When I was doing “First Impressions” on our FB page (that's an exclusive to our page, by the way) I had gotten a comment from what I believe to be one of the members of Coffin Lust, urging me to give their album another listen. The Australian act have been around since 2010, released a demo in 2012 and finally got this old slab of death metal together in 2016. According to Metal Archives, they're death metal and that's certainly what I'm hearing here. You know, just in case you didn't see my “old slab of death” comment until now. These guys definitely make that warm and fuzzy kind of death that's a bit old and crusty as well, but damn we can never really get enough of it. You know the bands, you know the sound – and Coffin Lust have it. Surprisingly, the album cover for this one isn't a black and white graveyard or ritual sacrifice scene, but it still looks and feels just as grim as the record itself. This two piece is made up of two gentlemen who are also playing in Azrael's Harem, Impious Baptism, Nocturnal Graves and Sithlord. Previously, they've played in (whoa, this is a lot of bands, folks) Funeral Twilight, Evilintent, Crucifire, Aphasia, Destroyer 666, Destruktor, Hobbs' Angel Of Death (accredited for being one of the first extreme bands in Australia) Cerekloth, Trench Hell and several live stints for Denouncement Pyre as well as Toxic Holocaust and Zemial. Did you see any good bands in that list? Because believe me, I saw a fucking ton of them. So it should go without saying that the crusty slab you're getting here is one made by quality musicians for quality listeners. It sounds classic, because it is classic. Now I will say that on the technical side of things I'm having a tough time discerning some of the more melodic sections of the record and they tend to get buried in the mist (you'll hear what I'm talking about) but that's not really enough to dissuade me from the record, and I'd say the same for you. Coffin Lust bring the worlds of death and doom together, and they do it with the spirit of the old days, which I think is going to appeal to practically every old head out there. I know that some guys are pretty serious when they say, “the rawer and the meaner, the better!” and that's what you're getting here. This thing is raw, it's vile and it's well-meant. It's the kind of record that someone's going to blast as loud as they fucking can, because it's the kind of unruly death metal that grandma used to make many years ago. These guys knew what kind of death metal they wanted to make and Manifestation Of Inner Darkness clearly cements that.
Once again, I'd really love it if I could hear some of the solos a bit louder, but I know there's some guy out there bitching at me right now saying something in the tone of “You can't hear them? Turn up your volume! I've been listening to metal for forty years now and I can't hear a damn thing! But when I turn up these speakers, you can bet that I can hear those goddamned solos!” so if that's really true, then I have to respect that. Manifestation Of Inner Darkness is indeed the kind of classic slab that you'd buy a vinyl for. I've expressed my thoughts on vinyl for a long time now, but there are those guys out there who just never quit listening to vinyl records and this is one of those that they're either going to want in their collection, or they've already got in their collection after having listened to it dozens of times. Sometimes when you make death metal, it doesn't have to have all the newfangled stuff to be relevant. I love experimental stuff, but I also like when a band kills it with a classic style. This record sounds like it was a product of a couple of beers, some great jam sessions and an all-around killer fucking time. If you like classic death metal discs, you'll definitely love this grooving, thrashing, doomy bastard child of Satan. Raise your horns, grab a beer and play it full-blast! Loud enough that not only you can hear the solos, but that the whole neighborhood can hear the solos. Loud enough so that the police aren't coming over to your place because someone called them, but because they can't even think straight due to how loud your music is. (Has that ever happened before?) Whatever the case might be, you'll definitely enjoy this one if you're looking for a truly old school approach.
(8 Tracks, 44:00)
8/10
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