Written By Kevin McSweeney
Welcome to Seven Deadly Songs, Metal Lair’s weekly feature where we highlight seven of the best new releases of the week, and single out the songs that have us excited for them.
This week we’re looking at some of the best new music to be released between the 2nd and the 8th of February.
First things first, what news is there of new music by more widely-known artists? Well, German industrial icons KMFDM are due to release Enemy, their 23rd studio album in a storied career that stretches back to the 1980s.
And they’re not the only band featured this week with a back catalogue as lengthy as the Bayeux Tapestry, as we’ll discover when we get to our Swedish selections. But as ever, it’s those that might otherwise escape your attention that we prefer to focus on. So, with that in mind, here’s our list!
Full House Brew Crew – No Gods, No Chains
We initiate the action this week with a bit of groove metal from Greece, courtesy of a band with a name that seems incongruously whimsical for this group of Athenian arse kickers.
Honestly, you’d think we had a party band on our hands here with a name like Full House Brew Crew, but these guys happen to be all business. In fact, they look like they rarely leave the gym, and thus would have no time for partying.
Their fourth full-length album bears the gruesome title Glasgow Grin. (Think of The Joker from Batman if you’re unfamiliar with the practice.)
It is due to be released on February 6th via Reigning Phoenix Music/Roar, and judging by No Gods, No Chains, its sound is every bit as muscular as their burly frontman Vagelis Karzis. You’d be ill-advised to spill his brew, no matter how full the house might be.
Lomor – Tantine Lo Clou
We move from Greece, a country we’ve covered many times, to what is very much a first for us, as we turn our attention to Réunion, a small, French-governed island 367 nautical miles east of Madagascar.
Here, we find Lomor, a thrashing threesome whose second full-length album, Sabouk Rouge, is due to be released via Rockshots Records on February 6th.
Apparently, the lyrics of Tantine Lo Clou were inspired by inappropriate remarks made by un dame d’un certain âge they encountered on tour.
Musically, it’s fast, exhilarating, and more akin to San Francisco in the early 1980s than anywhere in the Indian Ocean. Hey, there’s got to be a bay area somewhere on that island, right?
Paganizer – Devoured
There’s some great extreme metal coming out of Sweden this week. Then again, isn’t there always?
I might as well have started this paragraph by informing you that there will be seven days in this particular week. Impart more wisdom, won’t you, oh slovenly sage?
I digress. Death metal legends Paganizer are, remarkably, due to release their 14th full-length album, As Mankind Rots, via Xtreem Music on February 5th.
It’s another triumphant installment in an incredible career stretching back to the late 1990s.
I struggled to choose between them and their fellow Swedish veterans In Aeternum, who are due to release their fifth full-length album …Of Death and Fire, a superb bit of black/death metal, via Soulseller Records on February 6th. I recommend checking out The Hourglass in particular.
Yes, I just cheated to get an eighth deadly song on the list. No, I’m not sorry.
Sleeping Giant – Mobilizer of Evil
I like my stoner metal with a side order of sludge, and we have generous servings of both here, courtesy of Iceland’s Sleeping Giant.
The Reykjavik racket-makers have only been around since 2023, and are about to release their debut album, The Beauty of Obliteration, on February 6th, courtesy of Octopus Rising / Argonauta Records.
Mobilizer of Evil is the second single to be made available from it, and it boasts one of the catchiest riffs you’ll hear all year, and it grooves like Master of Reality-era Sabbath.
It takes a while for the vocals to arrive, but when they do, the voice is so bowel-looseningly immense, you’d think it was emanating from the larynx of an actual giant – one who is not entirely pleased about having been woken up! Then again, good luck sleeping when you’ve got this glorious noise going on.
Tailgunner – Midnight Blitz
These young whippersnappers from the UK are channeling the spirit of their NWOBHM forbears so much, they named themselves after the opening track from Iron Maiden’s No Prayer for the Dying, (an album that isn’t universally loved, but it was the first metal album I ever bought, so it has a special place in my heart.)
Their second full-length album, Midnight Blitz, is due to be released via Napalm Records on February 6th.
I had doubts about including the title track, as I live in a city that was heavily bombed during the actual Blitz, and I don’t want to trigger the neighbours.
Also, that opening siren reminds me of the nuclear alarm that blares from the nearby dockyard, where the nuclear submarines are docked, at 11:30 every Monday morning. (I’d shit myself if I heard it at any other time, believe me!) However, this is simply too good not to include, so I’m just going to have to risk being shunned in the local shops.
Visions of Atlantis – Hellfire
I declare an interest. When I noticed that the Austrian symphonic power metal institution that is Visions of Atlantis had named their 11th full-length album Armada – An Orchestral Voyage, I was compelled to include them here.
You see, I am a resident of the English port city of Plymouth, a place that played a pivotal role in the thwarting of the Spanish Armada in 1588. (I can only apologise if this week’s column is turning into a local history lesson.)
Hellfire is as epic and anthemic as the title might suggest, maintaining a swift double jig time throughout that would test the sturdiest of sea legs, and boasting impressive male/female double clean vocals and a solo that pitches and rolls majestically.
The album will be available from February 6th courtesy of Napalm Records, by the way. I probably should have mentioned that sooner. Don’t keelhaul me over it.
Wolverine – A Perfect Alignment
Our final selection this week has nothing to do with the huge jacked man that is Hugh Jackman, nor with Marvel Comics in any way.
Rather, Swedish progressive metal stalwarts Wolverine have returned with their sixth full-length album Anomalies, which is due to be released on February 6th via Music Theories Recordings.
A Perfect Alignment is a perfect example of what it has to offer. The track is relatively brief by the standards of the subgenre, coming in at around 6 minutes and 20 seconds.
Initially synth-led and melodic, with heartfelt clean vocals, it finds its venom as it progresses, no pun intended. There’s all sorts of jiggery-pokery with unorthodox time signatures, as one might expect, but it’s not so abstruse as to be unpalatable.
Inevitably, though they sound nothing alike, my thoughts are drawn to Wolverine Blues by their fellow Swedes Entombed, whose late vocalist LG Petrov was born around this time of year.
I met him once, and he was very nice, so I’m off to raise a glass to him and the massive contribution he made to metal in his short life. I’ll see you in seven days for seven more deadly songs.
Missed last week’s Seven Deadly Songs? You can find it right here
Seven Deadly Songs is A Metal Lair™ Original Series
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 – 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.