• SHORT REVIEWS • Our seventh edition of Short Reviews for 2024 releases finds me grabbing at six more releases from the general pool of early March. This year Short Reviews will arrive every ~1-2 weeks dependent on how many extra releases are worth talking about. // These are more easygoing and casual than longform reviews, so relax and think for yourself. 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. — 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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Hailing from Barcelona, Spain and featuring members of Cruz funeral death sludge/doom metal quartet Blazar recall the late 2000’s/early 2010’s surge of interest in specific sub-genre combination wherein bands like Anhedonist, Samothrace and Indesinence thrived for a short period of time with shades of early Grief and/or atmospheric sludge metal fed into arguably more extreme metal focused records. While this is a bit of a generalization when considering the wealth of extremophilic sludge/doom of a certain era available in hindsight ‘Fatal Cosmic Wound‘ shouldn’t have any trouble convincing the average death/doom metal fan of their value up front as these folks present an altogether consistent thunderer of a record with plenty of huge, mushed-out riffs and slow-rolling double bass drum kicks keeping things surreal yet moving along.

The four main ~10 minute pieces here center their toppling movement around the fuzzed-over stalk of the main rhythm guitar tone much of the time, plodding through easily read doom metal riffs in slowly intensifying motion, opener/title track “Fatal Cosmic Wound” does this best. The most interesting variation on this tip was probably “Crystallized Oblivion”, if only for the break in the middle of the piece, each main chunk of song has at least one moment, its own point of intensity. The brief interlude, intro and outro provided a valuable sense of atmosphere to the full listen and used their outer-spaced synth to build up the overall effect of ‘Fatal Cosmic Wound‘ in a simple but appreciable way. Otherwise I’d felt the vocals generally struggled bring any particularly interesting cadence to the full listen, their ranting and rasping style more or less filling space next to the roll out of the riffs.

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Brutal, morbid to a deranged degree, and experimental in its creation of surrealistic brutality Cabinet is the current focus of rural California-based musician M. who is best known for his work in Valdur and Sxuperion over the years. The differentiation of this project from others is perhaps some more pointed Portal inspiration in terms of draining motions, thematic rhythmic movement, and interest in harsher dark ambient and noise to help blur everything together. Much of this specific release appears at least partially improvised as the erratic nature of the running order, the jammed feeling of the longer songs and a fair number of shorter ~2-3 minute pieces which create an emergent sense of being. These songs often refrain from repeating any one riff within the same piece and few function as “rock” songs in the traditional sense. I’d particularly enjoyed the atmospheric dirge offered by “Worms Squirming Into Your Occiput/Turning to Mush” even if the song itself is largely repetitive “filler” movement, the effect is more profound than the action itself and I think that’ll be familiar enough a sensation if you were a fan of the raw estrangement offered by Sxuperion in the years previous. The riffs don’t necessarily hit but the brutal dissociation and morbid obsession comes across just as well.

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Holdlajtorja is a psychedelic ritualistic doom metal duo from Zalaegerszeg, Hungary who’ve done well to focus on their own unique take on dark neo-psychedelia applied to mid-paced pieces which center around arabesque melodies and hints of their body of work in death/doom and black metal bands Leiru, Vorkuta, and Cave Altar. As far as I know this project was initially supposed to be a new vision for Vorkuta when it started but soon developed into its own thing over time. Expect the rawness and black metallic edge of their 2020 demo mostly gone and instead an album which could be likened in sensation to certain chilled out Saturnalia Temple, Zaum and Head of the Demon releases. If you are a fan of hypnotic and organically achieved experiential music this one offers a mix of heady instrumentals which’re always feeling the tension of the circle while also featuring strong vocal performances which communicate the majestic and the bizarre between extreme and clean expression throughout. ‘Arcana et Tenebrae‘ is immersive and realistic in its haunted render to the point that it feels ancient and curiously ceremonial as it cycles through.

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Sombre in its funereal reverence and lumbering slow in its grieving majesty this second full-length album from Seattle, Washington-based sextet Isenordal marks some notable shifts in line-up and a focus on a sound which is not so resolutely faceted in the post-black/doom metal category as I’d found ‘Requiem for Eir​ê​nê‘ touched upon moderne funeral doom adjacent style about as often. A fairly unique entity built up by grindcore and hardcore punk musicians this band were originally touted as a band heavily inspired by Baroque music, particularly in their viola-forward and keyboard focused work, but now we find them curating an oaken form of neofolk, post-metallic gloom and generally thick dramatism to match the loft of their muse. Only a few of these five pieces line up with my interest, the first being funeral doom tinged opener “A Moment Approaches Eternity” (and closer “Saturnine Apotheosis”) and the more grinding black/folken tirade of “Epiphanies of Abhorrence and Futility” each song presenting a broad and notable range in cinematic motion. It doesn’t quite knock the recent memory of bands like Tenhi out of mind just yet but I’d enjoyed the more morbid, hardened aspect of some of these songs.

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This latest full-length album from prolific Spanish stargazing melodic/atmospheric death-doom metal project Ornamentos Del Miedo takes a turn back toward prominent celestial synth and dreaming slow movements, something closer to the pacing of bands seeking the cusp of funeral doom through walking paced and extended pieces. I’ve been a fan of this fellowes work for a few years now and while I find the sentimental signature and gorgeously soaked atmosphere just as affected this time around this 2022 recorded venture focuses quite deeply upon one core idea per song and it’d left me slightly impatient when wrapped up in the moment-by-moment of it all. While I appreciate the iteration achieved between each release I think the visuals and the cluttered production values are both perfectly stylized for their niche but could be just as well elevated with a few simple changes. That said, there are some new ideas explored here such as the unexpected grooves found on “Donde la Linea Termina” and the more familiar tuneful swagger of “Fragmento de Espejos” was appreciated. A vital discovery if you’re forever in search of generational decline in the vein of earliest Katatonia.

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For their twelfth full-length album Belgium-based brutal death/grind band Aborted focus intently on simplified yet bombastic rhythms to suit this somewhat rote guest spot filled album. Each song on ‘Vault of Horrors‘ brings in a different popular deathcore vocalist (Shadow of Intent, Despised Icon, Ov Sulphur, Signs of the Swarm, Ingested, Cryptopsy, et al.) assumedly for the sake of either building songs around their appearances or aiming for a mix of what is most popular alongside some of their friends, tourmates or otherwise. Unfortunately this kinda leaves the typically over the top band working with generic riffcraft and vocalists who collectively feature a lot of the same oeuvre and register. I figured I would give this record a try since I’d enjoyed some of their late 90’s/early 2000’s stuff back in the day but the whole thing was basically a wash with none of the songs ultimately sticking in mind. An average record from my point of view but nothing outwardly terrible or lacking when paired with their 2022-2024 output overall.

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