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”. 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.

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I. The website, social media, and my output will continue transform as I continue to focus on the future: GrizzlyButts.com has essentially become MystificationZine.com but it will officially take place starting January 1st as the “branding” for the site will gradually continue to change. This means that this years “list season”, all reviews from November through December, and the Top 75 Albums of 2023 will all be published under the new name and domain. All of the old links to the site still work and will redirect without issue ad infinitum.

II. 2024 is approaching! I’ve written up ten lists for overlooked, underrated, and outlier items this past week and now I’ll move on to the Album of the Year stuff. This year there will be multiple posts, essentially a week of the Top 75 with ~15 item lists, this will make more sense once it is in motion and once I’ve caught up with all of the video content that comes with it.

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. We’ve recently reached 675 (!) subscribers, thank you for your support! Several features/series are planned for next year.

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 new ways to cover music under the Mystification banner next year. Thank you.

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#1	Album of the Month
ARTIST:	VARATHRON
TITLE:	The Crimson Temple
RECORD LABEL(S):	Agonia Records

The fire, the blood, and the level of devoted energy extreme metal deserves. — “Let all shadows die here as the temple is relit, wherein the fires of an insidious cult come rushing back through an old wound, speared open for this seventh-gorged daimonian return. Ioannina, Greece-based abyssic black metal quintet Varathron produce an energetic, chest-pounding infusion back into the halls of demented and theatric black metal as this seventh full-length album vivifies their presence beyond a five year sojourn. ‘The Crimson Temple‘ is more than a curse upon the ruins but an enormous stage set, a ten-scene depiction of mayhemic wonders imagined in blood-painted and maw spewed arcane extremity. Theirs is yet a boldly personified spectacle, unstoppably melodious and mayhemic violent, doomed and blazoned in splattered sacrifice befitting these ancient gods of dark magick.”

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#2
ARTIST:	PHOBOCOSM
TITLE:	Foreordained
RECORD LABEL(S):	Dark Descent Records

Sounds like Immolation, yes, but there is much more to their gig than that. — “Exacting in its chiseled depiction, and to the point of believable relief, we can confirm the artist has stared with bleakest wonderment into the black mirror’d face of Death and wilted into understanding. Life’s achievement is in fact facing death, acknowledging inevitable shattered dispersal and living in awakened consciousness which embraces impermanence. At a state of highest awareness Montréal, Quebec-based death metal band Phobocosm set their third full-length album in the aftermath, beneath the crushing mulch of the wheel and promote a life examined. ‘Foreordained‘ is a rapturous shove toward mortality, the inevitable end and they’ve pressed this issue all the way out to the end of all life as they complete their initial trilogy of LPs in this their fifteenth year extant. Displaying primacy in every detail and presenting their most cohesive, thunderous work to date these folks have deservedly achieved one of the best death metal releases of the year..”

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#3
ARTIST:	INCULTER
TITLE:	Morbid Origin
RECORD LABEL(S):	Edged Circle Productions

Easily one of the best thrash metal albums out this year. — “Twisted by time and experience into form Fusa, Norway-based thrash metal band Inculter return beyond their tenth year of activity a changed entity. Solemn yet plagued with frustration this third full-length album serves to clarify the thread which tugs at their ironclad souls most is yet classic thrash metal. While they’ve always operated well within the bounds of this headspace they only just now achieve a sense of self, an everlasting fortitude which states itself with great confidence and intrigue this third time around. A warning of the oncoming storm delivered with furor and contrition ‘Morbid Origin‘ does well to recall the spiritus of old bones while sidestepping some of the dementia which afflicts most umpteenth generational slime today, cracking through the greyness with a shining mutant league aggression sure to send starved thrash classicists into their own gnarled form of refeeding syndrome.”

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#4
ARTIST:	SYLVAN AWE
TITLE:	Pilgrimage
RECORD LABEL(S):	Drakkar Productions

“Having approached the interconnectedness of all things in examination of place, identity and tradition before seeking the curative self in relation to the mundanity of circumstance and adversity the journey which imbues Melbourne, Australia-based black metal duo Sylvan Awe‘s work with a thoughtfully applied edge better illustrates its global sourcing on this third full-length album. ‘Pilgrimage‘ defies boundaries less as a point of purpose and moreso per an inquisitive nature, feeling their way toward better realized stature on a not-at-all self conscious path forward. If their previous LP can be considered an inspired step back into the realm then this should be viewed as a leap forward into their own mastery per its strengthened ‘epic’ melodic values and nigh progressive wiles explored.”

