TRACK PREMIERE: THRAKIAN Drag You Into the Abyss with “In the Grips of Illusion”

 

Six years since our last track premiere, THE SLUDGELORD returns with “In the Grips of Illusion,” the closing track from THRAKIAN’s debut record, The Way. Originally from the coast of Bulgaria and now based in Wales, THRAKIAN fuse atmospheric sludge/post-metal weight with mythic introspection.

After three years of delivering ferocious, high-impact performances across the UK metal scene, the band now present The Way, a 35-minute reflection on the human condition shaped by ancient philosophies, personal upheaval, and the turbulent process of rebuilding identity in a new land.

Recorded at Cardiff’s renowned Longwave and Woodcroft Audio Studios, and shaped with the expertise of engineer Timothy Vincent, known for work with Evile and Brutality Will Prevail, the record channels THRAKIAN’s immigrant experience through pummelling riffcraft, expansive atmosphere, and immersive post-metal soundscapes.

Drawing on Thracian mythology and themes of loss, endurance, and resilience, The Way feels both ancient and immediate, moving between widescreen atmosphere and punishing sludge-weight.
As the album’s final track, “In the Grips of Illusion” brings that journey to an imposing close: dense, brooding, cathartic, and full of mythic scale.

The Way will be released on October 16 via Aonair Records and is available to pre-order here. Listen to the exclusive premiere of “In the Grips of Illusion” below and the band had the following to say about the track

"In the Grips of Illusion draws on the myth of Orpheus’ descent into Hell and the illusion that we can alter what has already happened or control what is yet to come. We wrote this track last, just as we were about to enter the studio, and in many ways it became a summary of the whole process of creating 'The Way'."

Band info: instagram | facebook | linktr.ee

DISCOG DISSECTION: Chat Pile: From “God’s Country” to “Who Loves the Sun”

🔱 Artist: Chat Pile (USA)
⚙️ Genre: Noise rock/sludge metal
💿 Studio albums covered: 3
 
📝 This is a personal deep dive into Chat Pile’s catalogue following the release of “Who Loves the Sun”, their third full-length album, issued on 4 September 2026 through The Flenser.
 
For the purposes of this feature, I have focused exclusively on their three principal studio albums. Their collaborative album with Hayden Pedigo, “In the Earth Again”, and the “Tenkiller Motion Picture Soundtrack” have not been included in either the listening statistics or the final ranking.
 
For the uninitiated, Chat Pile are an Oklahoma-based noise rock and sludge metal band known for their abrasive sound, unsettling intensity and difficult-to-categorise approach.
 
Much like my recent experience with Warforged, I was not particularly taken with “Who Loves the Sun” on first listen. However, something encouraged me to persevere and give it another chance. I am very glad that I did because, as a result, I can honestly say that Chat Pile have become a new favourite of mine.
 
Since the release of “Who Loves the Sun”, Chat Pile have dominated my listening. I have played each of their three albums numerous times and, at one stage, thought that I had finally settled on a ranking. However, whenever I returned to another album, I found myself drawn into that record just as strongly.
 
I appreciate that placing all three albums equally may be viewed as something of a cop-out in a feature built around ranking discographies. However, their music is so consistently strong that I genuinely found it impossible to place any one album ahead of the others. Rather than forcing an order for the sake of it, I have therefore ranked all three equally. For me, the difficulty in separating them exemplifies what great and remarkably consistent songwriters they are.
 
The listening statistics provide some additional context, although there is an obvious recency bias towards “Who Loves the Sun”. Its significantly higher play count reflects how much time I have spent exploring it since its release, rather than suggesting that I consider it superior to either “Cool World” or “God’s Country”.

