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.

---

I. August wasn’t such a thrilling month in terms of heavy music but we’ve at least inched past the ten release threshold of a notable monthly schedule overall. I spent the first half of the month sick with COVID-19, the first week being only briefly intense, and as a result I’d had time to re-read a handful of books including the still chaotic yet epic Whirlwind from James Clavell’s tradition of historical fiction drivel, The Witcher: Time of Contempt a droll book two in the series from Andrzej Sapkowski, and Geezer Butler’s fairly tame but thoughtfully nostalgic bio Into the Void: From Birth to Black Sabbath And Beyond from earlier this year. I’ve otherwise started to peck away at Blasphemous II and Baldur’s Gate 3 here at the end of the month, both of which I would say are Game of the Year worthy for very different reasons.

II. September is going to be the biggest deal release schedule this year. All five weeks are already completely packed with wall-to-wall great releases but I’ve done my best to point out a few weirdos, die-hards and outliers; The first digital issue of our upcoming zine is underway this month, aiming for the 25th depending on how interviews go.

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.

---

#1	Album of the Month
ARTIST:	URFAUST
TITLE:	Untergang
RECORD LABEL(S):	Ván Records

Netherlands-based atmospheric black/doom n’ gloom ritualer duo Urfaust return for their seventh and final full-length album after twenty years of activity. Though it might feel like ‘Teufelsgeist‘ (2020) was their peak, their big-deal ambitions realized, we should not discount ‘Untergang‘ as it is a darker, most miserable point of closure which completes the thought with a bitter spiraling-outward motion. I’ve been following the band’s work since their 2010 full-length and became a fan thanks to their representative ‘Rituals for the True Clochard‘ (2012) compilation so I was glad to hear this album was additionally raw in its frequently spaced and dreary state of mind. Exactly the sort of dark meditation I’d wanted from the group and a fitting endpoint.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

---

#2
ARTIST:	HORRENDOUS
TITLE:	Ontological Mysterium
RECORD LABEL(S):	Season of Mist Records

Elementally charged at a distance yet mysteriously atomized in its kaleidoscopic dioramic staging up close, the Giger-curved and tightly enwrapped symbiotic nature of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based progressive death metal species Horrendous only grows more curious at present point of concentration. Viewing the nature of existence from a panoptic-blurred perspective ‘Ontological Mysterium‘ provides context from a high transcendental stage, empathizing with denizens by way of shrieking space-operatic dramatism before becoming enmeshed in the ecstasy, the sheer awe of their current consciousness.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

---

#3
ARTIST:	VISION MASTER
TITLE:	Sceptre
RECORD LABEL(S):	Gates of Hell Records

Laser-cutting their gem of a hundred facets, each a votum to an unknown deity, two forces merge in transport across estranged networks and eerily sprawling highways as Snohomish, Washington-based heavy metal duo Vision Master will into ear an unconventional journey per this rousing debut full-length album. ‘Sceptre’ is a mutant palette of taste and tradition, a monstre for the sake of smartly utilizing all available tools in craft of a cohesive and richly stated storytelling device. A dark fantasy sci-fi scenario driven by an eclectic yet pure enough to know better approach to heavy metal tradition, this debut is not a sudden gust of wind but the product of self-driven, raw talent honed into substantive craft over the course of decades. Ingenious and wry at every turn, this’ll have to be one of the more thrillingly complete and inspired weirding heavy metal records in recent memory.

>> FULL STREAM <<

---

#4
ARTIST:	HALLUCINATE
TITLE:	From the Bowels of the Earth
RECORD LABEL(S):	Caligari Records

The fabric of the material universe and the forces which stretch far beyond human comprehension come to characterize the journey beyond the first strike of “the fear” and the jagged trip in descent on this debut full-length album from Oldenburg, Germany-based psychedelic death metal trio Hallucinate. Tapping into a familiar vein of worming rhythmic lushness with their own post-death warmth these fellowes perpetuate an atmosphere rich, heavy rock imbued form of abstraction on this ‘ready mature and blissful debut. ‘From the Bowels of the Earth‘ is singular in its morbid shade of psych’d stride yet relatable in its progressive rock pathos, a jaw-ripping stretch into the void which intoxicates and challenges the ear ’til its revelation is all but crystalline to the keen enough listener.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

---

#5
ARTIST:	ASPHODELUS
TITLE:	Sculpting From Time
RECORD LABEL(S):	Hammerheart Records

