SYNCHRONY is a weekly feature focusing on relevant heavy music news, new releases, upcoming releases, as well as a week in review to help folks keep up with all of the content on Grizzly Butts. This’ll also include a list of upcoming releases and some preliminary notes on upcoming reviews or coverage. If I can’t hear it, I won’t cover it! If you have New Releases, show announcements, or important heavy music news that’ll be relevant or interesting to folks contact me at: grizzlybutts@hotmail.com

---

THIS WEEK IN NEWS (5/09/20 – 5/15/20)

• SKELETON! Skeleton (the band) blacken some burly, graveyard fog-huffing raw n’ atmospheric metalpunk with ‘Skeleton‘ (the album, and…) debut from this Austin, Texas trio. I’d say this’ll cheese your brain hard if you’re into stuff like Raspberry Bulbs and Vanum, they’re rough but not abrasive and certainly have a solid grasp of atmospheric black metal digs. The suggestion is that there is a graveyard apropos blackened punk thing going on but certainly not in the typical manner. The first preview song is actually the closing piece “Catacombs” and no doubt it is as dreary and haunted as the title intends but man does it make me curious to see where the rest of the album goes before they creep away into the mist. We’ll all find out what horrors await via 20 Buck Spin this July 20th, 2020. For now check out “Catacombs” over on Bandcamp: [Click/Tap HERE for more info]
• Swedish death metal veteran act CENTINEX have released a lyric video for “Beyond the Dark” which is the first single from their upcoming Agonia Records released full-length ‘Death in Pieces‘, due out May 29th. This time around you’ll notice they’ve restaffed almost the whole band since the last album, kind of like what Entrails has been doing of late, keeping things fresh by shifting the line-up around. In this case I found the results sounded kind of tough guy/hardcorish for my taste. The new drummer does fine work but other than a steady beat this particular track just isn’t gearing me up as much as I’d hoped. Since I’ve heard the rest of the album a few times now, I’d suggest that this isn’t the most exciting first look but still represents some of the bigger changes to their sound since 2016. Check out “Beyond the Dark” over on YouTube: [Click/Tap HERE for more info]
• “The Ruins of What Once Was” comes as the second syrupy Finnish spill of frost and soil in preparation for the upcoming and long-awaited OCTOBER FALLS full-length ‘A Fall of an Epoch‘, due out through Purity Through Fire on May 30th. Folkish and always epic yet attuned to the old Cascadian black metal spirit to some degree this band has long been a well-hidden gem in my personal archives so, I’d highly encourage checking out their acoustic records and the ‘Streams of the End’ EP in the meantime. Also, a previous track is up on their bandcamp. Otherwise check out “The Ruins of What Once Was” on YouTube: [Click/Tap HERE for more info]

• London death metal band DECREPID have announced their third album, ‘Endless Sea of Graves‘, will release through Xtreem Music on CD on July 7th this year. With some consideration for the five year break between albums it seems finding a new rhythm section and focusing on writing songs more tightly attuned to ’91-’93 death metal style has strengthened Decrepid’s sound. The first preview song “Phobos Descent” has a swamped-out sound, brutal but disgustingly visceral in their aggression. I’m actually really looking forward to it, reminds me of old underground stuff like Corpus Rottus. Check out the song over on YouTube: [Click/Tap HERE for more info]

• Horror Pain Gore Death Productions have signed melodic death-thrashers CARRION VAEL to their roster and announced the upcoming release of their second album ‘God Killer‘. The Indiana-based group offer a mix of technical and classic elements for a fairly modern melodeathrash sound Hit up their Bandcamp to hear the first preview track “Black Chariot”: [Click/Tap HERE for more info]

• Blackened heavy “ice metal” aggressors PERSEKUTOR have announced the upcoming release of their debut full-length entitled, ‘Permanent Winter‘ which’ll be out on Svart Records this September 4th. I gotta say between the really unique Wrest illustration on the cover and the pure camp Venom-ized 70’s heavy metal of the first single “Can You Feel the Frost of Dawn” this has become one of my more hotly anticipated records later in the year. Check out the track for yourself over on YouTube: [Click/Tap HERE for more info]
• Tape-obsessed cult label Caligari Records have set the date for their cassette version of RITUAL MASS‘ debut EP, ‘Abhorred in the Eyes of God‘, for June 19th. The digital and vinyl versions came out mid-2019 so you might’ve already heard of this but it is all new to me and I’ve really enjoyed the straight-forward punch of their sound. It feels like early Incantation, a little bit of Brutality, and a heap of the more brutal side of Midwest US death metal circa ’94. You can hear the whole thing on Caligari’s Bandcamp: [Click/Tap HERE for more info]
• Here’s something rock related to get excited about, Berlin’s MAGGOT HEART have released the first single (and title track) from their upcoming sophomore album ‘Mercy Machine‘ and its dire post-punk n’ roll blur is shuddering and sweaty stuff to behold. Rapid Eye Records will be putting it out July 10th, go grab the first song “Mercy Machine” on Bandcamp ASAP: [Click/Tap HERE for more info]
• NYC’s psyche’d science fiction crossover hardcore band THE THIRD KIND have announced their debut album ‘Man Vs. Earth‘ for self-release in digital and vinyl versions available on July 26th. These guys feature members of All Out War, The Last Crime, Vise Massacre, and many more. For sure you don’t need to know who those other bands are to “get” The Third Kind, they’re along the lines of Paralysis or Power Trip, crossover but leaning towards classic hardcore. Nice retro sound, big production and a great bass guitar tone. You can check ’em out on Bandcamp where they’ve posted album opener “Sole Mission”: [Click/Tap HERE for more info]

