Our cores may have rotted into compost over the summer, but we’ve been churned into the earth and emerged with a collection of releases to share that have given us life this year. I tasked a few of our writers with narrowing down a top 10 for 2026 within a specific sub-genre I knew they’re into, highlighting specifically their number 1 thus far with a brief write-up. Through this we have a hefty list of forty LPs/EPs, highlighting the best of metalcore/mathcore, screamo/post-hardcore, grindcore, and noise rock that this year has served up so far. So, let’s get to it, and we hope you find some new filth to bask in. -TB
PK Shares Their Top 10 Metalcore/Mathcore Releases So Far This Year
Converge - Hum of Hurt / Love Is Not Enough
I've put the Converge surprise double release of Hum of Hurt and Love Is Not Enough together on this list at number 1...but really that is a bit of a cheat on my part. Hum of Hurt is by far the more emotive, ambitious offering of the two, sitting nicely alongside previous full lengths The Dusk In Us and All We Love We Leave Behind. Standout tracks such as "Detonator" and "Doom in Bloom" are Converge at their brooding, progressive best (and I love that we get to hear Nate's vocals, as a new Doomriders record looks unlikely any time soon). Don't get me wrong, Love Is Not Enough has some killer moments (the title track and "Bad Faith" being two he of them), and it's immensely enjoyable, but overall feels like a slightly one dimensional version of Converge instead of the more complex and multilayered band they've matured into over the last fifteen years. All that being said, we got TWO new Converge albums this year and that makes me very happy indeed.
Chamber - this is goodbye
Merit - Sweetness Fades
Crowquill - Erase The Files
Kicked in the Head by a Horse - BLOOM/DECAY
.Gif From God - Dissimulation
A Knife in the Dark - Songs Without Witness
The Absolute Worst or The Absolute Worst - calculus
Zao - Pillars
Temple Guard - Citadel In Flames
Crouch - Breaking the Catatonic State
This album ended up falling between the cracks on our ‘Best so far’ coverage as it didn't fit into any of our designated genres (we might need to add a ‘Sludge’ list for 2027). It would've been sacrilege to leave it out completely, especially as it's one of my favourite releases of the year so far.
It has been well documented that Crouch features members of Oathbreaker and Wiegedood, but it's clear that one of the main influences pulsing through Breaking the Catatonic State is the criminally underrated Knut. Oh how I love Knut. 2002's Challenger is damn near a perfect album in my eyes. This Belgian trio clearly also worship at the altar of the Swiss sludgecore titans, as they effortlessly mix filthy downtuned riffage with slick technicality and clever use of samples. You'll hear some other tips of the cap from 2000's hardcore royalty, such as Coalesce, Converge and Botch in here too. All of these influences have something in common; a resolute anger. That is what fuels everything on this debut full length and the band finds new ways to implement their venom across its ten chapters. I implore you to listen to the whole album from start to finish, but there are a few tracks that stand out. “Vidal” showcases just how musically tight these guys are with a series of complex staccato compositions. “Twisted Colossus” is an absolute monster and does exactly what it says on the tin, but then throws in a wonderful detour that takes the track into unexpected jazz territory. The longest and slowest track on the record crushes everything in its path, and no, I don't think it's a coincidence that this track is titled “Geneva”.
The Knut worship may have had me hooked from the start, but the sheer quality of this debut album is difficult to dispute, even for those who don't normally like sludgy hardcore. Without a doubt one of the highlights of 2026 so far.
JD shares their Top 10 Noise Rock Releases So Far This Year
Doppler - Pourquoi ce disque ?
In terms of sonic scope, compositional prowess, and progressive approaches, few noise rock releases this year have stood up to Pourquoi ce disque ? by Doppler. It’s true that Mandy, Indiana’s newest is one of the most sonically innovative and unsettling noise rock albums I’ve heard in a while, and, if I’m being honest, Zu’s take on noise rock is actually complex hard prog with a healthy dose of dissonance. But I still can’t get over Doppler’s brilliant, labyrinthine songwriting. “Incipit Expicit” is an early example on their 2026 release, as the song transitions from swinging, odd-metered noise rock to post-punk reggae. The song then swerves into a lengthy, driving climax that gradually builds in tension before exploding into unbridled fury. Aside from the meticulously composed songs, the album has an emotional depth beyond the visceral anger prevalent on most noise rock albums. There is an air of Queens of the Stone Age-like playfulness during the closing solo in “Of Pieces of Break.” That track is juxtaposed against the subsequent ruminative restraint of instrumental “Piano Cassé,” which features a nearly meditative percussionless interplay between the guitar and bass for half of the song’s running time. These sonic and emotional explorations illustrate a musical ambition that makes Pourquoi ce disque ? one of the most engaging listens of the year, and not just within the noise rock genre.
