In April of 2022 Coma Hole, Eryka Fir (bass/guitar/keyboards/vocals) and Steve Anderson (drums), released their self-titled debut "Coma Hole" a four song opus that melded together elements of Seattle flavoured grunginess with stonerized metal and bottom heavy hard rock over which strong distinctive vocals, a blistering mix of melodic bluesy hollers and soulful croons, held sway. In Desert Psychlist's review we described the release as "essential listening worthy of gracing any discerning rock fans music collection", a statement we still stand by. This month (November 2024) sees Coma Hole release "Hand of Severance" the long awaited follow up to their debut, expect to blown away.
The sound of a radio skipping back and forth across stations introduces opening track "Alphaholics" and is followed by the muffled sound of a band jamming on a groove, suddenly a soulful yell is heard and BANG Coma Hole explode into a fuzzy bass heavy refrain driven hard by Anderson's busy tight and solid drumming over which Fir delivers an impassioned angsty but melodic vocal, as impactful barn burning opening numbers go this ranks up there with some of the best. "Nevermind" follows and boasts a full on and furious dynamic that only briefly lets up to allow Fir's vocals to drop from a holler to a croon in preparation for the soulful wail she closes the song with. "Rivermouth" jams a groove that is circular and heavy yet Fir's vocals here lean towards the more bluesy end of the vocal spectrum, a touch richer and slightly more melancholic."Luster" is up next and here we find Coma Hole pushing the bluesy elements of their sound to the fore, Anderson's drumming here is unfussy but right on the money while Fir keeps things anchored and fuzzy with low grizzled refrains, what makes this track though is its far too brief centre piece which finds Fir wailing wordless and exotic over a simple but effective drum pattern before the song suddenly re-ignites in waves of screaming lead, low end fuzziness and thunderous percussion. The eastern exotica that got a brief shoe-in at the centre of "Luster" gets lead billing on the excellent "King Bee", an atmospheric torch-style tome, Fir not only getting to amaze us with the strength and power of her vocals and the bone shaking qualities of her bass playing here but also her prowess on six-strings and keyboards. Coma Hole came in heavy with first track "Alphaholics" and they go out even heavier with "Nooses", an absolute peach of a closer that although once again toys with eastern flavours still manages to feel crushing and intense, well that is until its final seconds when all the bluster is swept away and we are left with Fir serenely serenading us alone, and with her own double tracked harmonies, to gentle and emotive piano accompaniment.
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