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Forgotten Horror: The serpent creation
25/10/11 || revenant
You know, it’s been a long fucken time since a CD hit the GD mailbox that I considered worth giving full coverage to. Usually we’re inundated with pointless, redundant and rubbish records that are not worth their weight in Smalley’s turds. But not today. Today we’ve hit a fucking winner in the form of this three piece black/thrash outfit from Finland and their debut full length release “The Serpent Creation”. Is it worth your time learn about them? Oh fucking yes it is.
My initial impression of this album, upon first listen, was to describe the band as black metal meets Tribulation’s “The Horror”. “The Serpent Creation” has similarly structured songs: serpentine in form songs that writhe between one stylistic approach and the other. One minute you’ll be rocking out to some fantastic thrashin’ grooves, only to find everything is suddenly tipped on it’s head as the band masterly switches styles to black metal and assaults you with ferocious tremolo picking and blast beats. The switches are sudden, and the two styles are generally quite separate from each other. For the most part Forgotten Horror keeps the balance between the two genres right, and the switching between the two always feels natural and the tempo changes perfectly managed.
As far as the thrash side goes, there are some definitely catchy and groovy riffs here that could go well in any pure thrash band’s armoury. Vocals, which for black metal vocals aren’t too high in pitch, fit the thrashy sections with their raw aggression. The black metal passages tend to lean a bit too heavily on the tremolo picking and blast beating at times, but these are done with utmost proficiency and show the band’s technical strength. The drumming through each style is superb, maintaining steady footwork and constant tempo changes.
If I were to pick a downside for this album, I’d single out the production. The sound is good, but for this style it’s too fucken clean and modern. When I listen to black/thrash, I want raw, nasty, filthy production. It’s delivery should have the same impact as being stabbed by a rusty knife. That’s not to say the production here is bad, it’s just not bad arse enough for me.
As a debut album, “The Serpent Creation” is a great start from a promising band. The skill and aggression are certainly there, as is the songcraft. Though the two styles of black and thrash fill separate sections within each song, the switches and tempo changes are smoother than my work with the ladies in my heyday. There may be a little too much black for thrash fans, and vice versa, but if you have an appreciation of both styles then this CD is certainly a win.
- Information
- Released: 2011
- Label: Woodcut Records
- Website: Forgotten Horror MySpace
- Band
- Tuomas Karhunen: vocals, guitars
- Corpse: bass
- Kassara: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. Destroyer of Time
- 02. Poison of God
- 03. For Thy Crimson Glory
- 04. Burial Ground Prayer
- 05. She Who Dwells Beyond Death
- 06. The Serpent Creation
- 07. Hannibal
- 08. Dreams of Scipio