Helsinki, Finland-based gothic death/doom metal trio Asphodelus return for a second sink into the gloom-ridden grey waters they’ve propagated over the last decade, possessed by the emotional release their muse’d provided and now overflowing with a certain purple shade of moongazing grief. Now intending to exaggerate their own mood, to build higher upon a classic sound in order to launch their own spiritus, the breadth of what the band accomplishes on ‘Sculpting From Time‘ arrives in droves of accessible expression as they choose emotionally driven songcraft as their point of flight. Scalding in its up-close and chest roared station yet deeply mournful from a distance this second album claws intently at the watery path beyond its major points of inspiration and eventually verges on its own plateau of melodramatic, melodious yet eternally shoegazing doom.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

---

#6
ARTIST:	GODTHRYMM
TITLE:	Distortions
RECORD LABEL(S):	Profound Lore Records

On this unmissable spire of a sophomore full-length West Yorkshire, England-based epic doom metal quartet Godthrymm land a great distance from where they’d began five years ago, having eased from their ambitiously nostalgic classicist nerve for the sake of a most present and engaging lucidity today. ‘Distortions‘ angles in differently with death-thickened soil and charging heavy metal spiritus set aside wherein what is left in their blood-catching basin is a deeper contemplative form of doom with a fitting voice to follows its siphon. Though the experience acts as a siren which’d call back to the darkest points of isolation felt these last few years these folks’ve pulled the curtains back a bit, built-in some breathing room in order to illuminate the leaps and bounds made in the years since we’d last heard from them while emphasizing the dread still hanging in the air.

>> FULL STREAM <<

---

#7
ARTIST:	CYSTIC
TITLE:	Palace of Shadows
RECORD LABEL(S):	Chaos Records

Left to drip, dry and crust of the insidious rot they’d created Seattle, Washington death metal trio Cystic have now seemingly put in the years, busying frantic yet learned hands that’ve scrambled and scoured through the murkiness of self-defined purpose in wield of morass as if sorcery. The realm of the dead from which they’ve channeled their own ‘Palace of Shadows‘ eyeballs an imposing, terrifyingly stated locus of proper gloom-stricken death metal, a debut which grapples with horrified Eldritch scenery flashing in mind and goriest classicist riffcraft in hand. It is the sort of menacing, rotten haunt one could appreciate from a busted couch in a burnt-down garage or a modest stage in some faraway European haven for the deranged and walk away equally mortified.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

---

#8
ARTIST:	BOTTOMLESS
TITLE:	The Banishing
RECORD LABEL(S):	Dying Victims Productions

Taking stock of the soul after having been cleansed of the mind’s fables and tribulations does not zombify northern Italy-based traditional doom metal trio Bottomless on this second full-length album, but grants them a new path of emotionally driven recall to wind and trickle down. ‘The Banishing‘ is as much an audit as it is a triumph, a remarkable specimen of classics-minded authenticity which celebrates the earnest and imaginative side of doom metal past while speaking to heavy rock and heavy metal built standards. As a second point of unexpected mastery we can once again accuse these folks of bleeding their own blood out in these pieces, managing their own pure and frankly irresistible thread rather than imitating the old gods’ scenery and spire.

>> FULL STREAM <<

---

#9
ARTIST:	REVERENCE TO PAROXSYM
TITLE:	Lux Morte
RECORD LABEL(S):	Dark Descent Records, Me Saco Un Ojo

Appearing as a merciless mystery cult in ode to unspoken shadow-formed horrors, the doomed and deranged nox curling from the skull mouths of Mexico City, Mexico-based death metal quartet Reverence to Paroxysm quickly prove themselves worthy by new ghastly doctrine of rotten and horrified death-worshipping mass on this their debut full-length album. Hanging as a dimmed graven light over the reeking steam of a freshly cracked-open coffin, the ancient spiritus and sinister atmospheric dread lording over every second of ‘Lux Morte‘ drains away the fight in the eyes minute by minute, no enlightenment will come beyond death. Evolved in place and sapping the will toward acceptance of mortality this diabolic wound arrives in the best tradition of truly morbid and atmospheric death metal.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

---

#10
ARTIST:	INCANTATION
TITLE:	Unholy Deification
RECORD LABEL(S):	Relapse Records

