Initial Impressions: Coffinworm: Great Bringer of Night

Just like Hooded Menace, which I reviewed a few days ago, Coffinworm released an album a couple of years back that I heard a lot of hype about and wanted to check out.  Also like Hooded Menace, I never really got a chance to do that.  This is not to suggest Coffinworm is anything like Hooded Menace sonically, just that my experiences were similar.

Coffinworm is kind of a unique beast.  Their genre is very difficult to pin down as they show off elements of black metal, doom metal, and sludge metal.  What results is filthy, raw, and eclectic.  One moment they will be coasting along on an uptempo heavy riff, the next they will be pounding away a slow, monolithic section.  The slower parts do outnumber the faster moments, and the faster parts typically do not last long.  The vocals never rise above a harsh, almost shouted rasp, the sort of thing you would expect if Kirk Windstein were to try to sing for Watain.

This is kind of an interesting release.  It has the same name as the band's 2009 demo and also features what I assume are re-recorded versions of all three tracks from the demo as well as two new tracks.  The best thing I can figure out is that this is not meant to be a sophomore full-length.  It is a re-recording of their demo with a couple of additional tracks.  Add in the fact that this was not released by Profound Lore but by a small label called The Flenser, and it is only on vinyl, and that seems to be the most likely situation.

If there is one complaint that I have about this it is that the faster moments seem to sound better but they are not very frequent and typically do not last long.  I like the slower stuff fine, but the faster material really captures my attention.

This is definitely a nasty piece of metallic filth.  I quite like it.  Maybe I will still get around to checking out their last full-length album some day.