Review / 200 Words Or Less
Coffins / XXX Maniak
The Cracks of Doom

Creeping Vine (2008) — Scottie

Coffins / XXX Maniak – The Cracks of Doom cover artwork
Coffins / XXX Maniak – The Cracks of Doom — Creeping Vine, 2008

To offend me takes special talent, talent that knows no boundaries to how far the one can push idea of indecency. People who believe there is nothing sacred, no subject matter too taboo that they cannot molest it. These people play in the XXX Maniak. The cover art alone on this made me ashamed to have the CD in my house, but then hearing XXX Maniak's songs brought me shame to think it could be promising. Sexist porno/gore grind that makes AC look like a Tooth and Nail act. They'll certainly never play ABC No Rio. Napalm Death shakes their collective heads.

Coffins, who drew my attention to disc, offer little to nothing new on The Cracks of Doom. By little, I mean the title track, "Cracks of Doom," which only a completest would long for, treading the same path of most of their other releases. Slow, heavy, sludgy by way of dirty distortion: we've heard it before, but better. By nothing new, I mean a cover of Cathedral's "Ebony Tears." Not straying too far from the original, the track only serves to show new listeners where Coffins got their influences.

Waste of money, and waste of time, period.

4.0 / 10 — Scottie • February 25, 2009

Coffins / XXX Maniak – The Cracks of Doom cover artwork
Coffins / XXX Maniak – The Cracks of Doom — Creeping Vine, 2008

Recently-posted album reviews

Heather The Jerk

Scroll If You Love The Devil
Mpls Ltd. (2026)

On Scroll If You Love The Devil, Heather The Jerk is back with more curmudgeoncore. This vinyl is an upgrade -- I suppose the marketing team would call it the deluxe -- adding four new songs to a full album that was previously released on cassette this year.I've covered a lot of Heather Sawyer's music, beginning with The Hussy and … Read more

Skeptic?

Graphic Details
Independent (2026)

One of the things I love about reviewing music is stumbling across bands that have somehow managed to fly under my radar for years. Sometimes it's a new band just getting started, and other times it's a group that's been kicking around the underground for decades without me ever crossing paths with them. Birmingham, Alabama's Skeptic? falls firmly into the … Read more

​Pressure Set

​Pressure Set
Dr Strange Records (2026)

Punk rock has never needed complexity to make an impact. Sometimes, all it takes is a handful of riffs, a relentless rhythm section, and enough attitude to make the whole thing stick. Pressure Set understands that formula, but rather than simply recycling it, the band coats it in layers of filthy fuzz, garage-rock swagger, and an unexpectedly sharp melodic sensibility. … Read more