Dodecad – Growth [2015; self-released]

The three tracks of this EP (in order, “8″, “9″, and “7″) play in a proggy vein of sludge metal, with nimble string movements matching violent drumming and bellows while the bass churns out a thick undercoating. Enough moments of resonance absorption are tucked in to let the music effectively manage its heaviness, and the ramping to more punkish ferocity comes as a natural escalation. Good stuff on the whole, though it does end up feeling kind of torn between which of its two extremes to give more focus.

Gorelem – Gorelem II [2015; self-released]

With their second (and currently last) studio-recorded release, the German group of Gorelem serve up some heavy metal low on vocal presence. The riffs are decent but unremarkable, the three-piece band works well together without delivering any real surprises, and song names (e.g., “Godsmoker”, “Chrome”, and “I don’t care”) don’t buck expectations. The strongest moments come with the guitar solos, just by showing more liveliness than any of the surrounding material, but in spite of the amateurishness engulfing it all, the band shows a respectable enthusiasm and effort in their tunes. It’s unsurprising that this was (apparently) their last work, but it does have enough to it to make one hope that the members each continued in better projects.

Pathologic Noise – Gore Aberration [2015; Cogumelo Records]

Grindy death metal with Cookie Monster-ish vocals, the blistering drum-work nearly steals the show on this EP, though the strikingly odd-paced and dissonant lances of guitar tone put in a strong showing. The song titles show a sense of humor (e.g., “Never Ending Blood’n Hate“), goregrindish morbidity/grossness (”Sexual Murder”), and throwback metal flavor (”Master Of Suffering“, “Bloody Deliriums”) in a much more easily deciphered fashion than the near-invariable grumbling growl of the vocals. Good energy and some neat touches, but it falls a little short of stand-out material by the style’s standards.

Deathstorm – The Gallows EP [2015; Dying Victims Productions]

Blending retro thrash metal with more modern death metal elements, the four songs of this EP move quick and hard through their beats, riffs, and bellows. The abrupt and howling guitar solos easily stand out as the most effective parts of the songs, but on the whole, they’re put together well, and do their thing with very little flab to the song-writing or performance, though they do end up feeling largely the same due to a lack of tempo change-ups. Decent enough, but (outside of the sweet solos) unlikely to win over anyone with a more than cursory familiarity with the style.

Biopsy – Fractals of Derangement [2015; Transcending Obscurity Distribution]

On this Indian band’s first (and, so far, only) release, they bash out some effectively brutal death metal, with the drums thundering over the hard guitar and deep growls. The five songs lean towards goregrind in their titling, with names like “Hemolytic Crisis” and “Surgical Symmetry” providing more of a hint towards the content than the gurgling vocals explicate. The strongest part of the song-writing is probably the unified staccato rhythm attacks, which the musicians jump into and out of on a dime. Outside of that, it’s fairly stock stuff for the style, though very well-executed.

Corroded Master – Fag [2015; self-released]

The three minutes of this one-song single pass in a blend of synthpop instrumentals and black metal-styled vocals, burbling along on arpeggios while growling underneath. Experimental and non-disappointing, but still a little underwhelming due to the plasticky after-impressions.

Elstow – Evil Dreams [2015; self-released]

In this one-track single, Elstow do a nice channeling of ‘60s psychedelic rock, guiding a gliding guitar line along with gentle vocals and easy-going percussion. It builds a nice atmosphere, though it’s one hard at odds with the cover art, and leaves a good impression despite the song’s brevity. While a B-side would have been welcome, it stands well enough on its own, with the circled melody having an effective ear-worm durability.

Prisons – EP [2015; self-released]

On their only EP (and only release at all, aside from the Sun Factory single), the Swedish group Prisons offer up an odd but stimulating blend of metal, electronics, art punk, and jazz, washing the diverse elements together in creatively unpredictable ways, while keeping it from tipping over into an unlistenable mess. Hard-edged guitars and background LFO tones, shouts and clean strings, bass-lines and feedback, and so on, all get mixed together in (mostly) aggressive but consistently stylish arrangements. With the talent on display, it’s more than a little regrettable that this was essentially the only full release from the group, but despite that lack of follow-up, it’s one worth seeking out

Vanessa Van Basten – Disintegration EP [2015; Taxi Driver]

Reworking four songs from The Cure’s Disintegration album, this EP leads with “Plainbong”, matching the original’s opening track of “Plainsong”, with down-tuning of the guitar and bass to go with the slowed keyboards. Outside of those shifts, it’s a straight-forward cover, as are “Doseclown” (rendering “Closedown”), “Fascination Trip” (for ”Fascination Street”), and “Retitled” (”Untitled”). The focus on textures and tone in “Doseclown” helps bring it to the fore as the most interesting of the tracks, with some competition from the lively guitar work in “Fascination Trip”, but all around, it’s a decent enough tribute, though not especially innovative with its treatments.

Here’s the alternate cover art.

Projeto Trator – Despacho [2015; Crocodilo Discos]

With this EP, the Brazilian duo of Projeto Trator lay down a roaming blend of psychedelically-inclined sludge, touching on shades of full-on doom and punk, with production just the right degree of griminess to serve all those flavors. Thick fuzziness and warm amping give the strings a sense of physical proximity while listening, practically pushing out of the speakers with their waves of angry coolness, and there’s an organic meatiness to the heavy thumps and flattened crashes from the drums. Short enough to leave listeners wanting, but excellent at doing its thing in the time given.