that understand it.
Spirit Possession – Cathedral Speaks (Profound Lore / Sepulchral Voice)
Spirit Possession’s third record, Cathedral Speech, does not so much change the duo’s trajectory as illuminate the underlying mechanics that made them stand out. A tension has always lurked beneath Spirit Possession’s first-wave black metal façade: a yearning to embrace the techniques and conventions of 1980s extreme metal while subtly rebelling against them. For example, the title track channels the mid-tempo grit of Celtic Frost in its second half, then disrupts its lumbering momentum with a more in-your-face thrash passage.
A similar tension runs through Steve Peacock’s other projects, as heard in Mastery. They walk this line between tradition, but never settle for simply following it. For Spirit Possession, the main source of divergence comes from the unhinged guitar work, which is again central in Cathedral Speech. Instead of the more to-the-point approach Sarcofago championed with laconic riffing, Spirit Possession offers a more verbose, nuanced delivery. The playing style grows increasingly volatile, spiralling through a series of frantic, unpredictable turns that recall the inverted heavy metal contortions of Negative Plane and Funereal Presence.
In the past, Spirit Possession’s weirdness seemed to come solely from this occult, first-wave black metal revival, but there were still moments that felt inspired by something outside the black metal context. Cathedral Speech brings these elements into sharper focus, with the record’s ecstatic quality rooted in 1970s progressive rock. The middle part of “Hanged Angels as Patternwalls” erupts into a distinctly rock-oriented riff, a defined, crisp phrase whose origins lie closer to 1970s rock rather than the more nebulous black/thrash form.
In turn, the bitter psychedelia that has always run through Spirit Possession’s music is now reframed through a more overtly progressive lens that carries Van der Graaf Generator’s modus operandi. “Second Liturgy (…Impossible Exits…)” is the best example, with the clean guitar establishing a hypnotic pulse through the repetition of a simple melody. Yet the duo anchors this mechanism in their proto-black metal brew, making the eventual return to heavier riffing all the more brutal.
What works so well for Cathedral Speech is that Spirit Possession reveals what has been the case all along, rather than changing direction. The ambition of their composition always carried the fire of the 1970s rock, and their psychedelic investigations similarly channelled the darker side of that era. Outside influences never compromised their black metal; they built on them. That is what made them such an exciting act in the extreme metal space, and that hasn’t changed.
Temple Nightside – Cenotaph Severance (Iron Bonehead)
Viewing death metal through a blackened lens set Temple Nightside apart from both your typical old-school death metal revival act and the genre’s more discordant, cavernous side. The Australian band instead retreats into primitive ritualism, crafting a sound that merges the bestial with the ethereal without compromising either. Their sophomore record, The Hecatomb, is the pinnacle of this ethos, pushing the Incantation-derived guitar work through a thickly veiled production. Their subsequent records have not tried to replicate The Hecatomb’s recipe, but instead explore different interpretations of the same ingredients.
More than any of their previous works, Cenotaph Severance highlights the connections between the underlying components that define Temple Nightside’s sound. This is the first release to feature Ignis Fatuus (Portal, Grave Upheaval, Impetuous Ritual), and the album makes the connection between old-school death metal and its dissonant counterpart more explicit. In “Soul Defilement”, it is difficult to tell where one expression ends, and the other begins. The track initially follows Dead Congregation’s staccato riffing before seamlessly melting into a Portal-esque angularity.
The same synthesis of elements applies outside of the death metal sound. Black metal has always been central to Temple Nightside’s sound, contributing to its ritualistic atmosphere and mystical character. On Cenotaph Severance, the band draws heavily on the eerie guitar language of second-wave black metal to establish its decadent atmosphere. The dissonance persists even in the clean guitar melodies, with “Seething Dissolve” weaving an impressive web of fragile yet inescapable melodic passages.
Temple Nightside will also filter their death metal through the extreme death/doom meatgrinder. Their OSDM riffing brings them closer to this more extreme interpretation, where the pacing drops to a near halt and “Onward to Golgotha” gives way to “Transcendence Into the Peripheral”. This is particularly effective on “Slow Embalming of the Will”, where they feed their black/death riffing through the doom machinery, their twisted guitars contorting to fit the slow pacing and latent Black Sabbathian quality.
The main difference between Cenotaph Severance and The Hecatomb is that the latter derives its atmosphere from within death metal, while the former draws it from the outside. Though elements of black metal and doom have always been present, Cenotaph Severance best showcases how these influences intersect without losing their distinct identities. The Hecatomb nevertheless remains the band’s more cohesive work, its influences integrated more organically into the death metal framework. By contrast, the cleaner exposure of these influences makes Cenotaph Severance a particularly revealing examination of the band’s sound.
