The Riffs of the Week (30/10/2026)
Some weeks, choosing the music is the easy part. Knowing where to stop is the problem. This Friday brings two albums we’ve already been spending plenty of time with, a promising solo debut, the return of gothic rock royalty and another encounter with heavy metal’s most unmistakable voice.
From Ozzy’s final bow to a Nottingham band revealing an unexpected side of themselves, here are six tracks worth making room for this week.
Ozzy Osbourne – “Mr. Crowley” (Live at Back to the Beginning)
That keyboard introduction still opens a door few other songs can even find. This week’s release of “Mr. Crowley” from Back to the Beginning brings us back to Ozzy’s final performance, with all the history and emotion that now surrounds it. A song about the occult has become something rather more human: one last connection between a singer and the people who never stopped showing up.
The live track and video arrive as Ozzy Osbourne & Black Sabbath: Back to the Beginning reaches cinemas, with the soundtrack and home release following on 11 December. There will be plenty of grand statements about legacy. For now, turn this up and listen to the man himself.
Saxon – “Medusa”
Subtlety was probably never going to survive a Saxon song about a creature who turns people to stone. “Medusa” is the second single from Gods of Thunder, due on 22 January 2027 through Silver Lining Music, and it gives Biff Byford another suitably formidable subject to sink his voice into.
A commanding riff, mythological menace and the kind of heavy metal conviction Saxon have spent decades making their own: sometimes the appeal really is that straightforward. The gods may be gathering for January, but there’s already plenty of thunder.
Blind Channel – “Messiah”
Blind Channel release Painstream today, with the video for opening track “Messiah” providing the doorway into their latest chapter. It’s a fitting introduction to an album that tackles pain, belief and the uncomfortable business of understanding yourself, with “Messiah” exploring faith and fear through a towering, cathedral-like sound.
It also lands among Jack’s standout tracks in our album review. If you’ve been following the singles, this is where the wider picture begins to come together. If you’re arriving fresh, start here, then let the rest of Painstream follow.
Rattlesnakes – “Where the River Meets the Sea”
Rattlesnakes’ debut album Shadows in the Night is out today, and our choice is the moment that interrupts its headlong charge. “Where the River Meets the Sea” finds the Nottingham band stepping away from the speed and attack they handle so confidently, revealing a ballad with a different kind of pull.
The violin and flute give the arrangement colour and breathing space, allowing the emotion to unfold without forcing it. As Jaime highlighted in our review, it’s one of the record’s most striking surprises. For a band so comfortable putting their foot down, knowing when to ease off might be the most revealing trick of all.
Mitch Volcan – “Do It Again”
Australian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mitch Volcan steps out on his own with debut solo single “Do It Again”. Previously fronting The Hype, formerly known as 3REE, he takes this new chapter towards his rawer pop-punk roots, writing and performing the guitars, bass, drums and vocals himself.
Produced by Alex Copp and mastered by Grant Berry, the track captures that instant connection with someone new, when everything moves too quickly and sensible decisions become somebody else’s problem. An energetic, emotionally direct introduction to a solo project with one person firmly at the wheel.
The Mission – “Kindness Is a Weapon”
The Mission return with “Kindness Is a Weapon”, the first single from Songs for Kith and Kin, their first new studio album in over a decade, arriving next April. Written against the backdrop of Wayne Hussey’s open-heart surgery and recovery, this new chapter carries a sharpened awareness of what matters, alongside those unmistakable interlocking guitars and an expansive chorus.
It arrives during a significant anniversary stretch: the band headline both nights of Tomorrow’s Ghosts Festival in Whitby this weekend before four shows at London’s O2 Forum Kentish Town on 4–7 November. Forty years in, there’s something compelling about hearing The Mission look forward with this much still to say.
Six tracks, several generations and plenty to carry into the weekend. You’ll find this week’s selections on The Riff, our rolling playlist on Apple Music. Follow it, explore the latest additions and stay a little longer for the discoveries you might have missed.
Jose Crespo for The Riff Collective
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