Short Reviews | April 10th, 2024

• SHORT REVIEWS • Our twelfth edition of Short Reviews for 2024 releases finds me grabbing at six more releases from the first half of April. 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

ZAPPEDÜSTER is a ‘rural black metal-punk’ band which features folks from Swiss collective Helvetic Underground Committee (Kvelgeyst, Ungfell, Urgeist, etc.) and their thrashing form on this debut cassette tape concerns itself with superstitions, belligerent folk tales, and plenty of maniac riffs as they clip through the four raw and irreverent pieces of ‘Näbelschlucker‘. Of course the compositions and voices here speak to the strengths of the fellowes who are in this troupe as they focus on thrashing punk kicks and a folken form of uncomplicated black metal for structure. Though these are ~5-6 minute songs their approach is quick cut and still manages an electrifying, arcane result. Though I don’t understand the archaic Swiss dialect they’ve applied to the lyrics the irreverence and folk-punk wilding of these songs comes across clear enough.

Eclectic ambient/drone project EVENTIDE is an offshoot from members of prog death/doom metal group Epitaphe which’d taken form during the sessions for their brilliant ‘II‘ as pieces they’d composed and improvised began to take shape well outside of the scope of that album. Citing inspiration from Klaus Schulze and Ulver among other artists the four pieces which comprise ‘Waterline‘ were mostly recorded live (excepting the title track) using modular synth, analog effects, noir-edged saxophone performances, some atmospheric guitar work and even feature intermittent vocals in rare cases. The heavier guitar drones mostly arrive on “Eventide” but they are reprised on 18+ minute closer “Sphere” creating a balance not unlike that of ‘II’ where plenty of space is given to develop bigger moments within longform pieces. Though this isn’t an everyday listen per my own taste I can appreciate the instincts involve in developing these extended experiences which do well to blend lightly motoric elements with heavier distortion-fed droning and more lush synth setting. The title track sums the experience well and shows the most promise overall, vocals should definitely be expanded upon as it helps this work stand out beyond the general combination otherwise.

Tasmanian troupe TAROT return with their first recording since 2016’s debut LP ‘Reflections‘, a long tended shift from ‘epic’ heavy psychedelic rock toward the steadier rocking and increasingly tuneful Hammond organ tapping side of heavy progressive/psychedelic rock a la cited inspirations Deep Purple, Rainbow and Uriah Heep. This comes with a somewhat indulgent side, particularly by the hands of the two organist/keyboardists who feature heavily throughout most every piece, but only for the sake of adding flourish to the exuberant spectrum of sound explored. Granted the best choice they make here is to ease off the keys when needed, such as the extended Atomic Rooster-esque breaks in standout “Dreamer in the Dark”. Though they’d hit a certain standard on their debut this one feels like a considerable leap in terms of musicianship, songcraft, and the general ability to wrangle well-enriched layers for a bigger event which is amped up by class but still gritty enough production values this time around. Though I don’t have much of value to add to the conversation on this album I do think this is one of the more memorable releases of April thanks to an excellent render, a deeply nostalgic but well-earned sound, and catchy enough songs hitting throughout the full listen.

Dortmund, Germany-based speed metal quintet VULTURE were quick to rise in the realm of throwback early-to-mid 80’s styled craft for the sake of taking their frozen in time style seriously beyond the usual cursory study of the past. Having quickly developed an evocative sound and bearing some brilliant instinct for songwriting within said realm their step from High Roller unto Metal Blade ramped up unnaturally quick in the span of their first two records and it felt like their third (‘Dealin’ Death‘, 2021) kind of -had- to do something different and the only place to go without a drastic paradigm shift was pacing, their side-track into Luzifer took this into another more spirited realm not long after, but it wasn’t the most thrilling follow up to ‘Ghastly Waves & Battered Graves‘ (2019). In direct contrast ‘Sentinels‘ feels like a well worn in pair of jeans, an expansion of where they’d caught fire and all it’d taken was a few more wailing and riffing pieces to keep the energy up, most of them blaze by at a kicking clip. That said, some of the best songs on this new album take their time and amp up the 80’s metal dramatism (“Der Tod Trägt Schwarzes Leder”, for example) and this only leads to a better rounded, even more traditional feeling stretch of retro speed metal flexing. I particularly love how over the top vocalist L. Steeler is on “Unhallowed & Forgotten” an extra-‘Killers‘ amped and kinda early Slayer feeling piece that yanks the ear into the rush of their sound before “Transylvania” b/w “Realm of the Impaler” sells the whole deal. Much as I love their debut for the time and place that it’d dropped this is definitely my go-to Vulture record from this point.

Though New Jersey dissonant death metal band REPLICANT have changed up their gig beyond their debut LP ‘Negative Life‘ back in 2018 the nuance of their work seems to have arrived by way of time and capability allowing them to shape the result to their will. Starting with the Pyrrhon-esque claw fingered dissonant chord rassling avant-garde approach of that first album builds expectations folks associate with ‘old school’ tech-death but the two albums that’ve followed step into easier read rhythms, more confrontational yet simpler rhythms which allow room for their abstract guitar work to become the center of attention. What they’ve brought on ‘Malignant Life‘ (2021) and now ‘Infinite Mortality‘ today is an eclectic container for their skill wherein some late 90’s metal and metalcore tinged sounds permeated the surrealistic chugging of that second album today we find Replicant sprawling beyond that point of congestion, the finest example up front being the roaring fume and drift dance of “Reciprocal Abandonment” where we can feel the intent of their 2018 debut finally realized on a modern metallic scaled level of cinema. The thing I’d emphasize here is basically don’t get hung up on the first couple of songs as ‘Infinite Mortality‘ moves from blunt-core rhythms to tech-death to gargling slam and back to 90’s death metal weaponry depending on the moment (see: “Nekrotunnel”) and the ride is a great time if you don’t get too hung up on any one given mode. You can feel they’re pushing on a breakthrough, right on the edge of something entirely unheard of and for many that’ll be a well above-average sweet spot in the realm of dissonant, avant-tech, etc. yet organically achieved death metal adjacency.

London, England-based 70’s-cum-90’s heavy psychedelic/stoner rock quartet THE LUNAR EFFECT connect most deeply with the blues-driven heart of heavy music, bearing a core tattooed by the likes of early Sabbath and Soundgarden in spirit and an adventurous soul that’ll have taken you for a ride in the space of its first three songs where references to Witchcraft (“Ocean Queen”) might make sense considering the spread but keep going… since you’ll find the catchy immediacy of “Flowers for Teeth” is not fully representative of the general chilled-out, spaced feeling which ‘Sounds of Green & Blue‘ predominantly gears down into. By the time you’ve hit “Middle of the End” you’re either nodding along out your gourd or waiting overtime for the heavy stuff to kick back in. Want that noisy bustle back? Check out their debut LP ‘Calm Before the Calm‘, it’ll more than sate. Otherwise “Pulling Daisies” has some doom-rock ebb to it and the headier stretches of closer “On the Story Goes” bring a bit more distortion into their flow. If you don’t mind a sleepier than expected undertaking and quite a sizable leap in tact beyond their previous album there is a sublimely varietal retro rock record to indulge in here.