It seems like these days you can’t swing a dead possum without hitting another throwback, old-school death metal band. Certainly many of these revival bands mimic the Gothenburg sound for its palatable ease. Yet, some of the best resurgence bands take on early acts like Autopsy and Grave effectuating a much more dense, less melodic and heavily rhythmic, driving approach. Count Coffin Lust among that crowd. Their upcoming LP Manifestations of Inner Darkness provides enough invigorating metal and variation to leave the listener feeling satiated and ready to conquer.
Prior to Manifestations of Inner Darkness Coffin Lust released one tape consisting of four demo tracks. That tape, entitled Beyond the Dark and released in 2012, rode heavy, chord-based riffs and double bass rolls into a near apocalyptic landscape of upbeat death metal. At times, that short tape even felt somewhat like death thrash with pulsing rhythms and brief tracks despite the slower portions of “Forsaken.” For the most part, the Aussie’s played simplistic, down to earth death metal that easily blended into the background of the death metal scene.
Four years later, the band is back without any lineup changes and is ready to release a full-length that strays from their initial sound. No longer does the band merely ride chorded riffs into the beige canvas of rote death metal. Rather, for Manifestations of Inner Darkness the duo jacked up the track length, increased production values and let the guitars off their leashes. Also, the drums are no longer throttled at full speed ahead. Rather, the drums open up, allowing room for the guitars to work while also creating rhythmic breaks and tempo changes that draw the listener in.
Most interesting, third track “Mass Extinction” harkens back to their old days blazing out of the gate like dragon fire. One of the shorter tracks on the album, there is all the potential in the world for Coffin Lust to fall backwards into their formulaic death metal, however, the band provides enough lead riffs, halting drums, rhythm changes and plenty of varied vocals to carry the track to all its funeral shrouded glory.
The following track, “Chaos Absolute,” reveals what is so powerfully on point about Manifestations of Inner Darkness. Opening in aggressive glory the track quickly gives way to a groove oriented riff that alternates with straightforward death. While not reaching the level of “tech,” certainly elements of american tech death are incorporated as the rhythms and pacing fly from surging quickness to lurching grooves to cut-time passages with open cymbals crashing. Allowing the length of the track to bleed over five minutes merely gives the band room to maneuver.
Alternatively, tracks like “Damnations Bringer” and “Beyond Redemption” open slowly as if harkening towards a crescendo. Both tracks exceed the six minute mark and, while Coffin Lust could do more with the slower openings, the tracks serve to break up the pacing of the entire album. Album composition, not just track-by-track composition, is possibly the most difficult hurdle for a band to finally leap. Coffin Lust’s ability to properly stagger, order and compose the flow of Manifestations of Inner Darkness is proof positive of a promising future for this duo.
The closest thing to a “solo” occurs on “Prophecy of Malevolence” and, while the “solo” might be under ten seconds, the whammy slams and pick dive are perfectly placed. That track, a real burner, would feel empty without the brief emergence of a lead guitar. Following which the band descends into one of their best grooves on the album that’s sure to bring about neck cramps and internal whiplash concussions. Again on the title track, a guitar rips forth to spit soprano-level fire upon the track just before Coffin Lust hauls off to close out the album in style.
While revitalizing so called “old school” death metal might be the norm these days, Coffin Lust certainly show enough across Manifestations of Inner Darkness to separate themselves from the crowd. Along with bands like Spinebreaker, Castle Freak and Unnatural, Coffin Lust are doing much to reinvigorate a style of the genre that has long been forgotten in favor of digital effects and showmanship. So forget about the “old school” prefix, this is just pure, unadulterated death metal.
