ENDTYMER is the inevitable weekly “music news blog” series I’ve been working to avoid for some time. It hits at the end of every week with the intent of covering notable new releases, sharing news of new releases, and musing over various personal listening habits. It is largely informal, has opinions, etc. so chill out a bit. I do my best to cover as much of everything I receive in some form regardless of genre or representation, don’t hesitate to send anything and everything my way: grizzlybutts@hotmail.com

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FIVE BEST OF THE WEEK

This week was split between two favorites with Finnish gothic death/doom metal duo [#1] ASPHODELUS‘ second album ‘Sculpting From Time‘, a release that managed to freshen the underserved realm of post-‘Dance of December Souls‘ gloom. [#2] VISION MASTER‘s debut full-length ‘Sceptre‘ arrive with their own unique voice applied to heavy metal traditions and make their own realm out of it. Otherwise [#3] BOTTOMLESS‘ second album ‘The Banishing‘ expands upon their brilliant traditional doom metal sound with some epic heavy metal adornment, skilling up their gig overall. Classic death metal band [#4] INCANTATION‘s latest album ‘Unholy Deification‘ continues to hold up pretty well as one of their best albums in the last decade or so. [#5] BLUT AUS NORD‘s latest album, ‘Disharmonium – Nahab‘ would’ve been really interesting to write about, one of their most atmospherically fraught records to date and I don’t say that lightly. Maybe it’ll make it onto the best of the month list.

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“NEWS”

Italian progressive death/black metal band VERTEBRA ATLANTIS have announced their second full-length album will release via I, Voidhanger Records. ‘A Dialogue with the Eeriest Sublime‘ will release this coming October 20th on all relevant formats. The project comes from visionary G.G. of Cosmic Putrefaction who has collaborated with a core trio on each record to create a penultimate blend of progressive, dissonant and symphonic black/death metal which cites later Emperor and Gorguts for reference. It sounds like they’ve gotten weirder with it, brought in some guest vocalists and a lovely album art to top it off. I didn’t give the first album its due, so I am looking forward to dunking my skull into this one.

On October 23rd Memento Mori will release the long-awaited second album from Netherlands-based death metal band ECOCIDE. ‘Metamorphosis‘ will release on CD format. Their story is one of thrash ’til death in the best tradition eventually working from a more pure thrash angle towards Lovecraftian early 90’s style death metal which is verifiably conscious of the classics and still thrashing at it. It has been ten years since their last LP so check out their new track “On the Shores of Madness” to see what they’re up to now:

Defining death metal band CANNIBAL CORPSE have announced they will unleash their sixteenth studio album, ‘Chaos Horrific‘, on September 22nd through longtime collaborators Metal Blade Records. 2023 marks the band’s thirty-fifth anniversary which seems to directly follow up on the marked success of ‘Violence Unimagined‘ (2021) without overthinking it. Guitarist Rob Barrett states: “I believe that our songwriting has progressed in a manner where every song paves its own path, whether it’s a straightforward or technical song. Sometimes it’s a mix of both, so there’s no preconceived idea that we want to be more technical. The music just sort of takes its own course.” Of course this news is a couple weeks behind but I’ll likely review this one:

On October 23rd Memento Mori will release Polish death metal band MARTYRDOOM‘s second full-length album, ‘As Torment Prevails‘. Around since 2010 and geared towards the early 90’s death metal sounds consider these folks brutal enough to open for Sinister but doomed enough to cover Autopsy‘s “In the Grip of Winter”. Check out the first preview track track “Katatonic Ascension of Cirrhosis”:

VIRŪPI records have announced they will release the cassette and digital versions of ‘Síntesis Silenciosa‘, the latest EP from esoteric Chilean black/thrash metal act SOLIPNOSIS, on September 23rd. This solo project led by El Centauro imbues its work with “hermeticism, satanism, and the theological concepts of mystery”, and certainly make a damned great first impression. Would be surprised if this band isn’t signed on a larger label for their upcoming second LP. Check out the first song, it is pure black magick:

Dallas, Texas-based atonal discordance enjoyers BARING TEETH return for a fourth full-length album and this time they’re on I, Voidhanger Records for the release. ‘The Path Narrows‘ releases on all relevant formats on October 20th this year. Grinding, dissonant, erratic and always a thrill it is great to see this band finally return and with a huge song to mark the occasion:

Portland, Oregon-based doom rock trio HIPPIE DEATH CULT have released the first single from their upcoming third studio album ‘Helichrysum‘, which is due out on October 20th through Italian label Heavy Psych Sounds. The band comment on the album: “Helichrysum delves deep into the human experience, exploring the wounds we carry and the transformative power that lies within us. It serves as a culmination of the countless creative and personal choices we have made, leading us to a place of greater harmony within ourselves, with each other, and with our collective intentions. Musically speaking, the new album is a testament to our commitment to delivering a sonic experience that is unapologetically raw, adventurous, heavy, groovy and psychedelic. The choice to name the album after the Helichrysum plant holds significance as it symbolizes endurance, healing, immortality, and the power to overcome adversity, which mirror many of the themes throughout the record.” Been waiting to hear what this new vocalist was all about and was very pleasantly surprised with the haunting strength put into “Arise”:

Swedish melodeath-kängpunk trio HARMAGEDON have announced their debut LP will release via Svart Records. ‘Dystopian Dreams‘ comes out November 17th on all relevant formats. The trio features members of Martyrdöd and Freedom who have fused melodic death metal and crust punk for a unique touch. If they’ve done something even kind of close to ‘Elddop‘ then I am stoked. Guitarist/vocalist Tim Rosenquist comments about the first single: “Controlled Chaos is about propaganda actions and distractions, but Reptilian is about how hard work makes you into this emotionless beast of a being. That song is best served blasting on the factory floor or in the car on your way to the office! Reptilian’s themes are at the core of what Harmagedon is about”. Huge fan of their other bands so I’m looking forward to this:

