Alternative rock (also called alternative music, alt rock or simply alternative) is a genre of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s.
South Florida siblings THE HAUNT return with “Ghost”, a dark, hook-heavy second album where bruised alternative rock collides with gothic electronics, industrial noise and sharp modern-pop instincts. It is sleek on the surface, but there is something restless and emotionally frayed underneath.
Danish rockers ELECTRIC GUITARS throw the rulebook into the back seat on “What Are We Waiting For”, a record that keeps the twin-guitar fire burning while wiring the whole machine into synths, loops and a much more modern pulse. It still rocks hard, but this time the road is lit by neon instead of bar-room bulbs.
FUEL return with “Pendulum”, their seventh studio album and a sharp reminder that the band’s post-grunge engine still has plenty of fuel left in the tank. Thick guitars, bruised melodies and Aaron Scott’s powerful vocals give the record a familiar early-2000s punch without making it feel trapped there.
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE return with “Perfecth”, a record that turns imperfection into its main weapon. Sleazy grooves, crooked melodies and desert-rock swagger are still here, but everything feels a little more fractured, intimate and dangerous around the edges.
NICKELBACK are back with the amps red-lined and the arena doors kicked wide open. “Everything Under The Sun” drags the band’s biggest weapons into one record — filthy riffs, stadium hooks, bruised ballads and that unmistakable Chad Kroeger rasp built to punch through a wall of guitars.
Japanese electronicore force PASSCODE celebrate ten years of their major-label career with “RE:CODE”, rebuilding key songs from their catalogue with the sharper, heavier sound of the band as they exist today. It is less a nostalgic compilation than a full-voltage rewrite of their own history.
“Smashes and Trashes” is a sharp snapshot of SKUNK ANANSIE at their most combustible: muscular alternative rock, big emotional hooks and Skin’s unmistakable voice slicing straight through the mix. The bonus-track edition adds two acoustic versions, giving the compilation a slightly more intimate tail after all that electric tension.
San Antonio hard rockers KINGDOM COLLAPSE make their full-length Mascot Records debut with “Survivor”, due October 30, 2026. The title fits the band like a scar: these songs are built around loss, trauma, endurance and the stubborn refusal to stay down. Musically, that translates into thick modern riffs, arena-sized hooks and choruses designed to hit with both fists up.
Mexican rock outfit SERES return with “Uno”, a 12-track album that moves through alternative rock, melodic hard rock and heavier metallic shades without locking itself into a single lane. There is a restless quality to the record — atmospheric in places, riff-driven in others, with Spanish-language melodies keeping the whole thing grounded and human rather than overly polished.
Country: UK
Genre: Alternative Rock, Britpop
Year: 2026