SHORT REVIEWS… collects upcoming releases from the forthcoming month and pursues each one in a paragraph (or two) format. An exercise in inclusivity, this’ll largely speak to records that were able to “sell” me on a second or third look beyond previews. The major goal here is to aid readers/listeners in making their own informed decisions and to discover releases I would otherwise likely not cover, or, have time to cover. Please note that a I’ve left out the “Best of the Month” worthy items because I plan to do full-sized longform reviews for them. Weekly reviews will persist otherwise. If you’d like your upcoming November release(s) to be considered for review next month please submit all materials by November 12th: grizzlybutts@hotmail.com
| ARTIST: | KANAAN |
| TITLE: | Earthbound |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | November 12th |
| LABEL(S): | Jansen Records |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
It is a rare thing that I’d recommend an 50-minute instrumental full-length but the paradigm shift Oslo, Norway-based trio Kanaan realizes on their third album, ‘Earthbound’, is a notable leap outside of their laid back jazz fusion inspired merger of multi-generational psychedelic rock ideals. It isn’t as simple as “going heavy” here but adopting a chopper-ready modern stoner rock voice and projecting it by sheer conviction of the guitar performances. ‘Earthbound’ thrives within its jammed spaces, extended pieces which take inspiration from 90’s stoner metal and modern psychedelic doom metal, pulling their instrumentals from somewhat free-wheeling yet intentioned pieces; “Bourdon” in particular showcases this jammed affect, loosely gluing the song’s statement into place while teetering on the edge of rhythmic collapse. The full listen goes places, be it sleepy doom metal jams (“Mudbound”) or nuclear drone/doom (“Crash”) but the main event is undeniably set within the three opening pieces, sans the intro.
| ARTIST: | AARKANNE |
| TITLE: | Mysterii |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | November 1st |
| LABEL(S): | Inferna Profundus Records |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
The conviction of primitive raw black metal heaviness, rasping hatred and a distant yet notably abrasive tonality ensures ‘Mysterii’ is an exercise in attrition wherein this Chilean solo black metal project reaches for haunting, occasionally martial atmospheric climes. The cloak-and-dagger presentation from the rhythm section wasn’t compelling enough to hold my interest but the guitar performances provide spectacle and menacing early first wave dirges enough. I’d have recommended ‘Mysterii’ a bit more easily but “Mysterii III” spoils the early mood of the album with its frayed, messy detour into mid-paced chaos.
| ARTIST: | CYSTECTOMY |
| TITLE: | Deprive the Hollowness |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | November 5th |
| LABEL(S): | Comatose Music |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
If you’re up for a bowel-distorting shock of ‘modern’ brutal death metal this November this record may very well be the only one worth anticipating for my own taste, and largely because I’d liked Oscar Ortega‘s work in Molecular Fragmentation last year and vocalist Randy Leung (Facelift Deformation) is an absolute maniac on everything he does. They’ve delivered a somewhat substantial clobber fest here with a load of foul rants, wild imagery and all manner of explosive brutal death intensity, nuclear bass drops and breakdowns included. The surprise performance here is drummer Juan Pablo Flores, not because his work isn’t solid in Reptilium but because he contributes so much to the presence of ‘Deprive the Hollowness’ with the sheer menace of his attack. Despite all of the flash and ear-popping bass drops throughout Cystectomy still manage to keep the mayhemic tunnel of insanity brutal death metal needs in order to hold my attention for a solid half hour.
| ARTIST: | ANOMALIE |
| TITLE: | Tranceformation |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | November 5th |
| LABEL(S): | Art of Propaganda Records |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
‘Tranceformation’ is the fourth full-length from Austrian musician Marrok ‘s post-black metal project Anomalie, it also marks the first decade beyond formation. Known for his live lineup status with several impressive post-black/prog-black groups (Agrypnie, Harakiri for the Sky, Schammasch) the fellow certainly reached a high commercial standard early on with this project and this level of quality, balance, and modern European progressive black metal atmosphere persists. Rock beats, mid-paced head bobbing black metal dirges, and plenty of vocal range in terms of stylistic feats keep things moving along nicely but ‘Tranceformation’ only -sounds- like a pop black metal album, the music itself isn’t especially catchy outside of a few trippy post-hardcore riffs. Though this record is full of plenty of appreciable detail and some distinct style it all lands a bit flat, too understated to be memorable despite how extreme some elements are.
