Posts Tagged ‘Serpent Cult’

Album of the day: Serpentcult – Raised By Wolves

Posted on Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

Lovingly pinched from Doommantia: Belgian sludge-doomsters Serpentcult have had more bad luck than most bands with constant line-up changes and all but now they are back, this time as a stripped-down three-piece consisting of Frédéric Caure, Steven Van Cauwenbergh and Frederik ‘Cozy’ Cosemans. The worst thing about these changes is Michelle is gone and I really miss her exceptional powerful vocals on this but there is no doubting that  Raised By Wolves is still a good album once you get past the absence of those fire-breathing female vocals.

I didn’t really know what to expect with this album and at first, I found it a little hard to get into but over the next few spins, it has grown on me immensely. The band is of course no secret for hardcore doom-fans, they have supported the likes of Electric Wizard and band members have been in bands such as Pantheist and Thee Plague Of Gentlemen and any one that calls him or herself a true doomster would already know about them by now.

This album has been produced by the band and was mastered by Greg Chandler from Esoteric so you know right from the start you are going to hear something with a massive sound and it does totally deliver in the production department. The other element that is overwhelmingly good is the atmosphere. Raised By Wolves has a brooding tension that runs throughout the entire 40 minutes that is captivating to the extreme. The band hasn’t changed that much despite the departure of a gifted vocalist but there is some subtle differences.

This release is mostly instrumental with one song, ‘Crippled And Frozen’ being 100% instrumental with no vocals at all. Despite this, it still sounds totally Serpentcult but I have to say, I couldn’t help but think about Triptykon while listening to this as it has the same kind of ethereal vibe about it. There is only 4 songs on the album, all of which are just under or just over 10 minutes in length but nothing drags on too long and the album as a whole piece of work flows beautifully.

Continue reading: DOOMMANTIA: Serpentcult – Raised By Wolves ….

Tags: Album of the day, doom, Doommantia, Listenable Records, Raised By Wolves, Serpent Cult
Posted in 2011, Album of the Day, Roadburn Recommended | No Comments »