Written By Kevin McSweeney
Welcome to Seven Deadly Songs, Metal Lair’s weekly feature where we bring you news of some of the best new releases in the world of rock and metal, and highlight the songs that have us in a tizzy over their imminent arrival.
It’s highly confusing at times, what with new albums this week from both Serpent and Serpent Lord, for example, but always worth the effort.
As always, our focus is on the artists who don’t yet have the level of exposure their talents deserve, but first, a word or two about the legends!
They don’t come much more legendary than ex-Dokken man George Lynch and his Lynch Mob. They bring their illustrious career to a close with the live album The Final Ride, which will be released on May 29th via Frontiers Records.
Iron Maiden’s favourite touring partners Shinedown return with their eighth studio album, cunningly titled EI8HT, on Atlantic, which is also released on the 29th.
The UK’s most legendary black metal veterans Hecate Enthroned return with The Corpse of a Titan, a Lament Long Buried, courtesy of M-Theory Audio, once again on the 29th.
Their venerable career has almost been as long as that title. Perhaps most significantly of all, we have the return of Devin Townsend. The multifaceted Canadian maverick’s previous album Power Nerd was one of Metal Lair’s albums of the year in 2024.
If The Moth, which is to be released via Inside Out Music, yet again on the 29th, is half as good, it’ll be well worth your time. Anyway, on with the list!
Seven Deadly Songs: Eternal Evil – Forever Feared
I like the way both the title and the band’s name are alliterative. It’s the small touches!
Anyway, our opening entry’s sound is billed as a blend of thrash and black metal, but I’m hearing some melodic traditional metal in this track from the Stockholm-based band, and maybe even a dash of gothic rock for good measure.
The song is the title track from their third full-length album, which is due to be released on May 29th, courtesy of Listenable Records.
Courtesy also of that label this week is First Spell, the debut album from Poland’s Leatherwitch, which is due to be released on the same day, and is equally deserving of your attention. As for more Swedish metal magnificence…
Seven Deadly Songs: Furnace – Refracted City Lights
We have returning Seven Deadly Songs alumni now in the form of Sweden’s Furnace, who wowed me so much with their classic rock-tinged death metal, I saw fit to include A Blessing and a Curse from their previous album Eternally Enthroned in this very column on May 30th last year!
They’re nothing if not a prolific bunch, so here they are with this offering from their seventh full-length album, Echoes of a Distant Future, which is due to be released independently on May 29th, a year later almost to the day.
Seven albums is some going for a band who released their debut album, Black Stone Church, in 2020. Well, you’ve got to reward that level of hard work and productivity, haven’t you?
Seven Deadly Songs: Godthrymm – Jewels
The bleak and desolate moors of Yorkshire, in the north of England, have always been particularly fertile ground for doom metal.
They gave rise to the gloomy sounds of the likes of My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost in previous generations. Now, Halifax gloom merchants Godthrymm are following in that fine tradition with their epic take on that most sombre of subgenres.
This precious little nugget of a track, led by the haunting, ethereal vocals of Catherine Glencross, has been cut from their third full-length album Projections.
It is due to be unearthed by Profound Lore Records on May 29th. There was me thinking they only mined for coal in Yorkshire, but as it transpires, they’re digging up some precious metal also.
Seven Deadly Songs: Ironwill – Gravity
You can’t go wrong with a band with “Iron” in its name: Iron Maiden, Iron Butterfly, Iron Monkey, Ironrat, Iron Savior, Irn Bru… Actually, the last one is a Scottish fizzy drink, or soda/pop, as the editor would put it. (Check out their adverts on YouTube. They’re absolutely hilarious! Sorry, their commercials, as the editor would put it.)
Speaking of YouTube, the band’s channel describes them as an “Italian heavy metal rock project,” They sound like a symphonic metal band with industrial elements to my admittedly deeply flawed ears.
The symphonic allusion is due in part to the powerful vocals of Sherrie Anne Grieve. Their third full-length album, Reforged Within, is available from May 29th, courtesy of Art Gates Records. It’s music made in Turin from girders.
Seven Deadly Songs: Masquerage – Waves
I’ll level with you. There’s a lot of good music coming out of Finland this week. In fact, I could have filled the list with Finnish artists, many of whom, like Masquerage, are signed to Inverse Records.
I’ve gone with this melodic bit of power metal for two reasons: it’s a bit different to the rest of the nation’s output this week, and I like the cute bunny rabbit on the album cover, even if it is setting off a bomb.
It’s actually a good metaphor for their music. Probably. Anyway, Atomic Spies is available from May 29th.
