Suffice to say, 2026 has been an... eventful year. Wars, AI, wildfires - there's been plenty dominating the headlines, but thankfully there's also been a whole heap of brilliant new releases to sink our teeth into.
There's still a little way to go until we hit the big end of year lists, but we've decided to look back on some of the best metal albums this year has gifted us so far. From cutting edge black metal (seriously, that genre is on a tear this year) to long-awaited comebacks from Warning, Poison The Well and Neurosis, we've looked at both the underground and the mainstream to offer up a selection of some of the finest things metal has to offer in 2026.
