The Atrophic – Coagulating Mirth
Release Date: 8th July 2022
Label: Self-Released
Bandcamp
Genre: Melodic Technical Death Metal
FFO: The Black Dhalia Murder, Allegaeon, Obscura.
Review By: Andy Spoon
One of the things that The Atrophic cited in their press release for this album was that they were interested in writing earworms, tracks that had good hooks which have a tendency to get stuck in the listener’s head. There can be no doubt that they have reached into their bag of tricks to write 4 tracks for their 2022 EP, Coagulating Mirth that are based largely on the “riff” structure. For only an EP, North Carolina duo The Atrophic have made a concerted effort to melt faces with their wailing guitars and post-classical melodies. It is clear that they achieved their goal with Coagulating Mirth, each of the 4 tracks absolutely littered with a veritable cornucopia of sexy guitar and bass work.
In comparison to many other similar projects, it sounds almost like The Atrophic took a page out of metalcore’s book, having some constant lead melodies on guitar on repeat for a couple of bars while the underlying rhythm melody varied back and forth. This is not to say that it doesn’t work, as it certainly purports to have found a steady sound across the EP. One of the reasons that fans love metalcore is the dramatic, almost cinematic guitar work. Consider Coagulating Mirth to be a death metal extension of the same idea. E.g. no cleans, no repeated choruses, and a dearth of death-inspired lyrics.
Another element taken from more commercially-successful metalcore is the track length. Each of the tracks on the EP are between 4 and 5 minutes, something that allows ample time for soloing, riffing, and variable movements in each individual song. Many death and black metal projects have a tendency to keep tracks under 3 minutes, which can sometimes leave something to be desired from the listener’s standpoint. Having a little more time in each track allows the ebbs and flows to naturally progress instead of being completely “in your face” from fir second to last. There is nothing necessarily wrong with any of the aforementioned styles, it is only to say that The Atrophic is capitalizing on some of the particular elements that fandoms of various genres will certainly appreciate.
Guitars and bass are obviously the most prevalent instruments in the mix, drums taking a back seat to the riffing. Vocals are reminiscent of Morbid Angel, double-layered on most tracks to give a wider breadth of tone. However, I think that I would have liked to hear a few additional vocal techniques or variations during the span of the EP. Listen closely for both guitar and bass solos, as they are expertly-executed across multiple tracks. Drummer Robin Stone’s hits are tight and controlled, double bass hits extremely fast, something that simply cannot be overlooked when looking to produce a guitar-lead-heavy album. It all works well from a sonic perspective. Instruments are recorded and mixed well, conveying the intended tone and rhythm without getting “muddy” at any point.
Even though, the vocals can become a little repetitive, they don’t distract from the overall intended tone of the album, lending credence to the notion that, overall, Coagulating Mirth is a fun EP that can easily be played on repeat, each track having impressive and thoughtfully-written melodic death metal components which point to great technique as well as clever production. 
(3.5 / 5)
