Continuing our series of metal reviews by non-metal fans, Mister
Growl welcomes another guest reviewer into our unholy flock: Shane
Frasier, Acquired Taste Booking owner and creator of the Behemoth Music
Festival, a series of concerts in Upstate New York that recently reached
down into Brooklyn. He has also been a member of roughly seven thousand
bands, ranging from hardcore punk (Daytime Soiree) to electronic/dance
music (Mr. Owl) to eccentric insanity (The Lanky Mofos and The
Bumblebees). He was nice enough to accept our invitation and review one
of the several 2012 releases from Coffins, their March of Despair EP:
“Full disclosure: I know nothing about metal.
Well,
that's not entirely true. I like metal, but there's no way I'd proclaim
myself an aficionado of the genre. It was, for lack of a better word,
forced on me at a young age by my older brother. Bands like Cradle of
Filth and Slayer paved the way to others like Emperor and Skinless. Not
that I minded, but it was quite a culture shock to me when bands like
The Clash were my main musical staple. Bearing that in mind, my
understanding of the genre has blossomed into something more
appreciative now, but I’m not entirely convinced. I say this so I don't
come across as a complete idiot whilst I review a EP from a Japanese
band called Coffins.
The five song album titled March of Despair,
opens up with the track “Till Dawn of the Doomsday,” which, honestly,
didn't quench the punch in the face opening track thirst I needed to
really get into this album. It's a solid track, full of enough trudging
guitar riffs and breakdowns to make me throw down at my desk chair, but
it stalls in the beginning, which, in my humble musical opinion, is not
the beginning of a great song. I know metal is about momentum, but when
it’s forced on you early in the track, it can create an incomplete
feeling to the rest of the track.
The
songs “Carpet of Bones” and “In Bloody Sewage” remain my favorites,
maybe because I myself own an actual carpet of bones and I have a
fixation towards bloody sewage. These two tracks feel more refined than
the others, if maybe not altogether more free form. While I liked these
two songs, they created a bigger problem for me overall as I found all
the songs on the album to have different production values. I could be
going deaf, the end result of the hundred or more shows I've gone to in
the last couple years where I haven't worn ear plugs, but I got the
distinct notion these songs were all leveled differently, which can
create a problematic listening experience if you’re a fan of audio
consistency.
The
other two tracks, “Grotesque Messiah” and “Corpsegrinder,” didn't hit
me the way I wanted them to. “Grotesque Messiah” feels sloppy, and yeah,
I know, I'm listening to a death metal band, sloppiness is appreciated
in this genre, right? But considering the other songs on the album felt
tight, this song in particular bugged me in a way no other song since
“Mambo Number 5” has (THE TRUMPET!). And “Corpsegrinder” just doesn't
feel like much of a song to me. That's a very vague review of it, but if
you listen to it, maybe you'll agree.
Overall,
I'm a bit torn. Like the 80's song, but in reverse, Japan is big with
me, and I often go out of my way to either listen to music from Japan or
at least appreciate their take on the punk and metal genres. But I
couldn't help feeling this was more of a faux version of what death
metal is supposed to be, the culmination of one band’s attempt to
replicate bands that they've loved, but couldn't fully execute
musically. If you have a half hour to spare, and just feel like giving
something a try, March of Despair is as least worth a listen, if not completely unforgettable.”
- Shane Frasier
(Editor’s
Note: “Corpsegrinder” is a cover of a song off Death’s second demo
tape. Just a little pop-up trivia for the diehards. - MG)
Many
thanks to Shane for sharing his thoughts! He introduced himself with
modesty but he did actually suggest Black Cobra and Withered when
deciding what album to review. That’s pretty obscure knowledge for
someone who knows “nothing about metal.” Check out Coffins on Spotify,
they have several albums available, and their upcoming album The Fleshland is due out July 9th.
Pre-order The Fleshland here: http://coffins.bandcamp.com/album/the-fleshland
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