🎶 August 2026 Roundup
Alright, I'm going to just say it up front; August was not a good month for me. I spent a lot of it being quite sick, and due to finally making the leap to Linux on my desktop PC inbetween sneezing, coughing and muscle aches, my energy levels and ability to focus on music and video games took a severe hit this month. This will be one of the shortest roundups of the year, but it will simply have to do until September's roundup is out. A lot of August's biggest releases (like the new Mastodon record) will not be on the list because I simply haven't been able to give them a proper listen. They'll probably show up on next month's list though.
If anyone's curious about the Linux thing, I can say that I tried a couple different distros before finally ending up on CachyOS (at least for the time being). A lot of different factors played a part in making this choice, and I'm a very picky guy when it comes to my computer. It was quite a hard decision up until the very end, but I do think I ended up with something that I'll be comfortable using for a long time. Leaving Windows completely for the first time since 1994 (holy shit) has me feeling a bit unmoored while I'm in front of my computer, but even though change is scary, it also feels good to finally do this thing that I've actually wanted to do for a long time.
My philosophy is simple; My computers are mine, and I should be able to do whatever the fuck I want with them. The system is not supposed to fight me when I tell it to do something, and I certainly don't want it trying to sell me things or reporting the contents of my hard drives back to some tech conglomerate. Windows had its time, and that time has passed. We should all be moving on in order to reclaim our digital autonomy. I'm hopeful about this, as I already have a bunch of friends who've made the jump, and if we can get the scales to tip just a little bit more I think we can make something really great happen on a global scale.
THE MUSIC
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Alien Metal
KGLW, 2026
There they go again, being absolutely brilliant!
Let’s face it, KGLW are a genre all unto their own, but this time they’re dabbling exclusively in electronica (of all things) and different flavors of dance music like psytrance. It’s really bizarre, but like every other time the Gizz have ‘branched out’ as it were, they still seem to end up making good music.
I have to admit that this album is not my favorite of theirs, and probably never will be, but the fact that they could even pull this off is so impressive to me.
Eyes of Salt - Collapse of the Infinite
Metallic Hardcore, 2026
“There’s no war but the class war!”
A fantastic and political riff fest that very much feels like hardcore in its truest sense. It’s constantly pushing forward with this melodic undercurrent that ever so often breaks through the harshness, and never fails to get your head bobbing to the grooves.
The Barbarians of California - Megatons
Experimental Hardcore, 2026
I have to admit, I’ve never heard a hardcore album like this. It has so much dynamics and surprises that I kept making pleasantly confused faces while listening to it. It’s unpredictable in the best way, and weirdly catchy too. Whatever you think this will sound like, you’re wrong. This might even have been my favorite album of the month if the production wasn’t so sub-par.
Martyrium - Malevolent
Black Metal, 2026
This album sounds as if those american black metal bands of yore actually got the vibe right. Great production, with amazingly crisp vocals. Tight, raw, and grim. Really good stuff.
Disfiguring The Goddess - Bloom
Deathcore, 2026
Modern deathcore with a penchant for death. I didn’t think that much of it the first time I listened to it, but through subsequent listens it just kept growing on me. It had a certain flair about it that was working its charm on me until I ended up really enjoying it, not to mention that it sounds absolutely brutal and filthy, which I love for this genre. A surprising amount of musical variety here too, as well as some hard-hitting samples.
Cairiss - Wilderness
Blackened Progressive Folk Metal, 2026
This female-fronted band makes some really gorgeous music. It’s grandiose and mesmerizing in its compositions while still having a clear and sharp edge to it, especially on the vocal front. The layering and dynamics make for a very engaging listening experience ranging from blissful serene passages to raw bursts of despair.
I generally don’t find this genre as enjoyable as others, but this is good stuff.
Epilogue
Remember; Seize the means of computation, comrades! I'll see you in the next one. ✌️