Yet the music is even better. Some will brand this melodic death metal, and that's not an invalid label at all, but unlike a lot of music of that medium its components are more clearly extricable from the typical morass of genre-smash ups. The rhythm guitars are almost entirely thrash metal based, and smothered in tasteful, rock star lead work that constantly ramps up the excitement level while not leeching away from any perceived punch of heaviness. The exceptions are tremolo picked passages or chord selections more reminiscent of thrash's evolution into the formative, Floridian style of death metal, in particular the first few Death records, only the production here isn't quite so abrasive or raw. You'll get a pretty wide variety of riffs, from straight up Exodus neck-bangers, to faster palm muted thrusts and eerie melodies that were highly redolent of the pair-up of Eric Peterson and Alex Skolnick over the classic Testament discography. Where it gets grimier and more intense it can verge of the Carcass-fed death metal style that bands like Ghoul, Impaled and Exhumed worship, but the mix is just so clean that it doesn't aesthetically feel too much like any of those.
The majority of its death metal element centers on the vocals, an entertaining guttural which is often slathered in snarled or growled 'harmonizing', again in that age-old grind-borne Carcass camp, or akin to Deicide in places. However, while sustained in spots, the vocal patterns are more punctuated, coming off like a mix of David Vincent, Max Cavalera and the front men to the thrash acts I had previously mentioned. At any rate, they never feel lazy or sloppy, but precisely plotted to give the riffs a maximum of amusing impact and to balance off against the slew of leads. Speaking of which, these are almost to the point of transforming Crack the Coffin into a 'guitar hero' sort of record, not because they're glaringly original or innovative, but because they clearly show an influence from bands like Megadeth, or again, Testament, who always emphasized the importance of this to their own classic compositions. At no point do they feel wanky and excessive, but they're obviously a huge part of this record, even more so than when bands like Carcass or Impaled would use them.
The drums sound great, mixed for adept heaviness, and the bass guitar is fat and audible plodding alongside the neck straining guitars on tunes like "Splattervision Channel 3". The introduction to the album, "Trials and Exhumations", opens with a great horror-style intro that's obviously a play on the classic like Carpenter's Halloween theme, only enriched once it transforms into melodic guitars, not unlike something the Swedish band Raise Hell would do. The cover of the Misfits' "Skulls" is a bit bland, but only because it's much the same as the original, with the vocals changed to growls, but little other metalization, something I'm always fond of hearing on these sorts of tributes. Thankfully that's just the end of the record, and the 22 short and sweet moments leading up to it are incredibly consistent, engaging and well worth your time if you're into the sort of stuff I've compared it to, or you just want a fun Halloween thrashing with death metal tendencies. Prior albums were far from slouches, but this kicks The Red Mass in the pants, indicative that the eight years since that time were put to great use as these Jersey boys honed their chops.
Verdict: Win [8.5/10]
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