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
This week the choice was fairly easy on my part but it is certainly not a “metal” record in the slightest, prepare your disappointed scowling face for it eh. Though I’ve not reviewed the truly estranged avant-gothic/post-black beast that is MORD’A’STIGMATA‘s ‘Like Ants and Snakes‘ I’ve nonetheless enjoyed the process of warming up to it. The atmosphere is glassy, broad and perfectly eerie just short of evil circus music and the vocals are as inspired as the pumpin’ basslines throughout. If you’re looking for something semi-melodic, atmospheric, with plenty of death metal riffs then Strychnos‘ debut ‘A Mother’s Curse‘ will satisfy, just give it a bit of time to heat up into their core gig. Otherwise I’d recommend checking out Pukewraith for steady classic death metal cuts on ‘Banquet of Scum‘ and Licht des Urteils‘ debut ‘Uhraamo‘ if you love Finnish black metal as much as I do.
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.
TASTE IT LIKE A MACHINE
Throbless brains < now throbber-engaged, PSA: /// .JK FLESHrelease’SEWER BAIT‘ LP–Justin K.Broadrick transference of skin to speaker in digital format via PRESSURE. DoubleLP circa 2023. Bumpin’, drippy, sadistic echoes. All of it great.
“NEWS”
Crikey, Oz is def full of poison squirtin’ creepy-crawlies but the real chaz-wozzles are the bad actors in society, knifey-spooney. Brisbane blackened thrash/death metal group IDLE RUIN are cool enough and spittin’ back with this single “Delta Hexatoxin”, which they explain: “The song’s about the bad apple spoiling the bunch, how one individual’s actions can potentially ruin a larger group from the inside out. “Delta Hexatoxin” is the compound within the venom of funnel-web spiders, which can impair one’s nervous system once infused.” Liked the riff progression here, nice tension to the song and fire in a video is always cool:
Independent Parisian label Chien Noir have announced the debut EP from French black metal unit ZËLOT will release this coming November 11th. ‘Supplices‘ comes from a duo, formed between NZ (Krv, DDENT, Les Tigres du Futur, Fiend) and OD (Maudits, Throane, Ovtrenoir, Krv). They describe the EP as “a sonic spell and an ode to 90s black metal” and at a glance that seems to mean a bit of inventive post-black metal, check out the preview track/video for “Chrysalide” to start:
Dutch doom-metal group CELESTIAL SEASON return with the second release of their Mysterium trilogy, ‘Mysterium II’, which follows the first from earlier this year via Burning World Records who will likewise release this entry on December 2nd. The first preview track “Pictures of Endless Beauty – Copper Sunset” has been released and they’ve commented: “Musically “Pictures of Endless Beauty” is inspired by the true masters of Death/Doom ‘Cathedral’. Celestial Season is often blindly coupled to the Peaceville 3 but for composer Jason Kohnen, “Pictures of Endless Beauty” is an ode to ‘Forest of Equilibrium’ which laid the foundation to a big part of his personal and Celestial’s sound. The Cathedral ‘side B’ track ‘Copper Sunset’, appears at the end of the “Pictures of Endless Beauty” as tribute to Gary Jennings’ amazing songwriting.” Good to know! I think that is actually pretty rad as a huge fan of Cathedral‘s entire discography.
Australian death-metal abstractionists PLOUGHSHARE will release a new album titled ‘Ingested Burial Ground’ on December 8th via Brilliant Emperor Records. This mLP is built from two halves, the first is comprised of five new songs experimenting with the noise/industrial side of their sound, plus the other half which features re-interpretations of the initial tracks re-imagined by artists such as Sow Discord, Alex Macfarlane (Faceless Burial), Ignis Fatuus (Grave Upheaval, Portal), Ascanyx, and Xeno Chemist. The first preview track “Divulging Bees, Spiders, And Scorpions” is shockingly different than was expected, a piece which members describes the song” “as an exploration of some of the influences and ideas behind the band that have previously been addressed only in the margins, through using different configurations and instrumentation. All our records, to now, have entailed experimentation in some form. This record perhaps stretches that approach further through using new techniques and tools and playing with sound in new (for us) ways. The intention was to change the approach and force something new to happen whilst still remaining Ploughshare”. Fresh as hell and difficult to describe for sure.
