I was drawn to the debut album from The Netherland’s Coffin Feeder by the album cover featuring some awesomely iconic 80s movie and TV characters from the likes of  Cobra, Commando, Predator, They Live, Gremlins, The Running Man, Total Recall, Big Trouble in Little China, He -Man, GI Joe and others all who seem to be in combat with an army of fat cyborg, Steven Seagals.

Then, upon pressing play, I hear a familiar voice that sounds just like Aborted’s Sven de Caluwe. So, like a professional, I finally researched the band fully, and lo and behold, I learned it is indeed Svencho doing vocals. He’s joined by a solid line-up of Dutch vets from bands like Leng T’che, Humanity Defiled, and When Plagues Collide.

And indeed, the end result is a very Aborted-sounding affair, and not only due to Sven’s vocals, but the delivery of the groovy, blasting death metal, although this has some slight elements of deathcore, grindcore and hardcore thrown in. But either way, when combined with the 80s action subject matter, complete with some appropriate samples- its pretty fucking awesome.

In fact, if you went into Big Trouble blindly and just started listening, you’d be forgiven for thinking this is indeed a new Aborted album, although that’s mainly due to Sven’s distinct vocals as well as the guitar tone, provided by Dave Otero (Cattle Decapitation, Shadow of Intent, Archspire), which seems to be going for that Aborted sound. However, whereas the last few Aborted albums have been a bit ‘samey, Coffin Feeder presents a slightly more….fun? ….and varied take on that burly, beefy sound.

After a sample from the Jean Claude Van Damme movie, Cyborg, the album starts with “Porkshop Express” (with Julien Truchan of Benighted– another style reference), and the ride does not let up. The album rips and grooves through 12 songs in a quick 35 minutes, and like many of the movies featured, it’s a big, brash, often silly affair, light on plot- but oh so enjoyable.

There aren’t really any standouts, as the album has a pretty steady consistency and pace, but certainly “The Destroyer” (with the famous ‘Conan, what is best in life?’ quote), the keyboard filled (yes, im serious) “Love at First Death” and “A Good Day to Die”, “If It Bleeds”, (with Ben Duerr of Shadow of Intent), “Plain Zero”,  groovy, “Get to the Party” and “Let Off some Steam” (yes, it has a Commando quote) hit the spot with meaty grooves and punishing blast beats.

Coffin Feeder is one of those rare side projects that is a good as, if not better than the main projects, in this case, Aborted. I’ll be interested in what movies and themes they tackle for the next album- here’s hoping for Aliens and Predator to make an appearance…

[Visit the band's website]

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