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 THE WEEK

[#1] LORDS OF QUARMALL (‘Quarmall is All‘, C.B. Centauri)
[#2] MONTE PENUMBRA (‘Austere Dawning‘, NoEvDia)
[#3] TONY TEARS (‘La Società degli Eterni‘, I, Voidhanger)
[#4] SATANIC WARMASTER (‘Exultation of Cruelty‘, Werewolf)
[#5] TODESTRIEB (‘Corona Tenebra‘, Avantgarde Music)

https://archive.org/details/LordsofQuarmall-QuarmallIsAll

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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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Russian death metal band PYRE return with ‘Where Obscurity Sways‘ their first album for Osmose Productions and an impending release with a January 31st, 2025 release date. Why the delay? Pandemia and war, and all the more reason to get hyped up for what they’ve got in store. As you’ll recall I was wild for their first two LPs so this third one interests me for the sake of them bringing in a new drummer (Oleg Malleus) who has been in the band since 2020 but has yet to prove himself on tape. Check out the first preview song “Murderous Transcendence”:

Iron Bonehead Productions have announced the debut miniLP from BALEFIRE will arrive on 12″ vinyl format this coming January 31st. ‘Balefire‘ comes from the vision of Incantation‘s Chuck Sherwood (ex-Bloodstorm) and their intent couldn’t be more clear on this EP: Satanic death metal done with respect for the ancients. They rip through this thing, a full ~15 minute cull, and with intensity they’re comparing to ’90s Vader, Mortem (Peru) and the first Cenotaph record so of course I’m on board right out the gates.

This coming January 20th, 2025 marks the release of the third full-length album from Turku, Finland-based old school death metal quintet CONCRETE ICON who are working with Memento Mori for the CD release, a tape from Fetzner Death, and digitally via Redefining Darkness. I’ll have a premiere up for one of their new songs on the 18th of December so stay tuned for that and check out “Inferior Almighty” for now:

Belgium-based “antique drone and doom” project WYATT E. return with a third album titled ‘zamāru ultu qereb ziqquratu Part 1 (music from inside the Ziggurat)‘ which serves as the first chapter of a two-album set where they explore themes of “ancient Babylon through the eyes of the exiled captives from Jerusalem.” They’ve got lyrics in Akkadian and Aramaic, traditional instrumentation, and no doubt I wasn’t expecting this sound when I read “drone and doom” but it makes a cool first impression. The album will be released on January 10th through Heavy Psych Sounds Records.

Everlasting Spew Records have announced TORMENTOR TYRANT‘s latest album ‘Excessive Escalation Of Cruelty‘ will release this coming January 24th, 2025. This trio is death/thrash metal oriented but features folks best known for their digs in Corpsessed, Solothus, Tyranny, Profetus and Cataleptic. Pretty ace debut LP from what I’ve heard so far. As for style they’ve suggested they were jamming on early Deicide songs together and eventually found their own headspace through it, all signs point to riffs with that in mind:

Invictus Productions and The Ajna Offensive have announced further conspiracy with the upcoming release of NECROMANIAC‘s debut album. ‘Sciomancy, Malediction & Rites Abominable‘ will release on CD and vinyl LP formats. Invictus will cover the release for Europe while The Ajna Offensive will cover the North American side of things. The CD version releases January 13th, 2025 while the LP will come later on. I don’t know much about these guys besides their previous tape but the London-based group features ex-pats from Sweden, Spain, Greece, and Poland.

Swedish black/vikingr metal band EREB ALTOR have announced their latest album ‘Hälsingemörker‘ is coming soon, this February 7th by way of the venerable Hammerheart Records. Their last several albums have really been reaching for bigger, more ambitious sounds and it is great to see their work becoming not only entirely pro but consistent in quality and theme. Check out the latest single “Valkyrian Fate”:

Chaos Records have announced the upcoming release of California-based sludge/death-doom metal band ANCIENT TOME‘s debut EP. ‘The Implications of Ascendancy‘ will release this coming January 20th, 2025. They’re suggesting a “… blend of doom, death, and atmospheric black metal.” comparable to stuff like Usnea as their primary sound and their line-up features members of Civerous and Blood Sanctum. I’m interested in this one after checking out “Lamentation” since I think a balance of sludge and death metal can be tricky:

