• …YOU MISSED • As part of our yearly recap the …You Missed series attempts to collect interesting releases I’d otherwise missed, didn’t cover, or didn’t appreciate until later. This is -NOT- a best of, but a collection of interesting curios worth mentioning as we reflect upon the year. // 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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夢遊病者 aka Sleepwalker return after putting roughly three years worth of work into this well-coordinated collaborative release which pulls in performers from all over the planet for another densely stoked collage of surrealistic noise, progressive rock and jazz fusion while utilizing elements of both traditional and extreme metal to frame their many-layered abstract compositions. ‘Delirium Pathomutageno Adductum’ finds the core trio of the group reaching several unexpected highs here via their invite of musicians from the progressive metal headspace as well as folks fully separate from the whole zeitgeist of heavy music in general, making for a thousand-flavored ride, songs which feel like they’ve got fifty layers of depth to sort through as their orchestral shaped din shambles and thrums along. These songs may very well read dark and chaotic at a glance but there is some manner of joyous abundance which comes with so many hands being placed upon the altar and a bit of traditional heavy metal vocal work doesn’t hurt. Though I’d rather not limit comparisons of sensation to say, Sigh in terms of the prog-rock and heavy metal inspired excessum in hand a few of these songs ring together in a similarly righteous way which makes for an entertaining if not thoroughly challenging result.

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Leipzig, Germany-based duo AUA invite us into an even more dream-inducing electro pop forward strand of krautrock beaten psychedelia than the last with ‘Painkiller No. 1‘, a breathy and occasionally shoegazing step through a surreal yet always comfortably seated journey. While I’d been a fan of 2022’s ‘The Damaged Organ‘ and its sometimes retro-feeling beats fused with performative, imaginative synth explorations this album is immediately connective and emotionally driven in its performances. A big component of this is of course the vocals, again a breathiness which takes us far from any sort of throwback feeling moment along the way. Otherwise the stylistic admixture here is far more packed with flourish, concurrent voicing, structured pop songs and melodious rises which offer hooks that are bigger, stickier than the previous albums infectious beats.

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Borås, Sweden-based dungeon synth artist ÖRNATORPET returns here for their eighth full-length album and despite having appreciated their previous two albums quite a bit ‘Fordomdags‘ feels like a breach into mastery of the artists distinctly Scandinavian high fantasy vision, a glowing set of themes for exploration of the forest at night. Some of these ideas feel like they expand upon the mood of ‘Bergtagen‘ to some degree but there is a contained magickal atmosphere that characterizes this record into a very distinct result. From my point of view this is not only a new high for the project but a fresh world to explore in terms of new sounds, more boldly set compositions and overall atmospheric clarity. I’d included this one my list of November’s best albums and I wanted to make sure I mentioned it at least one more time this year because it has been one of my most listened to releases of 2024.

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Genoa, Italy-based dark ambient, minimal electronic noise sculptor REGEN GRAVES is probably best known as a founding member of Italian doom metal band Abysmal Grief but under this name his exploration focuses on the possibilities offered by analog synthesizers of various types. Delay pedals, knob wizardry and such ensures these droning and eerie sounds aren’t all stark and noxious in fact ‘Ashes‘ feels more immersive than it does harsh in any sense. If the intent was to illustrate devastation from natural disaster, nuclear fallout etc. the prompt fully works for the slow creeping dread that carries the experience and the variety of unnerving sounds that haunt the slow walk through. I particularly loved the Metroid-like descent of “Normalization Pt. 2” in this regard though opening piece “What Lies Ahead” and its fluttering modulation probably captured my imagination most.

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Portuguese blackened sludge/psychedelic doom metal duo LORD SIN don’t immediately show their cards in terms of their improvisational side, luring the ear into the dark-rasping and riff heavy wiles of opener “Spectre” and its strong use of melodic leads to shape its curiously dramatic style. Over the course of six songs and roughly one hour this apparently live in studio recording reveals the “salad” of its inner-workings beyond sweetly Paradise Lost-esque use of leads and tempered rock beats which often reveal themselves as temperamental directive within snarling and thundering attacks of riff in uneven strings. Their sound is extremely polished yet it should come across relatively standard ’til the ear attuned to composition begins to dig into the irregular step and statement of this record slowly reveals. In some sense their admixture of practiced and improvised motions is only unique for its suggested modus but I believe fans of Lesbian and Rwake and such should appreciate the streaming consciousness that forms within this fairly hi-fi production value. Though I wouldn’t say every song works (“The Presence” feels redundant beyond the opener) but hitting a piece like “Living Sin” feels just as primo as some of the better sludge metal groups around these days. I was entertained by the unscripted side of the band either way, well worth checking this one out for both its sound and lightly experimental nature.

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An epic black/dungeon synth exploration from the perspective of the undead ‘Funesta Epifania‘ is the debut album from Vidreres, Spain-based duo L’ESPECTRE QUE ALIMENTA LA FLAMA DELS ANCESTRES who are fronted by vocalist Von Päx of the mighty Barbarian Swords but masterminded by Varg The Mighty (Elven Sorrow) and their work might read as if Summoning-esque on paper yet these longform pieces are not marches out of Mordor (“Presència A La Runa Dels Temps”) or primarily guitar driven at all but rather keyboard built works which feature almost as black metallic operettas, eccentric in their vocal and instrumental characterization and brimming with fantastical ambiance. Though the lack of guitars might’ve kept this one off the radar for many and the title track is the real “meat” of the experience overall I’d found this release memorable for both own arcane and over the top it’d felt, the sort of thing you’d expect from the far reaches of an underground black metal focus distro in the early-to-mid 90’s.

