SHORT REVIEWS Our thirty-seventh (38th) edition of Short Reviews for 2023 finds me grabbing at six notable releases from the third week of October, cut down to notable stuff. 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 and casual 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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Though the pairing seemed odd at a glance per the wildly different tonal reach of each band a split between Florida-borne black/death doom act Worm and Toronto/Boston-conceived atmospheric death/doom metal duo Dream Unending pairs nicely at this current point where each group extend their reach by way of surreal guitar-virtuosic highs, romanticist 90’s metal gloom, and modern extreme doom idealization. They are worlds apart but from my point of view that only ends up making the release all the more interesting; The gist of this split LP is that we’ve got one side wherein one band extends the voice of their most recent album and the other introduces their latest sound, a mid-transition sound, both of which seem to indicate the future-sighted direction they’ll take going forward. Every split has a favorite, of course, but in this case the choice would be forced as each group are mounding up some of my favorite tics and traits of extreme doom metal.

Back in early June Dream Unending guitarist Derrick Vella (Tomb Mold) remarked that bits of his admiration for Red House Painters had undeniably made it into his now progressive rock infused death/doom metal duo with vocalist/drummer Justin DeTore (Innumerable Forms, Solemn Lament) and I think that makes a bit more sense as we drift through the sentimental knots tied within the contemplative instrumental stretches of opener “So Many Chances” which once again features an eerily perfect appearance from maestro Phil Swanson. The rougher edges and glowing rain dance of “If Not Now When” presents the rest of the picture but I think the opener will be the most out-there stretch for folks. If you’d been a big fan of ‘Song of Salvation‘ (2022) as I’d been these two songs will fit nicely into that realm, more-or-less sounding like they’d been taken from the same recording sessions. While I’d felt they’d moved past the sound of the first record quite fast there is no denying this focus is no less original/unique in its voice. Will the next album be “Anathema circa 1998 feat Roger Waters?” Lets hope so.

Worm have transformed themselves at a similar clip but they are one step deeper into the next plane with their three songs here. As the funereal death/doom metal of their prior LP and mLP fades they’ve chosen a path which is more indicative of early Katatonia‘s dreadful mood while embracing keyboard-leaden black metal theatrics which still manage death/doom metal (“Midwinter Tears” is incredible) while a blackened gothic affect circa the early 90’s takes ahold of their gloom. The closest foundational reference off the top of my head is perhaps Sadness ‘Ames de Marbre‘ but with Nocturnus-style leads and keys adding flourish to every moment, all of these things recall something like Evol‘s (Italy) mid-90’s but a bit more chalice-clutching, gothic metal tinged (read: Tiamat, Monumentum) yet aggressive and empyreal rather than plainly weirding. Anyhow, I was concerned Phantom Slaughter‘s vision might go somewhere drab based on ‘Bluenothing‘ but really, I’d have known better to trust the taste level as the fellow’s songcraft further develops. Leads could lean into subtle volume swells more often so that all else can breathe but overall I walk away from this split hotter than expected for whatever Worm undoubtedly have on the fire up next.

An essential release for the month and one which makes a good argument for these being substantive explorers, creators of their own atmospheric realms. Not usually a huge Riddick head but the painting done for the split is both obvious in its read but also finely rendered in merger of these two realms. No doubt they’ve curated the guts of the LP with plenty else to stare at otherwise.

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‘Old school’ inspired death metal quartet Martyrdoom hail from Warsaw, Poland and yes, their name should perk your ear in the direction of a certain era of Dead Congregation for a brief moment as an atmospheric, oft-doomed and diabolic force but their primary target is early-to-mid 90’s death metal in general with nods to the imbalanced disarray of Autopsy, the blasted-at side of Netherlands death metal (post-’92 Sinister), and a more modern sensibility in terms of pace and complexly woven riffcraft without any direct focus on melodicism. At first the full listen felt like a grab-bag of modern atmospheric death tirades (see: the end of “Katatonic Ascension of Cirrhosis”) and the early results of Florida death metal colliding with European death-thrash scenery (their first album certain nodded at a Morgoth type sound) but as the full listen sorts itself out between its two main extremes, even manage some moshable pieces that’d been alien to start but altogether intense once the album pulled together. I’d love the focus on doomed pieces and felt this is where they’d improved the most since their 2017 debut, getting a more raw affect while still working in those moshable, thrashed-out breaks here and there. If you liked the sort of blasted energy of Abominated earlier this year this band features two of those same guitarists and they’re just as impressive in terms of cutting brutal and twisted rhythms in this configuration. For true death metal heads, of course, but an above-average example nonetheless.

