⚠️ NEW INTERVIEW ⚠️

Pure. Relentless. Sludge. 🌫️

We caught up with the German masters of post-metal, Cranial, to dissect their massive soundscapes and crushing atmosphere. If you like your riffs heavy and your transitions haunting, this is for you.

Explore the depths of their creative process below.

🔗 https://roughtimes.net/interviews/cranial-where-sludge-meets-sonic-chaos-germany-sludge-post-metal-interview-with-julian-bastian

#Cranial #PostMetal #SludgeMetal #GermanMetal #AtmosphericSludge #DoomMetal #HeavyRiffs #CranialBand #Sludge #PostMetalBand #MetalInterview #SlowAndHeavy

With 33 songs and over two hours of music, Lord of the Lost has written an ambitious trilogy, mercifully spread across eight months rather than released all at once. On Opvs Noir, the band leans into the darker, more gothic aspects of their pop-infused metal, bringing plenty of guest collaborators aboard to keep things spicy. The first two volumes of this opvs have proven a success, with creative instrumentation and an affecting performance from frontman Chris Harms. The question is whether Lord of the Lost can keep up the momentum across another 11 tracks on Vol. 3. The finale of an ambitious project such as this can often feel bittersweet, as it marks the end of something you have (hopefully) come to love, or, like the finales to the Mission Impossible series or Daniel Craig’s James Bond run, it can just be plain disappointing.

Unlike the more energetic, sometimes ostentatious arrangements of the prior two records, Vol. 3 proves to be a much mellower affair. The gothic symphonic elements often pair with softer pop/rock tunes, many of which aim at mood over hooks. Opener “Kill the Lights” starts off with a poppy beat, some cellos, and a growling Chris Harms, and though the chorus might not stick, it’s an overall good song. The moodier pieces don’t always work, however. “The Shadows Within,” which alternates between slower pop and higher energy techno-pop, is largely forgettable. The minimalist finale, “The Days of Our Lives,” serves as a disappointing send-off for the trilogy, though Harms, as usual, makes it worthwhile with his melodic cadence. Though overall less exciting, Vol. 3 does offer plenty of catchy ballads and duets, including “La Vie Est Hell,” performed with departing Kissin’ Dynamite frontman, Hannes Braun.1 It doesn’t do anything fancy, yet I find it often playing in my head on repeat.2

Opvs Noir Vol. 3 does milk some variety out of a couple of pop-related themes coursing through it: empowerment and doomed love. The two most upbeat tunes, “I’m a Diamond” and “I Hate People,” play out as Rammstein techno-industrial pop anthems for people who don’t quite fit in with mainstream society. While “I’m a Diamond” is the catchiest song on offer, the lyrics are a touch contrived.3 “I Hate People” turns the misanthropic-sounding title on its head by directing its ire towards those who seek to force their limited ideology on others.4 Lyrically, the synth-heavy, hip-hop adjacent “My Funeral” is my favorite, containing tongue-in-cheek lyrics where Harms proclaims that “Black is my happy colour” and “I’m gonna, gonna wear / Pink to my funeral.” Rounding out the pop themes are a few love songs, from the Duran Duran-inspired synth pop track, “Square One,” complete with ’80s toms, to a touching duet with Ambre Vourvahis (Xandria). These touches do help keep a rather mild record from growing stale.

While the songs here are well-written, produced, and performed, there’s no denying that it feels as if Lord of the Lost ran out of gas by Vol. 3. The hooks just don’t come as easily, and the lower energy levels feel like a letdown compared to the highs of the first two volumes. One issue is the blandness of the guitars. While creative riffing has not been one of Lord of the Lost’s fortes, they made up for it in the past with more creative arrangements. The generic riffs that fire up on choruses from “The Shadows Within” to “Your Love is Colder Than Death” feel like halfhearted attempts to inject some life into tepid tunes. Much more effective is the penultimate song, “Take Me Far Away,” which ends with an exciting burst of drums and riffs that brings the record to life, albeit briefly.5

This finale ends up bittersweet, feeling more like a whimper than a bang. Yet for fans of Chris Harms and co., it’s not a total loss. Chris Harms is able to elevate even the blandest of tunes; there’s not a single bad song, though many are only mildly enjoyable. Unlike a lot of the dreck that some of the more popular metal bands release, however, Lord of the Lost puts a lot of thought and care into their music, and the Opvs Noir trilogy has plenty to offer those who like their metal less extreme, yet still carrying an edge.



Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: N/A | Format Reviewed: Stream
Label: Napalm Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Site
Releases Worldwide: April 10th, 2026

As much as metal is a niche interest (at least in my part of the world), it is a vast ecosystem. Following it is a joy, but it’s always a bit humbling to come across a group you’ve never heard of with a long history. Mirror of Deception have been around since 1993. Transience is their sixth full-length release, and even this blog has not heard their name up until this point. That can be a bit daunting as a reviewer, lacking context and missing a big element of what makes a band their band. On the other hand, I get an opportunity to listen to some classic-style doom metal and just kind of say what I think and see how this review ends up from there. So that’s the plan! Let’s listen to some doom metal.

Transience treads an interesting line between doom and more traditional metal. Conceptually, it’s a fairly bleak listen, with intense riffs driving urgency, despair, and anger. Michael Siffermann and Jochen Fopp are strong guitarists, whether channeling dramatic endings, as in the bleak “Haven,” or broader, slower peaks in “The Sands.” On the other hand, their music is lively; Uwe Kurz’s drumming is dynamic and animated, Pascal Schrade’s bass comparatively bright across Transience’s gritty, aggrieved sound. The aforementioned “The Sands” is a good example; for four minutes, Mirror of Deception play a dramatic, slow-build, mid-tempo song that then transforms with a lively, almost bright riff that jumps up that tempo and really gets the head nodding. It all fits, and it all works—an often-woeful, sometimes brighter skip across doom themes with a lively backdrop that comes from confidence and experience.

Transience by Mirror of Deception

What fit less well, I’m sad to say, are the vocal melodies. I’m not sure who, between Schrade and Siffermann, is the lead vocalist, but his singing is over-produced and at odds with the music behind him. Opener “Death, Deliver Us,” for example, is a dark, heavy, distorted soundscape of anguish, but the singing consistently fails to match that atmosphere. I was surprised to read the lyrics to the song, in fact, and discover the singer is seemingly meant to be a sea captain fighting a losing battle against stormy seas. I got none of that from the way those words are sung, and while I wouldn’t argue that the singing is bad by any stretch, I would say the performance lacks the gravitas that the rest of the band and production are aiming for, and the effects layered on that performance further remove it from where I’d want it to be. On slower, calmer songs, this is much less of an issue. “Slow Winds,” for example, effectively captures a feeling of uneasiness that benefits from a straightforward vocal performance.

Transience is only forty-three minutes long, but I feel there isn’t enough variety from song to song for it to avoid feeling a touch overlong. This may be another offshoot of the vocal performance—all of the hooks I can recall offhand are riffs—or it may just be that Mirror of Deception play a fairly straightforward brand of doom metal, one that enjoys a bleak, if upbeat, atmosphere and doesn’t focus so much on catchiness1 in any form. The result is an album that is generally enjoyable in the moment, but doesn’t make a big enough impact for genuine memorability.

On Transience, Mirror of Deception do a lot of good things and play a lot of good music. But I can’t help feeling it doesn’t quite come together as an album. I can see myself returning to individual songs more than Transience itself, and that’s a shame. I can hear the experience of the players, feel the maturity of the group, but the music just isn’t resonating like I know it should. The result, for me at least, is a mixed experience and a new band worth keeping an eye on.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Self release
Websites: mirrorofdeception-doom.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/pages/mirror-of-deception
Releases Worldwide: March 27th, 2026

To receive the honor of reviewing duties for Noise’s latest as a superfan of his output is an exciting prospect. I tend to agree with Carcharodon when it comes to their critical consensus, and Kanonenfieber is one of my favorite acts around. So, when I was (presumptively) lucky enough to review the latest Non Est Deus record, Blessings and Curses, I was excited to say the least. We have lavished praise here at AMG across the Noise spectrum, and while his projects range in quality, that quality remains firmly in the top tier of melodic black metal. So, with all that out of the way, is the latest noise from Noise a blessing of black metal righteousness or a curse on the venerable artist’s output?

Out of the gate, Blessing and Curses works to establish a more unique sound for Non Est Deus in comparison to Noise’s other projects. Whereas Legacy could lean a little too close to Kanonenfieber or Leiþa at times, this latest record makes a clear differentiation between the new Non Est Deus and the old. Noise’s vocals are clear and crisp, sung completely in English, and never hit the heaviness of Kanonenfieber or the tortured emotion of Leiþa. In fact, the first band that came to mind when spinning Blessings and Curses was Rotting Christ. At first glance, this feels like a clear step in a better direction for a project that needed a more unique identity, but upon further inspection, it hampers the album at nearly every turn.

