Review by Alex Grindor on August 31, 2021.

Funeral doom is a difficult art to craft and perform, even since the very first practitioners. For many, having extremely drawn-out stretched songs may be a difficult chore, as it must be done in a way that ensnares the curious listener to the point he focusses completely on the music. Thergothon, Disembowelment, Ahab are just a few names that pop in my mind when I'm asked about funeral doom bands and what they convey, and I'm glad to say that Coffin Breath is a new and welcome addition to the hope-crushing, soul-rending atmospheric voyage that encompasses funeral doom.

With just 2 tracks, Coffin Breath exhales their brand of suffocating pestilence in the rawest form possible, yet this does not mean that these two compositions are simple or overly repetitive in any way. The key element here is the absolutely oppressive, asphyxiating atmosphere attained in these tracks, with each instrument perfectly balanced in the mix to achieve it so. The guitars are really heavy and low, yet they're mixed with a level of clarity that makes every riff and every harmonization distinguishable and crushing. The bass adds its weight to the slow crawl of the guitar’s riffs, always keeping up with the guitars yet shining on its own for brief moments. Drums are absolutely pummeling, never going to extreme speeds but rather using a more controlled approach as it is meant to in this particular style, with a variety of drum fills here and there but always being a crawling leviathan in its approach. Last but not least, the vocals, which are done in the standard death growl style as it is usually done in this sub-genre. The vocal delivery is powerful and accentuates the music's atmosphere perfectly, while also using high shrieks and one particular segment at the end of track 2 that is more "spoken word" than anything else.

It is the sum of all these excellent parts that make for an awesome release. Even with 2 tracks, it's about 20 minutes long and worth every damn second of it. Despite the songs' length the tracks never feel boring or repetitive and the end result is captivating and suffocating in equal parts. While this demo was released on May 3rd, 2021 it has been recently issued on cassette by Seed Of Doom records, so if you can, grab your tape and let the foul Coffin Breath be expelled for your disgusting delight.

Rating: 9 out of 10