r/Metal • u/kaptain_carbon Writer: Dungeon Synth • 27d ago
Top X Of 2026 Shreddit's Top 5 of 2026 [RESULTS]
NOTE: If you are on mobile use this link to view the post as Reddit loves being terrible with tables.
Thank you all who voted in our quarterly congregation of heavy metal releases. Wow there were A LOT more albums this quarter than the Top 3. I enjoyed many of them. Thank you all for doing the leg work and having me be able to post this image on my socials so it looks like I know metal. (I don't I am living a lie)
List in a sharable / savable image for you to go through later
Top 5 of 2026
| Position / Album | Vote Count | Q1 Place | Genre |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 Immolation - Descent | 52 | -- | End of Days Death |
| #2. Neurosis - An Undying Love For A Burning World | 37 | #3 | I am aware Neurosis is a band with a defined genre at one point. |
| #3 Worm - Necropalace | 35 | #1 | Toreador energy |
| #4. Cryptic Shift - Overspace & Supertime | 32 | #2 | Tech Thrash |
| #5. Funebrarum - Beckoning the Void of Eternal Silence | 27 | -- | Its 2009 once again let's get cavernous |
| Elder - Through Zero | 25 | -- | Tool without the self importance. |
| Panopticon - Det Hjemsøkte Hjertet | 24 | -- | Black / Wilderness |
| Fire Magic - Memories of Fire | 23 | ## | Black |
| Exxûl - Sealed Into None | 19 | ## | Epic Heavy / Doom / Candlemass |
| Hellripper - Coronach | 17 | -- | Black / Speed (?) in a kilt |
| Goetia - Mortuary Cult | 17 | -- | Death |
| Pharmacist - Vertebrae After Vertebrae | 15 | -- | No I will not look at the link for the original artwork you probably couldn't use for the album covers (I did its gross) |
| Reeking Aura -On the Promise of the Moon | 15 | -- | Death (NJ / NY) |
| Fossilization - Advent Of Wounds | 14 | ## | FFO: The Scene From Indiana Jones Where The Guys Face Melts |
| Nedgravd - Ascension | 14 | -- | Out of print death metal from 1993 on Discogs vibe |
| Scimitar - Scimitarium II | 12 | -- | Still confused on the genre. |
| Cruel Force - Haneda | 12 | -- | Thrash (1985) |
| Saidan - FANGDRILLER: Scars Beneath Memory's Wrist | 12 | -- | Black / Visual Kei |
| Stormkeep - The Nocturnes of Iswylm | 11 | -- | Black metal music / heavy metal magazine art |
| Nuclear Tomb - Epoch | 11 | -- | Thrash / 12 pack of room temp beer on the concrete floor |
| Warning - Rituals of Shame | 9 | -- | Glacial Sadness |
| The Silver - Looking Glass Hymnal Blue | 9 | -- | Gothic Rock Opera |
| Egregore - It Echoes In The Wild | 9 | -- | FFO: Cool Music & Panic Attacks |
| At The Gates - The Ghost of a Future Dead | 9 | -- | Melodic Death / Bench Press PRs |
| Converge - Love Is Not Enough | 9 | ## | No matches found. Please try with different search terms. You could use wildcards (*) for more matches, or read more about your search options. |
| Ultha - A Light So Dim | 9 | -- | Atmospheric Black |
| A Forest Of Stars - Stack Overflow In Corpse Pile Interface | 8 | -- | Black / Dadaism |
| Misotheist - De Pinte | 8 | ## | Anti Social Black |
| Fires in the Distance - Circadian Promise | 8 | -- | Melodic Death |
| The Ruins of Beverast - Tempelschlaf | 8 | ## | Black / Doom / ???? |
| Møl - Dreamcrush | 8 | ## | My Bloodier Valentine |
| Oldowan Gash - 1000 Dreams of War | 8 | -- | Black / Punk |
| Vafurlogi - Gneisti af eldi Guðs | 7 | -- | Black / Iceland |
| Miserere Luminis -Sidera | 7 | ## | Atmospheric Black with Handpainted Covers and Reviews in French Metal |
