Written By Kevin McSweeney
Welcome to Seven Deadly Songs, Metal Lair’s weekly feature where 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.
It would be remiss of us not to mention the notable releases from more established artists beforehand, however – especially when we have returning legends of the calibre of NWOBHM stalwarts Tokyo Blade.
There was never anything plain about the men from Salisbury, who are contemporaries of the likes of Iron Maiden and Saxon. Their thirteenth full-length album, Hoist The Colours High, will be available from August 21st via Dissonance Productions.
They’re not the only iconic English band to be active this week, as gothic death/doom masters My Dying Bride will release a boxed set, Anthology of Sombre Reflections, via Peaceville Records, also on August 21st.
This seems to have triggered an outbreak of all sorts of gothic goings on this week. More on that later. Finally, we will direct you towards Swedish black metal OGs Dark Funeral, whose live album, A Beast to Praise, will be the latest installment in a storied career, and will be released via Century Media Records, once again on the 21st. That’s a lot of legends to be going on with, now let’s get on with the list.
Seven Deadly Songs: Argul – Ritual
You’re getting your money’s worth with our opening selection from Peruvian doom/stoner metal merchants Argul, whom I have not selected simply because their name is similar to that of the association football team I support.
This sizable slab of Sabbathy goodness stretches out to over ten minutes long, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that it’s taken them twelve years to come up with their debut full-length album, Soledad & Orgullo – due to be released on August 21st via Personal Records.
It’s either that, or they’re fully committed to the stoner lifestyle. With those big, fuzzy riffs and lavish vocal harmonies, I’m Argul ‘til I die! For more music of a doomy/stoner persuasion, we recommend the self-titled third full-length album by Indiana’s Faerie Ring, which is to be released via King Volume Records on the same day.
Seven Deadly Songs: Cemetery Echo – Hell Night
I mentioned in my preliminary paragraph that things are taking a distinctly gothic turn this week, as if My Dying Bride have called for the creatures of the night to gather.
Hell Night is taken from Civitas Lacrimarum, the long-awaited independent debut album from these nocturnal New Yorkers, who first crawled from their crypt in 2019.
Far from sounding like their fellow NY goths Type O Negative, they are more akin to the English gothic rock of the 1980s, as purveyed by the likes of The Mission or Fields of the Nephilim, but with occasional forays into extreme metal.
Imagine The Cure in their early days, but with the odd interjection from Cradle of Filth. Fans of gothic metal might also be inclined to cast their eyes across the darkness in search of Reflexions by Slovakia’s Gloom, and Iridescence by Germany’s Colliding Worlds.
All three albums will rise to stalk the living on August 21st. Swedish folk metallers Fejd have an album that day too, called Nifelheim. The graveyard plot thickens.
Seven Deadly Songs: Deceptor – Street General
North Carolina thrashers Deceptor are due to release their debut full-length album, Reign of Terror, via Dying Victims Productions on August 21st.
They have a raw death/thrash sound that reminds me of early Sepultura, and a youthful vigour that suggests great eagerness to make their mark on the resurgent thrash metal scene.
They burn through the ten tracks in around 33 minutes on an album that has the potential to be regarded as the second best thrash album with the word “reign” in its title.
It’s a busy week for their label, as they will also be releasing Stockholm-based black/thrash metal band Teratum’s Ordnance of Spiritual Warfare EP, and Helsinki-based black metal band Rapid’s Enter The Realm of Fire album. Both of these are also out on the 21st.
Seven Deadly Songs: Mind Affliction – Awakening
We head to Poland next for this brutal cut from Kraków band Mind Affliction’s cheerfully-titled third full-length album, No Future, No Light, which is due to be released on August 21st, courtesy of Via Nocturna. It’s been a whole decade since their sophomore effort, 2016’s Into The Void.
Their sound is firmly rooted in black metal, and also in death metal, offering a balance between the eeriness of the former and the ferocity of the latter.
There’s the occasional threat of melody breaking out, but overall it is still heavier than a belly full of Bigos.
For more black metal this week, see Elemental (Part 1: Mourning Earth) by English band Fen, Rites ov Flesh by Slovenia’s Cvinger, and A Kingdom Reborn by Filipino band Funerarya. There’s no slackness when it comes to the blackness this week.
Seven Deadly Songs: Speed Stroke – Glorious Breakdown
Imagine Buckcherry as a speed metal band, or Motorhead with clean vocals instead of Lemmy’s iconic gravelly growls, and you’ll be somewhere close to the sound that Speed Stroke have achieved on this track from Damage Control.
According to their website, this impending release is the “…fourth record for the uncompromising Italian hard rock stallions,” on which they master: “…the art of hard rock through a personal approach that perfectly blends the Scandinavian sleaze rock modern edge and the glorious legacy of the 80s street metal scene.” Quite! The album is available from August 21st via Scarlet Records.
Fans of old-school hard rock should also check out Call of The Night by Rebels Opera, Still Alive by Androgenous, and the self-titled album from Kindred North, a cross-border collaboration from Norway and Sweden with an album cover that reminds me of Harry Potter’s Patronus.
Seven Deadly Songs: The Night Eternal – Caught in A Spell
The city of Essen in western Germany is home to an awesome Iron Maiden-themed rock bar that I am very keen to visit. It also boasts numerous striking landmarks in the form of castles, churches and monuments that are bound to inspire a metal band.
It is unsurprising then that, in such an environment, a band like The Night Eternal can flourish. In Caught in A Spell, they have produced a track that should have been the soundtrack to a 1980s slasher flick.
It is taken from Cold Velvet, their third full-length album, which is due to be released on August 21st via Metal Blade Records.
The Germans are playing everyone off the field this week – unlike in the World Cup! – as evidenced by the Shattered Reflection EP from groove metallers Dogtak, and Ride The Storm, the debut full-length album from power metal band Ristridi. Both releases are independent and available from the 21st.
Seven Deadly Songs: Utilize The Remains – Flesh Ripped From Bone
We complete our list with some brutal death metal from Dunedin courtesy of New Zealand’s Utilize The Remains, who released Meaningless Existence, their second full-length album, independently on August 18th.
Their sound is labelled slam and deathcore as well as brutal death metal. The slam riffs are certainly present and correct, though the snare is tuned fairly lowly, and Dan Ferguson’s vocals are as ursine as they are porcine.
In an extreme subgenre that is often comical – deliberately so in the case of the likes of Party Cannon, PeelingFlesh and the inimitable Wiggaectomy – these killer Kiwis have a sound that demands earnest respect, and thoroughly deserves it.
And on that thoroughly down-tuned and distorted note, we’ll leave it. Take good care of yourselves, and we’ll see you in seven for another seven.
“Dive into last week’s Seven Deadly Songs weekly metal roundup”
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 – 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:
Sakoya – World Gone Crazy EP Review
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)
No algorithms. No fluff. No watered-down corporate metal coverage.
Subscribe to Metal Lair and get weekly underground features, Seven Deadly Songs, Deep Cuts, interviews, and original metal journalism sent directly to your inbox.
Join the patrons of Metal Lair
MetalLair.net is a metal zine muttering to itself about seo and blastbeats at 3 AM powered by caffeine, riffs, a severe lack of sleep, and a dog wondering why the human is still awake.
Sometimes it’s Kevin passing out mid Seven Deadly Songs.
Sometimes it’s digging up forgotten records no one else is talking about.
Always, it’s built for people who actually live this music.
If that sounds like you, you’re already one of us.
Supporting Metal Lair means keeping it independent, loud, and real with no corporate filters, no watered-down takes. If you want to help keep it alive…
Become a patron of Metal Lair.