The 10 Best Metal Albums of Spring 2026
If you’ve been keeping up with Treble this month, you might have noticed that it’s goth month—unofficially, since we never really announced it. But I suppose this is me making it official: a Hall of Fame on The Crow, our quarterly goth roundup, a list of industrial metal essentials, and much more to come. So it feels only natural to squeeze metal into that lineup, what with metal and goth being two sides of a similarly dark underground subculture. And when I got to looking at my favorite metal albums of the past couple months, I couldn’t help but notice a gothic streak running through about maybe half of them—the other half being either triumphant final bows or astonishing comebacks. So it’s not all goth metal by any means. Still, two of my musical loves collide here more than a few times, and that’s something worth a black celebration. Here are the best metal albums of spring 2026—turn it up!
Note: When you buy something through our affiliate links, Treble receives a commission. All albums we cover are chosen by our editors and contributors.
At the Gates – The Ghost of a Future Dead
This column begins on a bittersweet note, with the final album Swedish death metal legends At the Gates recorded with their late singer, Tomas Lindberg, who died last year of cancer at the age of 52. The knowledge of his passing gives the mournful aesthetics of the album even more weight, but then again, you never read much into that stuff with death metal until you, sadly, have a reason to. But in the case of At the Gates, The Ghost of a Future Dead is as fitting a send-off as Lindberg could receive, one of their finest late-career efforts, balancing deeper grooves with their signature gallop, carving out some more nuanced, mesmerizing material on standouts like the deep chugs of “Det Oerhörda,” the eerie riffs of “Parasitical Hive” and the psychedelic-tinged “The Unfathomable,” alongside their blistering barnburners. And Lindberg, himself, delivers his bark as ferociously as ever, a powerful performance that reminds us why he’s regarded as one of metal’s greatest frontmen.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)
Bosse-de-Nage – Hidden Fires Burn Hottest
Bosse-de-Nage first caught my attention with their third album, titled simply III, which captured a stellar blend of black metal with Slint-like post-rock/post-hardcore elements—which they did one better with the simultaneously more melodic and more intense All Fours. Suffice it to say I’ve missed this Northern California group’s dynamic approach to black metal, yet their return after an eight-year hiatus has reaffirmed my affection for their wide-swinging dynamics and unpredictable stylistic blends. Hidden Fires Burn Hottest is abundant in both, roaring with post-hardcore power on opener “Where to Now?”, easing into a more nuanced midsection of subdued instrumentals and spoken-word vocals on “Mementos” and “In the Name of the Moth,” and embracing the kind of angular immediacy that a band like …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead showcased on their earlier albums with “Underwater.” At once familiar yet taking everything a few steps forward, Hidden Fires Burn Hottest is pretty much everything I want from a Bosse-de-Nage album, however long it took to arrive.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)
Corrosion of Conformity – Good God/Baad Man
OK, cards on the table? I wasn’t expecting a Corrosion of Conformity album in 2026, let alone one that absolutely smoked. It’s not as if the veteran stoner metal group—who emerged out of hardcore and crossover thrash and had a brush with alternative on their celebrated 1994 album Deliverance—has ever released a bad album. But believe me when I say that Good God/Baad Man (which may or may not be a nod to Kendrick Lamar) goes harder than any COC album in the past 20 years. There’s some Southern boogie in their groove-heavy riffs, some darker and danker blues rock moments, but in highlights like “Good God?/Final Dawn” and “Gimme Some Moore,” Pepper Keenan and company hold nothing back, blazing away with doomy, grungy riffs and high-octane energy. Keenan’s called this a “weird love letter to all things rock ‘n’ roll,” which was inspired by, among other things, Discharge, ZZ Top and Neil Young. Which have all been present in COC’s music all along—maybe that’s why it’s such an undeniable triumph.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)
Miserere Luminis – Sidera
It’s less surprising to hear a black metal album (or post-black-metal if you prefer) that’s staggeringly beautiful than, say, a really pretty death metal album—though I assure you, the latter most certainly exists. (Opeth staked their claim on that territory way back in the ’90s.) But I still find myself taken aback by the grace and haunting elegance of Sidera, the third album by Montreal’s Miserere Luminis. Comprising five lengthy tracks that feature some stunning additions of piano and strings, Sidera often veers far from black metal altogether, widening the gap between their atmospheric intros and interludes and their driving, powerful climaxes. But what strikes me more than anything is its sense of emotional release, the combination of lush landscapes and cathartic screams bringing to mind Japanese screamo pioneers Envy at their most epic. Sidera is an album of feeling as much as sound—grand, overwhelming, and yes, beautiful.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Neurosis – An Undying Love for a Burning World
Is this month’s batch of records an emotional rollercoaster or what? Between the loss of one of metal’s greatest vocalists and one of metal’s best bands of the past decade hanging it up, we have the unexpected return of underground metal titans Neurosis. Four years ago, the departure of Scott Kelly amid a shocking and upsetting admission of his abusive behavior signaled an uncertain future for the group, but the arrival of An Undying Love for a Burning World brings with it a moment of healing and catharsis, as well as a new member—Sumac guitarist/vocalist Aaron Turner, who helmed the other band in post-metal’s portmanteau nickname, “NeurIsis.” And holy hell is it good, recapturing the spirit of classic Neurosis—epic, sludgy, apocalyptic—with sense of melodic beauty that shows how far they’ve come since their emergence in the mid-’80s. While it’s far from their prettiest album, its balance of grit and grace positions it as one of the band’s strongest, a welcome return that heralds an inspiring new chapter for one of metal’s greatest bands.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)
