Written By Keven McSweeney
Welcome to Seven Deadly Songs, Metal Lair’s weekly feature in which we highlight a song from seven of the best newly-released albums and EPs of the week, with a particular emphasis on those artists who have yet to achieve the level of exposure their talents deserve.
We also like to mention imminent releases from more established artists just for balance. That’d be releases such as Tanzeid, the new album from German electronic metalcore messers Electric Callboy, which will be released via Century Media on August 7th.
It would also be releases such as the live album At Montreux Jazz Festival by hard rock supergroup Hollywood Vampires, which features Alice Cooper and his guitar-slinging sidekick Tommy Henriksen, plus Aerosmith’s Joe Perry and some geezer called Johnny Depp. Never heard of him! That album is also due on August 7th, via earMUSIC.
Finally, I’ve had a request from the boss to point you in the direction of A Familiar Absence by Bangalore-based progressive metal band Fallen Letters, the video for which dropped on YouTube three weeks ago. I imagine we’ll cover the intense Indian band in more detail when an album is imminent.
For now, I mention them partly because they’re awesome, but mainly because I know what’s good for me. Anyway, on with the list!
Seven Deadly Songs: 10,000 Years – Alien Tactics
We start our seven this week with a delightfully-titled ditty from Swedish stoner metal trio 10,000 Years, which, by way of wild coincidence, is how old I’ll be at my next birthday.
It’s a song with no small amount of melody, and that’s a good thing, as this list is going to get fairly heavy later on!
That’s not to say that they lack heaviness. That’s absolutely not the case, but they do sound at times like Kings of Leon would if they were a metal band.
Please don’t let that put you off. The track was the second single from Esox Lucifer, their fourth full-length album, which is due to be released on August 7th via Ripple Music.
Happily, there’s plenty more Scandinavian metal to be enjoyed this week. More on that later!
Seven Deadly Songs: Famous Strangers – As Your Leader
The most recent single from the self-titled debut album from Canada’s Famous Strangers is a little more shouty than I’d expected it to be.
Its billing as alternative/progressive/heavy metal led me to expect clean vocals, and we certainly get those, but there’s plenty in the way of growls too from Amanda “The Wench” Kiernan.
We get melodic chugs à la Alter Bridge and twin lead guitars worthy of classic metal, with one or two riffs straight out of the 1990s.
It’s a lead that has you following in numerous directions. The album is due to be released independently on August 6th.
Let us hope they’re not strangers to us for long. For more Canadian metal magnificence this week, we recommend Parts 36-40 by Soulers.
Seven Deadly Songs: Hanternoz – Jean-du-Feu
There it is! The finest album title of 2026! I don’t care what the next five months bring. Nothing is going to top the title of this folksy French black metal band’s third full-length album: A Hed an Noz, a Noz, a Noz.
It’s a Breton phrase, apparently, referring to a long, continuous night. Jean-du-Feu is certainly a long, continuous song, weighing in at nearly nine minutes in length.
The album, which is due to be released on August 3rd via Antiq Records, presents six songs in the form of six supernatural figures from Breton folklore.
The titular figure in this song is a demonic entity bearing fire, which is metal AF, quite frankly! There’s other notable black metal releases this week, such as A Procession of The Dead by Spectre, and Verbolgen by Hulder. This one is by far the quirkiest, however.
Seven Deadly Songs: Negative Frame – Cut Throat
This is a brutal offering from London’s Negative Frame that shows scant regard both for sticking to a particular tempo, and for the wellbeing of your ear drums.
It is drawn from their debut album Break The Ice, which is due to be released via Bloodblast on August 7th.
It’s a bludgeoning blend of death metal and hardcore punk, with an occasional tendency to sound like Code Orange – never a bad thing in my book.
I’m sure I can hear a bit of air raid siren in there as well. Either that, or the nuclear alarm is going off at the nearby dockyard and I’m fucked.
For British music with a slightly different vibe, we also recommend Four, the new album from grunge/alternative rock band Crumbling Ghost, which is available also from August 7th via New Heavy Sounds.
Seven Deadly Songs: Sarof – Two Worlds
I absolutely love this song from Finlan’s Sarof! In fact, I would actually include it in a list of the seven deadliest songs of 2026.
I’m never going to compile such a list, as it would be far too difficult, but this song is that good! The lineage from Slaughter of The Soul by At The Gates is evident, as is so often the case in melodic death metal, though the cold, otherworldly, futuristic-sounding synths also give them a flavour of Fear Factory.
Via Discendi is their second full-length album, and it is due to be released independently on August 7th, and if this track is anything to go by, it will offer beauty and brutality in equal measure.
How on Earth are they not signed? For more outstanding Scandinavian metal this week, see Horrifier’s Revelations of Gore and Kingseekers Parables EP, but for God’s sake, check out Sarof!
Seven Deadly Songs: Temple of Dread – Rites of Blasphemy
According to their agent: “The aim of Temple of Dread is to transfer the carefree spirit of the eighties and nineties Death Metal scene to the present day.
Their music is characterized by songs with a high recognition value, comprehensible structures and a predominantly high tempo.” That’s a remarkably genteel way to describe death metal, isn’t it?
Shouldn’t there have been much made about how they’re going to tear our faces off and drag our souls to Hell with razor-sharp riffs and grotesque growls or something?
Anyway, Dreadspawn Dominion is due to be released on August 7th via Testimony Records. It’s their sixth full-length album since 2019.
Now there’s German efficiency for you! Oh, and Kerry King would certainly approve of the whammy bar-heavy solo, and so do I.
Seven Deadly Songs: Vertiginous – Tortured With Endless Despair
Tortured with endless despair? They must have been reading my work. I’ll torture you no longer with my nonsense by wrapping up the list with Indonesian brutal death metal band Vertiginous, who are due to release their second full-length album, Incessant Affliction, via Comatose Music on August 7th.
This track ticks all the boxes for their chosen subgenre: the “slam” riffs, the high-tuned, springy-sounding snare drum, and of course, the de rigueur pig squeal vocals.
I saw a meme recently that stated that if the vocalist starts talking fluent pig, you’re going to die in that pit. Vertiginous make it very hard to disagree. That’ll do us for another week. 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:
The Larches – Nihilistic Majesties EP Review
Album Review: Exodus Unknown by Imperium
Remembering Lou Koller: The Voice of Sick Of It All (1967 to 2026)
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