Coffin Rot – Dreams of the Disturbed
Release Date: 20th September 2024
Label: Maggot Stomp
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal
FFO: Cannibal Corpse, Morta Skuld, Grave, Obituary, Death, Dead Congregation.
Review By: Eric Wilt
There is an excess of great bands putting out sick death metal albums these days. There’re so many, in fact, that it’s easy to overlook a great band or miss it all together. I feel like this might be the plight of Coffin Rot to this point in their career. They’ve released a first-class full length, A Monument to the Dead, and EP, Reduced to Visceral Sludge, that should have them playing in the big leagues of the genre, but they just haven’t received the same kind of acclaim as many bands of which they are equals. On 20 September, Coffin Rot is going to release a new record entitled Dreams of the Disturbed, and I have a feeling that this will be the album that gets them the recognition they deserve.
On Dreams of the Disturbed, Coffin Rot uses their own version of Swedish death metal as a jumping off point. Songs like Lurking in the Cemetery, Unmarked, Shallow Grave, and Living Cremation show their ability to craft Swedish death metal songs so good, you’ll be surprised to find out they hail not from Sweden but Portland, Oregon. While Coffin Rot’s main Swedish influence is no doubt Grave, Amon Amarth has left a mark on them as well. The vocals on Lurking in the Cemetery sound so much like Johan Hegg, I had to check the album notes to see if it was in fact him. While it wasn’t Hegg, the song is as good as anything that the Viking metallers have released in years. Other songs like Slaughtered Like Swine, Perverted Exhumation, and Predator Becomes Prey show what happens when Coffin Rot takes other influences from the old school to join with their Swedish death metal base.
Overall, Dreams of the Disturbed is an album that showcases Coffin Rot’s ability to write ferocious yet fun songs firmly grounded in the old school. Whether the influence be Swedish or American, the songs on Coffin Rot’s latest outing should be more than enough to get them the recognition they deserve.
(4 / 5)
