Coven - Boneless Christian (1993)

It was hard being a thrash band in 1993, unless your name was Metallica, or Sepultura, or Pantera. And yet, others were plodding along, including Coven of Washington, who released their third and final 'opus' Boneless Christian. It had been four years since Death Walks Behind You, and the time away had certainly made a few changes in the band's sound. You have a few different guitar players adding guitar solos here, some new members, and some of the songs were written by an outside contributor. The core of the band's sound remains: meaty thrash metal with sacrilegious and bordering on stupid lyrics. But there are quite a few subtle differences that made this album a letdown.

Let's talk about improvements though. The bass and drums on this album are a far cry better than the previous releases. The bass really pops along below the thick palm mutes, and the drums feel far more vibrant and punishing. Before it was the guitar and vocals that drove the band's compositions, the rhythm section was simply hanging along for the ride. Listen to the bass in "Christsycle/Reaming the Pope" to hear the change. No, on this album, it's actually the vocals that take the back seat.

Sure, they still have the tendency to infect when they start opening up, but I found most of patterns here kind of silly and dumb.They bounce around in abandon over a slew of busy if not so memorable guitar rhythms, and while an argument can be made that this is the band's most 'polished' studio effort, it's also very cheesy and feels like the well of Hell has finally dried up. I think the ridiculous "Fuckin' a Nun" has the only set of guitar rhythms here that I could get behind. Even when the band gets a little more thoughtful in the riffing, like the almost proggish thrash that starts to take shape in "Boneless Christian", I wasn't hooked. The vocals throughout most of the album are weak, aside from a few points at which they carry some of their earlier, Tom Araya influence.

Fed up with a diet of force-fed religion
With every problem, therein lies it's own solution
We could feed every Christian
To the hungry and the homeless
But before you do, you'd better
Make sure they're boneless!

By this point, devouring Christians and having sex with nuns were old hat. Death metal bands like Cannibal Corpse had arrived and spewed such sickening gore that the metal fanbase was quickly becoming desensitized. Bands like Coven, who once had the shock value to match their freakish riffing and vocals, sounded tame by comparison, and this album really falls flat. Where before the band maintained a crunchy, wild composure to their writing that hooked me for two albums, Boneless Christian very much feels like a phoned in failure to achieve a past glory. The musicianship is not all that bad, but there just aren't any songs here that I can sink my fangs into. Seriously, not a single song that I would ever want to replay.

Highlights: Nun?!? I meant none.

Verdict: Fail [4.5/10] (this is the tale of Satan's tool)

http://www.myspace.com/911fun