Uncoffined - Ceremonies of Morbidity

UNCOFFINED - Ceremonies of Morbidity (MEMENTO MORI - CD 2016)

Doom death metal has become an unbelievably exciting genre in the recent few years, bringing an insane number of killer bands from all over the world. I’m not even gonna mention any names here, because there’re too many of them and I would always feel like I forgot about some bands that also deserved to be mentioned. But surprisingly, there are not so many acts from the country, which is a motherland of doom death – fuckin UK! Luckily there is Uncoffined, a name, which I believe has been hugely underrated, but whose two albums are absolutely brilliant. It all started with 2013’s “Ritual Death and Funeral Rites”, but it’s “Ceremonies of Morbidity”, which Memento Mori unleashed in 2016 is an album, which stands out and belongs to the very best death doom pieces of recent years. 

“Ceremonies of Morbidity” is an hour long monolith of death doom, which in my opinion sounds like a perfect definition of the genre. It ticks all the boxes for what that music needs. Sssooo, it is slow at its pace, with insanely crushing, heavy riffage and the atmosphere of gloom. When you listen to the music, you feel the riffs are like something creepy and horrid slowly crawls in the mud, bringing irrational fear. Ghastly growls perfectly underline that atmosphere of horror, so are all the movie samples, which Uncoffined used in-between the songs. There are five ceremonies on the album, together they last for an hour, so it is easy to count how long each song is. If you think that it can bring monotony and even dullness, then you are wrong, because these songs sound perfect and Uncoffined did everything to avoid mistakes. I think there’s enough variety within these five tracks to keep the listener interested and that includes few a bit more energetic, mid-tempo parts and harmonious pieces. Besides, “Ceremonies of Morbidity” has that cool influence from the very classic doom metal, like Cathedral, Candlemass or Trouble, which is very welcome and awesome. Of corpse you can bring also newer bands to the whole inspiration list, such as Hooded Menace, which may be the most obvious comparison... and well, it is just right to say that Uncoffined are equally good to the Finnish monster in cloak. More so, I have to say that there’s a great improvement from the first album. The music sounds better, it is better composed and more interesting, Uncoffined has taken a huge step forward and in the right direction. 

So, I am surprised that it’s so quiet around Uncoffined and it doesn’t even seem like there will be a continuation of this superb album. I hope there will! “Ceremonies of Morbidity” is a must have album, in my opinion, so do not hesitate to add it to your basket, when you see a copy in one of the distros. 

Verdict: 85/100