Finnish unknowns positively surprise with a grand declaration of war in EP format
Like Sweden and Norway, Finland is home to its own host of excellent black metal bands, even if bands like Horna, Behexen or Impaled Nazarene doesn't ring a bell quite as loudly as, say, Marduk or Darkthrone. Serpenthia from Joensuu has very little in common with the bestial cacophonies of Beherit or the raw tremolos of Satanic Warmaster though.
Despite having had somewhat of a revolving door lineup over the years, Serpenthia has, since the band's creation in 2002, had a steady output of various demos, culminating in this 2012 EP entitled Beyond. Judging this book by its cover you'd think Serpenthia would be some female fronted symphonic metal atrocity, and while boundless melodies certainly aren't foreign elements to their style, this is far from the case.
Despite having had somewhat of a revolving door lineup over the years, Serpenthia has, since the band's creation in 2002, had a steady output of various demos, culminating in this 2012 EP entitled Beyond. Judging this book by its cover you'd think Serpenthia would be some female fronted symphonic metal atrocity, and while boundless melodies certainly aren't foreign elements to their style, this is far from the case.
"The thick guitar sound swarms around an assortment of dark subjects,"
Instead of letting majestic - and cheesy - symphonic synths take over completely, the keyboards have taken a back seat to allow for their blasting black metal compositions to fully come into their own. The thick guitar sound swarms around an assortment of dark subjects, accentuating a style that makes Serpenthia stand out from the crowd.
By taking a simple riff or melody and turning it around and inside out, the Finnish group keeps things interesting throughout this invocation. Clocking in at almost forty minutes, Beyond can scarcely be called an EP - Slayer's magnum opus album Reign in Blood was, after all, only about twenty eight minutes long. But even so, Serpenthia never misses a beat and shakes things up regularly enough for the release to be sufficiently worthy of listening.
By taking a simple riff or melody and turning it around and inside out, the Finnish group keeps things interesting throughout this invocation. Clocking in at almost forty minutes, Beyond can scarcely be called an EP - Slayer's magnum opus album Reign in Blood was, after all, only about twenty eight minutes long. But even so, Serpenthia never misses a beat and shakes things up regularly enough for the release to be sufficiently worthy of listening.
7/10
Released in 2012 independently
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