Anyone over a certain age will remember the Chernobyl disaster, a monumental event that continues to cast a long shadow over subsequent generations. As such, it makes the perfect subject for a metal album and it is one Coffinwood explore in detail on their debut long player Acolytes Of Eternal Flame. Featuring a selection of explosive tracks, this is an album that takes us to the heart of a nuclear reactor and returns with eight tracks that throb with radioactivity and should really come with some kind of health warning.
Originally formed as a quartet in Poland in 2017, Coffinwood released the excellent Storm Of Steel EP in 2020 before vocalist Varulv departed two years later. The band continued as a trio with bassist Beherit and guitarist Kumen both handling vocal duties (the former taking lead, the latter backing). With drummer Trommealager completing the line-up, Coffinwood make a tight, compact combination and like the very best bands who operate as a three-piece (think Immortal, Raven, Venom) they make a sound that’s far bigger than their individual parts. If you want to know just how heavy three people can get then you need look no further than opening track ‘Disposition Of Doom’. After a brief sound collage of news stories that broke the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown, Coffinwood arrive via a relentless riff that detonates with earth splitting force. Like a Geiger Counter that’s going off the scale, the guitar rings like warning sirens whilst the bass and drums combine to create a beat that hits the listener directly in the solar plexus. The vocals become an instrument in themselves and range from the clean to the guttural, whilst the spoken lyrics near the end of ‘Disposition Of Doom’ are chilling and add a sense of unease.
Aided by a bold production that places all the instruments prominently in the mix and some choice samples that really set the scene, Acolytes Of Eternal Flame is an album that creates an impending sense of catastrophe. In fact, the whole aesthetic that hangs over this album is dark and oppressive (no surprise considering the subject matter) with the music and words combining to create strong, disconcerting images in the mind’s eye and the title-track is a prime example. Clocking in at seven-and-a-half minutes, it is a song that’s almost progressive in nature; a song of several suites, it is constantly revolving and evolves into some kind of strange mutant beast which combines, black, thrash and death metal to great effect. The aptly-titled ‘90 Seconds’ is a white-hot furnace blast of sonic fury that seers the skin, whist the following ‘Exclusion Zone’ is a heavy (and haunting) song that’s akin to a pillion ride through modern day Pripyat.
The themes which run throughout this album gives it a concept feel and that means the songs flow together very well. While it is feasible to dip in and out of this album and listen to the songs individually, it is best consumed whole and in one sitting to fully appreciate its overarching concept. Listening to it in such a way will make closing track ‘Sarcophagus’ all the more impactful and ensure it will haunt you long after the disc has stopped spinning and it all makes Acolytes Of Eternal Flame an assured debut.
- Acolytes Of Eternal Flame is available now (from here).
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Track List:
- Disposition Of Doom
- Radionuclide
- Salvation Through Radiation
- Acolytes Of Eternal Flame
- Biorobots
- 90 Seconds
- Exclusion Zone
- Sarcophagus
