Relapse Records made a good decision when they decided to pick up on Serpentine Path, the death/doom outfit featuring current and former members of Electric Wizard, Unearthly Trance, Ramesses and The Howling Wind. Swiftly following up their EP from earlier in the year with this self-titled full-length, the band, as it turns out, are quite the gem. Despite only forming last year, the careers of their respective components mean that Serpentine Path have the excellence and precision of seasoned veterans. It’s all made clear by the diligent execution of this record.
This is wretched death doom done by the book. The coarse melancholy and despondency breed to create a harrowing tale of eventual misanthropy. The vocals of Ryan Lipynsky (The Howling Wind, Unearthly Trance) are dripping with vehement nihilism; it’s the sound of hopelessness, and coupled with the deathly trudge of the guitars, the cacophony constantly grows in intensity, and intense despair. While the riffs are generally slow and methodical in their pace, the drums keep things a little busier with punishing beats crashing in, all complemented by interesting and purposeful fills.
When opener, “Arrows” crawls through the speakers, the album’s claws mercilessly grip and drag you into its wretched world for what seems like an eternity. That eternity is actually only 43 minutes, but it’s 43 minutes of supremely powerful and invigorating death doom, despite its overtly negative and gloomy air and subject matter.
There are moments on this record where the abject lethargy almost becomes too much to take in, like the conclusion of “Beyond the Dawn of Time”. However it’s met by “Obsoletion”, which kicks in with searing lead guitar lines that prove that Serpentine Path are anything but one trick ponies as too heard on the short pacier number of “Bats Amongst Heathens”.
“Compendium of Suffering”, then, is a track that really encapsulates a lot of what’s great about this record and also does so in shorter running time than most of the other songs. The band has the ability to stretch out the doom to lengthy passages, as generally expected, but can easily keep things concise too.
This self-titled full-length is one of the more impressive debut records of the year, but that’s hardly a surprise considering the members that have created this album, with their impressive respective catalogues.
“Serpentine Path” doesn’t come out until the 11th of September but is available to pre-order now from Relapse online HERE, both on CD or LP.
Haxan
July 19, 2012 at 3:54 am
Stoked to hear this.