Hello 2026
2025 was a rough year for me on a personal level, but I would like to celebrate two of my victories here.
First, it was a banner year for the blog. I’ve had Mostly Music up and running for a decade (woooow), and in 2025, this little page garnered the most views I’ve ever had.
So, THANK YOU to everyone who has checked out or shared my posts, and to all the musicians/artists who released kick-ass music for me to share.
The second victory is on a more personal level. I started working out back in…April. I decided I just wanted to tone up a bit. My reasoning was pretty dumb: I didn’t want to disappoint this guy I was talking to, and I feared I wasn’t skinny enough for him. Whatever the cause, I found a couple of low impact, at-home workouts and dedicated myself to them (with a few lapses here and there).
Sometime in the early days, I ordered a dress. A dress voted on by my Facebook friends, and one I absolutely never would have worn out when I first purchased it. This dress became aspirational. The day I could put it on and be comfortable in front of the mirror, I’d know I reached a goal. And, well…
I’m down about 10 pounds, and I’ve lost at least a couple inches. The guy that inspired all of this is still in the picture, somewhat, but my goal now has very little to do with him, and honestly, I’m pretty fucking proud of that.
It’s the first page of a new chapter today. Let’s make this book worth reading.
Happy New Year! I hope all of you had a wonderful 2025 and that 2026 is even better ❤️
EPs Released From October to December 2025
- Adelitas Way + New Medicine – Last Laugh [10/3]
- Gasoline Invertebrate – Misery Monster [10/3]
- Wind Walkers – I Don’t Belong Here [10/3]
- nøwhere – Final Descent [10/10]
- Douglas Katula – Screwtape [10/10]
- SVNFR – Memory Fragment 87 [10/17]
- northroot – clouds. [10/24]
- Witchz – Ded Again [10/31]
- Coldwards – Bad News [10/31]
- Christopher Ardra – SaiRu [11/4]
- Motif Hive – Phase [11/5]
- Cirkus – Straight to Hell [11/7]
- THEHERO – Gemini II [11/14]
- Sons of Levin – EP II [11/14]
- Spirit of the Moon – All That is Hidden [11/28]
- Matyrker – The Obscurial EP [11/28]
- Queen Kona – Smokeless Fire [12/5]
- Hallowtide – Drown With Us [12/6]
- Patient Sixty-Seven – A Very Heavy Christmas [12/10]
- Cryblood – Take My Life [12/12]
- K.A.R.L. (Kill All Remaining Life) – God is Watching: Redux [12/12]
- Ghost of Rucker – Hikari No Yoin [12/13]
- Loose Lips – Pretty Devastating [12/19]
- Life Hoax – Slow Burn [12/26]
- L.O.U.D. – AM Broadcast [12/31]
ENMY Shares January 2026 Dates With Softspoken and Summer Hoop
Ohio metal band ENMY will be touring this January with fellow Cincinnatians Softspoken and the Florida-based Summer Hoop. This 2-week run kicks off on the 16th in Orlando, Florida. Tickets are available at enmymusic.com!
- 1/16 – Orlando, FL – Conduit
- 1/17 – Tampa, FL – The Orpheum
- 1/18 – Jacksonville, FL – The Albatross
- 1/19 – Fort Walton Beach, FL – Downtown Music Hall
- 1/20 – Atlanta, GA – 529 Bar
- 1/22 – New Orleans, LA – Gasa Gasa
- 1/23 – Dallas, TX – TX Tea Room
- 1/24 – Austin, TX – Come and Take It Live
- 1/25 – Corpus Christi, TX – House of Rock
- 1/27 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall
- 1/28 – Biloxi, MS – The Sanctuary
- 1/29 – Birmingham, AL – Workplay
- 1/30 – Nashville, TN – The End
- 1/31 – Jeffersonville, IN – Losers 812
Albums Released From October to December 2025
- Daughters of Mara – I Am Destroyer [10/3]
- Bullet to the Heart – Echoes: The Final Chapter [10/3]
- Linx – Annihilation [10/10]
- Living Dead Girl – Conspiracy [10/10]
- Batchelor – Shadow Protocol [10/14]
- Heartsick – Break the Curse [10/14]
- Julien-K – DRK|MODE [10/17]
- Dead Deceased – Chasm of Radiant Despair [10/17]
- Starver – The Silent Letter [10/17]
- The Thing With Feathers – So Electric [10/24]
- Anaria – Piercing the Veil [10/24]
- POET The Band – Night Era (Nightcore) [10/24]
- Buried Beneath Me – The House of Ash [10/24]
- Parhelyon – From Dark to Light [10/24]
- Dark Moon Spirit – Sacrificial Moon [10/31]
- Wraithlurk – Engraved [10/31]
- MethodOne – Novus Initium [10/31]
- Armchair Cynics – The Lost Tapes [11/7]
- Soulhound – The Divine Purge [11/7]