Trolldom – Tronen (Debemur Morti)
Among the many projects of the ever-prolific Swartadauþuz, Trolldom is arguably the most traditional. Adopting a classicist approach, the band’s two 2022 full-length records, Av gudars ätt… and I nattens sken (Genom hemligheternas dunkel), offered a raw but powerful introduction to the melodic and majestic side of the 1990s, with all its poignant guitar work and overt grandeur. Their third full-length, Tronen, sonically matures this approach through better production and more ambitious songwriting, but more importantly, it highlights the underlying, competing traditions that inform Trolldom.
Tronen‘s two foundations are melody and symphony. Because these attributes occupy a similar sonic space, combining them risks becoming bloated. A mesh of melodic guitar lines and intricate keyboard passages that either collide or overwhelm. To avoid this pitfall, Trolldom put their melodic lines at the front, letting them drive the music while their symphonic elements provide a supporting, but necessary, role.
For their melodic language, Trolldom turn to their native Swedish scene, taking on a more traditional heavy metal approach. “Dräpt ur Dunkel” carries the legacy of Slaughtersun, its dramatic lead work traversing the spectrum from triumph to sorrow. The key point is that their melodicism does not equate to softness. Their melodies retain the force and poignancy of the original works of Sacramentum, Mörk Gryning, and Setherial. Trolldom relish this tradition, imbuing their melodies with a sense of urgency evident in the frenetic pacing of “Tiden Evighet” and the heavier breakdowns of “Ulvarnas Kall”.
While melody provides the primary drive, Tronen‘s compositions possess a distinctly symphonic character. This quality is never overstated, but it is evident in the structure of the individual songs. They carry a sense of grandeur, highlighted whenever the keyboards take the lead. “Dödens Släktled Stiga” perfectly encapsulates this approach, with subtle phrases adding movement and otherworldliness, recalling the dark visions of Limbonic Art and Emperor.
On the surface, Tronen can seem to be doing something fairly basic, revisiting the past glories of melodic and majestic black metal, but Trolldom’s approach is more nuanced. They align two distinct traditions: one fuelled by Sweden’s fiery, traditionally inclined sense of melody, and one by Norway’s esoteric sense of grandeur. Reconciling these traditions is no small feat, but Trolldom do so without sacrificing either’s defining qualities, crafting a record whose memorable hooks and expansive atmosphere are matched by the strength of its songwriting.
Urarv – Nychta Psychis (Darkness Shall Rise)
As much as I love Dødheimsgard’s latest work, Black Medium Current, it always felt like an important component was missing. Listening to Urarv, the band led by ex-Dødheimsgard vocalist Aldrahn, it is all too obvious what that is. Even in his vocal performance, as he bounces through big Attila Csihar-esque moments and drone-like throat singing, his presence is defined by a sense of audacity that doesn’t confine itself to the vocal delivery. And Urarv’s latest work, Nychta Psychis, brings that feeling back to the front.
The foundation still revolves around the black metal sound, largely the legacy of Snorre Ruch. The opening track, “Dødheimsgard”, radiates with the same combination of dissonant riffs and quasi-industrial progression that characterises Thorns’ self-titled 2001 debut. Its slow pacing doesn’t imbue the track with the same determined quality; instead, it gives it a more awkward, warped character. The more aggressive parts carry the same unconventional approach, with “Operation Genocide” unleashing a flurry of blastbeats and traditionally oriented tremolo riffs, but underneath it all is the same maniacal sensibility.
From there things only get weirder. Urarv go back to the basics, diving from black metal into its latent components in punk and thrash, but not in their traditional forms. Through their dissonant language, they reach the same volatile stage as Voivod, and in these moments they move toward a more distinctly metallic manifestation. Their riffs are heavier, the chugs crisper, as they channel the off-kilter energy of the 1980s. It is not a big leap then to hear them dissolve into the punk stream with “When Consciousness Identifies With Matter It Is Lost”, making the transition from Voivod to Die Kreuzen, where the stricter thrash structures completely let go and give way to their punk roots.
The strangeness oozes out of even these loose genre boundaries, into even more abstract expressions. Folk interludes ensue, with acoustic guitars taking over and Aldrahn’s expressive performance channelling the more esoteric moments of 666 International, with the sound design again offering an incredibly detailed tapestry. Blinking synths lead into big-sounding pads, and even dog (or maybe human) barks sound in the distance.
In many ways, Nychta Psychis is a big, colourful mess that showcases the band’s personality and creativity, but the most striking thing about is that it should not work. The awkward combinations of folk passages, soaring sound effects, black metal, punk and thrash should sound out of place and ridiculous. But somehow Urarv pull it off, and that is the magic of Nychta Psychis.