A wave of new heavy music arrived on January 2nd, 2026, spanning genres from black metal to thrash. The Razor's Edge highlighted standout albums amid the post-holiday rush. Paleface Swiss and Ellende earned special praise in the weekly roundup.
The Christmas and New Year period brought no slowdown in heavy music releases, with a diverse array hitting the scene on January 2nd, 2026. The Razor's Edge, a site dedicated to heavy metal news and reviews, compiled a roundup of noteworthy drops, covering black metal, death metal, gothic metal, stoner rock, doom, thrash metal, and traditional heavy metal.
Named Album of the Week, Paleface Swiss launched their EP 'The Wilted', described as defining "the sound and energy of a new heavy generation." The review noted, "this will incite some serious pits and unmitigated carnage in a live setting!"
Another highlight was Austrian atmospheric black metal band Ellende's 'Zerfall', released via AOP Records. The site's take: "They play pretty black metal. The kind that you put on when you want to listen to Darkthrone but also want to impress that saucy anarchist philosophy graduate that you’ve been lying to about liking slam poetry."
The roundup extended to other genres:
- Heavy Metal: The Losts - Venom Within (Inverse Records)
- Black Metal: Fuath - III (Northern Silence Productions), Hologramah - Abyssus.Versus.Versiculos (Living Temple Records), Black Mold - Antinomy [EP] (Helldprod Records)
- Death Metal: 1986 - Carneveil (Independent)
- Dark Folk: Forever Autumn - The Lamentations (Independent)
- Death Metal / Death-Doom / Grindcore: Excavated Graves - Life Isn't For Everyone (Selfmadegod Records)
- Doom / Stoner Rock / Sludge / Psych: St. Unholyness - Through High Holy Haze (Self-released), Hot Apollo - Against The Odds Because We're Gods (Selfmaderecords), MC50 - MC50 - 10 More (earMUSIC)
- Thrash Metal: Wildhunt - Aletheia (Jawbreaker Records)
This weekly feature aims to spotlight the best new music, including both reviewed and unreviewed titles worth exploring. Fans are encouraged to follow The Razor's Edge for ongoing coverage across the heavy metal spectrum.
