🎶 October 2026 Roundup
This month will forever be remembered as the month that I did nothing but wait for the release of WoW: Forever. And listened to music of course! 😁
Seriously though, the only interesting thing that's happened this month is that I've started getting some sort of fluid buildup behind the eardrum in my right ear which has been impeding my hearing. This is not an unknown issue for me, and has been happening to me about once a decade since I was a child, so I'm almost used to it at this point. It requires minor surgery to fix every time, and I've already booked the initial doctor's appointment to arrange for further referral to a specialist. I've tried home remedies with like ear cleaning/wax sprays you can buy at pharmacies, but it hasn't helped.
Thankfully I can temporarily "fix" my loss of hearing for a few minutes by tilting my head upside down and to the right so that the liquid no longer presses against my eardrum, but it inevitably clogs back up in a short time. It sucks, but whatcha gonna do? I hope I can get it fixed before the concerts I'm going to in November, but with the bureaucratic pace of the Norwegian healthcare systems, that's highly unlikely at this point.
Anyway, I did start on a game in October but I haven't finished it yet and I don't wanna jump the gun on writing about it. Hopefully I'll get it done by the end of November and you'll hear all about it then.
Let's get to the music this month, shall we? I went through 60+ albums and EPs this month, so there's once again plenty to go through!
THE MUSIC
Iapetus - The Mother Void
2026, Blackened Progressive Metal
This is for the highbrow metal lovers out there. Amazing instrumentation, sweeping soundscapes, soaring melodies, and cosmic despair all rolled into one. It's pretty hecking good!
C.O.F.F.I.N. - Out In Oslo
2026, Rock & Roll
Not gonna lie, I love how these guys sound like old punks somehow even though they’re not that old. I also feel like this is more punk than rock & roll, but that’s how they describe themselves. 🤷
There’s a great vibe and energy here, despite a lot of the album being very same-y. For me, this is the most fun I’ve had with a Rock album so far this year (not that there’s been many of those).
Left To Suffer - Unwelcome Guest
2026, Nu-Core
On its face I just love music like this; It’s heavy as shit, punchy, gritty, and groovy. It’s not particularly impressive from a technical standpoint, but when you just enjoy the sound of the music that hardly matters as long as it’s competent enough. Sometimes simple really is better.
Dead Poet Society - Monarch
2026, Industrial Nu-Metal
I have a very hard time describing whatever genre blend this record is. There are definitely elements of both industrial and nu-metal here, but somehow it kind of ends up not sounding like either of those. It’s not Manson-like shock rock either, it’s more sophisticated than that.
Whatever it is, I am very much enjoying it. This record is musically varied, creative, and original. It has this early 2000’s charm to it as well, tapping right into my millennial music sensibilities.
Whispered - Honorbound
2026, Folk Melodeath
A very enjoyable record from these finns pretending to be samurai. Think Children of Bodom if they were japanese, with a touch of modern stadium metal. Grandiose, blistering and powerful. Great fun!
Fracturus - The Synthetic Path
2026, Technical Death Metal
Hell yes, I’ve been waiting for another full-length from Fracturus, and this did not disappoint. It might be just me, but I feel like there’s quite a bit of O.G. Fear Factory vibes on this, in a very good way.
This record is angry, fast, dynamic and exciting. It’s not quite up there with Archspire’s release this year, but it’s close!
Slaughtercult - Devoured By Perversion
2026, Brutal Death Metal
The thing that puts this over the top for me is the awesome speed of the riffs. Combined with the extremely dense and heavy production it just gets disgusting in the best way. It’s a bit monotonous of course, but that’s the nature of the beast with this genre. Either way it fairly consistently gives me stankface, which is the tell-tale sign that I really like something.
Mental Cruelty - Echoes of a Forlorn Land
2026, Symphonic Blackened Deathcore
A technically and musically impressive album here from this German band. This ticks a whole lot of boxes on the “is it good?” list; Dynamic and varied songs, impressive musicianship, great production, and fierce sonic power.
Insomnium - Netherworlds
2026, Melodic Death Metal
I mean, was there ever really any doubt that this would be good? Insomnium has basically been releasing good albums consistently for many many years now.
Personally, I think this might be one of their “softer” albums. Like, sonically, it doesn’t really pack that much of a punch. But those melodies, man! They just really know how to write hooks that make you never want the songs to end.
This is one of the highlights of the month, for sure.
