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Cough – Sigillum Luciferi [Forcefield Recordings 2008]
I knew Richmond, Virginia sludge mongrels Cough were on the trail of something huge with their debut EP, Kingdom. Everything about this outfit breathes a fetid air of doom so thick it was destined for the band to come out with a mound of rotten gold in the form of their first long player. It turns out that their time spent at Volume Studios under the ever bludgeoning hand of Sanford Parker was worth every penny.
“Sigillum Luciferi” is surely one of the meanest slabs of sludge that will come out this year. Every slow motion riff, echoing scream and deafening percussive strike hits straight to the bone. Their sound is thick, groovy and often times comes off as a sonic stew of early Soulpreacher, Electric Wizard, Cavity and Buzzov*en but interpreted with a truly unique flair. Sure, you’ve heard stuff like this before but Cough have put a spin on the genre that is all their own.
“Killing Fields” sets the bar at a lofty position right out of the starting gate; creeping in deliberately with feedback and serial killer doom drone that will have the hairs on the back of your neck standing on end. Drums enter slowly and for a few leisurely minutes the band had convinced me that time stopped and a swirling black vortex was all that remained of my speakers. That was until a reckoning sludge riff stands front and center with Chris Kirby’s one of a kind desperation moans enveloping the air around your senses. He does this thing sometimes where he’s not really screaming and he’s just spilling the tar of his soul out from the bottom of a canyon. It’s the sound of a man on his last legs and coming to terms with all the shitty things in life. Don’t get me wrong the guy screams too and it is the true face of evil when he does but he’s got a drugged out, almost singing thing going at times. When he laments that, “There’s no reason to live”, you believe him and know that you better steer clear of the man on a bad day. What really makes this song even better is the bluesy, choking Sabbath leads that round out the remainder of the track. They’re phenomenal and bring a sense of soulful sadness to the overall hatred that marks Cough’s bread and butter. It is one of those moments that truly lances the heart of the extreme doom/sludge lover and shows that this is a group of cats that feel this stuff deep in their gut.
Feedback proves to be one of the band’s most effective weapons as it introduces the immediately following “Hole in the Infinite”. The sneering crawl of the opening riff furthers my inkling that there is a good deal of Cavity influence in their sound until the churning molasses delivers a punch in the face that is more of a combination of Fistula and Electric Wizard as opposed to a nod to Florida’s masters. Each moment of the tune locks onto a stellar groove that is omnipresent despite the track’s feral unapologetic crush. Listen to this song and tell me it’s not one of the heaviest things you’ve ever heard. I double dare you. You’d be a liar if you did. The song descends into psychedelic madness later on with a full steam sludge attack that has plenty of mind-altering noise going on in the background.
“288 Years of Sin” returns from the Kingdom EP and is even better this time around. Another massively groovy song from the Cough boys that still sounds depressive as all hell but latches onto a few swinging riffs that are quite upbeat. The sheer might of the grooves will bowl you over in an instant with another classic lead putting the icing on the cake. Here Chris returns to that strange, distant holler that I’m such a fan of and uses it wisely to intersperse the rabid screams in just the right way. There’s an especially driving mid-section in this song that is the kind of stuff sludge legends are made from. Damn good decision to make this sucker return in spruced up form.
Murderous intent is displayed with the slinky crawl of “Northern Plague” that allows a swampy bass groove to lead the charge in the early going. Nothing about this song ever picks up in anyway; shape or form as far as speed is concerned. Instead this one is a creeping scum rocker that dumps a load of sewage on top of your head and then kicks your ass just for bragging rights. There’s still a few of their classy lead licks on display but mostly this one is just a nail to the throat approach.
They save the major swing grooves for the second half of “Shallow Grave” which starts out with a heaving deathbed riff but morphs into a no bullshit rock n’ roll shuffle in the end. As if Grief took just enough uppers in order to nail that scorching, desert burned rumble that Cavity wielded so well. Even the feedback, riff, repeat method following the big groove that the song ends on is right out of the Cavity playbook. I’m never going to knock any band that draws their influence in and Cough does it with gusto. Finishing out the mix is a song that I’m not sure the first letter of. The ridiculous font on the back of the tray leaves me wondering exactly what the hell this track’s name is. It turns out that it doesn’t really matter what it is called as it’s an epic slow burner that also happens to catch a groove late in the game only to descend into a goddamn shitstorm of menacing screams and bowel ripping feedback.
Sludge fans need this. Honestly, it is an essential album with six songs that never have an average moment. Every one of these heathen jams is a prime cut of beef with no fat. It is surely going to put them on the map and if it doesn’t then your deaf. Cough is one of the hardest hitting sludge/doom bands to come down the pike in quite sometime and there’s a bit of everything here for the diehard sludge fanatic; groove, feedback, repetition, misery and an overpowering ugly attitude. Highly recommended to all fans of the low and the slow.
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