2026 thus far

2026 is already looking pretty damn good as far as new releases go. I've already picked up a few myself, namely Kreator's Krushers of the World, Megadeth's self-titled, Mayhem's Liturgy of Death, Venom's Into Oblivion, Metal Church's Dead to Rights, Winterfylleth's The Unyielding Season and Lamb of God's Into Oblivion. I also have Dimmu Borgir's Grand Serpent Rising and Armored Saint's Emotion Factory Reset pre-ordered, both of which are coming out on 22nd May. Even better was the announcement of Deep Purple's new album, Splat!, which is to be released on 3rd July! Naturally, I have the limited box set pre-ordered... I'm glad I pre-ordered when I did, because it's already sold out. Also coming later this year is Anthrax's new album, Cursum Perficio, plus (supposedly) new albums from bands like Saxon and Magnum. Quite a lot of stuff then! Also just released is Darkthrone's Pre-Historic Metal... not sure if I'll be getting this one yet as there's too many other Darkthrone albums I'm missing that I want, but who knows? It might still show up on my "2026 wrap-up" post at the end of the year - we'll see.

Naturally, I'm looking forward to the new Deep Purple album more than anything else. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've listened to the last one, 2024's =1, at this stage in time. So obviously I have high hopes for Splat!... and I'm pretty confident it will be great if =1 is anything to go by. When Simon McBride entered the band following Steve Morse's departure in 2022, I think all fans were curious/dubious about what he could offer to the band - but those doubts vanished when I saw them live with him for the first time in 2022. I'm just extremely happy that they're still out there doing what they do. I honestly thought in 2021 that the covers album, Turning to Crime, could very well have been their last album (thank god it wasn't) - but no. Here we are in 2026 with another new studio album produced again by Bob Ezrin! And apparently it's their heaviest in years, which is surprising because =1 was no slouch either. I'm seeing them live again in November, and I can't wait. I'm also really looking forward to hearing the new Anthrax record, Cursum Perficio. It's been 10 years since their last release, 2016's For All Kings. 10 years! Time flies.

I don't want to talk in too much detail about the 2026 albums I have got my hands on so far (I'm saving that for the end of year wrap-up post), but I'd say I'm liking Winterfylleth's The Unyielding Season and Metal Church's Dead to Rights the most so far, with Venom's Into Oblivion following closely behind. I hadn't even planned to get the latest Winterfylleth, but my birthday was just over a month ago and I was being asked for gift ideas! Still, really bloody good atmospheric and mature black metal as expected from this band. I have a few other albums from them too, and they tend to stick to a certain formula - a formula that works, plain and simple. As for the new Metal Church, I've already reviewed it. New singer Brian Allen is great, and the album is a fine continuation of what MC do best - pure American heavy metal. Same goes for Venom's Into Oblivion. I literally just reviewed it yesterday, and it's definitely one of the better albums from the Cronos/Rage/Dante lineup.

I've enjoyed pretty much every 2026 album I've picked up so far, to some extent, but Megadeth's self-titled was a bit of a disappointment. I will say that it's grown on me a tad more since my 6.8/10 review back in January - it's a catchy album, and I'd probably rank it alongside albums like United Abominations, Super Collider etc. now it's had more time to sink in, but as a final album from a monumentally important band like Megadeth, that's not good enough! Kreator's Krushers of the World is a bit of a weird one for me too. I hadn't listened to anything from this band since 2012's Phantom Antichrist, so I was surprised by how melodic and - dare I say it - mainstream-sounding this new record is. It's a far cry from the violent, thrashing sounds of their '80s material (or even some of the 2000's albums like Enemy of God), and actually reminds me a lot of Machine Head (for better or worse)! Like I said, I won't be going into too much detail as I will be doing that in my "2026 wrap-up" post later this year, but this album wasn't what I was expecting. Then again, I've been out of the loop with Kreator for some time.

I don't have a huge amount of gigs lined up this year, 'cos I'm getting married in October - I do have priorities you know! But I did see Primal Fear at KK's Steel Mill in March - they were great. Ralf Scheepers killed it vocally, which was really cool to see. I've also got Bloodstock festival in August (haven't missed a single one since 2010) and the aforementioned Deep Purple concert in November, at the NEC in Birmingham. I'm also having a night out with my fiancée this coming Thursday, and seeing Kiefer Sutherland live at the Steel Mill! Not too sure what to expect to be honest, but it's very cool to see an actor of his calibre at a rock venue in Wolverhampton! I may also make it to the Bloodstock Winter Gathering (again at the Steel Mill, it's fairly local for me) this year in December, but we'll see. 2025's Winter Gathering last year was a fantastic night, and this year's lineup looks just as good, if not better.

That's all really. I basically just wanted to give a 2026 update thus far, but had a lot to say, hence why I've made this separate post!