Search - Coldworker :: Contaminated Void

(4.5 stars) 2007's first essential extreme metal release

A. Stutheit | Denver, CO USA | 06/04/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Some bands seem to have only one simple goal in mind when they make music, and that goal is to be awarded the title of "the heaviest band on the planet." Coldworker are definitely a front running candidate for that award. This Scandinavian extreme metal five piece was formed out of Nasum's ashes (when they broke up after tragic death of Mieszko Talarczyk in 2004's Asian tsunami disaster) by that band's former drummer Anders Jakobson, who then proceeded to handpick the rest of the band members, including Phobos vocalist Joel Fornbrant, guitarists Anders Bertilsson (ex-Ruin) and Andre Alvinzi (ex-Carnal Grief), and bassist Oskar Palsson (of Relentless fame).



Coldworker's debut, "The Contaminated Void," is primarily a grindcore album (it features tons of crushing, hyper-speed blast beats and intense but short songs), but it also draws a bit of ainfluence from thrash (i.e. furious, blistering speed metal picking) and melodic death metal (nicely melodic solos, etc.), which help to make the album somewhat more diverse. Top it all off with roaring, heavily phlegm-inflected bellows, strong, persistent bass throbs, and bludgeoning, impenetrably hard rhythms, and the resulting sound is extremely dirty, aggressive, beefed up, devastating, and, well, extreme. It could be compared to the likes of Napalm Death, Vader (at their most brutal -- like circa, say, 2000's "Litany"), and/or a more guitar-oriented Nasum.



This disc is a monster in every sense of the word. Let it be known that the musicianship heard here on "The Contaminated Void" is staggering and impeccable, and the pummel is -- to say the least -- relentless. These fourteen tracks are nonstop barrages of dizzying, hyper-adrenalized velocity and earth-shaking, mind-numbing, skull crushing brutality. In fact, listeners who aren't already hardcore fans of death-grind are likely to find its intensity a bit overwhelming (especially at first). There will be very doubtfully be a heavier album released all year -- any maybe not ever. Some of the songs veer toward the death metal end of the spectrum (see the wailing melodic solo of "D.E.A.D."), and some lean more toward thrash (see the smoke-inducing guitar interplay of the title track); but most of the these tracks are straight up, classic, neck-snapping, paint peeling grind (or a mix of the three genres).



Opener "The Interloper" pummels the listener like a sledgehammer to the head as soon as he or she presses the "PLAY" button. "An Unforgiving Season," which boasts crunching, churning power chords, pummeling blasts, and a catchy chorus, is a possible highpoint of the album; so is the somewhat restrained, bass-driven mini-epic "Return To Ashes" (which it's over four minutes long -- a long song by Coldworker standards!), and the set closer, "Generations Decay," which throws the listener an ominous curveball in the form of an almost dead-stop pause and doomy breakdown. Other highlights include the jackhammering "Death Smiles At Me," "A Custom-Made Hell," which has a fairly slow (or at least mid-tempo) mid-section that gives the listener a tiny bit of room to breathe, the incredibly abrasive groove of "Strain At The Leash," the flailing, ripping melodic solos that pierce the air in "Flammable" and the otherwise deafening "Antidote," and the positively monstrous riffage that backs "They Crawl Inside Me Uninvited."



All told, "The Contaminated Void" is a dentist's wet dream: Heavy enough that it could knock the fillings out of everybody's head -- even listeners with the absolute strongest teeth. That's too bad, too, because this record offers a lot to sink your teeth into, and it will surely satiate just about all fans of death and grind metal. This is definitely a very weighty and meaty metal feast, almost too much, so be sure to take it in small bites."