• MASSIVE REVIEWING CAPACITY • 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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Not sure how this debut full-length from Lafayette, Indiana-based death metal quartet PROTRUSION snuck up on me but I’ve been stun-locked these last few days, grinding against its guttural siphon of the early 90’s death metal mindsnare. Comprised of folks best known for brutal death metal acts they’ve suggested Morrisound-extruded fare as the jumping off point for their ‘old school’ sounds herein where I’d point to Funebrarum‘s register in reference but if they were more in line with Finndeath and stuff like early Atrocity (Germany) or Mercyless. Vocals from guitarist/vocalist Colin Foster are sickening, a brilliant showing of control which helps to avoid their work hitting a too-normative stance. Otherwise the guitar leads featured here recall the cryptic, cavernous nature of pre-’95 underground death metal which fans of everything from Gorement to Demilich should appreciate. I was basically a fan from the first listen and don’t have any real qualms here, though I suppose there was no need for a 50+ minute debut as there’ll inevitably be some redundant space. Couldn’t fault a song like “Scorned Vengeance” for hitting later on in the album, for example, as the same high standard is struck throughout ‘The Last Supparation‘. Easily one of the best releases of March, a record which’ll likely prove a dark horse for anyone geared up by ‘old school’ death metal with shades of gore, brutality and gloom abounding.

Melbourne, Australia-based quintet MAMMON’S THRONE actually began as a hybrid of sludge and traditional doom metal but beyond their first album they’ve made the transition toward a form of Peaceville three inspired death/doom metal which retains their dramatic ‘epic’ doom metal expression. ‘My Body to the Worms‘ might appear to be some manner of Hooded Menace-type fare up front but you’ll find there are elements one’d find in Candlemass and even ‘Angel and the Dark River‘ here as well. I was not at all convinced by the clean vocals found on the opening piece (“Senseless Death”) but as the album flows we find a broader ouevre (see: “An Angel’s Grace”) which improves. Overall I’d felt this is the biggest improvement made to their gig to date an eventful, entertaining listen which manages both surrealistic and melodramatic values beside its default “gothic” death/doom lumbering.

Though I generally check out all the goregrind I can I don’t really fuck with pitch-shifted maniac shit that often beyond Carcass, Xysma demos and certain Blood (Germany) releases, I think the last album I bought that’d indulged (bought) was the second Last Days of Humanity LP if that says anything… but there are still folks out there finding ways to put the ole ‘gurge to use within bizarre extreme munitions. Chilean trio MORS.VOID.DISCIPLINE have made a compelling case for their own admixture of bestial death metal and goregrind in this context via their debut album ‘Txketh)ëké‘. I don’t think I was convinced that this was more than a burp in the ear ’til “Impurae Cantus Cruentarum Portalis” hit and some of the uh, harmonization between their riff progressions and vocals felt at least a little bit ingenious. Otherwise there is a level of tormentation explored here which is richly atmospheric, bleak as all Hell and always corrosive in its own satisfyingly fucked-up sort of way. This marriage of the absurd with truly dark and foreboding chunder probably won’t stick in mind all that long but I was wholly engrossed nonetheless.

If you’d been as stoked on WITCHCRAFT‘s return via ‘Idag’ as I was last year you’ll likely be up for this new EP which collects pieces leftover from those sessions alongside extras recorded in various clandestine configuration. ‘A Sinner’s Child‘ opens with a dreary doomed piece (“Drömmen Om Död Och Förruttnelse”) worthy of feature up front but if you’re looking for riffs the bulk of this release centers on the more intimate folken craft of Magnus Pelander‘s solo station. I particularly enjoy the stripped back, tape noise ebbed “Even Darker Days” in this context but it is hard to deny the fuzzed proto-doom of the opener and the cross-eyed fuss of “Själen Reser Sig”, a reasonable argument made for the artist’s handle upon both realms and how this’d reinforced their most recent LP.

