Track Premiere: Penny Coffin – “Ballistic”
Shout out to ominous chimes. Gotta be one of my favorite death metal album openers.Crack open a can of Irn-Bru (Note: allegedly it taste like bananas or bubblegum? Mmm, esters), cuz today we’ve got a delightfully dour death metal slab from our Scottish pals Penny Coffin, straight from their new EP, Conscripted Morality.
Album opener “Ballistic”, premiering below, hits like an absolute tank. The sepulchral death/doom that flavored our last meeting with these Glasgowian grumps has been reinforced by a mid-tempo death march. Think the grimey tank-treaded riffs of Asphyx and vocals with the caustic heat of Napalm Death. Layers of lamenting guitar are strategically applied to provide just the right dose of melancholy and horror. But don’t take my word for it. Slap that play button below and go ballistic yourself:
The rest of the album, dropping this Friday hits equally hard (that is to say, like a big sad tank). Our P.C. pals have this to say about Conscripted Morality:
“Conscripted morality is a collection of home-brew death metal, made with a budget of zero. The lyrical themes reflect the abhorrent acts of violence we have grown to accept, excuse or turn a blind eye to—primarily war and the people who perpetuate it.”
I’ve given the full EP a spin and can confirm the potency of Penny Coffin’s home-brew. After “Ballistic” the onslaught continues on track two “Predator”, a bruiser of a track that brings the Warmaster grooves and down-tempo breakdowns front and center. The doomy dirgin’ we’re so fond of returns for the final two tracks, the aptly named “Slowdive” and closer “Conscripted Morality”, providing a lovely crypt creeping counterpoint to the martial assault of the album’s first side. The slower sections in these songs, particularly the leads capping off the album’s final three minutes, are deliriously haunting and will undoubtedly manifest in your mind like a ghastly specter of war (or like something embarrassing you said in 7th grade) for weeks to come. Fans of crusty, doomed death metal: don’t sleep on this one!
Pre-order Conscripted Morality on Penny Coffin’s BC page before it drops this Friday, or nab it on BC Friday to directly inject these guys with your sweet sweet dollaroonies and maximize their Irn-Bru slushfund. If getting physical is more your speed you can get tapes here or CDs here or even a honest to god vinyl here now that Adele is done using all the vinyl plants to make $5 coasters or w/e.