Blessings and Curses by Non Est Deus

Blessings and Curses has a strong artistic foundation and conceptual structure, with three interludes (Prayer I, II, and III, respectively) and psalms scourging every major track. The album feels unique in the way that it follows a believer in God who loses their way and becomes disillusioned, directly mirroring the diptych on the album cover, as well as the title of the record. Phenomenal album cover aside, the musical progression isn’t as pronounced as I had hoped based on the concept, and Blessings and Curses is repetitive throughout. Nearly every track follows a similar structure, including choruses that repeat the same cadence and emotional beats on a majority of the songs. Noise returns to refrains that have a main line (usually the song title) followed by a “whispered” section that either repeats that same idea or only a slight variation on it (“Show Mercy”, “My Lord”, “The Forsaken”, “The Indulgence”). It leaves Blessings and Curses sounding like someone trying to replicate Noise as opposed to Noise himself.

To Blessings and Curses’ detriment, spoken word sections are back, and the album remains worse for it. The opening “Prayer I” feels entirely throwaway, and the interludes are so quick as to make them feel like an afterthought. The psalms on each track also kill momentum, with their placement typically towards the finale of the song. Derailing every track, the psalms are the vegetables before getting to the meat of it all. While they serve the album conceptually, they are half-baked throughout. The idea of splitting the album is an interesting one, and the best tracks are in the back half, but Blessings and Curses is sonically stagnant. “Show Mercy” and “Forgive Me” (an album highlight) play with some very light black n’ roll elements, making me wish the first half had gone all in on that idea, leaving the second half to be a blasting blackened death beast. Unfortunately, neither is that diverse, sitting in this mid space that just sounds a bit like Noise on autopilot. None of the songs are bad, some are even great, but the album as a whole feels like it wastes a phenomenal concept.

If you told me I would be reviewing Noise for AMG in 2026, I would call you a fuckin’ liar and that you shouldn’t play with my emotions. If you told me that I would be the one to give Noise a proper tongue lashing, I would be doubly upset. As a stalwart fan of the artist, I still enjoyed Blessings and Curses on a lizard-brain level, and there are some truly great tracks (Forgive Me, Kora, Transgression). I appreciate Non Est Deus doing more to differentiate itself from the rest of Noise’s work, but I would love to see it pushed even further and move out of its melodic black metal safe zone. As it stands, a mediocre Noise record is still better than most other offerings out there, but for an artist with such incredible albums under his belt, I prayed for more.

Rating: Mixed
DR: N/A| Format Reviewed: A dreamy streamy
Label: Noisebringer Records
Websites: Website | Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: April 3rd, 2026

Read it in the stars: an Astral Spectre is upon us. German multi-instrumentalist Tenebros has spent the past six years mixing up a potent blend of black and heavy metal across three long players that take the NWoBHM energy, blackened aggression, and the occultic flair of 70s hard/prog rock.1 Astral Spectre’s third revelation, 2026s Cosmic Mirage, is poised to be the project’s most ambitious record, taking their established sound and putting it through “more sophisticated arrangements” and utilizing “professional mixing for the first time.” It all looks good to me, but are Astral Spectre the real deal, or is Cosmic Mirage just that?

Astral Spectre’s sound is indebted to the proto-metal and progressive rock of the 1970s, but Cosmic Mirage is no mere exercise in nostalgia. Take Nite and give them Blue Öyster Cult’s guitar tone, longer songs, a meaner blackened rasp, a Hammond organ, and (sometimes) a clarinet, and you’d get Cosmic Mirage. Black metal manifests in Tenebros’ aforementioned rasping, foreboding tones and odd blast beats (“Chronomancer,” “Dancing with Ghosts”), but Astral Spectre’s bread and butter is warm, lively rock n’ roll. NWoBHM twin guitars soar over most tracks, dominating “Stardrifter” and “The Witch’s Waltz” while keys fill out the middle ranges where a rhythm guitar typically would. The organ towers over Cosmic Mirage, adding weight and texture to Astral Spectre’s sound while lending Cosmic Mirage a deeper gothic edge (“The Witch’s Waltz”). Astral Spectre also use clarinet on certain tracks, imbuing snaky, sultry leads to “Death of Osiris” while trading solos with the guitar on “The Demon’s Offer.” Overall, though Cosmic Mirage evokes a specific scene and era of music’s past, Astral Spectre stand on their own through creative utilization of its various pieces.

