Coffin Texts were starting to get on peoples nerves after not releasing an album for over eleven years, and I have to admit I would be pretty pissed offed about that too if I were a fan. Although I haven't heard their 2000 album ''Gods Of Creation, Death & Afterlife'' I can't say they really offered much contrast, but rather a robust combination of styles which are growing more and more popular these days. I suppose the most interesting aspect of Coffin Texts is their lyrical content; Egyptian mythology, something that would actually bring Nile to many the mind of many people. Musically though, Coffin Texts vary from the notorious brutal tech/death giants, bringing forth a style that's sludgier, more evil, and perhaps, even heavier. I'm not going to grant merits to the band for their capability with song writing and creative compositions, but that whole queer Egyptian scheme may buy them a fan or two, and the music much more.
''The Tomb Of Infinite Ritual'' is one hard-hitting abomination. There's good news on this album, much more than there's bad news, but unfortunately the whole basis of the album is built upon one very strong aspect, that although may be very tough and robust, is still outnumbered by the number of negative factors of the album. The biggest gap is that there aren't many benefactors, many highlights to render the album sturdy, thus setting a small gap in the stone laden bulk that holds the album together, negating it from being ton asunder. This single benefactor that I'm talking about is the element that fuses together brooding old school death metal melodies and sounds with more mainstream, and rather brutal death metal elements that draw heavy influences from early Malevolent Creation and mid-old Cannibal Corpse - your most standard USDM material. The good part is that the album comes with a sublime heft and sinister energy that blends surprisingly easily with the Egyptian riffs, riffs that possess the same kind of mystical feel that Nile does, only with less concentration on the speed and more focus on the convincing force that each riff belches out with each blow. The drums are a fantastic feast of utterly pulverizing percussion, with double-bass drums thumping and following the riffs everywhere, and riffs are made of hard material, thus forging a compelling force of sinister brutality from the start, a very tempting effort.
The lesser sections of the album rapidly grow and reproduce whenever the brutal death metal influence swaggers on top of things a little too much, and that's when the album fails to deliver the same diverse Egyptian elements that it delivered successfully previously. Thankfully, the riffs are rather acrobatic and very versatile and thus complex and not very spacious, therefore, pummeling riffs constantly shift and channel in and forth among themselves, and during this rapid change, the listener scarcely understands what's happening. Just as it it's confusing, the album's a crushing vortex of riffs that hit and run within mere seconds, and whether it be embalming palm mutes chokes or vivacious tremolo bursts, the listener is always dazed. The songs tend to get longer than usual, which may be a hypnotizing experience for a listener, especially when outrageous double bass attacks suddenly transform into slower, doomier dirges. Though with the help of a few drum chokes and some good screaming and juicy solos, the one would easily evacuate the dazzling coma that he/she was swallowed in.
As far as the most basic structures of the riffs go, I can only divide songs by speed and perhaps a few flashy moments, and that indicates the ''The Tomb Of Infinite Ritual'' is for fans of numbing, pulverizing death metal. The good news is that this definitely has some old school essence in it, for all of its nuances that destroy that brutal death metal sound for the most part, and as I said before, there's little bad news really, but Coffin Texts should watch out for those holes in the walls, for the next attack may expand that hole, and turn the decrepit bulk into mere debris and rubble. This is quite a devastating album, and a good one, but beware Coffin Texts. You have been warned.
Highlights:
Divination
Final Transformation
Deities Of The Prime Evil Chaos
Rating: 85,5%
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