| ARTIST: | RÜNDGARD |
| TITLE: | Stronghold of Majestic Ruins |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | November 5th |
| LABEL(S): | Signal Rex |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
Yet another impressive project from Valdivia, Chile-based musician Lord Valtgryftåk (Pyreficativm, 13th Temple, Gryftigæn, et al.), this debut full-length from Ründgard is a raw black metal record which features some strong use of distantly atmospheric keyboards. The use of German titles and references to the early colonization of Valdivia itself and the structures that’re still standing beyond the 16th century make for an interesting thought but the music itself paints more of a fantasy world at face value. Though this was vexing to consider to start ‘Stronghold of Majestic Ruins’ provides plenty of channels for the mind to wander within and it ultimately won me over. Apart from ‘संसार का पथ’, this may be my favorite thing from the artist to date.
| ARTIST: | THANGORODRIM |
| TITLE: | Liberation in Unbound Chaos 666 |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | November 5th |
| LABEL(S): | Blood Blast |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
San Jose, California occult rock duo Thangorodrim should catch the eye and ears of Occultation and The Devil’s Blood fandom up front thanks to their strong visual point of view and reverb-heavy early 80’s by way of the 2010’s sound. Chaos-Gnostic themes and experimental rhythms hooked me in early on but as the ~86 minute length of the album burned on I’d found ‘Liberation in Unbound Chaos 666’ somewhat tuneless and evaporative of its own tension by way of its repetitive longer (8-12 minute) pieces. Don’t get me wrong, the two album’s worth of material here converges into a solid enough jam but like most popular rock music this sort of material is best when whittled down to its most potent hits.
| ARTIST: | SPIRITWORLD |
| TITLE: | Pagan Rhythms |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | November 5th |
| LABEL(S): | Century Media Records |
SpiritWorld is an alternative metal band whom appear influenced by modern hardcore influenced thrash metal a la Power Trip though they are being marketed as a “death western” band, and I’m not exactly sure what that means since it certainly doesn’t suggest country western traits or exude the atmosphere of films or music associated with the western frontier. Madball riffs + early 80’s Satanic panic doesn’t necessarily speak to the gristle of the American west in the slightest but it makes for an alright listen. The mix is obliterated here and the guitar sound compressed for my own taste, this means the entire album is driven by pure rhythm guitar with next to no leads; This should not be an issue for folks who enjoy metallic hardcore when it is applied to fairly straight forward groove/thrash metal sounds. Lots of big grooves that I’m guessing folks my age who remember the post-‘Primitive’ evolution of Soulfly will enjoy to some degree. Not to my taste but not terrible either.
| ARTIST: | EXTINCTION A.D. |
| TITLE: | CCCP |
| TYPE: | EP |
| RELEASE DATE: | November 5th |
| LABEL(S): | Unique Leader Records |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
Long Island thrash metal trio Extinction A.D. have long sought to bind the performative movements of late 80’s Bay Area thrash metal, the melodic chunking of groove metal, and the intensity of 90’s metallic hardcore for a pretty class crossover between beatdown brutality and classic thrash. The way it manifests on their latest EP ‘CCCP’ is essentially where groove metal was circa 1990-1995, a bit of Testament-esque melodicism sidled with aggressive and simplified death metal riffing (see also: Erosion – Down…) but these guys are all about the attack of their riffs so, they make a point of setting the mood with a cover of “Propaganda” from Sepultura. It is a short EP but I think it speaks well to what they’re capable of at the moment and how their upcoming full-length will sound. The main thing I think they should crank up next time around is this ‘…And Justice For All’-esque swagger but keeping up the anxietous pace, this is a sweet spot for their sound that is leagues beyond the muddled focus of their 2018 record.
| ARTIST: | SARKE |
| TITLE: | Allsighr |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | November 5th |
| LABEL(S): | Soulseller Records |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
Sarke is an impressive black metal project from Oslo, Norway-based musician Sarke whom has been active since the early 90’s as a key component of Tulus and Khold. Often split between fans who consider them black n’ roll, black/thrash or just black/heavy metal the major appeal of this band from my point of view is a unique linkage between heavy rock and second wave black metal intensity. That said seven albums in they’re certainly experimenting more than ever, leaving the Tom G. Warrior-grunting narrative command of Nocturno Culto as the major point of grounding for these experiments. “Funeral Fire” threatens to be something new and exciting for Sarke but by the time we’re halfway into “Beheading of the Circus Director” the record has shared the classic heavy psychedelic intent of the album; “Reverberation of the Lost” makes it official. I particularly liked this revelation upon revisiting the album and found the keyboard work inspired.
