• 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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Comprised of folks who’d cut their teeth in obscure late 90’s black metal acts (Asgaroth, The Heretic) Barcelona-Spain area duo TODOMAL present the third iteration of their unique fusion of epic doom metal and progressive metal with a sort of gothic metal affect. If you were a big fan of their Ardua released sophomore LP ‘A Greater Good‘ and its sort of Empyrium-esque glow you’ll find a less resigned pace and far more ambitious production overall on this follow-up. They’ve traded the impassioned misery forged on past releases for an adventurous hand here, leaning much further into the progressive metal zone and this makes for a different emotive range than expected. I didn’t find the gloom I’d gone in expecting via ‘Graveyards of Joy‘ though I can’t argue against this being the band’s most sophisticated, expansive work to date.

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A full fifteen years have passed between the first and now second full-length albums from Russian slamming brutal death metal band CRANIAL OSTEOTOMY and upon return they’ve pulled in an almost entirely new crew beyond founding vocalist/guitarist Vad. Revisiting their kinda spastic, mid-paced slammer ‘Victim of Wicked Sickness‘ (2011) and its programmed drums holds its own charm but dropping into ‘Vortex of the Dark Knowledge‘ you’ll find a totally different beast, a pro-level production value and balls heavy sound offering glimpses of peak Deeds or a less technical Condemned rather than the chopped ass Cephalotripsy stuff there were doing ages ago. The first two songs here set a real standard for the explosive, serpentine weave of their rhythms but I dunno if the riffs really hit ’til “Dipping into Sombre Quagmire” was up. The bulk of the album focuses on inserting heavier, often elaborate grooves into fast-thinking threads of riff most of which blur past before they body can manage a moshlike reaction but “Structures of Decadence Impurity” and “Obscenity Aeon” make some notable room. The hardcorish, sluggish slam and beat conscious vocal cadence of their debut is pretty much nixed here for pro-level hustle but you’ll still recognize Vad‘s voice as he switches it up.

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Toronto, Ontario-based quintet APOGEAN caught my ear with their debut LP back in 2024, though their sound was somewhat typical of modern thrill-seeking technical/progressive death metal there’d been an inventive streak running through its action. For this follow-up they’ve cut back on the motormouthed shred heavy flair of that debut, pulled back on their pacing and focused on harder grooves. The industrial rock beats which infest “White Trees, Black Leaves” mid-album are likely to catch some listeners off guard considering the moshable stamp of the first few pieces on the way there. The bulk of ‘Waste Where Life Begins‘ ends up reading as mechanical, cold and far less bothered by extraneous detailing as their first, a bit of a let-down per my own taste. There are a few pieces which venture out a bit, such as closer “Black Smoke, Bleeding Earth” and parts of “Hologram (Singing Silently on an Empty Stage)” but these only feel out of place given the rest of their digs. Solid, pro-level stuff but nothing about it managed to stick in mind.

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Duplicating the successes of their eighth LP with most of the same crew Tasmanian technical death metal quintet PSYCROPTIC return for a ninth record aiming for that same meld of technicality, groove and a few thrashing pulls along the way. ‘The Pulse of Annihilation‘ once again features a quasi dual vocal setup but this time contributions from Origin‘s Jason Keyser are more frequent by my measure, lending something extra to a few of the melodic haunts they pull off along the way. Otherwise this one might be even more straightforward than the last in terms of structure as the nine ~4 minute songs included here all whip along at similar pace and shape. “Our Pillars Fall” stands out a bit for its extended intro and melodic parts but much like ‘Divine Council‘ the focus is largely upon the band’s own signature grooves and the technical dance around them. Didn’t like the album art on this one but otherwise pretty much the same reaction as the last, not bad but also not entirely my kind of thing.

