Published on Sep 4, 2001
If I remember correctly from watching Cosmos nearly 20 years
ago, one of the theories about the “Big Bang” is that the universe
will eventually collapse in upon itself. Sometimes, I feel like the
whole death metal scene is ready to have that happen.
Now, mind you, I happen to like death metal, moreso for the
speed, power and intensity of the music than some of the messages
encoded into the songs. But there are so few bands willing to take
a chance with the genre; they all seem content to just banging away
on their instruments as fast as they can and singing songs of
praise to the devil.
Take the Swedish band Serpent Obscene and their self-titled
album. Would someone go up to these guys, slap them upside the head
and tell them that it’s possible to write a song in more than the
frickin’ key of “E”? Writing songs in the same music key gets
repetitious. Writing songs in the same music key gets repetitious.
Writing songs in the same music key… whoops, sorry, got locked
into the same mindframe the band obviously used.
I’ll give the band – vocalist Erik Tormentor, guitarists Nicklas
Eriksson and Johan Thörngren, bassist Rob Rocker and drummer
Jonas Eriksson – some credit in that they do work in some
complicated chord changes in the melodies. But to write every song
based around the key of “E” – well, frankly, it gets so tiring that
the listener almost becomes numb to the music that’s attacking
their ears. I mean, give me something to differentiate one track
from another, for Jah’s sake!
Clocking in at just under 29 minutes, Serpent Obscene blast
through nine tracks which, as a whole, aren’t terrible. But the
band seems perfectly content sticking with the same game plan that
so many other death metal bands have used over and over again that
some of the power of the better tracks, such as “Pestilent Seed
(The Plague),” “Evil Rites” and “Serpent Prophecy” are lost in the
haze.
Granted, the “torture” sequence that completes “Act Of
Aggression” does inject some originality to the mix – but it almost
feels like too little, too late as the disc fades off into
completion. And Serpent Obscene seems like a band who are still
discovering just who they are, which might explain sticking with
some of the cookie-cutter death metal. (Admittedly, the satanic
references are kept to a minimum – so I guess there’s something
different the band is doing.)
Of course, true devotees to the death metal scene will probably
find much more in
Serpent Obscene to cheer about, and more power to them in
that regard. But it would be nice to hear this band try and take
some kind of a musical chance the next time around. It’s not a bad
disc, but Serpent Obscene hardly sets themselves apart from the
rest of the crowd.