New Music Friday is back with a packed October 2nd 2026 release slate, spanning Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, Extreme Metal, Doom, Punk, Progressive music, and more.
Browse the full list below, support the artists through the official links, and tell us what is hitting your speakers first in the comments!
Photo used with permission from the private collection of Michael Anthony Alago. https://www.instagram.com/michaelanthonyalago/
“Bass solo, take one.”
September 27, 1986, remains one of the darkest days in Metal history, as we remember Cliff Burton of Metallica, who died on this day 40 years ago. Perishing in the infamous bus crash near Dörarp, Sweden, Cliff’s shadow has only grown larger in the four decades since his death. Metallica continues to pay tribute to Cliff at every concert, and while the band reached heights of fame and success Cliff likely never dreamed of, the loss of their bandmate, friend, and creative force looms over them forever. As former Ghost Cult Senior Editor Metal Mark wrote in an article in 2017, “…we will never know the full greatness that he could have achieved with the band.” Meanwhile, his legacy lives on with the annual Cliff Burton Day, held in his hometown of Castro Valley, California. Metallica will soon celebrate their arguably greatest achievement with Cliff, and maybe Thrash Metal’s greatest album, Master of Puppets, with a residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas, with Life Burns Faster At The Sphere. Not only leaving a musical legacy, Cliff’s father Ray Burton created a foundation in Cliff’s name that continues donating his royalties to charity. Check out these tributes to Cliff and appreciate this once-in-a-lifetime person and talent. RIP.
Washington, D.C.’s Bad Brains – one of the most important and influential bands to emerge from the American underground music scene – today announce the November 6 release of Are You Ready: The First Studio Recording (Inner Ear – March 1979) via Trust Records. For decades, the recordings circulated unofficially among tape-trading punks – an ask-a-punk rarity known only to a relative few. Now, nearly five decades later, the session has been newly mixed by Ian MacKaye and, in cooperation with Bad Brains, will receive its first official release, available on vinyl, cassette, and digital. Listen/share “Pay to Cum” here and watch the video – with footage was filmed by Barry Masterson at CBGB’s on October 24th 1979.
A Place to Kill, the industrial metal project from Filter vocalist Richard Patrick and There Is No Us vocalist and director Jim Louvau, drops the video for the new single “Keep My Name Out of Your Mouth” from their upcoming second EP APTK2, out November 13 via No Pulse Records. Watch it now. Continue reading
Photo credit: Ross Halfin
Megadeth launches a lavishly detailed 40th anniversary briefcase box set for Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying?, limited to 1,500 copies worldwide at $500 each. The Vic Realtors red briefcase is already the most metal piece of merchandise released this year. Order now at megadeth.com. Continue reading
The Acacia Strain guitarist and vocalist Devin Shidaker launches his new doom metal solo project, Spirit Wound, with the debut single “The Light Refuses Me,” a ten-minute-plus stream-of-consciousness piece born of personal loss and grief. Stream it now on Bandcamp. Continue reading
