From gloomy folk to intricate extreme metal: Here are six of the best releases from July to September 2026.
Text: Christina Wenig
Chelsea Wolfe – The Dark
More than 15 years into her career, Chelsea Wolfe keeps blessing us with love letters to the darkness that feel transcendent and transformative. On her ninth album, she reaches past the curtain of death into the afterlife and in-between spaces to reconnect with herself. Having found comfort in letting go, the musician steps out of her comfort zone for clearer production and more traditional songwriting, resulting in a multifaceted album that sits between dark folk and alternative rock.
Read our The Dark album feature here.
Russian Circles – Nine
Twenty years after the release of their first album Enter, Russian Circles are back with their ninth full-length, simply called Nine. It’s a title that seems to be emblematic of the no-bullshit attitude of this record: These songs cut straight to the chase and hit you with a precision and vigor that only the best instrumental bands manage to summon – all while evoking a grandeur that stretches from the dreamy to the outright brutal.
Chat Pile – Who Loves The Sun
It almost seems hard to believe, but it’s been only four years since Chat Pile took over the scene with their debut album God’s Country. Their third full-length further twists the agony and apathy of modern-day existence into a nightmarish soundscape of sludge, grunge and noise rock while exploring how much catchiness it can get away with. It’s an unsettling, disturbing mixture that captures our current existential dread like few others.
Read our interview with Chat Pile here.
Emma Ruth Rundle – These Killing Times
Emma Ruth Rundle’s new album is an exercise in channeling your anger and disillusionment in constructive ways, without forgetting to stay soft in the process. Her most political release to date looks at abuse of power, moral corruption and the hubris of men through the lens of female rage. She musically explores these observations in a vast stylistic spectrum, uniting different facets of her past – from the stripped-down to the metallic.
Read our These Killing Times album feature here.
Krallice – Scour Order
Krallice is not for the faint of heart. Their technical, complex extreme metal constructs can be overwhelming in their density and intensity, but if you give in to them, they might just uplift you. With their latest addition to their extensive discography, the band proves that after almost twenty years, they’re still inspired to push black metal in the most daring directions with unmatched precision, skill and attention to detail.
Godflesh – Decay
It’s the beginning of the end: As Justin Broadrick is physically unable to sing in Godflesh anymore, the band will no longer perform live or make new music. They won’t go without releasing their last two albums, though. Before the final curtain closes, Decay serves as a reminder of why the duo will forever be one of the greats of industrial metal – a throbbing, merciless manifesto of auditory punishment.