• Caligari Records have set June 26th as the day of release for the debut demo tape from Polish death metal quartet CLAIRVOYANCE entitled ‘Demo‘. These guys formed less than a year ago but they’ve got riffs and this demo fucking kills. Huge vocals, splattered Grave-like raw death depth charges, thrashing riffs, it is all intended to hit as hard as 90’s death metal did while bringing some of the memorable songwriting when possible. If you love Finnish death and modern revisionist (read: post-Disma) thinking on it as much as I do you’ll need this one. Check out the whole 11 minute 3 song tape over on Bandcamp: [Click/Tap HERE for more info]

• Cold, distant, and striking with a skin-crumbling wash of blackened blasts Birmingham, England based raw black metal/dark ambient act THE SUNS JOURNEY THROUGH THE NIGHT will finally leave monument to the helpless collapse of existence under the suffocation of the stars with a debut full-length entitled ‘Eternal Black Transmissions’ for release on Repose Records this May 29th. Most certainly influenced by Paysage d’Hiver but finding his own antennae guided beyond the snow-flailing clouds, this’ll be a huge and immersive experience for those inclined. The first preview track is also the album closer and title track, check it out on Bandcamp: [Click/Tap HERE for more info]

• If you’re not getting enough post-hardcore/noise rock kinda stuff outta me lately check out one of the more anticipated cuts from Virginia’s DEMONS with the single for “Slow Burn”. An ecstatic, clanging banger of a song ever-climbing guitars and a head you can tell is swimming amongst the chaos of politico today. Here’s hoping they’ve got an album in ’em or on the way soon once folks find their normal again. Go grab it on Spartan Records‘ Bandcamp if you like this style of rock music: [Click/Tap HERE for more info]
• Probably my most anticipated release of the last few years has finally been announced, the latest full-length from Mexican death metal band QUESTION will arrive on June 29th via Chaos Records and they’re calling it ‘Reflections of the Void‘. So far they’ve released two preview tracks and needless to say they’ve found a sharp balance between transformative death psychedelia and their own old school riffing death metal. I am stoked out of my skull for this one! Check out the preview tracks over on Bandcamp: [Click/Tap HERE for more info]
• NOTABLE ALBUMS AT PRESS THIS WEEK FROM: Khthoniik Cerviiks, Ulthar, Ritual Mass, Clairvoyance, Dearth, Scars, Carnal Savagery, Mustasuo, Drops of Heart, Enevelde, Otzi, Marthe, Ice, Carthagods, The Funeral Orchestra, American Terror, Youna, Flagg, Orfvs, Odiosior, and several more. Look for coverage in the near future. Don’t see your album listed? Send it to me: grizzlybutts@hotmail.com

GRIZZLY BUTTS‘ WEEK IN REVIEW (5/09/20 – 5/15/20)

FEATURES:

• …From the Tomb 5/11/20: “Gaunt clawed hands, thrust through the bars despairingly.”
  • This year Ten From the Tomb changes to …From the Tomb and is no longer limited to ten releases. It will post every Monday with a list of at least ten new releases coming out during that current week and a short review will be included for each one. This week I chose to cover 14 new releases from March 1st-8th.
  • Favorites: Okkultokrati, Heron, Runespell, River of Souls.

REVIEWS: Big releases this week from Ara, Devangelic, Tyrant, Horn, Paradise Lost, Antichrist Demoncore, Obnoxious Youth, and Wailin Storms. I’ve heard Triptykon‘s live album and thrash band Shrapnel‘s new album but neither did much for me, still waiting on Abramelin‘s latest. Two more quick things you don’t want to miss: Burial Vault (Germany) and their new EP, along with a reminder to give Tithe a spin. With sixteen reviews in various states of unfinished work and 6-7 fresh ones in prep for next week no doubt I am loving the flood of odd and unpredictable heavy stuff coming out this May. Reviews for Wailin Storms, Devangelic, and Feral Light coming on or before Monday.

