Pre some show or another I was chatting to one of the guys working in London venue The Underworld and he was telling me all about his band and the album they were working on. It was a blast from the past as far as I was concerned as the band Serpentia were one I knew having picked up their debut 2003 release ‘Dark Fields Of Pain’ and liking it a fair bit at the time. I had no idea the group were still going and promised to look out for the album and review it. Finally it dropped through the door. Things have not all been that easy for the band by the looks of things. Despite the fact they quickly recorded a follow up to the debut they were in the doldrums before relocating to London in 2007. Apparently they then changed their band name to Painfields then back to the original Serpentia and promptly split up. Still determination can lead to great things so I was intrigued to find out what the remaining trio that are the band now had come up with.
The first thing that strikes is how far Serpentia have come since their debut. Like that album which dealt thematically with physical suffering and mental decay the group have come up with a narrative that is encompassed in both lyrics and artwork. I could simply tell you to think of Christopher Walken and go and watch The Prophecy as that is basically what we are dealing with here; the archangel Gabriel and the war in heaven.
That ‘Archangel’ is summoned for the opening track which sets up the scene with atmospheric spoken word and acoustic guitar. A heavy bass groove rattles in with a Gojira like bombast on ‘On The Wings Of Destiny’ and singer Ivy growls angrily away whilst the guitars spiral with dextrous weaving scythes and solos. It is at this point that I found myself likening the band a fair amount to Rotting Christ and as the album progresses I certainly can see quite a similar flow to things as the Greek band were doing circa their own angelic period of 1999. There is an incredibly distinct guitar sound about this and Damian the player really gets a great signature nuance on this album, which you really get into as the songs continue.
Groove is a word that also comes up a lot and it is mighty and solid as tracks like ‘Pain No More’ rumble out the speakers but the somewhat Gothic melodic passages are also working in contrast to texture the songs with more than any single dimensionality. This makes it both angry and violent as well as very accessible and for that reason this should certainly get the group a widespread appeal. The ugly vocal delivery of ‘Exile’ stands out along with the jagged tension filled guitars but the song still has time to proffer a sweet acoustic break and a sinister vocal chant, there is plenty going on here and the album barely stands still for a second. A clean vocal part on ‘Death Is My Only Friend’ reminds me of both Type O and Moonspell and took me by surprise first time around. This also works very well.
I guess the good news is with the group being over in London there is a good chance of getting to see them live as on the strength of this I would certainly like to. ‘The Day In The Year Of Candles’ is every bit as thought provoking as its title suggests and is well worth checking out by anyone who remembers the band from before or are new to them.
http://www.serpentia.pl
Pete Woods
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