Happy New Year everyone! A new year means new music, and although most artists are gearing up to release their new material towards the latter part of the month, we've got a few who have decided to kick off the new year on the right foot and drop their albums this week. Dropkick Murphys return with 11 Short Stories of Pain & Glory, while Chasing Safety offer up their sophomore effort, NOMAD. Gone is Gone makes their full-length debut with ECHOLOCATION, and the UK's Sandara Karma also drop their debut LP, Youth is Only Ever Fun in Retrospect. And while this week's New Music Friday is chock full of the heavy rock, we're also going to delve into famed composer Hans Zimmer's new album, The Classics.

Read more about the week's picks for new music below. 

'11 Short Stories of Pain & Glory' - Dropkick Murphys

For the last 20 years, Dropkick Murphys have been bringing their punk and Irish heritages to the stage and literally blow everyone away with their high energy anthemic sounds. And while some may feel that the new record, 11 Stories of Pain & Glory, is another heavy punk record, this one is something that shows a bit more of who the Dropkick Murphys are as people not just musicians. For Bostonians, the band hasn't only been rocking their socks off, but they also see all the good that they've been doing for the local community and charities. And much of it is reflected on 11 Stories of Pain & Glory. Sure, their music can sound aggressive, but peel through the sonic part, and the lyrics will tell you a different story.

"4-15-13" was written to pay homage to the victims of the Boston Marathon Bombing. And considering they knew a number of people who were affected by the tragedy, it's a personal one for the band. Their cover of "You'll Never Walk Alone," from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Carousel, transforms the operatic song into a song shedding light on the opiate epidemic in the US. Not the punk album that some of you may be used to, but it's one that will definitely make you think.