ENDTYMER is the inevitable weekly “music 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 a largely informal blog, 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

---

ALBUM OF THE WEEK

Alright, well, damned tough to make the call this week. Nordjevel have my most listened-to record overall, Miscreance lands squarely in my wheelhouse and delivers perfection, Orthodoxy spins all the occult death metal wheels in my head outside of time, and I could go on about several more releases… Though I suppose the one record that gave me the best feeling, the one that felt like a thrill to immerse into was GUTVOID‘s ‘Durance of Lightless Horizons‘.

THESE RULE TOO

• Algebra – Chiroptera (Unspeakable Axe Records)
• Orthodoxy – Ater Ignis (The Sinister Flame)
• Hail Conjurer – Earth Penetration (Signal Rex/Bestial Burst)
• Miscreance – Convergence (Unspeakable Axe Records)
• Live Burial – Curse of the Forlorn (Transcending Obscurity Records)
• Abhor – Sex Sex Sex (Ceremonia Daemonis Antichristi) (Iron Bonehead)
• Nordjevel – Gnavhòl (Indie Recordings)
• Sonja – Loud Arriver (Cruz Del Sur Music)
• Celestial Grave – Vitriolic Atonement (The Sinister Flame)

---

Thank you, ahead of time, for reading. I am eternally grateful for the support of readers and appreciate friendly and positive interactions. Think my opinions are trash and that I suck? Want to totally tell me off, bro? Click away and let’s all live more sensible lives full of meaningful interactions. — If you’re interested in some short reviews and music news, you’ll have to wade through a few dumb quips first, scroll down ’til you see a Bandcamp embed.

---

SPILLING OVER

The first of six releases which are available today-ish which are worth mentioning but were not submitted for review is SLAUGHTERDAY‘s latest ‘Tyrants of Doom‘, a pure and thrashing death metal group with shades of Swedish death by way of Autopsy and Master‘s early influence, bits of Celtic Frost, etc. all the great riff oriented shit classicists will identify with and enjoy. Great sound on this album, loud and kicking with a unique guitar tone as always. Not entirely straight forward as the album presses on but in the same tradition the band have long persisted with.

Second we’ve got a fantastic soundboard recording from Chilean death/thrash metal crew SUFFERING SIGHTS titled ‘Live in Agony‘, a full set captured live at the release gig for Innana‘s latest album. They’re obviously well-practiced, killing it in terms of energy, and the recording is very well mixed/rendered. If you are a fan of 80’s death metal, death/thrash metal, and goddamned riffs in general these guys are one of the more memorable thrash acts out of Chile of late. They play most of their debut album here, so, if you dig it check out the full-length as well.

In terms of modern abstractionist black and black/death metal it’ll be hard to beat the hi-fi gloss of GAERA‘s latest album ‘Mirage‘, which is out on Season of Mist tomorrow. While I don’t find their work all that compelling this album sounds a bit more melodic, fluid and such based on my previews. On that same tip but with a wholly different, far more organic sound is the debut full-length from German black/death metal group HADOPELAGYAL, ‘Nereidean Seismic End‘. A more challenging occultist record for sure, and though I’m not the biggest fan since hearing a recent split of theirs this album seems to have benefitted from some manner of insight or breakthrough, or, simply sounds better.

Although I’ve only had about a week to listen to German black metal alchemists KATHAARIA‘s sophomore full-length ‘To Be Shunned by All…As Centres of Pestilence‘ it has already left a strong impression in terms of black metal offerings this month and of course we can assume a high standard of quality from EAL Productions. This will likely receive a review in full so, I won’t go into massive detail but I will encourage folks to wait for the curveball which “The Judas Principle” throws before making any sort of judgement. Plenty of emergent moments and pools of curious ideas in each song on this album.

Here’s to RAZOR for putting out a solid record after so many years and still sounding like their angriest, most direct late 80’s/early 90’s peak without slowing down. Plenty of hardship in their camp over the last several years so it is a miracle that ‘Cycle of Contempt‘ came together at all and it is appreciated as a huge fan of thrash metal in general. The theme of this one is basically disgruntled mindsets from all manner of angles and no doubt folks will find something to relate to within, riffs too.

