ENDTYMER is the semi-weekly recap, blogspace, and new release round-up column. It hits at the end of (most) every week with the intent of covering notable new releases, sharing news of new releases, and musing over various personal listening habits. It is largely informal, might contain opinions, etc. so chill out a bit. I do my best to cover as much of everything I receive in some form regardless of genre or representation, don’t hesitate to send anything and everything my way: grizzlybutts@hotmail.com

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FIVE BEST OF THIS WEEK

[#1] HERESIARCH (‘Edifice‘, Iron Bonehead)
[#2] VULTURE (‘Sentinels‘, Metal Blade)
[#3] SARCASM (‘Mourninghoul‘, Hammerheart)
[#4] NECROT (‘Lifeless Birth‘, Tankcrimes)
[#5] WHORES. (‘War.‘, The Ghost is Clear)

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UPCOMING RELEASES

Catch up with the latest new release announcements for albums I am likely to cover.

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Always a band to work ahead Danish epic heavy/doom metal band ALTAR OF OBLIVION got to work on two full-lengths, two EPs and an acoustic album during the pandemic years and signed with From the Vaults, the first release to come from this was ‘Burning Memories‘ an EP that’d landed on my best of 2023 and now the first full-length has been announced as a concept album: ‘In The Cesspit Of Divine Decay‘ which revolves around the diary of guitarist Martin Meyer Sparvath’s great-grandfather Jesper Wilhem Meyer, who reluctantly fought for the German Empire during The Great War (1914-1918). The album be released on vinyl and digitally on June 28th, this year. The first single and official video, “Nothing Grows From Hallowed Ground” gives us a sense of the conceptual narrative applied and a taste of the brilliant and theatric style these folks are known for. I couldn’t be more thrilled for the promise of much more from these folks as they have always delivered the best:

DARKTHRONE have released “Black Dawn Affiliation” the sole single from the duo’s latest full-length album ‘It Beckons Us All‘ which is schedules for a Peaceville Records release this coming April 26th. Fenriz comments on the song: “Nocturno Culto sculpted BLACK DAWN AFFILIATION and as much as I writhe in woe trying to describe riffs I did not make, we are certainly rocking hard and dark around a dungeon of slow Kreator 1986-era riffs (think Awakening Of The Gods or Take Their Lives from the FLAG OF HATE 12″). The song is linearly constructed, which is bold for a single but we often write this way. One could say it is a two-pronged beast which after the intermission (filled with a choir of the damned that we sung ourselves, believe it or not: “Aaaaaa.”) continues with my favourite riff in the song since I first heard it appear early in the second part and it is there that I was given the reins to let the halls and chambers of stardust levitate with unearthly synth and a voice that still today, when writing this, strikes me as being influenced by the first rock album I heard back in 1973 – Morrison Hotel. Lyrics darker and more disturbed than ever solidify these halls now.” and thee Nocturno Culto adds “It is not easy to describe the music you make, but for sure I will try…it´s heavy! Everything worked out as I hoped for this track. Some things are just forged in the studio, like as Fenriz´s excellent vocals at the end of the song; and the choir I wanted. Instead of just taking shortcuts, Fenriz and I recorded three vocal tracks each, and it was brilliantly mixed by Silje at Chaka Khan. There are many things one can say about riffs, but I make songs from a combination of a very methodical approach and happy accidents! And somewhere in the back of my head, it´s most likely there is something affecting a lot of my decisions on little details that shapes the riffing.” and of course beyond the song making a great first impression the album art for this record looks amazing:

Los Angeles-based death metal crew MORTAL WOUND have announced their debut full-length album ‘Anus of the World‘ will release this coming May 24th in collaboration with Dark Descent Records and Me Saco un Ojo Records. They’ve promised a “masterclass in well-produced Death Metal that reeks of the 90s brutality while keeping things totally organic.” and so far the first single actually sounds pretty good, was not sure what to expect from this band at this point:

New York brutal technical death metal legends MALIGNANCY have announced their latest full-length album ‘…Discontinued‘. Their first LP in five years promises a well-rounded extreme metal vision “[…] It’s Thrashy, Grindy, Techy, and Brutal, all in one!” and it will arrive on CD, vinyl, and digitally via the good folks over at Willowtip Records this coming June 14th. Though I consider their debut one of the greats I could definitely use a refresher beyond that point. Check out the first preview song “Purity of Purpose”:

Hell’s Headbangers Records have announced FUNERAL STORM‘s sophomore full-length album. ‘Chthonic Invocations‘ will release on CD, vinyl, and cassette tape. You might recall their debut back in 2019 smoked in reprising the classic Hellenic 90’s black metal style via folks who’re certainly qualified. From the sound of this first preview song and the look of the Markus Vesper painted album art they’ve upheld the dark magick of their debut on this new album:

Dying Victims Productions have announced they will release the upcoming sixth album from German thrashers LUCIFUGE. ‘Hexensabbat‘ will release on on CD and vinyl this coming May 24th. Formed back in 2016 and fusing blackened speed metal, metalpunk and now blazing black-thrash these folks have shown great aptitude and enthusiasm over the course of several albums. They’ve suggested this album continues down the path of ‘Monoliths of Wrath‘ (2023) wherein Teutonic Slayer army type stuff meets simpler, more blunt song types this time around. Check out “Gates of the Eternal Night”:

Rotted Life Records have announced they will release the latest EP from Cleveland, Ohio-based death metal band SARCOUGHAGUS. ‘Remnants’ will release on CD, cassette, and digitally this coming May 10th. As a trio they are in their power stance on this album sounding more violent without abandoning the cold USDM intensity of their sound. Check the preview out on Bandcamp:

This coming June 14th Dying Victims Productions will release the tuneful third full-length album from Helsinki, Finland based heavy metal group ANGEL SWORD. ‘World Fighter‘ will release on CD and vinyl formats. The first preview track, “Vigilantes”, is already above-average in its first impression, a catchy classic underground heavy metal piece. Their comments: “Our goal in this age of soulless, overproduced modern metal is to re-summon the metal gods of old with a skull-crushing, vomit-inducing dose of rough-edged heavy metal,”. Definitely geared up for this one:

Personal Records are on a roll this year in terms of variety having recently announced a June 7th release date for the upcoming fourth full-length album from Swedish epic doom metal duo VOID MOON. ‘Dreams Inside the Sun‘ will release on CD format. You’ll recall I’d enjoyed their traditional yet folken touch on their third album a couple of years ago and this new album seems to carry this tradition on, check them out if you’re a fan of Forsaken and Isole.

Swedish metalpunk duo GERM BOMB have released “Sot” the first single from their upcoming full-length album ‘Monochrome Nightmare‘ which is slated for release via Doomentia Records and Insane Society Records this coming May 30th. The single brings a dark shade of kinda Amebix-level heavy yet post-punk edged movement on this song but the album has plenty more to offer elsewhere. Check out the song and see what you think, I’m impressed so far:

Everlasting Spew Records have announced ‘Convergence‘ as the latest album from Canadian death metal trio FRACTAL GENERATOR. In keeping with great consistency per their previous album the big shift here seems to be tonal, the band explains their intent: “A suspected glitch in the universal simulation causes new planets to appear in our solar system. ‘Convergence’ is an album that attempts to capture the essence of this cosmic upheaval, exploring these new planets into journeys of chaos, song by song.” I’d appreciated their previous LP and am curious to see how this one turned out, good from the sound of this preview song:

Pulverised Records have announced the latest album from Pittsburgh-based progressive thrash metal group HEMOTOXIN. ‘When Time Becomes Loss‘ releases this coming May 17th on all relevant formats. From the look and sound of things this should be a major standout for the tech-prog thrash heads this year, myself included, as it seems like the fourth full-length really has an exacting grip on its overall style this time around. The album features drums from Scott Fuller, was engineered/mixed by Andrew Lee and was mastered by Justin Weis at Trackworx Studio. Also, Mark Cooper has outdone himself with this insane album artwork, brilliant work all around:

Soulseller Records have announced the debut full-length album from Serbian black metal duo NADSVEST. ‘Slovo meseca i krvi‘ will release this coming May 17th on all relevant formats. The duo includes “S” (Gorgoroth) and New Zealander “A” (Barshesketh). Classic 90’s black metal sounds, nods to Serbian folk music and occult lyrics make for an intense first showing from the band. Check out the first preview song “Vihori Boja”:

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THIS WEEK’S VIDEOS / REVIEWS

Catch up with the latest YouTube video review/features and written reviews here. New videos post each week for the most part. You can click on the link provided to read the review/article, each review has the related video embedded in the original post as well. Videos are fairly casual and meant to accompany the written review with some extra context and generalized notes. The written review and the video review are complimentary -not- interchangeable. Please subscribe, share, and leave a comment, etc. if you feel like it.

NOTE: Right-click and “Open in New Tab/Window” to view on YouTube or try youtube.com/@terraasymmetry

DAEVAR – Amber Eyes (2024) | REVIEW

APPARITION – Disgraced Emanations From a Tranquil State (2024) | REVIEW

ABERRATION – Refracture (2024) | REVIEW

DÖDSRIT – Nocturnal Will (2024) | REVIEW

CANCERVO – III (2024) | REVIEW

CANTIQUE LÉPREUX – Le Bannissement (2024) | REVIEW

Short Reviews | March 27th, 2024

COFFIN STORM – Arcana Rising (2024) | REVIEW

VERBERIS – The Apophatic Wilderness (2024) | REVIEW

KVADRAT – The Horrible Dissonance of Oblivion (2024) | REVIEW

FUNERAL LEECH – The Illusion of Time (2024) | REVIEW

Short Reviews | April 2nd, 2024

SEPULCHRAL WHORE – The Return From a Sepulchral Rest (2024) | REVIEW

WITCH VOMIT – Funeral Sanctum (2024) | REVIEW

NECROT – Lifeless Birth (2024) | REVIEW

HERESIARCH – Edifice (2024) | REVIEW

SARCASM – Mourninghoul (2024) | REVIEW

LARES – Et In Arcadia Ego (2024) | REVIEW

ANTAGONYZE – Interpretations of the Unknown Wilderness (2024) | REVIEW

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NEXT WEEK:

Here is a tentative list of what is coming up next week in terms of reviews. The following records have been listened to extensively, a preliminary review has been drafted (or completed), and I’ve locked them in for coverage. In terms of the “Short Written Reviews + Video” column, these are more tentative, some of them may be cut if I do not have enough time to get around to everything. These choices are subject to change as the final drafts evolve and other releases might potentially take priority:

LONGFORM REVIEWS + VIDEO:

KAWIR – Kydoimos [April 19th, Soulseller Records]
ATRÆ BILIS – Aumicide [April 19th, 20 Buck Spin]
BLAZE OF PERDITION – Upharsin [April 19th, Metal Blade Records]
NOGOTHULA – Telluric Sepsis [April 19th, Self-Released]
VRYKOLAKAS – Nocturnal Dominion of Death [April 21st, Iron Blood & Death/Paragon]
EXHUMATION – Master’s Personae [April 26th, Pulverised Records]
ARÐ – Untouched by Fire [April 26th, Prophecy Productions]

SHORT REVIEWS + VIDEO:

SELBST – Despondency Chord Progressions [April 19th, Debemur Morti Productions]
MY DYING BRIDE – A Mortal Binding [April 19th, Nuclear Blast Records]
IN VAIN – Solemn [April 19th, Indie Recordings]
OBSCURIAL – Heretic [April 22nd, Memento Mori]
HAUNTED – Stare At Nothing [April 19th, Ripple Music]
EXTINCT – Incitement of Violence [April 18th, MDD Records]

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