A Festival Named Turbulence, a Band Named Turbulence, and Why Thrash Refuses to Die in 2026

Sometimes the metal news cycle hands you a coincidence too good to ignore. Buried in the announcement that DEFENCES have teamed up with SKINDRED frontman Benji Webbe for the protest anthem "More Of Us (Than There Are Of Them)" was a rundown of the UK alt-metal outfit's festival résumé — Download, Takedown, Turbulence, and Burn It Down. That third name jumped off the page for anyone tracking the South American metal scene, because Chile has its own Turbulence, and this one isn't a festival — it's a death/thrash unit that's been grinding through the underground with the kind of riff-first, no-frills aggression that's kept Chilean metal internationally respected for decades.

There's no direct connection between the UK festival circuit and the Chilean band Turbulence — we won't pretend otherwise. But the coincidence is a useful excuse to talk about what actually matters here: South America's death and thrash underground keeps producing bands that deserve the same festival-circuit recognition DEFENCES is currently enjoying overseas. If you're building a mental list of new metal bands in 2026 worth following, Chilean death/thrash acts belong on it, and Turbulence's back catalog is a solid entry point for anyone who wants riffs delivered without ceremony.

Forbidden Returns and the Thrash Metal Lineage Runs Deep

Speaking of thrash with no patience for filler — Bay Area pioneers FORBIDDEN dropped "Burning The Lungs Of Earth," the latest single from their upcoming self-titled album, due October 23 via BLKIIBLK. This is a band's first new full-length since 2010's "Omega Wave," tracked at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, and for anyone who came up on the Bay Area thrash wave alongside Exodus, Testament, and Death Angel, it's a genuine event. Forbidden helped write the rulebook that so much of South America's thrash underground still studies religiously.

That lineage runs straight through the region. Brazil's Tábano and Postmortem, Chile's Wicked Aggression, and countless others didn't just absorb the sound of records like Forbidden's "Twisted Into Form" — they built entire scenes around that template of technical precision married to street-level aggression. When a genre pioneer resurfaces after a fifteen-year album gap, it's a reminder that thrash's founding generation is still setting the pace, and that the region's own thrash lifers — many of whom have been at it just as long, without the label budgets — deserve the same attention. If you're compiling a list of the best metal albums of all time by genre, Bay Area thrash's influence on South American metal is not a footnote; it's foundational.

King Diamond, Andy La Rocque, and What Lineup Changes Really Mean

KING DIAMOND confirmed in a new Metal Injection interview that his split from longtime guitarist Andy La Rocque — a partnership stretching back to MERCYFUL FATE and decades of King Diamond solo records — had been "coming for a while." Greek shredder Gus G, of FIREWIND and ex-Ozzy Osbourne fame, steps into the role. It's the kind of transition that sends shockwaves through any genre built on tightly-knit creative partnerships, and heavy metal and black metal fans alike are parsing what it means for a band whose sound has been inseparable from La Rocque's guitar work for over 35 years.

South America knows this dynamic intimately. The region's black metal scene — one of the most prolific and under-covered corners of the global underground — has always been shaped by exactly these kinds of long-term creative bonds and their occasional ruptures. Brazil's Amen Corner and the legendary Power from Hell both carry that same weight of history — bands where a single lineup shift changes the entire creative direction. Chile's Tribulation operates in that same black/thrash space where chemistry between a handful of musicians defines the sound entirely. When a band like King Diamond's reshuffles after decades, it's worth remembering how many South American cult acts have quietly weathered the same kind of upheaval without ever making international headlines.

Arch Enemy's New Era Gets a Warm Reception

On the death metal side, ARCH ENEMY drummer Daniel Erlandsson used a Summer Breeze interview to address how fans have responded to new vocalist Lauren Hart, who replaced Alissa White-Gluz late last year. Erlandsson didn't hedge:

"From the first show, the fans really embraced her and liked her."

That's a significant vote of confidence for a band whose vocalist chair carries enormous expectations — Angela Gossow to White-Gluz to Hart is a lineage every melodic death metal fan tracks closely. It's also a good moment to point at South America's own death metal engine room, which rarely gets this kind of international spotlight despite being enormous by sheer numbers. Acts like Coldblood and the veteran Brazilian black/death outfit Mystifier have spent years proving that vocalist transitions and lineup evolution don't have to break a band's identity — they can sharpen it, the same way Arch Enemy's camp is framing Hart's arrival.

Experimental Extremity: Lustmord Lombardo's Second Transmission

Not every headline this week lives in traditional song structure. LUSTMORD LOMBARDO — the pairing of ambient legend Lustmord and former SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo — released "The Desolate Shore Part I: Submergence," the second single from their upcoming album "The Pulse Of Atoms." It's a reminder that some of extreme metal's most respected percussionists are still restlessly pushing outside genre lines decades into their careers, blending dark ambient textures with Lombardo's unmistakable rhythmic attack.

That same restlessness defines South America's doom and sludge underground, where atmosphere and heaviness are treated as equally important tools. Bands working in that slower, more textural register — from Qerbero's doom/sludge approach to Insanitears' doom explorations — are proof that the region's scene isn't purely about speed and aggression. There's a whole current of South American metal dedicated to slow-burn dread, and it deserves the same curiosity international listeners are showing Lustmord and Lombardo's collaboration.

Remembering Jennifer Finch, and L7's Farewell

Grunge-adjacent metal legends L7 announced the return of bassist Janis Tanaka following the recent death of founding member Jennifer Finch. The band will embark on "The Last Hurrah Tour 2026" starting next month — a farewell run shaped by loss but committed to honoring Finch's legacy on the road one final time. It's a heavy reminder that even among 90s alt-metal royalty, the touring circuit keeps moving forward even through grief, and that legacy bands closing out their stories properly matters to fans everywhere, South America included, where L7's influence on the region's riot-adjacent and alternative metal scenes runs deeper than casual observers might assume.

The Bigger Picture: Metal Bands Touring 2026 and Beyond

Between Forbidden's comeback record, King Diamond's lineup reshuffle, Arch Enemy's confident new chapter, and L7's farewell trek, the throughline across this week's headlines is continuity under pressure — legacy acts figuring out how to keep their identity intact through change. That's a story South American bands have been quietly writing for decades without the same media apparatus behind them. Whether it's Chilean death/thrash veterans like Turbulence, Brazilian black metal institutions like Amen Corner and Power from Hell, or the dozens of death, doom, and heavy metal bands populating this index without a single blog post to their name yet, the region's underground is still writing its own version of these stories in real time.

If your band has a release, a tour date, or a lineup change worth documenting, don't wait for the international outlets to notice first — submit your band and get it on record. And if you want to see who's actually playing near you this year, the upcoming shows listings are the place to start planning your next night of riffs.