Charleston thrash-metal act Coffin Slide reverberates aggressive punk on steroids.
The band first formed in 2019 when singer/guitarist Scott Baldino joined forces with drummer Sean Rikard, and today its lineup also includes guitarist Isaiah Araujo and bassist Jason Dalter.
“The vibe is very fresh punk rock heavy metal with a hardcore side — it has a dark feel to it,” Dalter told the Charleston City Paper. “That’s the imagery: dark and sinister.”
Coffin Slide has played more than 70 shows since releasing the EP Let Us In and the LP Pariah in 2020. On Sept. 17, the four-piece will open for iconic crossover-thrash act Dirty Rotten Imbeciles at Tin Roof in West Ashley.
The act’s new music video “Unchained Aggression,” a standout track on Pariah, evokes imagery of torment and catharsis. Baldino sings: “I cast a shadow / a darker form, a hidden self / Harbinger of pain and sorrow / burning soul of an empty shell.”
When filming the video in Atlanta with producer Jomar McCary of Mrshamoozoo Films, Dalter said the band had a long talk with him about the storytelling behind the band’s doom-impending sound. Coffin Slide’s dystopian frame of mind is captured in the music video with scenes of chaotic demolition and hostile mannerisms.
While Baldino has been the main songwriter for Coffin Slide’s previous releases, Dalter has been adding some of his own songwriting to the mix as the band creates new work for a sophomore record.
“Pariah is kind of like a book, and each song is a chapter,” Dalter said. “Some of it is fantasy, but there are songs that have a more personal touch, like ‘Unchained Aggression.’ Everything is evolving now and changing now as my writing is starting to come into the picture. We have a bit more attitude, a little more zest and fire. Or if you want to be crass — call it piss and vinegar. With the world how it is today, there’s a lot we need to get off our chests.”
Baldino added, “The writing is a little more acerbic.”
To him, Coffin Slide serves as a medium through which he can make sense of pent up feelings.
“When I play and I write, it helps me to process how I feel about things, and it helps me to get it out too in the live performance,” Baldino said. “If there’s some anger that I haven’t quite dealt with, it comes out on the stage.”
Making heavy music is countercultural, Dalter said, yet communal.
“It makes you part of a club,” he said. “You share something — there’s a bond. Other music is more individualistic.
“Everybody says that being in heavy metal is dangerous — but nothing could be further from the truth. It’s about standing up and overcoming fears that hinder your life.”
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