Cosmic Mirage by Astral Spectre

Cosmic Mirage is at its best when Astral Spectre simply floor it. The opening duo of “Stardrifter” and “Chonomancer” bubble over with energetic hooks, roaring with Iron Maiden gallops and punchy, off-kilter keys that don’t let up and make for one of the best one-two punches I’ve heard this year. Tenebros’ drumming deserves recognition, as he can lend songs like “Cosmic Mirage” and “Stardrifter” ridiculously propulsive energy while laying down serious groove over the Opeth-meets-Maiden “Death of Osiris.” The drumming is brisk, but so slick that it feels laid back, working nicely with Tenebros’ thrumming yet reserved bass playing. But where Cosmic Mirage shines brightest is in its solos, where fast, classically-influenced and highly melodic playing evoke the likes of Adrian Smith (“Stardrifter”), Ritchie Blackmore (“Dancing with Ghosts”) and Eddie Van Halen (“Death of Osiris”). When it all comes together, Astral Spectre sounds like a souped-up Kansas or Blue Öyster Cult crushing it with Tribulation. And that’s just beautiful.

The only knock against Cosmic Mirage is when Astral Spectre’s progressive tendencies come at the expense of hookiness. Astral Spectre flexes their songcraft on longer cuts “Death of Osiris” and “Cosmic Mirage,” and though both songs have good moments, they are bogged down by slow passages that aren’t as vital as the faster, more rockin’ tunes. “Death of Osiris” in particular languishes in repetition for its first half, riffing on a thoroughly cliché “Egyptian” melody before sliding into an Iron Maidenesque bass-plucked build-up to the clarinet solo, where things finally take off.2 “Cosmic Mirage” starts strong with a driving beat and strong hooks before dropping into a spacey, Pink Floyd-like passage that just doesn’t demand your attention as much, and by the time Astral Spectre get their momentum back, the song is basically over. Also, Cosmic Mirage’s clarinet, while it weaves compelling melodies and lends the album a uniquely mellow mood, is always way upfront in the mix and tends to drown out the guitar. This and an understated bass presence are the only gripes I have with the otherwise warm and open mix of Cosmic Mirage, just as Astral Spectre’s few hiccups regarding their longer songs are the only real problems I have with the album at large.

Cosmic Mirage has more going on than it seems at first glance. Besides some missteps in the longer songs, Astral Spectre crafted an ambitious, engrossing, and deviously fun album that anyone with a love for twin guitars should get behind. Tenebros is a phenomenal musician and the fact that Astral Spectre aren’t signed baffles me. As rich as it is immediate, Cosmic Mirage has grown on me with every listen, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it continues to grow well into the year. Chase the mirage!

Rating: Very Good!
DR: 10 | V0 VBR mp3
Label: Self-Released
Websites: astral-spectre.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/OfficialAstralSpectre
Releases Worldwide: April 10th, 2026

This year has already kicked off in thrash-tastic fashion. We’ve seen new releases from the likes of Megadeth, Exodus, and Kreator, with Anthrax and more on the way. A quick check of my thrash bingo card shows that, by the end of the year, at least half of the “Big 4”1 will have dropped new records, with many of the honorable-mention heavyweights joining the fray. While we wait for the next boot to drop, we turn our attention to Würzburg, Germany’s Zerre, one of modern thrash’s promising upstarts. Their debut, Scorched Souls, was a Metallica-meets-Municipal Waste slab of old-school aggression loaded with crossover, beer-chugging grooves. Taking the foundations of their debut, Rotting on a Golden Throne finds Zerre tearing through nine tracks with a sharpened sense of purpose—more aggressive, more political, and more sadistic than its predecessor. And let me tell you, it delivers in spades. I hope you’re thirsty for some tallboys, because thrash is still on the menu.