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Portland, Maine-based blackened technical death metal quintet ETHEREAL ROT bring a uniquely discordant, chaotically layered quality to this haze-ridden self-titled debut LP. Cavernous and eternally milling within the blurry sauntering of their movement the thick fog surrounding ‘Ethereal Rot‘ is pierced by the goblin-level rasp abounding, a necessary contrast beside deep growling lead vocals. This lends their whole gig a strangely ranting, diabolic feeling as it storms through, burying their riffcraft in sludgy, oppressive atmosphere. Hard as it was to isolate any given riff in mind within the greater din of their work ‘Ethereal Rot‘ does ultimately make sense of the connections one might draw between modern technical/progressive death metal and the more esoteric experimental/avant-garde side of things. The raw disorienting quality of Ethereal Rot‘s work is its most immediate boon in terms of sporting a unique sound though it is sometimes at odds with the kind of free-wheeling, abrupt technical death happening beneath that blanket of murk.

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After two EPs, a split album and two full-lengths Athens, Greece-based black metal project CEREMONIAL WORSHIP have gathered a full quartet for this third album and in the process they’ve elevated the level of musicianship available to their work. This doesn’t necessarily gloss their action so much as bring coherence to it, a marked change after the sloppy raw black metal inspired trudge through ‘Seven Gateways to Eternal Misanthropy‘ (2022) a few years back. Heavy metal, Scandinavian black metal, and the occasional melodic idea all factor into the spread of these droning ~3-4 minute pieces each of which rarely resemble or reference the Greek black metal zeitgeist in any notable way. Strong bass guitar arrangements are buried in the mix but still find some manner of prominent presence which you’ll likely hear best with headphones on. The rugged Judas Iscariot-like ambling of the previous album is potential still there in a few cases but transformed into something decidedly more uptempo, the first four songs on the album seem to touch upon this alongside maybe some French or Finnish black metal stoked riffs. By the time we hit “Where the Shadow Awakes” I’d had to check if this was still the same album as the witching thrash inspired progression of the song doesn’t fit alongside the pieces which surround it, the exception being “Shadows From Hell”. Though I’d found the style of ‘Between Sleep and Death‘ inconsistent and/or droll in a few places their work here is already leagues beyond everything these folks’ve released prior.

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After receiving some considerable praise for their 2021 released debut album Tampere, Finland-borne black metal band CHAMBER OF UNLIGHT took roughly half a decade to devise an equally ambitious second full-length in ‘Avernus‘. Time aside this vision of Necrosis (Ajattara, ex-Shade Empire) is enhanced by the lineup’s expansion into a sextet beyond 2022 including folks known for Horna, Bythos, and countless other bands amidst the full inclusion of their live lineup for this album. Apart from more crisp production values the engorged lineup doesn’t read as stylistically different than ‘Realm of Night‘, still resembling a cacophonic Emperor-esque prospect in general while reaching for a less chaotic pace and more melodic variety with regard to the riff. What they trade for caustic rallying they gain in fantastical sojourn wherein my favorite pieces here “Rise Above” and the restlessly shifting “Wraithlike” offer sky tunneling movements and an impressive number of them within each song in general. I’d missed some of the brutality they’d introduced the previous album with but found this record far more immersive, capturing ye olde circa ’98 feeling better than most.

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As Melbourne, Australia-based death metal trio Werewolves apparently continue pushing on with their whole “ten albums in ten years” deal they’re on enough of a roll to have started up a black metal band in the midst. On their debut LP, ‘Parable of the Sewer‘, FAUSTIAN more-or-less takes the groove heavy pulse of their other band into a more atmospheric black/death context as these veterans of Psycroptic, Abramelin, and The Berzerker crank out a pretty straight forward take on black metal. Though they don’t reach the brutality of a band like Nordjevel you’ll pick up on some of the same instincts in terms of Scandinavian black metal grooves as the album fires up. A lot of this stuff is uneventful, rote and lacking any particular style but there are a few points which find their fixation, such as the semi-melodic ride through “Immaculate” and the slowly tangled wandering of “Tenements (Only The Wicked Walk In Circles)”. Some interest nearby the back half but for most part this record sounds like it was whipped out in a weekend without a thought.

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