Filthy Music Review - 'Abomnium: Coffinships'

Abomnium – Coffinships (2012)

UKEM Records

Review by Jude Felton

Back in the day I can only recall the late, great Quorthon recording Bathory’s album as a solo musician. Not that you could tell though, such was in intensity of the great Swede’s albums. Leaping forward a few decades and the solo musician seems to be a far more prevalent occurrence, and judging some of the recent output I have heard, this is no bad thing. Abomnium is one such band, and the sounds within their second album, Coffinships, are nothing less than furious.

Sapient, who is the sole member, sets out on this musical journey by the way of Taint, and never lets up throughout Coffinships’ running time. This is a Black Metal album that infuses elements of Death Metal and Thrash into its labyrinthine sounds, pausing on occasion for breath, before galloping forth in this sonic tornado.

Songs such as Black Canyons of Death and Horde are absolute beasts, with some incredible riffs and powerhouse drumming, that threaten to explode at any moment. To mention two songs though would be to do a disservice to the album as a whole though; as if you know me you will know that I am very much a fan of the complete work, rather than to isolate a song or two. That is very much the case here, with the entire work offering some truly terrific sounds.

Sapient’s snake-like vocals accompany the ferocious music and fit quite perfectly, laying the foundations for some malevolent sounding tunes. If I had not known, prior to listening to Coffinships, I would have told you that it was performed by a full band; such is the tight intensity of the recording, in which the production allows all facets of the album to shine through.

The only real downside to listening to Coffinships is that you are unlikely, at present, to see any of the songs performed live. Sapient is currently keeping Abomnium as a studio project; although he has performed live a couple of times, but if he ever decides to hit the stage with these killer tunes I would imagine that it will be well worth attending.

With that in mind I whole-heartedly recommend you pick up Coffinships when you get the chance; it’s a fantastic album and most worthy addition to any CD collection.

Track List:

1. Taint
2. Down To The Tombs
3. Black Canyons Of The Living Dead
4. Coffinships
5. Conclave
6. Horde
7. Epoch
8. Cast Down
9. Sunfire

Coffinships is released by UKEM Records and is available now.