ALBUM REVIEW: Blennoid – Coffin Torture
COFFIN TORTURE are a band of prolific form. Since forming in 2006 under the name TSAVO, they’ve released a slew of EPs and singles, practically striking one a year from 2011 when they changed their name to the moniker you see today, up to their 2018 debut full-length, Dismal Planet. So actually, to have had nothing from them in the four years since then is uncharted waters for Thorfinn and Blind Samson, the duo that make up the band. But clearly they have used the time well, because their new album Blennoid is nothing short of essential.
Six tracks of grotesque vitriol, COFFIN TORTURE have taken their inspirations from some bleak, broad and frankly bizarre sources. The title track for example, takes cues from the Stephen King novel The Raft, in which a river of slime draws people to their end; Budo was borne of a martial arts documentary called The Art Of Killing; and Crawling Spleen – this most gruesome of song titles on Blennoid – is actually a product of watching an episode of The Angry Beavers. Reading this without hearing the album makes it hard to think this is an album to be taken seriously. And yet, when you hit play and you hear the instantly crushing tone of Ükhsen Uul, you’ll have no choice but to give this album and this band your undivided attention.
Because while Thorfinn and Blind Samson are clearly having their fun in the background, the catastrophic racket they produce is all business. There’s an inescapable air of dread and disgust hanging about Blennoid thanks to this album being permeated by one of the thickest and sickest tones of the year. Sickeningly low-tuned and with so much gain, the duo manage to sound like 1,000 people are playing at once in a gravity chamber filled with sulphur hexafluoride. Confessor is a particularly brutish beast that stomps and flattens indiscriminately. At its core, it’s a pretty straight-ahead slab of death sludge, but with COFFIN TORTURE‘s unmistakeable stamp all over it. The instrumental break at the midway point allows the guitars, bass and cymbals to ring out menacingly and it’s impossible not to be whipped into a headbanging frenzy.
What is also remarkable is how Blennoid manages to get even better as it progresses. The final two tracks provide a superb closing gambit that saves their most audacious and crushing moments for last and proves that even in striving for peal sludge-doom decimation, they’re anything but a one trick pony. The title track itself is a monsoon of riffage but manages to be supremely catchy in its staunch verse-chorus-verse setup, without sacrificing any weight, and featuring some of Thorfinn‘s most impressive vocal gymnastics, incorporating howls, roars and growls that could put Godzilla out of business. Album closer Yateveo takes the album’s most delicate and artful approach, combining their trademark heft with ethereal vocalisations that bookend the track to give a tripped out, prog-leaning feel. Running to seven-and-a-half minutes, it’s an absolute juggernaut that doesn’t relent for a single second. Even the outro packs in so many layers and elements as the album winds to its close, keeping you enthralled and invested to the bitter end.
Blennoid largely picks up where COFFIN TORTURE left things back in 2018 – still just as barbaric, still just as restless, but with a far richer production and quality that ultimately shines a light on their myriad strengths. Where Dismal Planet felt fuzzy beyond recognition, Blennoid has struck the balance between weaving in all the hallmarks of their chosen genre, and still letting their own character and moxie beam through. A career-defining release for the duo and one that ought to be heard by many.
Rating: 9/10
Blennoid is set for release on October 7th via Sludgelord Records.
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