And that’s the first half of the year done with. That’s right, we’re six months in and you still haven’t done that thing you were meaning to do! For shame. But maybe what you need to motivate you is a playlist of the best gems from June! This month we’ve got a fine selection, including the return of a cult classic prog metal act, the return of another cult classic prog metal act, a revitalised melodeath staple, some jangly art rock, some uber-technical BTBAM-style heaviness, an unexpectedly inspired rock goliath, and a ninety minute split of theosophical black metal shared between four different bands! There’s something for everyone here, and possibly some things that aren’t for anyone except the reviewers who dug them. Judge our writers’ taste while you do that thing that you really should’ve done by now.

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Fires in the Distance – Circadian Promise
Recommended for fans of: Insomnium, Novembers Doom, Be’lakor, An Abstract Illusion
Picked by: Daniel

Circadian Promise marks the first Fires in the Distance record without founding vocalist Kristian Grimaldi, and the shift in lineup marks a slight difference, but never any drop in quality. Replacement Brendan Hayter settles into the role quickly, favoring a tighter, more articulate harsh delivery alongside clean singing that now anchors almost every chorus. The mix has been reworked as well, allowing the guitars to contribute to the heaviness this time around. Across its six tracks, there’s no dead weight. Small stylistic flourishes and the aforementioned clean vocals help Circadian Promise distinguish itself from its predecessors, while its riffs, synths, and big soundscapes help the atmosphere stay consistent with past releases. Circadian Promise is cold, dreary, and haunted. Fires in the Distance’s future is not.

Recommended tracks: To You, Author of My Fade; Once the Silence Takes Your Place; By This Time Tomorrow
Related links: Bandcamp | original review

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Deathspiral of Inherited Suffering, Elysian Blaze, Panegyrist, & Maerund – Sunthema
Recommended for fans of: Deathspell Omega, The Ruins of Beverast, Blut Aus Nord, Oranssi Pazuzu, Liturgy, Dissection, Batushka
Picked by: Andy

In Neoplatonic tradition, a sunthema is a token from (a) God implanted in the cosmos that acts as a mark of participation in a higher reality. Sunthema, the black metal split, is aptly titled; even the most atheist black metal fan could tell this record is divinely inspired, its musicians oracles. Exploring four occult theologies, each band on Sunthema plays a distinct style of black metal, comprising an ambitious, ninety-minute split of epic proportions. DIS keep it classic, with Dissection– and Necrophobic-inspired riffs galore, while Elysian Blaze takes to the cosmos in a display of sonic chiaroscuro with heavenly blackened funeral doom metal. Maerund fits the new school of avant-garde I, Voidhanger-core. Finally, Panegyrist wrote the two best songs of 2026—works indescribable in such a short write-up format. Any fan of black metal needs to hear this record; you just might transcend the corporeal world for its duration. 

Recommended tracks: Ascenturion, Twilight Take Our Faces, Luciferous
Related links: Bandcamp | original review

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Sans Froid – Back Into the Womb
Recommended for fans of: Bent Knee, Radiohead, Squid, King Crimson, Queens of the Stone Age
Picked by: Christopher

Ok, scroll down a little more… little more, aaaaaaand, there, the weird face isn’t staring at you any more! But don’t let the deeply off-putting album cover sway you, the music on Back Into the Womb is top tier art rock with a soupcon of British indie prog. Recalling early Bent Knee, as well as acts like Squid, Sans Froid deliver a svelte thirty-five minute record built on jagged riffing and mathy drumming with contemplative, melodic piano sections. Frontwoman Aisling Trafford has all the range of Courtney Swain as she alternately belts and beseeches over her bandmates’ wonky grooves and credentialised rock rhythms, at times gossamer soft (“Thorns”, “Sorbet”) and at others, abrasive and confrontational (“Go On”, “The Exploiter of Art”). But what really impresses is the consistent quality as the band dole out hit after hit, hook after hook. It’s one of those albums that has a song for every mood.

Recommended tracks: Pros & Constants, Sorbet, Still Thinking, Back Into the Womb, Thorns
Related links: Bandcamp | original review

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Entropist – The Vision
Recommended for fans of: Between the Buried and Me, The Contortionist, Meshuggah, Karnivool
Picked by: Noor

Denver five-piece Entropist share their love of progressive metal across their debut, The Vision, released after a decade of writing and recording. Both old and new prog fans alike will recognize the BTBAM and Meshuggah-like harshness in The Vision’s maximalist aesthetic, but Entropist’s technical creativity and lively sound keep their vision from becoming derivative. Speedy, technical riffs serrate and chug throughout the album, playing around rhythmically complex drums and dynamic basslines that ring with gorgeous productive clarity (Thanks, Jamie King!). Of course, this heaviness needs to be balanced. Bright melodies take form in acoustic duets and high-energy compositions, showing love to prog’s gentler side. The vocals in The Vision both tear and soar, alternating between deathcore screams and complex vocal choirs; regardless of the style, the vocals serve to elevate the band’s sound and fit seamlessly with the rest of the ensemble. A melting pot of progressive metal elements shine within the album, and Entropist show off their ability to write technically advanced, yet straight-up fun music in The Vision. 

