THE TOP 20 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH should be self-explanatory, an ordered ranking of twenty albums that’d resonated most throughout this month. If you’re new to the site, the tendency is heavy and/or surreal music. Choices are selected based on temporal immersion, personal connection, impressive style, point of view, aesthetics and with consideration for the lasting value of each selection. All choices are ultimately personal and come without consideration for populism, nepotism, cronyism or perceived “relevance”. Any records left off this list will still be considered for end of the year lists. I am just one man, writing about music is a passion I afford as much time as is manageable and I am grateful to have so much to choose from. Thank you.

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I. This machine eats weird souls — Reviewing art for the sake of a self-imposed weekly quota shouldn’t always inspire entertaining criticism. Substantial, affirming and challenging music remains a big part of what keeps me active with heavy and extreme music on a daily basis and there wasn’t a ton that’d inspired me to my very marrow this May. While I may just as well have cut this down to a Top 10 the entries I’ve included here focus upon the value of persistence within personalized idylls and maintain an emphasis on purposeful craftsmanship. // Otherwise please let me know what I’d missed and what your favorite releases were this month. I always appreciate a quick heads up when my blind spots become obvious or persistent.

II. Roughly ~35 full-length releases are in consideration for full review (with many more in process for short-form review) coming up in June with several already in-process right now. There are some Album of the Year contenders coming up soon so, hey, at the very least you’ll get a few hits of hype on my end throughout the coming month.

III. In 2023 most written reviews will now also have an additional video component. Both edited and off-the-cuff videos will now be embedded or posted to the site regularly (weekly). If you enjoy these please consider following on YouTube.

IV. Each day I meditate with all-consuming gratitude aimed toward the bands, labels and PR firms who choose to work with me — Not to mention the kind few readers who donate to the site intermittently. The goals and ethos of Grizzly Butts have not changed in 2023 but I will be looking for ways to more efficiently cover more music worth talking about on a regular basis. Thank you.

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#1	Album of the Month
ARTIST:	KOSTNATĚNÍ
TITLE:	Úpal
RECORD LABEL(S):	Willowtip Records

As Minneapolis, Minnesota-based abstract black metal project Kostnatění completes their second cycle of exploratory energetic exchange the zoomed-out realist view of slowly scorched and scrambling humanity clashes with the needled-at minutiae of its convoluted, surrealistic compositional foray unto an appropriately disturbing yet richly detailed breakthrough. ‘Úpal‘ finds the artist scaling up the impact of their inherently borderless worldview, still creating erratic and nigh nonsensical levels of scrawling notation but now rooting this modus further outside of the mathematically exaggerated black metal paradigm. For some this will result in a work which is even more wretchedly vexing than prior but for most it will constitute a exponential gain in the curious, eclectic and erratic identity of their work.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#2
ARTIST:	MOURNFUL CONGREGATION
TITLE:	The Exuviae of Gods Pt. II
RECORD LABEL(S):	20 Buck Spin, Osmose Productions

What’d just as well have been fleeting interstitial drainage is instead ceremonial cosmogeny that’d muse back to origin in the storied weaver’s hand of Adelaide, Australia-based funeral doom metal quintet Mournful Congregation on this second and final entrant in their most recent opus. ‘The Exuviae of Gods – Part II‘ provides the right hand, now conjoined with the claw-fingered grasp of the first and encasing an arcane muse in their newly scalding illumination; Of course there is no sense in thinking or rationalizing otherwise, you really do need both parts of ‘The Exuviae of Gods‘ to appreciate its curious existence as a not-double LP and a reflecting pool set betwixt what I’d assume is a sixth full-length down the road. That said the new pieces here are again an extension of the strengths found on ‘The Incubus of Karma‘ (2018) where pronounced guitar harmonies and mid-paced death/doom metal stirring became louder glaring points of mastery.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#3
ARTIST:	BALMOG
TITLE:	The Conquest of Time [mLP]
RECORD LABEL(S):	War Anthem Records, BlackSeed Productions