| ARTIST: | OBSCURA QALMA |
| TITLE: | Apotheosis |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | November 12th |
| LABEL(S): | Rising Nemesis Records |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
Obscura Qalma is a blackened ‘orchestral’ death metal quartet out of Venice, Italy comprised of mostly ex-melodic death or metalcore aligned folks. ‘Apotheosis’ is of course heavily influenced by Septicflesh, one look at the band photo and we can be sure that much is true, but they’ve also pulled some of their approach from the bombast of Fleshgod Apocalypse as well as Behemoth in creation of this debut full-length. It is a fine enough record, though for all of the brutality they’ve conjured here these pieces rarely resolve their melodic intent, this makes for an outsized and dramatic setting without anything all that substantive to stick to during repeated listens. The weight of cinema fades quickly and the result is a cold, often repetitive listen that doesn’t inspire just yet.
| ARTIST: | BLACK SOUL HORDE |
| TITLE: | Horrors From the Void |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | November 10th |
| LABEL(S): | Vinyl Store |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
Black Soul Horde is an epic heavy metal trio from Athens, Greece who’ve aimed at Eldritch horrors and a bit of Eternal Champion meets Grand Magus styled sing-along heavy metal for their third full-length album. Up front ‘Horrors From the Void’ bears some notable power metal influence in terms of vocal melodies and harmonization; If you are familiar with 90’s power metal and love Lovecraft there’ll be a lot to like here and the full listen is fairly consistent in this regard. Though opener “Beneath the Mountains of Madness” felt a bit forced and wordy when it came time for hook and chorus the jogging attack of “Beware the Deep” had me a bit more sold up front. A few cheesy chorus reveals later these guys are at their best when they touch upon a sort of Manilla Road-esque ballad style with a slightly eased sense of movement (“Malediction of the Dead”).
| ARTIST: | 200 STAB WOUNDS |
| TITLE: | Slave to the Scalpel |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | November 12th |
| LABEL(S): | Maggot Stomp Records |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
Fusing elements of slamming brutal death metal, hardcore influenced death metal, and mid-90’s death/groove the urge is to blanket-term all of ‘Slave to the Scalpel’ with a “death metal” tag but this Cleveland, Ohio crew turn out their mosh metal skills more often than anything else on this debut. From my point of view this is a sort of halfway there take on brutal death metal which doesn’t necessarily pass the Dying Fetus litmus test for pit-heavy riff count and I’d found the full listen short and directionless because of this. “Drilling Your Head” is a good example of kicking into a song with a post-‘Perserverance’ Hatebreed riff and just kinda piling on a few semi-technical brutal death change-ups afterwards. If that is what’s up in hype-bro death metal at present then, I guess I understand the intensity here is finer-tuned than many bands around today. Might’ve been a standard demo band if released in 1995, these days we’ll consider it standout energy, sound design and skill that is light on lasting/repeatable ideas.
| ARTIST: | VOMIT THE SOUL |
| TITLE: | Cold |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | November 12th |
| LABEL(S): | Unique Leader Records |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
After a decade-long hiatus Italian slamming brutal death metal trio Vomit the Soul have reformed and released their third full-length album, ‘Cold’. I don’t know how well folks will remember this band but there is no denying ‘Apostles of Inexpression’ (2009) was notable for its handling of slam and deathcore without losing the murderous intensity brutal death metal should contain — It still holds up in terms of upholding this varietal more brutal-than-thou ultramilitance bands seem to default to today. For ‘Cold’ I would say they’ve actually kicked the drums back to a more pinging early 2000’s sound and focused on a cleaner, more dynamic presentation and this works for my own taste. They do muck around with the chugging riffs far too much but at no point did I feel like I was listening to a metalcore record while ‘Cold’ was spinning and that’d made it a mind-melting joy to listen to.
| ARTIST: | CREATURE |
| TITLE: | Eloge De L’Ombre |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | November 12th |
| LABEL(S): | I, Voidhanger Records |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
Of course at this point the world of progressive extreme metal has taken note of Brittany, France-based musician Raphaël Fournier and his fine work within Creature. If we can consider last year’s ‘Ex Cathedra’ an epic which’d gained worldwide acclaim then let ‘Eloge De L’Ombre’ be served as a sort of amplification and a tempering of those impressive traits at once. The amplification comes with session drum work from talented fellowe Baard Kolstad (Leprous, ICS Vortex) whom raises the bar far beyond the previous album, bringing an organic and intelligent aspect to the thinking n’ feeling muse of Fournier. 53 minutes is still quite a long experience and the running order cannot help but hit upon points of disorder or confusing associations as it all plays out. Though I am a fan of progressive metal to some degree it is only because of the variety of experience available within potent but separate statements, ‘Eloge de L’Ombre’ develops a language of its own by Side B and then keeps on ranting rather than making a few key points and because of this it’d all bleed together on repeat.
