Coffin Dust is a young Philly death metal band showing a great deal of promise on this self-released EP.  The band plays in a heavily Razorback Records-influenced style that combines old school slamming death metal with a mosh-ready thrashing intensity focused sharply on things of a gory horror nature.  Truth be told, the music here sounds acutely similar to bands like Frightmare, and everyone’s favorite Creepsylvanians Ghoul; so much so that if I didn’t know any better and I was told that “The Carving” with its surf-thrash end section and stomper “Desecration Through Butchery and Hatred” were unreleased Ghoul demos, I’d have absolutely no reason not to believe it.  The same can easily be said of the awesomely alliterative “March of the Machete Militia” (which would make a great album title) as well.

Of course wearing your influences so brazenly upon your sleeves will undoubtedly lead to detractors hollering “Copycat!” decrying the band as merely apers of a style done better before, but with Ghoul’s beyond-sparse recording schedule, I see no problem with some kids getting in on the game in their absence provided they do a bang-up job of it, and Coffin Dust certainly does.  The production on the record is of demo quality, a little on the muffled side, but the mix is acceptable, and it’s obvious that they’d sound great with a full-on professional job.  It’d be fantastic to see these guys get picked up.  A pleasantly surprising, enjoyable record.

TRACK LISTING

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*Comments:

1.  March of the Machete Militia
2.  The Carving
3.  Out of My Skull
4.  Batphomet
5.  Desecration Through Butchery
     and Hatred

Total playing time:  19:47

Release Date: May 30, 2011
Label: Band Self Released

Coffin Dust - Ancient Rites of Buried Evil EP

Reviewer: J. A. Burt

July 7, 2011