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MANASSEH is a dark ambient/neofolk project of Texas-based musician Patrick Brown who is best known for his work in Howls of Ebb, Ysengrin and more recently Herxheim. The broad range of work from the artist increasingly focuses on a singular voice and generates atmosphere with minimal treatment, often showing how much dark magick one can create with just two or three prominent elements, and this ingenuity is front and center on ‘Tunneling to Paradiso‘. A descent in surreal pluck of its harp, er, untreated acoustic guitar this ten piece walking paced record proposes the underworld as paradise as we get German rants, lightly crackling fires and eerie synth lines initially stepping through the first half of the album or so. Nothing about this introduction is lush or loud and there is no riotous trample into any given profound moment as one can certainly feel the artists taste for unnerving cinematic scores, even just foley arts, but the boldness of the acoustic guitar (and eventually quietly set electric guitar dubs) eventually picks up on more technique-heated pieces such as “Rock of Condemnation, Bridge to Flagellation”. The way that I’d received this album was, as suggested, a mood-setting accompaniment for Herxheim‘s ‘Contrapasso‘ record so make sure you reach for that context to both better see the artist’s current state and intent.

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Believe it or not 2020’s ‘Nembutal‘ from Sami Hynninen‘s (Reverend Bizarre, The Puritan) experimental project OPIUM WARLORDS was a tad normal considering the full discography of the artist and for album number six, ‘Strength!‘ he’s gone right for the femoral artery and let all manner of ideas flow without interruption. Or, I suppose each of these 24 pieces are interruptions of one another as captures of ideas built from nonsensical poetry and prose which may or may not include a wry sense of humor and unpredictable stylistic focus. The level of mockery one -could- glean from the lyrics here is characteristically acerbic and the flow of subjects are ruthlessly uneven but the intent of this album speaks directly to the machine-like qualities of music as a whole while giving brief points of glowing respite. It is a very long and erratic conversation at ~80 minutes but I’d never found myself pulling away from the barrage for the sake of ser Witchfinder doing so many things so well and with fairly minimal construction involved covering sludged and droning pieces, militaristic marches, and post-industrial stretches (and much more…) without ever repeating himself for the duration. At no point does ‘Strength!’ collapse into an “easy” familiarity, frequently challenging the ability of the listener to read the room. An overwhelming but rewarding experience guaranteed to be frustrating to most anyone who’d pick it up yet unlike most anything I’d come across this year otherwise.

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Cardiff, Wales-based experimental project DOUBTSOWER comes from the mind of musician Matt Strangis who is the current bassist for Pantheist who also creates electronic music under the name Kyam. This third full-length album fuses some of that jungle-tripped beat propensity with a form of experimental sludge/post-metal and blackened doom acting as the main aesthetic component. While the combination first presented by opener “Trampled Ideals Sold Cut-Price” is ingenious enough to plainly iterate upon in variation this ~64 minute album approaches each of its six ~longform pieces as a chance for a new groove, a different mood or admixture which centers around surreal and dark atmosphere beset by a notable riff and/or frustratedly coughed out vocal. You’ll likely not see where some of the more eclectic pieces are about to (see: “Liars Cheers All”) and partially because of how well this fellowe modulates the more obsessive beat-centered moments, leaning in just far enough to warm the brain to a machined-out patternation before breaking out. The whole deal is a trip and a far more demanding listen than I’d expected based on the first ten or so minutes it’d presented, definitely give this one more than just one or two pieces to impress.

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Black metal was never meant to stagnate into tradition yet it wasn’t insistence upon nostalgia that’d bastardized it but rather rampant commercialism and heavy metal’s inclination towards blatant and insufferably boring plagiarism. So, approaching the ‘old school’ soul of psyche-scorching black psychedelic metal artist FURZE is refreshing for his exuberance for the dark arts which sources identity in the counter cultural thesis of these musical phenomenon while also looking for a path of his own, anything less would be an abortion. Trading between roaring heavy rock riffs worthy of an old Pentagram tape, analog effects rich atmosphere and early Bathory-esque horror generates an attitude and feeling still unique to Woe J. Reaper who indulges the surreal to an extreme which still reads as heavy metal (see: “Beautiful Living on the Left Hand of Death”) and a masterful treatment of black metal minded doom metal. We’ve had equally estranged and inspired records from this band before but I’d felt this one was a bit more brave and wild than his more recent output otherwise.

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Houston, Texas-based project KRAANERG centers around the diarized musings of musician Nat Bergrin whom I’ve mostly been conscious off per collaborations involving D.L. of Kostnatění over the last several years, all of them quite involved and directly experimental under this name. For this record they’ve pulled in members of from eclectic/experimental Houston-area groups Laktating Yak and El Mantis to flesh out the personnel on hand and deliver this lush psych-jazz fusion metered and brutal prog engaged record. The induction into this world is well rendered unto its own cacophonic bliss, a willful fall into the unknown centered around a harpsicord-esque piano treatment with all manner of blissful movement between its rhythmic extremes. Despite having gone into this record expecting some manner of extreme metal proposal we get an exuberant and kicking progressive rock skeleton a la early 70’s Mahavishnu Orchestra with a symphonic rock/Zeuhl feel when viewed from a wider set angle and particularly as the violin (via Daniel Cho) echoes and swells at the centre of the din on key piece/opener “Here the Ground is a Spandrel”. Despite having going in expecting a dark swell of chaotic energy instead the whole of this experience was lifting, brimming with a hyper-active transfer of energy that’d entertained throughout.

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