Drowned Sorrow
Fittings At The Coffin Shop

July 2010
Released: 2010, Self Produced
Rating: 2.5/5
Reviewer: Erich

Long Island New York’s Drowned Sorrow has been a part of the metal underground for a decade now, formed in 2000. FITTINGS AT THE COFFIN SHOP is the band’s third release, an EP that displays the bands DIY work ethic with an aggressive blend of thrash and death metal while emphasizing hardcore/metalcore tendencies. Drowned Sorrow has shared the stage with well known bands including God Forbid and Arsis. The new release makes a play for wider recognition and bigger and better things.



The promotional material describes the band as having “dense, powerful rhythms, evocative melodic textures and dynamic vocal intensity that engage the listener and wind them through epic, cathartic release.” This is reasonably accurate, although the “dynamic vocal intensity” amounts to mainly hardcore/metalcore raw throat screams and not much variety or epic qualities. Likewise the “melodic textures” are few and far between. Opening track “The Host” is stylistically the most varied tune on the album, with funk-like distorted chords mixed in with a pummeling tempo before transitioning into a melodic slower interlude and several other changes. The rest of the EP is one where song titles do not matter, as there is virtually no distinction between one track and the next, although “Deception Waves Hello” has a melodic clean guitar ending. Refreshingly, the moshes and breakdowns are limited and not as predictable as most in this genre. Hats off to the production work as well, although the vocals are mixed too loud for my tastes.



Musically, the album has its moments but there are three things working against it. Dan Roberts’s vocals are patently unoriginal, the songs change direction too often to allow time for any of them to resonate, and the metalcore genre is oversaturated. Yes, despite subtle incorporations of death and thrash, this is a metalcore album. The boundaries of the metalcore genre are confining and limiting, and Drowned Sorrow does not push very hard against those boundaries. It is a shame, because the album works best when the band does experiment and tinker with the formula. Within the realm of metalcore this could be considered a respectable and in some ways inventive album that will probably please fans of this style, but it emphatically will not alter or make an impression on the wider metal world.