Written By Kevin 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 squeeze in a word or two about the more established acts, because we’re nice like that.
The most notable new album of the week is probably the eleventh full-length offering from Devildriver. The Californian groove metal giants, featuring Dez Fafara, previously of nü-metal band Coal Chamber, are due to release Strike And Kill via Napalm Records on July 10th.
Other than that? Well, there’s a lot of good stuff coming out of France this week – more on that later!
Our Gallic friends are not just smashing it on the football/soccer pitch in the FIFA World Cup. Oh, and there’s something for the goths in the form of The Arsonist by Wailin Storms. That album is coming out on July 10th via the splendid Season of Mist. I fully intend to get round to reviewing it. Anyway, on with the list!
Seven Deadly Songs: Arise From Worms – Power Obsessed
We begin this week with a little something from our good friends at Church Road Records. Following hot on the heels of The Devil and All His Works by Witchsorrow, which was released via the label last week – and that I might actually have got round to reviewing by now!
We have the debut album by Canadian/American technical death metal crew Arise From Worms. It is titled A Bleeding Tree Hanging Self Destruction (because even the titles have to be complicated with these technical/progressive bands!)
The album will be available from July 10th. There’s all manner of super-complicated silly buggers going on here.
It’ll leave you wondering not only how human hands and feet can play with such speed and precision, but how they can all play in perfect alignment when there is no shape or scripture to it, or at least not one that my chimp-like brain can discern. This is beyond the ken of mere mortals, so prepare to be baffled.
Seven Deadly Songs: Hrothgar – Ulfhednar
What follows now is just two selections from the numerous good albums coming out of France this week.
Firstly, we have some melodic death metal with a distinct Nordic flavour, though any talk of Nordic things coming out of France might have the English preparing for another Norman conquest.
Calm down, folks! It’s just music. This track is taken from their second full-length album, Tales of Vallhöll, which was released independently on July 7th.
It’s enough to get Thor spinning his hammer with glee with its twin lead guitars, rolling kick drums and gruff gutturals from Quentin Peyrouse.
It’s actually hard to imagine a less metal name than Quentin Peyrouse, but this is one book that shouldn’t be judged by its cover. You’d probably think you were dealing with a Danish band if you did that.
Seven Deadly Songs: Iron Slaught – Soldier of Fortune
I’ve said it many times before: you can’t go wrong with a band with “Iron” in its name! Our second selection from France backs my theory up quite well.
They actually sound a little like Iron Maiden at times, with those duelling lead guitars and near-operatic vocals from the gloriously-named Iron Jérémy!
Their second full-length album is due to be released independently on July 10th, and is named, oddly, Metallic Torments.
Actually, it’s a metallic delight! For more French metallic delights this week, check out Salem by Athabas, which is a stoner metal band, not one of the Three Musketeers!
There’s also some French black metal in the form of Masquerade by Dark Plague that’s worthy of your attention. Told you they were smashing it this week!
Seven Deadly Songs: Molh – Winter Triumph
Ah now, come on! It’s the middle of Summer in the UK, and also in Molh’s native Ukraine, and it’s unusually hot here as well. I think I’ve maybe selected this track to make myself feel a bit cooler.
Winter Triumph was the lead single from their second full-length album, which is due to be released on July 10th via Attractor Records. Its title? Dream of The Mounds.
Where’s Beavis and Butthead when you need them? All I mean by that is that they’d surely headbang along the Eastern European trio’s blistering brand of atmospheric black metal, that’s all!
For more newly-released atmospheric black metal this week, we recommend Gateways, the fourth full-length album by Sojourner, which is also due to be released on the 10th, this time via Avantgarde Music.
Seven Deadly Songs: Shadow of Jupiter – Echo Chamber
Their name sounds a bit proggy to me. The nomenclature can be deceiving, however, as the Chicago-based quartet are offering up a choice cut of stoner/doom metal on their second full-length album, Bones, which is due to be released on July 10th via Ripple Music.
Echo Chamber has its emphasis firmly on the doomy end of their spectrum, I can’t help but notice. It also has an absolute belter of a guitar solo!
They promised us “clean vocals…dirty riffs” on their website, and both are delivered in abundance.
For more outstanding American metal this week, check out Harbingers of Death, the new album from New Jersey death metal band Grim Legion. It’s their first album in 12 years, and we have a feeling it will have been worth the wait. Also, check out our next entry!
Seven Deadly Songs: Slow Goat– Love Like Water
Love that title! And Ye Gods! This is groovy! I was struggling to choose between this track and our previous entry, so in the end, I included them both! You can never have too many American stoner/doom metal bands!
If the previous one leaned more towards doom, this one is firmly in the stoner camp. The unhurried horned creatures hail from Portland, Oregon, and are due to release their debut full-length album, Where The Wisest Fear to Tread, independently on July 10th.
Vocalist Rosie Peterson cuts a very similar figure to Lzzy Hale, and she sings up a storm on this hoof-tapping little number that also happens to feature an absolute doozy of a cowbell groove. We just don’t get enough of those in modern metal.
Seven Deadly Songs: Soulprison – Thorn in My Side
We conclude matters this week with a bit of hardcore punk/crossover thrash from Germany, as Stuttgart’s Soulprison get ready to release their debut full-length album, The More I See, The More I Bleed via BDHW Records on July 10th.
I’m feeling fairly lazy, not least because of the heat, so I’m going to quote directly from their Bandcamp page: “Soulprison is a 5-piece Hardcore/Crossover band from Germany combining the unrelenting grooves of Hardcore with the heaviness and speed of their diverse Metal influences while lyrically addressing mental health and social awareness.
The band’s overarching goal is to push the musical boundaries of Hardcore by developing their very own blend of heavy music.” There’s not much left for me to add, except to wish them the best of luck with the first full-length outing, and to wish for the pleasure of your company next week, as we hopefully 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:
Witchsorrow Album Review: The Devil and All His Works
Album Review: Apocalyptic Steel by Nargaroth
Album Review: Altered State by Defiled
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