🎧 Chat Pile listening statistics during this deep dive
 
Total plays: 323
 
Albums covered: 3
 
“Who Loves the Sun” (2026) — 198 plays
“Cool World” (2024) — 72 plays
“God’s Country” (2022) — 53 plays
 
📈 Share of total plays
 
“Who Loves the Sun” — 61.3%
“Cool World” — 22.3%
“God’s Country” — 16.4%
 
🔥 Top track from each album
 
“Creature” from “Who Loves the Sun” — 23 plays
“Camcorder” from “Cool World” — 8 plays
“Pamela” from “God’s Country” — 7 plays
 
🏆 Most-played album: “Who Loves the Sun” — 198 plays
🔥 Most-played track: “Creature” — 23 plays
 
📊 Ranking
 
💿 =1 — “Who Loves the Sun” (2026)
💿 =1 — “Cool World” (2024)
💿 =1 — “God’s Country” (2022)
 
 
❓ Can you separate Chat Pile’s three albums?
💬 If you had to choose just one, which would take the top spot?

THE NEW FLESH INDEX: 🩸 Artists That Defined My Week #38 Sept 11th – Sep 17th, 2026

 🎧 This week felt like a genuine three-way contest. Warforged, Chat Pile and Miscreance all spent time at the front of the pack, while a healthy spread of artists, albums and tracks kept things moving throughout the week. Although total listening dipped from the Mastodon-heavy #37, the variety remained high and the listening felt far more evenly distributed.

 

 

⚔️ Weekly Breakdown

📊 541 plays (-26.4%)
🔱 14 artists (+16.7%)
💿 23 albums (-4.2%) (not full run-throughs)
🎧 150 tracks (-13.3%)
⏱ 44 hrs (-22.8%)
📈 77 plays/day (-26.7%)
🔥 Peak: Sep 16 — 127 plays (-17.0%)

 

 

🔱 Top Artists

🔱 Warforged — 160 plays
🔱 Chat Pile — 160 plays
🔱 Miscreance — 114 plays

---

💿 Top Albums

💿 Chat Pile — “Who Loves the Sun” (80 plays)
💿 Miscreance — “Convergence” (61 plays)
💿 Warforged — “The Grove Almanac” (58 plays)

---

🎧 Top Tracks

🎧 Chat Pile — Creature (11 plays)
🎧 Chat Pile — October All the Time (10 plays)
🎧 Chat Pile — Deep Blue (9 plays)

 

 

🎵 Top 30 Tracks Playlist

🎧 What's taken over your listening this week?

✅ Final verdict:

 

• Much more balanced than the Mastodon-heavy #37
• Warforged and Chat Pile finished dead level on plays
• Miscreance remained a major presence throughout the week
• Artist and album variety stayed high
• Chat Pile claimed the top album and all three top track positions
• A week driven by exploration rather than a single-artist obsession

⚔️ #38 feels like a genuinely competitive week, with Warforged, Chat Pile and Miscreance all vying for attention, but Chat Pile ultimately providing the defining soundtrack.

 

Band info: Chat Pile | Warforged | Miscreance

DISCOG DISSECTION: Miscreance, "From Convergence to Reminiscence"

🔱 Artist: Miscreance (Italy) 🇮
⚙️ Genre: Technical/progressive thrash-death metal
💿 Studio albums ranked: 2
 
📝 This is a personal deep dive into Miscreance's catalogue following the release of “Reminiscence”, their second full-length album on the 28^{th of} August 2026 via Season of Mist.

 

For the uninitiated, Miscreance occupy the space between technical thrash metal and death metal, drawing heavily from classic acts such as Death while incorporating progressive songwriting and unusual rhythmic ideas that give their music a distinctive identity.
 
The one thing I remembered from first hearing Miscreance was a drive home from Newcastle to Sheffield a few years ago. At the time, the music struck me as off-kilter and somewhat incongruent. For me, the riffing and vocals didn't quite seem to fit together naturally and, while I found it interesting, it never fully clicked. I eventually moved on and largely forgot about the band.
 
Given that experience, I was somewhat sceptical about spending time with “Reminiscence”. Thankfully, I did.  My immediate reaction was that it sounded like classic-era Death filtered through Miscreance's own technical and progressive approach. The more I listened, the more hooked I became.
 