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#5
ARTIST:	CRYPTWORM
TITLE:	Oozing Radioactive Vomition
RECORD LABEL(S):	Me Saco Un Ojo Records, Pulverised Records, Extremely Rotten Productions

“Screaming through the grey mud and nuclear heat of our post-apocalyptic writhing Bristol, England-based death metal trio Cryptworm have found a fresh enough point of volatile zombified scourge here on their largely iterative second full-length album. ‘Oozing Radioactive Vomition‘ bellows up from its bog-grave in irregularly set flow-state as its crooked and cruel state of mind bounds, swings, and hammers upon its core persistence as if possessed by one simple primal urge, bashing and killing in a crude yet well articulated fashion. Though it is far from the most original work in this old-grinding, new death field they’ve done well to elevate the listening experience to an engaging and attitude-pumped event upon arrival.”

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#6
ARTIST:	KÊRES
TITLE:	Vexilloid
RECORD LABEL(S):	Terratur Possessions

“Kêres is a longtime project from ever-prolific Finnish musician Atvar (Circle of Ouroboros, Rahu) who has been an important component of atmospheric and experimental black metal in Finland for a couple of decades now. This project was always his link to primitivity, rawness and this continues to shine on this otherwise easily approached mid-paced riff-driven black metal record. Expect a cold, deliberate album which stalks the path of ‘Morbid Tales‘ indirectly and actually makes a pretty damned repeatable jam of it. Though their previous LP didn’t really knock me on my ass this one is exactly what I’d been looking for after facing so many keyboard-amped odes to the mid-90’s in the second half of 2023.”

>> FULL STREAM <<

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#7
ARTIST:	GRAVEHAMMER
TITLE:	Bones to Harvest
RECORD LABEL(S):	Rotting Misery, Fucking Kill Records

“Gravehammer is a primitive death metal quartet out of Kiel, Germany and their style most often incorporates the movement of doom metal and some nods to hairier black metal. It wasn’t entirely clear who these guys were on their earlier tapes but they seem to have really figured it out beyond 2020, they’ve got riffs and a rotten enough production value which doesn’t force the lo-fi digs too heavily and instead focuses on one brutal piece after another. Bestial, barbaric, whatever you want to peg them as this record cuts in the way the best of bands like Pentacle and early Obituary did”

>> FULL STREAM <<

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#8
ARTIST:	MALICIOUS
TITLE:	Merciless Storm
RECORD LABEL(S):	Invictus Productions

“Four gruesomely stabbed bolts of black lightning taken to the chest Hyvinkää, Finland-based blackened death-thrashing quartet Malicious‘ first strike beyond their full-length debut comes as an outrageous act of violence, a quick and ruinous mLP. ‘Merciless Storm‘ hits like a blast cap within a rotten bag of blood, cut jagged into chunks of raw and stinking hot death metal mania which explodes quick and stains everything it hits. If you’re in heavy music for the riffs, the rhythmic traditions of thrashing extremism taken to skull-shocking exaggeration, then you’ll do well to weather their gig and get struck by the front-to-back blazing death machine concocted here.”

>> FULL STREAM <<

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#9
ARTIST:	INFERNAL EXECRATOR
TITLE:	Diabolatry
RECORD LABEL(S):	Pulverised Records

“This third full-length album from Singapore-based black/death metal quartet Infernal Execrator remains traditional in its approach, still ruthlessly focused on blasphemic devastation and of course on the riff. I didn’t spend all that much time with their 2019 LP but after some serious time with this one I’d consider it their most violent work to date and still in the vein of compatriots Impiety and Angelcorpse. There were only a handful of truly effective records in this style this year and it was a shock to get a legit item here way late in the year.”

>> FULL STREAM <<

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#10
ARTIST:	RINGARË
TITLE:	Of Momentous Endless Night
RECORD LABEL(S):	Avantgarde Music

“Ringarë began as a solo project from Alex Poole (Häxanu, Krieg, Skáphe, et al.) in the 2000’s, eventually turning into Chaos Moon until that band went dormant in 2017. We’ve gotten three albums from this project since and he’s added folks from his other projects in the interim. This is easily the best result from the group to date thanks to a focus on longer-form pieces which’d quickly proven absorbing and directed by riffs and keys alike and not in the usual dry sense. Much as the initial read of this album appeared mundane the more time I’d sat with it the deeper I’d drifted off into each landscape created and couldn’t deny the step above and beyond the album presented.”

