(((O))) Review: Coscradh – Carving The Causeway To The Otherworld

Coscradh make the kind of death metal which harks back to the early days of Obituary and Morbid Angel, but also add in some rather interesting elements from thrash. This makes for an enticing stew with riffs crashing against each other at double quick time whilst death growls, and more thrashier screams emit as vocals.

After a quiet start it’s soon into full throttle noise as ‘Five Fifths Awaken’ hits its stride. There’s literally no let up from here, with ‘Adradh De Ghoac’ being a particular highlight early on, as a track which plays with those divergent genre elements. They almost slip into black metal on ‘Caesar’s Revelation’, as they embrace the epic on a track which progresses on a quite malevolent journey. It also features some rather fantastic guitar soloing, which emerges clean from the murky depths.

‘Scythe Of Saturn’ is more straightforward, with some masterful riffs and solo’s evoking the glory days of thrash. There’s a real seriousness to Coscradh’s music, which helps keep every track tight. Indeed, the musicianship is superb, and not a note is wasted. Behind this is a production which allows for the intensity to shine through, even if it does all seem a bit of a blur at times.

The future is looking bright for the death metal scene, with bands like Coscradh continuing to push the boundaries of what has been done before. Carving The Causeway To The Underworld is an unrelenting piece of work, but within the maelstrom of noise there is a lot going on which can only serve to enrich them further down the line. An assault on the senses in all the best ways.