Serpent Cult – Trident Nor Fore
Where fellow label mates Totem align themselves with the stoner side of doom, Belgium’s Serpent Cult are also female led in the vocal department, but strike out with more of a crushingly heavy death/doom attack. Trident Nor Fire sounds fantastic with an infinite amount of bottom end to fill in all the holes and the music keeps moving along with riff ideas that can be dissonant/tense and building in tempo, only to erode off into a throaty exhale of grooved out doom segments full of hooky movement. Michelle’s vocals are clean pitch singing and offset the distortion effectively. She actually reminds me a lot of Jex from Totem, though modeling her voice more after Messiah from old Candlemass rather than Jex’s Ozzy affinity. The music is engaging and full of life, and by focusing on a more encompassing sound that pulls influences from the death and doom genres has made this MCD a very open minded and mighty listening experience. Close this out with the bands rendition of Uriah Heep’s “Rainbow Demon” and you have a very powerful and eclectic mix of musical exploration. -Marty
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