SHORT REVIEWS Our twenty-fourth edition of Short Reviews for 2023 finds us picking through the fourth week of June’s new releases with moderate enthusiasm, most of these will release June 23rd or nearby. I’ve done my best to showcase the most interesting works that I come across while still presenting some decent variety here but choices boil down to what sticks, what inspires or what is worth writing about. These are more easygoing than longform reviews, so relax and think for yourself — If you find something you dig go tell the band on social media and support them with a purchase! If you’d like your music reviewed, read the FAQ and send promos to: grizzlybutts@hotmail.com

---

This eleventh full-length album from Colorado Springs-based power/heavy metal originals Jag Panzer follows the narrative found in the band’s comic book ‘The Hallowed‘ which they’d issued back in late 2022. If this is the first time you’ve paid attention to the band’s work beyond potentially taking a recommendation of their classic 1984 debut ‘Ample Destruction‘ at some point you’ll likely not pick up on the fact that they’re not really a concept album kinda band but a group of fellowes heavily inspired by the NWOBHM back in the day, including a bit of the speed metal fallout and pre-’86 Priest worship beyond. Today us internet nerds call it “80’s U.S. power metal” in hindsight but the more persisting description of their legacy is in true traditional heavy metal of the early-to-mid 80’s who’d generally updated their sound entirely when they returned in the early 90’s. That shouldn’t suggest there hasn’t been any evolution beyond their first decade of activity but that this is not a group to chase trends or lose themselves in the desperate chase for perceived modernity. Consistency has always been key for these folks and this hasn’t changed with ‘The Hallowed‘.

For the sake of keeping it relatively brief on my part Jag Panzer have three main eras of activity, the classic era 1981-1988 which produced two albums (one with a different vocalist, unreleased until 2004), the second chair guitarist swapping era (1993-2011) and their brief hiatus before reforming into post-2013 and I guess for the most part none of these distinctions will matter to the average fan since they’ve always been steadfast, unbent on record. Beyond their 80’s work I am partial to ‘Thane to the Throne‘ (2000) and ‘The Scourge of Light‘ (2011) in terms of more recent output, primarily for the different ways various guitarists found chemistry with Mark Briody though my tastes lean less into the Broderick style of neoclassical shred and more into what the find on ‘The Hallowed‘ a tuneful approach which has some flair but remains relevant to the melody of each piece; Though some of the catchiest pieces on this album are a bit too familiar (“Stronger Than You Know”) their impact is felt on this slightly overlong but altogether memorable full listen compared to 2017’s ‘The Deviant Chord‘. “Weather the Storm”, “Ties That Bind”, and a few other moments seem to call back to a more distant era of songcraft whereas the rest of the album holds in line with the Jag Panzer we known beyond 1997 or so. Though I am not an expert on the band’s work I’d found ‘The Hallowed‘ to be a well-rounded heavy metal record full of memorable and tonally varied pieces which a joy to revisit a handful of times.

---

Maryland-based blackened death metal act Vile Ritual is a solo project from musician L.M. who is best known as the guitarist for crossover/thrash group Ninth Realm. Though the artist clearly carries some of that chunky modern thrash movement in his muscle memory the intent here seems to be ‘old school’ death metal influenced riffcraft which has been rendered obscure per some bestial death metal traits, such as backward-echoing growls and tripped-into blasts. The obscurant effect of the music isn’t all that pronounced to start but with song titles like “Formless”, “Void” and “Aimless” the intent seems to occasionally line up with the psychedelic and bestial traits one might expect from a group like Black Death Cult to some degree with a lot of the intensity of the music coming from piled-on vocal effects and bigger atmospheric death metal riffs (see: “Chapel”). Though I’d initially felt this was a cast-off side project the amount of layers and general detailing applied to these pieces and their coldly echoing voicing became more convincing with each listen. I’d particularly enjoyed the subtle use of keyboards on a few pieces, loved the spaced-out break in “Aimless”, and overall I’d preferred the less chaotic riff oriented death metal songs. The oeuvre in hand is impressive somewhere in-between bestial death, caverncore, and a nowadays death metal stomp though I think the thing that was missing on my end was some manner of deeper distinction beyond plain echo-assisted vocals and mashed at creeper rhythms.