OCTOBER TIDE embrace their melodic death metal side on ‘The Cancer Pledge‘, their latest album as guitarist Fredrik Norrman (ex-Katatonia, Thenighttimeproject) directs the way forward. They’ve finally released the first single from the album, “Tapestry of Our End”, with an animated lyric video. The album releases October 6th via Agonia Records:

Shadow Records have announced November 10th as the release date for Swedish black metal act MEPHORASH fifth album. ‘Krystl-AH‘ will release on CD and cassette tape formats. The double-LP vinyl version will be released on November 17th. The band state: “Out of the depths and from the makings of Shem Ha Mephorash, we are now proud to present to you all the birth of a new era of Mephorash in the form of our upcoming new album, Krystl-AH. This will be a wholly new chapter within the creative process of ours, involving a new way for us to look upon the way we write our lyrics and compose our music…” “We have made the decision to try and step away from the commonalities of traditional ‘black metal,’ and have instead sought to find inspiration from the depths within ourselves, making this a work of deep and personal significance for us. It will dive ferociously into a myriad of topics, ranging from the mysteries of the ‘Krystl-AH,’ the gnosis of light, and divine narcissism to tantric sexual magic, and also dive deep into the traumatic and yet blissful events that created the project now known as Mephorash. We have been diligently carving out and perfected this project for the last four years, through anger, love, hate, tears, sweat, pandemics, and pure chaos in all its shapes and forms to make this a reality. So now we are so incredibly proud to finally be able to present to all of you who have been waiting ever so patiently…Krystl-AH. Shem Ha Mephorash!” Check out the title track “Krystl-Ah”:

Swedish semi-melodic death metal band FARSOTH have announced the release of their second full-length album ‘Morbid Symphonies‘ will arrive on October 17th this year by way of Swedish label Black Lion Records. Sounds pretty straight forward to me so far, check out the album’s first single, “Nothingness”:

Unique Finnish entity VIRTA have announced their third album ‘Horros‘ will release this coming October 6th by way of Svart Records. Built from jams, atmospheric to a tantric degree, the first single from the album “Sola” should at least perk the ear as to what these folks are all about:

KEN MODE have released another single from their upcoming album ‘VOID‘ which releases September 22nd by way of Artoffact Records. “These Wires” is explained per frontman Jesse Matthewson: “Why would anything feel right again? Do you get the sense that a lot of people have been fundamentally damaged by the pandemic? The psychological fallout of this event is going to be seen for years to come, and this is its anthem.” Yes, and hey, looking forward to examining this one after being unsure about ‘Null‘ last year.

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THIS WEEK’S VIDEOS / REVIEWS

Catch up with the latest YouTube video review/features and written reviews here. New videos post each week for the most part. You can click on the link provided to read the review/article, each review has the related video embedded in the original post as well. Videos are fairly casual and meant to accompany the written review with some extra context and generalized notes. The written review and the video review are complimentary -not- interchangeable. Subscribe, share, leave a comment, etc. if you feel like it.

MOON COVEN – Sun King (2023) | REVIEW

BOTTOMLESS – The Banishing (2023) | REVIEW

REVERENCE TO PAROXYSM – Lux Morte (2023) | REVIEW

HORRENDOUS – Ontological Mysterium (2023) | REVIEW

MEURTRIÈRES – Ronde de Nuit (2023) | REVIEW

VISION MASTER – Sceptre (2023) | REVIEW

EXMORTUS – Necrophony (2023) | REVIEW

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COMING UP NEXT WEEK:

Here is a tentative list of what is coming up next week in terms of reviews. The following records have been listened to extensively, a preliminary review has been drafted (or completed), and I’ve locked them in for coverage. In terms of the “Short Written Reviews + Video” column, these are more tentative, some of them may be cut if I do not have enough time to get around to everything. These choices are subject to change as the final drafts evolve and other releases might potentially take priority:

LONGFORM REVIEWS + VIDEO:

BAXAXAXA – De Vermis Mysteriis [September 1st, The Sinister Flame]
TAAKE – Et Hav Av Avstand [September 1st, Dark Essence Records]
DIKASTERION – Chaos as a New World [September 1st, Amor Fati]
FOSSILIZATION – Leprous Daylight [September 8th, Everlasting Spew Records]
EXCARNATED ENTITY – Mass Grave Horizon [September 8th, Nuclear Winter]
SLOMATICS – Strontium Fields [September 8th, Black Bow Records]

SHORT REVIEWS + VIDEO:

Instead of multiple Short Reviews columns for the month of September I will have a different feature every week. Next week won’t feature an extra column and will instead be spent working on Mystification as well as some video game related writing.

• Week I: 20 Best of August ’23
• Week II: “Under the Radar Pt. I” a collection of releases I’d missed or overlooked in the first ~six months of 2023 including: Solar Temple, Odz Manouk, Paroxysm Unit, Sektarism, Ara Solis, and many more.
• Week III: Short Reviews for September (All): Highlights include — Black Magic Six, Luring, Bio-Cancer, Swami Lateplate, The Coffinshakers, Grift, Vengeance, Solus Grief & 30 releases in total. Still accepting submissions and late inclusions for this.
• Week IV: Noise Rock Pt. I (2023), noise rock, post-hardcore, art rock and experimental works fitting in this realm are included. Everything I’ve missed and liked this year. The second part will publish in early December.
• Week V: 20 Best of September ‘23

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