SHORT REVIEWS Our twenty-sixth edition of Short Reviews for 2023 finds us picking through the first week of July’s new releases, most of these will release July 7th. 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

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Ecuador-borne and Geneva, Switzerland-based black metal duo Supayniyux have been around since 2004 manifesting their own brand of irreligious, thrashing war-torn bestial black metal but this debut full-length album is the first thing we’ve heard from them since 2014 or so (probably by way of a 2021 reissue of that third demo). ‘Genocidio Infernal‘ does a fine job of retaining the wild, unhinged energy of their fairly obscure demo tapes but with a pretty clear and straightforward recording. Their style is pure aggression, extreme rhythmic churn and blast which is likely to appeal to folks who enjoy the pure grindcore-adjacent throttle and energy of early war metal alongside the early sound of groups like Sarcófago, Anal Vomit and Hadez. Though that might suggest these pieces are shapeless the opposite is actually true, these folks have honed and cut a number of sharp riffs within each of these pieces. While this album didn’t necessarily blow my mind it did end up holding up pretty well across five or so listens on my end.

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Tortured is a newer international brutal death metal band featuring the current vocalist from Relics of Humanity, Vile‘s current live bassist, and a couple of folks from Septycemia and features as another one of prolific Spanish musician Oscar Ortega‘s many collaborative brutal death projects. I’ve got my brutal death checklist ready: Gory Zig painting, ace. Primitive and punishing riff-obsessed style sans gimmickry, yep. Insane chopping speed from drummer but fills still matter, check. They’ve really not missed here for my taste in the brutal side of things with a huge sound and over the top skill cutting it up throughout the full listen. I wouldn’t hold it against the group that I’ve heard a ton of albums in this style, this is a good blend of classic traits and newer proficiencies overall and they keep it succinct at ~29 minutes, but I’d felt like this album needed something else to really set it off or longer riff threads to follow since most of this record hits around the pocket.

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No doubt the greater Italian stoner/doom metal scenery has been flexing some of the better Electric Wizard-esque hysteria out there these last few years and, sure, we could naturally include the fuzzed creep of Roman group Wizard Master among said legion. Their lo-fi sound and distorted vocals might intend something which leans into free-wheeling 70’s psychedelic rock influences but this is limited to song structure and weirding vocal cadence. In terms of progress made between the band’s 2022 debut LP and ‘Ablanathanalba‘ today, I’d say these folks have managed to keep things tuneful to some degree while leaning into their slothful, psychedelic doom side somewhat more often. “Acid” is probably the peak of the full listen for my taste simply because it’d seem to take itself serious for those eight or so minutes, it’d stood out quite a bit compared to an otherwise similar piece like “Tested by Death” which fumbles its pacing throughout. The full listen eventually managed to charm though some of the longer pieces here feel under-thought or lost in the weeds at times.

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An unfinished sketch of a skeleton, an incomplete render of morbidity, seems fitting enough imagery and analogy for the ‘Inevitably Dark‘ experience wherein this ~107 minute solo instrumental double album from Scott Connor features an array of (mostly) well-formed pieces (23 in total) which are entirely performed by the artist sans vocals. With minimal production values applied we get a consistently naked glimpse into the artists body of work which strays between late 90’s black metal, depressive black metal, dungeon synth, neofolk and a few slightly more chaotic experiments with dissonance. I’d go as far as to say there are a few hints at black/death metal here and there which haven’t fully formed, or the choice stuff might’ve been reserved for this death metal band (Menstrual Vampires); I’m not sure who this might appeal to as pleasure listening, or, a product as most anyone willing to sit through two hours of what are essentially pre-production demos herein is likely a songwriter themselves or simply a fanatic. These are largely stream of consciousness pieces given a second or third thought beyond the first and seem to have been quickly pushed down the pipeline. Don’t expect quality control, theme, or much more than your average feat here beyond a bit of interesting variety which (most) all suits a certain tonality as there is no indication the running order here was edited down or curated. While most of the experience sounds like the skeleton of an album there’d been no budget for there those bones could feasibly be imagined as an ambitious double LP which does well to make some corporeal connections between past and present work from Connor. My score here is probably a bit higher than expected as I was simply entertained each time I’d picked this record up.

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Mumbai, India-based quartet Gutslit pull from brutal death metal pacing, deathgrind’s varietal antics of expression and the glue of modern groove metal for this third full-length album. Though it all lands a bit generic in terms of production values and riffcraft there are frequent enough references to the age of Dying Fetus, Aborted and (later) Cryptopsy make for a record which is sure to please folks looking for mosh metal of a certain caliber. Though ‘Carnal‘ doesn’t line up with what I want from this type of music, and I think Polish bands’ve done quite a lot more with this sound in the last two decades, their work is yet and easy listen for anyone who fundamentally understands what brutal death and grind can do to extend, exaggerate, and lend value to groove-based music. Not a deep first impression on my part, and not a recording I will likely return to, but an album which might surprise a certain fandom with its broader appeal.

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The general concept, or, intent behind this solo side-project from Santiago, Chile-based musician Gabriel Hugo (Lascar) is stated as a connection made between the raw abstraction of modern black metal and its more intentionally melodic side. Voidmïlker ends up being about as dismal and serious-faced as that undertaking might need be to work, a dreary yet impassioned sort of introspective black metal record in the modern sense as the glue here is the artist’s own post-black metal tendencies. While I’m tempted to consider a group like Mgła as the high standard for this type of undertaking that’d likely set expectations a bit high, instead I would suggest most of ‘Labyrinthical‘ as fare for those seeking a (somewhat) measured sentimentality applied to atmospheric, dissonant and melodic black metal admixture. Otherwise the connection to make here is perhaps emotive through post-black metal guitar voicing as pieces like “Collapsing” and “Birth of Trepidation” speak well enough through their rhythms while they croak on flatly in terms of the vocals, which are persistent yet average. There are a couple of big misses here (see: “Bronze Child”) but overall this is a solid place for the project to start and given Hugo‘s track record with his main project I don’t doubt iteration will iron out some of the listening experience over time.

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