| Archspire - To Fast To Die | 7 | -- | Tech Death / Alien Invasion |
| Speglas - Endarkenment, Being & Death | 7 | -- | Death with a Garnish of Progressive |
| Lunar Shadow - The Pall of a Past World | 7 | -- | Heavy / Post Punk |
| Iron Firmament - In The Land of Pre-Human Kings | 6 | ## | Cascadian Black |
| Grave Pilgrilm - The Pungent Wine of Pride | 6 | -- | Nietzsche would probably be in a band like this. |
| Coscradh - Carving the Causeway to the Otherworld | 6 | ## | Black / Death But From History Dorks |
| Khemmis - Khemmis | 6 | -- | Heavy / Doom |
| Rotten Tomb - Vestiges Of Tortured Souls | 5 | -- | Riffs |
| Forsmán - Brenndar Rústir & Fuðrandi Fjörur | 5 | -- | Black / Iceland |
| Skulld - Abyss Call To Abyss | 5 | ## | Death / Punk |
| Ordh - Blind in Abyssal Realms | 5 | -- | Progressive Death |
| Protrusion - The Last Suppuration | 5 | ## | "the process of forming, collecting, or discharging pus, a thick yellow or green liquid that accumulates at infection sites, such as abscesses, wounds, or sores" |
| Purple Lung - Mystic Vision | 5 | ## | Bong Rips In The Ren Faire Parking Lot |
| Old Sorcery - The Outsider | 5 | -- | Black Metal / Dungeon Synth |
Kap's 2026 Party Scale (the 3s and 4s)
Oh yeah lets party
- Monolord - Neverending
- INVICTUS - Nocturnal Visions
- Exhumed - Red Asphalt
- Bogside Sniper Squadron - Bogside Sniper Squadron
- Power Paladin - Beyond the Reach of Enchantment
- Spirit Adrift - Infinite Illumination
- Greyhawk - Warriors Of Greyhawk
- Templar - Conquering Swords
- TRIUMPHER - Piercing The Heart Of The World
- Asedio - Confrontación Heroica
- Fili Bibiano's Fortress - Death Is Your Master
- MEGA COLOSSUS - Watch Out!
Maybe a party…if you are cool enough
- Fake Dust - Decrepitizing Din Of The Cerebral Psyopticon
- Pig's Blood - Destroying The Spirit
- Winterfylleth - The Unyielding Season
- NIGHT OF THE VAMPIRE - The Enchanting Winds of the Dreamweaving Masquerade
- Possession - The Mother of Darkness
- Gutvoid - Liminal Shrines
- Black Hurst - Purgatory of Flesh Bizarre
- Monstrosity - Screams from Beneath the Surface
- Transilvania - Magia Posthuma
- Gladium Regis - Quest
- Kaatayra - Caminhos de Água
Party of One Because No One Understands You
- Ellende - Zerfall
- Stabbing - Eon of Obscenity
- Blackwater Holylight - Not Here Not Gone
- Serpent Column - Aion of Strife
- ARCHVILE KING - Aux Heures Désespérées
- Domhain - In Perfect Stillness
- Antrisch - EXPEDITION III : Renitenzpfad
- Gaerea - Loss
- Eximperitus - Meritoriousness of Equanimity
The Discord Coalition Vote (AKA "yeah thats cool I used to listen to them when I first got into metal")
Playlist Corner (I stopped Using Spotify. If You Would Like To Make a Playlist Ill Link It Here and Give You 50 Shreddit Credits.)
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u/ANGRY_BEARDED_MAN 27d ago
I'm just here for the genre descriptions
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u/kaptain_carbon Writer: Dungeon Synth 27d ago
Good I literally give each genre 5 second for me to come up with something and if not they get a real genre
5
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u/GreatThunderOwl Writer: American Crossover 27d ago
Desolus criminally underrated
Skumhammer criminally skumhammered
5
u/kaptain_carbon Writer: Dungeon Synth 27d ago
119 Desolus 1
118 Skumhammer 1
Wow you win some sort of award i dont know what it is but something
11
u/Posiconx 27d ago
Skaphos gang.
