Happy, heavy new year to all my fellow headbangers! Did you miss me? It’s OK, you can admit it. I missed you too. After all, my holiday “break” wasn’t much of a break at all, as I was largely sidelined with whatever death virus is currently floating around. I usually look forward to two weeks of decompressing, recalibrating myself for the new year and reacquainting myself with my vast record collection (3,000 slabs of wax and counting). This time around, I couldn’t get pen to paper, or rather fingers to keys, fast enough, eager to start 2026 proper and leave 2025 as far back in the rearview as possible.
So what do we have to kick off this listening year? How about some thrashing prog metal out of Austria? The band is Wildhunt and the album in review is their better late than never sophomore, Aletheia. It has been a full decade since they last served up a full length platter in 2016’s Descending. In the 10 years since, things have largely been quiet on the Wildhunt front. There was a 2017 single, “Made Man”, followed by an appearance on an Austrian metal split entitled Powersword in 2019. After that, radio silence until the news came out regarding this here album, which considering its January 2nd release date, is the first “must listen” release of the year for many metallists.
Despite being branded as a “thrash band” everywhere from the Metal Archives to their own Bandcamp, Wildhunt are far from JUST thrash. If anything, Aletheia is more an ’80s-styled progressive metal album that occasionally boasts thrashing moments. Even when they do reach these aggressive points (i.e. “The Holy Pale”, “Made Man”), it sounds less in line with your textbook mosh pit fuel and more akin to the sophisticated thrash of late ’80s Metallica or early Annihilator, with hints of speedy ’80s power metal reminiscent of Omen, Death or Glory era Running Wild, etc. In other words, think an unpredictable amalgamation of thrashing speed, orthodox traditionalism, and progressive maneuvers.
On paper, it’s a promising hybrid. There’s no denying this is a band of musos who can play their respective instruments with their hands tied behind their backs, and are beyond capable of writing suites (excluding the instrumental forays, each song surpasses the 6 minute mark). Unfortunately, this is a case where the ambition overshadows the memorability of the songs themselves. There’s far too much going on to label these cuts “cliche” or “one-dimensional”, but in the same breath, there isn’t that hook, riff, melody, or so forth that’s going to linger in your head for the rest of the month, let alone the rest of the year. If we’re looking at similarly natured bands, the youngbloods in Void execute this approach with far more effectiveness.
Wildhunt’s Aletheia is certainly a solid start to the listening year that is 2026, and a worthwhile affair for those who prefer their metal sounding straight out of the golden age that was the ’80s, like me. It thrashes hard enough for the thrashers, while maintaining enough humble charm to appeal to the NWOTHM purists, yet without ever sounding like blatant Maiden and/or Priest apery. Even if the songs don’t stay with you, the vibe and the effort most certainly will…at least until the next exotic trad metal affair of 2026.
6 out of 10
Label: Jawbreaker Records
Genre: Progressive Thrash Metal
For fans of: Annihilator, Metallica, Heathen