CODA CRIMSON

If you’re interested in cathedralesque, medieval vampyr-eyed dungeon synth set to mystify, waltz your trotter up to ANCIENT SPIRIT‘s castle, a dreary and insidious stretch of keys which has a video-gamey edge to a few tracks as you’ll find on their latest record ‘Whispering Walls‘. I especially like “Full Moon” and “Unhallowed Ground”, reminds me of Eternal Ring or even Heroes of Might & Magic a bit. The artist has sent in about ~40 Bandcamp codes so you can have a copy for free. If you grab one thank the artist and give ’em some feedback. Login to your Bandcamp account and go to Bandcamp.com/yum to redeem a code:

ddu3-6je4	vc7r-vzkl	hpav-k9ba
kw74-hu76	ttq5-we5j	kyev-wpaj
z97j-3ry8	tzdb-chnn	kzxf-wxun
kp5h-epqk	t6fp-32y8	pwx3-y6j5
zylr-clnn	yeas-eaqk	wl32-6mp4
ztpa-wa5j	ylbh-xf76	b79k-k4nw
8kzq-7wea	g7jx-b88z	lnnz-j5l2
aazk-3pcx	q5cf-ev69	78ty-x7wp
2nt6-e4rb	lfhe-u7kk	54bb-v6kl
3z9b-hb2y	7pww-ggzj	qww2-yzj5
ut8r-hr3y	9yte-7cpa	du2k-vpl2
b8zz-xuwp	zq54-55jk	jmhb-ej99
mzzd-5dhf	yzpa-waaj	z87j-3rt8

“NEWS”

Skåne-based Swedish black metal duo JORDFÄST have announced their second full-length album ‘Av stoft‘ (‘Of dust’) will release this coming October 28th through the good folks at Nordvis Produktion. Promising to delve deeper into barren, epic dreaming realms of hardship and melancholy this two song (~17 minutes each) record seems to pick up the spirit of the previous record . “Kom eld, kom regn” is the first single and there is a well presented narrative up front: “The lyrics depict a man who has become fed up with the vapidness and dishonesty of mundane life. Disillusioned, under an aurora-covered sky he sets sail towards the endless sea – never to return. As the song progresses, the narrative shifts to the struggles of his son. Left behind to navigate life without paternal guidance, whose father did not even leave him a body to bury, this early betrayal has driven him into a life of constant flight and frustration.” Many things to love in preview of this fine album which I’ve already been listening to — both thumbs up thus far. Here is a teaser from the song, which serves as Side B on the LP:

Danish dark death metal act STRYCHNOS have reveal their long-awaited debut full-length ‘A Mother’s Curse’ will release on Dark Descent Records. Formed in ’97 by members of Undergang, Cerekloth, and ex-Usipian folks the suggestion is that this is not your usual thing, a mixture of heavy metal and blackened death playing to its own tune. The band comments: “[…] pitch-black death metal tragedy as it was always intended to be: Dark, atmospheric, brutal, and tragic!” I particularly like this idea of tragedian metal with no direct sub-genre signifier, leaves the result open to do what it pleases for the sake of the song. Dark Descent Records will release the record on November 4th on CD, digital, cassette, and vinyl. They’ve got a preview track up on Bandcamp:

Swedish epic heavy metal duo SORDID BLADE have announced they will release their debut full-length album ‘Every Battle Has Its Glory‘ this coming October 14th on CD, vinyl LP, and digitally via Gates of Hell Records. Formed in 2021 with a passion for epic heavy metal band in the vein of Hammerheart-era Bathory, Manilla Road and Warlord this project has been quick to rise to the challenge and from what I’ve heard thus far they’ve managed a pretty authentic result, check out the first preview song over on Bandcamp:

Blood Harvest Records have announced November 25th as the release date for HIBERNUS MORTIS‘ second full-length album ‘The Monoliths of Cursed Slumber‘, on CD and cassette tape formats. The vinyl version will follow next year. These folks sort of kicked up in the late 90’s Florida death metal scenery and eventually put out a decent record back in 2002, two decades later they’ve got another one readied. The Incantation influence remains to some degree but the line-up has changed and this seems to be a far more capable cavernous death metal group, the first track is imposing enough so I’m curious to hear the rest:

Will it be a chasm unto the underworld? A breach in the sky to quake down thunder? Both are likely portents of cataclysmic greatness when my favorite black metal group, longstanding Hellenic black metal magisters VARATHRON are in the process of recording a new album. They’ve release a teaser with some in-studio footage and we have a bit of info otherwise. The title will be ‘The Crimson Temple‘, drums were tracked at Noisyland Recordings (as you’ll see in the clip) and the rest of the crew are set to enter Suncord Audiolab studio to record the rest of the album; They (Agonia Records and Varathron) will have a release date soon. The band remarks: “A new manifestation is becoming reality. Once again, we embark on a journey under the dark skies. We cannot unveil much at this time, but we can promise you that we’ve put our heart and soul into this. With pure passion as our only guide, we now find ourselves amid the creation of our new malevolence.” Hook it up to my veins already. Watch the clip, here:

Black/death anomaly IMHA TARIKAT have released an inspired music video for “Radical Righteousness” the first single taken from their forthcoming album ‘Hearts Unchained – At War with a Passionless World‘ and beyond being a cool clip, the song is pretty memorable. The Germany-based group will release on December 2nd via Lupus Lounge. Bandleader Kerem Yilmaz comments: “The first new single, ‘Radical Righteousness’, deals with the withdrawal from addiction to negativity, conflict, violence, and other forms of emotional suffering” […] This process is depicted as a standoff between the protagonist’s mental depths and his antagonist speaking to him from within, which is represented as a sublime and obscure being. He welcomes the protagonist with open arms, and tries to make him drown in the pool of pain again. After gazing upon the essence of all these unbearable emotions, there comes a change of heart. The price of grief has been paid and it is time to emerge as a greater being than before.” so it seems the vision for this album is passionate and inspired at a glance, a great first impression:

Ukrainian-American blackened death/doom metal artist TCHORNOBOG has announced a split-album of two ~24 minute songs, well paired with British elite black/death and doom act ABYSSAL. Both bands contribute a single side-length epic on this Lupus Lounge released record, coming November 25th. Preview of both songs have been released in a single track, each with a unique take on the render and many guest spots:

Denver, Colorado dark-black/death industrial progressivists LYKOTONON have announced their debut full-length album ‘Promethean Pathology‘ will arrive on November 25, 2022 by way of the illustrious Profound Lore Records. Go ahead and listen to the preview track before these name drops if you can but, eh, most people will see Blood Incantation, Wayfarer, Stormkeep, and literally just buy a few copies. Well, the first single is rad either way fusing psychedelic black metal and avant-garde death metal and apparently industrial metal plays a role in the album which I’m interested to take a closer ear to. The band, all named with nekkrotekkno aliases, suggest: “The origins of ‘Promethean Pathology’ begin with a reckoning […] One that we believe is familiar to most, if not all, humans on this planet. This reckoning is one of discomfort and dissonance. LYKOTONON is a digitized descent into the darker side of the human psyche. It is the probing question that hangs over all of humanity in the quietest of moments.” The preview track is as spellbinding as you’d expect looking at the album cover, check out “That Which Stares in Kind”:

San Francisco-based duo MAMALEEK will release ‘Diner Coffee‘ next week (September 30th on The Flenser) and recently released the second single “Wharf Rats in the Moonlight” another heady jazz-abstracted piece to soak into. Been listening to this album today and I appreciate how every song takes the ear somewhere different, it all feels a bit broken until it coalesces in mind. The vibe is extra creeped, properly abstract on this piece and I’d enjoyed it in preview, check it out over on YouTube:

Blood Harvest Records have announced November 25th as the release date for death metal solo project MYCELIUM‘s second album, ‘Mycoticism (Disseminating the Propagules)‘, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape. The CD and tape versions will be released on November 25th while the vinyl version will follow next year. Give me an old Carcass pun and a theme based around microbes of the fungal type and I’m pretty much interested, the first song certainly makes an entrance:

I wouldn’t normally post more than one single from a new release but Greek progressive/experimental black metal group AENAON have once again stunned me with their latest work/music video “Psyche”, taken from their upcoming fourth studio album ‘Mnemosyne‘ which releases on October 7th through Agonia Records. A brilliantly dramatic song, one that drew me in for repeat listens with its refrain and mind-bending guitar work. Blood’s boiling with hype for this record and it is not far off now:

What should we expect when the folks from Beezlefuzz, Pale Divine grab the guitarist (Victor Arduini) from the first two Fates Warning records? Nothing short if greatness eh, and in this sense the progressive/psychedelic heavy metal of MYTHOSPHERE does not disappoint. These guys are pros and already ready with their debut album ‘Pathological‘ which releases on November 18th through Cruz Del Sur Music. The way I hear it some ideas got too big, or turned in a different direction when writing for another band and eventually rocketed into birth this-a-ways. They’ve released a teaser for the title track here, while sharing a bit of its meaning: “Pathological title track is about “questioning ourselves and surroundings, to be aware and vigilant when we become devoted to a belief, cause, community to the extreme of the suspension of disbelief and critical thinking — and also to avoid isolation and disconnection.” This whole thing smokes, the whole album is inspired lyrics and all. You can also jump right into the opening song over on Bandcamp:

---