Usually, when two bands collaborate on a split release, both bands are similar in style, or at the very least within the same genre of music. Not so for this split as Philadelphia based blasting drum machine-backed death grinders XXX Maniak team up with the Japanese kings of slow crawling doom Coffins in what is probably the oddest pairing on any split release… ever.

The only time I’d heard XXX Maniak was the Selfmadegod Records re-release of their 2004 Harvesting The Cunt Nectar debut which was one of the worst cybergrind piece of shit albums I’ve heard to date. The twenty tracks recorded for this effort is a vast improvement over Harvesting The Cunt Nectar, but it still fucking blows. The material is less cybergrind and more simplistic deathgrind with a poorly programmed drum machine. The guitar playing is simplistic with a greater emphasis on writing catchy riffs, which aren’t really that catchy. The vocals alternate between deep guttural growl and nasal whining. It’s just… terrible. Not as bad as Harvesting The Cunt Nectar but it definitely eats shit, gargles it, spits it out on it’s own cock, jerks off with it, then tries sticking it’s own shit covered dick into it’s own mouth.

The Coffins portion of the disc contains just two songs; a new track titled "The Cracks Of Doom" and a cover of Cathedral’s "Ebony Tears". These two tracks are long, slow and crushing death doom in the vein of Hellhammer and Winter with thick chunky bass heavy riffs, slow methodical drumming and deep raspy bellows. These two tracks make the putridity of XXX Maniak’s 13 minutes of suckage fade into a distant memory. The sound is so powerful and consuming that you can’t help but slowly nod along with the slow crushing music. It’s like being slowly run over with a steamroller, you feel your your limbs snap, crackle and pop before it plows over your skull causing it to crumble. This is simply awesome Coffins material, which, as always, is killer doom. Sure they aren’t very original, but they’re great at what they do and their Cathedral cover even surpasses the original.

I’m a huge Coffins junkie and will buy anything and everything of theirs I can get my hands on. If you’re like me, then you should definitely pick up The Cracks Of Doom because the Coffins half is fucking awesome! The XXX Maniak stuff fucking sucks hard, but that’s what the fast-forward button on your CD player is for. Just think of it as a Coffins EP with bonus filler and it makes justifying purchasing this release much easier. Written By: Teufel