Apollyon (Ole Jørgen Moe) is without doubt one of the unsung heroes of Norwegian excessive metallic. A multi-instrumentalist who does all of it. He is performed bass within the legendary Immortal, guitar and drums in Lamented Souls, bass guitar and vocals in Cadaver, guitar in Gorgoroth (the place he seems within the notorious Black Mass Krakow DVD) and vocals, guitar, bass and drums in Aura Noir. Not solely that, he as soon as served me a imply pint as a bartender at Oslo’s famed Kniven bar.
It has been a couple of years since we have heard any recorded music from Apollyon, along with his final launch being 2018’s Aura Noire by Aura Noir. To not fret, nevertheless, as he is again with yet one more new mission, and this time he introduced Olav Knutsen aka Bestial Tormentor (Inferno, Lamented Souls) and Fenriz (Darkthrone) together with him!
Each Fenriz and Apollyon grew up collectively in a spot referred to as Kolbotn, Norway within the 80s. Kolbotn is simply south of Oslo and it was in shut proximity to the wealth of document shops that dotted the world again then. It was additionally there that Bestial Tormentor and Apollyon began enjoying collectively a bit later within the 90s. Initially they began off enjoying doom collectively as they each went on to kind Lamented Souls. This was a band that additionally featured Simen Hestnaes aka ICS Vortex, who would later rise to prominence with Dimmu Borgir and Borknagar.
Lamented Souls successfully ended within the early 2000s however practically 20 years later Apollyon and Bestial Tormentor wound up collectively once more to start out creating songs in that very same vein of doom and basic metallic. After compromising quite a lot of tracks, and looking for to make it a 100% Kolbotn mission, Fenriz joined the duo as vocalist upon listening to their early tracks. Written over the course of only a brief time period, the brand new trio would tackle the moniker Coffin Storm.
Coffin Storm provides us six sprawling tracks clocking in it 45 minutes. Not fairly Darkthrone, and never fairly Aura Noir and even Lamented Souls, we get a product that’s paying homage to bands like Candlemass, Pentagram and even a little bit of Paradise Lost. I may hear bits of Cathedral, notably within the monitor “Eighty-5 and Seven Miles.”
In fact, with Fenriz on vocals, there are going to be some apparent comparisons to Darkthrone. Whereas Darkthrone and Coffin Storm do actually share some related sonics, and undoubtedly, Darkthrone followers will discover lots to like right here, this actually is a unique sort of musical mission with totally different influences. Talking of which, the primary single, “Over Frozen Moon,” goes to be endearing to these followers of Aura Noir and people who can respect a slower tempo of thrash.
“Open the Gallows” is a unclean sounding, 10+ minute minimize that has some ferocity within the guitars and horror within the lyrics. It’s kind of thrashy with an ideal guitar solo, however it’s blended extra akin to a black metallic monitor. “Clockwork Cult” is a splendidly miserable mixture of doom, early thrash and a pleasant dose of 90s Norwegian metallic. This specific track reminds a little bit of some early Kreator however with a considerably totally different vocal cadence.
With minimal (however not too minimal) manufacturing values, and a transparent DIY vibe, Coffin Storm is precisely what you suppose it needs to be. This document will maintain specific curiosity for individuals who nonetheless pine for these doomy, gloomy late 20th Century many years of underground metallic.
