2026 First Half Recap

In previous years my lack of posts was due to being too busy writing for other, more legitamate sites. That's not the case this year. I've been listening back through all the CDs that I own in alphabetical order by artist. And some records obviously. This has left me with less time for new releases. I haven't been completely isolating myself from 2026 though. Here are a bunch of new releases that I feel obligated to say good things about. But only a few good things. I'm in the middle of a Mastodon marathon right now and I'm anxious to get back to it. Enjoy!

Blackwater Holylight - 'Not Here, Not Gone': I admit it took me a few spins to warm up to this. My expectations were off and I had to see the album for what it was. Beautiful. January album of the month for sure. Of note: new Pelican EP and new Wild Fuzz Trip.

Weedpecker - 'V': Do you like trippin' on tunes? Isolate yourself with this album and you'll go places. Especially if you like bands like Elder. Textured psychedelic proggy stoner doom. Nothing stood out more in February. Of note: the new Belzebong and Axe Dragger's debut need a revisit.

Serpent Worship - 'So Mote It Be': To borrow from their Bandcamp page this "heavy and hypnotic" release takes its time across four tracks of experimental doom with samples from the late King Cobra JFS serving as vocals. It's the only March album I went back to again and again. Of note: Witchcraft EP, new Filth is Eternal, and I need more time with 'Excavations' by Supercontinent.

Corrosion of Conformity - 'Good God Baad Man': Now we're talkin'! This shit fucking rocks. Rocks and fucking rolls. Apparently Woody and Pepper can do just fine without Reed (R.I.P.) and Mike. Fantastically fine. There's one part that brings tears to my eyes just about every time but damn, if this isn't the most fun CoC album yet. A spiritual companion to 'America's Volume Dealer'. And potential album of the year.
April was a pretty good month to be honest. I'll recommend the Soft Sun and Ten East split, Angine de Poitrine (so much fun!), Truckfighters, WITCH (the African one), Witch Ripper, final Sepultura EP. A few others I need to revisit.

May was a damn fine month. Damn fine.
Lair of the Minotaur - 'I Hail I': Capital-M Metal. Makes me think of battle and spikes and headbanging while not being too serious. Rips though!
Bongtower - 'The Color of Pomegranates': Heavier and darker than Weedpecker but heavy doom prog nonetheless. Very cosmic at times. Just a massive album. I wish the documentary about it wasn't in Polish.
Gozu - 'Gozu VI': Stoner rock with some metal vibes, dynamicism, and more than enough fun. Fun is good.If you don't rock with Gozu yet. Get on board here.
Elder - 'Through Zero': Speaking of Elder, their new one is really good! Sounds like Elder! Well, modern Elder at least. I'm good with that. I need to listen to it more though. At the end of a proper Elder marathon. Elder always takes some time to sink in.
Monolord - 'Neverending': I'm still recommending these stoner doom titans but it's not my favourite of theirs. Need more listens for sure.

I've only got one album for June. 'Fantasia' by Slift. It's the only album you need. Right up there with my favourites of the year. This trio makes some powerful prog-doom, people. Epic doesn't even touch it. Texture and shade, darkness and light, gravity and weightlessness, explosive and genteel. The fact that they recorded it live with no overdubs or anything makes it that much more impressive. I liked 'Ummon' well enough (and missed 'Ilion' altogether somehow) but 'Fantasia' takes it up several notches! And it gets better with every listen!

I'll try and have more for July but I'm hitting the Megadeth, Metallica, and Monster Magnet sections of my collection soon and that's EXTENSIVE.

Album of the Month - August 2024: Anciients - 'Beyond the Reach of the Sun'

I listened to more new music in August than I did July but most of the good stuff came right near the end of the month. Mammoth Volume, Delving, and Kungens Män put out some pretty cool stuff. I'll probably end up buying the Mammoth Volume album on CD. However, as you could tell from the title of this post, 'Beyond the Reach of the Sun' by Anciients takes the top spot this month. It's been eight long years since the last Anciients LP, 'Voice of the Void'. Some members have changed but their sound hasn't. If I had to compare them to any band it would be Mastodon. Kinda lazy, sure, but "progressive sludge" applies to both bands and sums it up pretty well. Anciients bring in more death metal vocally but even those times feel less frequent than previous releases. You see what I'm getting at.

I'll admit that I'm better at listening to this type of music than writing about it. I like the long songs with plenty of different parts. I like just how progressive it is. Not too much wandering or music nerd stuff. I like how it feels like there's a story being told (lived?) all the time. I'm awful at lyrics unless I read them so I'm not sure what that story may be. See, I'm terrible. I'll keep trying.



'Beyond the Reach of the Sun' as a phrase sounds cold and dark. Much colder and darker than the musical journey it represents. Personally, I feel more light and warmth coming at me from the headphone speakers. Oh, and this is definitely a headphone record. Definitely. The depth and complexity CANNOT be full realized otherwise. I've listened on my phone speaker, my smart speaker, in two vehicles, and on my headphones and it's not even close. Maybe the vehicles without all the road noise. When the headphones are on and isolating your auditory experience to just the interwoven and dynamic lines tearing through space on "Celestial Tyrant" you'll appreciate how full the void can become. Like you can hear the low hum of background radiation. (Sound is a wave, so is radiation. We don't know what type of being is processing that wave in what type of brain.)

I mentioned the long songs but they aren't too long here. The longest is opener "Forbidden Sanctuary" at a little over eight minutes and there are a few around four minutes. With most being between six and seven minutes Anciients do pack a lot in. Ups, downs, loud, quiet, slow, fast, spacious, oppressive. It is prog metal after all. Hopefully at this point you've hit play on the embedded link and know what I'm talking about. But if you haven't heard it already why are you even here?

I should wrap this up. Funny, as I finish this album closer "In the Absence of Wisdom" gently seeps through my central nervous system and I find myself in fact lacking a great wisdom to impart. Perhaps because instead of giving myself over to the album I've been splitting my focus to try and tell you specifically why you should not split your focus. Take the hour out of your day and dig in. It's really the best way. I know from experience. That's not too long to take you beyond the reach of the Sun. Released August 30, 2024 on Season of Mist Records. For my August 2024 Playlist CLICK THIS SPOTIFY LINK.