• SHRT REVWS • This condensed version of short(er) reviews focuses on releases arriving in the second half of April covering electronic music, epic heavy/doom metal, war metal, black/death metal, atmospheric death/doom metal and more. // 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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With the passing of prolific German electronic music pioneer KLAUS SCHULZE in 2022 longtime fans’ve been expecting the archives to begin to flow with a barrage of lost or unfinished works but thus far posthumous releases have been thoughtful, sentimental and well curated (see: ‘101, Milky Way‘, 2024) from my point of view. This end-of-tour live recording from November 25th, 1981 at the Audimax, a large lecture hall at the University of Hamburg, features an hour and a half of original/rearranged pieces, most of which I don’t personally recognize from this era of Schulze‘s work. 1981 was a time of changes for Schulze‘s music, making use of sequencers for rhythmic drive but still using guitar synths (in this case via Manuel Göttsching of Ash Ra Tempel who’d provided guitars/guitar synth for the two week stint) which add a great deal of the coloration of these pieces. The ~30 minute, three-part “Bon Temple” which more-or-less opens the show is the best example of this passage from the 70’s into the 80’s per Schulze‘s evolving interests in terms of both style and technology. If you’ll roll back to the change found on ‘Dig It‘ (1980) and ‘Trancefer‘ (1981) the longer-form pieces here are arguably more evocative of the style found on the former.

From what I can tell this was a soundboard recording with very little audience noise (“Wiegenlied” features a closing applause, pre-encore) or bleed between the two performers, that is to say that its quality is excellent, maintaining brightness and precision to the point that every mistake or incidental indulgence is audible. For a recording that’d been somewhat off the cuff to celebrate the tour this is a remarkably lucid capture of Schulze and Göttsching at this interesting creative juncture. While I’d typically stop short of recommending a 90 minute live performance as an entry point for folks who don’t know an artist the work here is very active, engaged in a way that might be easier to dive into compare to the more minimal affect of early-to-mid 70’s stuff from Schulze; Standout pieces for my own taste of course center around the most immersive moments, including the aforementioned “Bon Temple” trilogy, the moonbound jam of “Moulin Bleu” and the anxious space-raider trek of “Ritus Duplex”.

https://klausschulze.bandcamp.com/album/bon-voyage-live-audimax-hamburg-1981

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Utrecht, Netherlands-based atmospheric death/doom metal band STRUCTURE comes by way of musician Bram Bijhout a former guitarist for Officium Triste in the 2010’s who currently plays in Grafjammer. For this project he’s pulled in Pim Blankenstein on vocals and as such it’ll be natural for longtime fans to hear a bit of Officium Triste in these songs per the fellowes cadence and tone. As suggested by it’s title ‘Heritage‘ is a personal record in terms of its theme, a mixture of distraught emotions and generational musings which place family as the central subject. It is also a miserable death/doom metal record in an occasionally melodic style, a dramatic atmospheric experience which centers itself on a big guitar tone and generates maudlin yet still heavy pieces from a mid-90’s point of ideation. Balancing some sorrowful melody into straight forward heft, not really fucking around too much with bells and whistles, makes this album an easier full listen, immersive and focused on conveying its intended feeling. Nostalgia, mourning, and such makes this an entertaining record though this doesn’t necessarily lend Structure more than a familiar glow, fans of this style should find it easily approached thought not strikingly original or inventive beyond the right blend of despondent moods nearby ambitious craft.

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Nancy, France-based death metal quartet DISFUNERAL are kinda average in a good way? If you take the short walk with these folks from their early days as members of Herpes in the early 2010’s and unto this successor’s all-pro result of a second LP you should get the sense that they can play and that they fully -get- the rhythms of classic ‘old school’ death metal… especially that point where Autopsy‘s early stuff inspired a lot of popular Swedish death metal. While I wouldn’t call their approach mediocre in any sense it is remarkably straight forward, by-the-books ‘old school’ inspired craft without any overtly modern trappings. The remarkable thing about this type of approach is that there are no obvious knowledge gaps, they know how to play this stuff (hit a riff and finish a thought) without incorporating post-metal, prog, hardcore, or whatever other flavor of the week shit. There isn’t much else to say about ‘In Horror, Reborn‘, though I’d felt like they’ve lean into the doomed side of things a bit more and it is their biggest strength from my point of view. Solid death metal record, absolutely no complaints.

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It might be awkward to describe Connecticut-based underground black/death metal legendry PROFANATICA as consistent at this point, plenty of other words come to mind first, but their brand of Repulsion-esque kicked and snarling black metal menace hasn’t missed a beat in forever. ‘Wreathed in Dead Angels‘ is no different as they (thee maestro Ledney plus guitarist/bassist Destroyer of Holy Hymen) tunnel through six songs in about twenty minutes and all of ’em focus on grinding, hissing and spanking out riff after riff. Their attack is pretty uniform and the nuance is still there but it is mostly a blur of gnashing vocals and punkish trampling through sinister rhythms. Much as I hate to throw a “This Profanatica records sounds like Profanatica” type commentary at a good record… that is exactly what I was looking for as a fan.

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Turin, Italy-area war metal duo MARTORIATOR caught my interest with the sharp angled George Grosz painting on the cover, a premonition of war and a clear sign of its contents alongside the bulletbelt and barbed wire found within the band’s logo as blackened/bestial death metal. This particular project comes from musician/engineer Davide Billia (Antropofagus, Beheaded, et al.) who surprisingly does everything -but- the drumming on this album wherein he’s tasked L.G. (Then Comes the Dusk) and this ensures a primal, cruelly whipped grinding form of blackened death. Their rally through ‘Bloodpainted Visions of Perpetual Conflict‘ in about ~30 minutes is decidedly percussive as they crash, blast and roll through every second of this thing without more than a pause between songs. Its all kind of standard stuff start to finish. The groove in the midst of “Red Flowers of Nanjing” is solid when it crops up and the closer (“Perpetual Conflict”) left a dent but for the most part they just rocket through this material with a few standout riffs creeping up. This is maybe a bit more grinding, kinda leaning towards earlier 2010’s Diocletian than I’d expected and that isn’t a bad thing at all, it just didn’t stand out wildly beyond the strong first impression.

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Alive (1971), dead (1992), resurrected (circa 2015), and now living-dead in some manner of luminous limbo state beyond 2023 just long enough to ensure their tombstone weighs heavy as possible on their fandom before giesting away… the greater career endured by Ventura, California-borne epic heavy/doom metal troupe CIRITH UNGOL ain’t a big deal for the trials and tribulations along the way so much as it is about the timeless value of their songs and unforgettably charismatic delivery. And holy damn we’ve got twenty crystal clear renditions of -all- the big ones on this endgame era double live album, not only a great sounding still kinda organic feeling live record but one that finds the band readied-up, more than worthy as performers.

This particular show was a big deal one-off at the Roxy Theatre circa 2024 to celebrate the release of their 2023 swansong ‘Dark Parade‘ and the set doesn’t just include some of their best songs but a thorough retelling of twenty pieces which cover both oldest and newest and inbetween within the span of a heroic hour and 45 minutes. No, two of my favorite songs didn’t make the show (“War Eternal” b/w “Doomed Planet”) but the upside is more room for ‘Frost and Fire‘ cuts, this version of “I’m Alive” was absolutely worth it. — As a longtime fan of the band, and given the amount of writing I’d done about their two ‘comeback’ records prior, I won’t be long-winded here: Cirith Ungol are among the best to ever play heavy metal, a huge personal favorite on my part, and this live album is one sermon after another given to the worthiest cause.

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