• Göden – Beyond Darkness (2020) | REVIEW
• Vader – Solitude in Madness (2020) | REVIEW
• Cauldron Black Ram – Slaver (2020) | REVIEW
• Tyrant – Hereafter (2020) | REVIEW
• Cosmic Putrefaction – The Horizons Towards Which Splendour Withers (2020) | REVIEW
• Tøronto – Under Siege (2020) | REVIEW

RELEASED/OVERLOOKED THIS WEEK (5/09/20 – 5/15/20)

NOTE: This small sample includes overlooked releases that are either not yet reviewed or covered but nonetheless recommended. Some of these will still be featured in other coverage. An asterisk (*) indicates that a review is drafted or in preparation. A plus (+) indicates that the album has already been reviewed. Click/Tap on RECORD LABEL name for preview, stream, or store.

• ARA – Jurisprudence [Self-Released]+
• TYRANT – Hereafter [Shadow Kingdom Records]+
• HORN – Mohngang [Iron Bonehead Productions]*
• TITHE – Penance [Tartarus Records]+
• DEVANGELIC – Ersetu [Willowtip]*
• OBNOXIOUS YOUTH – Mouths Sewn Shut [Svart Records]+
• PARADISE LOST – Obsidian [Nuclear Blast]*
• WAILIN STORMS – Rattle [Gilead Media]*
• OLD CORPSE ROAD – On Ghastly Shores Lays The Wreckage Of Our Lore [Trollzorn]
• IN THE COMPANY OF SERPENTS – Lux [Self-Released]
• IKU-TURSO – Pakana [Wolfspell Records]
• DINING WITH DOGS – The Problem With Friends [Dirt City Studios]
• OKKULTOKRATI – La Ilden Lyse [Southern Lord Recordings]
• ACxDC – Satan is King [Prosthetic Records]
• HERON – Time Immemorial [Sludgelord Records]
• GRAND MASSIVE – 4 [Metalville Records]
• ASHTAR – Kaikuja [Eisenwald]
• RUNESPELL / FOREST MYSTICISM – Wandering Forlorn [Iron Bonehead Productions]
• 6TH CIRCLE – Pacified/Conjuring [Sentient Ruin]
• RIVER OF SOULS – Usurper [Self-Released]
• ROPES OF NIGHT – Ropes of Night [Golden Antenna Records]
• SARCOFAGO – Hate [Greyhaze Records]
• WOLVES DEN – Miserere [Trollzorn]
• HOT NUNS – Rude, Dumb & Anxious [Loyal Blood Records]
• NIEGE MORTE – IIII [Division Records]
• THROWING BRICKS – What Will Be Lost [Tartarus Records]

UPCOMING RELEASES (5/16/20 – 5/22/20)

NOTE: This is not a comprehensive list, some titles are already reviewed and/or covered and some have yet to enter the final queue for consideration and processing. An asterisk (*) indicates that a review is drafted or in preparation. A plus (+) indicates that the album has already been reviewed. Click/Tap on RECORD LABEL name for preview, stream, or store.

• FERAL LIGHT – Life Vapor [Hypnotic Dirge Records]*
• MOUNTAINEER – Bloodletting [Lifeforce Records]*
• HEXENBRETT – Zweite Beschwörung: Ein Kind zu töten [Dying Victims Productions]*
• ESOCTRILIHUM – Eternity of Shaog [I, Voidhanger Records]*
• COSMIC PUTREFACTION – The Horizons Towards Which Splendour Withers [I, Voidhanger Records]+
• SODOMISERY – The Great Demise [Testimony Records]*
• ZATYR – Ornament of Proposition [Dying Victims Productions]*
• TORONTO – Under Siege [Dying Victims Productions]+
• ARSTIDIR LIFSINS – Saga á tveim tungum II: Eigi fjoll né firðir [Ván Records]*
• BAIT – Revelation of the Pure [LADLO]*
• THE THIRD EYE RAPISTS – Deathtrip Transcendence / Magicians of the Holocaust [Amor Fati]
• HENRY KANE – Age of the Idiot [Transcending Obscurity Records]
• DRAPSNATT – Skelepht [Nordvis Produktion]
• FIRES IN THE DISTANCE – Echoes From Deep November [Prosthetic Records]
• TEMNEIN – Tales: Of Humanity and Greed [Self-Released]
• BARREN WOMB – Lizard Lounge [Loyal Blood Records]*
• DEVIL WITH NO NAME – Devil With No Name [New Density]
• VESICARUM – Reign of Terror [One Eyed Toad Records]

Did I miss something important this week? Send me an e-mail and tell me about it. It is always worthwhile to speak up for the lesser known stuff. Please remember you can donate to help keep me in front of the computer writing about metal. Thanks.