• MASSIVE REVIEWING CAPCITY • is our latest short review column focusing on stray quality releases a few times a month, or, roughly every two weeks depending on the current month’s release schedule. In an attempt to be more conversational these are easygoing and casual thoughts for the most part, 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 a record 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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Back in the late 90’s my obsession with Entombed would double as they’d made a point to flood their releases with eclectic covers from punk, classic metal and heavy rock and even scored a minor hit with their version of Roky Erickson‘s “Night of the Vampire”, my first exposure to the genius’ form of psychedelic rock through an unlikely vector. It is the sort of neuron-growing association that seems to stick in mind forever, a gateway to previously unknown realms, which now takes me back in time and far from the intended destination of Texas-based blackened darkwave/gothic rock solo act NIGHT OF THE VAMPIRE per this debut LP release. Though their three song debut EP did numbers I wasn’t aware of the act ’til ‘The Enchanting Winds of the Dreamweaving Masquerade‘ fell in my lap, looking like a third-gen deviation from acts like Black Magick SS who’d combined throwback synth heavy camp with a form of quasi-black metal early on. In this case of course the focus is less on the bopping trance of heavy psychedelic rock/heavy metal and moreso the glowering but glittery toe-tap of darkwave, post-punk or just gothic rock depending on the piece. Their main synth fonts go a bit too Far Cry: Blood Dragon OST at times but these’d tended to be my favorite points: A surreal eclipse of scowling dark metal wilt against neon sign’d sunburst. Because of this odd tonality the artist only manages to draw the mood down via (heavily featured) yearning guitar solos and these offer most of the viable hooks and dramatism beyond butt-shaking beats and one-handed MIDI melodies. There is yet some admirable restraint applied here as many similarly stated bands tend towards obnoxious use of digital effects which offer repetitious or clashing voicing, here the alignment is largely at-ease even if the larger sound biome is unnatural in combine.

Ontario, Canada-based quartet MORS VERUM sport a modern progressive death metal style with a surreal atmospheric bent they’ve developed in various configurations these last ten or so years. With their latest EP, ‘Canvas‘, they appear to have made a point to show a variety of faces, selecting songs which are cut from distinct bolts of cloth but find cohesion in the ‘Obscura‘-esque downtuned snap of their rhythms and heady slow-flowing tantrums otherwise. They’re practicing some intense restraint here in terms of feeding the dynamic furl of each piece rather than chopping through with the obvious high skill level(s) involved, for example the title track and how it avoids any congestion of statement is exceptional, tactfully applied at the very least as the band’s work veers into something nearly avant-garde. The scrubbed-out shuddering riff found on “Canvas” likewise contains echoes of earlier standout “Your Apocalypse”, a slower piece which utilizes essentially the same palette to paint a very different but not unrelated picture. There is some notable mastery here in terms of all of the moving pieces and the free-handed atmosphere they’d engage, the whole of the experience ends up being more of a “thinker” than a peddler of extreme violence.

Though they’re not often regarded as ground-breaking or seminal in the realm of classic thrash metal Brussels, Belgium-based quintet CYCLONE began back in 1981 and managed a run of two (now) reasonably well-known contributions to the late 80’s thrash metal zeitgeist. Collapsed in 1993 and reformed in 2019 with two early-days members leading their efforts for the last five or so years the material found on this new EP, ‘Known Unto God‘ appears to have been realized around ~2024 before key guitarist Stefan Daamen (who’d played on each of their classic LPs) moved on. Just as one’d have said back in 1990, if their second album had been well-marketed, was sure this stuff is familiar in modus and maybe a few years beyond its height of “relevance” but man, do they do well to capture the punkish protest and defiance that’d initially fueled the sub-genre. Not only are the riffs there but vocalist Guido Gevels does a fine job carrying the thread with emphatic maniac leadership, particularly within the title track and its core messaging. I am just as jaded as anyone else is in terms of comeback trash records mostly being bunk as fuck but ‘Known Unto God‘ succeeds by knowing exactly who Cyclone is, even if many listeners won’t at this point.

