ALBUM REVIEW: Collateral Dimension – Coexistence

So apparently Italian death metal is having a bit of a moment. Following on from excellent 2020 releases by HATEFUL, BEDSORE and COSMIC PUTREFACTION comes the equally strong and ambitious Collateral Dimension from COEXISTENCE. The Tuscan band bring an appropriately elegant approach to their brand of progressive death metal, resulting in a smooth blend of melodic leads, unhurried tempos and sharp production, alongside some psychedelic flavourings that all adds up to a rich, highly satisfying whole.

Collateral Dimension is an album of meticulous thought and vision. This isn’t bludgeoning, ugly death metal, this is death metal with one eye on intricate, textural details and the other focused firmly on the stars. Like much of recent global death metal, Collateral Dimension has a proudly cosmic focus, from its rich, colorful artwork to its philosophical track titles and lyrics. But crucially, the spacey-ness never feels like an affectation or adornment, it’s woven into the fabric of the album, infecting its songwriting, thematics and overall aesthetic vision.

Lyrical images of cosmic transcendence occur across Collateral Dimension. The Nadir Element talks of “leaving behind the serenity of heavenly bodies”, while the title track imagines “feeling the borders of my being.. drifting away into the universe”. These images of consciousness in astral travel are often profound, mirroring and complementing the music, which often seems to traverse unknown paths as it shifts its emotional register in strange and unusual ways. Eclipse moves into a beautiful middle section, comprised of delicate guitars and intricate drum patterns, as if it has temporarily transcended itself, before reverting to the heaviness. Revert plays a similar trick, though without returning to its earlier savage self, instead simply floating off into gentle, jazzy textures.

One of the most impressive aspects of Collateral Dimension is the calm and deliberate approach that COEXISTENCE take to their craft. The songs are given real room to breathe, time to fill their lungs before bursting in the vacuum of space. Sections proceed long enough to become hypnotic, like the tapping motif in Detach From The Abyss, which provides the track with a solid structural glue. Even the tracks with more complicated structures feature smooth, finely-tuned transitions between sections, such as The Nadir Element and its gradual journeying through multiple, distinct parts.

Though all members provide well-performed and distinctive contributions, special mention deserves to be given to Christian Luconi and his mind-blowing fretless bass work. His playing is excellent throughout the album, particularly during the slower, more delicate sections, such as the middle of Detach From The Abyss or the tranquil interlude Perception. It gives the music a fluidity, a sense of slipperiness that mirrors Collateral Dimension’s imagery of the malleability of consciousness. COEXISTENCE are by no means the first band to incorporate fretless bass playing into death metal, however Luconi does it with exceptional skill and intelligence.

While not quite a masterpiece, Collateral Dimension is an excellent progressive death metal album. COEXISTENCE approach the album’s heady subject matter with a calm, measured grace, and find a smart way to make the complex music feel intuitive and approachable. They’ve made an album which sits comfortably alongside the other exemplary Italian death metal releases of this year, which, given those other albums’ quality, is no mean feat.

Rating: 8/10

Collateral Dimension is set for release on October 23rd via Transcending Obscurity Records.

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