The Fucking Wrath
Valley of the Serpent's Soul

One can surely say that these Californians have selected a name that goes well with the american mentality, but imagine if the had called the band The Fucking Fat, how american wouldn’t that have been? I should point out that the name is amongst the most stupid I have ever seen in music, Fucking in a band name can only point out one thing: the band is a gang of immature childish guys. The cover artwork for this Serpent’s Soul is pretty awful as well, not much with this album can be said to be inviting for anyone with a healthy mind. But we got it so we shall review it which is why I had to start listening to the album despite it not really looking to be my domain. It is the second album of the band that released their debut in 2007 which would indicate that based on that they should be twice the age of people who finds fucking band names funny or good.

But what about the style of these guys then, is it a wrathful album? Well sort of, you could say; it feels derived from the punk scene with a touch of stoner rock added for flavour. It is decently heavy and not particularly varied, the singer sounds like he desperately needs a Fisherman’s Friend as he seems to be suffering from a sore throat and sounds a little bit more like a baboon at mating season than a singer in a rock band. The sound is quite raw with rough edges to maybe appeal to the punk/hardcore crowds I guess. I should also point out that there is not much in terms of a unique style with this band, it is obvious who they like to listen to when they listen to music and sometimes it is bordering on copying that music, so it is quite common punkish hard rock/metal music. It has eight tracks and it plays for 39 minutes.

Is it ant good then? Plain and simple: No! The terrible vocals is the main destroyer of any good intentions, the singing is so bad that it makes a quite decent rock album into something very uninteresting. The vocals sounds rather much like someone who has lung cancer because of too much smoking was sitting in his hospital bed just complaining endlessly which makes the 39 minutes the album lasts quite long to endure.

There are some positive things as well though, the musical side is quite alright, there are some nice riffs and melodies and the groovy feel makes it seem like there is something there and then you hear vocals and it seems like there is nothing there. I think that besides the vocals there is really nothing to complain about with this band as they sound alright if you can imagine the singer exploding and someone competent taking over the place. I am not saying that they should abandon their raw approach to singing, I am just saying that they should find someone decent to make the best of that. As it is not those flashes of good music are quickly overpowered by the singer and it ends with me being completely bored out of my skin and falling randomly asleep for a few seconds because of my brain shutting down to spare me from the singer.

Now it sounds like I really hate this album but that is quite untrue, I hate the vocals but otherwise I think it is an alright album, there is potential in the songs and there are nice melodic touches as well, maybe the album is a bit too tame and the incendiary, heavy hitting, high powered assault that is promised on the little sticker on the cover is nowhere to be found. So more power and a new singer and this band might have a future.

In the end I would say that this is not an album to enjoy, it is one to endure.