• SHRT REVWS • This condensed version of short(er) reviews focuses on releases arriving in the first three weeks of January covering progressive black metal, shamanic doom metal, technical death metal, avant-garde heavy rock, brutal death metal and death-sludge. // 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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Plauen/Oelsnitz, Germany-based progressive/avant-garde black metal troupe BERGTHRON had run out of steam, inspiration or whatever necessary collaborative tension after sixteen years and six full-lengths beyond their formation in 1994. The way it is described in the press release they’d decided to take a decade long break (ca. 2010) and eventually reconvened on the 30th anniversary of their efforts. Not only did this troupe have a bit of a reputation for throwing everything out the window and starting over again with a new sound or approach on each record but they weren’t especially keen on following-up ‘Expedition Autarktis‘ (2010) with something expected, similar or just bland. None of this history is all that interesting, the band’ve always been curious outliers but not the sort of thing you’ll hear crate-diggers going wild over in niche-black spaces. The main idea here with ‘Neu Asen Land‘ is to clip themselves loose from anything but their own inspiration, create a genuine extreme progressive metal record with some of its raw edges showing.

The major success of this return is then logically the pent-up humanity on display here, a rapturous vibrancy which lends itself well to the celebratory tone of opener “Aufbruch nach Neu Asen Land (Von Pol zu Pol)” and the adventurous trip they’ve packed into its ~33 minute brevity. The usual qualifiers for high-skill musicianship apply here in terms of believable tones, unexpected compositional strings, cinematic scope, and songs with too many ideas rubbing together to create curiously satisfying friction. Nothing about “SOG” works as a song but in the context of the album it is a haunted hallway of ghost calls and post-rock disarray which upholds the rhythmic engine that drives the bulk of the full listen. The feeling that Bergthron are good, obviously intentioned in their work, pings in mind during each listen but I remain unable to put my finger on the source of discomfort they achieve even withing their brightest points of heavy/prog rock revelry. If there is a signature to glean from their discography that is probably it, a brilliantly refined awkwardness that slowly worms in mind. Don’t skip out on “Gefangene der Polarnacht (In Nacht und Eis)” and the aforementioned “Aufbruch nach Neu Asen Land (Von Pol zu Pol)” if you’re just skimming through.

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Belgium-based droning shamanic doom duo WYATT E. have decided to switch up the format for this third full-length, no longer putting together two longform jams (~18 minutes per side) but five meditative pieces which put to good use the more extreme measures they’ve gone to represent the Mesopotamian mythos each record embodies. For ‘Zamāru ultu qereb ziqquratu Part 1‘ guest vocals in Akkadian and Aramaic and Middle Eastern instrumentation ensure you’ve not missed the theme of their arabesque travels despite the use of surf guitar tones and stoney basslines featuring heavily on key pieces. If you are a fan of Zaum and Om but appreciate the instrumental cinema of say, Five the Heirophant you’ll understand how a hypnotic bassline and drone can blend together in appreciably psychedelic waves. I don’t doubt a fan of Dead Can Dance‘s better known work would enjoy this as well since the atmosphere, the wandering lines, and the immersive intent of this work is well along those lines.

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Eifel, Germany-based melodic technical death metal trio SYNAPTIC trace their origins back to the mid-2000’s as Preemptyve Strike taking roughly four years to work up to a still pretty decent EP from 2008 (‘Distortion of Senses‘) that’d attempted to bridge the quickly modern shape of melodeath with the tech-excesses of the times. Though there’ve been many bands to attempt this sort of marriage the results tend to split the audience between folks who’re there for catchy, ‘epic’ melodeath tropes while others show up for shred tech and whatnot. Fifteen years beyond their first EP and with only original guitarist Simon returning from the previous lineup they’ve they’ve certainly not been lax in developing an insane skill level in the meantime. This debut LP ‘Enter the Void‘ brings to mind modern progressive metal to start but a fan of Inferi, Bloodshot Dawn, or even Augury should appreciate the modern, juiced up attack of their work. This isn’t really my area of expertise or interest but there were a few songs where I’d appreciated the precision of their work, “Architects of the Night” being a sublimely chaotic but almost catchy piece with some use of jazz fusion’d meter and clean vocals.

