Who doesn’t like an old-fashioned two-way split on vinyl? Well, I would if I owned a phonograph. I sadly grew up in the time of the cassette tape, which was smashed in between the CD revolution and the death of the vinyl record. The older metalheads who, of course, are the only ones whose opinions matter because they were around “back in the day” had the killer record collections and got all sorts of singles and splits. To this day many an underground death or black metal band will go the route of the split on vinyl, which has always been so appealing to me.

Nevertheless, occasionally I’ll be treated to a digital copy of one of the singles. As such, I got my grubby mitts on the wicked two-way featuring Coffins and Macabra. Each of the grimy death fiends gives one song and neither skimps out on the quality. Coffins, a veteran death metal band from Japan, steals the show with their awesome “Grotesque Messiah” which is an extended version from the song that appeared on their recent March of Despair EP. Sporting their trademark sludgy approach to death metal in the vein of the mighty Cianide, Coffins is one of those bands that unfortunately hasn’t garnered enough attention. Then again, it has been four years since they last graced us with a proper full-length, so hopefully this single and the aforementioned EP will signal a new long-player in the near future.

On Side B is “Breath Thief” from Macabra, a Belgian/American old school death metal outfit who is hot off their splendid (in this writers opinion)  Blood-Nurtured Nature debut full-length from earlier this year. Sporting the same sound and approach found on the aforementioned release, Macabra showcase yet again that they are clearly one of the finest of the new old-school bands of the Autopsy/Incantation/Abscess variety.

It’s hard to really go overboard about a two-song split because there is so little to write about. However, splits like these are always fun (I really do need to get a phonograph) and In Quarantine with Death is limited to only 300 copies; 100 green, 100 white and 100 black and each comes with a pair of the bands’ logo buttons as well as a poster. If you haven’t yet checked out Macabra or haven’t heard Coffins before (shame on you if that’s the case), do yourself a favor and get your hands on this micro sampler of what these two acts are about.

[Visit the band's website]

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