- Citizen Soldier – Family Heirlooms [11/12]
- Stellar Circuits – Phantom::Phoenix [11/14]
- Suicide Queen – Crowned in Blood [11/14]
- The Malt – Weeping Red [11/15]
- DENIGH – Sleep With No Sound [11/17]
- Falls for the Elderly – Insomnia [11/20]
- Never Enough – Aurora [11/21]
- Moonscape – Entity, Chapter III: A Sudden Glimpse of Clarity [11/21]
- The Pretty Wild – zero.point.genesis [11/21]
- Ghosts Are Here – Under [11/21]
- RedPrint – Beyond Reality [11/26]
- Sleeper Signal – Tales of the Misguided Souls [11/26]
- Jungle Dream – We Are Legion [11/28]
- Black Dog Moon – Hell and Back [11/28]
- Excide – Bastard Hymns [11/28]
- Distant Legacy – The Lighthouse’s Fate [11/28]
- Devil-M – Titanomachie [11/30]
- Michael Botte Band – Demos & Diamonds, Vol. 1 [12/5]
- the OWLiNG – You Don’t Bow You Will Learn [12/5]
- Immunosuppressed – Lilith [12/5]
- Set For Tomorrow – ARCS [12/5]
- Crispin Earl – Covers Collection, Vol. 2 [12/5]
- Stain the Canvas – Honey Rot [12/12]
- Eye of Atlantis – Eye of Atlantis [12/13]
- Severed Skies – Oblivion [12/15]
- Vagabond – Ode to Isotopia [12/17]
- Priest – Live in Hollywood [12/19]
- Dark Enchantment – Fragments of Faith [12/20]
- Matti Hoffman – Ascend [12/20]
- SouthsideFerris – Dying Light [12/23]
- The Further I Get – Life [12/25]
- Libricide – Kismet [12/26]
- Cirkus – Still Remains [12/27]
- Damnum – Obsidian Machine [12/30]
The Mostly Music 2025 Playlist, Pt. 12 (Updated 12/31/25)
The last playlist update of 2025 is here! It has been a year of bangers, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for my top 50 of 2025. For now, check out these releases from December.
- Zachary Baker: “Dark Horse”
- Hyporium: “Hit the Mute Button”
- Remergent: “Revelation”
- Wreckborn: “Sleigh Bell Pressure”
- Illusion of Solace: “Aeons”
- Seethe: “Flinch”
- Forge The Sun: “Angels We Have Heard on High” (ft. Sharp Lives)
- Storm Kingdom: “The Death of Love” (ft. MX the American)
- Purple Grace: “Turbulence”
- Ghost of Rucker: “Where Tears End”
- Glis: “Turbo Lush”
- Darlah: “Rain”
- Moonsette: “As I Stared”
- MAK: “Fever”
- sKelter pLus: “Alter” (ft. UnfortunatelyFallen)
- Luke Baird Music: “Dream”
- The Mercury Seed: “Disappear”
- Energiii: “Morrigan”
- Hortus: “Feniks”
- Shape: “Ever Beating Hearts”
- Somehow Still: “Phantom Weight”
- All Violet: “plead the fifth”
- Redefind: “Copycat”
- EPHMRL: “Into the Fracture”
- The CyberTones: “Freak Off” (ft. Johnny Tuesday)
- Future Theory: “Take Me Home”
- Polybomber: “Terminus”
- Lukas Boots: “Mirror Always Shows”
- Innocents Torn: “SkullCrusher”
- morino: “Built To Carry On”
- Dekay: “Slaughterhouse Disco”
- AM FALL: “Dystopia (So Tonight We Break Free)”
- L.O.U.D.: “Collide”
- Sweet Antidote: “Looking Back”
- Chase Nightmares: “My Best Friend Dex”
- The CyberTones: “What Epstein Files”
- vasthearts: “such a shame” (ft. romziie and Leø)
- Ethereal Treason: “Quiet as the Grave”
- AnonTheory: “Thoughts and Prayers”
- Mirrorcell: “Ichi” (ft. VCTMS)
- Hall of Lost: “Loser’s Game” (Acoustic Version)
- Fright: “The Fright Show”
- Doom Groove Orchestra: “Ain’t No Cure”
- Midnight Fracture: “Buried Underneath”
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2025 [Updated 12/31/25]
So, I missed this update in November. I was super busy with all the Thanksgiving shenanigans and starting plans for Christmas. Anyway, I completed my reading challenge! In fact, I read three extra books.
Survive the Night (Riley Sager)
Rating: 4/5
Chasing Magic (Stacia Kane)
Rating: 4/5
Frightmares (Eva V. Gibson)
Rating: 4.5/5
The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde)
Rating: 4/5
Little Fires Everywhere (Celeste Ng)
Rating: 3.5/5
Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant (Darci Hannah)
Rating: 3.5/5
Forget You Saw Her (Noelle W. Ihli)
Rating: 4/5
Trappings, Turkeys, & Thanksgiving (Tonya Kappes)
Rating: 3/5
The Engagement Party (Darby Kane)
Rating: 3/5
The Cotton Candy Massacre: The F-F-F-Final Chapter (Christopher Robertson)
Rating: 5/5
Every Single Secret (Emily Carpenter)
Rating: 4/5
The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Robert Louis Stevenson)
Rating: 4.5/5
We Are All Guilty Here (Karin Slaughter)
Rating: 4/5
***
I’ll see y’all next year!