Since forming back in 2017 New Jersey-based quartet DRAGSHOLM have steadily improved upon their craft with each release, moving away from rote black metal aesthetics toward a semi-melodic and death metal infused form as they’d gather readiness for a full-length. The end result is immediately engaging, riff-fed stuff as ‘The Bloodlines of Bram‘ keeps its cut brief yet aggressive within a sub half-hour run. What they leave behind in terms of potential immersive value is made up for riff-after-riff with some of their work edging toward early Swedish black/death characteristics. “The Wandering Relic” is the piece that best reinforces that thought but you’ll find at least one or two equally ear-worming or thrashing riff on most every piece beyond that point. The exception to that rule is solely “A Kingdom in the Land of Shadows”, a piece which floats past without impact mid-album, but for the most part these folks rip through this record and cut it off before it gets old. Solid enough debut but its short length had it sliding in one ear and out the other for the most part.

Salvador, Brazil-based death metal quintet PAPA NECROSE return for a fourth full-length album, another fairly straight forward mid-paced effort dedicated to the pure ‘old school’ craft of the late 80’s/early 90’s tradition. Their sound invokes hallmarks found in the nascent work of Obituary, Morgoth and Pestilence most readily between the Tardy/Van Drunen affected cadence of vocalist Alessandro and the tanking riffcraft that leads much of the album. I’d also point to bassist Eric Gusmão as one of the standout performances here, he walks all over songs like “Bleeding Social Membrane” to the point that his work helps to lend the band distinction beyond obviate reference. From my perspective this release takes me back to the late 2000’s era of ‘old school’ death metal revivalism (these guys formed in ~2010) where you could tell there was no modern or mainstreamed angle, just a well-studied love for the true ’84-’93 canon and I still think this is the right foundation to build upon. Every song here hits, some riffs are more superior than others, and I think the band are at their best leaning into a ‘Slowly We Rot‘ level of simplicity though I’d appreciated when they’d reach outside the box a little bit, such as the choral keys found on “Silenced by Death”.

Returning four years beyond their first gasp into life Copenhagen, Denmark-based doom metal quartet GOATSMOKER take a “darker, slower, and heavier” stance on this second full-length album as their fusion of stoner/doom and post-metal rings increasingly bleak. As is the case with most music exploring these realms ‘E.R.I.S.‘ brings a riff or two to each piece but the major interest here lies in how they foster atmosphere through brutally slow pace and distantly set sound design, a surrealistic lumbering which snarls along to its funeral march. Granted there are a few shorter joggers here (“Waiting”) which stir it up a bit but the fascination here is primarily the immersion produced via their low-and-slow method. Not the most memorable record in terms of its note-for-note interest but a truly miserable, soul-dragging feat of doom for those inclined.

https://goatsmoker.bandcamp.com/album/e-r-i-s

Marche, Italy-based death metal trio NECROGORE offer an intense pulse through their Swedish death metal inspired debut full-length album as tales of gore and defilement reek up the hall. ‘Ectoplasmic Rape Phenomena‘ isn’t necessarily a Deranged-type shock value deal or full-on Dismember cloneage but instead something closer to Vomitory or Fleshcrawl at their most aggressive, escaping the Sunlight Studios style accusation sure to follow first impressions of their ultra-loud HM-2 emulation. This one hits pretty hard to start (“Raptured, Tortured and Chained”, “Mediumistic Intercession” etc.) before losing much of its edge via a muddy, chaotic guitar tone but eventually lands a nuke at the end (“Sulphureal Morbid Corpse”) making for an inconsistent but aggressive showing for a debut. Much as I appreciate the sound, style and their delivery of it the riffs did not line up for this one for my own taste.

Leiria, Portugal-based psychedelic doom metal quartet LORD OF CONFUSION return with the wisdom of experience under their belts for this much improved sophomore full-length album. Bewitching cathedral-summoned keyboards halo atop the existential wailing of ‘The Weight of Life‘, a riff-heavy affair marked by longer, even more precariously wandering pieces than before as the band’s efforts aim to deepen their extremes. The organ tones threaded through “Dead Tree Poetry” and especially “Wander” after it help to characterize the freely flowing but still contained soar through this album as the band appear more confident in their tempo map and loosely slung in realizing the sandstorm of doom surrounding. The effect is mysterious as it is invigorating to start ’til we find the broader vision of this album being closer to something like Messa where a broader range of expression is the goal, something which is surreal and intimate (“Save Your Tears”) but still kind of rocking (“Violent Visions”). This is altogether positive change incurred which only adds to their own unique personage. Solid album, only complaint is the ~6 minute ambient closer padding things out.

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