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 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 we find a reasonable number of quality black metal releases make their case from the sidelines with newcomers Cursed Excruciation and The Gauntlet likely perking the ears of old school black metal heads while labelmates Høstsol and Grá pull us towards a 90’s state of mind circa 2023 to stunning results. If there is an album that’ll stick with me best of these selections it is probably ‘L​ä​nge leve dö​den‘ per my own tastes, though I could make a similar argument for the simple appeal of Obituary‘s latest record ‘Dying of Everything‘. These are all fine enough choices if you’re an extreme metal buff but I’m in a doom metal mood and my choice for album of the week was split between the overcooked ‘The Coral Tombs‘ from long dormant German funeral death/doom metal band Ahab and the eerie apocalyptic doom rock despair of Finnish group Mansion‘s ‘Second Death‘. It was clear which one I’d pick up most often in the coming months:

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K-HELL IS OTHER PEOPLE

Revered cult death metal label Memento Mori have announced they’ve signed Malaysian old school death metal band OBSCURIAL to their roster. The Kuala Lumpur based band formed back in 2019 and you might recall their ‘Exaltation‘ demo from 2020 or their self-released debut LP ‘Funeral, Burial and Rites‘ from 2021. The big thing about their first full-length that caught my eye was the mentions of ‘Soulside Journey‘ and Grave in terms of style. Memento Mori will release the CD version of their upcoming second full-length, due out during the first half of 2024. I am guessing that might’ve been a typo and they’d meant 2023? Either way, looking forward to what they do next. For now check out their debut:

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BRING BACK THE BEAST

After releasing eight Haunt albums in the space of about four years BEASTMAKER is officially back. You might recall the band digitally released twelve EPs between 2018 and 2020 purging their backlog as they’d called it quits. Nowadays they’re working with Helter Skelter Productions for an extensive set of reissues. The band likewise announced they will be recording new music and playing shows again. Reissues will include ‘Body and Soul‘ + ‘Who Is This?‘ compilation which will be released as a single full-length on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape. A five CD box set will include all ten numbered EPs alongside five vinyl and cassette compilations series which pair EP I & II, III & IV and so forth. If you skipped out on ’em, couldn’t keep up, or were too hot on Haunt back in 2018 this’d be the time to recall just how cool this other project was/is and catch up with their impressive, prolific discography.

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THY BLACKEST AURAE

Greek black metal duo MELAN SELAS have announced they’ve joinced The Circle Music‘s roster alongside the announcement that their latest album ‘New album ‘Zephyrean Hymns‘ which is scheduled for September 2023 release. The Trikala, Greece based group are one of the cooler groups to crop up in the last several years in this heavy metal influenced form of traditional Greek black metal. The band commented: “We are truly excited for our collaboration with The Circle Music label and the new paths that are to be followed. An amazing creative journey begins with our upcoming album “Zephyrean Hymns” that is to be released in September 2023! A new dimension… Great new meaning.” of course I’m stoked they’ve been working on more stuff.

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“NEWS”

Rochester, New York based progressive death metal band CONTRARIAN have announced they will will release their fifth full-length album ‘Sage of Shekhinah‘ this coming March 17 on CD, vinyl, and digital formats by way of the good folks at Willowtip Records. Having followed the band since their first release I appreciate how each record finds them rethinking and refining their approach and production values, this time pulling their approach towards a more organically achieved progressive/technical death metal sound. Check out the first single from the album, “In Gehenna”:

‘Member California-based heavy psychedelic rock band Slow Season from the mid-2010’s? Grrzly B*tts sure does, so I was stoked to find this new version of the band WESTING serves as spiritual rebirth from ex-Slow Season members alongside Ben McLeod (All Them Witches) who joins on lead guitars for their fourth LP. The latest album will be titled ‘Future‘ and releases February 24th once again on RidingEasy Records. Check out the first single “Nothing New” over on Bandcamp:

Deathgrind trio THE HUMAN RACE IS FILTH have announced they will release their latest album ‘Cognitive Dissonance‘ on March 10th. The band’s sound is pretty straightforward compared to some of their other projects, but still tweaked enough to stand out. The band comment: “We wrote this album from August to November 2021 and were really going for straight out Death Grind with a touch of d-beat and Hardcore mixed in. We wanted dirtier guitar and bass tones, more aggressive drums, and more extreme vocals compared to the first three releases and we believe we accomplished those things on this release.” See how it turned out on the album’s first single, the ~two minute “Propagating Technology” over on Bandcamp:

Profound Lore Records have announced Portland, Oregon-based grinding black/death metal band TITHE have signed to their roster for their second album, ‘Inverse Rapture‘. I was a big fan of where they were headed on their debut ‘Penance‘ back in 2020 so I’m glad they’ve been working on a follow-up. Expect meditations upon entheogens, mental illness, and the human condition when the album releases on LP, CD, CS, and digitally on February 17th. Stoked for this one and the album artwork is once again fine work:

Artist Nick Keller has outdone himself with the album artwork for the upcoming fourth full-length album from Italian brutal death metal band DEVANGELIC who will be releasing ‘New Album ‘Xul‘ this coming April 7th by way of Willowtip Records on CD, vinyl, and digital formats. Obsessed with evil, confrontation of personal demons, and the duality of man we can expect nothing less than another modern classic from these folks. Their previous album was my favorite from their discography so I’m stoked out of my brains for this one since it hits pretty hard here with their first single “Sirius, Draconis, Capricornus” which is over on YouTube:

