What gives so many Irish metal bands this natural ability to produce some of the heaviest, sludgiest and most impactful music out there today?
I sometimes wonder if it’s the untamed Atlantic Ocean that batters our coastline, the chiselled and rugged mountainscapes that cast great shadows over the landscape, or even the unbounded peat sodden terrain that sprawls across the countryside. All this stark and natural beauty must somehow seep its way into our DNA, and in the case of a band like Coroza, well, they seem to have consumed all that energy and are now allowing it to seep out of every pore of their being. They have harnessed all that is monolithic and monumental within the extreme music spectrum and crafted an album that is both fearless and formidable.
As Within is composed of five bruising and expansive tracks that literally crawl into your soul and travel through every part of your body, taking complete control of your senses. Right from the opener, Myrrh, the fire within the belly of the beast is unleashed with a swagger, a groove and a slickness about it, which oozes power and immediate respect. The riffs heave and the drums thunder forth with an almost 70’s Sabbath vibe, slow and ponderous yet full of malice and unease. Gravel-choked vocals add another layer and dimension to the track, with some impressive tempo changes and double kick bass drums. Dropping to an eerie, reverbed lone guitar adds to the air of trepidation and despair. A quality opening track.
Right from the off, Immersed doesn’t hold back with its blackened fury and blast beaten tirades, which cleverly dissolve into a “Rime Of The Ancient Mariner” styled breakdown. Sinister and chilling, it weaves and meanders through some unsettling, haunting vocals that seem to bounce off the cavern walls and cover you in a dark, heavy mist. When the track comes alive again however, one of the finest riffs adorn your eardrums. Beautifully distorted, deeply melodic, and vicious in its delivery, your head will sway, rock and be detached from its shoulders! And if all that wasn’t enough, some Mastodon-esque vocals bring the music down another darkened and familiar path, making this track is an absolute joy to listen to.
An instrumental piece, The Shifting Sands, shows yet another string to the Coroza bow, with the vibe and energy of the music taking a trippy, psychedelic twist, almost trance-like. Hallucinatory and almost Hindu-like duel guitaring, along with the smoothest of basslines make a welcome change in mood, and serves as the perfect entrée to the next track, Scorched Earth. This is another beast, with so many layers to it, so many nuances and surprises around every corner. Chugging riffs and more contrasting vocal styles really make Coroza stand out from the crowd.
The lads have really shown on this record how tight and in sync they are with one another. I won’t use the word polished to describe it, because there is a grit and an edge to their sound that gives it an unpolished feel to it. I think a better word would be ruggedly refined!
The closing track, and title track to the album, As Within has to be one of the finest Irish tracks I’ve heard in quite some time. The mood and the aura that’s radiated from this piece of music is sublime. Patient, precise and abound in melancholia, the music plods forcefully through that peat-sodden soil I mentioned earlier. Laden in all that is forlorn and forgotten, it traverses through a vocal masterclass and toys with so many tones, even incorporating a near- Gregorian chant to stir the senses! The harmonies are flawless and the Thin Lizzy duel guitars intertwine effortlessly. A fitting finale to an album that will see Coroza rise to the next level. Some more national gigs, and a wander across to the UK and beyond has to be on the cards to promote an album as good as this. Watch this space!