GONZO’S HEAVY ROUNDUP, JANUARY 2026

(Join us in congratulating NCS writer Gonzo on his engagement! Also join us in enjoying his reviews of four recommended January releases.)

I’ve yelled about how February is a useless fucking month at least once in the past, but this year feels a little different. For me personally, anyway.

Yes, you may have noticed that this column is hilariously late compared to my usual cadence, but since I’ve last posted here, I have:

• Gotten engaged
• Taken a last-minute trip to New York (I had the advanced notice of 24 hours in business days)
• Had my byline in Decibel for the first time

Suffice to say some curveballs have thrown themselves into my schedule, but it’s not unwelcome. Despite living in a rapidly declining christofascist empire, life is largely good. It’s a very weird time to be happy in your personal life, if nothing else, and that alone is worth something. I also have the privilege of making my return to Roadburn this April, and with the recent announcement of Cult of Luna playing two sets there, I’ll have a hard time thinking about much else for the next two months.

God, where was I?

Oh, right. Here are another four albums you should really drop everything you’re doing and listen to. Yes, right now.

 

BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT, NOT HERE NOT GONE

Sometimes a new start can be a powerful catalyst for change. Few bands seem to hang their spooky hats on that strategy like LA’s Blackwater Holylight.

The change, in this case, is twofold for the band: it’s the first album they’ve written since relocating from Portland to Los Angeles a few years back, and since its release, the ladies have whittled down their lineup to just a trio for the first time. Given that trimming, it’d be natural to expect Not Here Not Gone to be a more stripped-down album that gets back to the band’s doomy roots.

The result is one that’s unexpectedly brilliant. Not only does Not Here… have the catchiest, most impossible-to-shake-from-your-eustachian-tube anthems in Blackwater’s discog, but it also sees the band take a step forward into something heavier. If I had one criticism of this band in the past, it’s that the songs sometimes lacked an identity and creative direction.

That’s not the case here. “Involuntary Haze,” “How Will You Feel,” and “Bodies” are straightforward, groove-heavy bangers that showcase the best of each member’s talents. The generous layers of atmosphere courtesy of keyboardist Sarah McKenna are pure gold, while Sunny Faris’s vocals have never sounded more confident.

https://blackwaterholylight.bandcamp.com/album/not-here-not-gone

 

MØL, DREAMCRUSH

Before we go any further, I’ll get right to it: It’s only February, but Denmark’s MØL may have just released the album of the year.

It was only 2019 that I was in Copenhagen, enjoying my time at that year’s Copenhell, and I remember seeing a prevalence of people wearing shirts from this band. I’d never heard of them at the time, but their debut Jord had just come out the previous year. “Watch out for them,” someone told me, “because they’re gonna get huge.”

And here it is, 2026, and Dreamcrush might be good enough to be this band’s breakout. It’s a thrilling, shimmering release that combines the best of what Deafheaven and Deftones do best with a snarling brand of post-hardcore. Vocalist Kim Sternkopf boasts a truly impressive range, effortlessly emitting blood-curdling shrieks and ferocious growls with equal amounts of conviction. “Young” and “Garland” are both shining examples of MØL’s strengths, and the surprising “Hud” comes in with a heart-ripping aesthetic. The same can be said for the emotionally uplifting “Favour,” and it might just be moments found in those songs that make Dreamcrush the overwhelming triumph that it turns out to be.

https://moeldk.bandcamp.com/album/dreamcrush
https://www.facebook.com/moeldk/

 

MIASME, KEEP THEM AT A DISTANCE

The blackgaze sound will take you to some interesting places, depending on the cosmic explorers with whom you choose to journey. If you chose Poland’s Miasme to be your guides, you’d be choosing wisely.

These purveyors of post-black metal have been quietly releasing underrated music since 2010, but a record like Keep Them at a Distance is going to be much harder to ignore. Its searing dissonance is matched by its random forays into experimentation, with notes of their peers in Dødheimsgard showing up in their sound periodically. “Radiant Fortress” gets things up and running on a triumphant, powerful note, while other tracks like “Wind-Up Bird” opt to conceal themselves with a heavier drone-like veneer. At just over 10 minutes, the ambitious “Arms of the Sun” lumbers from cathartic sludge to a galloping blast beat when you least expect it.

This record is anything but conventional. Guitarist Igor Binkowski isn’t one to hold back on his arrangements, and he’s one of many talents that makes Miasme an early band to watch in 2026. As it’s coming to an end, Keep Them at a Distance makes you want to do anything but.

https://miasme.bandcamp.com/album/keep-them-at-a-distance

 

URNE, SETTING FIRE TO THE SKY

It’s always a good day when London’s URNE releases new music. With a diabolical blend of hardcore, sludge, groove, and just straight-up heavy-ass riffs, 2021’s Serpent & Spirit was easily one of that year’s best. Oddly, 2023’s A Feast on Sorrow didn’t grab me nearly as much.

With Setting Fire to the Sky, though, the Brits have reignited the flame that originally caught my ear. The album’s first single “Be Not Dismayed” hit me like a freight train carrying a tactical nuke when I first heard it—the band themselves describe it as “Metallica’s Battery smashing into Machine Head’s Clenching the Fists of Dissent,” and that’s not an unfair comparison.

For a record that mires so deeply in genre-bending, it’s remarkably easy to digest. The songs don’t waste much time with overdone intros and favor the aggressive staccato assaults that defined so many of Spirit’s greatest moments. Third track “The Spirit, Alive” in particular has a devastating tough-guy hardcore chorus with a heavy-hitting riff; “Harken the Waves” delivers the goods after almost tying itself up too much in its proggy opening 3 minutes. It’s even got guest howls from Mastodon’s Troy Sanders, and that should tell you quite a bit about how it sounds.

https://urne.lnk.to/SFTTS
https://urne1.bandcamp.com/merch/setting-fire-to-the-sky-cd-mintpack-pre-order
https://www.facebook.com/urneband/

 

Like what you’ve heard? Follow my best-of-2025 playlist for selections from everything you’ve just read, and a whole helluva lot more.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7zWqE685GVpuB5M3qRDvog?si=08d80939b43e4d89