For more Finnish sonic finery this week, check out new releases by: Azaghal, Horizon of Aeons, Malummeh, Mandy Manala and, of course, Se, Josta Ei Puhuta.
And that list is hardly exhaustive. Stop making so much good metal, Finland! We can’t keep up!
Seven Deadly Songs: The Cruel Intentions – All Hail Hypocrisy
Anthemic is, I think, the word! Norwegian hard rockers The Cruel Intentions, who are fronted by ex-Vains of Jenna vocalist Lizzy Devine, take us right back to the 1980s with the title track from their third full-length album, which is due to be released via the confusingly-named Indie Recordings on May 29th.
This is old-school, Sunset Strip-style rock ‘n’ roll that might actually remind some listeners of The Wildhearts.
That’s The Wildhearts who were from Newcastle in the north-east of England, which is as far removed from sunny West Hollywood as it gets, as indeed is Norway.
If you need even more of a hard rock fix, check out Hail The Rebel Queens by New Jersey’s Black Rose Rebellion, which is also to be hailed on the 29th, this time via Pavement.
Seven Deadly Songs: Tooms – Whitethorn
We head to Ireland for our final inclusion this week – not to Tuam in Co. Galway, sadly, but to Limerick for some sublime sludge metal from the banks of the Shannon.
The Treaty County trio are due to release their second full-length album, Karst, on May 29th via Road to Masochist. That’s the same label as Noosed, who we featured last week.
The label represents Irish artists but is based in the South West of England. I swear it has nothing to do with me!
Anyway, the band’s logo looks like a dolmen (a single-chamber prehistoric megalithic tomb), which is a nice touch.
For more Irish excellence, check out the Cork-based black metal solo project Verzauber, which releases its second full-length album, Dire Garden of The Ages, via Naturmacht Productions on May 29th.
I have a family connection to Cork. The gardens there tend to be lovely, though admittedly I haven’t been in ages. See you in seven for another seven!
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SEVEN DEADLY SONGS Q&A
Q: What is Seven Deadly Songs?
A: Seven Deadly Songs is Metal Lair’s weekly roundup of the heaviest new releases across the full metal spectrum. Each week we spotlight seven standout tracks you shouldn’t miss.
Q: When does Seven Deadly Songs update?
A: We post a new edition every Friday, typically highlighting weekly new releases.
Q: Where can I find the best new metal songs?
A: Right here. Seven Deadly Songs is your go-to source for discovering the latest metal tracks including fresh black, death, thrash, doom, and speed metal releases, all curated in one place.
Q: How can I listen to the songs featured?
A: Every featured track links out to the artist’s official release, streaming platform, or label page so you can dive deeper and support the bands directly.
Q: Does Metal Lair have other weekly series?
A: Absolutely, Try:
- Deep Cuts – Metal’s Hidden Gems and lost recordings from rock and metal history.
- Metalhead Horoscopes – Weekly forecasts laced with riffs, attitude, and a lucky song for every sign.
- World Metal Weekly – A global passport through the underground, one country at a time.
- Women in Metal – A series celebrating the voices, pioneers, and rule-breakers reshaping heavy music’s DNA.
- Ministry of Metal – A satirical authority devoted to the laws, rituals, and unspoken rules of heavy music. Features proclamations, decrees, cultural edicts, metal lore, and an original comic book series, all delivered with humor and bite.
- Metal Legacy Profiles – Deep dive essays honoring artists who shaped metal’s sound, culture, and philosophy. These aren’t timelines or greatest-hits lists, but examinations of impact, conflict, evolution, and what each figure left behind.
- Road Riffs: Metal On The Map – We take metal beyond the speakers and onto the highway, exploring legendary venues, scene-defining cities, historic landmarks, local haunts, and travel stops tied to real
metal scenes around the world that every metalhead should experience.
About The Author
Kevin McSweeney is Metal Lair’s resident scribe of the underground, eternally rummaging through the global metal scene for riffs worth your time.
As the guiding hand behind Seven Deadly Songs every Friday, he has an uncanny knack for finding the track you didn’t know you needed, usually before finishing his pint.
Equal parts loyal, kind, and quietly razor-witted, Kevin brings deep knowledge, impeccable taste, and a steady, reliable presence to Metal Lair.
Read More From This Author:
Impure Wilhelmina – Le Sanglot Review Melancholy & Post Hardcore Beauty
The Outfit by Opensight Review: Progressive Rock With Cinematic Flair
Album Review: The Dark Overlords of The Universe by The Ghoulstars
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