Sentient Ruin Laboratories - 2021
7.5/10
Oh boy, yet another "coffin" band! Actually, this one has only been brought to my attention because of a recent reissue, but the Dutch outfit Coffin Lurker actually released their debut album several years ago. Extra funny, considering that this is shortly after I would have gotten into Coffin Rot, Coffin Mulch, and Coffin Curse. All that said, this band crafts, you guessed it, death metal, however their brand is something that I would describe as far more grueling and unsettling than any of the other three death metal throwback-type groups. There's only one single release on their roster titled Foul And Defiled, that being said aforementioned full-length.
One could argue that part of this could be due to the very nature of Coffin Lurker. The presentation is so damp, murky, and unwelcoming that I can't imagine the demo stage being necessary. Falling into the "doom/death" territory, Foul And Defiled is only five tracks that add up to about a half hour, each one being a long and disgusting march through filth and emptiness. Bass plays such a prominent role not because it adds to (or creates) any sense of rhythm, but rather, thickens the already mucky bottom layer of reverberating guitars. The only sense of rhythm really comes from the drums , casting a silhouette of a pattern that's otherwise hidden behind drones of unforgiving guitar stench.
In other words, this isn't just another Spectral Voice clone that gives us "caveman riffs" that still have jarring shifts and spaces in between that one can discern. Rather, I find this to strike a very specific mood that's meant to feel like you've been stomped and trampled into the soil, becoming part of the harsh climate that is this music. It's rare that I find myself drawn to such a thing, and I actually won't even pretend that this is anything great, yet here we are with me returning to it several times. Maybe part of it is the fact that it's so short, and conjures a feeling rather than anything worth "jamming" to. There's a Star Wars legends book that speaks of a Sith that once sucked the life out of an entire planet, and this may be the closest thing to picturing that I've come across. So if nothing else, I can at least say there's some purpose? Truly soulless stuff in the coldest way.
Thus, I'm not even going to try and distinguish between the individual tracks. You'll get your occasional higher death shriek to compliment the otherwise floating gutturals, but all of them in the end work as a small ingredient rather than a base foundation. Sure, you can pick out changes in pace from time to time, mostly because the drums might speed up. But my recommendation is just to take this in as one whole unpleasant experience with the right setting and frame of mind. Typically, I find little use from something like this, but somehow they roped me in, even if just a little. A broken clock is right twice a day, perhaps?
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