False Body - Tomorrow Starts Without You
2026, Metallic Post-Hardcore
Whoa! This might be the rawest and fiercest hardcore record I’ve heard this year. The vocalist sounds like she’s about to tear her vocal chords constantly through the entire record. The production is focused and powerful while still sounding organic. The songs are engaging and dynamic, the riffs are creative, grooves are plentiful, and there are even solos!
It’s some proper underground shit too, they don’t even have a single music video on YouTube at the time of writing.
This probably won’t be everyone’s cuppa, but for me, this is about as good as this genre gets!
Noctule - Extinguish Thy Flame
2026, Atmospheric Black Metal
This is apparently a solo-project from the incredibly talented Serena Cherry from the band Svalbard, and it is very, very impressive.
The album is intricate, sweeping and hauntingly beautiful. At the same time, it does not lose its black metal edge in any way. Serena’s vocals especially are the perfect kind of raw, shouting, tormented singing that this genre needs.
The production is clear and crisp too, which I appreciate for a black metal album. Not much to complain about here!
Master Boot Record - Computer Metal
2026, Industrial / Chiptune Metal
MBR has always been a very interesting project to follow. I’d say the album quality has been a bit varied, and their shtick can at times get old quite quickly. On this album however, they’ve decided to go with actual guitars and drums rather than programmed ones, and it’s paid off. The music sounds way more interesting and intricate than before.
Not to mention that they’ve stepped up their production game quite a lot from their earlier work. Each individual instrument is easy to pick out in the mix and it does a lot for the listening experience. And those track names, like always, really touches the hearts of us O.G. nerds.
Dissimulator - Artifice Dissolves
2026, Technical Death / Thrash Metal
This band does not compose their songs like most other tech death bands. We have what seems like a more deliberate approach here, with songs that sound more traditionally thrash or death, but with a technical flair and progressive elements which adds a whole lot of spice to what could otherwise be fairly formulaic genres.
All in all, this record is incredibly dynamic and interesting, and dare I say it; Maybe one of the most musically distinct metal records of the year.
Honorable mentions
- Horizon Ablaze - Livets Høst :: This Norwegian black metal band plays their music with a good amount of ferocity, and they strike a very somber and dark tone with their choice of chords and sparse use of clean vocals.
- Wraithstorm - Revenant :: Groove / Melodeath out of the US. This is the kind of metal I could throw on almost any time and be perfectly happy to listen to for half an hour or so.
- TEMOR - Weeping Waves :: Melodeath from Greece. This band seems to have a much good handle on melody, which this genre sort of needs to be enjoyable.
- Scars of Oblivion - Edge of Extinction :: Melodeathcore from Spain. It’s a cool twist on the melodeath style, and has some flair of its own.
- Razorvoid - Into The Void :: Some proper IDGAF Thrash Punk music here from this swedish band. Plenty of attitude, riffage, and good times.
- Macocha - Pale Heart :: This blackened hardcore band from Czechia are able to capture the larger-than-life feeling of black metal riffs with the hardcore grooves and chanting choruses which that genre is known for.
- Netherwilds - Peasant Rising :: I have to admit, I've never heard Medieval Blackened Comedy Metal before. Despite being an obvious novelty band, there’s actually a bit more to this music than just a bunch of dudes goofing off. The songs are actual quality, and the interlude skits are quite entertaining.
- New World Man - I Am The Machine :: Straight forward, no nonsense, rowdy music with a perfectly angry and gravelly vocal performance. Enjoyable and fun!
- F.A.C.A. - Fighting Against Certain Annihilation :: Now this is some proper heavy underground metallic hardcore. The latin flavor of it only adds to its authenticity, and enhances the feeling that the anger and rage you hear is coming from a real place.
- Black Royal - Abyssian :: I always say I’m not the biggest fan of doom metal, but when it’s combined with other genres like this, it can be the secret sauce that really makes the difference. This album is dynamic, melodic, and pretty darn heavy too.
- Sarcator - The Ones We Follow :: This is a strange one! Despite having a fair bit of black metal in its guitar tone and vocals, there’s also a lot of instrumentation suggesting Americana, Blues Rock, and other similar influences. Sometimes it’s just straight up heavy metal as well.
- The Astral Prophets - Invasion :: We have ourselves a really fun power metal album here with a little bit of a heavy metal bite. It’s really catchy, fun, and easy to sing along to.
Epilogue
Alright, another more music-centered roundup is complete. Hopefully I'll have something more interesting to say in November once I've been through all the things. Who knows, I might even post a video or two... Maybe...
If you wanna see the entire list of albums/EPs for the month of October, you can find it right here on Albumwhale.
Catch you later. Peace! ✌️