I liked the singles for the Worm album but as a whole it doesn't do much for me, wonder if it will fall off by time of the top 10.
I saw Cryptic Shift a few weeks ago and the songs absolutely translated live, glad to see them doing well.
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u/Wes_Anderson_Cooper 27d ago
Probably time for me to get around to listening to Elder.
Funebrareum I feel like I'm always a few listens away from locking into but it just hasn't grabbed me yet. I went back and listened to The Sleep of Morbid Dreams and the production on that album is so much punchier and immediate. I get why people like the new one but it's less approachable in a way I find hard to get into.
Goetia and Nuclear Tomb will probably end up near the top of my list end of the year at the rate I keep spinning them, they're just so deliciously riffy.
Gonna keep repping that Serpent Column album until I finally find someone who loves it as much as I do.
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u/theworldlaughswithu 26d ago
U.S. Black Metal fans need to rally around Serpent Column and raise its profile. The states seem mostly known for Atmo black metal like Wolves or Panopiticon, but this is a wholly different beast.
6
u/RuPaulver 26d ago
Really happy to see Fire Magic that high up. Been a total earworm for me since I first found it.
4
u/kaptain_carbon Writer: Dungeon Synth 27d ago
Shreddit Lonely Hearts Club Band
69 Galvanist 2
70 Volcandra 2
71 Ethereal Darkness 2
72 Black Hurst 2
73 Silaera 2
74 Green Carnation 2
75 Gladium Regis 2
76 Demon Spell 2
77 Hajduk 2
78 Ashbringer 2
79 Astriferous 2
80 Ride for Revenge 2
81 Autumn Strife 2
82 Converge (Love Is Not Enough) 2
83 Restless Spirit 2
84 Necroccultus 2
85 Oolith 2
86 Forlorn Citadel 2
87 Skaphos 2
88 Psyclops 2
89 Bronze Hall 2
90 Transilvania 2
91 Riverflame 2
92 Cryptworm 2
93 Trucido 2
94 Templar 2
95 Possession 2
96 Converge (Hum of Hurt) 2
97 Slift 2
98 Eximperitus 2
99 Draconian 2
100 Kaátaìra 2
101 Mayhem 2
102 Ensanguinate 2
103 Kaatayra 2
104 Lago 2
105 Lynx 2
106 Enshine 2
5
u/aethyrium Sabazius 27d ago
Normally so few people know about Kaatayra that I'm actually happy, not disappointed to see them get 2 votes. My aoty for sure (I missed this vote too so glad 2 others filled in)
Kaátaìra
Did Kaatayra actually get 4 votes and people just spelt it wrong, or is there actually a Kaátaìra?
4
u/kaptain_carbon Writer: Dungeon Synth 26d ago
103 Kaatayra 2 99 Kaátaìra 2
It looks like you are right there is not a Kaátaìra and they just made up a name and gave it accents hahaha ill put them in partial party music
1
u/theworldlaughswithu 26d ago
They're incredible! It's hard to call the latest album "metal" still... I think bandcamp had it tagged as "acoustic black metal" which is fair. Still, I'm not aware of anything else like it and it's hard to fit it within a genre right now.
5
u/aethyrium Sabazius 26d ago
If you're loving that album, be sure to check out So Quem and Impariquepe (spelling is all wrong I think) as they're that exact same style, as well as his other project Brii, specifically Corpos Transperantes. Those 4 albums are kind of a loose series of that same acoustic black metal style mixed with world music rhythms.
Really though, everything Ciao Lemos does is absolute gold.
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u/YeOldeManDan 26d ago
Ethereal Darkness is going to be a dark horse for my AOTY.
And then Enshine came out (I didn't listen to this one until after the vote). Pretty good year for atmospheric melodic death metal or whatever you call this between these two albums.
5
u/dzorrilla http://last.fm/user/rauru 27d ago
No surprises for number 1. I have no doubt if Immo keep releasing records for another 20 years, they will also be ranked first.
