• SHRT REVWS • This condensed version of short(er) reviews focuses on releases arriving in the second half of January covering death metal, sludge/death metal, thrash metal, stoner doom metal, death/thrash metal, and death n’ roll. // 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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Since I’d taken the time to review Romanian ‘old school’ influenced death metal quartet PUTRED back in 2023 when their debut LP released I figured you could refer to that review for my thoughts on the evolution of their prolific demo era, associated bands (all good, really) and their chunkier “out there” kinda grooves. While that was a first milestone and a solid enough record it’ll be ‘Megalit al Putrefacției‘ to impress the masses with tightened riffs and rhythms which better communicate their creeping dementia. Inspired by stuff like Rottrevore, Cianide and Grave for their low-tuned, subterranean crawl n’ grooved movement these folks have undergone various configurations over time but the core identity of the project is now all the more clearly identified between their two LPs. Though they don’t create from such a cavernous or echoic place as say, Desecresy, this album still has its own deep underground bluntness, a ragged and diabolic grind to its steps which I find brutal as shit whenever I hit just a couple songs into the full spin. Though their work has never been wildly tech or anything but the oldest guard’s standard they’ve gotten all the details right in terms of whammy-melting leads and shuddering, chopped-at grooves. If you’re a fan of the old school mid-paced and deep underground deal these folks continue to be a relentless punisher, a plod that leaves a mark with every step.

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Fusing post-metal loft with sludged-out funeral death/doom metal Los Angeles, California-based quartet ANCIENT TOME take a third stab at their curiously modern yet arcane feeling sound with ‘The Implications of Ascendency‘. It’d be natural to assume that Civerous bassist Naraka (Blood Sanctum) might take some cues from his other band’s modus as they read similar enough to one another on paper but this is a far more stark, funereal sort of act centered around extreme doom and its post-blackening. Time stands still more often than not within each of these four pieces, a riff or two might fire off but we’re here for the stillness more than the action overall. This style should easily appeal to fans of Oryx, Usnea, and more recent Inter Arma releases especially if you’re just as interested in a band like Lycus. Any crew that can make six minutes feel like twelve is onto something unique enough, so I am impressed in that regard. Their work is somewhat stark for my taste, at least in terms of the vocals, but the aimless yet dramatic weave of these songs always finds its point of payoff or redemption.

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Málaga, Andalusia-based thrash metal quartet RETADOR haven’t lost any of their feral edge on this sophomore full-length album as vocalist/guitarist Jofre rasps and wails through ‘Earëndel‘ like a man possessed, sounding as if he’d been pulled from an early Witchery or Satanic Slaughter record. Otherwise their style is pure thrash metal with inspiration taken from what I hear as late 80’s power-thrash, popular black-thrash of the neo generation but with some neoclassical shred ideas peppered into every free second of the album. Fans of Skeletonwitch of a certain era should appreciate this approach but the kicker here that’d had me coming back for some repeated listens was the meaner grooves they manage here. It isn’t as traditional as I would usually like but I’d found this album always had another interesting angle to consider within its spastic pit-ready style.

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Columbus, Ohio-based stoner doom metal quartet WEED DEMON return for a third full-length here with ‘The Doom Scroll‘ deploying similar modus in introduction as they’d managed back in 2020 with ‘Crater Maker‘ by way of Side A kicking things off with a couple of slow-going instrumental pieces. The rest of the album features different types of vocals throughout be they psychedelic rock affectation, roaring sludge-level growls (see: “Coma Dose” b/w “Roasting the Sacred Bones”.) I’d first heard this band back in 2018 and have since come to appreciate their unorthodox treatment of a very well-explored style of stoner doom, making it their own in a way that isn’t polished to Hell and can’t be plainly pegged as a Sleep-alike or what not. That said not every piece they put to tape is all that profound or even all that fitting in the moment, a great example being “Dead Planet Blues” which feels under-formed or just jammed next to the all ‘tude Frank Zappa cover that closes the album. If you’re a fan of psychedelic doom metal that does its own thing this album is a massively good time, the only gripe I have here is that it feels like they needed one more song to tie some of these ideas together more neatly… and the cover song kinda takes some of the wind out of the rest of the LP.

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Helsinki/Järvenpää, Finland-based death metal trio TORMENTOR TYRANT reappear roughly three years beyond their debut EP with a more fully fleshed vision of death/thrash metal and to be sure their rhythms are still a blunted weapon meant to pulverize indiscriminately. Though the dual vocal approach and short song lengths might have you thinking of peak Napalm Death as you step into this shouted and hammered-at realm there are some solid groups in Finland’s past that line-up with some of this thrashing yet brutal approach, the most obvious being earlier Deathchain but also long-dead classics from Corporal Punishment and Sotajumala where each’s history with thrash metal informed their unique takes on various eras of 90’s death metal. The main point to make here is that this record is all about the barked madness of it’s straightforward vision of brutal thrashing death metal that lives and dies by its down-stroked grooves. Much as I’d enjoyed this album and its frantic, volatile state I’d basically just wanted ‘Excessive Escalation of Cruelty‘ to reach for more variety in their riffcraft on their ~4 minute songs, much of this album feels like it never fully makes its point known via shorter 2-3 minute stampeding burners. Naturally the best song here for my own taste is one of the longer ones (“Cosmic Wild Hunt”) as I find that extra hit of atmospheric dread helped make that particular song memorable. Though this is fairly short release these folks’ve made a great first impression with this one.

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Bologna/Treviso, Italy-based quintet SHRIEKING DEMONS are easily one of the more adept studies of classic late 80’s/early 90’s death metal I’ve heard in recent memory, especially if we consider the greater umbrella of ‘Mental Funeral‘ and doom metal inspired craft. Ominous and yet wailing on every lead on their haunted stride through Shrieking Demons get the presentation side of things exactly right, too, for the sake of atmosphere and attitude spilling from their kicking and retching pieces. Their whole gig feels extremely well sorted beyond their well-received 2021 debut EP, feral and echoing up from the burial plot and diabolic in every lunge they take. “Sorrowful Dismal Bliss” is one of the best examples of where their work differentiates itself, a stoney/heavy rock lead guitar vein which pings the ‘Clandestine‘ enjoyer in me throughout. Every song here basically smokes one above-average riff after another, ranting incessantly as they kick through each and while these aren’t outright memorable songs in the conventional sense the extra stain of doom upon their rhythms held my interest throughout.

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Can I fault Swedish death metal trio CONSUMPTION for sounding exactly like a recap of 90’s Carcass? Not at this point, as this level of sonic tribute has given fruit to at least a sub-genre or two. That said their third LP ‘Catharsis‘ aims somewhere nearby ‘Necroticism – Descanting the Insalubrious‘ and ‘Heartwork‘ (see: “Exterminator”) as its home base with nods to melodic death, grindcore and such defining their sound and style. The bluesier, thundering stuff that hits quicks is an exacting replica of their muse but that doesn’t stop any of it from being a good time as they gallop through. I’d particularly liked the leads on “Iron Faith”, the catchier guitar layers of “Piece by Piece Devoured”, and the early days melodic death metal feel of “One Step Beyond Sanity”. The album is a bit overlong with twelve songs to consider and the effects on the vocals are at times off-putting but I’d end up enjoying the surreal groove of it all out of sheer familiarity. If you’re a fan of early Arch Enemy or the first LP from Golem (Germany) or just Carcass… this is a worthy rip through that territory.

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