{"id":41388,"date":"2025-04-22T15:16:13","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T15:16:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/41388\/"},"modified":"2025-04-22T15:16:13","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T15:16:13","slug":"coffin-feeder-big-trouble-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/41388\/","title":{"rendered":"Coffin Feeder – Big Trouble Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover. The intellectual property rights-busting album artwork of Big Trouble by Coffin Feeder<\/strong> pays tribute to the silliest action movies of the 80s and 90s, just like the music within. This album represents the band\u2019s full-length debut after a pair of EPs<\/a> that tickled our very own Kenstrosity<\/strong>. Though the core members may be Belgian, the bands through which these guys ordinarily peddle their wares (Aborted<\/strong>, Leng Tch\u2019e<\/strong>) are fused with a steaming smorgasbord of high-profile guest spots (Benighted<\/strong>, Cattle Decapitation<\/strong>, Archspire<\/strong>). The result is an energetic fusion of various cores, from death to grind to hard (also the order of events at Dr. A.N. Grier<\/strong>\u2019s place on a Friday night). How are these sub-genres fused?<\/p>\n

Distilling Big Trouble down into its key elements is relatively easy, even if those key elements themselves don\u2019t offer easy listening. It combines the monumental heft of deathcore with the sneering attitude of hardcore and the speedy intensity of grindcore. \u201cPorkchop Express\u201d is prototypical of the album, as it blends a stomping lead that reeks of slam with a faster, tremolo-picked verse, while the vocals unpredictably flip between pig squeals, hardcore shouts, and deathly growls. These songs are extremely extreme, favoring an obnoxiously loud master, boisterous riffs, and relentless energy. It\u2019s a lot, but also \u2013 at least on first listen \u2013 a lot of fun. It\u2019s difficult to dislike something so active and aggressive, and it\u2019s all too brief to become bored. The cacophony is more of an experience than mere music.<\/p>\n

I also admire how Coffin Feeder<\/strong> lean into their own silliness; they represent the diametric opposition to bands that take themselves too seriously. It\u2019s difficult to dispute the \u201cWhat is best in life?\u201d speech from Conan the Barbarian when layered over beefcake deathcore (\u201cThe Destroyer\u201d). But I would also argue that Big Trouble favors style over substance. The sense of humor pastes over an album that\u2019s solid in execution of the fundamentals, but not much better. It feels like the band has used up all their ideas by the back half of the record. The songs become predictable, shuffling between mid-paced\/deathlier passages, faster\/grindier passages, and slower\/breakdown passages. Likewise, most of the riffs sound basically the same. Though the leads are typically entertaining, not many of the tracks really stand out because they follow similar sounds throughout.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Like all good -core music, the breakdowns are often the highlights. When those blast beats are broken down with a slower but groovier lead, heads will bang. In fact, breakdowns are such an easy win in -core music that they feel like a song-writing crutch. Big Trouble accordingly struggles more where there are longer gaps between those fist-pumping moments. \u201cPlain Zero\u201d is a straighter death metal track with a hefty punch, but the relative absence of breakdowns means my attention is less focused. Paradoxically, there are other tracks with poorly deployed breakdowns that disrupt their flow. \u201cLove at First Death\u201d features a pause that becomes a beefy breakdown, but it\u2019s too sudden and changes the tone of the song. Despite solid leads and entertaining grooves, some tracks aren\u2019t particularly cohesive. The music is so frenetic that it can feel disjointed; it\u2019s an amalgamation of ideas but not written into tidy, individual songs.<\/p>\n

Coffin Feeder<\/strong> boast some qualities that will undoubtedly appeal to those with a brutal, slamming proclivity. The songs flex with muscular riffs and mighty breakdowns, and the motley vocals go some way to offering a little variety. But Big Trouble (in Little Belgium) ultimately fails to distinguish its individual songs due to repetitive songwriting. Its sheer power can\u2019t overcome a lack of creative spark or ingenuity required to elevate music beyond the average. I feel like there\u2019s more to come from these Belgians.<\/p>\n

\ufeff<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: 2.5\/5.0
DR<\/strong>: 4 | Format Reviewed<\/strong>: 320 kbps MP3
Label<\/strong>: Listenable Records<\/a>
Websites<\/strong>: coffinfeederband.com<\/a> | coffinfeeder.bandcamp.com<\/a> | facebook.com\/coffinfeeder<\/a>
Releases Worldwide<\/strong>: April 25th, 2025<\/p>\n

\n\tGive in to Your Anger:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover. The intellectual property rights-busting album artwork of Big Trouble…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41389,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3936],"tags":[20843,743,23446,10269,23447,23448,23449,23450,23451,23452,12936,23453,77,23454,23455,23456,269,6080,6082,16,15],"class_list":["post-41388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-2-5","tag-743","tag-aborted","tag-apr25","tag-archspire","tag-belgian-metal","tag-benighted","tag-big-trouble","tag-cattle-decapitation","tag-coffin-feeder","tag-death-metal","tag-deathcore","tag-entertainment","tag-grindcore","tag-hardcore","tag-leng-tche","tag-music","tag-review","tag-reviews","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114382280269302529","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41388\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}