The hookless, heartless, blunt-force trauma of Japan's COFFINS consists of colossal headbanging drum throbs swathed in jarring riffs, speaker cabinets groaning and hissing under the burden of it all. Most of the tracks featured in "Buried Death" move at a slow to mid-tempo, recalling the slower VENOM numbers or the first HIGH ON FIRE album before that Albini added silly things like clarity and melody to their apocalyptic pounding.

Guitarist and vocalist Uchino barks his savage, guttural message like the whir of some ancient machinery, twisting and moving slowly under this evil cadence. Wiry bass man Koreeda will occasionally pause his endless headbanging to unleash a hellish scream that topples into the cacophony like a rough-cut headstone. The occasional guitar noodling from Uchino in tracks like "Mortification to Ruin" and "Altars in Gore" is a wild-eyed, babbling vagrant in the background, walking in one back door and wandering out another. This is the type of music that isn't content to beat you senseless; it beats you until you're just a little greasy spot on the pavement.

Despite the fact that all the format and packaging talk has shifted back to vinyl these days, "Buried Death" makes a solid case for the beauty of the underdog digipack with it's captivating artwork and sturdy inserts. COFFINS is three guys pounding out a racket so evil and loud, it could change the weather forecast. Not for the feint of heart.

- Marchman

OFFICIAL SITE: myspace.com/intothecoffin

RELATED ITEMS: No related articles at this time.