• SHRT REVWS • This condensed version of short(er) reviews focuses on releases arriving in the first week of November (mostly the 8th) covering melodic folk black metal, sludge metal, alt-stoner metal, avant-garde death metal, psychedelic rock, gothic rock/post-punk, post-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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Düsseldorf, Germany-based melodic death/folk metal troupe SUIDAKRA have been consistently self-directed for the last thirty years as vocalist/guitarist and visionary Arkadius Antonik has iterated and ventured his way through sixteen full-length albums, eventually coming “full circle” in terms of style. Like many folks I’d discovered this group around the time they’d been picked up by Century Media for two albums in the early 2000’s back when they’d long asserted themselves as a studio-only band while also taking heavy inspiration from Swedish melodic death metal. While ‘Darkanakrad‘ doesn’t reprise that era exactly this version of the band appears to combine modern melodeath songcraft alongside their own version of folkish/power metal inspired work. They’ve figured out the production values, album art only seems to improve with every Kris Verwimp collaboration, and I’d generally like to be more of a fan of this group but I’d found very little of this album hit for my own taste beyond the familiar. If you’re seeking a total reprisal of the late 90’s/early 2000’s era of the band this isn’t as hard-edged or folken in the same way but their work is still logically set as a continuation of a long-developed and well iterated upon signature. A slightly complex way of suggesting longtime fans will likely be happy with this record if you’re open to inspiration taken from modern melodic metal.

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Spartanburg, South Carolina-based stoner/sludge metal quartet WITCHPIT are back with a second full-length album once again proving they’ve got a sharp eye for album art and an easy to appreciate ear for the riff as they reinforce a sound which bears light shades of early High on Fire in some of their riffcraft but largely carries around a melodic directive directly comparable to Crowbar in the late 90’s/early 2000’s. This means they’ve got a big, beefed up guitar tone chunking through tension-riddle riffcraft backed by their own signature use of double-bass drumming to expand and contract the weight of each groove. You’ll get a strong whiff of this combination on opener/title track “Forever Spoken”. They waste no time reinforcing this observation with “Through Eyes of Apathy” with its big and twisted groove metal riffs and ‘Odd Fellows Rest‘-era Kirk Windstein inspired vocals. They’ve more places to go with this sound overall as the full seven song spread breaks out but none of it strays too far from the early expectation set here, especially as we hit upon “New Age Fallacy” later on Side B. Fans of groove metal, doom metal and the most classic visibility of 90’s sludge metal in that same decade should instantly appreciate this sound. I’d wanted a bit more doom in the mix personally but found this one easy to jump into and familiar enough for its general sound/style.

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Chiliomodi, Greece-borne heavy rock group 1000MODS broke out into the greater European stoner rock headspace in the early 2010’s and since then worked toward catchier alternative rock adjacent pastures. They’d never lost the whole desert rock/Sabbath groove but the way I saw it their style moved slow and steady toward the song and less the “sound”. In this sense most of ‘Cheat Death‘ is spent living up to that ideal, achieving pieces which are catchier and anthemic on another level beyond the dreariness often found on ‘Youth of Dissent‘ (2000). That isn’t to say that this album doesn’t have its heavier side, in fact this’ll likely be the heaviest you’ve heard the band in terms of a more serious tone but not in the sense that their sometimes chuggy alt-rock grooves (“Götzen Hammer”) offer any real biting confrontation. The theme of the album is kind of difficult to parse per the language they’ve used but the gist is that living well and persevering acts in defiance of the signs of inevitable death the surround us. When things do chill (“Astral Odor”, “Misery”) their psychedelic rock interests shine most, probably moreso than their motor-rock juicers like “Speedhead” which is kind of just classic 1000mods in some sense. Outside of a couple of high-energy early songs I don’t think any of that’ll sell the album to most folks and instead it’ll be “Cheat Death” that hooks folks in for a deeper listen per its cathartic sensation and catchy format. While I was expecting a much more impactful, engaging album per the lead singles there is still plenty enough to like about this record especially if you don’t have any deep set expectations about how this group should sound.