Forging their songwriting into material that’s meaner, tighter, and far more assured, Rotting on a Golden Throne shines with the violently tempered alloy of classic thrash and modern crossover’s street-level grit that never lets its energy wane. Heavily steeped in Municipal Waste’s party chaos and …And Justice for All’s rapid, surgical picking, Zerre also imbues the album with Power Trip’s coarseness, Anthrax’s stomping swagger (“Killing Taste”) and the frantic wails of Slayer (“No Alibi,” “Deception of the Weak”). Riffs hit in relentless waves, with raw aggression spilling over into massive, replay-ready grooves, while strategically placed interludes are woven directly into the album’s 40-minute runtime rather than sliced off as filler (“Mental Vacation,” “Rotting on a Golden Throne”). This smart choice gives Rotting on a Golden Throne a more cohesive flow and breaks up the record’s accelerated attack just enough to keep things elastic. Zerre delivers it all seamlessly, with a dialed‑up piss‑and‑vinegar attitude that hits you right between the eyes.

Rotting on a Golden Throne by Zerre

Neck-snapping riffs abound on Rotting on a Golden Throne, driven by Zerre’s full-throttle dual axe attack of Dominik Bertelt and Rocco Lepore. The two throw their weight around effortlessly with hyperspeed picking mixed with trilling, power cord syncopations, whammy dives, and a metric ton of technical solos. After the “Battery”-inspired acoustic intro, “Pigs will be Pigs” fires the first shot with blistering runs that give way to a soaring melodic solo, while “Deception of the Weak” counters with sharp twin harmonies and nimble hammer‑ons and pull‑offs. Even the slower approach of “Concrete Hell” packs a punch and “Tin God” seals the deal with a squealing, tapping frenzy that illustrates how purposefully Zerre uses solos—coupled with keen songwriting—to drive the record’s peaks. The Nordic folk lick stretching out into intertwining leads in “Mental Vacation” is also a pleasant surprise, as is the power metal riff in the self-titled track, proving that when these guys branch out of their comfort zone, they do so tastefully and with restraint rather than veering off into left field.

Vocalist Nick Ziska2 brings a feral edge to Zerre’s sound. His performance swings between Tom Araya‑styled screams (“No Alibi”) and a Riley Gale-esque snarling mid‑range, anchoring Rotting on a Golden Throne’s songs with a serrated bark that sounds abrasive and weathered, yet still clear enough to slice through the chaos. Zerre’s songwriting leans heavily on gang vocals, and while they’re a clear fallback move, they inject a sense of rowdy fun that magnifies Ziska’s lyrics and makes the choruses instantly hooky. Ziska takes the lead, and the rest of the crew pile in behind him, creating shout-along moments that demand listener participation. Lyrically, Rotting on a Golden Throne sticks to thrash’s customary grievances—anti-police sentiment, prison system disdain and broad political ire—but these tropes feel less like a crutch and more like part of the total package, reinforcing the album’s scrappy, kinetic energy.

Talking about this album in the staff lounge, our resident Reaper categorized Rotting on a Golden Throne as one of the best straight-up thrash records of the year so far, and I couldn’t agree more. Detractors may point to Zerre’s stylistic touchstones as a mere recombination of established genre language, and while they wouldn’t be wrong, I don’t care. Zerre has dropped an album that embodies everything I want my thrash to be. Rotting on a Golden Throne is bursting with energy, aggression, groove, and a sense of unfiltered fun. It’s a combination that’s hard to find in today’s thrash metal landscape, and it’s one that’s worth raising a beer for.

Rating: Great!
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Dying Victims Productions
Websites: dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/rotting-on-a-golden-throne | facebook.com/zerre.thrash
Releases Worldwide: March 27th, 2026

Well, what do you know, turns out that ‘later this year’ could also have been written as; tomorrow!

Which means, there is a new record from Ultha!

👥 Ultha
💿 A Light So Dim
 https://ultha.bandcamp.com/album/a-light-so-dim

Not a joke, just like the last record, this record will be living under my skin, rent free and will produce many earworms, and I am here for it!

#NewRelease #NewMusic #BlackMetal #AtmosphericPostBlackMetal #DarkWave #GermanMetal #RABM https://metalhead.club/@lpl/116328934123716512

Four years ago, Ultha released their latest record without any announcement or promotion on April Fool's Day.

To this day, this is my favourite non-prank on April Fools. It is such a good record.

👥 Ultha
💿 All That Has Never Been True
 https://ultha.bandcamp.com/album/all-that-has-never-been-true
🔗 https://album.link/t/217988650

I invite you all to give this record a spin today.

To commemorate this milestone, Ultha announced today that they are working on a new album to be released later this year. #Hype

#BlackMetal #DarkWave #GermanMetal #RABM #MittwochMetalMix

Danke Metalheads aus Deutschland! Wir sind mit unserem 2. Album "My Kingdom Come" in den Metal Rock Charts!

