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] ORANSSI PAZUZU (‘Muuntautuja‘, Nuclear Blast)
[#2] ABERRATOR (‘Beckoning Tribulation‘, Dark Descent Records)
[#3] WRATHPRAYER (‘​Enkoimeterion‘, Nuclear War Now!)
[#4] BARATHRUM (‘Uberkill‘, Hammer of Hate)
[#5] MORBIFIC (‘Promethean Mutilation‘, Extremely Rotten)

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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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Nearly fourteen years beyond their brilliant second LP, ‘Parasignosis‘, Vancouver, British Colombia-based death metal quartet MITOCHONDRION unsheathe ‘Vitriseptome‘, a third portal which is set to open this November 1st by way of Profound Lore Records. And of course it having been so long demands an opus, a great work which includes “11 Alchemical Death Metal works, split over 17 tracks, to form a trilogy of 3 parts, in two phases, which elapses nearly 86 minutes in length” and since I’ve previewed it to some small degree I’ll go ahead and suggest you mark this record as essential for 2024. For now, check out ‘The Protanthrofuge”:

Me Saco Un Ojo Records will worth with BlackSeed Productions to present a new mini LP (vinyl from the former, CD from the latter) from Spanish death metal band TROLLCAVE. ‘Adoration of the Abyssal Trespasser‘ will arrive this coming November 15th and once again reprise the ‘old school’ funeral death/doom metal eerie the band had gotten notice from back in 2022 per their debut LP. This band notably features folks from Sanctuarium and Ered Guldur. I’m a huge fan of Marc‘s work across the board, hyped for anything he does.

Los Angeles-based progressive doom metal band QAALM have announced their second full-length album ‘Grave Impressions Of An Unbroken Arc‘ will release this coming on November 1st via Hypaethral Records. This first single, “Hangman’s Lament” deals with identity and roles in society as the band comments: “People wear many faces. Sometimes it obscures a hidden agenda. Other times, it’s a defense mechanism. But mostly, people like attention. They want to be heroes. I ask myself, ‘which character would I most likely want to portray within this masquerade?’ Certainly not the villain. But I am comfortable being the bad guy when I have to be. Then there’s the victim. In my opinion, the least flattering role. Give him enough rope and he’ll hang himself. That’s where you come in.” pretty interesting kind of death/sludge and funeral doom feeling on some of their other stuff so I’m interested to see what this new album is like:

Everlasting Spew Records have announced ‘Through Demonic Spell‘, the debut full-length album from Italian death black/death metal band FERAL FORMS, will release this coming November 29th. Comprised of folks you’ll recognize from The Secret, Claustrum and such these folks intend to tribute classic death through its corruption and as you’ll find on this latest single “Sadistic Inner Hate” they’re still violent as ever:

Me Saco Un Ojo Records and Extremely Rotten Productions will team up for the debut full-length album from Mexican death metal solo act STENCHED with the former attending to the vinyl and latter the CD version. ‘Purulence Gushing From the Coffin‘ will release this coming November 29th. It’ll be cool to see what this guy came up with since all we’ve heard from him is a pretty short demo from last year but of course it’ll be grotesque, simply stated death metal based on the preview song available now:

German death metal band CRYPTIC BROOD have announced they will return on November 1st this year to release their third full-length album, ‘Necrotic Flesh Bacteria‘, by way of War Anthem Records. A fairly pure example of death metal’s ancient, grimiest traditions of horror and gloom. The first song on offer is “Digging Through Skin” and I’m already stoked on this one:

Ripple Music have announced they will release the upcoming fifth full-length album from Greek heavy rock band 1000MODS this coming November 8th. ‘Cheat Death‘ is shaping up to be one of the best albums from this band who’ve one of the better overall track records for this stoner-adjacent heavy rock style, every song I’ve heard from this record smokes or is at least catchier than thou. Check out the title track and see what I mean:

Joliet, Illinois-based death metal troupe MOLDER have announced their third full-length album, ‘Catastrophic Reconfiguration‘, is due for release via Prosthetic Records this coming November 8th. They’ve stayed remarkable true to their interest in early 90’s death metal classics inspired sounds on this album and the results speak for themselves. I appreciate the leads here, entirely appropriate in the way they help characterize the drowning underwater reap of this song “Frothing”. Stoked for this album based off this song:

Costa Rican death metal act NECROFERUM are set to release their debut EP, ‘Visions from the Necrorealm‘, via Nuclear Winter Records this coming November 4th. This band comes from two members of Mortual as they intended a more brutal, punishing death metal sound. The first single from the record, “Malignant Echoes of Non-Existence” had me sold on their whole gig right away.

War Anthem Records have announced the sixth full-length album from German black metal band TOTAL HATE will release this coming November 29th. ‘Forthcoming Age Of The Reaper‘ will continue to develop their enduring interest in an amplification of the classic ‘old school’ black metal of the early Norwegian scene. I’ve been a big fan of some of their records in the past so I’m interested to hear what they’ve been working on with this one. Check out “Burn With Your Prophet”:

French atmospheric black metal artist TIME LURKER return as a duo for a second LP, ‘Emprise‘, which releases this coming November 15th by way of Les Acteurs de L’Ombre Productions. After a five year pause it is great to see this band continue down this path, still focused on their sound but evolving within this second step taken. So far here is a newer song from the band via a sampler compilation. I haven’t confirmed if it is on the album just yet:

Canadian thrash metal band HAZZERD have announced their latest album, ‘The 3rd Dimension‘, will release via M-Theory Audio this coming January 17th, 2025. This announcement was accompanied by a single/music video for “Deathbringer” from the album. Drummer/vocalist Dylan Westendorp comments: “Following the release of our second album, ‘Delirium,’ an album which focused heavily on darker subject matter such as human agony, insanity, death and disease. This time we wanted the album to be less involved in the darker side of humanity, and made it a goal to make it much more fast-paced and to the point. The 3rd Dimension’ portrays our human influences through media. Whether that be television, movies, music, or video games. Each song tells its own story through a narrative inspired by something created in the 3rd Dimension (3D media),” great to see their sound and themes continue to evolve:

PEAKING HIGHS

I don’t have any extended info on these albums and I haven’t heard them just yet, but here are two singles from some of my most anticipated releases of 2024 via UNGFELL and BEDSORE:

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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:

GIGAN – Anomalous Abstractigate Infinitessimus [October 25th, Willowtip Records]
AÇOITE – Revanche! Hecatombe! [October 25th, Duplicate/Cianeto/Black Hearts/Kvlt ov Darkness]
MERCYLESS – Those Who Reign Below [October 25th, Osmose Productions]
BLACKEVIL – Praise the Communion Fire for the Unhallowed Sacrament [Oct. 25th, Dying Victims]
THE SPIRIT – Songs Against Humanity [October 25th, AOP Records]
ELEPHANT TREE / LOWRIDER – The Long Forever [October 25th, Blues Funeral Recordings]

SHORT REVIEWS:

DEIVOS – Apophenia [October 18th, Selfmadegod Records]
MORPHOLITH – Dystopian Distributions of Mass Produced Narcotics [Oct, 24th, Interstellar Smoke]
IOTUNN – Kinship [October 25th, Metal Blade Records]
GRAND HARVEST – Till Förruttnelsen [October 25th, Messor Grandis Productions]
ATARAXIE – Le Déclin – [October 25th, Ardua Music/Weird Truth Productions]
LARVAL – Psilodaemonic Revelation [October 25th, Bent Window Records]
NUCLEAR – Violent DNA [October 25th, Black Lodge Records]
CHALLENGER – Force of Nature [October 25th, Dying Victims Productions]
SCHAMMASCH – The Maldoror Chants: Old Ocean [October 25th, Prosthetic Records]
SUMMONING DEATH – Tombs of the Blind Dead [October 31st, Chaos Records]

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