---

Long running Norwegian black/thrash metal staple Nocturnal Breed return with an unexpected opening number on this seventh full-length album, a sinister atmospheric tension applied to what feels like quarter-speed Motorhead riffs as they introduce the album with title track/opener “Carry the Beast” (see also: “Atomic Cruiser”), a five minute invocation which feels like an emergence from hell by way of a backwards spun turntable. The rest of the album generally cuts right to it with the envenomed Satanic black/speed metal mania they’re known for. The speed and thrashing aggression one would expect from this type of band is subverted for steadily paced heavy metal songs delivered with sinister atmosphere and plenty of venomous vocal effects. Most pieces generally take their time within 5-7 minute blocks which jog onward for long stretches, depending on nuanced atmosphere and a feeling of captivity as songs like “Salt the Wounds” find a spots for touches of ominous organ grinding and a few stretches of trade-off leads. In some sense this is a classic result from this group, something unexpected and different alongside their signature ways but ‘Carry the Beast‘ begins to feel daring at some point as they split the experience between surreal atmospheric pieces and mid-paced thrashing rippers. It’ll likely take some serious patience up front for the average extreme thrash listener as the garbled and obstructed motion of certain pieces will feel off but still related to speed metal in an ancient, disturbed sense. Overall I’d greatly appreciated that Nocturnal Breed subverted my expectations a bit and took their time to conjure something fairly unique around the edges but also bluntly ‘heavy metal’ when viewed straight on.

---

We could explore the various tics and topography of Sevilla, Spain-based psychedelic drone/doom metal group Pylar in terms of style but the true appeal and subject of their last two full-length albums has been the vortex-like experience each has created. ‘L​í​myte‘ is a fresh portal to a realm without foundation beneath or sky above as the sensation of floating adrift characterizes this continuation and completion of a trilogy started with ‘Horror cósmyco‘ (2019) and framed by the immense ‘Abysmos‘ (2022). This time around the band have invited an invader, outside force per a collaboration with musician CG Santos (Teitanblood, Emanation), who provides layers of hurdy-gurdy as well as modular synthesizers on these recordings. The triskelion of minds in gaged results in a psychic battle, a movement from clash to clash which keeps the heart of this recording a moving target, or, one which moves outside of the usual gravity presented by doom metal and jammed drone. What ultimately reveals is not exactly mediative beyond its skeleton and the rest is fire and smoke created in the greater seance of Pylar’s darkest side. These travelers have mastered this eerie, horrified feeling already so I suppose what made this record special to me was its lack of connection to real space as both of the two whole-side spanning pieces felt outrageous in their drawn out suspension. “Ruptura-afuera” is probably the most extreme bit of drumming we’ve heard from the band as far as I can recall and otherwise has a sort of atmospheric sludge resonance to its colliding layers, something like “Cleanse” from Neurosis back in the day. The only disappointment here is that I’d felt like they could go on exploring these dark and extreme textures but hey I’m looking forward to what comes next.

---

Duivel is a black metal quintet from the Netherlands which seems to have arisen from the mind of Nachtraaf (Urfaust) and Deportator (D.R.E.P.) who haven’t specified the guest vocalists for this release but were previously joined by members of Fluisterwoud and Lugubrum among others on their debut LP, this mLP release seems to be comprised of songs from those same sessions. The band’s style generally ranges from raw and bleakly nauseous dirges (“Satánas”) in a classicist sense to catchier, dismal pieces which are rich with surreal atmosphere (“Heksenkut”). Of the three more substantial pieces here my favorite of the lot is probably “Onanerend voor de zwaveltroon” which reminds me of a certain era of Nagelfar for its briskly violent rhythms and the stomping climb of their movement beyond the first verse, of course the ditty played on the keyboard is infectious otherwise. Otherwise I’d enjoyed the cover art, a painting of a nun masturbating with the decapitated head of zombie Christ. *chef’s kiss*

---

I’d enjoyed most aspects of U.K. heavy/thrash metal crew Forged in Black‘s second album ‘Descent of the Serpent‘ back in 2019 but it’d been a bit overlong and overworked, dense with too many ideas fighting for attention. While I rarely knock bands for being too inspired or having too many details to jam into every song I’d felt they’d needed to sort it a bit more. In some sense ‘Lightning in the Ashes‘ does so in terms of letting one another breathe in the mix a bit while still presenting a fair deal of classic Bay Area heavy/speed metal influences alongside prog-and-power metallic grooves. Certain works from Flotsam and Jetsam and Metal Church come to mind initially but fans of Queensryche who might potentially like the extreme metal kissed side of Testament circa ‘The Gathering‘ should appreciate the prog metallic shades of funkified groove as well as the harsher vocal touches on a few songs. Where I’d found the most progress made was probably a bit more subtle this time around considering the emphasis folks put on this band’s fuller-fleshed stylistic range, it was the general rhythmic tautness of their rhythm section that’d impressed me, especially the burly bass guitar tone featured throughout. It’d made for the sort of ex-power/thrasher feeling which fans of Nevermore‘s more coherently cut early era should enjoy. If you’re the type who followed a lot of 80’s thrash metal bands into the hellscape of the 90’s, enjoy a bit of power/heavy metal theatre, and appreciate when a broad-yet-traditional oeuvre comes solely in service of the song this should be a pretty substantial gig to catch up with. Standouts: “Chains of the Damned”, “Dusk Breather”, “Dark Lord Requiem”.

---

---