ENDTYMER is the semi-weekly recap, occasional 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, 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] DEMON HEAD (‘Through Holes Shine the Stars‘, Svart Records)
[#2] COFFIN ROT (‘Dreams of the Disturbed‘, Maggot Stomp)
[#3] INVOCATION (‘​The Archaic Sanctuary‘, Iron Bonehead)
[#4] EARTHLING (‘Humanity Dissolved‘, Forcefield Records)
[#5] UNTERVOID (‘Parasite‘, Pagan Records)

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THE LOST TAPES

The first time I’d heard the news of a “legacy” thrash metal band re-recording past work and fully bought into it was probably 2007 when German legends Sodom announced ‘The Final Sign of Evil‘ and didn’t just promise a re-recording of the ‘In the Sign of Evil‘ EP but also pulled in a set of seven more songs that’d not been recorded for that session because of limited funds to pay for studio time. Why did it make sense? They brought back the original line-up, and even if it sounded like the more polished sound of the band that came beyond records like ‘M-16‘ it was a treasure specifically made for fans. For my own taste the only reason for a revision of old material is either restoring what wasn’t possible in the past, such as was technically the case for ‘The Final Sign of Evil‘, or if the old recordings were damaged or incomplete (see: Insanity‘s ‘Death After Death‘). This is typically not the case and instead re-recordings are for the sake of launching a nostalgia-driven tour for bands that’ve left behind their old sound, celebrating an anniversary of a popular record, or if we look behind the curtain in many cases re-recordings happen for the sake of regaining a salable version of music a band might’ve signed away to a predatory record label that has retained ownership for decades. Well, as a legendary album which’d never really hit the United States market before being remastered, ‘Schizophrenia‘ from Sepultura, has one of the more interesting cases in terms of many of these elements having an adverse effect on its history since 1987.

When Cavalera, a side-step from the Cavalera Conspiracy project via the well-loved Iggor and Max began to focus on re-recordings of their first three recordings as Sepultura in 2023 it didn’t at all seem like their style considering the number of times reissues, remasters, and anniversary editions had been released for those records and some of those songs have made it into their sets in various groups since the 80’s. Lets us not forget that Andreas Kisser‘s version of Sepultura had toured off of the anniversaries of some of these albums as well, albeit the more popular ones, playing the whole record as their main set. As a longtime fan who firmly sets ‘Schizophrenia‘ right next to ‘Hell Awaits‘ and ‘Seven Churches‘ in terms of importance per my own taste as it developed the nostalgia around these albums, the tours, and now the re-recordings all felt cynical. I figured they were either making a buck, finding a way to sell their own records again, or maybe doing those songs a proper service. What do longtime fans, collectors, and die-hard thrash idiots really want? The sound of the original recordings, especially now that we have brand spanking fine-ass re-recordings to gawk over and compare. So, where are they?

I want that original late 80’s sound, it should be fucking mud and grime with a broken amp and an out of tune guitar with pots and pans as drums. I want that sound because it is authentic and archival, a piece of history that hasn’t been rewritten to Hell. Ah, well, it has and for good reason: (1) The original Cogumelo Produções vinyl version of ‘Schizophrenia‘ had its final master tapes deleted to make due during a period where their budget was limited, they were recycling in a short-sighted way. (2) When the band went to record some additional songs for a remastered version of ‘Schizophrenia‘ in late 1990 with the help of Scott Burns (who’d they’d worked with for ‘Beneath the Remains‘ the year prior) all they had to work with was a finalized stereo mix that’d originally been submitted to the pressing plant and not the 16-track recordings. Don’t miss the point here! One song received a Scott Burns mix, the album was remastered by Mike Fuller in 1990. This became the bane of the album since and despite having been remastered and reissued countless times it’d only begin to sound worse with every iteration. (3) What about the Shark Records CD issue from 1988? This is I believe one of the only versions besides the vinyl to use the original mix but, eh, because they’d used the vinyl as the source for the conversion (no confirmed sources on this, probably a bootleg). (4) All official versions of the CD use the 1990 remix as the source including the Far East Metal Syndicate CD release in 1991 which people often hail as the holy grail version of this album per its strong sound quality.

