• SHORT REVIEWS • Our ninth edition of Short Reviews for 2024 releases finds me grabbing at six more releases from the general pool of 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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Moon Incarnate is a more recent project from German musicians Christian Kolf (Valborg, Labyrinth of Stars) and Matin Vasari (Beyondition) who’d spent roughly two years creating their own version of gothic death/doom metal inspired by “dark metal” bands like Moonspell, Katatonia and Tiamat alongside early 90’s U.K. melodic death/doom metal. It’d be reductive to suggest they’ve only stuck with that particular period of time as the widespread popularity and influence of those bands lead to many odd variations throughout the 90’s and early 2000’s here I’d suggest an album like Cemetery‘s ‘Godless Beauty‘ as a reasonable point of reference for both the death metal and gothic metal spectrum explored on ‘Hymns to the Moon‘ though choral themes characterize this record’s first few pieces up front. For my own taste Moon Incarnate take a few songs to find their groove on this debut LP starting with the hymnal “The Tempest” and its ruddy dual rhythm guitar tones giving a sort of underground death metal demo tape vibe from the get-go but going a bit further than expected with use of samples and less than subtle production values as the album picks up from that point. As we reach the clean-sung “Nemesis” things take a more complete turn towards gothic death/doom metal and this becomes perpetual as “A Graveyard in my Soul” opens to a more outright narrative beyond that point.

This ends up being a full swing and a plunge into the depths of auld gothic death metal before it became all about ‘beauty and the beast’ vocal theatrics and progressive metal-isms, and the side-effect of focusing on the ugly duckling stage of melodic death/doom reprises the awkward relationship it’d always enjoyed between gothic metal and emergent extreme doom. Instead of streamlining the old ways they’ve given exaggeration to this style to the point of a nostalgic obscenity and, no, I don’t consider that such a bad thing as it is such a specific study of forms given its own ugliness. There are small gripes I’d had throughout the full listen, starting with the odd pitch-shifted voiceover during the title track/intro, but there is some considerable entertainment value in hearing a revisionist take on this gothic (or, melodic) death/doom metal style which matches the enthusiasm for this music as it were back in the bulk of the 90’s.

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Acathexis is an atmospheric black metal trio from the main fellowes behind Mare Cognitum, Los Males del Mundo, and Déhà wherein they’ve returned beyond their 2018 debut LP for another set of four longform pieces which replicate the sound, fury and feeling of that debut. In fact they’ve made a point to suggest that nothing has drastically changed in their approach to this run-on style of atmospheric black metal which streams thick and cacophonic, cold and rushing along with some intermittent bursts of subtle melodic interest. In direct comparison with their first album I’d found the lead guitar work shows some clear improvement here and this quickly leads to some charming pockets of interest on the first and fourth songs. The album has an effective enough droning effect and, as its title suggests, one of the strongest qualities of their work is its immersive value. Though I’d not found the full listen a lasting fixation I did appreciate the different stylistic underpinning threaded through each piece which’d helped to differentiate each.

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Stockholm, Sweden-based duo Blestemat introduce their fealty and formae here on this impressive debut EP as they model their approach after the era of Swedish ‘orthodox’ black metal traditions (a la Watain, Ofermod, etc.) and I’d say their work sits well nearby a band like Ultra Silvam to some degree. This first release doesn’t make the most cutting first impression between its album art and title but the music quickly makes up for that, enlisting traditional and (for me) somewhat nostalgic sounds which sprawl in their cold and somewhat raw preparation. Though this is a direct shot of just over ~20 minutes of song it naturally serves as a complete and engaging work, suggesting these are experienced musicians at the very least. We can otherwise consider this release a small taste of what is to come now that Blestemat have announce their debut LP will be recorded shortly. The simple thrashing launch of “Glowing Earth” was a quick favorite here but “I Am His Light” and “Blestemata” are the biggest moments on the full listen for my own taste.

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Though black/thrash metal band DEVASTATIÖN didn’t give me any reason to expect much on this third album and follow up to, eh… ‘Pussy Juice Blues‘ (2015) but after checking out their back catalogue the first impression of ‘Rise of the Dead‘ wasn’t terrible. Somewhat generic composition, some faster-cut riffcraft and an ill-advised drum sound (per what sounds like programmed beats) leaves it all sounding like a bedroom project from the early 2000’s. Though the album wasn’t impressive to start by the time I’d hit the “Eternal War (For Immortality)” around the mid-point of the full listen things picked up a bit in terms of their witching metal inspired thrash but it’d been a shame that the organic feeling of the record was never fully realized. Again the drums are what kept me from getting too involved with this record though I will say the guitar work does begin to shine as the album shreds on, lending a feral thrashing aggression to this otherwise repetitive and kinda clunky extreme thrash record. Otherwise I’d appreciated the cover art and this somewhat changed, possible more serious vision for the band’s sound but I couldn’t ultimately sign off on it after five or so spins.

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=tPnp7Omi7qs&list=OLAK5uy_nX8HJBO6rjQuNiRJxETRBl0HutnmOa0dI

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Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan-borne and Germany based pagan black metal quintet Darkestrah return for a sixth full-length album and thier third consecutive for Osmose after a nearly eight year break beyond the last. Folken per their use of indigenous instrumentation and ‘epic’ in scope thanks to carefully developed song structures and extended lengths, ‘Nomad‘ makes a strong case for the band’s signature style and sound up front. From my point of view the album begins to impress somewhere nearby “Destroyer of Obstacles” for its atmospheric orchestration and the equally outsized but far more aggressive step of “Question For the Soul” afterwards. The folk metal side of the band is surprisingly the place where their work impresses most nowadays thanks to a distant, dread-filled yet easier going pieces (see: “Kök-Oy”). Although I’d not ultimately found a particularly profound connection with this album despite several repeated listens that didn’t stop it from being a memorable spin and a fine return to their unique sound.

https://osmoseproductions.bandcamp.com/album/nomad

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‘The Mother‘ is a much anticipated sophomore full-length album from Utrecht, Netherlands-based atmospheric/post-black metal band Verwoed, a solo black metal project from Erik Bleijenberg which now hits the crucial decade mark in its conception, now arriving upon a much bigger, broader self-actualization beyond their impressive (but short) debut LP (‘De Val‘) back in 2019. Though it takes a while for the album to fully set itself on fire (arguably around “The Child” or nearby) the haunting, dramatic quality of ‘The Mother‘ is not without its finer details and unique rhythmic step which makes for an unreal, watery drift through this far more substantial second album. Effects-heavy guitar leads and sleepy arpeggiated movements aren’t necessarily groundbreaking in terms of technique here but they do well to characterize Verwoed‘s headier, sonorous affect and sustain their sound as one which fits in well in the Netherlands modern black metal headspace, or, the sort of band that’d fit in quite well in a Roadburn type format. The full listen is exceptional here in terms of experiential atmospheric values yet it nonetheless takes considerable patience to delve into each spin for the sake of building up to subtle multi-tiered reveals, lending a kinda soft profundity for my own taste but still a captivating session when given due focus.

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