Progress: 77/75
Live: Like a Rollin’ Thunder Tour, Canada 2026
Alt-rockers Live have announced Canadian dates for the “Like a Rollin’ Thunder Tour.” With support from Big Wreck, and special guests Econoline Crush or The Damn Truth at certain shows, this late winter run kicks off February 23rd in Abbotsford, BC. Tickets are on sale now at livetheband.com!
- 2/23 – Abbotsford, BC – Abbotsford Centre+
- 2/24 – Kelowna, BC – Prospera Place+
- 2/26 – Tsuut’ina, AB – Grey Eagle Event Centre+
- 2/27 – Edmonton, AB – Rogers Place+
- 3/1 – Saskatoon, SK – Sasktel Centre+
- 3/2 – Winnipeg, MB – Canada Life Centre+
- 3/5 – Hamilton, ON – TD Coliseum+
- 3/6 – Ottawa, ON – Canadian Tire Centre+
- 3/7 – London, ON – Canada Life Place+
- 3/9 – Oshawa, ON – Tribute Communities Centre+
- 3/10 – Laval, QC – Place Bell*
- 3/11 – Quebec City, QC – Centre Vidéotron*
- 3/13 – Moncton, NB – Avenir Centre*
- 3/14 – Halifax, NS – Scotiabank Centre*
+ with Econoline Crush
* with The Damn Truth
Psyclon Nine: God’s Not Here Tour 2026
Industrial black metal band Psyclon Nine is hitting the road in early 2026 with the “God’s Not Here Tour.” With support from Clockwork Echo and Our Frankenstein, this 20-date run will celebrate the 20th anniversary of Psyclon Nine’s second studio album, I.N.R.I.
You can get tickets at the venues’ sites and VIP on Psyclon Nine’s Bandcamp.
- 2/1 – Mesa, AZ – Nile Underground
- 2/4 – Austin, TX – Elysium
- 2/5 – Dallas, TX – Limbo Room at Ruins
- 2/7 – Lawrence, KS – Bottleneck
- 2/8 – West Chicago, IL – The WC Social Club
- 2/14 – Bradenton, FL – Oscura
- 2/17 – Richmond, VA – Fallout
- 2/18 – Greenville, SC – Radio Room
- 2/19 – Thomasville, PA – Racehorse Tavern
- 2/20 – New York, NY – Stimulate NY
- 2/21 – Cleveland, OH – The Foundry
- 2/22 – Columbus, OH – The Summit Music Hall
- 2/24 – Ferndale, MI – Orchid Theatre
- 2/25 – Cudahy, WI – X-Ray Arcade
- 2/26 – Omaha, NE – Reverb Lounge
- 2/27 – Denver, CO – Roxy Theatre
- 3/3 – Seattle, WA – El Corazon
- 3/4 – Portland, OR – Star Theater
- 3/5 – Sacramento, CA – Old Ironsides
- 3/7 – Los Angeles, CA – Bar Sinister
Shadow of Intent: Imperium Delirium North American Tour 2026
Shadow of Intent has shared North American dates for spring 2026. Angelmaker, Mental Cruelty, and Synestia will be support on this run. Tickets are available at shadowofintent.com!
- 4/23 – Denver, CO – Summit Music Hall
- 4/24 – Grand Junction, CO – Mesa Theater
- 4/26 – Seattle, WA – El Corazon
- 4/27 – Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theatre
- 4/28 – Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre
- 4/30 – Sacramento, CA – Ace of Spades
- 5/1 – Santa Ana, CA – Observatory
- 5/2 – Mesa, AZ – The Nile Theater
- 5/4 – San Antonio, TX – Vibes Event Center
- 5/5 – Lubbock, TX – The Garden
- 5/6 – Dallas, TX – The Echo Lounge & Music Hall
- 5/8 – Atlanta, GA – The Loft
- 5/9 – Charlotte, NC – The Underground
- 5/10 – Richmond, VA – The Canal Club
- 5/11 – Millvale, PA – Mr. Smalls Theatre, Funhouse, & Café
- 5/12 – Cincinnati, OH – Bogart’s
- 5/14 – Baltimore, MD – Baltimore Soundstage
- 5/15 – New York, NY – Irving Plaza
- 5/16 – Worcester, MA – Palladium
- 5/17 – Montreal, QC – Théâtre Beanfield
- 5/19 – Toronto, ON – The Opera House
- 5/20 – Detroit, MI – Saint Andrew’s Hall
Mostly Music 