Not sure what’s up here on the East Coast, but it’s hot as hell. It’s like mid-July heatwave/humidity trauma that is relentless and offers very little comfort, unless you can duck out into some air conditioning. It feels like an all-out assault, one that makes it hard to breathe, walk, live, you name it.

It is fitting, then, that the first full-length from Infernal Coil is getting ready to land, though by the time it does next week, things should be more seasonal. But after spending plenty of time with “Within a World Forgotten” the past two weeks, the band’s brand of ultra-violent death metal matched the near-infernal temperatures around us.  The Boise, Idaho, death trio only has been around for four years now, but over their first two EPs and this devastating first record, the band—guitarist/vocalist Blake Connally (also of Dead in the Dirt), guitarist Glum, and drummer Blight—proved a commitment to filth, madness, and bloody intensity. On this seven-track, 36-minute record, they hold listeners faces to the blaze, delivering a smashing that never quits over the course of this fire-breathing display.

The record tears apart with a pair of quick tracks, both utterly devastating. “Wounds Never Close” begins as a death grind assault, as hellish chaos spreads everywhere, Connally’s horrifying growls aim to melt your flesh, and the track crushes you without mercy in under two minutes. “Continuum Crusiatus” stretches just over two minutes and is blinding and sudden, with the growls eating away at your insides. The guitars hammers as we enter into volcanic chaos, a violent explosion that damages you before you have a chance to react. “Crusher of the Seed” has mind-splitting drums barreling your way, as ugly growls and a bludgeoning attack seek vengeance. The growls are spun to death by a beastly assault, ending in a pile of ash in hell. “49 Seeds” is the longest track, clocking in at 9:41 of total mindfuck. Grinding madness mix with strange melodies and furious death, though while the assault is unraveling, doom horns spread into the scene, signaling the end is near. The drums begin a heinous slaughter, as wild shrieks peel paint, and then, the assault subsides, cosmic noises spread, and strange knocks arrive, as the track spends its final minutes floating like a ghost bringing pestilence.

“Reflection of Waldeinsamkeit” boils over dangerously with the drums mauling and the band thrashing you to the point of decimation, which feels like the opposite of what its title seems to indicate. It’s trudging and volatile and not even close to anything soothing. “Bodies Set in Ashen Death” has noise swelling before doomy death spills over, letting the temperature rise before the lid pops. There are bouts of dizzying weirdness woven in before a flood of complete terror strikes. Guitars cut through the guts, while a fiery ending heads right into 7:59-long closer “In Silent Vengeance” that hangs over like a poisonous cloud. Deranged voices encircle you before the track swallows you whole. The attack goes in and out of glazy tunnels of noise, disorienting right before the blades strike again. When they do, the track splatters all over again, spraying blood and body parts, pounding heavily and with rage, until the whole thing dissolves into the dust.

Infernal Coil are a menacing, relentless band, and “Within a Forgotten World” is one of the more smothering debuts we’re heard in some time. Each track here goes for the throat, seeking blood and muscle, and they succeed with each strike. This is an album that’s terrifying on the surface and when you dig deeper into the songs, once you’re there, there’s no chance of turning back.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/infernalcoil/

To buy the album, go here: https://profoundlorerecords.merchtable.com/

For more on the label, go here: https://www.profoundlorerecords.com/