Odium Records have released a second single from the upcoming DEVILPRIEST record ‘In Repugnant Adoration‘. The album will be released on November 12th on CD and around April ’23 on LP. If you’re a fan of ’90 black/death metal you should jump on this one. Check out “Walpurgis”:
Bro! You’re bleeding. STRYCHNOS have released a music video for “Blessed be the Bastard Reign”, the second single from the band’s long-awaited debut album ‘A Mother’s Curse‘ which released today, since I am behind on the news. This is one of the best songs from the record, well-picked eh, but the whole thing rules:
UK black metal/crust punks WOLFBASTARD have released a music video for their latest single “Buckfast Blasphemies” in support of their third album ‘Hammer The Bastards‘. I have a great story about Buckfast from my early 20’s that I’ll spare you, but hey I appreciate the whole hitting the priest with a bottle of it and taking him to a Satanic sex dungeon thing. Great work, especially the drinking out the dog bowl bit, kicking song too:
Agonia Records have recently released the second single from Polish black/thrash metal killers WITCHMASTER‘s sixth studio album ‘Kaźń‘ which is due this coming November 25th. “All-consuming Hate” is a straightforward burner to start, a shouted and punched-out hit of thrash that eventually takes a darker, hallucinatory turn which reminds me of post-Hellhammer death-thrash to some degree, a verve you’ll know when you hear it. Loving the production on this album, tight in space but allowing plenty of room for the drums to hit. Of course, see what you think:
Melodic death/doom metal group KUOLEMANLAAKSO return with a limited three song EP ‘Kuolleiden laulu‘ from Svart Records this coming December 16th. Both the well-loved previous album and the EP were recorded in the same studio session in 2021 but these appear to all be quite different than that complete, rounded vibe on the full-length. “The three songs on Kuolleiden laulu differ from one another considerably, and they present new sides to the band. Lyrically all three songs are fictional stories based on the 10-year volcanic winter that begun in 535 and has been described by historical scholars as ‘the worst time to be alive’“, comments maestro Laakso. This title track is quite elegant, almost a Tristitia or Theatre of Tragedy-esque feeling to its vocal treatment.
Memento Mori recently announced their signing of Filipino abyssal death metal band FORMLESS ODEON for the CD issue of their upcoming debut full-length album which they’ve tentatively set the release date for April 24th, 2023. Expect Immolation-esque brutality as a starting point. For now you can check out the band’s 2022 EP over on Bandcamp:
New England underground label Eternal Death have announced January 13th, 2023 as the release date for black/heavy metal act THE GAUNTLET to drop their debut album. ‘Dark Steel and Fire‘ will be available on vinyl LP and digital formats. The first preview song “Beyond the Limits” has a kind of Slaughter-meets-Venom kind of feeling to it:
Good news everyone. Cruz Del Sur Music have picked up HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE‘s latest full-length album ‘Overtaker‘ for vinyl release, the date having been set for January 20th, 2023. It’ll be a wild punkish, folkish prog-thrash opus to look forward to. As I’d previously reported, other versions release on December 2nd this year.
Belarus brutal death metal band OMINOUS SCRIPTURES will release their third full-length album early next year by way of the good folks at Willowtip Records. ‘Rituals of Mass Self-Ignition‘ features what they’ve described as straightforward and blasphemous brutality rooted in the early 2000s extreme death metal. My kind of thing from the sound of it with a bit of slamming brutality here and there. The record will be released on CD, vinyl and digital formats on January 27th, 2023. For now, enjoy “Demonic Totem I Am”:
Heartworm Press has announced they will release GENESIS P-ORRIDGE‘s Coumplete Poems – 1960’s & 70’s, a book of poems and illustrations from the iconic artist, this coming February 3rd, 2023. If you are familiar with their work then you’ll understand the vital role these formative works of poetry had on revealing the artist and occult provocateur early on. Thrilled already by the look of the scanned images:
Coumplete Poems – 1960's & 70's
Portland, Oregon hardcore punk group BOTHERS have announced the release of their sophomore LP ‘II‘ will be released this coming November 18th on San Antonio/PDX label Dirt Cult Records. The first single “Black/Orange” marks the event with a ripper. These guys are changing things up some on this one, aiming for a heavier record leaning into metallic hardcore influences and some noise rock esque tempo modulation, suggesting influences from: Tragedy, Laughing Hyenas, Jesus lizard, Neurosis and Born Against.
Veteran Northwestern Washington-based heavy rock band MOS GENERATOR have announced their return with a 10th studio album which appears to meditate the ephemeral nature of existence, ‘Time//Wounds‘ is a prog-rock opus based on what I’ve heard and it releases this December 16th independently. Maestro Tony Reed comments on the first single (“Aja-Minor”): “Like many of the songs on the Time//Wounds album, Aja-Minor is about time and the decisions that are made as the years pass by. I feel like the lyrics are a message to the young telling them not to waste a moment in this life. Musically, the track goes through many changes and it’s hard for me to pinpoint direct influences, but I think the initial spark for the song comes from the fact that I am using a tuning that Joni Mitchell uses on her Hejira album. Using that tuning allowed for chord voicings I wouldn’t normally use and helped to create a piece of music I’m very satisfied with. I think it’s a condensed representation of the rest of the album. Progressive rock with pop elements.“
On December 9th, post-black metal duo HARAKIRI FOR THE SKY release re-recordings of their two first albums ‘Harakiri For The Sky‘ and ‘Aokigahara‘. I would usually not care about this type of thing but I would agree that this makes sense, it really won’t hurt the legacy of these albums to get a professional touch. These “MMXXII Editions” thankfully feature a human drummer, Krimh, and new cover artwork by Art Of Maquenda. You will not find me talking about many post-black metal bands these days but I feel like this one hasn’t ever forced it and I’ve always appreciated their longer, often immersive touch which was evident early on. Anyhow worth a mention since these sound great, I am a fan of the group, been listening to the latest Karg quite a lot lately, and numbers are kinda limited. Listen to the re-recorded version of “02:19 AM, Psychosis” here:
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