Shambling out of the gruesome crypts they’d haunted for the last half-decade Portland, Oregon-based death metal quintet COFFIN ROT emerge from their latest cycle of incubation as a more ruthless, efficiently mayhemic monstrosity. Though their sophomore full-length album is sleekened in terms of its overall sound design ‘Dreams of the Disturbed‘ arrives unperturbed by any/all distractions as they continue to polish the rough edges of late 80’s/early 90’s pure death metal style, still wholly directed by their vision of classics-era standards. Though their ongoing obsession with nostalgic idealization is reason enough to check this one out, these folks have managed to excel in areas most bands don’t as they find points of insertion for brutal and technical interruptus while delivering a memorable if not economically stated ride through.

Coffin Rot formed circa 2017 and it was no mystery what they were up to as soon as their first rehearsal tape (‘Rehearsal Demo‘, 2017) hit soon after staking some clear intent in depressurized ‘old school’ death metal influenced grooves. They’d tightened their shit up and put together fully formed renditions of those same songs +1 for their self-titled tape (‘Coffin Rot‘, 2018) about a year later where I’d first appreciated the Chris Reifert-esque sparks of madness from the vocalist and the serious focus on the riffs. Consider their main directive then-and-now a mean and hideous form of old school death metal without any spastic slop or mosh metal gear infused. By the time their debut full-length album (‘A Monument to the Dead‘, 2019) released they’d set up a solid quartet and managed a well above-average showing, one of many representing in the Pacific Northwest at the time. The main reason I’d stuck around for that album centered around thrash metal inspired qualities of late 80’s death metal alongside the barbarism of Cannibal Corpse, (early) Grave, Autopsy and such impressed me upon review but I’d also acknowledged that the bubble would burst for many bands aiming for a similar headspace: “[…] 2019 is packed out the ass with great death metal debuts, old favorites, and new halfway-there legacies; I’m still on the fence as to how much of a dent these guys can make in that wall.” and now that they’ve put out this second LP five years later I’d say there was nothing to worry about, they are thriving and inspired based on how well ‘Dreams of the Disturbed‘ turned out.

In terms of riff count ‘Dreams of the Disturbed‘ appears to aim for a more direct level of efficacy with fewer points of droning repetition, still maintaining the thrashing side of their attack but presenting a snappier, cleaner production sound as its container. If you’re looking forward to additional variations of the Carcass-esque escalation of the riff around ~20 seconds into opener “Slaughtered Like Swine” you’re more-or-less left in the dust for a few minutes beyond that quick transitional uptick as Coffin Rot are still busy cutting loads of riffs. And of course they’re focusing on more than just that, they’ve always managed decent lead guitar work but here they’re just about mandatory throughout, adding some manner of surreal or strangled moment to each main song transition. The muddier dankness of their debut does fade away here, especially considering the exceptional bite of the drum capture, and in turn their songwriting scrambles toward slightly more technical, but mostly groove-built, faster slapping songs at the core of the experience.

The big song that’d gave me to ‘ole neck punch off the bat here was “Lurking in the Cemetery”, I can already see the crowd reacting as it chugs in, a big shit-stomper that emphasizes the hammer at the throne and carries a simple Obituary-level groove up front. They sound pretty locked into that moment to start but we get this declarative peak in the middle of the song where fiendish narration growls over top the song before they take a faster turn, hitting the accelerator and going a bit more over the top with it than expected. Of course this is a simple gesture but I appreciate a band that can run it back, trim points of excess and clip it back to their biggest riffs and tightly wound songs. From that third song right into the harder, faster struck pummel of “Unmarked, Shallow Grave” this album began to feel like a step up to something even more worthwhile for Coffin Rot.

In the same way that Skeletal Remains went a bit harder on their two most recent albums I’d felt like this record begins to take a few similar stabs at that level of brutal and/or technical slice. Sure, yeah they’re still largely best at being a mean mid-paced death metal band of a certain style but there is an escalation in pace and pulverization which occurs beyond Side A that thankfully doesn’t leave the blazing late 80’s (read: Death, Asphyx, etc.) edge of their roll and rhythms behind. Between “Living Cremation” and the even more violent step into “Hands of Death” I’d felt like the band’d never sounded tighter, finding a way to cross the threshold into the late 90’s without losing the plot or getting a bit more full-bodied with it a la Polluted Inheritance‘s second album. Part of the reason this works is of course the all-pro production values (re: Charlie Koryn engineering + Damian Herring mixing/mastering) applied here but for me it is just as well the way they’ve slung their moment-to-moment riffcraft into points of unpretentious spectacle, sinister death metal songs that build to heinous highs (“Hands of Death” especially) and generally keeping their ~33 minute cut eventful at a high standard throughout.

Free of any gimmickry or nonsense, jacked out their skulls with riffs, and sounding sharper than the average ‘old school’ inspired crew today Coffin Rot definitely didn’t have to crank their whole gig to this level in order to stand out but that fact that this whole record is as consistent and cunning as it is should generally impress the death metal underground. While a few of these songs stuck out for their outrageous moments and big-assed grooves there is more room to push both ear-worming gnarl and/or an even more distinct vocal but for fans of the classics this one will convince quick and never dip in quality of statement throughout. To top off the overall curation of the experience I’d found the cover artwork from Wyrmwalk helped to make ‘Dreams of the Disturbed‘ immediately distinct in its scene of morbid, torturous sacrifice and it’d helped a lot that the layout pulls from well-chosen complimentary colors rather than making a desperate eyesore. All things considered I’d say this is one of the better classics-minded death metal albums out this year and at the very least a point of admirable escalation beyond their fine debut. A high recommendation.

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