![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Kreator_Krushers-of-the-World-01-500x500.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAnd we\u2019re off to a typically sloth-like start to 2026, with the Record(s) o\u2019 the Month posts already well in arrears. We have no excuses beyond institutional malaise, dysfunction, and slackwagoning. We will endeavor to be better, but there are no guarantees in life or blogging. Let\u2019s get the ball rolling and jump into January before it becomes a distant memory, shall we?<\/p>\n
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Of the Big Three of Germanic thrash, Kreator had the weirdest evolution and the most consistently good output. While 2022\u2019s Hate \u00dcber Alles was a minor letdown, these unkillable krauts roared back in a major way with Krushers of the World<\/a> [out January 16th, 2026, from Nuclear Blast Records, buy it on Bandcamp<\/a>!]. Taking all the things they\u2019ve done well over the decades, Kreator spiced the brew with Gothic, traditional, and power metal elements to land on a sound that is at once olde and new. The thrash feels potent and heavy, and the Gothic vibes from Endorama work well, giving the album a dark mood. What really excels is the songwriting. Krushers is full of face-melting metal anthems with bite and force aplenty, and Millie and crew sound young and mean. I\u2019ve loved these guys since I was a dumb teen, and Krushers reminds me exactly why while beating my ass into assdust. As I summed up in my review (in which I may have underrated the album), \u201cThe Kreator sound is still there after all these years, even if it gets gussied up with lighter moments occasionally.\u201d<\/p>\n Runner(s) Up:<\/p>\n \n\tGive in to Your Anger:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"And we\u2019re off to a typically sloth-like start to 2026, with the Record(s) o\u2019 the Month posts already…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":542416,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[10968,64,63,134,268776,228604,41344,268777,136,228606,59723,36186],"class_list":["post-542415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-10968","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-hallas","tag-invictus","tag-kreator","tag-krushers-of-the-world","tag-music","tag-nocturnal-visions","tag-panorama","tag-records-o-the-month"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542415\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/542416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Hallas-Panorama-01-350x350.jpg\")
H\u00e4llas \/\/ Panorama<\/a> [January 30th, 2026 | \u00c4ventyr Records | Bandcamp<\/a>] \u2014 Sweden\u2019s retro psychedelic prog rockers H\u00e4llas returned to the fray with Panorama, and fans of older sounds and slick musicianship took notice. If you hunger for Uriah Heap channeled through the NWoBHM, H\u00e4llas have the goods for you, and across Panorama, they unleash a torrent of old-timey, richly textured prog-rocking goodness. Slick guitar noodling bounces off keyboard excesses, and it\u2019s all wrapped up in a rich, 70-centric production that sounds like a portal to the past. Panorama is a larger-than-life tapestry for a talented band\u2019s ambition, and as Creeping Ivy gushed, \u201cIt\u2019s only January, but these Swedes may have already dropped the neo-proto-metal album of 2026 (and a list-topping contender for yours truly).\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Invictus_NocturnalVisions_01-350x350.jpg\")
Invictus \/\/ Nocturnal Vision<\/a>s [January 26th, 2026 | Me Saco Un Ojo Records | Bandcamp<\/a>] \u2014 Blending various shades of old school death metal brutality with a slightly modern sheen, Invictus set out to maul you from the first notes of Nocturnal Visions until the last. They aren\u2019t doing anything new in the classic sense, just blending genre tropes in such a way as to sound fresh and vicious. Riffs satisfy the hunger for abrasive abuse, and hellish, subterranean vocals gurgle and croak in ghastly ways. The writing is slick and delivers the good, and all is as it should be on a killer slab of death metal. A much impressed Kenstrosity was heard to exclaim, \u201cNocturnal Visions is, simply put, a staggering monument to old-school death molded for the modern era.\u201d Get yourself InvictedER.<\/p>\n