Glass Coffin/Tombstalker split cassette reviewed by deafsparrow.com.....

GLASS COFFIN / TOMBSTALKER
Split (Cassette)
(Husk Recordings)

Kentucky native Josh Lay seems to be a busy man. He single handedly runs Husk Recordings and performs all duties in his self professed ‘true heathen bedroom black metal band’, Glass Coffin. Good to know the term is not being used in derogatory terms as it seems to be the consensus. Regardless, this split truly sounds the part.



On the label side, Lay’s got a few limited cassette releases I would love to get a hold of; especially the split between Plague of Mankind and Apochryphal Revelations and the Al Qaeda D/A/A/D split. Also in the label’s catalogue we can find some electronic releases that Josh has put out under his own name.



But that side of Josh doesn’t seem to have affected the sound of Glass Coffin who here present us three tracks of the lowest fidelity possible. All of course, without letting the sound / noise delve too much into mud or static. I haven’t had the pleasure of listening to the 2009 demo Blood of a Godless Moon, but on their half of this split, Lay shows plenty of skills. The first song “A Nightmare Majestic” is enough to let you know that musically, Glass Coffin have nothing to envy anyone. There is a shrill sound, a cold vibe, sloppy playing and great song construction. All of course, delivered with the most vitriolic sense of misanthropy.



Tombstalker on the other hand is a foursome also from Kentucky and their two songs in this split were also included in their 2009 demo. Here is the thing with tapes; sometimes it’s hard to tell whether your copy is fucked up. The recording of these two songs is actually less lo fi and more professional. So is the playing, with cool buildups, killer riffage, colorful drumming et al but for some reason, it seems like there was an issue with the duplication, where every instrument has been muted. Get past that, turn a deaf ear to the dominant white noise and what we get is a pretty cool thrash death metal band that could fuck in the ass a couple of times most of those revivalist thrash metal bands.



This release is limited to 100 copies