Within their growing examination of what drives human beings to extreme lengths in order to secure meaning, Soutomaior, Galicia-based black metal quartet Balmog return for a sequel, a second chapter in their exploration of the mystic mind and its motivations. Acknowledging the instinctual taste for forbidden, divine and elusive knowledge ‘Covenants of Salt‘ rebuilds the conditions of a heralded past work as they themselves with expanding upon the conversation within this sequel without losing any of the magick inherent. The erroneous extension of the self, the ascetic tribulation of the devout and the undying spark of wonder in the curious mind all fuel the pensive characterization of this especially fine recording which does an excellent job of bridging the gap with an equally profound but somewhat differently stated vision

>> FULL STREAM <<

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#4
ARTIST:	GAROTED
TITLE:	Bewitchment of the Dark Ages
RECORD LABEL(S):	Lavadome Productions

This fourth full-length from Kansas City, Kansas-based death metal quartet Garoted doesn’t present a puzzle, an obfuscated maze, or any too mysterious vision built from unheard-of horrors but instead frames an easily read brain mashing hammer of brutal death metal in the bloody tradition of distinctly United States death metal. ‘Bewitchment of the Dark Ages‘ is a work of a mayhemic, rhythm obsessed cluster of minds — an athletically achieved blasphemic nuke studied in the ways of legitimate death metal beyond the late 90’s which takes stock of the high-set standards from the post-millennium era of callous groove n’ battery and lends their own percussive finery to that spiritus. It is a timeless sound conscious of the classics and rooted in an era of excess which they’ve continued to make their own throughout their fifteen year run thus far.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#5
ARTIST:	TOMBSTALKER
TITLE:	Age of Darkness [mLP]
RECORD LABEL(S):	Boris Records

Our doom has long been impending, though time may appear to be of the essence as the wheels of confusion render blazing minds corrupted and futile no manner of action will abate the clattering of thunderous hooves as the arrival of apocalyptic riders grows loudest. Fifteen years deep into their depiction of large scale destruction, chaotic realms and fantastical warfare Lexington, Kentucky-based death metal quartet Tombstalker sing the anthems of war machines both real and imagined as the geologic scale of our inevitable chaotic downfall comes into most lucid focus. Their much anticipated latest mLP, ‘Age of Darkness‘, manifests as the work of a band who’re fundamentally the same after six years’ distance but given to a whirlwind of internal change nonetheless, run through their paces to a point of honed identity. Their catchiest melodic death riffs and heaviest punkish Swedeath kicks meet up with triumph-minded tone on this brief but intensely potent point of return.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#6
ARTIST:	ESOCTRILIHUM
TITLE:	Astraal Constellations of the Majickal Zodiac
RECORD LABEL(S):	I, Voidhanger Records

A bespoke war torn cosmogony in a secreted language built to attract the influence of daimonian forces becomes tainted by the schizoid, stranger-than fiction of temporal conspiracy theorem today as the ambitiously parallax vision of French hermetic occult-spiritual misanthrope Asthâghul arrives upon its most egregious, gorgeously excessive lore dump to date. Rapid evolutionary wiles spanning seven years and ten plus major releases have given way to rabid, poisonous oeuvre as this ~130 minute monstre of a triple LP, ‘Astraal Constellations of the Majickal Zodiac‘, appears to coalesce all gained knowledge into a grand tapestry of imaginative obsession. Less an intentionally connective stylistic arc and more a set of three works with an interconnected lyrical theme this latest and largest yet work from Esoctrilihum concerns itself with the demented comptrollers of the unseen cosmos as an illustrative documentarian, unperturbed by the editor and informed by three very different states of mind. Inimitable and esoteric as these works are by design the listener is encouraged to set their own pace, consider each piece its own elaborately voiced volume, and incur no decisive conclusion from these events beyond deep immersion unto demented world building events.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#7
ARTIST:	THANATOMASS
TITLE:	Hades
RECORD LABEL(S):	Living Temple Records, Lvx MorgenStern

None call louder to the halls of the dead, with the fire of the morning-star scarifying the throat and melting the eyes, than Russian black metal trio Thanatomass as a rupture between consciousness and feral mayhemic urge — the unhinged throat-cutting release that the herd so desperately needs in commune with the masters of their impending doom. ‘Hades‘ is not a solemn ceremonial slash at the nape of the bull but a two-handed chop at the very spine of the beast meant to incite terror, rampaging bloody death upon the crowd as they blast unholy away at this evolved-yet-ancient form of spectacularly cacophonic black metal. With this debut full-length the trio stab beyond the grotesque good of their minor releases up ’til this point and strike upon a nerve with intent, achieving a point of highly entertaining greatness that lends some much-needed fire to the greying, oil-slick ocean of bestial extremism today.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#8
ARTIST:	THULCANDRA
TITLE:	Hail the Abyss
RECORD LABEL(S):	Napalm Records