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Los Angeles, California-based quintet BLOODCUM are best known for their 1988 LP ‘Death by a Clothes Hanger‘ and its crossover thrashing sound being an interesting step between the angrier side of Oxnard hardcore, the punkish aspect of early Slayer, and the original attack of D.R.I. and Suicidal Tendencies and to the point that they were largely considered generic. The major note they’ve gotten over the years comes from bassist/co-guitarist John Araya being related to Tom Araya and some folks appreciate their status as part of the early Wild Rags Records stable of thrash and metalpunk freaks but I think these songs still stand up pretty well no matter how obvious their influence might be (see: title track vs. D.I.) and the vocalist on the LP and his delivery outclasses the meth-mouth goober stuff Wehrmacht or Blurrhog were doing for laughs around that time. Anyhow, great album but ‘The Clothes Hanger Chronicles: Complete Recordings 1986-2014‘ collects everything they ever did including their part of an infamous 4-way split, the early demos, and what sound like scratch tracks from a 2014 reunion EP. Well worth a grab if you’re keen on crossover, horror thrash, metalpunk, or just classic thrash metal’s late 80’s underground freakery.

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The notes on this album (taken at face value) suggest something like “Well, everyone loved the first one. Why not make another?“, eh, fair enough. While the harshest thought I could conjure here amounts to something to the effect of “this album is comfort food for self-limited palates” I couldn’t bring myself to take any real issue with this sophomore full-length album from Gothenburg, Sweden’s THE HALO EFFECT. My main complaint about the 2022 released ‘Days of the Lost‘ was that it delivered fairly plain pop-metal, another version of the stuff all of these folks have done forever and a day… and without delivering upon the promise of melodic death metal, old or new. This has been remedied in the sense that the classic ’98-’04 era of melodeath and the collective contributions of these specific folks feels alive and maybe even up for a few riffs this time around. If you’d felt the latest Dark Tranquillity release was full-bodied to the point of spilling well beyond the pint glass then consider ‘March of the Unheard‘ similarly anthemic but focused on a singular goal, even if it’d been even better shaved closer to ~40 minutes. Catchy melodic Euro-metal with a bit of a snarl might only just serve pleasant nostalgia at face value, I’m about the right age for this of course and your results may vary, but I do think there is some earnest substance and (a few very) memorable songs to be had within the greater outcome.

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Just two years beyond their fourth album and during a flurry of activity from Ash Thomas (see also: Shed the Skin, Estuary, ex-Thorns of the Carrion) in general we get a fifth loud and storming (at times: semi-melodic) death metal record from Cincinnati, Ohio-based fixture FAITHXTRACTOR. I haven’t had anything all that new to say about this project since 2018 though I find this work blackened to some light degree, sublime on its slower/doomed segments (see: “Flooded Tombs”) and overall more of a complete experience than some of the riff-after-riff hallways we’ve gotten in the past. Morbid grooves, brutal drumming throughout, plenty of variation, all things are considered here even to the point that we get a couple of wicked leads or two to spice things up. No complaints, no outsized praise, just a damned good death metal album with plenty of riffs.

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Tampere, Finland-based trio VITRIOLIC play a cutting, maniac form of raw black/thrash focus on the riff, be it a speed metal tipped frenzy or a pure black metal spasm as they crank through the harried start of ‘Black Steel Vengeance‘. They’ve chosen to lean into heavier, more malevolent wares this time around and as such their work is familiar but even more compelling as a sophomore full-length looking to double its damage. “Crown of Fire” sets the bar for their action a little too high to start but by the time they’re working in second wave-level riffs (“Death Unconquered”) and late 80’s thrashing breaks (“Martial Spirit”, “The Hunt”) I’m pretty much on board with their whole gig. It takes a lot to stand out in the greater black-thrash metal militia today but plenty of riffs and some insane energy was enough to keep me on this record for a dozen or so rides.

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