(Gonzo makes another of his monthly appearances at NCS today, with reviews of four albums released in March 2026.)
We’re only three months and some change into 2026, and I swear on Satan’s taint that I’ve already identified at least 3 new albums fighting for contention in my annual top 20 list. Dark and uncertain times always make fertile ground for raw, ferocious music, and if we can take anything from the hellscape we’re all currently stuck in, let it be that.
Let’s take a look at four of them that helped March suck a whole lot less for me.
SUPERCONTINENT, EXCAVATIONS
Comebacks seem to be all the rage in heavy music these days, and that trend is extending far beyond the likes of Neurosis and Coroner. Maybe it’s a midlife crisis, or maybe it’s just a natural response to massively unsettling world events.
Whatever it is, it was enough for Michigan’s post-metal crew Supercontinent to dig deep and release their first effort since 2008, and likely their final release. Appropriately titled Excavations, its songs were originally tracked in 2009 and were recently resurrected and mixed by guitarist/vocalist Matt Gauntlett.
Featuring three immensely complex yet still very accessible tracks that tunnel their way through post-metal crescendos, hardcore angst, and prog wizardry, there’s plenty to unpack within the 33 minutes of music here. “Void Vomits Back” explodes with a ferocious blast beat before it reels itself in, coiling up like a serpent calculating its next strike.
And the strikes come in plenty of forms after that. The sextet flexes its collective muscle beautifully on “Prey of Apparitions,” featuring an extra-crunchy closing breakdown that sounds like a nod to ISIS. The triple guitar onslaught of Matt Gauntlett, David Lock, and Chris Plumb does more than enough to keep your ears glued to each song’s acrobatic fretwork and unpredictable time changes, while the closing 18-minute behemoth “Adrift in Silence” is a riff-fueled epic.
They may have been dormant for 17 years, but in geological time, that’s less than a blink of an eye. Excavations is an unexpected testament to a triumphant return.
https://supercontinentisdrunk.bandcamp.com/album/excavations
https://www.facebook.com/supercontinent/
THREAT SIGNAL, REVELATIONS
I was starting to lose hope that we’d ever hear anything from Canadian unit Threat Signal again. Their first album Under Reprisal made a huge impression on me way back on its release in 2006, blending a sound that had one foot planted in the early 2000s metalcore sound and the other in more experimental territory.
That said, I was just as surprised as I was excited to see Revelations pop up in Bandcamp when it came out on March 27. But with a decade gone by since their last record in 2017, was their sound just lightning in a bottle? Would this album just be a rehash of a bygone era?
After multiple listens, those answers are a decisive “no” and “fuck no.”
The aptly named Revelations takes the band’s sound back to its staccato/double-bass roots, exemplifying their penchant for tastefully crafted metalcore. It doesn’t pander to trends, and it hasn’t lost the ferocious edge that made Under Reprisal such a banger two decades ago.
First single “Non-essential” explodes into a rapid-fire assault before burning down the proverbial woodshed with a devastating breakdown. That relentless energy continues into the Meshuggah-isms of “Exercise the Demon,” balancing guitars that sound like jackhammers with melodic keyboard passages. Vocalist Jon Howard puts on a clinic, vacillating between a harsh scream and a clean-sung chorus that wedges its way into your brain.
“Fire at Will” is another album highlight that surfs the line between past and future. This band’s ability to layer keyboards on top of a staccato riff has few equals, and the same can be said for “Paralysis,” which has steadily become my favorite track on the album.
Howard’s tendency to wade into Chester Bennington territory in some of the choruses may not be for everyone, but it hardly takes anything away from the quality of all 10 tracks on this record. If Threat Signal is indeed back and better than ever, let’s hope they stick around this time.
https://agoniarecords.bandcamp.com/album/revelations
https://www.facebook.com/threatsignal
PIPE BOMB, HELL HOLE
Are we in hardcore’s second wave? If we aren’t, then I don’t know what to call it, because the unending barrage of solid releases in the genre are forcing a narrative here.
Pipe Bomb’s debut full-length Hell Hole hits like a brick through the window of a government building. Chock full of windmill-inducing breakdowns and monstrous double-time outbursts, the 10 tracks on this record will turn as many heads as it crushes.
For all of its reliance on the usual hardcore elements, there’s a surprising number of Refused-ish twists. “I Will Kill the Worst Parts of Myself” could almost pass as a Shape of Punk to Come B-side, while the unsettling distortion in “Hate Club” owes a debt to early Converge. That early era of what I like to call “chaos-core” was an unheralded time that produced pure insanity like Car Bomb, From a Second Story Window and even Dillinger Escape Plan, and Pipe Bomb takes its own formula and uses that blueprint for inspiration—with cathartic results.
“Straight Edge Hate” sounds like it’ll stir up plenty of divisive opinions in the scene, and that’s fine. The band appears to fall somewhere in that bygone era of Christian-core, and just like any belief system, it works better if it’s not forced on anyone else. I don’t think Pipe Bomb is here to crucify non-believers, but it’s always something about music I find myself trying to ignore more than enjoy.
https://pipebombpa.bandcamp.com/album/hell-hole
https://www.facebook.com/p/Pipe-Bomb-61556068301546/
POISON THE WELL, PEACE IN PLACE
And we’ll round things off with one more welcome comeback album.
I don’t think Poison the Well needs much of an intro here. Their first two albums had a bigger impact on 90s/2000s hardcore than most anything else did, save a few destroyed machines and firestorms that were happening north of them. That said, Peace in Place would always have standards to live up to, even if the band’s sound evolved beyond their prehistoric hardcore roots.
“Wax Mask” sets the tone here, with beefy production and the signature tortured voice of Jeff Moreira. It’s familiar territory for the band, but the structure of the songs signal that they’re moving into a new phase of their sound. Everything seems more polished, more cohesive, and tighter than before. The Tropic Rot was a good, not great record, and I thought it suffered from production that could’ve showcased the best parts of the band. That issue is thoroughly resolved on Peace in Place.
“Primal Bloom” has some of the chunkiest and most cathartic riffs the band has written in years—maybe even decades—and “Everything Hurts” isn’t afraid to lean into their more melodic side. Its gloomy first half is quickly melted away by a a vicious breakdown. The clean-sung chorus will live rent-free in your head for days.
“Bad Bodies” is the peak of the album’s second half that fuses so much of what make this band so great. It jumps around like a frog on a stove, smashing into anything in sight, and the production quality once again elevates this song to levels we haven’t heard from Poison the Well in a very long time.
https://poisonthewell.com/
https://www.facebook.com/poisonthewell
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