Though I’ve made a point to scour the Santiago, Chile-area scenery for ages I’d never heard of progressive death/thrash metal quartet OVERTOUN who’ve apparently been around since 2014. This third full-length album is well in line with their previous work after spending time with their discography wherein their focus on proficiency, a loud modern metal standard, guest spots, and some inspiration taken from regional music are all inspired enough and occasionally tuneful. Though their work doesn’t (always) hit the ‘old school’ feeling or style I’d typically look for you can surely hear their hunger for a highest possible commercial standard in advance. To start they’re blazing it via opener “What Unites All”, a classicist prog-death grinder which locks into its machinery quickly before feathering out into catchier refrains which recall the ‘Countdown to Extinction‘/’Youthanasia‘-era of Megadeth. From there their ordeal expands into various admixture of prog-death grandstanding, pure thrash revolt and kinda groove metal assisted pieces which offer mild depth of statement. The band’s vocalist is also bassist in (recent) Atheist and Till the Dirt and I think this album generally achieves a standard directly indicative of those directives where alternative metal is at least part of the equation as they spread their ideas across twelve involved pieces. Lots of energy, all pro action, polished everything but the full listen is overlong and overplays its hand ’til eventually losing cohesion.

After their second full-length album, ‘Thunderheart‘, released back in 2024 Seattle, Washington-based power/heavy metal troupe GREYHAWK parted ways with original vocalist Rev Taylor who’d exited to focus on opera performance. The band quickly found vocalist/engineer Anthony Corso for this third full-length album and of course ‘Warriors of Greyhawk‘ sounds quite a bit different as as result, his range covers the very typical breadth of European power metal for a more technical but perhaps less uniquely stated voice. This is sure to pump the brains of folks hot for breakthrough-era Blind Guardian and the shred-heavy and AOR-tipped realms beyond but for my taste it only saps the mild personality that’d developed over the course of their first two albums. Fans of late 80’s/early 90’s power metal with a fair deal of shred woven in should appreciate the band’s general sound but I’d found it overlong and dryly repetitious.

La Spezia, Italy-based stoner metal quartet OREYEON return for a fourth full-length album with ‘The Grotesque Within‘ and they’ve touted it as their first self-produced and wholly self-contained release. For this album they’ve focused on two aspects which’d drawn me in… the first being pieces which flow from one to the next in gathering a sort of quasi-narrative continuity and secondly an atmosphere informed by horror as they’ve named Thomas Ligotti‘s (a favorite of mine) work as an inspiration. I don’t know that I’d gotten the second point ’til the Alice in Chains-esque harmonies of “Nothing But Impurities – Part 2” started to dirge into some tonal dissonance but I’d appreciated the thought. A few songs here carry a late-era grunge informed sense of melody, a cold and affected tonality which haunts loudest mid-album and wanders into sludgier drift toward the end. If you’re looking for tuneful stoner rock/metal these guys have a faded hook around most every corner here but that impact naturally wanes and I’d almost wanted them to lean into the melodious gloom nurtured otherwise. For my taste this is their best release to date.

I’ve more-or-less followed German death metal duo SLAUGHTERDAY since they’d put their debut LP out on F.D.A. Records back in 2013 but I don’t know if I’d consider myself a fan beyond semblance of late 80’s/early 90’s death metal classics (Morgoth, Massacre, Grave, Autopsy etc.) and the impact of that first album. With this fifth full-length album I still don’t think they’ve outclassed their earliest material but they are touching upon most all of the same stylized facets of classic death metal while incorporating more lead guitar interjections. When they’d released their grinding ‘Terrified‘ EP in late 2025 I’d hoped their focus would be on something more primitive, thrashing and simplistic by design but this material rarely cuts it back to absolute purity and instead hammers through in a similar fashion as their two LPs prior. Not bad at all but lacking in the distant eldritch cull or outrageous personality I’d typically look for in OSDM.

Venice, Italy-based stoner doom metal quartet KRÖWNN return with a third album and this one is apparently inspired by the atmosphere of FromSoftware video games, existential dread, and shades of traditional heavy metal in their efforts to convey a dissolving psyche. ‘Santa Somnia‘ isn’t a full departure from their first two records as you’ll hear shades of 90’s stoner rock and popular metal in their work but it does end up finding its own dire exasperation on the ride through. The first three songs are probably the strongest, most consistent showing overall but the longer doom metal centric songs come with less bravado.

French thrash metal band DEATHRAW call back to the initial death knell of the sub-genre wherein less tuneful songwriters could no longer carry their weight with a novel, progressive or aggressive sound as the scenery died off in the late 80’s. Rather than study the songcraft of the era they’ve approximated the breach into the 90’s where Bay Area thrash was reduced to tropes and soon turned toward the groove metal (or, half-thrash) of the time as popular groups simplified and slowed their roll. With so many generations of bands having dulled their knives downstroking away at this type of Pantera-lite infused stuff I’m not sure who this sort of thing is for when devoid of clever feature but… as a fan of the sub-genre it is cool to see folks putting together thrash metal bands and hacking away at it. This one doesn’t stand out enough to recommend.

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