Admittedly, I only really got into Death last years, so revisiting Miscreance's catalogue after spending more time with that style of metal made me hear the band very differently. A lot of the influences and ideas that had previously passed me by suddenly became obvious. What once sounded awkward or unusual now felt purposeful and incredibly well-crafted.  As a result, I found myself appreciating both albums far more than I expected.
 
The listening statistics below provide some additional context, although the extra time spent exploring newer releases will inevitably be reflected in the play counts. Honestly though, Miscreance are an incredible band, and “Reminiscence” is firmly in contention for one of the best metal albums of the year. I'd strongly recommend checking them out, and I enjoyed the record so much, I even bought a cd.

 

📊 Ranking

 
 
💿 2 — “Convergence” (2022)
💿 1 — “Reminiscence” (2026)

🎧 Miscreance listening stats during this deep dive (since the release of "Reminiscence":

 

• Total plays: 168
 
• “Reminiscence” (2026) — 107 plays
• “Convergence” (2022) — 61 plays
 
🔥 Top tracks:
 
• Oracle's Rift (“Reminiscence”) — 12 plays
• Alchemy (“Convergence”) — 8 plays

 

 
❓ Are you a fan of this band?
💬 How would you rank these?
👇 What's your favourite?

DISCOG DISSECTION: Warforged, From “I: Voice” to “The Grove | Almanac"

🔱 Artist: Warforged (USA)
⚙️ Genre: Progressive/blackened death metal
💿 Studio albums ranked: 3

📝 This is a personal deep dive into Warforged’s catalogue following the release of “The Grove | Almanac”, their third full-length album, issued on 14 August 2026 through The Artisan Era.

For the uninitiated, Warforged broadly inhabit the progressive and blackened death metal sphere, although their atmospheric, experimental and increasingly deathcore-influenced music is not always easy to categorise neatly.

Full disclosure: I had no prior knowledge of the band before this record or, if I did, I cannot recall hearing them. Nevertheless, I was enthusiastic about checking it out, given the quality of releases associated with the label. This includes the brilliant new record by Inferi, which I previously lauded in another article.

Admittedly, I was not particularly enamoured with “The Grove | Almanac” on first listen. I did not even make it through the entire album, quickly writing it off before moving on to the next new release. What drew me back was the positive response the record received. I began to wonder whether I had simply heard it at the wrong time or had not been in the right mood for it.

I therefore decided to give the album another chance, and I am glad that I did because it really is fantastic. That second listen prompted me to explore the rest of Warforged’s catalogue.

I would certainly recommend checking them out if you are a fan of Inferi or progressive and blackened death metal more generally, particularly music that balances technical extremity with a more atmospheric approach. However, I will leave you to be the judge.

The listening statistics provide some additional context, although the extra time spent exploring newer releases will inevitably be reflected in the play counts. Despite the final ranking order, I genuinely enjoy every album included.

 

📊 Ranking
 
💿 3 — “The Grove | Sundial” (2022)
💿 2 — “The Grove | Almanac” (2026)
💿 1 — “I: Voice” (2019)

🎧 Warforged listening stats during this deep dive (since the release of “The Grove | Almanac”):
 
• Total plays: 197
 
• “The Grove | Almanac” (2026) — 95 plays
• “The Grove | Sundial” (2022) — 52 plays
• “I: Voice” (2019) — 50 plays

 
🔥 Top tracks:

• A Bustle in Your Hedgerow (“The Grove | Almanac”) — 12 plays
• Bliss Joined to the Bane (“The Grove | Sundial”) — 6 plays
• Beneath the Forest Floor (“I: Voice”) — 6 plays

❓ Are you a fan of this band?
💬 How would you rank these?
👇 What's your favourite?

DISCOG DISSECTION: Mastodon, "From Remission to Marrow Deep"

 

🔱 Artist: Mastodon (USA)

📝 This is a personal deep dive into Mastodon's catalogue following the release of “Marrow Deep”. While I'd always known the band, I'd never spent much time with their albums and pretty much written them off. It was only after hearing “Marrow Deep” that the band's catalogue really started to click for me. Listening stats provide some additional context, but familiarity with certain albums, as well as spending more time with newer releases, may be reflected in the play counts. Despite the ranking order, I genuinely enjoy every album here.
 
