terraasymmetry Features

SYNCHRONY: Music News, Week in Review & Upcoming Releases (6/26/2020)

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

Please note that due to a mandatory post editor upgrade from the site hosting service, all posts prior to June 24th will have ALL images aligned hard left. This cannot be remedied without re-coding my old custom HTML methods and the site theme’s incompatibility with the Block Editor upgrade. Auto-import demolishes certain types of tables. Most of this week was spent creating brand new templates for all types of posts, since nothing was backwards compatible. The look of the site, graphics, and layout for all types of posts will change, but all old posts will look goddamned stupid, for now.

THIS WEEK IN NEWS (6/20/20 – 6/26/20)

  • Bremen, Germany’s SOUL GRINDER have premiered a lyric video for their latest single, “Infernal Suffering”, which kicks off the groove-stricken death metal band’s debut album ‘Chronicles of Decay‘, out on MDD Records this July 3rd. I’ve been listening to Vader’s ‘The Beast’ lately and this song reminded me of it a bit, take that however you will. [MORE INFO]
  • When bassist/songwriter Audie Petrie and his parents were tragically killed in a car accident (a drunk driver hit them) back in 1997 lives were lost and legacies cut far too short. It wasn’t just Acid Bath that’d ended but Petrie’s avant-garde sludge metal side-project SHRÜM, which featured other members of Acid Bath as well as the drummer from Disincarnate’s debut album. The forward thinking gnarl of an album, featuring rasping sludge metal vocals and two bassists, made it to a small-run of tapes in 1997 but was more or less lost to time ’til they’ve put it up on digital outlets recently. If you’re a fan of NOLA sludge’s nastiest, most psychedelic era this’ll be a true gem. Check out ‘Red Devils and Purple Ringers’ on YouTube, iTunes, or Spotify: [MORE INFO]
  • Psychedelic stoner/doom metal quartet MERLOCK will self-release their debut full-length ‘That Which Speaks…’ this July 10th via Bandcamp. Yep, you might know ’em as the weirdo trad metal band who’d put out a demo in 2017 but they’ve evolved considerably since then, leaning towards extended psychedelic sludge-voiced meanders with bursts of their love for traditional heavy/doom metal striking through. The album is all about confronting personal demons, becoming a better dude, and hoping people notice the change. Loving it so far, most of the album is Bandcamp: [MORE INFO]
  • I don’t know who BULL ELEPHANT are, or what in the Hell they’re singing about, shit’s pretty wild though. They’re from the UK and their second album ‘Created From Death‘ releases this coming August 14th on Eat Lead and Die Music. Big stoner rock grooves, doom heaviness, some extreme metal kicks, tons of variation in vocal styles — A lot to keep up with in theory but I’m loving the couple of tracks that’re up on their Bandcamp, go get ’em: [MORE INFO]
  • Eclectic and always choice Norwegian label Edged Circle Productions have announced September 11th date of destruction, the mounting horror, the black-and-white juggernaut unleashed in the form of DARKENED‘s debut full-length ‘Kingdom of Decay‘. You cannot go wrong in the hands of folks who’d brought you Excruciate (Sweden), Grave, A Canorous Quintet (!!!), and Bolt Thrower! O’ Hell, this one is heavy and if you’re a huge fan of ‘…For Victory’ the first single “The Burning” is going to hit extra hard. Darkened have their own sound, though, notice the placement of keyboards and the equally subtle leads throughout. Huge fan of this band since their EP so, looking forward to this one. Check out “The Burning” and the slick album artwork from Juanjo Castellano over on Bandcamp: [MORE INFO]
  • Alright, that first single from NECROT‘s upcoming sophomore full-length ‘Mortal‘ was pretty heavy with tons of riffs but, are they gonna just keep riffing the whole album? Yes, if the Bay Area death metal band’s invitation to crumble and rot, “Asleep Forever”, is any indication this is going to be an album featuring a fuckin’ ass-ton o’ riffs. Drums sound amazing too, gives a solid steel presence to the whole thing when you crank it. Stoked off my shit for the full album, which is out via Tankcrimes on August 28th. Check out “Asleep Forever” over on Bandcamp: [MORE INFO]
  • I’d really loved ‘Svedjeland‘, the second album from Swedish black metal troupe SVEDERNA back in 2019, and there is this stupid ass review on Metal-Archives suggesting anti-establishment lyrics aren’t “black metal”? Reject society, reject all of it! Anyhow, they’re back with a third album ‘Härd‘ which is set to release August 28th via Carnal Records. So far they’ve put up “Tempelhärd” as the first preview track, love the riff that hits around 3:15 minutes in, check it out on Bandcamp: [MORE INFO]
  • After three years of constant touring and a handful of side projects United States death metal’s most doomed and brutal legacy INCANTATION have officially announced their return for a (technically speaking) twelfth album, ‘Sect Of Vile Divinities‘, will be out August 21st through Relapse Records. Ever since ‘Vanquish in Vengeance’ the fire has been noticeably lit in the McEntee realm as Incantation continue to stun with their momentum. “Propitiation” is the first single and pretty well chosen, reminding the listener of what Incantation does best, and throwing in some sharp layered leads. Album art by Eliran Kantor is weird as fuck, slimy and morbid stuff. Check it out on Bandcamp: [MORE INFO]
  • I’ve already reviewed it, loved it, and praised it to high Hell and cave-ridden ghoul alike but now Blood Harvest Records have announced they will be releasing the 12″ vinyl LP version of Chilean subterranean black/death terror CENOTAFIO‘s second album ‘Larvae Tedeum Teratos‘ this September 11th. Fantastic news as the album always deserved a vinyl release and the four song album lines up beautifully with the two-sided format. Fans of occult black metal, chasmic black/death, and such should absolutely go check out the full album on Bandcamp and grab it: [MORE INFO]
  • Los Angeles, Californian black metal duo CULTUS PROFANO have announced their second accost, ‘Accursed Possession’ will release this August 28th by the hands of Debemur Morti Productions. The vocals on the first single “Cursed in Sin, Op. 25” are incredible, pure necro death worship. Check out the song on Bandcamp: [MORE INFO]
  • One of my most anticipated releases for this year is on the way this September 25th via Eisenwald who’ve committed to the North American release of UADA‘s third album ‘Djinn‘. The first single is the title track and oh is it a glorious uprising storm of melodic black metal, beauteous organic sound, and unholy aura! Check out “Djinn” on Bandcamp. [MORE INFO]
  • Belgium based melodic death/doom quartet MARCHE FUNEBRE have announced their latest full-length ‘Einderlicht‘ will be released via Hypnotic Dirge Records [CD, digital], Solitude Productions [CD, digital], and The Vinyl Division [Vinyl] this coming September 25th. So far we’ve seen the album art and now a teaser has been released on YouTube: [MORE INFO]
  • NOTABLE ALBUMS AT PRESS THIS WEEK FROM: Valkyrie, Skeleton, Gutvoid, Vestal Claret, Svederna, Black Elephant, Queen Elephantine, Puro Odio, Entry, Bull Elephant, Cultus Profano, Panzerfaust, Volcanova, Angel Morgue, Jesus Wept, Merlock, Bedsore, Veonity, Xaemora, Might, Clairvoyance, Soulcaster, Ages, Flame, 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 (6/20/20 – 6/26/20)

