I discovered the news about the debut album of Coffin Mulch in an unusual way, before receiving any press release or other promotional material about it. I was listening to another band’s new song on YouTube, and after it finished YouTube served up a new Coffin Mulch song, the first single off that debut album. I almost never pay attention when YouTube does this, but instead hunt down the next song on my listening list. But this time I decided to see what “Into the Blood” was all about — mainly because of the fantastically bizarre cover art in the clip — and received further confirmation that sometimes poor impulse control is a good thing.
As I wrote here at the time, the gritty whir of the chainsaw riffage in “Into the Blood” hooked me immediately, as did the song’s opening rhythmic thump. The vocalist’s high rabid howls, the livid snap of the snare, and the heavy slug of the bass added to the song’s marauding appeal. When the pace slows, it becomes a gruesome slog-and-stomp, though the throat-ruining vocals sound even more unhinged. And speaking of unhinged, when the band start to cavort and chug again, there’s a brief burst of soloing that’s exactly that.
By coincidence, it wasn’t too much longer before we were asked to host the next song premiere from this new Coffin Mulch album (Spectral Intercession). Having heard “Into the Blood“, it took me about a nanosecond to say Yes! Sometimes the stars line up very nicely, don’t they?
This next song, the one you’re about to hear, proves that “Into the Blood” wasn’t an outlier. Right away, it too deploys that gritty, crunchy, smoke-belching guitar tone and a jumping drum beat that wakes up the reptile brain. Having effectively set another hook, these Scots then spur their devil horse into a gallop, with the rider howling like a werewolf.
They run the guitars up into a grisly feeding frenzy and let the double-kicks and big bass upheavals rumble the listener’s guts. They throw in punkish chords (still nasty in tone), rapidly writhing and darting leads, maniacally hammering drum-convulsions, and an ecstatically demented guitar solo. And through it all, the vocalist proves his worth by expelling utterly rabid sounds that would leave most people’s throats in ruins if they attempted this kind of savage lunacy.
Just two songs in, and they’re more than enough to brand this new album as one worth diving into all the way — which I’ve done, and therefore can confirm that it’s hellishly good. Coffin Mulch open in their affinity for death metal OGs such as Entombed, Autopsy, Massacre, Death, and Bolt Thrower, but there’s nothing about the album that feels stale. Instead it feels explosively alive. To borrow words from the press release I did eventually receive, because they are correct:
“There’s no shortage of ‘old school’ death metal records these days, but it’s rare to find one with such personality that’s unselfconscious and not belabored. COFFIN MULCH find that sweet spot with Spectral Intercession!”
The new album will be released on CD on June 30th by the respected Spanish label Memento Mori. For more details as that date approaches, check the links below.
Also below you will find that excellent first single, “Into the Blood.”
MEMENTO MORI:
http://memento-mori.es
https://www.facebook.com/memento.mori.label
COFFIN MULCH:
https://www.facebook.com/coffinmulch
https://coffinmulch.bandcamp.com