Month: October 2026

Metal

Archers Announce Debut Album “I Was Here, I Can Prove It.”

October 19, 2026

After more than ten years of grinding it out on the road, Madison, Wisconsin trio Archers are finally giving us their debut album. I Was Here, I Can Prove It. arrives February 26 via Fearless Records, eleven tracks shaped by everything they have lived through to get here. The band is Nathanael Pulley on vocals, Ben Koehler on guitars, and Grayson Mesarosh on bass. They started with little more than a vision and a dream in the Midwest, winning over one fan and one city at a time, and you can hear every mile of it in this record. We caught them back in 2024 when they opened for Asking Alexandria at the Fillmore, and they delivered a purely electrifying set. We cannot wait to hear this new music live and catch them at some upcoming shows. They are celebrating the announcement with the video for new single “Burning Low,” and it is straight fire. A riff fest capped off by Pulley’s soulful and emotive vocals, with crisp and punchy riffs and more hooks than [Read More]

Metal

junXion Release Third Concept Album “The Isle of Alleys”

October 19, 2026

If Pink Floyd and Porcupine Tree live in heavy rotation at your house, we have a band for you. Dutch four piece junXion makes modern epic progressive rock, big cinematic stories set in a distant future on another world, inspired by everything happening right here on Earth. The band is Martijn Hak on keys, Maarten Jung on guitar, Julian Haerkens on bass, and Roel Trommelen on drums. They bring in guest artists from all kinds of disciplines to add depth to the stories, and the music blends symphonic jazz rock, progressive metal, and musique concrète into their own junXion sound. It is the textured, layered kind of prog you feel as much as you hear. The lyrics take on culture, philosophy, politics, and science, so there is a lot to chew on. Back in July they released their third concept album, The Isle of Alleys, with an immersive audiovisual live show at Effenaar in the Netherlands to celebrate. The album dives into PTSD and mental health, following a patient’s introspective journey through a vast labyrinth [Read More]

Metal

Blind Illusion Capture Historic UC Theatre Night on New Live Album

October 19, 2026

Berkeley got a historic night in 2025, and now the rest of us get to hear it. Progressive thrash metal pioneers Blind Illusion have unleashed STAGE FLIGHT: Live At The UC Theatre, out now on Hectic Records / Bleeding Priest Records. The live album captures the band’s 2025 performance at the UC Theatre in Berkeley, a hometown show with original vocalist David White back at the mic. The night was part of the celebration around Exodus’ 40th anniversary of Bonded by Blood, with Exodus, Death Angel, and Nukem on the bill, held on Paul Baloff’s birthday. That is a thrash metal family reunion if we ever heard of one. For fans of Coroner, Watchtower, Exodus, and Heathen, this is Blind Illusion at full power. The band has been at it since 1978, led by mastermind Mark Biedermann on lead guitar and vocals, with Martin Lacour on lead guitar, Avery Thurman on bass, and Phil Cosentini on drums. The history here runs deep. Their 1988 debut The Sane Asylum is a progressive thrash classic, recorded with [Read More]

Concert Fix

This Week’s Music Junkie Concert Fix for Bay Area Oct 19–25

October 18, 2026

  Hey Music Junkies: New rhythm around here: we’re posting the Fix on Sunday nights now, covering Monday through Sunday, so you can plan your whole week in one sitting. And the list got bigger with more venues added.  Plus a tiny new corner: Beyond the Bay, with Santa Cruz and Sacramento rooms for our out-of-town junkies or those who want a short road trip to a show. That’s 51 venues, 92 shows, seven days.  Here’s everywhere we’d be if we could be in many places at once. Get out there and support live music  and go get your fix. MONDAY, OCT 19 Hovvdy (w/ Emma Ogier) — indie rock — The Chapel, SF — 8:00 PM — Tickets New Constellations — indie rock — The Independent, SF — 8:00 PM — Tickets Bebe Stockwell — indie rock — Rickshaw Stop, SF — 8:00 PM — Tickets almost monday — pop/rock — Castro Theatre, SF — 8:00 PM — Tickets heavens to betsy — indie rock — Bottom of the Hill, SF — Tickets Geese [Read More]

Metal

Abhoria Unveil “Ambition and Delusion” Ahead of Southwest Tour

October 18, 2026

Black metal with a steel guitar interlude and a silent film for a music video. Abhoria are not doing things the usual way, and their new single “Ambition and Delusion” is proof. The dystopian black metal crew just unveiled the track and its video to kick off their Southwest tour with Colorado folk doom band Velnias. It’s the first glimpse of Abhoria’s third album, due in 2027 via Black Lion Records. Watch the video here: The song pushes their signature mix of bleak black metal aggression and death metal intensity into more progressive territory, surging from mid paced dissonance into tremolo picked chaos and full blast fury. Then comes the curveball: a steel guitar interlude performed by vocalist Ben Pitts, not something you hear every day in black metal, setting up a soaring melodic solo. The lyrics dig into a wild true story, told from the perspective of James Gordon Bennett Jr., the eccentric publishing magnate famous for scandalous behavior, reckless ambition, and bankrolling a disastrous North Pole expedition. It’s about his desperate need to [Read More]

Band of the Day

Spotlight Band: Thrash/Death Metal from Massachusetts Maidenhead

October 18, 2026

We’re bringing back our spotlight series, shining a light on bands we want you to know. If you’re into thrash speed and old school death metal, today’s spotlight is just for you: Maidenhead. The Massachusetts and Rhode Island crew has been crushing it since 2013, and their sophomore full length Maximum Clonage, out since August 14, is eight tracks of relentless thrash speed welded to old school death metal precision, mixed by the legendary Randy Burns, the man behind Megadeth, Death, Nuclear Assault, Kreator, and Possessed. These guys unleashed their sophomore full length Maximum Clonage on August 14, and it’s a beast. Eight tracks of relentless thrash speed welded to old school death metal precision, mixed by the legendary Randy Burns, the man behind Megadeth, Death, Nuclear Assault, Kreator, and Possessed. That alone tells you the pedigree here. The guest list reads like a thrash fan’s wish list. Former Megadeth shredder Chris Poland drops a guest solo on “Kill Or Be Killed,” former Megadeth and King Diamond guitarist Glen Drover tears through “False Masked Hero,” [Read More]

New Music

“WYWD”: Carlita and Justine Skye Team Up Ahead of Telepathy

October 18, 2026

Some collaborations just make sense. Turkish-Italian producer, DJ and multi-instrumentalist Carlita has teamed up with R&B artist Justine Skye on “WYWD,” out now via Ninja Tune. It’s the latest single from Carlita’s sophomore album Telepathy, arriving November 6. The track brings Skye’s soulful vocals into Carlita’s club-rooted world of warm grooves and understated dance pop. Skye is fresh off her summer dance project CANDY, and her recent work has been all about the freedom and physicality of the dancefloor, which fits this record like a glove. Check out the track here:   Telepathy is an exploration of human magnetism, the invisible threads between people, memories, and places. As Carlita describes it: “Telepathy is thinking about somebody or something with no attempt at possessing that thing, only for it to come into your life anyway.” Alongside Skye, the album features SOFI TUKKER, Paige Cavell, Stevie Appleton, Malive and more. The singles have already broken through at BBC Radio 1, with “Manhattan” earning Carlita her first B List placement and “Patchwork” her first Hottest Record. Telepathy tracklist: [Read More]