Crushing Split

Jesus, why don't they make split CDs like these anymore? First you have an absolutely blasting assault from prolific Tokyo sludgelords Coffins. These guys have been at it since 2000 - simple downtuned heavy-as-fuck death metal... the audio equivalent of someone punching you in the face with a molten sledgehammer. "Acid Orgy" is a cover of Las Vegas blasphemers Goatlord and sounds a little hokey at times but fuck it - it is so distorted and loud you will be absolutely reeling in sludge glory. Regarding Otesanek, I cannot say enough about this defunct and sadly elusive Philly-based drone/doom/bleak-as-fuck shit band. The most miserable dirge ever recorded (putting such compadres as Khanate, Moss and Nadja to shame) - production-wise this is easily their strongest song (all wretched 20 minutes of it). Don't be fooled, they probably were actually vomiting as they recorded this one... The cover art was created by artist Steve Mullay shortly before taking his own life, and is offered in tribute to him. Enjoy.

To Hew Children

Japanesludge

Amazing eponymous 2004 EP from these curiously underrated Nipponese doomlords. At one time dot(.) was an active side project for Coffins bandmates Uchino (guitar/vocals) and You (drums); though they permanently left the group almost immediately after this record was rleased. Dot(.) forged on with new members (including an extremely attractive female guitarist) but kept their sparse recorded output limited to splits, compilations and 7-inchers. As far as the status of dot(.) today, their website hasn't been updated in almost a decade but there was an '09 split with SU19B so hopefully the band is still at it. Enjoy.

Period