| ARTIST: | ALTARETH |
| TITLE: | Blood |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | November 5th |
| LABEL(S): | Magnetic Eye Records |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
I’ve got nothing even slightly critical or negative to say about Gothenburg, Sweden-based psychedelic doom metal quintet Altareth and this fine debut full-length they’ve managed after about eight years spent finding their rhythms. ‘Blood’ sources its soulful, easy swaying tonality from different eras of stoner/doom metal and because of this there seems to be something new around every corner the full listen takes. The fuzz and the Satanic panic of “Satan Hole” gives us 2010’s Electric Wizard to consider, amped up alongside more fitting contemporaries such as Alastor but at that point in the tracklist we’ve also heard some sombre notes taken on early Pallbearer as well. Fans of Windhand and Warning will likewise appreciate what they hear as we reach for songs like “Moon”. I’d ultimately get the sense that these folks put a fair deal of time into making sure each piece had its hook, its big riff moment, and above all some manner of fresh texture to keep ‘Blood’ from falling into an indeterminate mass. A fine job for a debut and easily one of the best stoner/doom metal records of the month.
| ARTIST: | VERTEBRA ATLANTIS |
| TITLE: | Lustral Purge in Cerulean Bliss |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | November 12th |
| LABEL(S): | I, Voidhanger Records |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
The melty Immolation-esque seethe and glowering hoark of opener “Agoraphobic Solipsist” should immediately key the elite extreme metal ear, into the jangling, multi-directional force of Vertebra Atlantis to start but their full-length debut ‘Lustral Purge in Cerulean Bliss’ doesn’t sit in any one place too long. This record comes by way of Milanese musician G.G. (Cosmic Putrefaction, Turris Eburnea) alongside members of Homselvareg and Spells of Misery. The aim here seems to be coherent crossover between atmospheric death metal traits, such as dissonance and psychedelia, with the technical side of black/death metal presented within ‘Prometheus – The Discipline of Fire & Demise’ (see: the title track). The adhering force to glom it all together is rupture-prone atmospheric death metal but this rarely meshes with direct purpose aimed at black metal inspired sections and the greater effect is bursts of clarity within omnidirectional vexation. At this point I would normally say all of this needs to fold together with greater intensity, to become one, but as a listening experience the separations between songs reads like solar system unto its own while still relating from moment to moment. One of my favorite pieces on the full listen, “Saw Thee Quietly Inurned”, might’ve fit better on Side A and “Altopiano Celeste” would have kicked off Side B in a more grand fashion but overall this is a fantastic debut album from an impressive band.
| ARTIST: | DOOMSDAY PROFIT |
| TITLE: | In Idle Orbit |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | November 12th |
| LABEL(S): | Self-Released |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
Give me a solid ~35 minutes of ugly, mean psychedelic doom metal and I’m happy for the most part. Raleigh, North Carolina-based quartet Doomsday Profit have a bit more up their sleeve these days, building up guff enough for a self-released full-length here in late 2021, pouring themselves over these six sludge and acid rock influenced pieces serving some gloomy, grim stuff here on ‘In Idle Orbit’. Their whole outfit is DIY from the looks of things and they’ve managed a pretty honest render here, sounding a bit like a rehearsal space with the buzz of the amps bleeding into most of the levels. It all lands a bit amateur to start but “Cestoda” makes good use of the lo-fi timbre of the recording with a slow and easy groove before we’re bustling up to our neck in “Consume the Remains”. Everything holds together to start as ‘In Idle Orbit’ begins to shape into a decent enough debut but it only just meets a certain lowest industry standard in terms of songcraft. The ~11 minute finale of “Bring Out Your Dead” doesn’t at all serve to put a best foot forward, consisting primarily of sustain heavy amp buzz and improvised note plucking. This is a bit of a shame since I’d been on board up until that point.
| ARTIST: | EYEMASTER |
| TITLE: | Charcoaled Remains / Festering Slime |
| TYPE: | EP |
| RELEASE DATE: | November 12th |
| LABEL(S): | Caligari Records |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
Eyemaster is a death metal quartet out of western Germany whom we know very little about just yet: They don’t like craft beer drinking hippies and they -really- like the Autopsy influenced bulge of early Swedish death metal in the late 80’s/early 90’s. The first of two songs here “Charcoaled Remains” has a bit more of an Interment (Sweden) or ‘Clandestine’-era Entombed clunk to its elaborate intro and eventual charge forth via a bent-phrased main riff and this is definitely my kind of gig already. The second song “Festering Slime” takes us on less of a jog, using an angular grinding riff a la Nirvana 2002 to kick things off and I’m sold by the time the squirrely solo kicks in nearby the middle of the song. If they can manage to keep the sound rotten and the riffs + leads up to this level then I’m all for whatever they’ve got cooking next.
<strong>Help Support Grizzly Butts’ goals with a donation:</strong>
Please consider donating directly to site costs and project funding using PayPal.
$1.00
mystificationzine.com 