>> FULL STREAM <<

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#11
ARTIST:	VARGRAV
TITLE:	The Nighthold
RECORD LABEL(S):	Werewolf Records

“For album number three we’ve been granted an expectedly long and involved opus from these Finnish folks who’ve amassed an army of four with members of Satanic Warmaster and Moonsorrow beyond the central pontifications of V-KhaoZ Stormrage (Druadan Forest) and yes, you could probably still compare their work to that of the most popular symphonic/orchestral black metal the mid-to-late 90’s. In fact my only criticism is that it only strives to recreate the sensation of the past in their own voice, a noble but expected result. The keyboard/synth is soundtrack level work and comes as the real expertise here beyond the legends performing ought else, though there is finesse here the recordings are still organic and fully reek of high fantasy aura in an authentic enough way. While it’d make sense to consider their inspiration Norwegian in origin the approach here is admirably more distinct, more eccentric in a way which Vargrav had only begun to develop on their first two releases. If we must continue to look back to the orchestra-sized peak of the 90’s black metal ideal (there were more blasts back then, eh) I’d rather it was exactly this well-considered and delivered with this type of brutal finesse.”

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#12
ARTIST:	HINSIDES
TITLE:	Hinsides hörs djävulsklockans urklang
RECORD LABEL(S):	Shadow Records

“From the peak of the chapel tower down through the bones of the skull the ominous clangor of the bell is anechoic and brief for all except the intended victim(s) as Malmö, Sweden-based black metal duo Hinsides illustrate the terrifyingly persistent toll and the horrific fate beyond its warning on this sophomore full-length album. Death is coming, inevitably and as such ‘Hinsides hörs djävulsklockans urklang‘ is less a rabid dog and more a looming spectre, detailing the fate of thee possessed and the maul to come with more patience and poise than prior. A brief yet impactful black metal album presented beyond the norm which yet remembers to embody the devil’s music when all is said and done.”

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#13
ARTIST:	GEISTAZ’IKA
TITLE:	Midnatsb​ø​n ved Dj​æ​velens Port
RECORD LABEL(S):	Signal Rex

“Danish black metal solo project Geistaz’ika resemble pagan black metal (as in (earlier): Helheim, Ulver, …In the Woods) and proper stuff, too. They’d hit my best of the month when their prior record released and this follow up release is no less dramatic in its expression, in fact their work is doubly so in terms of using hymnal vocals, a quite loud theremin, and ruddy acoustic guitars to create a wintry theatre of dread and majesty herein. Wrathful vocals and intensely melodic rhythm guitar work continue to carry their point across the way, making for an even more impressive release than the last. The ~20 minute finale piece is one of my favorite oaken black metal pieces of the year though it really works best in context of the full listen.”

>> SHORT REVIEW <<

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#14
ARTIST:	BLOOD SERPENT
TITLE:	Bestial Extermination
RECORD LABEL(S):	House of Ygra

“Blood Serpent is a Hanoi, Vietnam-based black-death metal duo, essentially a war metal band aligned with an ancient feeling approach on this debut LP. Taking inspiration from Blasphemy, Angelcorpse and even covering an old Black Witchery piece to top it off these folks seem to understand the grinding hardcore punk, thrash and late 80’s extremism that’d driven the more inventive rhythmic side of warfare noise and that means their sound is brutal, chaotic and violent but it still has riffs and we get a lot of uniquely stated interplay between the rhythm section. Veering between hyper-speed devastation down to a tank level roar ‘Bestial Extermination‘ impresses with unpredictable pacing to start but within that whirlwind they’re never bashing away at plain or oversimplified primitive ideas. Each song feels like a ride and I’d recommend “Blood Defilement” or “Wielder of Pestilent Flame” as pieces which run the gamut of their oeuvre and show they’re not just another war metal crew. Sharp but still ugly production values, brilliant album art, the whole thing comes together well above-average for my tastes.”

>> SHORT REVIEW <<

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#15
ARTIST:	DEMONCY
TITLE:	Black Star Gnosis
RECORD LABEL(S):	Dark Descent Records

“Returning to sweep the dust of past nature with a new storm of celestially-summoned winds Seattle, Washington-based black metal band Demoncy hold the key to unlock the gateway to a kingdom which stands a decade overgrown with thorn, vine and the void of the eternal adversary. ‘Black Star Gnosis‘ is the auld key, ragged and rusted as if pulled from the pockets of an ancient corpse by fresh hands, a black metal muse which we’d ordinarily have to look to the past (or, few present imitations) to source today. The hinges do not creak upon unlock and the air does not clear as the growling gravitas of their return ripples underfoot, this truly subterranean classic revives for the first of two late-year releases unhindered by time and seemingly strengthened by the veritas unveiled by the passage of time.”

