Album Review: Coliseum - 'No Salvation'

23 November 2007 | 5:55 pm | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

Down and dirty never sounded so good...

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Coliseum's dirty blend of rock

n roll, thrash and punk has been causing quite a stir over the last

couple of years, and their Relapse debut No Salvation is another

chapter in their already impressive history. Proving that you don't

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have to play dumbed down riffs to be heavy, this stripped back trio

know how to make one hell of a racket while still writing powerful and

most importantly, memorable tunes. 


A lot of bands make the mistake

of over producing their records, which means the end result is a collection

of songs that are good from a technical standpoint but are lacking any

balls. Coliseum definitely don't have that problem because No Salvation

sounds like it could kick the shit out of you!  


I hope Coliseum tour Australia

one day because “No Benefit” would kill it live. With its thrashy

beat and dirty guitar sound I can only imagine what a live show from

this Louisville three piece would look like, but I'll assume that flailing

bodies and plenty of booze would be on the agenda.  


“Defeater” is a melodic

but no less powerful tune than it's predecessor while “The Fate Of

Men” has a more progressive feel to it and shows that the band are

more than capable of slowing things without losing any momentum....

that is until the chorus picks up a bit of speed and we're back in familiar

Coliseum territory. 


“Seven Cities” is another

fast and furious number that is powered by Mike Pascal's always impressive

bass lines and the down trodden sounds of “Profetas” are sure to

appeal to fans of Cursed and The Swarm. If you thought that drums solos

were only used by arena rock bands then the intro to “Shake It Off”

may come as a bit of a surprise, but fuck it! Tommy Lee is too busy

appearing on America's Most Wanted so Coliseum may as well give it a

go. 


My favourite track on the record

would have to be “Skyline Fucker”... and not just for the title.

It's the most drawn out song that No Salvation has to offer and

it does a fantastic job of showing off all of the band's strengths in

under three minutes. “White Religion” sounds positively evil and

“Fall Of The Pigs” could put you on your arse at ten paces.

There's no clever way to describe

a balls to the wall rock n roll record. All you need to know is that

Coliseum are an aggressive, no frills band who have made one of the

dirtiest and most enjoyable albums of 2007. Get on it!


  1. No Benefit
  2. The Defeater
  3. Fate Of Men
  4. Seven Cities
  5. Profetas
  6. Shake It Off
  7. Skyline Fucker
  8. Funeral Line
  9. White Religion
  10. Intercepto