SERPENT OF OLD - Ensemble Under The Dark Sun
Transcending Obscurity Records
In my not so humble opinion I believe the sub-genre of Blackened Death Metal has reached it's limits on the template. If you push the needle any further then you're in Death Doom territory. So we're looking at a sub-genre which is about thirty something years old. In that time it's gone from some melodic stuff to the brutal/tech death route and finally we're at the edge where the sound is emissions from the bowels of hell. Oh yeah I like where we're at right now musically.
So for a blackened death metal band to achieve some success and appreciation they need to do a couple of things. First off the musicianship must be perfection. Next up the song writing must be strong, concise and not drag the listener into dragged out soundscapes of atmospheric projection. Third I think the vocals must come across as having the singer recorded from inside a well or on fire. And finally the music must be so horrific that it would turn a normal person to have such nightmares which would put them in an insane asylum.
Case in point here we have the debut album by this Turkish five piece, SERPENT OF OLD. Yes the band is new but the players behind the music are veterans of their extreme music scene. Three members are also in the death thrash act ARCHAIC VANITY. This band's vocalist is also in the brutal death metal act DECIMATION. I know about them since they had a couple of releases out on Comatose Music.
As far as SERPENT OF OLD go yeah they check all of the boxes I previously mentioned. For starters yes musically this is blackened death to perfection. There's plenty of tremolo picked riffs, savage high note soloing and heavy handed DM riffs as well. With two guitarists working in tandem it's easy for there to be a great mix of savagery and atmospheric moments.
As far as the vocals go you've got the combination of the bestial and the brutal. Yeah Cthulhu would approve. Finally the songs, there are six of em, two of which are over eight minutes in length, one is over seven minutes and another is over ten minutes. the shortest cut, "Virtue of the Devil is in His Loins", is almost a fuckin prayer with extreme tremolo picked guitar. The final cut, "Idiosyncrasy" is just shy of five minutes and is like the icing on this filth cake.
Remember what I said about song writing? Well the longer cuts on here are like mini-epics of hellish torture that mix up the song structures enough that there's no drag or repetitive sounds. So it's 2023 and with bands reaching their peak within the genre constructs. It's all about perfection instead of copying. This debut album by SERPENT OF OLD is perfection in blackened death metal.
LISTEN HERE:
https://serpentofold.bandcamp.com/album/ensemble-under-the-dark-sun
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