Review: Coffin Mulch ‘Spectral Intercession’
In an ever-burgeoning UK extreme metal scene, one of the stand-out acts and one of the records I have been most anticipating is the debut full-length from Glasgow, Scotland’s death metal sadists Coffin Mulch, it’s titled Spectral Intercession and it’s out June 30th via At War With False Noise (vinyl), Memento Mori (CD) and Dry Cough/Gurgling Gore (UK/US – cassette). Not only does it spew forth the rotting and fettered Scottish death metal annihilation we have been anticipating, it’s also adorned with a nightmarish hellscape courtesy of the warped mind of artist Brad Moore who nailed the cover art here!
It’s been well over two years since Coffin Mulch released their debut Septic Funeral upon the masses, an EP that I absolutely loved and reviewed for The Shaman. The Mulch have teased my eager erogenous zones since with two cheeky singles of purulence, Supposed To Rot and Into The Blood but this fat fuck has been waiting for his main course and finally, the rusted and jagged platter has been delivered upon thy lap.
Spectral Intercession introduces itself to you via the means of tortured screams and howls from those near to or who have already succumbed to the grave, a wild guitar joins like a revving chainsaw before bounding into buzz-saw carnage that’s perfectly caustic but also laden with an infectious old school groove. Coffin Mulch then unload the d-beat drums into the mix to amp up the madness and kick holes into any willing listener.
it’s crunchy and covered in a thick layer of mould that flakes and drips off all the way through the record…
The tone is heinous and in the best way, like their previous EP, it’s crunchy and covered in a thick layer of mould that flakes and drips off all the way through the record. Whether Coffin Mulch are crushing high pace, or slowing things down and bringing that deep heavy tone as it concentrates on building the tension rather than pulling out your trachea, like on track Mental Suicide or album closer Eternal Enslavement, you never feel that the four-piece are short of ideas or missing that oh so essential atmosphere.
Al Mabon’s vocals are top tier here, not as buried and deep as on Septic Funeral, they are much more at the front of the mix and waaaay more aggressive with their sheer unabashed abrasive delivery which I’m totally here for. The production, as a whole, is really good, crispy in all the right places, everything nice and clear but not suffering from being over produced! Great job by the guys at 16 ohm. Also, did I mention this thing was mastered by death metal master Dan Swano!
Highlight tracks for me are Infernal Mass, Mental Suicide and Fall Of Gaia, but to me, this thing deserves to be listened to as a whole as the guys have done themselves proud and I hope this rotted corpse gets the credit it deserves. So, I’ll finish as I did with my review of their EP, grab a Tenants, cover yourself in porridge and get down and dirty with the boys from the Mulch!
Label: At War With False Noise | Memento Mori | Dry Cough Records | Gurgling Gore
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram
Scribed by: Matt Alexander
