On the surface, you may hear some very brutal and disgusting sounding heavy metal. For me, I hear that too but it’s done in a manner that is very well structured and organized. It’s not just heavy plodding just to sound evil, there’s some thought into it and that makes listening to Great Bringer Of Night a delight to hear. That not might be the first word one thinks of when hearing sludgy and doomy black metal that grinds and grinds until there’s nothing left, this word “delight”, but if you’re a metal fan that takes your music seriously with a bit of sensibility and clarity, you’ll understand what I speak of.
I speak of a band out of Indianapolis named Coffinworm, and if you’re familiar with them, you may have heard of most of these songs, as three of the tracks were originally released as an EP in 2009. This 5-song version was newly remastered by James Plotkin, and while it is indeed songs from their demo, a lot of people liked it enough to want to hear it again, so this new version adds two songs not on the original EP, and you’re able to buy it on vinyl as well. Maybe the best song on here is “Start Saving For Your Funeral“, and as there is a wicked scream, the band creates a metal gallop that sounds incredible and makes me want to head into a pit and celebrate the power I hear with others who may feel the same way. Then the song changes style and tempo a few times in its close-to-six minute duration, and I would have loved to have heard them explore some of these sections even more. Perhaps they do this in a live setting. They can get into a mean funeral dirge like “Spitting In Infinity’s Asshole”, only to wrap the song up in an epileptic fit and make you wish someone was eating your face in order for you to survive the terror you’re hearing. It’s beautiful and again, a “delight”, but don’t think those words are code for “soft and delicate”, for Coffinworm sounds like the inevitable disease making its way up your spine and into your mind in a 34-minute duration.
