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COATHANGER ABORTION
Observations Of Humanity

Comatose Music (2015)
Rating: 8/10

Now, there’s a name to take home to your parents. Tennessee titans Coathanger Abortion are back for another bite with their sophomore outing Observations Of Humanity and – you guessed it – it’s more of the same pulverising yet catchy perverse death metal.

If you’re not familiar with the name, these guys have been around since 2001 and – believe it or not – the quintet is not the gore-obsessed lunatics many would have you think. If anything, Coathanger Abortion is more of a well-measured, extremely accessible and tidy combo who brings an old school style of vocal phlegm to their oozing, creeping sound.

It’s been six years since their debut 2009 outing Dying Breed, and for the most part, this return to form is mid-paced with injections of speed, but it’s nothing too jarring on the senses, and yet it’s a no frills style of death metal which I find rather appealing. Stranger still, a majority of the tracks are quite lengthy, and yet it doesn’t feel that way once you’re settled in to this cacophony.

Opener ‘Suffering The Weak’ showcases that adoration for early 90s groove-based deathliness; its repetitive chorus and the deep, churning rhythms create a wall of density that many rarely appreciate anymore as modern death metal succumbs to glossy dynamics and an all too irritating drum sound, but as frontman Robby Wooten vomits away, it’s worth lending a separate ear to what’s going on behind him. The main foundation here is the chunky drum sound, a rumbling bass and a guitar maze lead.

‘Media Mindsnare’ brings both speed and oozing brutality, the posse cleverly shifting from blasts of destructive speed and creaking slowness. And yet in spite of weight, there is always that nifty air with the guitars which refuse to become stagnant, despite the savage suffocation of the grinding trudge of ‘Wading Through Existence’ and the hammering ‘Coathanger Abortion’ – which is probably the album’s most aggressive part.

Rarely a track goes by that isn’t both intense yet enjoyable, Observations Of Humanity somehow nodding to old school dynamics but existing of its own free will too. The vocal coughs are very much of the vintage variety, working in cohorts with what at times is a thrashing menace that becomes married to more darker, brooding lessons in drudgery via the morbid grooves of ‘The Possession’ and the album’s most epic pairing of ‘Hypocritical Majority’ and ‘Detained Indefinitely’.

As a brace, they act as final midriff punches boasting epic musicianship; harkening back to the solid, no frills vigour of the early 90s, the vocals in a sense become that extra oozing groove to complement a guitar sound that is just so darn accessible. This is proof that death metal of today doesn’t need to be flashy or furious, ‘Hypocritical Majority’ being a fine web of intrigue and churning riffage before making way for the faster tides of ‘Detained Indefinitely’.

Modern death metal rarely excites me, but Coathanger Abortion’s return to the fray is one we should rejoice because with their new album they’ve bridged the gap between old and new. Although lacking the overall speed and hostility of its peers, Observations Of Humanity remains a killer death metal record of today.

Neil Arnold

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