Portrayal of Guilt – …Beginning of the End
I’m a fan of Portrayal of Guilt when they’re going balls to the wall intense, but I find their instinct to throw listeners off course even more admirable, like when they released an album half comprising chamber music on Devil Music. By comparison, …Beginning of the End isn’t as radical a shift, but in embracing more pronounced hooks and the kind of alt-metal immediacy that wouldn’t have been entirely out of place on radio in the ’90s, they offer up yet another unexpected transformation. Oh, not to mention the appearance of Houston rapper Slim Guerrilla. Mind you, …Beginning of the End hasn’t eased up on the intensity, but it arrives in more approachable form, achieving what vocalist Matt King suggested a Portrayal of Guilt pop album might sound like, as he mentioned in our recent interview. Of course, standout tracks like “Object of Pain,” “Ecstasy” and “Total Black” are only pop when viewed from a certain angle—this is metal, and some pretty harrowing and nasty metal at that—but nobody’s making nightmares more infectious than they are.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)
Scimitar – Scimitarium II
As mentioned earlier, this is goth month on Treble, and our own Colin Dempsey mentioned in our behind-the-scenes discussion of goth aesthetics that the new Scimitar album should be sufficiently goth to capture our interest. He wasn’t wrong! The Denmark group is less goth in the Bauhaus sense, more Mercyful Fate with a twist of Coven, their blend of eerie occult rock aesthetics and surging black metal power one that they’ve sharpened to precision on Scimitarium II. Vocalist Shaam A. is a captivating leader, her impassioned and mesmerizing delivery less like that of a cursed ghoul and more a sorcerer casting dark magicks from beyond the known realm. The band, for their part, are rarely if ever driving at less than full capacity, particularly on a full-throttle moment like “Lunacy Jewels,” which moves at such a relentless pace, it feels as if the wheels are going to come off at any moment. They never do—when inside the maelstrom, it’s tricky to clock just how well controlled the storm really is. But when given the chance to slow down and showcase the full spectrum of their sound on the 13-minute closer “Mobula Mobular,” Scimitar prove just how heroic—and yes, goth!—their take on heavy metal can be.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)
The Silver – Looking Glass Hymnal Blue
What made The Silver’s 2021 debut album Ward of Roses so appealing was how difficult it was to pin down. It’s not that the band’s influences and aesthetics weren’t transparent—throughout the album you’d hear black metal, progressive rock, gothic rock and classic heavy metal in varying amounts. But those elements didn’t always present themselves in obvious ways, a gothic glimmer making their prog moments even more sleek, and the melodicism of old-school metal turning their black metal surge into something more immediate. But as their sophomore album Looking Glass Hymnal Blue demonstrates, it’s the strength of their songwriting that ties it together. This shouldn’t be a surprise to listeners familiar with any of the members’ other bands, including Crypt Sermon and Horrendous. All of the stylistic markers of their debut are likewise here, but it’s the spirit of vintage metal that feels the most pronounced here, the anchor that keeps them grounded while they continually cycle through different shades and hues, and make their approach from different angles. That they’re all phenomenal musicians only adds to how impressive it all is; you can’t pull off blackened goth-prog heavy metal without the chops, but The Silver more than have that covered.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Spirit Adrift – Infinite Illumination
Another bittersweet inclusion on this list, Spirit Adrift’s Infinite Illumination marks the end of a journey. Over 12 years, six albums and nine letters in their Morbid Angel-inspired naming convention, the Arizona group have delivered one killer heavy metal album after another, and sadly, this one will be the last. That’s OK—despite metal’s tendency toward soldiering on with new members and a sore lower back, maybe it’s good to go out on a high. And this is most definitely a high. On first listen it’s hard not to call this one of Spirit Adrift’s best, maybe the best, rife with ambitious epics like the opening title track and “You Will Never Hold the Key,” and featuring a kind of grungy psychedelia that at times reminds me of Alice In Chains’ Dirt (which is a very good thing). While I’ll definitely miss Spirit Adrift, they’re riding out in a blaze of glory.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp
Ultha – A Light So Dim
OK, now this is really goth. Ultha made me an enthusiastic fan with their 2022 album All That Has Never Been True, a haunting black metal record that landed on my list of the best albums of that year. A Light So Dim is arguably even better, pairing the band’s black metal with an even more accessible, nocturnal aesthetic that finds new ground to explore in the already fertile ground of post-punk/black metal hybrids. Black metal is only part of the equation on A Light So Dim, its explosive ferocity often cut with the supernatural glow of organ drone on highlights like leadoff track “Love As We’re Falling Down.” More often that heathen darkness is tracing the edges of even sleeker figures like the Killing Joke-style post-punk dirge “Her Still Singing Limbs,” the atmospheric industrial throb of “What’s Yours to Carry,” featuring vocals from Daevar’s Pardis Latifi, or the juxtaposition of pummeling rhythms and shimmering guitar arpeggios on “Pink Lights Soiling to Copper.” This one’s soared to the top of my list like a bat out of—well, you get the idea.
Listen/Buy: Bandcamp | Rough Trade (vinyl)
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