(Our Denver-based writer Gonzo has returned to reviewing and recommending albums for us on a monthly basis, and here he recommends four of them released in October.)
As usual during this time of year, I’m immersing myself in every new album I can get my hands on while catching up on anything and everything I may have missed. I’ve grown accustomed to this dance, especially as I start (over)thinking about what goes into my vaunted best-of list for the year. (Jesus, is that really happening next month? Time isn’t real, obviously.)
Beyond that frantic exercise, at least one album always comes as an October surprise: one so damn good it fucks with the entire best-of hierarchy I’ve laid out so far. I expected it, and I’ve included it in this month’s roundup. (Spoiler, it’s first.)
Don’t sleep on the other three albums I’ve included, though.
WRAITHSTORM, REVENANT
Last week, I checked out this album from US melodeath merchants Wraithstorm, and to put it succinctly, it took exactly two songs to get me hopelessly hooked.
Reformed in 2025 as a melodeath outfit after their original venture into funeral doom, this band—composed of members also in Soulmass, Judicator, and a litany of others—has released one hell of a melodic death metal record. Its razor-sharp riffage, galloping tempos, and electrifying leads make it a top standout from 2026. And in a year that saw new albums from Insomnium, The Duskfall, Amon Amarth, and an upcoming release from Night in Gales, that’s a crowded pack from which to excel.
The ferocious songwriting in “Cataclysm System” and “Uniformity” is an obvious nod to Gothenburg overlords, with guitarist Alicia Cordisco giving a bravura performance in axe-wielding. Vocalist Lux Edwards boasts one hell of a larynx-shredding roar that layers expertly atop Cordisco’s leads, with “Absolution Denied” being a prime example. “Set Ablaze” is another masterful track that bears some delicious similarities to Before the Dawn’s best work. And while it’s probably not intentional, closing track “The Amen Corner” features an opening riff that could’ve been scooped from Blackwater Park. And I do mean that as a compliment.
I’m not sure how a band that plays melodeath this well could’ve ever found its origins in funeral doom, but none of that matters now. Revenant is an essential listen no matter where your tastes fall on the metal spectrum.
https://wraithstorm.bandcamp.com/album/revenant
PEACEPIPE, EMERALD FLOOD
Stoner metal had a generally great year in 2026. Every time I look back at one of my monthly roundups, it seems like I uncovered at least one gem in my favorite subgenre, and the smoky bong wizards in California’s Peacepipe are the latest entry.
The formula on Emerald Flood is familiar enough. Fans of Toke and Weedeater are undoubtedly going to find a lot to love here, starting with the eponymous title track. Head-nodding riffs colliding with loose, freewheeling song structures make the music go down like a hit from the smoothest gravity bong in creation. “Kids on Drugs” exemplifies this, as does “Me & Mary Jane.” And yes, the lyrical themes are equally on-the-nose.
This isn’t just smoke-sesh music, though. The catchy chorus of “High Ride” practically screams to be shouted out of a very fast car with no top, and the infectious stomp of “D.E.A.” might even coax the potheads to start up a pit in a sticky-floored venue.
https://peacepipe.bandcamp.com/album/emerald-flood
SARCATOR, THE ONES WE FOLLOW
I had to do a double-take when I searched through our archives, because apparently we haven’t given any well-deserved coverage to this Swedish blackened thrash unit and their solid new album The Ones We Follow.
Sarcator injects a heavy dose of black leather jacket rock & roll into their thrashy sound. They’re fine wearing their influences on their sleeves without sounding like an Aura Noir tribute band. But you’d be forgiven for making pretty distinct comparisons in vocal styles between the two bands; Mateo Tervonen’s hoarse bark bears quite the resemblance to Apollyon’s. That’s by no means an insult, though, because Tervonen’s motley crew of riff slingers has put together 10 consistently great songs for their latest release.
I first heard the single “Ain’t Fit to Live” a month or two back, and while it’s a pretty good representation of what you’ll hear throughout The Ones We Follow, the album has several moments that eclipse it. “Wasteland Strider” was my favorite discovery pretty quickly, boasting a spine-tingling intro before bursting into an ’80s-flavored hard rock anthem. “The Underground Streets” is one of the record’s catchiest five minutes and reminds me of some of Tribulation’s best work, while closing number “Wanderlust” nails the coffin shut on the most sonically satisfying of notes.
DARKEST HOUR, SUFFER DIVINE
DC’s Darkest Hour have been paving the way for a host of imitators since the mid-’90s. And while I haven’t really followed a lot of their work that came after 2007’s brilliant Deliver Us, their newest album Suffer Divine makes me feel like I should.
With dual-ax harmonies, soaring leads, vicious riffs, and John Henry’s telltale snarl, the elements that make up Suffer Divine are the same ones that made Deliver Us the seminal record it was. The band’s sound has always had one foot planted in melodeath and the other somewhere closer to east-coast hardcore. The devastating opening of “Warrior” features some of the most impressive fretwork I’ve heard from the band, while the same blueprint makes “No Conquered Hearts” a standout track on the album. The slight vocal style switch in “Salvation” treads dangerously close to falling into nu-metal reprisal territory, but it’s a small complaint in the long run.
The best moments in Suffer Divine surge in its second half: “Vile Angel” is urgent and anthemic, the moody “The Unforgiving Hand” slows the pace and shows some real songwriting growth, and “Everyday Horrors” has riffs that oddly remind me of Testament at their pit-inducing best. If Darkest Hour wanted to follow that blueprint a little more in the albums to come, I think they’d strike gold.
https://officialdarkesthour.bandcamp.com/album/suffer-divine
If you like what you’ve heard, be sure to follow my best-of-2026 playlist, updated regularly:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7zWqE685GVpuB5M3qRDvog?si=b125edcda17d45cc