Extremity released their debut EP Extremely Fucking Dead, which I stated was my t EP release of last year. I reviewed the EP by saying that Extremely Fucking Dead was “disgusting, rotten, putrid, gut-wrenching, stomach churning, slimy and filthy death metal at its very best”, so I was delighted to hear that Extremity have now released their debut album through 20 Buck Spin. I was happy to see that this is a project that will not die and continue to release quality material and ladies and gentleman, Coffin Birth is even better than the EP. Now as a three-piece, with Shelby taking care of vocals, guitars and bass, Marissa (Repulsion) on guitars and vocals and Aesop (Agalloch) on drums, they have not rested on their laurels in releasing quality material.
Opening with a creepy circus intro that you would see on American Horror Story, Extremity kick things off with “A Million Witches” with down-tuned riffs and blasting drums that wouldn’t be too far away from an Incantation or Dead Congregation record before the track slows down to a crawl. Really nice harmonies before there is thrashy and punky style riffs which you think Marissa and Aesop are responsible for, bringing in their previous bands influences. I am once again praising a band that has more than one vocalist as I think it just adds so much variety to the music. With dual vocalists Marissa and Shelby mixing things up, making me think of the vocal styles on Arkhon Infaustus’s Perdition album. Excellent start to this album.
“Where Evil Dwells” has everything thrown into the mix but being master musicians, every single tempo and time change is controlled and perfection. There is once again music for everybody with Swedish influences down to Bolt Thrower and Autopsy. “Grave Mistake” is where you can hear early Unleashed in my opinion, mixing it with Aesop’s punk drum beats comes the first set of blast beats showing how much of a talented drummer that he is. Again Extremity reminisces of the old days by having a gang of folk screaming the lyrics in cohesion with Shelby and Marissa. This is definitely the fastest song on the album but one that will get the walls of death started and the pits to follow.
“Umbilicus” showcases some of the best riffs of the album throughout the whole of this record. The tempo changes in this song are perfection, where you may get Morbid Angel one minute and Cursed-era Morgoth thrown into the mix. The deep swirling riffs mixed with the gut-wrenching vocals make this my personal favourite of the album. The vocals also remind me of Death in places which can only be a plus in my book. “For Want of a Nail” again has the creepy intro before the guitars got this neck snapping. There are more thrashy riffs in this song and along with the blast beats would be sure to get everybody moving. A nice touch interspersed with death metal is the acoustic guitar which adds that little bit of difference to the song.
“Occision” has that punky feel to it again mixed with death metal riffs that combine brilliantly and just gets this old metaller smiling from ear to ear. This ladies and gentlemen is the shit. The chorus is the best part of the song bringing to mind Leprosy-era Death which again should get every extreme metal fan banging their heads. “Like Father Like Son” is the grooviest of all the tracks which got me moving and grinning like a Cheshire cat. A close second to being the personal highlight of the album for me and brings a strong close to the end of the album.
“Misbegotten Coffin Birth” starts off with an acoustic intro which is eerie enough as it is and I so wanted this album to be finished off as strong as possible and make the listener want to press the repeat button. Well having elements of Bolt Thrower in it with riffs makes this song stand out for me along with the vocal delivery of both Shelby and Marissa who interact the best out of the album. This has everything for the extreme metal fan, be it the fast parts, slow parts and the chaotic parts. Everything has been meticulously collected and thrown together to make it the strongest ending possible and I believe they chose the right song to end the album. Repeat button has been pressed.
Extremity knows how to take a riff and take it to the extreme before twisting it again to give it something that little bit different. I have mentioned a number of bands that Extremity have taken their influence from but sometimes you want a band that can rekindle memories from the late 80s and fuck originality. Extremity are not here to reinvent the wheel but merely to take the scraps from the death, punk and thrash metal tables, mash them up and what you have left is Extremity.
Coffin Birth is out now through 20 Buck Spin
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