Doom? Check. Death? I’m in. Stoner doom? Hell yes, gimme that. Psychedelic stoner death doom? Wait, wha? Such is the nature of metal bands sometimes. So frequently, we want

5 years ago

Doom? Check. Death? I’m in. Stoner doom? Hell yes, gimme that. Psychedelic stoner death doom? Wait, wha? Such is the nature of metal bands sometimes. So frequently, we want bands to fit into boxes and check off things on our lists. Sure, it helps us writers explain to others what a band sounds like, but it’s way better to just experience the complexities and subtleties of a band as you listen to a record. Such is the “trouble” I had with Tombtoker.

I don’t mean trouble in a bad way at all! Just simply describing that Tombtoker has a lot of influences they use to create their sound. It’s genuinely interesting to hear this kind of record with Coffin Texts. It makes it seem so much more unique. It’s as if they’re trying to make their own sound and music instead of desperately desiring to fit into a genre. So you essentially get a record that scratches a lot of itches for a lot of people who might become interested in other parts of the sound. It really demands multiple listens to really hear everything.

Normally, combining so much never works. Coffin Texts becomes the opposite of Spider-Man 3. Nothing feels shoehorned in there to make some studio executive pleased. Heavy blues-style psychedelic riffs meld well with a more death metal kind of sound. The riffs sound dark and evil and play well with pentatonic scale-sounding blues solos with all the wah pedal you could ask for. You hear that the best on “Blood Freak”. The song is a death metal rendition of a standard blues trope. You would think it wouldn’t work but it SOOOOOOO does. It sounds like some really fun death metal desert rock. If Queens of the Stone Age wanted to do a death metal record, they’d ask Tombtoker for some pointers.

You know you’re into immediately when you hit play on Coffin Texts. The intro track “Warfare Revolution” gives you everything you need to know. Slamming and crashing drums, riffy bass, and hugely distorted guitar riffs are the tip of the iceberg for the record. You’ll bang and crash through the stoner doom riffs and death metal distorted shout vocals. It gets really stoner doom after the mini bridge. If you’re a metal fan with a lot of interests in the slow and low, you’re gonna love what you get with Coffin Texts.

It’s hard to put into words just what this record does. The only complaint I have for it is that it’s only 5 tracks long. We’re all going to need a lot more Tombtoker in our lives soon enough. And since we’re in that season, I wouldn’t be all that surprised if their first full-length record is on a lot of top 10 lists. They have such a unique sound that they’re hard to deny. Whether you like doom, stoner rock, desert rock, death metal, or any combinations thereof, you’ll have a lot to dig into on Coffin Texts. I suggest you get started immediately.

Coffin Texts is available 12/7 via Seeing Red Records.

Pete Williams

Published 5 years ago