Bavarian melodic black/death metal troupe Thulcandra return for their fifth full-length album and by now there are essentially two roads to take in conjuring some manner of conversation around their work. First, this is the “alt account” for maestro Steffan Kummerer of Obscura who has developed this project in a very different, more steadfastly classic sensibility compared to the adventurous flexion of his other main project. Second, the inspiration for this group has always been quite obvious as a reflection upon the first two Dissection albums. That said this is a avery long ~50 minute record which follows up on the adventurous spirit of ‘A Dying Wish‘ (2021) specifically holding onto that reinvigorated thread and keeping it “heavy metal” throughout while also giving nods to more than the typical No Fashion ideal. Considering the brilliant works from The Spirit, Outlaw, and Thron lately no question ‘Hail the Abyss‘ is different in the sense that it borrows riffs and such from the ‘old school’ side of things more directly but always for the sake of something memorable.

>> FULL STREAM <<

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#9
ARTIST:	AGE OF THE WOLF
TITLE:	A Pilgrimage to Nowhere
RECORD LABEL(S):	Sleeping Church Records

Setting their sights on the blinding molten core of creation before becoming lost in the brimstone and thunder shattered maze of cataclysm resultant San José, Costa Rica-based psychedelic doom/sludge metal quartet Age of the Wolf reach for a darkest yet consciousness in their search for meaning on this second full-length album, fusing a more aggressive and dramatic tone into this conceptual undertaking. Ragged and hypnotic beyond expectations set by their previous full-length ‘A Pilgrimage to Nowhere‘ should rightfully read as a bigger, emboldened follow-up as these fellows deliver intense insight from different zone and their own lore-built setting. For the yet indoctrinated their innate blend of volatile sludge/doom metal, post-metal and fuzzed psychedelia will no doubt impress for the distinction it grants the group within this finest yet longplayer.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#10
ARTIST:	SPORAE AUTEM YUGGOTH
TITLE:	…However it Still Moves
RECORD LABEL(S):	Personal Records

Disquieting features in vague connexion with past aeons mark the dream-like character of Talagante, Chile-based death/doom metal band Sporae Autem Yuggoth who present awestruck memories, omens of the undying and muse upon the unknowable within this exceptional debut full-length album. Surrealistic melodicism and dry-rotted death metal action serve their own form of kosm-crafted dark doom metal as ‘…However it Still Moves‘ fights through the sinew and the gore toward its glorious birth into moonlight. Classicist yet largely untethered to the strictures of the nineties, we see the makings of a semi-progressive hand turning ‘old school’ affect into delirious, truly surreal tunefulness as this fine work simultaneously manifests as outlier and grower alike.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#11
ARTIST:	PROFECI
TITLE:	Ub​ó​stwo
RECORD LABEL(S):	Godz ov War Productions

Choking on the first fly-ash of impending collapse the abstract bitterness of this third full-length from Poznań, Poland-based black metal quartet Profeci is potent yet impatient to burn through its flurry of high-minded ideas, a highly intelligent form of modern black metal which seats itself in serious congress with vexation and hardship for the sake of knowledge gained. ‘Ub​ó​stwo‘ is brief yet listless to a severe, affecting degree as the philosophical vision of the troupe turns to destitution as muse for their critical think tank finding fortitude and sorrow amidst the fragility of civilization creaking overhead.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#12
ARTIST:	TEITAN
TITLE:	In Oculus Abyss
RECORD LABEL(S):	Onism Productions, Void Wanderer

Characterization is where we find Netherlands-based progressive/dissonant black metal project Teitan connecting with his musing upon nihilistic and absurdist existentialist thought and in recognizing this the artist smartly binds strong personification with challenging, varietally rich avant-garde music for this exceptional second full-length album. ‘In Oculus Abyss‘ gives us a bug-eyed lens into the minds which impress, distort and lean into feelings of dread knowing that the outcome may appear foreboding, treacherous from a distance yet the experience at the fringes of existence always proves more valuable than the comfortable stupidity of the mundane.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#13
ARTIST:	IMPETUOUS RITUAL
TITLE:	Iniquitous Barbarik Synthesis
RECORD LABEL(S):	Profound Lore Records