Motivated by violent, uncontrollable anger and spouting visions of bizarre occultic transcendence Pennsylvania-based death metal quartet Incantation return for a thirteenth full-length intent on distilling their techne down to signature which is still capable of expansion, amplifying the brutality of their core voice while emphasizing the dynamism they’d achieved long before many peers. Adaptive classicist solidarity is and continues to be their telos in a nutshell and pure death metal their inimitable serpent’s offer.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

---

#11
ARTIST:	REZN & VINNUM SABBATHI
TITLE:	Silent Future
RECORD LABEL(S):	Blues Funeral Recordings

Pairing the pointedly atmospheric vision of Chicago-based psychedelic doom metal band Rezn with the cinema-minded storytelling of Mexico City-based drone/doom group Vinnum Sabbathi ‘Silent Future‘ is a collaborative concept album aiming to explore their collective vision of science-fictive cosmic horror narrative. Developing an experimental settlement of their own, we find these ten psych-doom ‘nauts adrift in the possibilities yet coming together for a deeply immersive, inventive half hour+ feature of each crew’s shared strengths.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

---

#12
ARTIST:	RUNESPELL
TITLE:	Shores of Nastrond
RECORD LABEL(S):	Iron Bonehead Records

From venom dripping halls built from serpent spines to the peaking action of Ragnarök’s fatal clash Australian pagan black metal band Runespell envision five epic scenes of battle-torn virtue as they return for a fifth full-length having now expanded into an impressive trio. Presented with a folken cinematic flair in depiction of supernatural vainglory ‘Shores of Náströnd‘ offers yet another upgrade to the steady incline of the band’s already impressive discography by way of a cold yet panoramic dramatism illustrated within each scene. Though they’ve left behind some of their raw nature this time around a boon of expressive signature work arrives in its stead.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

---

#13
ARTIST:	BEES MADE HONEY IN THE VEIN TREE
TITLE:	Aion
RECORD LABEL(S):	Magnetic Eye Records

One of uncountable spiral-formed cycles in aeviternity, an isolated third yuga, or a solid seventy minutes spent in the purgatory of liminal spaces deep in contemplation this third full-length album from Stuttgart, Germany-based psychedelic rock/post-metal quartet Bees Made Honey in the Vein Tree explores the dual nature of the great unknown, fonts of life and a terrifying abysm alike, from a place of dread-filled rest. In framing the concept of eternity as unknowable without consequence the morbidity of the individual, conscious of waiting and wandering in flux for purpose, becomes the greater cinematic characterization of ‘Aion‘. Whether they’ve set us in place on a park bench or in witness of cataclysmic terraforming the tonal muse of the quartet evolves to include more focused use of their cinematic wares this time around as they sport increasingly active vocal register, deeper dives into ambiance, and even more enviable scenic depiction which steps beyond the atmospheric drainage of their past.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

---

#14
ARTIST:	SORROW
TITLE:	Death of Sorrow
RECORD LABEL(S):	Xtreem Music

Having nearly completed construction on an ambitious tombstone three decades ago legendary underground New York-based thrashing death/doom metal quartet Sorrow return to etch into stone the eulogy for humanity that’d been burning in the back of their skulls for seeming eternity. We can consider ‘Death of Sorrow‘ said epitaph, the second full-length album they’d been preparing for back in 1993 realized today in the exacting style of the classic death/doom metal one would expect from their name. Returned from the grave in contentious times not unlike the reality they were up against back in the day, there is some cyclic cruelty served here as these older and wizened folks cut away at dormant lamentations as if they’d never been left behind. This time around all hope is lost, prophecies and warnings haven’t been heeded and today their nihilism feels deeper justified as only bitterness remains.

>> FULL STREAM <<

---

#15
ARTIST:	THE RITE
TITLE:	The Astral Gloom
RECORD LABEL(S):	Iron Bonehead Productions

In order to generate potent enough psychic portal to enter one of many realms of the dead lucid nostalgia for ancient nightmares sets the blasphemer ear to just the right timbre to explore deeper absurd realities, horrors from beyond our own, as Danish/Italian black/doom metal quintet The Rite present their second full-length album as a greater looming entity, a coven. Classicist in its storytelling, burning-black in motif and slowly serpentine in its ancient blackened doom metal movement ‘The Astral Gloom‘ is better considered alchemy than previous in most respects as a consistently deeper, darker step into their realm.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

---

#16
ARTIST:	DEAD AND DRIPPING
TITLE:	Blackened Cerebral Rifts
RECORD LABEL(S):	Transcending Obscurity Records

