Maveth- Coils of the Black Earth Review

Maveth - Coils of the Black Earth

Band- Maveth
Album- Coils of the Black Earth
Origin- Helsinki, Finland
Mark- 4/5
Label- Dark Descent Records









I sure hope this gets posted after my Sorcery “Arrival At 6” review because this can be the ying to it’s yang. The good to it’s bad. The old Metallica to it’s new. Well, but where are my manners? First let me speak of what we’re dealing with here. Remember the time Finland was crucial to Death Metal? Me neither, but Finland was one of those countries that when Death Metal came out of it, it kicked your ass back to second grade, wherein your priest molested your ass back into your mom’s womb. From Demigod, to Demilich to Abhorrence, while not as popular as their Swedish counterpart , they always offered a unique and innovative listening experience. But now fast forward 20 years, and what’s new and brewing within Finland? Well, much, but it certainly has not become the Death Metal mainstay that is Sweden. While a Metal capital for all things such as Folk Metal (ala Korpiklaani, Turisas, Finntroll, Moonsorrow, Ensiferum, and every other band that can hold a myriad of acoustic instruments) , Black Metal (ala Behexen, Impaled Nazarene, Horna, Sargeist, Archgoat and any other band who can’t afford proper amps/guitars/heating system) and of course, probably their biggest export, Melodic Death/Power Metal ( Children of Bodom, Norther, Wintersun and any other bands who’s guitarist can shred and wail at the same time.)

But oddly enough, this gem of a Blackened Death Metal band comes from Finland. Who are our brave troubadours? None other than the Hebrew named Maveth! (because fuck yeah adding an H to Hebrew words makes perfect sense! Just ask Katatonia…Elohim Crystal Meth) While I disagree with the odd Scandinavian way of adding h’s to Hebrew words (ala Meshuggah, Elohim Meth, ETC ETC,) this band takes rough, ugly, dirty (no, I’m not listing adjectives regarding Devon Townsend’s visage) and uncompromising BDM and does it right. If Arrival At 6 brought nothing new to the table, Coils of the Black Earth does everything to both be oldschool and refreshing at the same time. Right off from the samples of rain on “The Devourer Within The Gulf” (Saddam Hussein-Ben) one can see the beginning of the V’s on his Metal checklist . Dark? Yes, moody? Fuck yes, Evil? To quote Nergal, “blacker than the devil’s ass” and we’re only on the first song. What I like about this band is that their versatile. The band manages to install their grim, vicious brand of DM both on the slower mammoth like tracks, or the fast blastbeaty ones such as the aforementioned opener.

Hymn To Azazel is a mix of both. Mostly sticking to the super fast core of this album, by this track you can somewhat feel the line the band draws between Black and Death Metal. How so? Secret, nananana, you can’t make me tell. No but, you can notice the DM styling via the distortion and drumming which is very reminiscent of oldschool Euro Death with some very Taake/Marduk esque riffs and screechy guitars , with the Slayer a-melodic solos throw in. Sounds familiar? Of course, but Maveth again, gives it there own twist. In the modern world of oldschool DM where pretty much everything has been tried (or declared poser ;) ) it’s refreshing to see band with a taste. This is why, at least I think, bands like Maveth and Necrowretch, who are on their first release, garner so much success.

Remember how I mentioned slower hulking tracks? The first of these is Hymn To The Black Matron (black matron…Oprah Winfrey?) it’s a slow track, with those churning blastbeats and guitars that smell of evil. It gets faster at times, but it really somewhat reminds me of a more evil, a bit more Swedish, lower tone Asphyx slow track. And hey ho we’re in the last 4 tracks!

Stating Eritcho is of the more melodic tracks on the album, while nothing to gawk at and yell Metalcore, the guitar line is memorable and the vocal patterns are reminiscent of Nile/Behemoth to me. It is also one of my favorite tracks on the album, so you know it’s quality (I am the say all and end all, the alpha and the omega.) Before the last two parter track of the album, there’s a quote that goes “dream, dream so the day may come” (major Barack Obama points to you there) that then kicks into the Blackened Death Doomy goodness of this track. Definitely the slowest track on this album, the power of the bands American vocalist “Christbutcher” (couldn’t find his real name anywhere.) While he supplies good vocals all along the album, his Ross Dolan (Immolation) esque vocals really shine on this one. The album ends on a two parter named Terminus( no, not Where Death is Most Alive.) So they basically took my “oh my fucking god burn it with fire” hatred for “throwing all our tricks at one song and making it super long” and took it to a wholeeee new level. But by doing this, it feels like two more normal tracks. Which are a fitting close to this album. Grim, uncompromising , and gritty as the rest of it.

Burn the cats and draw the pentagrams, it’s one of those kind of nights.