SHORT REVIEWS Our twenty-eighth edition of Short Reviews for 2023 finds us picking through the third week of July’s new releases, most of these will release between July 14th-21st. 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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Active since 2011 but returning for the first time since their well-received 2015 debut LP Sacramento, California-based brutal death metal quartet Embodied Torment is the vision of guitarist/co-vocalist Joaquin Chavez who you might recognize as the live guitarist for Brodequin since they’d reformed mid-last decade. Their whole gig intends to put a darker spin on a style of brutal death which still holds reverence for classic Suffocation but takes it to the absurd extreme, truly volatile stuff along the lines of the first Defeated Sanity record and of course Disgorge. While that specific early-to-mid 2000’s leaden weight of brutality is the main pull-in when soaking up these three pieces at face value each of the three songs on this CD go places, showcasing a different side of their ideal. Opener “Deconsecration of the Monolith” is the best overall representation of not only the scope of their sound but their evolution beyond their debut, which now pulls a darker almost blackened sense of atmosphere into their depictions of history-bound carnage. Between the pick-swiping tension on certain riffs and a kinda Sarpanitum-level lead “Grasping Salvation” stood out to me right away on the full listen, if there was anything I wanted a bit more of here it’d be that type of leads. At ~14 minutes long I could probably talk about this record for longer than it spins but you get the idea, outrageous brutal death carving its own trench. If they’ve got an LP in ’em with this same crew I’m a hundred percent into it.

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West Midlands, England-based progressive death metal trio Rannoch return after just a couple of years with what sounds like a direct follow-up and refinement beyond their 2020-releast ‘Reflections Upon Darkness‘ upholding the innovations and adjustments they’d made over the course of a long silence beyond their Meshuggah and Gojira-inspired debut ten years ago. While I can admire the strong production value gains made, the increasingly varietal infusion of modern progressive metal into their sound, and the finely curated artwork in hand I’ve not been able to enjoy anything with that ‘Chaosphere‘ and/or ‘Nothing‘ vibe since those’d released and that sense of bonking, down-tuned throb within the rhythms is a big part of Rannoch‘s sound. That said I can appreciate and admire the machine they’ve build and the insertion of cleaner vocals harmonies, synth/keyboard infusion and more chilled sections to steady the flow of ideas. The title track is probably best representative overall, check it out of this is more your kind of thing.

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Despite being an even more unfocused, putrid-as-fuck coffin slosher of a record compared to their last two I didn’t end up connecting with U.K./Polish death/doom metal trio Eternal Rot‘s latest full-length. Their kinda stoney, hypnotic doom metal riffs are still the strongest point of leadership on ‘Moribound‘ and the guttural, effects-splattered vocals still have some irascible zombified charm left to spew but I’d never found that one song, or riff that’d kept me engaged or coming back to the experience. That said I enjoyed the echo-heavy psychedelic horror-warp that they’ve grimed up the experience with and I appreciate just how over the top they’ve gone with the vocal treatments to the point that the album creates its own vacuous atmosphere, somewhere in between earlier Hooded Menace and Rigor Sardonicus. Before the homespun horror-surrealism of the project was rad but at this point it sounds like they’re ready to go for something kinda, I dunno, death n’ doom n’ roll judging by “Swollen Corpse Abduction” and “Gestures Never Recalled”.

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Jæren, Norway-based psychedelic/stoner doom metal band Karavan technically released this debut album back in early June (on cassette and digitally) and since the vinyl release date seems to be unconfirmed I’m not sure what the July 21st release date pertains to. Normally that sort of confusing, incomplete information is reason enough for me to overlook a record but in this case I’d enjoyed ‘Unholy Mountain‘ enough as a casual listen to recommend it regardless. Judging by the title of the album and, well, their jammed-at style of stoner doom they’ve taken the pillar of Sleep and that basic shamanic groove and applied their own harsh edge to it with snarling vocals, a very strong fuzz-crushed guitar tone and made hypnotic and occasionally kicking psychedelic doom of it. Their work doesn’t stray far enough from the archetype to catch heads who’re looking for something exceptional or profoundly different but they pull of a pretty solid slither, scowl n’ groove which’d been a pleasure to spin each time I’d picked it up.

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New Jersey-based trio Green Inferno are a bit more my speed, dirt slow stoner doom metal with the right level of sludged-out swagger to their riffcraft and a subterranean sound which emphasizes harsher vocal treatments. I’d appreciated the the “brutal stoner doom” tag applied to their gig, it more-or-less fits the basement-suffocated production values which plunge the ear down to a low-frequency only realm with just a bit of a burnt edge. While the whole thing is growling underwater groove ad infinitum there are a some bigger riffs, a few change-ups in pace and an almost early 90’s sludge feeling to their distinct sound. The sort of band you probably need to catch live to see if they’re actually that heavy and blunt with their damage. Didn’t like the album art but otherwise I think this is a great start and a nice step away from the usual sonic excess. Highlights: “Vultures”, “Spellcaster”.

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Created in the image of a Massacre comeback and repurposed as their own gig Inhuman Condition have done a remarkable job of tributing a certain brand of ‘old school’ thrashing death metal that’d put Florida on the map back in the late 80’s, specifically the commiseration of Death and Obituary generally speaking. Though they’ve expanded their sound into a hardcorish direction and mixed it up a bit on the second album these folks are genuinely impressive in their study of the old ways and most importantly not -just- the sound but the dynamic of ex-thrasher songcraft. It counts for a lot when a band like this kinda calls for a brush-off at a glance but gets their fangs in with catchy songwriting within moments of each record sparking up. This mLP features three new originals, a Blue Oyster Cult cover and four live versions of songs from their most recent album and in the process they do a fine job of representing what they’re all about if you’re looking for an easy in on their sound. At this point I think I like the first album best but ripping through the first three songs here I don’t think they’ve run out of short, ear-catching traditional death metal songs just yet.

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