If you don’t read Portuguese, and of course you probably don’t, this video generally compares two version of ‘Schizophrenia‘ and places the long detested 1997 remaster of the album (by way of legendary mastering fellowe George Marino) on a grill for how horribly bricked out it was by what they call “loudness wars” amping. First (1) Yes, the dynamic is destroyed in this version for the sake of emulating fidelity. (2) A 1992 CD edition would be either a Polish bootleg or just an Argentinian issue of the same 1990 “remastered” items. So, we are comparing Burns‘ work with Marino‘s and it was a tough ask considering the 1997 version was likely built on top of the 1990 remaster, unfortunately. For the ‘Roots‘ crowd who couldn’t get enough at the time it probably sounded fine but most of ’em never looked that far back beyond ‘Chaos A.D.‘

So, this all explains well enough why we don’t have a version of ‘Schizophrenia‘ that can be properly restored but it doesn’t excuse why the arguable worst version is the only one typically for sale and/or available on streaming music services. The least representative version of history is the only representation that the album has had since the late 90’s, so, this takes some of the hesitation out of a re-recorded ‘Schizophrenia‘ from the folks who’d helped form the band and make it what it was back in the day. Let’s not get into who wrote what songs, the change of guitarists, and such but I do think that fans should’ve given a lot more attention to The Troops of Doom, a band from former Sepultura guitarist Jairo Guedz (a key songwriter on ‘Schizophrenia‘) who has created his own revision of that sound and era with his own band in recent years, even moving away from the old sounds in a smart way on ‘A Mass to the Grotesque‘ this year but without nearly as much notice as the Cavalera re-recordings.

Alright, with that out of the way the main point to make is that there is no real salt behind the following arguments: “I don’t need a re-recording, I have the original album.” In fact, you have a best possible version that might even be a brick-walled remaster of a remaster. “The original will always be better.” And yes, this is more subjective on my part but I believe the Cavalera re-recording of ‘Schizophrenia‘ does everything possible and spares no effort in creating an authentic-yet-improved version of this classic album. Having bought this record in as deluxe version possible and sat with it for the entire summer and working through the general existential crisis it’d served I’ve come out of the experience with nothing but respect for the treatment of his album, even finding the new song “Nightmares of Delirium” pretty good, if not kinda anticlimactic the way it just cuts out.

I dunno, since I didn’t bother to review the album at the time and felt nothing but “Fuck off with this cash-in noise” for the whole idea for about a year I figured I’d give this record its due thumbs up between the authenticity of its attack, the stuff they’ve added to the performances, the gassy reverb heavy mix from Arthur Rizk, and the brilliant revision of the cover art via Eliran Kantor which perfectly suits this new, not-too glossy version. If all you could do in response was cringe your ass off back in June this year I’d say at least give these guys another chance because this is the best version of these songs we’ll ever get beyond 1990.

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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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Finnish avant-garde psychedelic black metal band ORANSSI PAZUZU have announced their sixth full-length album ‘Muuntautuja‘ will release this coming October 11th by way of Nuclear Blast Records. The title of the album fittingly translates to “shapeshifter” as they’ve suggested this cosmic horrified release draws inspiration from “eclectic sources ranging from Death Grips to Portishead, Nine Inch Nails (Downward Spiral era), Beherit and My Bloody Valentine” and I feel like that is one of the best namedrops they’ve put out there to date in terms of encapsulating where the band is at and what they’re all about. Anyhow, I’ve been a fan since their second album released and I’m totally stoked to have already been listening to this album for about a week now, huge hype for these folks.

Italian psychedelic rock band BLACK ELEPHANT have announced the upcoming release for their latest full-length album. ‘The Fall Of The Gods‘ will release this coming on October 18th via Small Stone Recordings. They’ve suggested this album will “continue the trajectory of their two previous sonic gems, while taking things to a heavier place, both literally and figuratively.” Whatever that means exactly, guitarist/vocalist Alessio Caravelli elaborates: “The theme this time around is the fall, from the decay to the reborn… After the last very tough years for all societies, we understood that many principles and colossuses have fallen, exactly like the gods and ancient cultures such as the Maya and Aztec civilizations did. This has been also the inspiration for our graphic designer Farfante, who hand drew the cover and art for the new album with these concepts in mind.” Great sound, solid band, really looking forward to this one. For now check out “Go”:

Electric Valley Records have announced German psychedelic rock band DEAF LIZARD‘s sophomore full-length album ‘The Last Odyssey‘ is scheduled for a November 1st release. Lyrically, the album “loosely follows humanity’s self-inflicted downfall and its aftermath,” suggesting their own resilience is on display going forward. The album art looks kinda like a doctored AI image to me but I will give them the benefit of the doubt as I enjoyed this preview song “City of Life”:

Canberra, Australia-based avant-garde black/death metal band PLOUGHSHARE will return a third full-length album of dissonant experimental work this time via I, Voidhanger Records. ‘Second Wound‘ releases this coming November 8th on CD/digitally with the vinyl being handled by Brilliant Emperor. The suggestion is that they’ve expanded their gig beyond ‘Tellurian Insurgency‘ with the experimentation of ‘Ingested Burial Ground‘ in mind and I can say that they’ve done well to bring those electronic/noise elements to this album now that I’ve previewed it. Check out the first preview song “The Fall of All Creatures”:

Experimental rock and metal band ÆRKENBRAND have announced their latest full-length album will release by way of I, Voidhanger Records. ‘Hedenfarne Æventyr‘ will release on all essential formats this coming November 8th. This band features folks from members of Tongues, Narcosatanicos, among others and approach both instrumentation and vocals with jammed, esoteric and unexpected ways. Very unexpected record and a unique release you should look forward to. Check out the first preview song “Svampens Rotter (Spiritus)”:

Moribund Records have announced that on September 27th they will release ‘Into the Nocturne‘ the upcoming twelfth full-length album from United States black-thrashing death metal band SATHANAS. Around since 1988 and featuring folks who’ve played in legendary underground blackened death groups Bathym, Acheron, Lethal Prayer. Check out the first preview song “There Will Be Demons”:

Bent Window Records have announced they will release the upcoming full length from Canadian nox obsidian noise-path LARVAL, an apocalyptic quintet from folks involved in Black Death Cult, Antediluvian, and Solar Winds among others. ‘Psilodaemonic Revelation‘ will released on October 25th on compact disc, cassette and digitally. No preview song yet but go ahead an get stoked if you like psyched-out freakery and otherwise go sign up for the Bent Window mailing list to keep up to date:

https://bentwindowrecords.ca/

F.D.A. Records have announced they will release ‘From Origin to Decay‘ the latest full-length album from German technical death metal band MAAT. It’ll feature nine songs, release on all relevant formats and drop on November 22nd this year. Their stuff is in the vein of the late 90’s/early 2000’s peaking state of groups like Nile and Behemoth. No preview song yet so for now we just get a teaser video with some vibes:

Well-known Finnish epic folk metal band ENSIFERUM have announced their latest full-length album, ‘Winter Storm‘ will release this coming October 18th via Metal Blade Records. This album features a fantasy concept written bassist/vocalist Sami Hinkka while the welcome new lead vocalist Pekka Montin to their troupe. The bassist/vocalist remarks: “The way I see it, this album is more like a ‘musical’ than a traditional album. The lyrics of Winter Storm are based on part of my unpublished fantasy book. One day it will be out… I don’t want to reveal the plot or details too much but ‘Winter Storm Vigilantes’ and ‘Fatherland’ tell of two factions in this long tale. The Vigilantes have gained knowledge to utilize certain rare elements, and even though there was already magic in this world, with this new epiphany they have reached a completely new level. This element seems to interact with living things in a way that even the wisest men don’t completely understand. And through generations of trial and error, they have refined a skill to expose their horses to the element and managed to break the law of gravity, making their steeds fly. But they became ruthless and greedy on their quest to gain more of this element. A small tribe in the north keep on fighting for their land, which the Vigilantes plan to take over. These North Folks will literally fight until the last man…” and for me that is enough to at least stoke some interest in this album as I’ve not really approached any of their stuff beyond 2004. Check out “Winter Storm Vigilantes” here:

MASTER BOOT RECORD have announced their least full-length album ‘Hardwarez‘ will release by way of Metal Blade Records this coming October 11th. MIDI maestro Vittorio D’Amore suggests his exploration of the “duality of technology and humanity” only intensifies here on what I believe is the eleventh full-length from the project. D’Amore comments on the first single: “The very first song I wrote is actually also the first single, “CPU”. Even though the other songs on the album have a quite different style, the type of riffing and the different melodic section of this track worked as a base to upgrade the sound before moving forward.” and yes, this one is direct to the point though I will suggest up front that there are plenty more guitar (samples) on this album than previous. Been a fan since ‘Direct Memory Access‘ so I’m always stoked to get more of his work. Check out “CPU” here:

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THIS WEEK’S VIDEOS

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.

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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:

ODIUM HUMANI GENERIS – Międzyczas [September 27th, Malignant Voices]
BOTTOMLESS / WITCHING ALTAR – Graveyard Thunder [September 27th, Dying Victims]
ENDONOMOS – Endonomos II [September 27th, Argonauta Records]
NUBIVAGANT – The Blame Dagger [October 4th, Amor Fati]
COSMIC PUTREFACTION – Emerald Fires Atop the Farewell Mountains [October 4th, Profound Lore]
THE GATES – …of the River Styx [October 4th, Northern Silence Productions]
MAUL – In the Jaws of Bereavement [October 4th, 20 Buck Spin]

SHORT REVIEWS:

MARCHE FUNÈBRE – After the Storm [September 27th, Ardua Music]
MAGNETAR – There Will Be No Peace in my Valley [September 27th, Vendetta Records]
GRAVA – The Great White Nothing [September 27th, Aesthetic Death/Vintyltroll]
WITCHTRAP – Hungry as the Beast [September 27th, Hells Headbangers]
ERASER – Harmony Dies [September 30th, Roedel Records/Septic Aroma of Reeking Stench]
THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER – Servitude [September 27th, Metal Blade Records]
SATHANAS – Into the Nocturne [September 27th, Moribund Records]

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