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Anonymous international death metal project ABSCHWÖRZUNGE don’t offer the most interesting context up front in presenting their first EP, ‘Whorl‘, as they aim for the ear first with cold-set and blasting dissonance developed with a canonical furor up front which resembles the Morbid Angel-tipped meka-death out of Norway in the late 90’s. No, not that the jaunty grooves of early Myrkskog or the battered thermal paste of Zyklon are a good enough approximation but there are similar analogues from that era via France and United States which’ll give you a good enough idea of the level of battery and fusion of harsh guitar voicing available here. Densely whipped at with a robotic drum and guitar arm most pieces here are unfeeling but not thoughtless as their machine-fed terror compounds on the two longer ~9-10 minute pieces where the range of their attack is best expressed. Things potentially get far more interesting as we step into “Teeth of the Hanged”, a monstrous feat of post-industrial death which is garish and strange enough to stand up next to the brutal blackened death available elsewhere. While there are hints of this taste showing on some of the longer pieces here they’ve not fully integrated these ideas into their furor, that’d be the most interested direction for my own taste. The only point of unsurety that’d hit me during the full listen was the title track (“Whorl”) where the rhythms felt too automated, jammed in a strange way that’d lost the intentional, stabbing burst energy of the opening pieces. I’d like to see where they end up taking this sound as all signs point to some kind of grand expansion beyond this point.

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Chicago, Illinois-based psychedelic rock trio PLASTIC CRIMEWAVE SYNDICATE return beyond 2022’s ‘Space Alley‘ with a bigger, rowdier but still (mostly) riff winging release in ‘Tales of the Golden Skull‘ inviting folks from their region and beyond to contribute Moog keytar (?), synths aplenty, and the occasional bleat of the horn as things roll from the garage to the smoking tent and up to an almost motorik space rock level of step throughout. Between “Caged Fire” and “Mind Star” I’d gotten what I’d shown up for, though not every song here carried such immediate weight. The looser, easier-going songs on Side B (“Elegy” especially) stuck well enough with me on repeat listens but the greater jam kinda left me wanting more of their punkish rock energy found on the previous release. More variety and more bodies making noise makes for a solid PCS experience either way.

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California-based trio NEW SKELETAL FACES aren’t exactly the usual gothic rock/post-punk equivalent folks might be expecting today but rather a fairly authentic vision of deathrock a la early Christian Death but with a biting and snarling metalpunk component. Formed by folks involved with various black/thrash and punk rock bands what might seem like an approachable throwback deathrock record is in fact far more extreme than most any ’84-’88 era group per Errol Fritz‘ hawkish vocal emphasis and some clear love for early Bathory exercised by way of a cover (“Raise the Dead”) and rhythms which’re harder than most throwback deathrock often is today. In this sense a Horror Vacui or Deth Crux fan’d appreciate their rhythms but a Sign of Evil or Devil Master head would likely find some gear to enjoy as well. As is the case with serious-faced, howling and hard-kicked goth level focus ‘Until the Night‘ actually swings by pretty fast despite it being mostly comprised of ~4-5 minute heavy rock paced pieces. Hardcore punk inspired movements and the use of heavier drumming’d really kept it moving for my taste as the skinsman kind of styles on this record most of the time and keeps things energetic despite how dire the other performances are. It makes for solid enough momentum that I’d found myself enjoying this one more and more over time. The slower pieces kinda drag here and there (“Enchantment of my Inner Coldness” mostly) but otherwise this was a fine introduction to their whole deal.

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‘Riverchild‘ is the fifth full-length album from Austrian musician Marrok‘s (Harakiri For the Sky, Schammash, etc.) self-directed post-black metal project ANOMALIE. If you’ll recall I was a fan of his previous album ‘Tranceformation‘ (2021) though I’d felt it was lacking any memorable edge. In the case of this follow up an almost gothic/post-punk edge accompanies some of the vocal efforts, a wavering clean vocal (“An Unforgiving Tide”) which rides the line between goth indulgence and an almost prog-metallic application of melody and technique. The effect isn’t always out right tuneful yet each of these modern atmospheric black metal pieces finds their point of interest or dramatic reveal. Elsewhere on the full listen those same vocal efforts might fit neatly into a more direct prog-black or alt-rock inspired directive though we begin to escape the realm of black metal tradition quickly. By the time we hit the title track over on Side B it does begin to feel like we’ve stepped fully away from anything remotely classicist yet the progression of the full spin isn’t unnatural in this sense, arguably leaning somewhere between post-metal and modern prog rock movement. Not really my thing overall but not a bad record either.

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