Album Review: Release My Suffering by GoreSkinCoffin (Funeral Goat Records)

California blackened death lords GoreSkinCoffin are set to release their third full-length album, Release My Suffering. The album comes following a brutal year of writing, rehearsing, recording and shows, and features seven furious tracks of blackened death/grind. Release My Suffering will be out on January 14 via Funeral Goat Records.

Originally formed in 2011 from the ashes of other local death metal groups, GoreSkinCoffin started as a three-piece featuring Dean Rice (drums), Dustin Stark (guitar/vocals), and Justice Reckis (bass). The trio wrote and released their debut album, Corpse Filled Caskets, that same year. The album drew influences from black and death metal bands, both classic and modern.

Following a six-year hiatus, GoreSkinCoffin returned with the addition of Cody Winter on vocals. The band released their second full-length, Shattered Conceptions Ov Reality, in 2017. Guitarist Randy Hoofard joined the fold shortly thereafter. In 2018, the band released the Cursed Paths EP. GoreSkinCoffin then amicably parted ways with Hoofard, a move that saw Reckis pick up guitar duties and the addition of new bassist Edgar Castro-Salazar.

The newly invigorated line-up released the “Wrath and Ruin” single in 2021 before going to work on their newest burnt offering, Release My Suffering. With the release date now nearly upon us, let’s check it out.

So when you think of a 7 track album, my first thought was that the songs would likely be pretty long but that is not the case here. This is a short album with a run time of around 26 minutes only. A similar length to some sludge/drone singles really…… That fact could you leave you feeling a little short changed if the tracks aren’t of a sufficient quality to make up for the quantity. Thankfully that isn’t an issue to worry about here. Within a few seconds of the opener, The Plague Father, starting, and once the sampled sobbing subsides, we head into a catchy as fuck riff that instantly gets your head banging. It doesn’t last long before it is replaced with an absolute blast of ferocity that will definitely shake you into life.

Ferocious drum speed, violent guttural vocals with a mix of tones and a bass that reverbs through your spine combine with the same underlying riff to create an absolute blood curdling assault of metal.

This is heavy stuff but also manages to be catchy and clever with the chorus drops back into the grooving riff being particularly special. A little more sampling part way through leads into another clever section with vocals that have a hardcore edge to them sitting in a bed of intense drumming and effective lead guitars. They create an insanely heavy sound that manages to stay exciting, interesting and infectious.

GoreSkinCoffin know their stuff and opening Release My Suffering with such an impressive track is a clever move. The quality, and heaviness doesn’t end there though. Wrath and Ruin continues the intense assault with ferocious rhythms and intense vocals all integrated with little switches, sudden stops, tempo changes and massive riffs to make you realise that even the heaviest of sounds can be catchy as hell. A welcome pinching lead guitar melody offers respite for just a second before they give you both barrels again.

The title track, Release My Suffering, really epitomises the whole album. The intro has a black metal edge to it before a huge roar drags us down to an almost grindcore level. The drums again really impress as do the meaty riffs but in this song, more than any other so far, the song structure and composition is jaw dropping. There is an atmospheric feel to the phases we move through at times with a blackened backing sound that is as brilliant as it is terrifying. This is an astonishingly good song. Wow.

It Will Not Die sees the band stretch their creativity levels even further with a song that utilises a more post sound at points. Big drawn out chords, extended growls and roars with more atmospheric backing really has a massive impact before we descend into hell with dark and deep gutturals and dirty drumming shale us back to the intense levels of aggression before the song spends time transitioning between both styles.

Elegy For Mankind’s Failing has a melodic start. Yes, they do that too. Despite the nice melody, it always feels foreboding and the off beat drums give a sense of chaos before we head into the heavier side led by the vocals. The riffs stand out, the drums again are amazing in a song that utilises a slower pace to the guitars and more drawn out vocals while the drums still rip. Clever stuff. I love the tone of the guitars and the way the vocals and rhythm blends in with the backing is phenomenal. A little solo working with the symphonic edge is effective, even more so in setting us up for the vicious filth and chaotic darkness that comes back in after it.

The penultimate track is also the shortest at just over 2 and a half minutes long, Defiant Misanthropy sees the band drop some of the creativity for a straight up blast of extreme blackened death metal. It is actually a good move as it just shows the band are capable of anything they want to do. Well, maybe not a ballad. Think intense riffing, blasting drums and throat ripping vocals forced upo0n you at pace. And so we sadly reach the end but GoreSkinCoffin are not going quietly, instead ending with the absolute belter that is Lamentations For a Broken Ange. The band flex every bit of intelligence and creativity shown across Release My Suffering so far to create a masterpiece of extreme metal.

The catchy intro riff with squealing lead guitars gives way to a black gaze sound where the intense drums and bass, the powerful vocals and guitars all contrast with an ascending high guitar line pushing through the background. I love the mixed vocal tones, the drums again just amaze me but it is the layers to this song that really blows my little mind. It is so heavy yet so meticulously crafted, with so many elements just seamlessly and perfectly imbedded to have maximum impact. Like every single note screams its purpose as this absolutely immense work of art comes to an end.

GoreSkinCoffin have really set the bar high for albums in 2022. This is astonishingly good metal with a multitude of genres on display. Creative, intelligent and fucking heavy music that gets the adrenaline flowing and genuinely left me just shaking my head and thinking, wow. Release My Suffering comes in as a very early contender for one of the best albums of this New Year. Don’t miss out on this one.

Release My Suffering is due for release on the 14th of January via Funeral Goat Records. Head over to their Bandcamp page to preview a couple tracks and pre order the album. You don’t want to miss out on this one.

GoreSkinCoffin Links

Bandcamp – Facebook – Instagram – YouTube – Funeral Goat Records