Banging straight into the fleshy septum of miserable, chaotic nox and gripping tight with nails as strong as teeth Impetuous Ritual embed themselves into the discarded carrion of death metal with every bite of their grip, savoring the ammonia-soured thrill of the vermin-piled feast ahead. A feat of pure captivity which embodies the grime that coats their character, ‘Iniquitous Barbarik Synthesis‘ is itself an act of digestion, extraction before extrusion, which busies its processors with the thrilling churn of alchemical flourish and the grinding of willed-alive substance down to quinta essentia. Deep into the villi of decomposing nutrients and discarded wares, shredded ephemera is smeared on the walls as a faecal slurry, lifeforce sapped into a decaying grease which keeps the machine hum of this decaying body loudly resonant, darting its desiccated eyes and spasming all bloating limbs in terrifying animation. “Death machine go brrrrr” part four, basically.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#14
ARTIST:	USNEA
TITLE:	Bathed in Light
RECORD LABEL(S):	Translation Loss Records

Enlightened, or, glowing in aspic with some naturally euphoric light-diffusing distance kept from the tragedian, entropic reality of civilization in torrid decline there is a sense of fire-breathing self preservation upheld throughout this frustrated fourth full-length album from Portland, Oregon-based blackened death/doom metal quartet Usnea. ‘Bathed in Light‘ is perpetually sopping with the grinding gears of restless, despairing thoughts and the hindrance of vexation and feelings of uncertainty which never seem to pass. It is likewise a modest stretch into ulterior realms of expression as the band reflect on the struggle of the years in between, a slight yet nonetheless new twinge of their own brand of harsh and imposing extreme doom music which is tethered to misery but feeling it all differently alongside the passage of time.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#15
ARTIST:	ASCENDED DEAD
TITLE:	Evenfall of the Apocalypse
RECORD LABEL(S):	20 Buck Spin

An overflowing gravemass at the twilight of sentient human witness, the rifle-cracking apocalyptic clamor of San Diego/Portland-based death metal quartet Ascended Dead spills its greying froth down the valley upon return, salting the land with the putrid ashes of the last to be scorched and stomped out. Cracked from the gorm-skulled assault of bestial death yet crafted with a superior sense of traditional rhythm and flow, ‘Evenfall of the Apocalypse‘ is both a delivery upon the expected savagery per the band’s past and a freshly destructive path for the crew who’d iterate and expand upon their best traits on this long-awaited album number two. Though they’ve simply built upon their own well-designed foundation with greater capability here these folks still manage to hold their position as a standout within the swollen realm of death-leaning war metallic craft.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#16
ARTIST:	TERRIFIER
TITLE:	Trample the Weak, Devour the Dead
RECORD LABEL(S):	Empire Records

Damned to a barbaric, cannibalistic future with no end to the gauntlet in sight the will to survive leaves the heavily browed among us drooling with a taste for bloodsport, clapping their flippers at heroically applied suffering as their own bludgeon lies in wait. Not all human beings have begun to devolve into ogrish dolthood today yet all vernacular must change and adapt to keep up with the general disintegration of sentience and literacy in order to remain engaged. Rather than infantilizing their craft down to today’s toddler-sized average attention span Vancouver, B.C.-based thrash metal trio Terrifier instead chose the way of mayhemic violence, extremist takes on a classic forms which speak a well-known and readable language with pure conviction and insistency that it might be received well by such a brutally violent and gormless culture. In this sense ‘Trample the Weak, Devour the Dead‘ heaps its muscular scorn and rabid riffcraft down upon the population which deserves its ruthlessly brutal energy. Eh, and it makes for an excellent ‘old school’ influenced post-millennium thrash metal record with a knack for violent, fast-paced riffs.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

https://empirerecords.bandcamp.com/album/terrifier-trample-the-weak-devour-the-dead

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#17
ARTIST:	RUÏM
TITLE:	Black Royal Spiritism – I.O Sino da Igreja
RECORD LABEL(S):	Peaceville Records

