• SHORT REVIEWS • Our eighth edition of Short Reviews for 2024 releases finds me grabbing at six more releases from the general pool of mid-to-late 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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Budapest, Hungary-based group Svoid began as a black metal inspired dark metal band before quickly evolving into their own form of depressive rock and post-punk inspired concoction on their two most recent records. Black metal vocals and spaced out anti-cosmic death rock gloom isn’t the most novel combination on paper, gothic metal and black metal have never been strangers in spirit, but ‘Neptunian Genesis‘ leans heavily into the depressive rock spectrum. In fact I’d say they’ve been a bit too ambitious in taking on eleven songs which stretch beyond their vocal and melodic range as the album progresses beyond its mid-point. That isn’t to say that they’ve not gotten it exactly right along the way, kicking into some lively steppers a la the inspired opener/title track and the fuming intimacy of “Twilight Draws Nigh”, though there are certain points where Svoid‘s work feels like a tour of tropes which only differentiate per an unpleasant rasp atop a relatively straight forward gothic rock ride. Granted it takes a half hour and ~6-7 songs for their traction to slip a bit and there’ll be a few ingenious hits of black metal guitar pulled in for effect which should please anyone who’d enjoyed the latest Alfahanne record or nearby.

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Roman technical death metal quartet Hideous Divinity posit the burning wheel of existence as they raise lingering questions on the subject of futility and free will on this densely stated yet dramatic fifth full-length album. ‘Unextinct‘ continues the slow tempering process which has been in effect since 2014’s ‘Cobra Verde‘ wherein the brutality of their early days has given way to far more creative exploration of tempo and technique beyond hammered-at blasting. This is not all that far from the evolution of Ulcerate albeit different considering these folks primary influences appear to have been pulled from the prime era of bands like Nile and Hate Eternal as an early offshoot of Hour of Penance. While some have suggested blackened dissonance is a big part of this evolution their work is yet savagely brutal despite what I’d call a thinking man’s approach to the hammer applied. The big change here is the hammerer as they swap the drum chair after a decade with this album featuring impressive session work from Bedsore drummer Davide Itri.

The general rule for this arguably overlong but thoroughly entertaining ~51 minute album is ‘the longer the song the better they turn it out’ as the extended sprawl of “The Numinous One”, “Atto Quarto the Horror Paradox” and “Leben Ohne Feuer” serve as consistently fixative and ear catching pieces on the long ride through, set next to shorter songs which offer quicker heavy hitters or abstractions of their developing oeuvre. Compared to the already impressive ‘Simulacrum‘ from 2019 this is decidedly fluid in its movement, brutal in its percussive points of punctuation and more adventurous with the vocals, leaving more room to breathe and churn. When I began listening to ‘Unextinct’ I’d gotten the impression this was more accessible up front though the more time I’d spent with its wares the more it felt like a nauseating maze of frustration as the lyrics searched for meaning within their chaotic whorl of inspired ideas. Though I’ve long held some fealty with this band per their early years and clear taste in the classics this is probably the first album to shock and compel me into many repeat listens. Much more to unpack here, of course, but the gist of it is that Hideous Divinity have pushed forward with their ever evolving sound and hit a wild hot spot of inspiration with ‘Unextinct‘.

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As ramping ambitions and expectations begin to surround Mork Halden, Norway-based musician Thomas Eriksen reaches for a different tune, a nod to the gloom-ridden atmosphere of ancient black metal in the form of this new solo project, Udåd. The result certainly has the artist’s signature guitar work in it, carrying a knack for atmosphere and memorable but repetitive motions creating obsessive songs which are often centered around maudlin rock inspired droning melodies. This arrives at a decidedly different pulse which the artist describes as looking back to their first LP with Mork and then going further back in time yet this style doesn’t have any too-clear resonance or reference made within obviate black metal canon.

Distant and dryly struck single-kick drums regularly drop out entirely during the breadth of Side A and I suppose this is for the sake of letting the ringing and whirling energy of each piece set its own stage, building its sparse guitar layers into a style which is at once an olden type of atmospheric black metal and a somewhat doomed or slow-droning development of floaty yet intently searching riffs. As we hit songs like “Bakenfor Urskogens Utkant” and “Vondskapens Triumf” not only is there a dark rock inspired feeling to these pieces but the shouted vocal register from Eriksen helps to further differentiate ‘Udåd‘ from his other work. The drifting, ghostly tone of the album did eventually become infectious after a few runs through though the high impact of certain songs outweighed some of the more plain, average moments by a wide margin.

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Their mystery cult now fully alive and prepared with a unique form of ancient unorthodox doom metal in-skull Strasbourg, France-based quintet Dionysiaque arrive upon a sound and style I’d describe as ekstasis afflicted, entranced by a uniquely stated ritual which might involve one or two traditional doom metal inspired riffs and declarative and theatrically stated vocals (see: Reverend Bizarre) amidst a sort of progressive level of musicianship applied to an otherwise raw and organic form of doom. Though this is admittedly a rough one to describe on paper it shouldn’t be all that alienating an experience for fans of post-millennial traditional doom metal, though the vocal performances may prove over the top for some. While the guitars are the energetic directive of their action the real boon enjoyed within this avant-doom showing comes from the spring-loaded and wood rich bass guitar tone of their work, never stepping on the toes of the guitarist(s) and drummer both of whom provide some inspiration for the darker side of the bands work on this EP. For my own taste the most interesting parts of this album are the deeper sought and extended pieces wherein each song has a slightly different touch from the jammed reaches of “Evohe” to the lengthy mid-album epic “Vineyard and Ivy”. The impressive command of the rhythm section goes a long way here.

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Chicago, Illinois-based technical brutal death metal quartet Wounds arrive upon their debut full-length album after years spent in a precursor version of the band that’d started back in the late 2000’s. In their current configuration since 2012 these folks present a relatively straightforward, clean and crisp style of brutal tech-death heavily inspired by the Unique Leader dominated time period in which they’d formed. ‘Ruin‘ might briefly feel like a throwback during its biggest points of swaggering groove (“Doom Incarnate”, “Zoophagist”) but their obvious enough interest in groove metal and vague hits of deathcore do not outclass the focus on the riffs themselves, all of which are attacked non-stop throughout the entire record. Strong production values, unique album art, and plenty of fine swings taken at complex and menacing riff n’ rhythms go a long way toward building their finalized introductory character within this record. The big get here is the vortex of focus created by repeat listens, this is when the truly clever riffs start to register within the flurry of it all. Solid album and I’d appreciated how straight forward they’d delivered it.

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Thomas Greenwood & the Talismans is a neo-psychedelic rock trio from Bergamo, Italy featuring stoner rock band Humulus‘ guitarist/vocalist Thomas Mascheroni up front. One can taste the free-riding, acid rocking garage bump of the 70’s in their work, a vintage which is distant but not without vigor and soul as they describe a hidden subterranean refuge away from the world on this second full-length. Beyond the easier riding feel of this album we find a more actively bopping pace without losing the jammed edge of certain songs (“Sunhouse”, for example). Otherwise the big boon I’d noted was generally improved production values where we get that old feeling without sacrificing the bass guitar tone, key for a pusher of a song like “All the Lines”. Standouts: “Crack”, “Mystic Sunday Morning”, “Sleepwalker”.

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