In recent years I’ve become a greater fan of sludge and doom metal. The band most responsible for this newfound interest in doom is Japan’s Coffins. Their Mortuary In Darkness, Sacrifice to Evil Spirit and The Other Side of Blasphemy efforts have remained in constant and heavy rotation in my stereo since I picked up or received promotional copies of each. My interest in the band has grown to the point where I actively seek out every recording of theirs I can find as soon as it’s released. My most recent purchase is Coffins split with California’s The Arm and Sword of a Bastard God.

Coffins start out the first three tracks of this effort with their patented brand of crushing Hellhammer and Winter-inspired doom. The material is slow, heavy, incredibly catchy and simple. There are no frills, no crazy solos, no blast beat clinics, just heavy old school doom. If you’ve ever heard Coffins before, you know exactly what to expect. The first two of their tracks are all new material, however the third is a cover of Pungent Stench’s "Bonesawer" and sees the band depart from their style completely. The vocals become a raspy snarl and the riffing picks up a great deal, well, for Coffins anyway. I’m not a big Pungent Stench fan, but if anyone can make their music pleasing to my ears it’s Coffins and they do exactly that, delivering a very solid effort on this release.

As soon as "Bonesawer" ends we’re taken instantly to the complete opposite end of the extreme underground, from raspy deathgrind to the snail’s pace crawl of The Arm and Sword of a Bastard God’s "Annex Wasteland". The vocals blare through the speakers like an angry bear while the guitars, bass and drums pound the listener into submission. The material sounds like doom on steroids; long slow tracks filled with soul sucking heaviness and punishing riffs.

If you’re a fan of crushing doom metal, this album is an absolute must own. While I’m not always a fan of the bands Coffins do splits with (ie. XXX Maniak), this one is an exception because The Arm and Sword of a Bastard God are one of the best new doom acts I’ve had the pleasure to hear and am thankful I didn’t pass up buying this release. The only downside is this effort contains only 7 tracks, but that does go a long way considering the album’s total length is 40 minutes with songs averaging over five and a half minutes in length. Written By: Teufel