This coming February 7th, 2025 PERSONAL RECORDS will release the debut album from Mexican crew FUMES who will release ‘Skeletal Wings Unleashed‘. The album is suggested as a continuation of the core concept introduced by their debut EP and echoes that intent in a more elaborate way. Haven’t spent much time with this one yet but I remember liking their EP:

The sophomore full-length album from Swedish heavy metal band CENTURY arrives soon in the form of ‘Sign of the Storm‘ which is slated for vinyl (via Electric Assault) and CD (Dying Victims) formats this coming January 24th, 2025. Their debut album smoked last year so I’m geared up for this follow-up already as they once again aim for an early days Swedish heavy metal sound as their primary intent. One of my most anticipated for Q1 of next year for obvious reasons. No preview song yet I believe, but here’s the Bandcamp anyhow:

https://dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/sign-of-the-storm

Signal Rex have announced the sophomore full-length album from black/death metal band NACHASH. ‘Eschaton Magicks‘ will release on CD and vinyl formats this coming January 31st, 2025. Comprised of folks who’d taken part in Celestial Bloodshed, Askeregn, Knokkelklang, Hideous Death, etc. you’ll recall I was a huge fan of their 2018 released debut ‘Phantasmal Triunity‘. Six years later they’re promising something deeper evolved, matured in the realm of sophisticated black metal which is ancient and gilded with bleak death metal attributes a la Sacriphyx, Ares Kingdom and Grand Belial’s Key. However you describe it I’m stoked on this release.

‘Enter The Void‘ the debut album from German technical melodic death metal trio SYNAPTIC has been announced for release on January 15th, 2025 via Lifeless Chasm Records. Synaptic have been around since the early 2000’s but took a ten year hiatus and reformed in 2020, now they return with their debut LP, if you are a fan of stuff like Stortregn but prefer sometime more prog-death oriented stuff on The Artisan Era this should appeal to some of your general sensibilities. Top shelf stuff, check out “Architects of the Night”:

Svart Records have announced they will release HAVUKRUUNU’s fourth full-length album ‘Tavastland‘ this coming February 2025. The theme of this album “tells the story of a small, strange people.” or “how in 1237 the Tavastians rose in a rebellion against the church of Christ and drove the popes naked into the frost to die. TAVASTLAND reveals our fathers’ centuries old sins and lies of consolation. TAVASTLAND speaks of him, who has become a prisoner of his home, alienated from the land of the forest and is now afraid of the dark with all lights on, surrounded by his smart devices. TAVASTLAND tells about the freedom we lost. TAVASTLAND haunts its listener to the grave, and I will personally open that grave one bleak night and steal the fading light of your sempiternal soul.” says in the words of maestro Stefa. Anyhow, the title track is pretty wild and brings in some new sounds to their gig, check out “Tavastland”:

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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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EOTY LISTS:

The next two weeks will focus on End of the Year Lists, curated sub-genre specific lists of albums I missed or never had proper access to until now. Some of these will be cut or abandoned, don’t expect everything to get done by the end of December. These will be short reviews with ten or more items each and will include the following topics:

Top 10 of November (Video)
Top 10 of December (Article + Video)

Outliers… You Missed | 2024
NOISE ROCK… You Missed | 2024
POST-PUNK… You Missed | 2024
POST-METAL… You Missed | 2024
DEATH METAL… You Missed | 2024
BLACK METAL… You Missed | 2024
THRASH METAL… You Missed | 2024
HEAVY METAL… You Missed | 2024
DOOM METAL… You Missed | 2024

Also the requisite EOTY “Best of..” will arrive after.

TOP 10 VIDEO GAMES OF THE YEAR | 2024
TOP 50 ALBUMS OF THE YEAR | 2024

Also a video editorial will accompany a written one (incl. state of the site, 7th anniversary, new stuff for 2025 etc.)

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