• SHRT REVWS • This condensed version of short(er) reviews for the month of September focuses on releases arriving in the second half of the month covering power metal, psychedelic rock, black/folk metal, and various styles of black metal. // In an attempt to be more conversational these are more easygoing and casual than longform reviews, so relax and think for yourself. — 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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The sword and the stone-cold heart. — The story behind Gothenburg, Sweden-borne power metal phenomenon HAMMERFALL is not often told from its entry point but rather when they’d reached a point of true popularity. To start this was a side project form members of well-known underground melodic death metal bands with roots as deep as the mid-to-late 80’s. It should at least be compelling that their big debut album back in 1997 was written in great chunks by the same fellowe who’d written similar portions of ‘The Jester Race‘ and ‘Lunar Strain‘ and not to mention the main songwriter of this band was responsible for the brilliant yet brief life of Crystal Age. So, I suppose point being that if you are a fan of melodic death metal or just Swedish death metal and want a reasonable point of entry for Swedish power metal there may be some great surprises on ‘Glory to the Brave‘ (1997). As for the full discography of the band since then, I am far less informed beyond the first three albums and it seems many folks like me had fallen off in the early 2000’s as the popular power metal movement evolved slow, the formula became clear, and all but the die-hards were left. Granted there were many legions left and they’ve carried on well enough, eventually changing here and there with the times. There’ll be no sense in meta-commentary here as I’m just not well informed on the topic. I’ve no aversion to true metal/power metal but my own taste tends to hyper-fixate on the accomplishments of the 80’s.

That said, ‘Avenge the Fallen‘ is immediately catchy and chest-thumping on the majority of its showing starting with a set of anthemic pieces (“Avenge the Fallen”, “Freedom”, “Hail to the King”) some sentimental spirit (“Hero to All”, “Capture the Dream”) and a kinda Running Wild feeling riff (“Burn It Down”) enough that I was entertained throughout. As I stepped back in time through their last four or so records I’d found this was more directly melodic with fewer interjections from shredding leads or gang-shouted vocals that’d built the fantasy on ‘Dominion‘ (2016) and such. This directness works in terms of worming a few of these songs into ear quickly and they’ve done well to focus on the delivery of the vocals in terms of the overall render of this album but I could imagine a well-invested fan of HammerFall finding this album a bit “modern” and accessible at first glance. Otherwise I don’t think you’ll be alienated by this one if you’d enjoyed ‘Hammer of Dawn‘ (2022). As a more casual passerby songs like “Hail to the King” and “Freedom” hit really well off the bat and stuck in mind, prompting several return listens to this album beyond the usual single pass.

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The unreachable plateau above, the caustic venom spitters below. — Hailing from Tel Aviv, Israel black/death metal trio HAR have undergone many changes since their formation back in 2014 where their first couple of EPs applied a thrashing, bestial touch to a style which I’d described as occult black/death metal when I’d briefly reviewed ‘Visitation‘ (2018) and their follow-up demo ‘Anti-Shechinah’ (2019). Their sound was something like bestial death metal, an Incantation-esque atmosphere applied to a ritualistic form of war metal and the band was noted for its relation to other Israeli death metal projects of the early 2010’s. Five years later beyond that demo tape they finally beyond a few side projects (Deathsiege, Putrescine) that’d cropped up in the meantime as they ready their full-length debut. Having gone from a full fledged quintet back down to a core trio Har do not suffer from a lack of energy or presence here on this blazing ~half hour record one which should appeal to folks who’d enjoy the slap-ass type of war metal like Antichrist Siege Machine as well as the grinding blackened death stabs of Revenge. If you’ve enjoyed Concrete Winds‘ work you will likely appreciate the wilding lead guitar scrawling that stretches throughout some of the better pieces here (“Poisonous Entity”) and these folks aren’t shy about approaching classic death metal hammering at any given point either. They cover a lot of ground here and most of it is ugly, vilest noise but I’d say the slower more death metal oriented pieces on here such as closer “Metaphysical Stench” were clearly superior to some of their more plainly savaged war metal moments otherwise. It all works well enough as a punisher of an LP and it is just demanding enough as a listen that its depth held up across repeat spins.

