Coscradh - Carving the Causeway to the Otherworld

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 Coscradh is a blackened Death Metal band from Ireland that formed in 2015. Their latest album, “Carving the Causeway to the Otherworld” is their second full-length album; they have also released a demo, two EPs and a compilation.

This is my first experience with the band, but it isn't one I will soon forget. It's fast, tightly played, and vicious. It might be a ripping solo, a blackened scream, or a riff that delivers the final blow, but this album will eventually knock you on your ass. But it’s also steeped in an ancient veil of mysticism, something ancient and profound but also horrific beyond modern understandings.


“Carving the Causeway to the Otherworld” can be a scary album too. When the band plays inside their considerably deep pockets and finds a groove, they chill straight down the spine before ripping it out. What makes all this so convincing is the band's songwriting skills and the musicianship that fuels them.  It takes a lot of talent to play extreme metal, but these guys have some really sharp, homed in skills. They know their craft and they make it work for them.


These songs are both atmospheric (in a non-atmospheric way, if that makes sense) and unrelenting. It's controlled chaos. Maybe it's more than that. Maybe they ARE the chaos. Either way, buckle up buttercup because this is a hell of a ride through arcane fury.


“Five Fifths Awaken,” acts as both an intro and an actual song. It's a little slower in places than the rest of the songs, allowing a buildup to the horror that awaits. It's a steady approach but one that builds appropriately.


And if it wasn't evident by the song's end, the drumming on this album needs to be studied because, well, goddamn. The title track is up next and begins as the first song ends but such is the excellent flow of the album as a whole.


The riffs on this one deep as a cavern but graced with blazing speed and the will to always move forward. The vocals alternate between blackened screams and death growls which adds to the band's very natural path of extremity. The middle passage is amazing. The riffs sort of hang in the air before dropping off a cliff and resurfacing as deadly groove. They ending is maddening!


“Scythe of Saturn,” is a clawing animal trying to get through to its prey. The guitar tone os profane while the drums guide the violence through a cavern of ripping solos and profane vocals.  The way this song handles the changing mood and tempos is so goddam smooth that I kept rewinding the seconds just to hear the transitions again.  The ending passages after the song comes out of the second solo is a ripper of a moment.


The final song, “Opening the Gates to Styx, Nix, Kerberos and Hydra,” may not even be a song. What is this? A natural destruction put into music? Death delivering its dealings out with notes instead of an icy touch? I do know what thing: the solo around the 3:20 mark is fantastic and I love how the song changes to match its craziness. Afterwards, the band is firing on all cylinders.  Phew, a blistering song if I've ever heard one.


Coscradh have hit the nail on the head and splintered the wood in the process with “Carving the Causeway to the Otherworld.” I've heard several great extreme metal albums this year but this one is one of the best in 2026's early days. Highly recommended.


Rating: Excellent















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