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

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ALBUM OF THE WEEK

This week’s finest is ‘Song of Salvation‘ from Dream Unending, an obvious choice if you’ll recall how much I’d liked the first album. Otherwise Encyrcle (!) have released their incredible swan song in ‘Deeper‘, this is one of my favorite heavy metal records of 2022, one which I will review next week. Otherwise we’ve got solid records from Kampfar, Arallu, Detherous, Destroyer of Light, and Harvest Gulgaltha to round things out.

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WEARING YOUR BONES

Night Rhythms have another Oozing Tunnel for you to explore, ‘II’. Goblin-synth.

CURSED TO THRASH

Munich, Germany-based thrash metal quartet White Mantis caught my ear with this one while I was doom-scrolling through Bandcamp looking for riffs. Kind of a prog-thrash lean in their attack and it sounds like these two songs are a warm-up for a new full-length, I’m into it. Check out ‘The Iron Curse‘:

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“NEWS”

Blackened dissonant death metal trio MITHRIDATUM have announced they will release ‘Harrowing‘ on Willowtip Records early next year (February 3, 2023.) Comprised of former members of Abhorrent and The Faceless, you can be sure they’ll turn it out in terms of technique. The band states: “Through mercurial waves beneath the moon’s mournful glow, a trinity of incarnate beings that embody Mithridatum have conjured forth the entity known as Harrowing, an auditory pilgrimage traversing a gloomscape leaden with dissonance, despondency, isolation, entropy… into the abyss.“. First preview track is “Sojourn”:

Setting the date at December 16th, 2022 Into Endless Chaos Records have announced ‘Elevenfold Tail‘, the debut album from NIGRUM. Expect the intense and wild sort of true freakery the label is known for. First preview track is “Per Sepulchra Regionum”:

Me Saco Un Ojo Records and Rotted Life Records have announced December 16th as the release date for a split album between Russians GOSUDAR and Texans MALIGNANT ALTAR. Me Saco Un Ojo are covering the EU vinyl LP release, while Rotted Life will release the split on CD, vinyl, and cassette tape in North America. Two of the best death metal bands around, and Hell, we’ve got a ten minute track from Gosudar, “Mortified Transformation”, to start:

Everlasting Spew are stoked as fuck about the new LP from Minneapolis, Minnesota-based dissonant death mutants NOTHINGNESS, ‘Supraliminal‘, and I can see/hear why. Not only is this new video wild as fuck but the album art is rad too. Glad these guys went for it on this new release, the weirder side you knew was buried in the first record is out and it rules. First single is “Curse of Creation”:

‘Kosmodrom‘ is the ninth full-length from one of my favorite modern extreme doom metal acts, Parisian group MONOLITHE. This record “tells the tale of intrepid pioneers, explorers, discoverers and the dangers and sacrifices inherent to their leap into the unknown, through the metaphor of real historical events related to the space conquest on the Soviet side.” and I think this is very fitting for the sound they’ve developed for this record, always a brilliant amount of thought put into their work. The album releases very soon, November 25th by way of Time Tombs Production. It’ll come with a bonus CD full of cover songs, the embed here is a Carpenter Brut cover:

https://monolithe.bandcamp.com/album/kosmodrom

Experimental German void-gazer duo FVNERALS have released a video clip for the track “For Horror Eats the Light”, which is the first single taken from their forthcoming new album ‘Let the Earth Be Silent‘, which will release on February 3rd, 2023. The band comments on the piece: “The track ‘For Horror Eats the Light’ is a lament about giving up all sense of hope, embracing the absence of light and a forced return to barren lands through devastation“, guitarist Syd Scarlet elaborates. “The song is about contemplating our lives coming to an end while accepting that nothing can save us and nothing should. It was written to include several movements that each mirror an emotional stage. The title of the song was inspired by a quote from Thomas Ligotti: ‘Not even the solar brilliance of a summer day will harbor you from horror. For horror eats the light and digests it into darkness’.” A fitting thought for the gloom they’ve produced:

Dutch death metal band BODYFARM have premiere the new video for “Torment” the first track revealed from the band’s fifth album, ‘Ultimate Abomination‘, set for release on February 24th, 2023 via Edged Circle Productions. Album sounds huge, will definitely check the album out. Check the video over on YouTube:

Canadian thrash band KORROSIVE have announced they will be releasing CDs, cassettes and vinyl for their latest album ‘Toxic Apokalypse‘ thanks to CDN Records. CDs will be due out on November 18th, with cassettes and vinyl for release in 2023. This was a solid thrash metal record the band released digital only back in October. Go check out the whole thing on Bandcamp or whatever.