Monumental Rex have announced March 3rd as the release date for CARMA‘s second full-length album ‘Ossadas‘ on digipack CD format, as well as a special limited handmade edition. This Portuguese group manage a blackened, dark ambient infused form of funeral doom metal which captivates at a high standard. They’ve made a fine first impression on my part with this first single “Memória” which you can check out over on YouTube:

We have a second song from the already intriguing debut from blackened/dissonant death metal trio MITHRIDATUM which features former members of Abhorrent and The Faceless. “Mournful Glow” does a fine job of pulling the ear toward the forlorn vexation ‘Harrowing‘ has promised thus far. It hits by way of Willowtip Records this coming February 3rd. Stoked for this one after whipping through this song a few times, doesn’t seem like the usual dissonant death machinery:

Man, I love that album art and couldn’t be more stoked for another BASTARD GRAVE record after seeing ‘Vortex Of Disgust‘ get announced by Pulverised Records. The second album from these Swedish death metal folks will release on March 10th. The first single “Necrotic Ecstasy” is available over on YouTube:

“Losing Connection” is the second single from Finnish psychedelic folk-rock project ITERUM NATA‘s latest album ‘Trench of Loneliness‘ which will be released on February 10th, 2023. The main fellowe behind the project comments: “This was the first song I wrote for the album. I don’t arrange my songs in advance at all, but I instead like to see where the music takes me. In many ways, “Losing Connection” revealed to me the direction my new material was heading in. Everything except percussion and vocals were recorded in just one session. “Losing Connection” is for those poor souls who need to live their lives in constant agony. It’s a reminder that everything, even the pain, will eventually go away.” look for the album by way of Nordvis Produktion next month:

Hungarian death metal band COFFINBORN have announced their debut full-length will be titled ‘Cadaveric Retribution‘ and will be released on 12″ LP, CD, Cassette and digitally by way of Xtreem Music this coming February 23rd. This band features members of Cryptworm, Rothadas, and Morbid Carnage and they’ve been around for a while but relocating meant a few delays between 2014 and now. Seems like a solid record from what I’ve previewed thus far. Check out “Undead Ceremony” over on YouTube:

Soulseller Records have announced the latest album from Norwegian black metal staple TULUS will release this coming February 17th. In keeping with the long-standing tradition of the trio’s best work ‘Fandens Kall‘ will release on CD, vinyl and digitally. You can go check out “Isråk” to start but don’t miss out on the short documentary for the band/album over on YouTube, definitely worth checking out!: https://youtu.be/MK3FzawXcV4

The debut full-length album from Swedish style death metal band TRAMALIZER, ‘Fumes Of Funeral Pyres‘ will arrive by way of Soulseller Records this coming February 17th. The Finnish death metal band will release the album on CD, vinyl and digitally. You can check out their traditional, kinda ‘Clandestine‘ feeling first glance with “Hating God” over on YouTube:

We have a second preview track from California stoner metal quintet BLACKWÜLF on the lead up to their upcoming fourth studio album ‘Thieves & Liars‘, which is due out February 3rd on Ripple Music. This time we’ve got the title track “Thieves & Liars” which is a bit more to the point this time around. Looking forward to this album:

LITURGY have shared a unique single, “Angel of Sovereignty”, from their upcoming album ‘93696‘ which is out by way of Thrill Jockey on March 24th. Ever in pursuit of non-normative art-music inspired heaviness this particular song is orchestrated for a children’s choir, brief but certainly effective in its build. Check out “Angel of Sovereignty” on YouTube:

Norwegian black metal act MORK are back with a sixth full-length album in ‘Dypet’ which is set to be released on March 24th via Peaceville Records. Bandleader Thomas Eriksen comments “It is with great pride that I am able to present and experience the release of my sixth full length album. I put every single drop of myself into the process of shaping MORK’s music. Perhaps even more so with this new album. As the album title, which translates to “The Deep”, something from the depths has been brought to the surface, “Dypet” was inspired by my life over the last couple of years, the thoughts, feelings, passion and the evolving of creative free will. Dive in and let yourself sink into the abyss.“ We’ve only got the announcement and some particulars so far, so for now you can check out more info over on Bandcamp:

https://peaceville.bandcamp.com/album/dypet

British Columbia-based doom/heavy psych trio HAIL THE VOID have announced their sophomore full-length album ‘Memento Mori‘ is due out February 17th on Ripple Music. The first single is “Talking To The Dead”, the band provides some context: ““Talking to the Dead is a project that examines humanity’s knowledge of the inevitable and fear of the unknown, and our oftentimes inability to cope with these ideas. This song, together with the rest of Memento Mori, creates a conceptual experience regarding our mortality and the different ways we might perceive it.” Go check the song out on Bandcamp:

Gruesome Records have announced they’ll release the latest album from Finnish death/doom metal band GOD DISEASE. ‘Apocalyptic Doom‘ will release this coming March 10th as a 6-panel digipak CD. The first single, “Ashes”, is the album’s opening song and it comes with a music video. Slow start to the song but it soon proves immersive in the moment. See what you think of it:

The cover artwork for Karmazid‘s exceptional painting for the latest LAMP OF MURMUUR record recalls the classic illustrative work of Panos Sounas (see: ‘Crossing the Fiery Path‘) in the best way and this should be the first serious indication that an incredible paradigm shift has taken place in approach of ‘Saturnian Bloodstorm‘, which seems to take a heavy turn toward 90’s Norwegian black metal with a melodic edge (Immortal, Old Man’s Child, et al.). If nothing else I’m glad to see the traditions of black metal explored in such a away, this seems like it’ll be an exceptional release. It’ll release by way of Argento Records and Not Kvlt Records this coming March 26th. The first preview track “Conqueror Beyond the Frenzied Fog” is available over on YouTube:

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