Recommended tracks: Devour Us, I Hunger, The Ritual, Desert of Limbo, Creation
Related links: Bandcamp | original review

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Artificial Silence – Hollow Drift
Recommended for fans of: Haken, The Dear Hunter, Dream Theater, Ions
Picked by: Ian

What makes an album take eight whole years to complete? There are many potential answers, from mounting personal responsibilities to financial troubles to good ol’ writer’s block, but in the case of Artificial Silence, I half suspect they spent most of those eight years packing Hollow Drift with more and more stuff, and the final result is absolutely glorious. Combining the maximalist theatricality of Native Construct with the heart-on-sleeve melodies and tight vocal harmonies of Transatlantic and the neo-prog keyboard shredding of Frost*, this is a fantastically dense record, bursting at the seams with massive vocal layering, absurdly busy arrangements, and enough manic twists and turns in its compositions to leave a listener’s head spinning on first listen. It may be a bit goofy and overstuffed for some, but for sickos like yours truly, for whom the phrase “too much of a good thing” might as well be an oxymoron, Hollow Drift is a frisson-inducing dopamine rush on a level few albums this year can top.

Recommended tracks: Paradise, Tidal Lock, Hollow Drift
Related links: Bandcamp | original review

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Ok Goodnight – Stop/Go
Recommended for fans of: Bent Knee, Hayley Williams, The Dear Hunter, The Sound of Animals Fighting
Picked by: Ishmael/Vince

Ok Goodnight said “ok, hold my beer” and proceeded to drop an album so captivating, two reviewers formed a prog Voltron in order to highlight it for this Album of the Month post. The Boston four-piece arrived on-site to offload a suite of tunes so rhythmically energized, Augusto Bussio (drums) and Peter de Reyna (bass) could power an entire city grid through their instrumental prowess alone. Vocalist Casey Lee Williams underpins her bandmates’ electric, jazzy performances with a powerful, emotive, yet measured vocal attack that sees her croon, scream, and haunt the album’s instrumental negative spaces with aplomb. Not even a trite indie folk song (“Call Me Away”) or the ever-cringe carnival barker-ing of “The Show” can put a dent in what is inarguably one of the more impressive releases in a year already running hot with choice. Do not collect two-hundred dollars. Do not pass on Stop/Go.

Recommended tracks: No Sound, Top of the Bottom, Humpty Dumpty (“Some Body!”)
Related links: Bandcamp | original review

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Muse – The WOW! Signal
Recommended for fans of: Queen, Radiohead, The Protomen
Picked by: Claire

Titans of alternative rock, Muse have been around since I was still mastering the finer points of walking. And yet, somehow, I only discovered the band with the recent release of The WOW! Signal. While longtime fans dissect the latest chapter in a career spanning three decades, I’m still in the honeymoon phase, and WOW!, I really love this album. The WOW! Signal is richly endowed with Queen-like campy glam, pulsating synths evocative of Carpenter Brut, paunchy, fleshy bass and drums, and tenderly bittersweet lyrical themes inspired by band leader Matt Bellamy’s divorce. The result is an album that’s unabashedly maximalist and wears its heart on its sleeve, all with enough gravitas and panache to overflow an arena. Perhaps I’m the worst possible person to contextualize The WOW! Signal against Muse’s storied discography. What I can say is this: as a first impression, it’s irresistible.

Recommended tracks: The Dark Forest, Unravelling, Hush
Related links: original review

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Non-Subway Picks

W.M.D. – Against All Warnings (Thrash Metal)
Canada’s W.M.D. deal in balls to the wall, old-school thrash metal. Maintaining a blistering tempo with plenty of hooks and grooves, Against All Warnings is a must listen for those who were raised on the big-four of thrash and those enjoyers of modern thrash resurgence. W.M.D wield Havok-like scorching riffs as every track delivers a violent punch to the ear-holes without an ounce of filler. Against All Warnings is the best straightforward thrash metal album of 2026 so far, and it’s not even close.
Picked by: Clay

Khemmis – Khemmis (Epic Doom Metal, Heavy Metal)
Khemmis return to their world of sorcery and sword-slinging in full battleplate and ready for the next quest. Big, grooving riffs land like hammerblows to the helm, cracking open the toughest defenses to inflict maximum D6 Headbanging on target as the Colorado quartet guide us through such exotic locales as “Corpsebloom Gardens” and “Gilded Chambers”. Khemmis is a honing of the battle-tested steel through which the Colorado quartet have carved their name across metal’s Hyperborean landscape for over a decade – and hopefully, for many more decades to come.
Picked by: Vince

Fief – VII (Dungeon Synth, Neo-Medieval Folk)
I listen to a lot of dungeon synth; it helps fuel the escapism of reading high fantasy novels. Fief has done something special on his seventh album, aptly titled VII, with its enchanting,  seemingly-authentic medieval folk music. In fact, for most of the album, it’s hard to believe these are synths and not real flutes and dulcimers. Multilayered, delicate, and fantastical, this is the perfect soundtrack for any fantasy world.
Picked by: Andy