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New York City-based alternative noise rock/post-hardcore band Cronies are all about a steep start, a grotesquely distorted groove, and a mess of grunge-era dirt rock ditties that either work outright or kinda miss due to fairly uninvolved or rant-heavy focus. As a sophomore full-length ‘L1V3 S1CK0 L0V3 F3ST‘ does a lot more with a similarly simple presentation and modest recording, leaning into ear-scrambling noise as it flits between grunge-era noise rock buzzers (“Rentboy”), late 90’s post-hardcore pump, and a sort of aggro spoken cadence which isn’t as abstract in effect as something like Show Me the Body but might appeal to fans of scatterbrained noise rock sludginess (“Hose in the Sand”) a la Chat Pile. Some of the faster, heavier chunkers hit fast and I could roll with it but whenever they’d slow down and jam I wasn’t into it, especially the 9+ minute closer “Acid Western From the Heart” which didn’t justify being a third of the spin for my own taste.

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Bogota, Columbia-based throwback speed metal band Reckless kick of this debut album with a lot of energy most of it directed toward what I’d consider a German style propulsion to start with fair simple riffs, echoing reverberation of the vocals with plenty of speed applied to a well-curated vintage sound and sometimes this sounds even more ancient (or at least earlier 80’s) in its influence than Whiplash and Artillery. Instead of barreling through each piece riff-after-riff there is a bit of fanfare to these songs which recalls the earliest stuff from Agent Steel as much as it might dip into ’86 thrash aggression or traditional heavy metal swagger for the sake of a melody here and there. I particularly enjoy that indeterminate space in between the mean throttle of thrash metal and the trad metal kick of real speed metal and I figure anyone else who is that invested in the finite details of such things will appreciate this authentic feeling classics-minded heavy metal record. Favorite songs: “Neutralized”, “Crimson Obsession”, “Unholy Odyssey”.

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‘Hellframes‘ is the fifth full-length album from Milan, Italy-based melodic thrash metal band Game Over since forming back in the late 2000’s and definitely don’t judge this one by its cover and assume it is a feral, extreme thrasher since it makes some really strange choices throughout. The first hint of this ain’t a hint at all as “Path of Pain” sounds like an outtake from Sentenced‘s ‘Frozen‘ back in the late 90’s when they’d gone gothic metal but still had a taste for riffs here and there. Most of the album displays this dynamic of more biting neo-thrash aggression with some crossover thrash inspiration (they obviously love Suicidal Tendencies‘ late 80’s breakthrough on some level) but they get there with vocals that sound more like Amorphis‘ ‘Am Universum‘ and I’m not at all suggesting that is a bad thing but an interesting shock to sit with as I hit songs like “The Cult”. And this song is important for the greater narrative where in an ancient dark cult is reborn through technology and gives us a portal to Hell as a result, something like Doom. I started to lose interest by the time “Count Your Breaths” hit mid-album since they’d pushed off the riffcraft but there are a few heavier choppers in the second half. I appreciated how “out there” this one was, I mean it doesn’t entirely work and I’m not sure who the style is for but they do manage something kinda infectious while they’re punching through it.

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Ohio-based melodic thrash/alternative metal quartet War Curse were a “just alright” prospect back in 2019 when I’d given brief review of their second album for an end of the year list, the sort of band who had some fundamental linkage to classic thrash metal’s more accessible side, particularly the Bay Area gear, and made that their gig. Who doesn’t heckin’ love thrash’s tuneful side eh, but from my point of view they didn’t have the songs in ’em yet and bands like Testament and Death Angel haven’t necessarily lost that side of things. Here on album number three they pivot to melody driven alternative metal and no, not the cloying teenaged angst side of things but pieces that are all about putting together a catchy chunk of dramatism which already feels a far cry from the chugged-out ‘Eradication‘. The trade-off is some toothless riffs (“Miracle Broker”) radio metal harmonies, and a few hackneyed references to ‘AJFA‘ and the black album which aren’t hurting anyone. few songs manage a decent enough show for my taste with “Return to Dust” and “The Nothing (That is Me)” feeling at least kinda anthemic if not occasionally whiny. As more of a side note I’d appreciated the Grip Inc. cover, my brother used to practice that song for precision in our garage for hours each day when it first came out so, kinda cool to hear it given an entirely different atmosphere even if the intensity kinda floats off the piece overall. Any album that gets more folks listening to thrash is worthy in my realm, glad to see it even if the approach isn’t entirely for me.

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