When I heard that some of the members started a new band, and that it also had ex-members of Sanctum, I was pretty excited to hear it. I checked out the bandcamp page and was pretty underwhelmed initially. The songs sort of had a sound reminiscent of Stormcrow, but I guess I was just expecting them to pick up exactly where Stormcrow left off, which seems foolish to think about now.
Some time passed, and I pretty much forgot about Femacoffin, until I was looking for something new to listen to and decided, as I often do, to give them another shot. This time, I didn't have quite the expectations that I did the first time around. What I heard was some songs in the same chuggy mid-paced plodding style that I love, but the songs didn't seem to be quite as well structured or dynamic as the Stormcrow material. Then I heard the instrumental track, Polaris, which is fucking brilliant. Of course, this is a demo, so I shouldn't expect second-album cohesiveness or anything. Overall, the Femacoffin material is much more bleak, and the song structures fit that a little better. I also learned to like that they don't just fall back on the familiar old tempos and rhythms of their previous bands, but do something slightly refreshing, but still not totally foreign. By the end of the five songs, it really hits home, especially between Polaris and the last track, Into Oblivion. Like with Stormcrow, some of the lyrics shine through just enough to catch some memorable lines. The production doesn't quite have that clean yet horrendous crunch of Stormcrow (which is what initially drew me to them) but I can hang.
The tape itself looks pretty cool, too. I like that the cassette shell is a drab off-white, and everything is written in plain block letters. It visually reminds me of the Godflesh EP in a way. The cover isn't all that interesting, but not all that different from the demo of one of my current bands, so I shouldn't criticize too much.
Like I already said, the song structure and overall flow of this demo didn't hit me until the last two songs and this is just a demo after all. I'm really looking forward to what this band will do next, as I think this demo is just the tip of the iceberg.
oh yeah: femacoffin.bandcamp.com
