ENDTYMER is the weekly recap, blogspace, and new release round-up column. It hits at the end of (most) every week with the intent of covering notable new releases, sharing news of new releases, and musing over various personal listening habits. It is largely informal, might contain opinions, etc. so chill out a bit. I do my best to cover as much of everything I receive in some form regardless of genre or representation, don’t hesitate to send anything and everything my way: grizzlybutts@hotmail.com

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FIVE BEST OF THE WEEK

[#1] SADUS (‘The Shadow Inside‘, Nuclear Blast Records)
[#2] ANGRENOST (‘Magna Lua Ordem M​í​stica‘, Norma Evangelium Diaboli)
[#3] AETERNUS (‘Philosopher‘, Agonia Records)
[#4] CARCINOID (‘Encomium to Extinction‘, Me Saco Un Ojo)
[#5] VENUS (‘Obscured Until Observed‘, Xtreem Music)

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NEW RELEASES

Catch up with the latest new release announcements here. I’ve changed this format to focus on key announcements from releases I am more likely to cover. It will then be followed by detailed list of notable upcoming new releases and songs from already announced releases with links to streams/videos of songs and singles beyond. This will be one of the last Endtymer features for 2023 and the feature will change drastically in 2024.

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Me Saco Un Ojo Records have announced their vinyl LP version of ‘Oozing Radioactive Vomition‘ the second full-length album from Bristol, England-based death metal band CRYPTWORM. Pulverised Records will release the CD version and Extremely Rotten Productions will release the cassette tape. The album will release December 15th and I am looking forward to it, there was a lot to like about their debut and it looks like the line-up has shifted around a bit in the meantime. Check out the new track “Organ Snatcher” for now:

This coming January 19th, 2024 Dying Victims Productions will release a new 7” EP from one of my favorite heavy metal bands of the last several years, HEAVY SENTENCE. ‘Warriors of Madness‘ arrives three years beyond their debut ‘Bang to Rights‘ which you’ll recall I’d loved. Two songs from the looks of it and they’ve suggested the B-side (“Give Yourself to the Night”) is a moody 5-minute “epic”, if you’re up for Side A check out “They’ll Never Take Us Alive”:

KAWIR have signed a deal with Soulseller Records for the release of their upcoming full-length ‘Kydoimos‘ and suggested a Spring 2024 release date. Of course most readers will know this legendary Greek black metal band and their impressive discography, expecting a mythic theme and they’ve suggested the title “Κυδοιμοσ” (latinized “Kydoimos”, refers to a deity representing the clang and chaos of war. Theophonos/the band offer song context: “The name of the album derives from one of the Makhai (Μάχαι,) Ancient Greek daemons (personifications/spirits) of war. Kydoimos in particular refers to the personification of the cacophony and bedlam of battle. Typically he is referred to as a son of Eris (Ερις, no to be confused with Ares (Αρης)), the goddess of strife, and he appears in many key ancient texts. Most importantly the Iliad, where he is said adorn Achillies’ shield alongside his mother and a Ker (Κίρ.) He is also mentioned as adorning the shield of Heracles in Hesiod’s work.” Suggesting the album takes from both the Iliad and Kydoimos alongside the events of the Trojan war. Of course I am a longtime fan and looking forward to this one.

KAWIR – sign with Soulseller Records – New Album ‘Kydoimos’ coming in 2024

Spanish progressive melodic death band ETERNAL STORM have announced their latest full-length ‘Come the Tide‘ will arrive in early 2024. The label suggests an ambitious and highly atmospheric release while naming groups like In Mourning and Be’lakor to give a sense of impact. The album will release by way of Transcending Obscurity Records this coming February 10th, 2024.

Invictus Productions have announced December 1st as the release date for a new EP from Italian death metal band INTO DARKNESS. ‘Cassini – Huygens‘ will release on 12″ vinyl format. I wasn’t familiar with this band, as far as I can recall, but they’ve suggested this EP will tell a “cosmic tale from the increasingly space-obsessed” crew of their ship who are capable of ‘old school’ death metal reach, suggesting technical skill and some doomed touch among their key traits in conveying the void. This one seems substantial at a glance with the album being a concept based on the Cassini-Huygens space mission to Saturn. Great first preview track:

The first single taken from ‘Pilgrimage‘ the third album from Australian black metal duo SYLVAN AWE is coming soon by way of Drakkar Productions. Expect inherently melodic and thoughtfully stated black metal with a vibrant sense of riffcraft. This first track “Pilgrims of the Sea” offers a good gauge for the patient, dramatic and I’d say overall ‘epic’ feeling of the album, a leap into more their own sound. The album releases December 1st alongside a reissue of their 2015 debut album with new artwork.

Italian death metal band FERAL FORMS have announced their debut EP, ‘Premalignant‘ will release this coming December 15th. This relatively new quartet features current and former members from Grime, The Secret, Claustrum and Fierce, and describe their sound as the death metal you know presented with a certain level of “tonal corruption”, groove and tension. Night Terrors Records and Filth Junkies will issue the EP on cassette and digitally.

Dying Victims Productions have announced they will release BOUNDLESS CHAOS‘ debut album ‘Sinister Upheaval‘ early next year. This 80’s death metal and thrash metal inspired album names brutal thrashers like Devastation, Dark Angel and Possessed for its core inspiration and of course I’m stoked on that. The album will release this coming January 19th, 2024 on all relevant formats.

