• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Thy Serpent released this to keep their fans happy while they worked on their second (and last) full-length "Christcrusher". Rather than the usual cheap shot of releasing demos as a full CD, they actually recorded new versions of old songs with their new lineup and a real studio. The result is a very nice CD of melodic Black Metal that sounds much better than it has a right to.

As these songs all predate the debut album "Forests Of Witchery", I expected them to be more primitive than the material on that album, and they are. The thing about that is, I thought the songs on "Forests.." were just a bit too epic and unfocused, so a more basic, straightforward Thy Serpent is actually a good thing. I usually like my extreme music to be, well, extreme. And whereas the debut album was a little too mellow, this is just right. There are a lot of synth interludes scattered around, (in fact, only four of the tracks are 'real' songs) but what metal there is, is straight-ahead and rocks pretty fucking hard. Thy Serpent still don't go that fast, but these songs are much more about big, fat guitar riffs than extended melodic sequences. The production is way better than the last time out too, with a very live, analog sound to the whole thing. There is actually a lower end to the recording, and so the band sounds tons heavier than before. "Unknown" is the least characteristic song here, as it blasts away at hyper speed, and shows what this band would have sounded like if they had stuck to a more traditional BM style.

The cover shot of the stormfront is really cool, but the font chosen for the back cover is incredibly annoying. It's a good thing they listed the tracks in the booklet in a normal typeface, otherwise I would have no idea what the songs are. No lyrics either.

So this is more fun than I thought. Not as epic and experimental as the debut album, but a fun disc of some good melodic black metal. There is a lot of synth-stuff on here, and in the end, you only get 4 real songs. But for a CD of this kind, this is one that isn't strictly for fans. Worth a look.