I can still remember finally getting my hands on Unearthly
Trance’s
Seasons of Seance, Science and Silence. I had been trying to track the
album down as it had a description along the lines of “...crucifix shaking,
bleak, unholy crippling doom!”. I finally found it in Missing Link in
Melbourne, on a weekend which found myself and my band cohorts at the time with
$12 to our collective names upon departing home (which we chose to spend on a
bag of goon, incidentally) for the weekend of shows which would have us
sleeping on half a couch each, face down in our own grot, still clad in our
sneakers and jeans in order to contain the majority of the funk. There wasn’t
much to do in between our shows, other than to alter our states and blast that
CD. It instantly appealed to me. It was equal parts creepy and nightmarish. It
made me think of what the results would be if Iron Monkey ran really fucking
hard at Electric Wizard, and by chance, formed some super congealed black tar
you could pour into your ears in some state of “melt into the couch” paranoid
bliss.
Well, many years later, and most importantly an Australian
Tour later, Unearthly Trance gave up the ghost and called it a day. I was
pretty bummed about it, but totally stoked I got the chance to see them live.
They truly were one of those bands that I thought were uncompromisingly and
hurtfully thick and heavy, like the flat face of a cricket bat straight to the
shins. So you can imagine my excitement when I caught wind of three of the
members forming Serpentine Path, particularly as the blurbs all read similar to
this one:
Crushing cult death/doom featuring current and former
members of Electric Wizard, Unearthly Trance and Ramesses! - Relapse.
All of a sudden that whole “congealed black tar” statement
has come to life, like some monster from the black lagoon crawling out of bed
after a night long session on the turps drinking Bundy and Guinness.
So I guess the real question here is whether or not the LP
can live up to those increasingly overused stickers that the record labels
paste all over every release these days, hyping it and attempting to make you
part ways with your money (Serpentine Path have been termed a
"supergroup", you know. Does this mean they wear their undies on the
outside of their jeans?). The short answer is FUCK YEAH! Consider me a believer.
I have lost a lot of faith in many types of heavy music
these days, for various reasons (predominantly because I hate “the kids” and
can’t work out how to google the e-mails on the intraweb like “the kids” are
doing to all Lars’ music these days!!!). But I had a lot of faith in the
musicianship that would go into the writing process, as well as the attention
to sonic detail this record would present.
The low end, provided by Jay Newman of Unearthly Trance,
really comes across LOW, thick and black like Turkish Coffee. Likewise Ryan
Lypinsky, also of the 'Trance, delivers his vocals in a fashion that has never
sounded quite so deep, gravelly and full. Both of these aspects of the record
have me thinking a little of Japan’s Corrupted (perhaps?) as an influence. It’s
that kind of bleak and bone blackening, evil sound that I heard on Unearthly
Trance, but perhaps a little thicker and slightly less atmospheric.
The riffs, because even a geriatric cantankerous prick of an
individual like myself knows that “riffs” are all the rage with “the kids”
these days, leave one feeling like the schoolyard bully has forced you into a
barrel and is proceeding to roll you down a hill for the amusement of him and
his pals. Yet unlike many albums I hear at the moment, they move on before that
boredom that has you headed to the bar in a live setting sets in. Little
highlights and overdubs are timely and present without appearing unnecessary or
detracting from the pummeling weight of the songs. In fact, this is probably
the key part to this record; it keeps the listener interested and has enough
going on to invite me to repeat listens. I am, as I type this, on my fourth
straight spin and can easily see myself grabbing another coffee, turning up the
amp and not doing any of the most basic and remedial of tasks I had set for
myself today.
The bottom line is that this is a solid album that, whilst
it tips the hat to the members' former projects, more than holds it’s own and
then some. Harass your local record store and Heathen Skulls, turn up your subs
and annoy the piss out of your mum/housemates/annoying neighbours. If sludge
and doom be your taste, then you’ll be left wanting to hear much more from this
outfit.
Jon Dangerous
