• IN BRIEF… • This latest short review column focuses on releases will arrive a few times a month, or, roughly every two weeks covering new releases depending on the current month’s release schedule. In an attempt to be more conversational these are more easygoing and casual than longform reviews, so relax and think for yourself as I attempt to find something, anything to say about multitudes of new releases relevant to my interests. — 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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You’ll find some of the biggest, gnarliest riffs the ‘old school’ death metal adjacent zeitgeist has to offer circa 2025 on this debut full-length album from Houston, Texas-based trio TERROR CORPSE as these folks from Necrofier act as the continuation/expansion beyond their time in short-lived but high impact act Malignant Altar… who’d defused their nuke back in 2022. Invoking bands like Disciples of Mockery next to Celtic Frost in their press sheet makes a fair deal of sense at a glance but their work takes a few steps beyond those realms, invoking some grindcore (“Blissful Incineration” b/w “Fallout Obliteration”) and doomed-out mutations on their tireless threading of riff-after-riff through this ~36 minute record. There is definitely a carve to this one in terms of its style mutating over the course of the full listen where things only get darker the longer the listener sticks around for the armageddon depicted. I was happy to find this wasn’t literally Malignant Altar pt. II but instead a flex on all else these folks can pull from to create a well-rounded and impious death metal record. Nobody was asking for yet another cover of “Into the Crypts of Rays”, hit me with your take on anything from Dream Death‘s debut or something… but otherwise ‘Ash Eclipses Flesh‘ is 100% rad.

The first time I sat down with this debut LP from Rijeka, Croatia-based speed/heavy metal quartet SPEEDCLAW the feeling of déjà vu was killing me outright ’til I realized this was a band I’d reviewed ages ago per the 2018 reissue of their second EP (‘Beast in the Mist‘, 2017), having been a huge fan of their development on that record. They’re still crossing melodic ideas from the (previously vibrant) NWOTHM movement into songs worthy of the old ways but here we find the band reaching for a more revisionist take on 80’s heavy metal sounds, something just slightly less directly copped from speed metal and more interested in developing jog-paced vocally driven anthems. The peak of this is arguably the melody which introduces “Nightwatch”, which initially sounds like a pretty damned unforgettable song from Enforcer‘s ‘Diamonds‘ album… and I don’t think that is such a coincidence considering they’ve tasked Olof Wikstrand with the mix/master of the album. There are a few pretty damned slick, catchy songs here with a worthy punch to their riffs but I’d found Side B lost some of its energy any my attention along with it. Was hoping they’d go in a more thrashing, aggressive direction but this ain’t bad.

Perth, Australia-based death metal quintet DEPRAVITY return for a third full-length album in ‘Bestial Possession‘ and for the first time they pull at least one or two punches. That is to say that their work here is still belligerent, a product of peak Nile and Behemoth indebted “blackened” death excess in the mid-2000’s when any sort of groove or tech-death abraded phrasing is concerned, but they take a breath here and there to break things up (re: “Call to the Fallen”). If you are a fan of Polish death metal’s heyday in the post-millennium I think you’re particularly going to appreciate where this record goes but they’re into moshable brutal death metal in any sense (“Awful Mangulation”) and this starts to override some of the stuff we’ve heard a million times otherwise. More shredding leads, more atmosphere in general and the same spine-whipping pace you’d expect make for brutal scrub through, it’ll have some instant appeal in that sense. I’d felt like the cranked to eleven modus eventually overtakes all, quieting the more nuanced movement in between rallying, but per this type of death metal it very well should. Check out closer “Catastrophic Contagion” if nothing else.

German death metal duo SLAUGHTERDAY return for a fairly short EP here with ‘Terrified‘, their own take on mid-to-late 80’s grindcore in tribute to those particular origins. The way this pans out is exactly as you’d expect from a band named after an Autopsy song, swimming in muddy gore as they pull from primitive thrashing punk-influenced death metal. Opener “Ashes of the Innocent” is set up front for good reason, this is probably where they get it most “right” from my point of view whereas they’re far too heavy handed with some of the transitional riffcraft on “Fleshtorn Future” right afterwards. Otherwise the two ~2 minute songs, the title track (“Terrified”) and “Chained to Oblivion” bring a battery of creeping-fast energy into the fray, the type of song you’d want to hear on one of their albums. Overall a worthy 7″, a cool idea, and some of their best stuff beyond the 2010’s for my own taste.

Richmond, Indiana-based heavy rock/doom metal quintet WOLFTOOTH sounded like they were going to be the next big thing back in 2018 when their self-titled debut hit as bands like Spirit Adrift, Khemmis and such ramped up nearby but they’ve been generally steady since then… now landing upon their fourth full-length album sans any too-wild hype. ‘Wizard’s Light‘ hits like a solid The Sword album, the core effect is classic heavy rock structured stuff but with heavy metal leads, high fantasy themes with their own laid back (at times Thin Lizzy-esque) melodic streak in hand. I’m kind of conflicted on this one as it kinda benefits from the chilled-out but dramatic kinda late 70’s metal feel overall but also just doesn’t kick into gear often enough for my own taste.

Wasn’t going to cover this one because the album art looked like a loosely traced over AI-generated composition but I am too big a fan of Palubicki and co.’s work to overlook a new PERDITION TEMPLE record. He’s also got an incredible debut record from Malefic Throne releasing the same day, so, check that out too. ‘Malign Apotheosis‘ is exactly what you’re looking for as a longtime fan of these folks work: An unflinching cutting hand still drives their thrashing blackened death attack to mayhemic speed and feats of insane rhythmic violence. This time around I’d found certain songs more clearly injected some classic thrash-era movement (“Resurrect Damnation”) and/or death/thrashing ammo dumps which to me recalled ‘Retribution‘, or, a general Floridian death metal cut. Outside of maybe the return of Chaos Inception… I think Palubicki delivers some of the best riffs of 2025 (re: “Agony Unto Revelation”, “Purging Conflagration”) between this record and ‘The Conquering Darkness‘.

‘Subcutaneous Tomb‘ is the debut full-length album from Vienna, Austria-based death metal band FESSUS and you might recognize their name if you followed any of my covers of Molten Chains in the years past as guitarist/vocalist Brenton Weir also fronts this band. Their style is completely different, though, as mid-paced ‘old school’ death metal aiming for the arguable peak of the sub-genre circa 1989-1992, retaining some thrash and grindcore edged shapes in their arsenal. If you’re familiar with Weir‘s compositional hand, especially when it comes to lining up an entertaining thread of riff-after-riff you’ll find some recognizable movement but given to a slower pace. The effect is exploratory in the sense that each song’s structure is fraught with tangents a la Creepmime or the first D.V.C. album which serve to redirect the ear moment-by-moment while taking on some of the ‘Necroticism…‘-era precision of the suggested era. While the whole deal is prone to awkward rants and the momentum feels both shaky and sluggish at times this only adds to the anxious, pure underground grime of the full listen.

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