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Since they were spearheaded back at the turn of the millennium by folks who’d become known for their work in Djevel and Urgehal it makes great sense that the latest album from Drammen, Norway-based black metal band KOLDBRANN initially speaks to a post-millennial style of Norwegian black metal, an era which streamlined a lot of the excess built up in the late 90’s/early 2000’s and hammered down the rhythmic core as a point of focus. That said, ‘Ingen Skånsel‘ has places to go take this foundation and ultimately wield it in the span of these eleven songs. You might disagree as you wheel through the first few songs with “Et Uomtvistelig Falsum” and its thrilling enough semi-melodic strikes but by the time the extended opening of “Prosesjon Under Blyhimmel” hits you’ll start to see they’ve got some ground to cover here as the band return beyond a ~decade long hiatus between albums focused on the real thing. While I’d found the full eleven song deal a bit much for a single sitting it didn’t stop me from appreciating the atmosphere achieved, particularly the more mid-paced builds on a handful of songs that’d helped create some ominous presence and movement along the way. “Maskiner Av Nihil” was probably my favorite piece along those lines not only for its swerving guitar lines but for the presence of the bass as it springs in the background as both anchor and kinetic movement. Delivered with a shade of malaise and detestation I’d found this was a worthy if not largely unsurprising return for the band after a few years of teasing singles.

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As Nick DiSalvo expands his oeuvre so does his work in Elder yet that band cannot be a container for every bit of overflow and as such instrumental project DELVING spawned as a pandemic-era focus on experimentation, catching the choice movements composed under the influence of krautrock/early electronic music and psychedelia. 2021’s ‘Hirschbrunnen‘ felt like a prog rock side job from my point of view, something not unrelated to some of the atmospheres brought on the last two records from his main band. Consider that record the door opened, the possibilities uncontested and now this second album comes under very different circumstances presenting a more involved, deeper layered set of pieces written during various points of downtime over the last few years. There is a certain “Yes, and…” quality to the rhythms here as if written in fragments atop jams and elaborated into strings of piano and guitar driven sprawl where greater consistency is achieved beyond the previous album. While this is especially true between the first two songs (“Sentinel” b/w “Omnipresence”) you’ll find the direction through each piece reaches for linkages, connections between thoughts that offer a bit of prog-rock guitar scatterbrain here and there but more often than not create eclecticism which is uninterrupted by drastic movements. Some of it does feel like an indie video game OST from the mid-2010’s (see: first half of “New Meridian”) but those gentler moments always have a big, shimmering counterpart down the road and in most cases you’ll see it developing over time. For my own taste the chill of “Chain of Mind” and the gamut covered by “Zodiak” were the major standouts here.

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The snaking crawl and atmospheric drift of anonymous black metal duo WOE BEARER isn’t exactly mind blowing here on their debut LP yet their work is appreciably raw, shambling in its intensity to the point that it remains entertaining for the duration of Side A. ‘Thriving Within the Absurdity of Human Plight‘ expresses itself through scuffed production values, distant and fragmented guitar tones which explore nauseated atmospheric and raw black metal type movements while they scream, howl, and even deploy a death metal type growl (a la earlier Krallice) along the way. The meandering movements of the two guitar channels paired with the likewise scattered focus of their basslines leaves the record to dwell within its flatly generated guitar tone as a point of fixation. This creates miasmic atmosphere worth of a several listens, a forlorn tonal session with some considerable dread held within its more fixated moments. The only real issue I’d had with this tape was its consistency as a song like “Rotten Tongue” doesn’t feel like it belongs grouped with all the others and the extended closing piece/title track loses some of its strength in repetition. The first few songs are well worth spending some time with otherwise.

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The grand sphere of Negură Bunget received its second ‘spin-off’, the first being Dordeduh after the line-up reset in the late 2000’s, with the posthumous formation of SUR ASUTRU back in 2018 where they’ve served as a sort of spiritual successor for (now) three albums. ‘Datura Străhiarelor‘ (read: ‘The Gift of the Scarecrows‘) is the third and perhaps the one to thus far carry on both the folken and progressive black side of the associated legacy best. It also continues their focus on Romanian folklore this time channeling stories of beasts and events that’d cause the apocalypse. The unique nature of this source material translates well into the olden form of black metal they’ve conjured here, using traditional instrumentation and simple enough keyboards to generate classic atmosphere which is often infused with long atmospheric breaks, bringing an almost cinematic flair to certain pieces beyond the folken affect otherwise. “Stransura” presents this dynamic well enough to start but the album has much more to show beyond that point as they stretch into the prog metal sphere more (“Cele Bune”, “Afurisirea”). This all moves well out of the territory I’m interested in but I’d been entertained nonetheless each time I’d picked this one up. It certainly stands out among anything else released this month.

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