Though it might appear that the renowned artist at the helm of Ruïm is seeking to glom, or, pile additional spiritual perspective onto their own ‘ready rich syncretism the myriad self engages this point of guided entrancement (per their own left-hand modifications to an esoteric Afro-Brazilian spiritual pathway) as a necessary change of scenery and conversation. One could call it a pandemic-era record to some degree as its search speaks to the struggle away from confinement through intellectual-spiritual interest meant to feed the avant-garde urge, the vacuum of the ‘other’ within and the siphon of outer expectation aligned. The debut full-length from this Portugal and France-based black metal duo appears as a shard of the salvaged self manifesting equal parts freshened perspective, a fight against idle hands, and a deeply-set signature statement. ‘Black Royal Spiritism – I.O Sino da Igreja‘ does little to deny the muscle memory if its songwriter and in this sense has considerable face value though it is the nuanced mood of the experience and the patient immersion it demands that helps it ring of gleefully idiosyncratic magickry and willing possession rather than a short-expiry side project per circumstance.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#18
ARTIST:	PHLEBOTOMIZED
TITLE:	Clouds of Confusion
RECORD LABEL(S):	Hammerheart Records

Deepening uncertainty in trying times, debilitating loss of faculties and draining civility among those vexed by misinformation technology all factor into the restless yet beauteous progressive melodic death metal statement launched but this ten years and two LPs past version of Netherlands-based septet Phlebotomized. An obscure name who are yet well-remembered for their insight and outrageous ambition in the early 90’s today we find a glossiest, most mature yet still past-reflective state on album number four. ‘Clouds of Confusion‘ continues on with some of the modern melodic metal inspiration of their prior points of return while balancing in more of their classic aggression, meeting up with an old reputation without having to compromise their vision of the here and now.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#19
ARTIST:	SHADOWS
TITLE:	Out For Blood
RECORD LABEL(S):	Sentient Ruin

At some point in the last ten years John Shades aka Cris Profaner reformed his late 80’s underground thrash metal crew Apostasy and began to reclaim the old glory of extreme thrash metal with a prolific number of releases, ultimately producing two full-lengths that’d realized and pressed beyond their obscure legacy. Around 2021 the Vina del Mar, Chile-based artist had essentially closed that chapter beyond live obligations, eventually sealing off the band as a studio project. As it turns out all resources would instead focus on his new and very different band Shadows, an early-to-mid 80’s style sinister heavy metal/hard rock project which aims itself at an era of heavy metal where songcraft was still very much influenced by the flash and bang of late 70’s arena-filling haul as it entered its era of greatest self-indulgence. ‘Out For Blood‘ is the adept realization of that core idea done right, a short debut album full of all-killer, ear catching pieces which do not fit neatly in the present and do not escape references to the past but bring to life an impossible to forget beast of shredding, creeping and wailing heavy metal nonetheless. It is a modest introduction which asks very little of the listener beyond a half-hour ear but no doubt if given some serious support these decades-crafted sensibilities could serve more than a certain knack and a handful of kicking creep anthems.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#20
ARTIST:	LOOSE SUTURES
TITLE:	Sado Sex For Dummies
RECORD LABEL(S):	Electric Valley Records

All out of safe words to try and cresting on a yet unspecified drug cocktail Sardinian stoner rock/garage punk trio Loose Sutures exit the panic room at half-mast and masked up with a butcher knife in each hand as this third time around threatens to finally get all the way out of hand. Of course I hate to say it, and I do so without any cheek in mouth, but ‘Sado Sex for Dummies‘ feels great as an easier-going and accessible yet still kinda hackles-up dual-throwback heavy rock record. Some of it gets a bit rocky and raw in an unnecessarily rough sorta way (as these folks are prone to) but seems the steadily darkening world around ’em has offered a boon of inspiration, stories to tell and an even more sardonic attitude to lay upon freshly loosened shoulders as they cut into their latest stretch of bumbling, punkish and stoney garage-fuzzed doomed rock.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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HONORABLE MENTIONS

• IMMORTAL – War Against All (Nuclear Blast)
• SACRED OUTCRY – Towers of Gold (No Remorse Records)
• HEIMLAND – Forfedrenes Taarer (2023) | REVIEW
• OCEANLORD – Kingdom Cold (2023) | REVIEW
• HEX A.D. – Delightful Sharp Edges (Apollon Records)
• VERILUOLA – Cascades of Crimson Cruor (2023) | REVIEW