Serpent of Old – Ensemble Under the Dark Sun Review

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If my dear child of the night starts the listening by album welcomer “The Sin Before The Great Sin,” the impression he/she will get is of a Doom Metal band. That’s because the song commences a dark and slow cadence giving this impression. The track is by far the opposite of the music that will come next. “The Sin Before The Great Sin” starts with a slow guitar playing note after note with a Doom Metal taste. After this the guitars start to use that technique of doubling the notes giving the impression of more speed and to give a more melodic sense. It’s only by the second minute that the song goes into a clear violent verve. That’s when the track acquires its modern facete. From then on “Ensemble Under the Dark Sun” shows its violent and right to it face.

We’ve got here a band that is a slap in the face. Better yet, it’s a direct hit in the face. Serpent of Old deliver the ugly brutal face of Death Metal. Following track “Unsaturated Hunger and Esoteric Lust” shows a Technical Death Metal facete of the band even though the spanking goes on and on. The technique is only an excuse to the band get more and more brutal giving the song that atmosphere of sonic chaos. By the way, sonic chaos is the right term for what my dear child of the night will listen here. “The Fall” follows this idea by also being a track that gathers all these features aforementioned. It’s sometimes cadenced, sometimes fast, sometimes pure violence. Bull’s eye if my dear child of the night likes moody Extreme Metal. “The Fall” is all of this with the bonus of an insane vocal. Ozan Gürbüz does all kinds of yells and screams in it passing many kinds of emotions with them.

I’ve got to say that “Ensemble Under the Dark Sun” is a very complex album musicwise. The album has some intricate moments that get very near the Technical Death Metal. But its essence is the brutal music. No shadow of doubt about it. By the way, the name Serpent of Old comes from the Book of Revelation as the “ancient serpent” or “old serpent” used to describe “the dragon”, satan the adversary, who is the devil. Good to know.

Serpent of Old “Ensemble Under the Dark Sun” will be released on June 30th via Transcending Obscurity Records.

Track Listing:

  1. The Sin Before the Great Sin
  2. Unsaturated Hunger and Esoteric Lust
  3. The Fall
  4. Virtue of the Devil in His Loins
  5. From the Impending Dusk
  6. Idiosyncrasy

Watch “The Fall” official music video here:

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