VM-UNDERGROUND

Extreme Metal Fanzine est. 2012

Latest Updates

Filter by: band
[%] - [[0-9]] - [A] - [B] - [C] - [D] - [E] - [F] - [G] - [H] - [I] - [J] - [K] - [L] - [M] - [N] - [O] - [P] - [Q] - [R] - [S] - [T] - [U] - [V] - [W] - [X] - [Y] - [Z]
Filter by: label
[[0-9]] - [A] - [B] - [C] - [D] - [E] - [F] - [G] - [H] - [I] - [J] - [K] - [L] - [M] - [N] - [O] - [P] - [Q] - [R] - [S] - [T] - [U] - [V] - [W] - [X] - [Y] - [Z]
Filter by: style
[A] - [B] - [C] - [D] - [E] - [F] - [G] - [H] - [I] - [P] - [S] - [T] - [V]
Filter by: country
[A] - [B] - [C] - [D] - [E] - [F] - [G] - [I] - [L] - [M] - [N] - [P] - [R] - [S] - [T] - [U]
Filter by: vmu-author
[A] - [B] - [C] - [D] - [E] - [F] - [G] - [H] - [I] - [J] - [K] - [L] - [M] - [N] - [O] - [P] - [R] - [S] - [T] - [V] - [W] - [X] - [Y] - [Z]

Serpentfyre – Baptism of Shadows

serpentfyre – baptism of shadows

Info

‘Baptism of Shadows’ is the second album by the Finnish act Serpentfyre and comes roughly 10 years after the formation of the band. As soon as the gates open with ‘Black Funeral Coffins’, their penchant for the melody-driven Black Metal becomes clear, and some of the clearest musical references are Black Metal in the vein of in particular Sargeist but also Horna and Satanic Warmaster. Serpentfyre doesn’t limit itself to just the sound of their countrymen though, with riffs in the vein of old Gorgoroth and Dødheimsgard and even Dissection appearing throughout the 42-minute album.

Obviously, they are not the first band to combine these influences, and ultimately it all comes down to quality to make records like these stand tall above their peers. And in that Serpentfyre largely succeeds. Their leads and melancholic riffs are catchy in a memorable sort of way, bringing enough variation as the songs proceed to prevent them from being monotonous. The drum performance is equally diverse, combining faster paced sections with more creative solutions and fills. In particular the vocals stand out, sounding hoarse and varied with the right amount of reverb. The bass appears to play a somewhat more submissive role except for in more midpaced and melancholic tracks like ‘Luciferian Light of the North’ and the excellent and almost Thrash-laden closer ‘Of Rebirth and Illumination’.

As a whole the album is very enjoyable, but I cannot deny feeling a lapse of intensity when the album reaches ‘Flame of Shadows’. This particular track is based around prominent leading melodies, but these seem to be a bit more generic and a step behind the quality of the rest of the material, especially lacking the diversity and melancholy of the other tracks. This criticism is solely aimed at this particular track as for instance ‘Kaaos Kaiken Nielköön’, a song with a very similar structure, does hit the mark just right. It also doesn’t take away from the rest of the album, as ‘Baptism of Shadows’ is a large step forward from their previous EP ‘Illuminating Ruin’ and my issues with ‘Flame of Shadows’ should be considered a minor complaint.  Altogether this is clearly their best work and an overall highly enjoyable album, played with skill and intensity.

Serpentfyre

Related Articles