The Father Of Serpents - Age Of Damnation

I admit I care about band’s names, and The Father Of Serpents is not a name that drives my attention initially. My opinion: too long. But my opinion and $ 10,00 buy a CD. So I put “Age Of Damnation” to play. Yeah, the hell with the name! The Father Of Serpents “Age Of Damnation” is a very good effort. The thing I liked most is the myriad of vocals done in all ten tracks of “Age Of Damnation.” The Father Of Serpents alternate a clean, and well-tuned vocal, with a powerful and hollow gutural. The result is a contrast of singing that gives more variety to songs. More opportunities to The Father Of Serpents express their myriad of emotions. And a Metal band always has a lot of emotions to explore.

The Father Of Serpents in “Age Of Damnation” do a smart explotation of their chosen style, doom metal, has to give. Every style has its own reaches and purposes, and doom metal is what it is. Its slow tempo songs allow bands to care more about instrumentals, and that’s what “Age Of Damnation” is made of: good instrumentals. The bass guitar, always the ugly duckling of Metal, had a highlight here due to the clean and open production that allows all instruments to shine. “Tainted Blood” and “The God Will Weep For You” are some of them. The care on production is always something that can perfect a band or kill it. For The Father Of Serpents sake it was the first option. Songs like “The Afterlife Symphony” show that The Father Of Serpents cared a lot about the instrumental. Again the vocal duet is the highlight, and also the symphonic parts. The clean vocals gave songs a post-punk taste, something like 1980s gothic bands. It works fine. Check it out in “The Last Encore.” In some songs like “The God Will Weep For You” another facet of vocals is shown: an angry harsh one. Yeah, The Father Of Serpents are a band with many vocal abilities and facets. But not only, instrumentals are well-cared as well. Facing the executioner, facing the choice between a slow or fast death, The Father Of Serpents would for sure choose slow. No doubt about it. By analogy of the pain and suffering that The Father Of Serpents “Age Of Damnation” want to express, imagine that guy who worked for long thirty years in the same boring, low-paid and meaningless job. Done? That’s it! The suffering of life itself. And The Father Of Serpents “Age Of Damnation” was a good expression of that.