Impinged upon, soiled from within by the awaiting rupture of inward facing darkness New Jersey-based brutal death metal project Dead and Dripping can be found rewriting their own greater genetic template in the process of detangling the thoughts that’d become their third and most engaging full-length album. ‘Blackened Cerebral Rifts‘ smartly trades the relentlessly on-rushing brutality of their first two full-lengths for a more dynamically viable stream of consciousness, one which chops away at grooves as its main point of damage while still tending to the technical, brutal and hideously over the top charm one’d want from a return to their realm.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

---

#17
ARTIST:	FACET
TITLE:	Facet
RECORD LABEL(S):	Hex Records

Shallow breathing and bug-eyed in their attention paid to maze-built musicianship, the heartthrob bass and shoulder hiked syncopated percussion of world class and Oakland-based post-hardcore/noise rock trio Facet lends no crystal palatial respite for the mind on their self-titled debut LP. The abysm refracted is profound in its effort to parse the overloaded mind where all extrapolations maintain a hiked up and leg-hugging kinetic charge for the duration of ‘Facet‘ yet there is no release which comes from seeing it all through, rather it cycles back into the machine and the loop coldly repeats. The Californian trio’s ability to express intrusive thought within random-accessible waves of hot-breathing action is decidedly sweet, a bop despite conveying an ironic attitude throughout. A sublimely obsessed rhythm runs through their work, enough of a rush beneath a spoken-and-shouted tuning-out which should deliver something notable per the existing fandom for the ultra-sweaty ancient post-hardcore energy it builds upon.

>> FULL REVIEW <<

---

#18
ARTIST:	OF DARKNESS
TITLE:	Miss Tridentina
RECORD LABEL(S):	Personal Records

Of Darkness is a unique funeral doom side project out of Barcelona that’d originally been a duo from Julkarn and Javi Bastard, both of Graveyard among many other undertakings, who’ve returned to action as trio after about eight years. Their approach to the sub-genre is deeply atmospheric, esoteric in the way that 90’s funeral doom tended to be though instead of leaning into death/doom metal for their edge a blend of black ambient, dark industrial and neo-classical music influences has been their focus. Over the course of two notable demo tapes from the early 2000’s, a brilliant Penderecki influenced debut LP in 2015 and they’ve built an expectation of dark and avant-garde modus which is perhaps comparable to Sektarism in spirit.

>> SHORT REVIEW <<

---

#19
ARTIST:	KÖRGULL THE EXTERMINATOR
TITLE:	Built To Kill
RECORD LABEL(S):	Xtreem Music

Faced with a corrupted, mutilated womb programmed to ceaselessly birth malformed mindless adversaries through biomechanical slurry and bolts of grey computerized thought Catalonia-based black/thrash metal band Körgull the Exterminator raise their guns, arm-swords, and spiked apparatus to the mouth of foulest modern day abomination and saw the body of cancerous spillage down to a splattered gestational centre. That isn’t to say that these long time classicists are at war with the false-generative machinery of today but that the quintet’s sixth full-length album remains steadfast yet refined by the higher standards of old. ‘Built to Kill‘ should be a not-so shocking thrill for fans of black-thrash metal which retains its psychic connection with the 80’s and in doing so manages to feels right at home alongside the rest of their discography’s steady evolution.

>> SHORT REVIEW <<

---

#20
ARTIST:	COLONY DROP
TITLE:	Brace For Impact
RECORD LABEL(S):	Nameless Grave Records

Seattle, Washington-based crew Colony Drop offer a reasonably unique choice to folks seeking an alternative to the Power Trip-copped style of modern crossover/thrash metal. With a hardcore-tuned vocalist, nerd ready lyrics and a strong focus on the late 80’s thrash/metalpunk tradition of ‘making fun’ with tropes of heavy metal as fodder ‘Brace For Impact‘ is a good time which also makes a point of featuring some viable musicianship. Definitely reminds me of old German and Swedish crossover/thrash as well as Ludichrist, maybe Dead Heat.

>> FULL STREAM <<

---

HONORABLE MENTIONS

• PYRKAGION – The Katechon and the Unending Fire (2023) | REVIEW
• TEMPLE OF DREAD – Beyond Acheron (2023) | REVIEW
• MEURTRIÈRES – Ronde de Nuit (2023) | REVIEW
• MOON COVEN – Sun King (2023) | REVIEW
• THE CRAWLING – All of This For Nothing (2023) | REVIEW