On November 25th THE WOLVES OF AVALON will release their new album, ‘Y Gododdin‘, through Godreah Records. “A haunting blend of timeless storyteling, evocative folk influences and rampaging black metal,” and yeah, I think they’ve pulled exactly that off in this new lyric video for the song “Men of Goddodin” which features guest vocals from Hoest of Taake: 

Italian black-thrash metal band NECRODEATH have released a new single/video for “Oomny Ones”, a song inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange” – specifically the scene in which Alex, the protagonist, is seen regaining his leadership among his “droogs”. A wild video, a lot of big personality here and thankfully something new and bold from the band. ‘Singing in the Pain‘ will be released on Time To Kill Records on November 28th 2022.

Texas based progressive metal band TURBID NORTH have announced January 20th as the release date for of their third album, ‘The Decline‘. Describing it as “radiant space-rock, suffocating doom, and full-blast death-grind” I remember loving ‘Orogeny‘ back in 2011 when it came out but they took a complete left-field turn on ‘Eyes Alive‘ several years later and wasn’t sure what they were all about at that point. Having a similar reaction here with this new sound, seems cumulative of a wide variety of influences, compelling first listen via “The Old Ones”:

Québecois black metal band ORPHIQUE have premiered the first single, “Chromatique”, from the band’s debut album, ‘Consécration Cadavérique‘, which is set for release on November 24th via Sepulchral Productions. This is one of my more anticipated black metal releases in December thus far. Go listen to “Chromatique” over on YouTube:

Swedish stoner/fuzz rock band TIDAL WAVE have joined the Ripple Music roster for the release of their second album ‘The Lord Knows‘, which releases January 20th. Listen to the first single “End Of The Line” over on YouTube, catchy song and the lyrics have definitely got the right axe to grind:

Stoner rock trio KARMA VULTURE have shared the first single from their forthcoming album ‘Something Better‘, which releases in early 2023. “Do The Twitch” is the first song we’ve gotten from the band debut and they’ve made a great first impression with it, a jam in good fun:

Blues Funeral Recordings have announced United States psychedelic rock band DEAD MEADOW‘s ‘Force From Free‘ will be a part of the label’s exclusive PostWax series subscription package. The trio enter new territory here having written and recorded the album remotely and leaned into their experimental side, a natural headspace for a band on their eighth full-length. Beyond the limited variant all versions of the album arrive this coming December 9th.

Portuguese psych/stoner rock band STONES OF BABYLON have shared a few tracks from their upcoming full-length ‘Ishtar Gate‘ which is set for release on November 21th via Raging Planet Records. “Traveling back in time to the ancient history and myths of Mesopotamia and the fertile crescent,” Stones of Babylon continue the thread of their debut LP ‘Hanging Gardens’ in terms of both themes and sounds, a desert rock and stoner doom metal heaviness which I’d appreciated in preview. Great album art, too:

Helter Skelter Productions have announced they will release a compilation for Italian stoner/doom metal group DEMONIO. ‘Electric Voodoo of the Black Dawn‘ collects their discography thus far on CD and cassette tape including their LP Electric Voodoo alongside the Black Dawn EP from earlier this year. Both have been digital only and likely missed by some, check their sound out if you’re big on Electric Wizard influenced stuff:

French heavy blues rock band DOCTOR DOOM have announced their sophomore album ‘A Shadow Called Danger‘ will be issued on vinyl this November 18th through Black Farm Records, with a CD release on January 20th through Ripple Music. Two singles are up for perusal at the moment, I highly recommend “What they are trying to Sell”!

Dying Victims Productions’ retro sub-label Relics From the Crypt have announced a vinyl reissue of the classic second album from French heavy metal band SORTILÈGE. Larmes de héros is well described as a cult fixture in the ‘80s French heavy metal scene, made a touch more famous by Chuck Shuldiner of all people. Essential for any true fan of heavy metal, and a huge recommendation if epic heavy metal is your thing:

Last but not least Dying Victims Productions have announced January 27th, 2023 as the release date for TRASTORNED‘s debut album, ‘Into the Void‘, on CD and vinyl LP formats. Although I don’t understand why they’ve picked that band name, this is an insanely good first impression in terms of the music. The first single, “Metal Violence”, may very well be the best thrash/speed metal song I’ve heard all year? I think so:

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