Casket is back in action.
Five years after their comeback EP, the German trio led by Schorsch (guitar/vocals), Susi Z (bass), and Marinko (drums)—supported by Neckbreaker Records—presents its fifth album, In The Long Run We Are All Dead.
The Will To Comply kicks off at a brisk pace, letting Old School riffs and cavernous growls do their work and immediately making us want to bang our heads before spitting out its slower, almost haunting, sticky groove. The track is fairly simple but truly formidable, leading up to a stunning final that finally propels us into Highest Thrones, where the rhythm section takes off at full speed, offering catchy staccato patterns and plenty of shrill harmonics. There are some pretty heavy Brutal Death influences on this track before we get a breather with Mirrors, a sort of disturbing interlude where an alarm bell rings before giving way to Seeds Of Desolation, which sets about assaulting us in turn. The rhythm section is as powerful as ever, placing oppressive Death/Doom touches here and there in the slower moments, while eruptions of violence rain down without warning, just like the abrupt final that leaves us with Hammer, Knife, Spade and its dissonant introduction that turns into a wave of crushing heaviness. The riffs follow one another with the only moment of respite being this mysterious break that quickly gets things going again, then Skull Bunker takes over and offers up some light, lively thrash roots to continue the massacre in proper fashion. The vocals remain fairly consistent, ensuring continuity in the unhealthy tones before giving way to a new break called Necrowaves, which is still in a disturbing register, then Mainstream Mutilation takes over and pours out its heady blast at various speeds to continue the violence. The track leaves no room for mercy and remains very consistent until Fundamental Rot takes its place, first with an anguished intro, then with slow riffs that eventually accelerate to adopt a fairly sustained and catchy cruising rhythm, sometimes punctuated by a few more shrill sounds, such as the deafening finale. We move on to Strangulation Culture, which offers an almost playful tone conducive to catchy riffs, but the leads become more airy towards the end, giving way to the stirring Graveyard Stomper, a perfect composition for live performances that is sure to generate furious headbanging and other crowd movements to energize a set and bring the album to a beautiful close.
Death Metal has taken hold of Casket, allowing the trio to deliver powerful riffs throughout this new batch of compositions. In The Long Run We Are All Dead will be responsible for many sore muscles at the start of this year.
85/100