Ray Keith is releasing his first record on Metalheadz. The 12-inch "Every Day / Romulus" comes out November 9, 2026, more than thirty years after Keith helped define jungle's earliest sound.

Metalheadz confirmed the signing on its own site: "Metalheadz is honoured to welcome Ray Keith to the label," calling it "a long-awaited milestone for Ray." The release, catalog number META116, is also listed on the label's Bandcamp page with the same November 9 date and two tracks, "Every Day" and "Romulus."

Why it matters here

Jungle came out of reggae soundsystem culture: breakbeats cut with ragga vocal samples and dub-weight bass, built for the same kind of sound clashes that defined Jamaican soundsystems. Ray Keith was there when that happened. Metalheadz, the label he is now joining, comes from the same place. Goldie, who has his own page on this site, founded it in 1994 with Kemistry and Storm. Photek, also on this site, has been on the label for three decades. Keith's first-ever Metalheadz release puts him alongside both of them.

The detail

Keith started DJing around Essex and Suffolk as a teenager in the 1980s, then moved into the London acid house and rave scene. He began producing in 1990, the same year he cut a bootleg remix of Orbital's "Chime" that got an official release in 1992. He found his sound in jungle and drum and bass, recording under his own name and aliases including Renegade, Dark Soldier, and Armageddon. "Terrorist" and "Chopper," cut in the mid-1990s, are still among the genre's defining early tunes. In 1994, the same year Metalheadz started, Keith launched his own label, Dread Recordings, which has released albums including "Classified" and "Vintage Dread." He is the uncle of producer Joy Orbison.

Thirty-plus years and dozens of releases later, on his own label and others, this is his first time on Metalheadz.

Where to go next

"Every Day / Romulus" is up for pre-order now at Metalheadz's own site and on Bandcamp, both listing the same November 9 release date. Ray Keith does not have his own artist page here yet; Goldie and Photek, the two Metalheadz names closest to this story, do.

Sources

Image: Metalheadz (official release artwork)