Mandy, Indiana - URGH
Hammok - When Does This Place Become Our Scene
Bitter Branches - Let’s Give The Land Back To The Animals
Zu - Ferrum Sidereum
Truck Violence - The weathervane is my body
Bags Bags Bags - It Eats Me Up
APE AMP - APE AMP
The Freqs - No God on the Gold Coast
Parts & Labor - Set of All Sets
TB Shares their Top 10 Screamo Releases So Far This Year
Ostraca - Thread
I'm not sure if it says more about this album or this year, but for the first time covering this genre there is an obvious number one album. Thread is another powerful release from one of the brightest names in the genre, showcasing a raw fury of violence and passion that coalesces into something beautiful in a way that is nearly unparalleled right now.
Ostraca are a dynamic band, building off the strengths of bands like envy and city of caterpillar before them. However, while there's a similar sense of atmospheric tension-stretching, they double down on the heaviness. In their songwriting this often comes across as a “calm before the storm” of sorts, such as the eerily beautiful acoustic passages in “Song for November”, before exploding into distorted, earth-churning evolutions of those same riffs. They're effective at making these dense walls of heaviness feel earned, with thoughtful bridges which seamlessly carry their passion throughout each song. It’s refreshing when this doesn’t just feel reserved for when they're pushed to the brink. And it’s not just the vocals or the minor ambient riffing, but the way their songwriting brings it all together. If you’re looking for a gut punch of grief and emotional catharsis, it’s hard to find a better band to listen to right now. While generally lumped into the screamo realm, it’s difficult to define them due to their heavy post-metal influence. Not to mention they’re one of few bands in the scene to incorporate lower guttural vocals into their sound. If you’re more into the punk and emo side of the genre this might not be as much of your thing, but it’s hard to deny the transcendental impact of their emotional delivery.
Listening to this album on a lengthy solo drive across northern Ontario, I found myself lost in a sort of cinematic nostalgic yearning. Like someone looking through a photo album in a dimly lit room, feeling a thread in your heart slowly start to pull. Somewhere between an existential depression and a pensive contemplation which builds into a fervorous fury. I had the pleasure of seeing Ostraca recently at New Friends Fest in Toronto and was happy to see that these emotions were equally conveyed in their live performance. It seemed to permeate through to the audience both in the softer moments, allowing the crowd to just sink in that weight, ready to erupt into chaos and emotive scream-alongs. An all-around frenzied, engaging and cathartic experience that reflects the essence of their music.
Eyelet - Solenoid
Cassus - Scalis Felden
Chalk Hands - The Line That Shapes the Coast of Us
The Saddest Landscape - Alone with Heaven
Knumears - Directions
Quiet Fear - La tierra arriba / El abismo abajo
House of the Blood Choir - Mom’s Anxiety
Snag - All the Cages Holding Us Will One Day Turn to Dust
Gros Enfant Mort - Le Sang Des Pierres
As Living Arrows - Fragment I
JD shares their Top 10 Grindcore Releases So Far This Year (Including Powerviolence, Deathgrind, Mathgrind, Noisegrind, Goregrind, Cybergrind, and Fake Grind)
Eastwood - Alle Gegen Alle
In my view, grindcore perfection is often a matter of striking a balance. Too often, grind bands of various stripes end up at one extreme or the other regarding compositions, performances, and production quality. Some overcomplicate songs with endless noodling, whereas others often keep it caveman simple. Some employ an overly clinical approach to production in which the perfectly quantized performances sound lifeless. Some have subpar production values with sloppy performances. In a genre predicated on extremes, this shouldn’t be too surprising; but, in my humble opinion, the sweet spot is when bands strike a balance between those extremes. Eastwood’s Alle Gegen Alle is the best example of this so far this year. The German quartet’s second full-length is full of tightly performed, technically impressive blasts of grindcore coupled with a crystal-clear mix in which the humanness of the performances shines through. The compositions are dense without being overwrought. They rapidly cycle through changes that barely allow the listener to keep their footing, such as the blast-and-mosh tradeoff at the end of “Im Namen des Gehetztes”. But the compositions contain more than enough meat for the listener to chew on, especially as slower tempos and melodic elements peak through from time to time and add some variety, such as in “Alle Gegen Alle” and “Dampfgegart,” respectively. However, the majority of the 11-minute album is, on the whole, visceral and unforgiving. Oh, and did I mention that there is an Assück cover?
Sex Prisoner - Sex Prisoner - Cautionary Tale
No/Más - No Peace
Trucido - Epiphanic Delusions of a Spiritual Warfare
MERC - No One Leaves This Room
Meltification - Meltification
Fake Dust - Decrepitizing Din of the Cerebral Psyopticon
Gadget - Coerced
World I Hate - Total Nuclear Annihilation
PISSCORPSE - PRECIPICE OF DEATH