Serpent Saints
All Things Metal

Danish band Serpent Saints are releasing their debut album which they have named All Things Metal, not the best name I can imagine if I’m honest. And when we look at the cover art, it is not that amazing either but of course a book is always something more than its cover and the same goes for a record as there are not only graphics and titles but also songs and stuff on it. I do not know much of this band and there is not an amazing amount of information about them on the so-called internet but there were some mentions on a band called Artillery but I know nothing of them and really nothing of Serpent Saints either other than the fact that there was an album by Entombed call that some time ago.

The band does not sound like Entombed but rather like american thrash metal band Overkill as they do have this raw sense of energy and aggression about their appearance. A controlled sense of chaos you could describe it as, it is aggressive and modern but with a touch of rawness to it. It might be seen as a nod back to ages long since passed and former glories of the thrash metal genre. Maybe that is a clever excuse to use for not having the cleanest of productions, or maybe it is what they were looking for in terms of sound on this nine track and 44 minutes long album. It is in a sense also rather genre typical, it does not really offer much in terms of freshness or new ideas but it is a solid product nonetheless.

I think this album is good, no denying that. Still it is not an album that I feel inclined to play by choice now that it is reviewed as it offers nothing new that we haven’t heard before and it has also been done better many times and another fact of this not selecting the album is that I am not that much of a fan of the genre either. I think though that while listening it is a good and rather catchy piece of work that also can be described as well made and skillfully executed although not that unique. It feels a bit like something from a time passed a time which doesn’t really fill me with thrash metal memories as I didn’t care much for that kind of music back in the day when this kind of music was popular and that era is how this album sounds like, in a way although with a sense of modernity to it.

I think that the opening track called It Came From the North is the sharpest of the songs on the album and a testament to the quality within this band. The other tracks are not poor in any way but not as good as the opener I would say and in the end it is an album to like, it has all the elements of a good thrash metal album but not the ones of a great such albums. I think that they have listened more to other music when creating this album than they have listened to their own minds and musical ideas. Although their own musical ideas might just be to make music that sounds like everything else in the genre and if that’s the case then they have been very successful.

In the end it is a good debut album that shows a lot of prmise for a possible future career, this album might not be the most unique or fascinating but it is absolutely a quality album maybe one that lacks a bit of character but still a solid piece of work. If you like thrash metal it is certainly something you should look into, especially if you like Overkill. So I will end by calling this a good debut album.