AHHHWWWW Shit!!!! Just when I think that I’m finally free
and clear of black metal releases there always has to be one or two that are
not just amazing, they are “Fuckin’ Amazing”. Well, Glass Coffin is one of
those and mainly because I’m familiar with GC from their other releases, I was
able to overcome my usual “abort” and “reject” tendencies and thankfully so
because this is the “good shit” right here folks.
While the brief
56 second intro had me thinking
frosty and atmospheric raw black metal, “We Bleed the Blood of Hate”
immediately showed me otherwise with an abrupt U-turn into raw and crusty
punkish Hell with more of a doom/crust tone in some of the guitar riffs plus
there is a tendency to throw the listener off guard with some catchy
pseudo-leads that give a bit of dirty rock n’ roll flare. Now that I’m alert,
addicted and willing to be consumed a bit at a time by this album the groovy
Pentagram meets VERY raw and punkish primitive metal (?) with “Unholy Ritual”.
Seriously, now I’m utterly baffled and in a state of blissful awe. There’s so
much stuff labeled as this and that, right now “Black and Roll” is a popular
one and usually very much off the mark, but Glass Coffin does, definitely to my
aging and specially tuned ears, embody the gritty and groovy rock n’ roll
swagger with elements of early black metal and some essence of crust that would
fit that term better than most but I have too much respect for the artist and
too much creativity to limit anything worthwhile of labels.
“The Abyss Calls”, “I am Satan’s Sword” reminds me of the
crazy ass unrefined killer black metal that Rusty Axe used to put out, but
again… just when something seems familiar and ready to stick like peanut
buttery shits to someones ass, this SOB evolves again and continually will like
a Goddamn virus, everytime you figure it out it mutates on you and you have to
start all over. In “I am Satan’s Sword there’s even some busting out of
Motorhead influence!!!! Also expect some Beherit/Black Crucifixion flavor with
“Ghosts in the Night Sky”, the croaky vocals and primal doomy guitar riffs with
minimal clanking percussion could really sell the song as a lost “Nordic” black
metal demo, I can even spot some very early Darkthrone and Gorgoroth in the
vocals…it’s really awesome to hear something like this that is so simple and
crude, and yet without being a mere replica it actually is convincingly from
that classic era that I can’t seem to move out of in terms of black metal.
In 10 songs and roughly a half an hours worth of time this
album will easily prove itself to be a perfect substitute for so many
sounds/moods simply because it IS all of those many bundled up into a goopy
crusted wad of grungy metallic mucous. I have yet, now embarrassingly admitted,
to have heard the Josh Lay (aka Glass Coffin) power electronic/experimental
work, but given the level of talent present in GC it’s fair to say that I’ll be
acquainted with it very soon.
On another note, this is a CD/art-zine set complete with
black and white illustrations from Mr. Lay himself and they really DO fit the
sounds of the album.
Fans of stuff like: Black Funeral, Ride For Revenge, Wold,
Bloodulv, Wormsblood, and definitely the sounds of Finland’s Incriminated and
Bloodhammer; will really dig this stuff, but so might anyone into a large chunk
of the Hells Headbangers catalog. Okay, fans of old school and long lost
ugliness from the late 80’s to early 90’s black metal will probably love this
just as much so don’t write it off until you’ve heard it for yourself just
because it’s not a Moribund release.
Check GC out:
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