Sagt es euren Freunden, dann klettern wir vielleich nächste Woche noch etwas nach oben mit unserer dunklen Variante von Symphonic Power Metal.
#metalgermany #germanmetal

Evolution. It’s one of those principles that seems to undergird just about every aspect of existence in this universe. As students of our most favorite of genres, we often speak about the “evolution of heavy metal” and how it has birthed a plethora of subgenres of varying degrees of viability. While some of these subgenres carry enough useful traits to become long-lasting pillars in the monument of heavy metal, others seem to serve the role of transitional forms or “missing links” between more well-known styles. Case in point: speed metal. Often seen as a momentary stop on metal’s journey from traditional to thrash, relatively few bands have built a career on speed alone. Acts who start with speed metal (many early thrash bands and power metal bands, especially) often incorporate other elements or transition to something else entirely. While this may be the general trend in metal’s history, Germany’s Cruel Force says, “Fuck that.”

Formed back in the late aughts as a blackened thrash/speed metal band, Cruel Force regrouped after a long hiatus, reinventing themselves as a pure and simple speed metal band with 2023’s Dawn of the Axe, an album that impressed me enough to earn a spot on my list of honorable mentions for that year. Well, if that was the dawn of the axe, 2026’s Haneda is the reign of the axe, an axe that has been meticulously honed and polished to the point of being as beautiful as it is lethal. I’d suggest doing a proper warmup before pressing play on the embedded “Whips-A-Swinging,” because severe neck damage is all but inevitable.

Haneda by CRUEL FORCE

In fact, Haneda should have come with a warning from the surgeon general stating something like, “May cause permanent stank face. May cause carpal tunnel syndrome secondary to excessive involuntary air guitar. May cause the user to run through walls, laugh maniacally at inappropriate times, or punch strangers in the face. Do not use while operating motor vehicles, as dangerous and irreversible acceleration has occurred. User may also feel the urge to destroy said vehicle with their bare hands, Street Fighter style.” And that’s just my experience with the record these maniacs have produced. Guitarist Slaughter absolutely lives up to his name, slaying all before him with unbelievable rhythm skills and classic metal leads, while Spider’s fingers crawl across his bass fretboard in an effort to keep up. Carnivore feasts, delivering a timeless, thrashy vocal performance that suits the music oh so well, but MVP honors go to drummer GG Alex, whose incessant fills have managed to become a hallmark of Cruel Force’s sound.

The prospect of 42 minutes of speed metal probably doesn’t sound all that special or exciting, but in Cruel Force’s capable hands, Haneda has managed to transcend the genre’s ham-fisted, beer-guzzling stereotype to create something truly special. The compositions are incredible, ranging from 4-minute rippers like “Whips-A-Swinging,” “Savage Gods,” “Sword of Iron,” and “Black Talon,” stretching into more complex work like “Warlords” or the album’s instrumental centerpiece “Crystal Skull,” and finishing in grand fashion with the epic, 9-minute, Song o’ the Year-frontrunning title track. Every song features wild, yet somehow graceful transitions and killer grooves, and the production is simply beautiful, proving that an album can sound authentically old and brutal while simultaneously feeling cultured and refined. I’m honestly still in shock from how hard this album hit me; what on first listen felt like just a really good speed metal album has revealed itself to be utterly excellent.

To finish my musings on evolution, Haneda sounds like a handful of speed metal bands become isolated on an island that drifted away from mainland Metal millions of years ago (let’s call this island ‘Metalgascar’) and whose progeny have spent the intervening time adapting and mutating without any other external musical influence. Where mainland Metal achieved heaviness through ever more extreme vocalization, down-tuning, and genre bastardization, Metalgascar developed its heaviness through ever-increasing speed and compositional quality. Far from being some hunched-over figure towards the beginning of heavy metal’s March of Progress, speed metal, in the form of Cruel Force, has achieved its final form, becoming Homo deus, the Übermensch, the Gigachad, or as the kids say these days, “he’s him” (or “she’s her,” or “they’re them,” if you prefer). This fantastic record will undoubtedly be on my year-end list (if not atop it), because I doubt that 2026 can produce something that’s more quintessentially metal.

Rating: 4.5/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Shadow Kingdom Records
Websites: cruelforce.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/cruelforce
Releases Worldwide: March 27th, 2026