 
📊 Ranking
 
💿 9 — “The Hunter” (2011)
💿 8 — “Once More 'Round the Sun” (2014)
💿 7 — “Hushed and Grim” (2021)
💿 6 — “Emperor of Sand” (2017)
💿 5 — “Leviathan” (2004)
💿 4 — “Remission” (2002)
💿 3 — “Marrow Deep” (2026)
💿 2 — “Crack the Skye” (2009)
💿 1 — “Blood Mountain” (2006)

 

🎧 Mastodon listening stats during this deep dive (since the release of “Marrow Deep”):
 
• Total plays: 508
 
• “Marrow Deep” (2026) — 111 plays
• “Blood Mountain” (2006) — 78 plays
• “Leviathan” (2004) — 69 plays
• “Remission” (2002) — 55 plays
• “Hushed and Grim” (2021) — 53 plays
• “The Hunter” (2011) — 46 plays
• “Emperor of Sand” (2017) — 44 plays
• “Crack the Skye” (2009) — 27 plays
• “Once More 'Round the Sun” (2014) — 25 plays
 
🔥 Top tracks:

• Barbarian's Blood (“Marrow Deep”) — 11 plays
• The Wolf Is Loose (“Blood Mountain”) — 8 plays
• Naked Burn (“Leviathan”) — 8 plays
• Pain with an Anchor (“Hushed and Grim”) — 6 plays
• Burning Man (“Remission”) — 5 plays
• Ancient Kingdom (“Emperor of Sand”) — 4 plays
• Crack the Skye (“Crack the Skye”) — 4 plays
• High Road (“Once More 'Round the Sun”) — 4 plays
• All the Heavy Lifting (“The Hunter”) — 4 plays
 
 
❓ Are you a fan of this band?
💬 How would you rank these?
👇 What's your favourite?

THE NEW FLESH INDEX: 🩸 Artists That Defined My Week #37 Sept 4th – Sep 10th, 2026

🎧 This week felt like a real blend of immersion and discovery. While Mastodon dominated my listening throughout the week, a handful of standout records from Fog Wall, Chat Pile and Nott kept finding their way back into my rotation. Despite fewer artists and albums than last week, my listening time increased dramatically, making this one of the busiest weeks of the year so far.

 

 🎧 Listening stats:

📊 735 plays (+55.4%)
🔱 12 artists (-20.0%)
💿 20 albums (-16.7%) (not full run-throughs)
🎧 173 tracks (+8.8%)
⏱ 57 hrs (+72.7%)
📈 105 plays/day (+54.4%)
🔥 Peak: Sep 7 — 153 plays (-14.5%)

 

 

🔱 Top Artists

🔱 Mastodon — 359 plays
🔱 Fog Wall — 101 plays
🔱 Chat Pile — 79 plays
 

---

💿 Top Albums

💿 Fog Wall — Gloomweaver (2026) (101 plays)
💿 Chat Pile — Who Loves the Sun (2026) (79 plays)
💿 Nott — As All Is Undone (2026) (74 plays)

 ---

🎧 Top Tracks

🎧 Fog Wall — Manor of Ensnarement (11 plays)
🎧 Nott — As All Is Undone (11 plays)
🎧 Nott — I Still Feel You Here (11 plays)

 

 

🎵 Top 30 Tracks Playlist

 

✅ Final verdict:
 
• This was my biggest listening week of the series so far
• Listening time surged to 57 hours
• Mastodon  dominated overall listening
• Fog Wall delivered the week's most-played album
• Artist and album counts fell, but total listening increased significantly
• A strong balance between repeat listening and new discoveries
 
⚔️ #37 was a week where Mastodon provided the backbone, while Fog Wall , Chat Pile and Nott ensured there was always something new to discover.
 

Band info: Mastodon | Fog Wall | Chat Pile | Nott