Coffinworm - IV.I.VIII REVIEW

          2014 is shaping up to be one hell of a sludge year. With releases from Thou and Indian already under our belt, and the filth of Lord Mantis, the Body, and The Atlas Moth looming on the horizon, the risk of being asphyxiated by the oppressive undercurrents of these bands' music is in full force. Enter Coffinworm - a Profound Lore act and labelmate of the aforementioned Lord Mantis and the Atlas Moth. The band, which plays abrasive, blackened sludge akin to some of Dopethrone or Wolvhammer's more abrasive moments, have only another album under their belt - 2010's When All Became None, but just a few weeks ago put out their sophomore album IV.I.VIII. While, on the surface, IV.I.VIII seems to be an unremarkable affair - the Ouroborous of the cover art is, at this point, highly cliche when it comes to metal, it nevertheless treads the sordid mire between sludge and black metal in its own unique way.
       While other artists attempt to unite the two genres - equally inaccessible and totally wretched in their own right - with mixed results, Coffinworm move back and forth between the two with surprising alacrity, even ceding to elements that wouldn't fall in either category. Vocalist Dave Britts' versatile vocals move easily and intuitively through bestial, guttural lows during the more churning, rancid sludge passages, but he'll routinely break out with a raspy, eviscerating shriek to add some extra punishment. During the record's more black-metal themed portions, he sometimes resorts to his lower howls. It worked for Archgoat, and it sure as hell works for these guys.
        Meanwhile, the instrumentals serve up a chilling-yet-refreshing variety of traditional sludge festooned with the odd blast-beat or tremolo, or even subsiding into a sickeningly heavy, but clean portion. It's in these moments that Coffinworm really define themselves. Other bands in the same field as them limit the black metal influences to the vocals, but Coffinworm mix traditional black metal riffing and songwriting into their instrumentals as well. 'Instant Death Syndrome' features a curdling mess of distortion and blast beats before erupting into a methodical, crushing riff.
        IV.I.VIII is a record with very little vocal-instrumental cohesion. While that sounds bad, both aspects of the band remain singularly focused on the same objective music-wise, but go through different routes to achieve it. When compared with other doomful acts, which have a very clear sense of direction and can sometimes move into straight-up boring territory (see: Reverend Bizarre), Coffinworm lacks a little bit of that order, and while it's still a mid-tempo nuclear explosion, it somehow manages to be frantic and chaotic. To conclude, for fans of Indian's From All Purity still howling for more and unable to wait for Lord Mantis, the new Coffinworm album is sure to satisfy twisted cravings the world over.