Coffins - The Fleshland

Published June 30 2013

*=Staff's pick	Here Comes Perdition* Hellbringer The Colossal Hole No Saviour The Vacant Pale Vessel* Rotten Disciples Dishuman The Unhallowed Tide Tormentopia*

Genre	Death Metal	Ryo/Koreeda/Uchino	Vocals
Tracks	9	Uchino	Guitar
Running time	47 Min.	-	Guitar
Label	Relapse Records	Koreeda	Bass
Release	09 July 2013	Satoshi	Drums
Country	Japan	-	Keyboard
Producer	-
Similar artists	Asphyx, Autopsy

Like yours truly, Japanese Coffins apparently spent their fair share of time blasting an Asphyx album or two. The structure of their fourth full-length 'The Fleshland' matches that of the Dutchmen to a tee. Long atmospheric doom-tempo pieces intertwine with faster songs that generally make a sudden midway drop to the mid-tempo regions to gradually speed up again. The riffs surely follow the gospel of Asphyx with uncomplicated, repetitive guitar lines designed to be memorable.

The problem is that Coffins fail in the latter aspect. Most of the guitar work on this album has noticeably been written before and do not stand out particularly under the Coffin flag. Do get me wrong the Japanese crew sure got their stuff down and have the skills to write decent riffs as in 'Here Comes Periditon' and 'The Vacant Pale Vessel', but when I have heard most of these riffs before under the Asphyx moniker I find my interest sliding as the album progresses.

This is not total Asphyx worship though. In the latter half of the album some weird horror-flick Autopsy guitar lines surfaces and every now and then a section of the bluesy parts of Black Sabbath pops up. The latter feels particularly inspiring and is especially abundant in the closing track 'Tormentopia' which incidentally is the best track on the album. Ryo's vocals generally hit the lower index with deep but fairly articulated growls. With the aid of Koreeda and Uchino they sometimes simultaneously growl high- and low-pitched making for a Glen Benton circa 'Scars of the Crucifix'-like effect. In 'Tormentopia' they pull out a true surprise with a few well-placed sleaze-moans. Diarrhoea-inducing in general, these are actually a welcome break of monotony in this case.

One aspect not aiding Coffins in their cause is the enigmatic production. Partly so murky one has to crank up the volume to distinguish the actual riffs, at times it loosens and gives way for the rhythm section displaying interesting groovy work by both bass and drums. I would personally love to hear what more they could accomplish along with the more blues-guided guitar work in the future.

In summary, this is a fairly decent death/doom album unfortunately suffering from too many similarities with the work of Asphyx causing an abundant lack of inspiration. The truly interesting blues-laden parts are far too few to save 'The Fleshland' from a mediocre grade.

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
6	2	5	7	6

Summary
5 chalices of 10 - Tengan