March wrap-up 2026

Feat. Temple of Void, Lamb of God, Winterfylleth, Angus McSix, Vreid, et al.

Alright, hereby tying a bunch of knots on all the releases from last month that I didn't review by explaining a bit as to why I didn't.

Starting with black metal, Winterfylleth's "The Unyielding Season" was an overall fine round of ditto, which, in spite of being melodic, also featured a raw production, and, adhering to the genre's golden age, almost no audible bass guitar. In spite of any qualities, it was a bit long, and that cover of Paradise Lost's "Enchantment" was, at best, a (simple) reminder about how good the original is. The new LP from Vreid was neatly softened, straightforward, and at times rocking and experimenting, but without the edge that, say, Satyricon still maintained when they initiated similar endeavors. It had some cool ideas and some actual fucking black metal on side 2, but by then, I had long disengaged.

In the world of butt-rock, Gotthard released an unimaginative, unambitious, unoriginal, and half-assedly performed EP. Their fine countryman Marc Storace from Krokus did appear, but on a boring ballad, and one track was a pure ripoff of this little 1980 tune called "Back In Black". But it was only an EP anyway. In the same category, Tyketto released an entire album of edgeless coffee club rock. One cover of Roxette's "Harleys and Indians" was pretty interesting, but ultimately only reminded me that Roxette are (i.e., were) better than virtually everyone else, in- or outside of metal. And in the harder end of things, Axel Rudi Pell put out his TWENTY-THIRD solo outing. Which was probably nice if you can't get enough plain mid-tempo hard rock/heavy metal, originality be damned.

Thrash-wise, I was kinda looking forward to the new Whiplash album, but nobody bothered putting it on YT, so no review from me. (We've talked about this before, people: YouTube gives you exposure, like it or not.) Also, I thought Lost Society was a thrash band, but judging by the 2.5 minute I was able stomach from their new shit, it's a bunch of weak, wimpy, faggy, poppy, polished, poser-pandering anti-metal. They've hereby had their chance with this website, and they blew it.

Staying in the really intolerable end of things, former GloryHammer vocalist Angus McSix released his second solo album, marking the point where yours truly has officially had enough of all that "funny" power metal, for the reason that the joke has hereby officially gotten old, because people have been speculating way too much in it, and this shit especially is compressed and auto-tuned, and you can hardly even hear the goddamn guitar when the other instruments are playing. If I'd reviewed it, it woulda gotten a lower rating than anything so far.

Best thing I didn't review last month was the new Temple Of Void LP: A solid round of real, fuzzy, and organic old school death metal with zero pandering towards anyone. A bit meandering at times, perhaps, but this is how it should damn well sound. This is exactly why GMB needs new writers. (Please click that link if you'd be up for it!)

Finally, in the meh department, I heard the first 15 minutes of the new Poison The Well album – a band that I appreciated back when I uncritically swallowed virtually anything with a distorted guitar and/or +4% alcohol. It did have a sturdy level of energy as you'd expect, but the only variation were those constant breakdowns; it didn't really have any riffs, and the vocals were hella repetitive.

Pretty much all of this also went for the new outing from Lamb Of God, which sounded exactly like everything else they've ever put out, but with none of the stand-out elements that made bangers of tracks like "Redneck" and "Something to Die For". It was better than a lot of other contemporary metal, but still boring relative to the genre overall. It's basically just those grooves rather than actual fucking riffs, and the riffs that are there are unimaginative and predictable. Nothing stands out except generic breakdowns that aren't even very heavy.

On a personal note, March 2026 marked the first of presumably several months where yours truly, as I said in my last video, won't be traveling to any new – or even old – countries. I did go from Germany to Denmark by bus, but that was it. And I'll be staying in the latter to focus on personal and professional projects until something exciting happens – at least until beyond Copenhell. So, there may be a video coming up from somewhere in Denmark – but don't hold your breath.

In terms of good releases that I did review, March saw an impressive round of death metal from Monstrosity, a fine round of Exodus light, a powerful comeback from Neurosis, and another round of what makes Black Label Society themselves. And April's already here, and it's got new releases lined up from Corrosion Of Conformity, Archspire, Immolation, Metal Church, At The Gates, Vomitory, Nervosa, Sunn0))), Green Carnation, Crimson Glory, Gus G, Foo Fighters, Six Feet Under, Skindred, Atreyu, a Melvins/Napalm Death collab, and Look Outside Your Window – you know, that side project by four Slipknot members. I'll betcha some of that'll make for some juicy reviews.

Thanks for reading.
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