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Q1 2026 - Favorite Releases

It’s been a while since I last posted here. I originally planned to do monthly favourites again this year, but I completely missed. I also missed a lot of releases this quarter since I really haven’t been finding enough time lately to properly go through everything.

Still, Q1 2026 had some really strong albums that stayed in rotation for weeks. As usual, most of my listening was doom, death-doom, atmospheric black metal and filthy death metal. Here are my Top 15 favourites from the quarter.

1. Ellende - Zerfall #

Ellende - Zerfall

This album completely consumed me for weeks. Cold atmospheric black metal with massive emotional weight and deeply melancholic melodies everywhere. The riffs have that perfect depressive feeling that just drags me deeper into the album every single time. Everything sounds grey, frozen and emotionally collapsing in the best possible way.

I kept coming back to this almost every night. There is something strangely comforting about how dark and hopeless this album feels. Half the album sounded like slowly sinking into an endless winter void while staring at a dead sky. Easily my favourite release of the whole quarter and honestly one of my favourite Ellende releases in general.

2. Marianas Rest - The Bereaved #

Marianas Rest - The Bereaved

Marianas Rest somehow always manage to make sadness sound massive. This album is filled with emotional melodic riffs, crushing doom sections and that heavy melancholic atmosphere they do so well. The melodies feel beautiful without losing any heaviness behind them.

I spent a lot of late nights listening to this album with headphones on doing absolutely nothing productive. Some of these melodies genuinely stayed in my head for days. The whole record feels like slowly drowning in grief while giant doom riffs keep crashing over everything. Easily one of the strongest death-doom releases of the quarter for me.

3. Cryptworm - Infectious Pathological Waste #

Cryptworm - Infectious Pathological Waste

Absolutely disgusting album. Rotten riffs, pathological atmosphere, nasty vocals and production that sounds like it was recorded inside a leaking sewer tunnel. Everything about this release feels filthy and diseased in the best possible way. Even the artwork looks like it smells horrible.

I kept replaying this because of how unapologetically rotten it sounds. No clean moments. No breathing space. Just nonstop sickness and caveman brutality from beginning to end. Half the riffs feel covered in mold and corpse fluid. Beautiful stuff.

4. Sylosis - The New Flesh #

Sylosis once again writing ridiculously sharp riffs without sounding repetitive. The guitar work here is absurd at times. Aggressive thrash energy mixed with melodic death metal sections that keep the album constantly moving forward. Every track feels energetic and alive.

I was not even listening to much thrash recently but this album kept pulling me back. Very easy album to throw on during work or long walks because the energy never really drops. Some of the riffs here are genuinely addictive. Probably one of the most replayable albums from the whole list.

5. Neurosis - An Undying Love for a Burning World #

Massive, hypnotic and emotionally exhausting. Neurosis still knows how to make music feel enormous. The atmosphere slowly builds layer by layer until the whole thing starts feeling overwhelming. Some riffs here barely even feel like riffs anymore. More like giant collapsing walls of sound.

This is not the kind of album I casually threw on in the background. It demanded full attention. I found myself just sitting there listening to the atmosphere swallow everything whole. The emotional weight throughout the album feels crushing without ever becoming melodramatic. Heavy in every possible way.

6. Fossilization - Advent of Wounds #

This album sounds genuinely rotten. Suffocating blackened death-doom with cavernous atmosphere and riffs buried under layers of dirt and decay. There is almost no light anywhere on the album. Just darkness, filth and slow punishment. Some sections genuinely felt claustrophobic through headphones. Exactly the kind of nasty underground death-doom I keep looking for.

7. Kreator - Krushers of the World #

Kreator still writing riffs like they are angry teenagers somehow. Pure high energy thrash with sharp aggressive riffing and huge choruses everywhere. Sometimes you just need fast riffs and loud drums without overthinking anything. German thrash legends still sounding ridiculously alive.

8. New Mexican Doom Cult - Ziggurat #

Warm fuzzy stoner doom with thick psychedelic atmosphere and massive grooves all over the album. Everything feels dusty, hypnotic and slightly cosmic. Some riffs here just slowly melt into your brain after a while.

I kept returning to this whenever I wanted something heavy without feeling emotionally destroyed afterwards. Great album to completely space out to during late evenings. The psychedelic doom atmosphere throughout the album feels natural and effortless instead of forced.

9. Urne - Setting Fire to the Sky #

Heavy sludgy riffs with a lot of aggression and urgency behind them. The album constantly feels restless and angry without becoming repetitive. Some of the transitions between sludge heaviness and faster sections worked really well for me.

I liked how fiery this whole album felt. Even the slower sections still carried tension underneath. There is a rough aggressive energy throughout the record that kept me engaged the whole time. Solid release with some genuinely hard-hitting riffs.

10. Converge - Love Is Not Enough #

Chaotic and emotionally unhinged exactly the way I wanted from Converge. The intensity here is ridiculous. Every track feels seconds away from completely falling apart while somehow still holding itself together. Messy in the best possible way.

11. Mayhem - Lithurgy of Dead #

I was excited seeing a release from the pioneers of black metal. Cold Norwegian black metal atmosphere all over this thing. Sharp riffs, ugly atmosphere and that classic unsettling Mayhem feeling throughout the album.

Some moments genuinely reminded me why atmosphere matters so much in black metal. I especially liked the colder slower sections where everything started feeling distant and evil. Dark ugly music for nights when silence feels too peaceful.

12. Gutvoid - Liminal Shrines #

Crushing death-doom with gigantic oppressive atmosphere and absurdly heavy riffs. The album feels massive and suffocating at the same time. There is this strange horror feeling hanging over the entire record.

This one grew on me a lot after multiple listens. The slower sections especially started hitting harder once I settled into the album’s pacing. Some parts genuinely felt like wandering through abandoned underground cathedrals while everything slowly collapses around you.

13. Worm - Necropalace #

Cold cavernous doom with thick horror atmosphere and necrotic blackened textures everywhere. Worm always manages to make their albums feel ancient and cursed somehow. This release absolutely had that same feeling. The slower doom sections feel huge while the blackened atmosphere wraps everything in this evil fog. Very immersive album once it fully settles in.

14. Exhumed - Red Asphalt #

Pure gory death metal chaos. Fast riffs, disgusting energy and enough violence to make the whole thing feel like a grindhouse horror soundtrack. Legendary gore-death metal pioneers Exhumed still knows exactly how to make this style stupidly fun.

I loved how shamelessly over-the-top this album sounded. No emotional depth. No atmosphere worship. Just gore, speed and nonstop violent riffing. Sometimes that is exactly what I want from death metal.

15. MØL - Dreamcrush #

Heavy emotional album with dark atmosphere and slow crushing pacing. The album feels dreamy and hopeless at the same time. Some of the atmospheric sections here sounded genuinely beautiful underneath all the heaviness. The atmosphere slowly pulls everything inward and keeps sinking deeper as the album progresses. Really immersive blackgaze release with a lot of emotional weight hidden underneath.

Honorable Mentions #

Long live METALHEADS - horns up 🤘