There’s so much music out there, especially in the death metal quadrant, that having a reliable place to find something to crush your head musically is a gift in and of itself. Not that searching and finding new bands and sounds isn’t an exciting venture, but knowing what you’re going to get, and that it’s going to nail the sweet spot, is just as satisfying.
Japanese death metal power Coffins have been delivering the goods for nearly 30 years now, and on their sixth record “Sinister Oath,” you’re served another heaping helping of the good stuff. Over nine tracks and 43 minutes, the band—vocalist Tokita, guitarist Uchino, bassist Atake, drummer Hikida—lays waste bodily and mentally, layering muddy and doomy death into a boiling cauldron that is black and gooey, yet strangely alluring. It’s a similar battering ram this band has used over the years, and it’s just as well oiled and mangling as ever. Reliability in the form of audio violence.
“B.T.C.D.” is a savage instrumental opener built with sinister riffs, drums scalding, and a filthy underbelly, spilling into “Spontaneous Rot” that’s both slow driving and frothing at the mouth. Ugly growls sicken bellies as the playing batters, twisting into grime and torment, the leads blazing as the punishment rots and leaves only decay behind. “Forced Disorder” is ugly when it dawns, and then speed becomes a factor, clobbering and dragging you into grimy hell, everything curdling in your tummy. The soloing takes off and bubbles, infernal tidings greet you, the playing grinds your face into an ash pile. The title track sinks into thick doom clouds, the playing driving at a deliberate pace, the chugging and growling feeling insurmountable. Total destruction explodes as a fast-paced fury comes unglued, the playing lathering and landing gut punches. “Chain” opens with drums powering, brutal slashing opening fresh wounds, and a crushing force consuming all. Leads stretch as a strange, spacey voice gets into your mind, and everything thrashes unforgivingly.
“Everlasting Spiral” scrapes flesh off skulls, pummeling through thick sludge, the leads glimmering as the track thrashes away and even leads into bluesy simmering. The tempo begins to torture slowly, barreling into doom, blasting bones and blood before the growls finally barrel in about seven minutes into the carnage. Fiery punishment scalds as growls retch, and the battering claims another victim. “Things Infestation” blisters as ferocity spews forth as if from a furnace, the growls stinging, the drums digging into cranial cavities. Psychedelic leads fire up, erupting and hulking, trudging to the bitter end. “Headless Monarch” blasts and pulverizes, mashing as the growls lacerate. The clobbering playing slows deliberately as the torture is meted out in calculated fashion, the death storm swirling and eating through flesh. Closer “Domains of Black Miasma” pounds away, the soot spreads liberally, the growls retch as if bringing up buckets of stomach acid. Fiery playing melts faces as the guitars turn humid, stretching through relentless steam, landing devastating blows until fading into hell.
Coffins remain a relentless force for doom-emblazoned death metal on “Sinister Oath,” another solid slab of devious darkness and devastating power. Six records and nearly three decades of service have made Coffins one of the most respected and revered bands in all of death metal, and their impressive resume just got a little more unstoppable. There aren’t a lot of surprises, but there doesn’t need to be with carnage this satisfying.
For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/intothecoffin/
To buy the album, go here: https://www.relapse.com/pages/coffins-sinister-oath
For more on the label, go here: https://www.relapse.com/
Meat Mead Metal 