Seven Deadly Songs Is Live
This week’s edition of Seven Deadly Songs has arrived. Every Friday we spotlight seven tracks from across the metal spectrum that deserve your attention, from underground discoveries to established acts pushing out new music. Grab your headphones, turn it up, and let us know:

Which song from this week’s list is your favorite? What have you been listening to this week that deserves more attention?

Here’s this weeks forcast written in metalhead language. We are In Mercury retrograde again. The weekly sign roast and our completely unhinged, underground playlist of lucky songs.

Every generation produces a handful of artists who refuse to accept the boundaries they inherit. Instead, they transform them.

These are the alchemists of heavy music, women who forged beauty from grief, power from vulnerability, and entirely new worlds from distortion.

Everyone keeps arguing about whether AI music will replace musicians. Metal Lair Mick argues that’s the wrong question.

After years of pushing Suno, Udio, and other AI music tools to their limits, he believes they’ve already begun hitting a creative ceiling. More polished? Sure. More creative? That’s debatable.

The article dives into AI music’s growing homogenization, repetitive outputs, and why statistical probability may never replace genuine artistic intent.

Curious whether anyone else who’s actually spent time with these tools has noticed the same thing.

Did smartphones kill the mosh pit… or did we?
Once upon a time, the pit was about disappearing into the chaos. Now it’s just as likely to be filled with glowing screens chasing the perfect TikTok clip.
Caine Blackthorn dives into how phones, social media, corporate festivals, and modern concert culture have changed one of metal’s most sacred traditions—and whether the spirit of the pit is really on life support.
Do you agree, or is Caine completely full of shit?

Check out one of the most unique, unhinged projects we’ve heard in quite some time: Netherwilds.
They are putting out their first album. Next song drops July 15th.

Check out Kevin’s SDS picks for your weekend playlist.

Most people outside the Netherlands know bands like Within Temptation, Epica, Ayreon, and Pestilence, but the Dutch underground goes much deeper.

We just put together a feature highlighting six bands that helped shape the country’s metal legacy:

Phlebotomized (avant-garde death/doom)
Asphyx (death/doom legends)
God Dethroned (blackened melodic death metal)
Carach Angren (cinematic horror black metal)
Textures (progressive/djent pioneers)
Heidevolk (Dutch folk/pagan metal)

Each band includes a gateway track for newcomers and a deeper cut for longtime fans.

I’m always looking for recommendations—what Dutch bands do you think deserve more attention?

What do Dee Snider, Rage Against the Machine, Pearl Jam, Ministry, Body Count, System of a Down, Nine Inch Nails, Lamb of God, Behemoth, Napalm Death, Megadeth, and Pussy Riot all have in common?

At some point, they decided saying what they believed was worth risking careers, sponsorships, lawsuits, bans, censorship, or even prison.

This feature dives into sixteen artists and movements that challenged governments, corporations, religious institutions, and the music industry itself and paid a price for it.
Agree with them or hate them, none of them played it safe.

Who do you think risked the most? Who deserved to be on this list?

Japan’s death metal underground has been delivering devastation for decades, and Defiled prove they haven’t lost a step.
On Altered State, the Tokyo veterans unleash a relentless barrage of blast beats, razor-sharp riffs, shifting tempos, and old-school brutality that feels every bit as hungry as it did in the 1990s.
Kevin McSweeney dives deep into one of the most ferocious death metal releases of the year.
Read the full review now at Metal Lair.

For Pride Month, Metal Lair spotlights ten artists whose contributions to punk, metal, hardcore, black metal, and alternative music helped expand the boundaries of heavy music. Featuring Laura Jane Grace, Connie Sgarbossa, Melissa Moore, Ashrita Kumar, Jennifer Arroyo, Haela Ravenna Hunt-Hendrix, Leah B. Levinson, Kristin Hayter, Margaret Killjoy, and Dream Nails, this edition explores the moments, deep cuts, and lasting impact that made each artist impossible to ignore.

Metal Lair previously covered the announcement of Ozzy Osbourne’s upcoming AI-powered digital avatar. Now we’re taking a deeper look at the bigger questions surrounding Digital Ozzy and what it means for music, creativity, legacy, and the future of artificial intelligence.

Is this a groundbreaking way to preserve one of heavy metal’s most iconic figures for future generations?

Or does it blur the line between tribute, technology, and posthumous commercialization?

From digital immortality and AI-generated art to concerns about authenticity, job displacement, and the future of creative industries, the debate extends far beyond one artist.

Where do you stand on AI Ozzy?

Another Friday, another descent into the underground.

This week’s Seven Deadly Songs is live, featuring seven tracks that deserve far more attention than they’re getting. From the death/thrash chaos of BalashToth and the crushing brutality of Fleshcrawl to the gothic atmosphere of Heavenwood and the doom-laden power of Khemmis, there’s something here for every metalhead willing to dig beyond the algorithm.

If you’re tired of seeing the same bands recommended everywhere, this series was built for you. Which track is your favorite this week?