FEATURES:

  • …From the Tomb 6/22/20: “I gnaw on this marrowbone and will gnaw myself to death over it.”
    • 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 10 New Releases from June 12th-June 25th. There are too many things releasing on June 26th, and that’ll mean next weeks entry will deal solely with albums released that day.
    • Favorites: Diabolic Oath, The Third Kind, Irae.
  • REQUESTS – Part III (May-June) | 2020
    • Requests from independent artists and labels that were sent in between May 1st and June 30th. Some are quite old, others recent.
    • Features: Squelch Chamber, Cloth, Pestilength, The Tunnel, Amidst the Withering, Hor, Bug, Chasing Ghosts, Silure, Feretro, Atonement.
  • Overlooked Releases – Q1 | 2020
    • This will publish by Monday (6/29) but is taking longer due to the need to reformat and create a new template that matches the ongoing feature. Roughly 20 releases will be covered with some guest reviews.

REVIEWS:

Big releases this week from Void Ceremony, Acherontas, Stygian Crown, Pale Divine, Pyrrhon, Fordomth, Exocrine, Shed the Skin, Inexorum, and Paysage D’Hiver. I’ve reviewed most of these, a few are still in process and ‘Im Wald’ wasn’t sent to me. I, Voidhanger deserves special mention this week for their four releases, each of which is truly fine quality. I’m still working on a review for Thecondontion. Doing my best to keep up, I forgot to write down Fellwarden and Fordomth for coverage this week, my bad, there is always next week. Click the image to read the review:

INEXORUM – Moonlit Navigation (2020) | REVIEW
RITUAL MASS – Abhorred in the Eyes of God (2020) | REVIEW
HEADS. – Push (2020) | REVIEW
Hail Spirit Noir – Eden in Reverse (2020) | REVIEW
Shed the Skin – The Forbidden Arts (2020) | REVIEW

RELEASED/RECOMMENDED THIS WEEK (6/26/20 – 6/30/20)

Diabolic Oath – Profane Death Exodus (Sentient Ruin)

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.

UPCOMING RELEASES (7/01/20 – 7/10/20)

Convocation – Ashes Coalesce (Sentient Ruin/Everlasting Spew)

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.

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