When members of Vastum, Cretin, Ludicra, and Agalloch all come together to make what they call “dumb death metal”, you know the results are going to make knuckle-dragging menace an art form, right? That’s exactly what we get with the debut full-length from this California-based group’s debut, Coffin Birth. Extremity (what a name for a metal act) extract a hefty dose of classic influence into their take on retro-modern death metal. This is a sound rooted in making high art out of pure ugliness, and Coffin Birth is a Picasso of putridity.
Influenced by the best acts of the early 90s (think Autopsy and Obituary), Extremity fit comfortably with the best of the old school death metal 2.0 sound (think Necrot and Mortuous), with a style that leans heavily on punk and doom inflections. Extremity aren’t necessarily manic, but songs gestate fairly impressive compositions, despite seemingly blunt songwriting patterns. Coffin Birth explores a wealth of existential, psychological, and splatter horror influences to craft a particularly impressive audio nightmare. It’s far from subtle, but levels of lyrical and musical nuance are worth exploring.
Ultimately, what helps separate Extremity from the wealth of similarly-minded acts is their professional execution. Coffin Birth is gloriously ugly, but the band’s keen knowledge of how to make the ugly artful results in an imminently likeable and impressive outing, even if the record’s theme is best left with too many descriptors of its visuals…
