Written By Kevin McSweeney
Welcome to Seven Deadly Songs, Metal Lair’s weekly feature in which we bring to your attention seven of the week’s best new releases, and the songs that have us excited for them. Once again, it’s been tough to choose, as there is much to be excited about in the world of rock and metal.
In terms of big releases, we have the return of the incredible Alter Bridge. You think you know them? You’re almost certainly right. They are renowned not least for providing the theme music for the iconic WWE/AEW wrestler Adam Copeland AKA Edge.
They are back on January 9th with their self-titled new album, and we surely don’t have to administer a spear to compel you to check it out.
There’s also a new Genghis Khan-themed EP from Italian metal mirth merchants Nanowar of Steel, which is hilarious as is usually the case with them.
But it’s the less well-known artists that we prefer to cover here, shining a light on new releases that might escape your notice otherwise. So, without any further fuckaboutery, here’s our seven selections.
Bound To Prevail – Tomb of The Graveless
First up, we turn, for the first time ever, to the small Mediterranean island nation of Malta for some death metal that could easily have come from Florida. It must be the heat.
Bound to Prevail might be the sort of band name that suggests metalcore, but Tomb of The Graveless bears more of a resemblance to Domination-era Morbid Angel with its complexity, technicality and variations in pace. Having said that, it leans slightly towards slam with the vocal style and super-tight snare sound.
The band were formed in 2014, but Enthroned in Torment, released on January 7th via Lethal Scissor Records, is actually their debut full-length album. I’m sure the metal fans in Valletta will agree that it was worth the wait, though a delay like that might have made the Maltese cross.
Bullet – Kickstarter
When it comes to power metal and melodic death metal, few do it better than the Swedes, but did you know that the Scandinavian nation is also a reliable source of hard rock?
Early last year, I reviewed Dirty and Divine, the sixth album from the all-female rock group Thundermother, and was thoroughly impressed by it.
A year later, I find myself similarly impressed with Kickstarter, the seventh full-length album from their fellow Växjö residents, Bullet.
The title track is ample evidence of why. It’s full-blooded bluesy rock and roll in the AC/DC mode, with a vocal delivery from frontman Dag Hell Hofer that is even croakier than that of Brian Johnson.
The album is available from January 9th, courtesy of Steamhammer. It would be a fine way to kick-start your year.
Ectovoid – Irradiated Self
Ectovoid hail from Birmingham. No, not the one in the English midlands that gave us Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Napalm Death.
They’re from the one with the heavy emphasis on the last syllable, and I have to say, this isn’t how Lynyrd Skynyrd depicted their sweet home in Alabama at all!
It certainly doesn’t sound like the skies are so blue on this brutal bit of death metal, taken from the crushing quartet’s third full-length album In Unreality’s Coffin, which is due to be released on January 9th via the delightfully-named Everlasting Spew! (I can just hear The Love Affair belting those words out over a stirring horn section!)
Anyway, they’re not singing songs about the southland here. This is death metal as it’s meant to be done, and that’s what picks me up when I’m feeling blue!
Fear of Domination – Endgame
I love you, Finland! OK, so you’re really, really cold, and it’s too chilly in the UK for my liking at the moment, (especially as I don’t have any money to put the heating on) but you always deliver the goods musically!
For a nation of just over five million people, it really punches above its weight when it comes to producing top-notch heavy music.
Here we have some electronic/melodic groove metal/metalcore from Fear of Domination. That’s how it’s billed, anyway. I’m hearing symphonic metal with beauty-and-the-beast vocals and a distinctly gothic tint, personally.
Endgame is taken from their seventh full-length album, which is available from January 9th via Inverse Records and is titled Katharsis, which I thought was an Oasis tribute band, so that shows how much I know.
Krushor – Taste of Hatred
These lists just don’t seem complete without a band from Finland. Well, this week, we’ve got two of them, with the second Suomi selection coming courtesy of Oulu-based thrashers Krushor.
They are due to release their forthcoming EP Taste of Hatred independently on January 9th, and the title track is a ferocious beast indeed, and comes with an amusing official video, though the scenes of thick snowfall are bothering me.
We’ve only had a light dusting here and I’m freezing my arse off! No complaints about the music, though. Krushor rock hard, they rock heavy, they rock animal! (If you get that joke, you’re awesome, but old. Oh-so very old!)
Lionheart – Bulletproof
Funny how the windows used to frame my youth, Now, they’re bulletproof! Now, they’re bulletproof!
Those are some powerful sentiments from Oakland’s Lionheart , who are due to released Valley of Death II on January 9th via Arising Empire.
The album is presumably a follow-up to their 2019 opus Valley of Death. I live in a city where a mass shooting – an extremely rare occurrence in the UK – took place in 2021, less than two miles from my home, so those lyrics really got me in the gut.
The Californian quintet are billed as a hardcore/metalcore hybrid, though they’re definitely more blood, sweat and no tears than tears don’t fall, they crash around me.
They follow in a fine tradition of metallic hardcore to emerge from their home state, and they’re hard as granite, so give this particular slab a spin.
Venger – Navigate The Labyrinth
Finally this week, we have the welcome return of Dutch pop legends The Vengaboys. No, hang on. It’s former Arsenal FC manager Arsene Wenger. OK, one last try.
It’s a traditional heavy metal group called Venger, who boast members from the United Kingdom, Austria and Hungary, one of whom is Saxon guitarist Doug Scarrett.
They released their debut album, Times of Legend, on January 9th via Silver Lining Music. Navigate The Labyrinth sees them venturing up and down the mighty minotaur’s lair, which is not how I like to party, quite frankly.
You’d be better off in the Metal Lair. It’s much safer. OK, so you have to put up with my nonsense but nobody’s getting gored.
Anyway, it’s an excellent bit of trad metal with loud guitars and drums that go boom! And no doubt you’ll want a copy of it in your room. Anyway, that’s me done for this week. Does anyone know when the Vengerbus is coming?
Missed last week’s Seven Deadly Songs? You can find it right here
Seven Deadly Songs is A Metal Lair™ Original Series
FAQ: Seven Deadly Songs January 9th – January 15th 2026
Q: What is Seven Deadly Songs?
A: Seven Deadly Songs is Metal Lair’s weekly roundup of the heaviest new releases across the metal spectrum from black and death to doom, thrash, and speed metal. 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. Proclamations, decrees, cultural edicts, and metal lore 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.
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.
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