After two EPs, Coffin Feeder releases its album!
Signed to Listenable Music, Sven de Caluwé (vocals, Aborted, Fetal Blood Eagle…), Bart Govers (guitar, Fleddy Melculy), Jeroen Camerlynck (guitar, Fleddy Melculy), Jan Hallaert (bass, Leng Tch’e, Motormouth) and Siebe Hermans (drums, When Plagues Collide, ex-Verwilderd) are ready for Big Trouble, and its cover with multiple cinematic references.
The album’s only moment of tranquility is There Will Be Trouble, a sampled introduction lasting just under a minute, before Porkchop Express explodes in our faces, letting Sven roar over an incredibly aggressive rhythm. Julien Truchan (Benighted) joins his howling friend to reinforce the punching power, then it’s in the company of Ben Duerr (Shadow of Intent, Hollow Prophet) that the vocalist turns If It Bleeds into a veritable avalanche of brutality, giving the moshparts an apocalyptic feel. The band follows up with The Destroyer and its devastating groovy riffs, complemented by a few slower but equally effective breaks, then with Love at First Death and its orchestrations that make the torrent of violence quite grandiose, while retaining the vivid instrumental parts that darken and become theatrical. The band then welcomes Mark Hunter (Chimaira) on Plain Zero, recreating an interesting vocal duality on the catchy riffs that slow down before a crushing final, then the musicians speed up again on OBEY while pouring out all their energy with energetic patterns, but also this rather intriguing break that will no doubt be used for crowd movements. A few ominous parts allow us to breathe in the opening moments of Get to the Party, before the rhythmic beat strikes again at full power and speed, dragging us to the ground to join the introductory sample of Let Off Some Steam, where we find this jerky approach as well as a new extract of massacre before the finale tramples us. Violence takes a different form on H.I.S.S., revealing an agonizing dissonance before rhythm and vocal parts enrich the short assault, finally joining A Good Day to Die and its imposing groove coupled with orchestrations that offer a new approach, then it’s with the very straightforward The Wrong Arm of the Law that Coffin Feeder delivers the final blow, bringing together significant speed and explosive patterns as he knows how to do since his first steps.
When it comes to raw efficiency and killer riffs, Coffin Feeder in 2025 is the band to follow! It’s certainly not the band’s first try, but the musicians’ experience pays off, and Big Trouble is easily one of the year’s best albums!
95/100