French black metal quartet ABDUCTION will release their latest album this coming December 1st by way of Finisterian Dead End and Frozen Records. Though ‘Toutes Blessent La Dernière Tue‘ is a concept album their guitarist suggests that won’t be their entire modus going forward “We don’t want to be perceived as a “concept-band. This album talks about different themes, such as the way the “new” world treats the soldiers that are coming back from the First World War, or the discoveries of navigators and plane pilots, as well as more contemporary topics such as personal development, old age and the way our society envisions the way our elders live their final remaining years. There’s also one song that celebrates our love for classic literature, and pays tribute to Edmond Rostand’s hero, Cyrano De Bergerac…” ails of the European Union in some sense, but moreso an interest in a different age which still has visible consequences now. Eh, needless to say I am interested.

Transcending Obscurity Records have announced March 1st, 2024 as the release date for a new project from multi-talented musician Brendan Dean (Gutvoid, Pukewraith). FATHOMLESS RITUAL is of course a gnarled and technical beast in the ‘old school’ sense of weirding stuff though they’ve suggested some intense atmosphere factors into his debut album, ‘Hymns For The Lesser Gods‘. Dean comments: “Fathomless Ritual is thrilled that the prehistoric gods of old have spoken favourably and deemed us fit to become part of the Transcending Obscurity Records family! […] 8 tracks of doom laden death metal as if unearthed by some cursed excavator, moaning with downtuned guitars and seeping with guttural vocals which praise those lost deities and rites from our prehistoric origins. Be prepared to sacrifice yourself and win the favour of the forgotten ones…” I’ve enjoyed everything he has done to date so, looking forward to this one.

On November 17th End All Life Productions will release the third full-length album from Portuguese black metal entity ANGRENOST. ‘Magna Lua Ordem Mística‘ comes long awaited, as the band’s career traces back to 1995, this third album and first in six years finds two key members Pursan and A. Ara reunited alongside new members Erdsaf and M. Skúlason (the most recent Misþyrming drummer). I will attempt a timely review of this album as it’d impressed deeply even on the first listen. It is out today.

New Jersey-based death metal project ENGULF comes from Hal Microutsicos who takes the plunge into a full-length album after impressing with three lore-heavy EP releases in the late 2010’s. This debut album will be titled ‘The Dying Planet Weeps‘ and seems to both reaffirm and expand his own personal style. Excellent Par Olofsson cover art and a solid single greet us first but the album releases on CD/Tape January 12th, 2024 with the vinyl coming in Spring 2024.

Swedish black metal elite VOODUS have revealed a new video for “The Call of the Abysmal Deep” the first track to be revealed from their second full-length album, ‘Emanating Sparks‘, which will be released in early 2024 by way of Shadow Records. Check out the single, “The Call of the Abysmal Deep”, over on YouTube:

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THIS WEEK’S VIDEOS / REVIEWS

Catch up with the latest YouTube video review/features and written reviews here. New videos post each week for the most part. You can click on the link provided to read the review/article, each review has the related video embedded in the original post as well. Videos are fairly casual and meant to accompany the written review with some extra context and generalized notes. The written review and the video review are complimentary -not- interchangeable. Please subscribe, share, and leave a comment, etc. if you feel like it.

NOTE: Right-click and “Open in New Tab/Window” to view on YouTube or try youtube.com/@terraasymmetry

Grizzly Butts will become Mystification Zine in 2024 | EDITORIAL [Vid will publish soon]

MEPHORASH – Krystl-AH (2023) | REVIEW

CARCINOID – Encomium to Extinction (2023) | REVIEW

VENUS – Obscured Until Observed (2023) | REVIEW

AETERNUS – Philosopher (2023) | REVIEW

SADUS – The Shadow Inside (2023) | REVIEW

ELITIST – A Mirage of Grandeur (2023) | REVIEW

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NEXT WEEK:

Here is a tentative list of what is coming up next week in terms of reviews. The following records have been listened to extensively, a preliminary review has been drafted (or completed), and I’ve locked them in for coverage. In terms of the “Short Written Reviews + Video” column, these are more tentative, some of them may be cut if I do not have enough time to get around to everything. These choices are subject to change as the final drafts evolve and other releases might potentially take priority:

LONGFORM REVIEWS + VIDEO:

MÊLÉE DES AURORES – Aube Cannibale [November 23rd, Sepulchral Productions]
SADISM – Obscurans [November 24th, Hammerheart Records]
DESTRUCTOR – Blood, Bone and Fire [November 24th, Shadow Kingdom Records]
OSSUARY – Stellar Annihilation [November 25th, Awakening Records]
KVELGEYST – Blut, Milch und Thr​ä​nen [November 24th, Eisenwald]
KORGONTHURUS – Jumalhaaska [November 24th, Woodcut Records]

SHORT REVIEWS + VIDEO:

This weeks Short Reviews (posts November 23rd)

SWORDS OF DIS – Melancolia [November 24th, I, Voidhanger Records]
ZAHN – Adria [November 24th, CrazySane Records]
AEOLIAN – Echoes of the Future [November 24th, Black Lion Records]
TEMPLE OF SCORN – Funeral Altar Epiphanies [November 24th, Transcending Obscurity]
DEIMLER – Immortalized [November 25th, Awakening Records]
MORBID SACRIFICE – Ceremonial Blood Worship [November 24th, Godz ov War Productions]

Nothing But Black Metal – Part III: (November 22nd) — Deeper underground picks, Bandcamp randoms, trash, hatred, filth.

Nothing But Black Metal – Part III: (November 29th) — New black metal releases November/December.

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