>> FULL STREAM <<

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#16
ARTIST:	KRALLICE
TITLE:	Mass Cathexis 2 – The Kinetic Infinite
RECORD LABEL(S):	Hathenter

The thirteenth full-length from New York prog-metal crew Krallice is a fusion dance between their follow up to ‘Mass Cathexis‘ (2020) which is also a reprisal of their collaboration(s) with Neurosis bassist/vocalist Dave Edwardson alongside another experimental EP, pressing both into similar space and onto separate halves. While their last few releases have explored different stations, an exploration of keyboards and technical black/death variations this record is most prone to pick up a synth-addled bass and I’d say to entertaining results. While I was hoping for a bigger follow-up to ‘Loüm‘ this was nonetheless one of my favorite releases from the band since 2019.

>> FULL STREAM <<

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#17
ARTIST:	TROLL
TITLE:	Trolldom
RECORD LABEL(S):	Polybus Records

“Troll has long been (ca. 1992) a solo side-project of Norwegian musician Nagash who is perhaps best known for award winning work in Covenant as well as bassist for Dimmu Borgir‘s peak in the late 90’s. Though the focus of his work has long been whatever the current zeitgeist of symphonic black metal mandates most of it was somewhat experimental, figuring out harmonies and textures that’d be applied more broadly in other projects. I appreciate the charm of ‘Drep de Kristne‘ (1996) for what it was at the time but their sound would take several severe turns beyond that point, most of them brutally aggressive and edgier-than-thou for its time. ‘Trolldom‘ is essentially what their 2020 EP had suggested, a return to the first half of the 90’s in spirit for something more nuanced with far less of a punched up, ultra-compressed groove focus. While I don’t think this is an amazing record, at all, it does well to sum up a lot of what Troll had been in the 90’s and part of the 2000’s while adding a sort of weird-rocking groove to a few pieces (“The Beast”) when it seems the ideas are either running low looking to simplify their impact.”

>> FULL STREAM <<

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#18
ARTIST:	BULL OF APIS BULL OF BRONZE
TITLE:	The Fractal Ouroboros
RECORD LABEL(S):	Fiadh Productions

“Much as I’d wanted to praise the 2019 debut LP from Colorado-borne atmospheric/ambient black metal trio Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze the music didn’t live up to the conversation as a fumbled-through effort and this’d left me curious but less-than hyped for a second release. Overall I’d say ‘The Fractal Ouroboros‘ sounds quite a bit more like a reasonable take on a black metal release, still breathing the fumes of atmospheric sludge quite heartily in spirit but managing more coherent pieces (and more of them) herein. The hurdle to bound over per my own taste here is the remnants of the early 2010’s post-music zeitgeist which gave us too many slow builds, slight payoffs and fades out. Since this record frames its longer form pieces in such a way it becomes predictable but inoffensive in its wandering dread and directionless movement. They’ve done well to create their own atmosphere otherwise, enough that I’d found myself enjoying this record when given due time to sink into it.”

>> FULL STREAM <<

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#19
ARTIST:	DUSK
TITLE:	Dissolve Into Ash
RECORD LABEL(S):	Dark Symphonies/The Crypt

“Green Bay, Wisconsin-based death/doom metal quartet Dusk return for a second full-length album, tasking themselves with an ‘old school’ suite of depressive frustration twenty-eight years beyond their last. For the ancient romanticist death metal aficionado seeking the malaise of the early-to-mid 90’s most of what ‘Dissolve Into Ash‘ has to offer is clear in its nostalgic intent, a rebuilt cage of despairing gothic metal adjacent extreme doom surrounded by a maze of mid-paced wrought iron riffs and long faces. The experience is miserable to a fault though it may not prove memorable beyond the most die-hard fandom seeking a glimpse forward after their neck’d been left to atrophy, craned over shoulder into the past for so long.”

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#20
ARTIST:	ARKHTINN
TITLE:	三​度​目​の​災​害
RECORD LABEL(S):	Amor Fati, Prava Kollektiv

“One of five Prava Kollektiv releases that’d suddenly appeared at the start of the month, the world of Arkhtinn lands upon a desolate iceberg here and once again immerses with a cacophony in response. Cold and of course stargazing to the point of two great tunnel-envisioned ~22 minute works, this album focus heavily upon driving black metal girded by celestial synth, chorales and haunted irrational vocalizations. I’ve mostly treated it as background music thus far but I couldn’t come up with much that’d really struck me and held my attention as much as this when I was scrambling for a twentieth item.”

>> FULL STREAM <<

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