Welcome to Seven Deadly Songs, Metal Lair’s weekly feature where we bring to your attention seven pieces of music that are so good, it would be a sin not to check them out. This week, we have the tunes to ease you into June, as we look at the new releases in the last week of May that have our heads banging and our devil horns aloft. We hope you enjoy listening to them as much as we enjoyed selecting them.
Furnace – A Blessing and a Curse
There’s been some great albums coming out of Sweden this year, and the latest offering from Furnace is shaping up to be a worthy addition to that estimable roster. A Blessing and a Curse is taken from their forthcoming album, Eternally Enthroned, due to be released on May 30th via Obelisk Polaris Productions. It is their sixth album since 2020, which is a frankly astonishing level of productivity. Though the vocals are pure death metal, the song itself has a classic metal feel with its four-chord progression and melodic lead. Apparently, the release will be accompanied by a limited-edition board game based on the album’s overarching narrative. Fun for all the family with Furnace!
The Haunted – Warhead
And here’s another excellent offering from Sweden! We took our time getting around to this one, admittedly. The fantastic promotional video has been available on YouTube for a few months now, but Gothenburg-based thrashers The Haunted are just about to release Songs of the Last Resort on May 30th, so it’s this week that they have our PKE meters bristling with energy. It’s their first studio album in eight years, and their tenth in total, and will be available courtesy of Century Media Records. It would be remiss of us not to acknowledge the similarity to Slayer’s War Ensemble, and not just in terms of nomenclature, but how could that be anything other than a very good thing?
In The Kingdom of Nightmares – Seasons
We had nothing from the United States in last week’s list, which is extremely rare. Let’s make amends for that now, as we have metalcore from Maine to look forward to this week. This is courtesy of In The Kingdom of Nightmares, who release their second album, Fading Light, via Alien Swarm Records on May 30th. It is their first full-length album since 2010’s From Darkness to Despair, and it’s a particularly abrasive example of their chosen subgenre. Frontman TJ Washburn Jr employs a harsh vocal style that is more akin to deathcore than metalcore, though his clean vocals certainly fit the bill. The dissonant lead guitar is unnerving in the best possible way, and is but one of many reasons to check out Seasons.
Lord Vigo – Walk The Shadows
Lord Vigo have certainly had a productive last ten years. The Germans have produced six full-length albums since their first release in 2015. Their latest album, Walk The Shadows, is due to be released on May 30th via High Roller Records. Billed as epic doom metal, the title track is actually a synth-festooned affair that has more than a hint of 1980s English gothic rock about it. I could easily imagine the impassioned wails of Robert Smith or the rich baritone croon of Andrew Eldritch appearing on the track at certain intervals. The drumming is particularly notable, alternating from militaristic marches to syncopated grooves without undermining the solemn gravitas of the song. They also present me with another opportunity to make a Ghostbusters reference, but I won’t, because my nonsense is like the buzzing of flies to Lord Vigo.
Obsidian Tonque – To Forgive Oneself
I note with interest that Obsidian Tongue began their musical career in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 2009. As a resident of the original Plymouth (in the South West of England), I was immediately compelled to include them. Fortunately, the quality of the music justifies what might otherwise have been a highly unprofessional decision. Eclipsing Worlds of Scorn is their fourth full-length studio album, and is due to be released on May 30th via Profound Lore Records. To Forgive Oneself is atmospheric black metal of the finest quality. The extremity of the heavier elements of the music ought to be at odds with the mournful and plaintive beauty of the melodic parts, which at times are reminiscent of Queensryche’s Silent Lucidity, but they complement each other perfectly. There has been some outstanding black metal released this year; this is no exception.
Rivers of Nihil – Water and Time
We turn now to Reading, Pennsylvania, where technical/progressive death metal band Rivers of Nihil are preparing to sweep us away with their self-titled fifth studio album, which is due to be released on May 30th, courtesy of Metal Blade Records. Water and Time begins with a serene-sounding intro backed by a gently pulsating beat, like an EDM take on something from The Cure’s Disintegration, before opening up into a track characterised by clean vocals and a melodic clarity that resembles Dream Theater (minus the mad time signatures) more than death metal, though when it gets heavy, it gets really heavy! But not before treating us to a saxophone solo worthy of Kenny G, and where else are you going to get that in extreme metal? Fabulous stuff!
Vader – Unbending (Mystic Festival Anthem 2025)
It’s always nice to see the return of legends, and they don’t come much more legendary than Mr Leon Allen White, the former WWE Superstar. Oh,,, hang on. It’s actually the equally legendary Polish death/thrash metal band to which we turn now. Vader’s new EP, Humanihility, is available from May 30th, courtesy of Nuclear Blast Records. Unbending is a headbang-friendly, mid-paced chuggernaut that ends abruptly with less than three minutes on the clock. (They’ve been around since 1983. They have twelve albums under their belts. They’ve earned the right not to have to mess around!) The song will surely be a fitting anthem for their appearance at the Mystic Festival in Gdańsk in their native Poland on June 7th. That’ll be one to look forward to for Eastern European metalheads.