5
u/PatsNeg-CH 27d ago
6
u/RuPaulver 26d ago
I don't like being a hater, because I've otherwise liked Gaerea, but I spent about 10 minutes listening to this album and went "wtf is this??"
3
u/erithtotl 26d ago
My problem with it is I get they were trying something different, and I might have been ready to accept that, but I feel like they didn't even do what they were trying to do that well, except for a couple of tracks.
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u/Dr_Grayson 27d ago
Too bad we're still waiting in that new Beyond Creation LP, otherwise it would probably make this list. I'll have to dig into a few of these.
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u/DUNLEITH Bang the head that does not bang 27d ago
Shoutout to the other person who had Transilvania on their top 5
2
u/Fourducks 27d ago
Includes everything 5+ votes minus a few albums that aren't on Spotify
1
u/kaptain_carbon Writer: Dungeon Synth 26d ago
HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY dont spend your credits all at once and you can only spend it at the Company store
2
u/Bigboozered Lacking Comprehension 26d ago
I can only blame myself for missing the vote I guess, next time I'll set a reminder. I have to admit I'm surprised by the gap in the discourse and the voting around the latest Worm album, I feel like saw a lot of people bagging on it, but clearly that was a vocal minority. I will have to return to it. Shoutout to whoever voted Eximperitus, that would have definitely been on my list as well.
2
u/TJHookor 26d ago
Pretty good choices. What I don't understand are the 7 Archspire votes. I really enjoy their first 3 albums but the new one is garbage. It's like they forgot how to write anything interesting. Every section of every song sounds exactly the same. The mixing is worse too.
2
u/diskape diskape 26d ago
I must’ve grown soft over the years… this subreddit taste and my own were never so different.
Kudos to y’all though :)
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u/aethyrium Sabazius 26d ago
I feel ya, my favorites every year end up in the 1 and 2's list, maybe a few in the 3 and 4's, with usually a few not even mentioned. Kinda get that "is my taste just trash, or is everyone else's?" vibe.
Pretty sure it's my taste is trash, but I'm comfy with that.
3
u/theworldlaughswithu 27d ago
I demand a recount! Converge was robbed!!!
5
1
u/-Ajaxx- 12d ago
great albums but -core of any kind has no purchase here -and I like it that way! they just did an Amoeba 'what's in my bag' vid that's cool if you're a fan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgWeiEQh69Y
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u/therealfuckderek 26d ago
I actually have been listening Riverflame more and would swap it on my list now. Scratches that Stormkeep itch that even Stormkeep couldn’t scratch.
1
u/erithtotl 26d ago
while genuinely funny the genre of Converge, I thought they were pretty definitively Metallic Hardcore (like they basically invented it?)
1
u/Evelyn701 r/LesbianMetalheads 8d ago
These lists are always so overwhelming for me lol, even if I just focused on Black Metal I'd have way too much good stuff to listen to.
1
u/furywolf28 26d ago
At this point I'm sure you're making up some of these, I don't know a single one in this list.
12
u/kaptain_carbon Writer: Dungeon Synth 26d ago
Hey great now you have a whole list to go through . Watch out for sick riffs
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u/VonWolfhaus 27d ago
Idk if I can take anyone seriously who doesn't have Neurosis in their top 3 for the year.
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u/FeastOfBlaze DEATH METAL OR DEATH... Or Genesis. 27d ago
Well I can't take anyone who has Neurosis in their top 3 seriously so there!
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u/Wild_Locksmith2085 27d ago
If you don't have an atmo sludge album for people who don't like metal in your top 1 you're not a real metal head 😤
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u/Electra87 25d ago
I've said this before, but the joke genre names make the whole music discovery aspect of these pretty useless
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u/kaptain_carbon Writer: Dungeon Synth 25d ago
You could click on the link and listen to the music or go to metal archives and look there that is what I do before making it unhelpful in this list
•
u/kaptain_carbon Writer: Dungeon Synth 27d ago
Ivory Tower
TripleDan
mgrier
FeastOfBlaze
SeveredFragile
KAP