Serpentine Path - Serpentine Path (2012)

This is infinitely better than the tainted urine Bagshaw's been pissing fourth in his mainstay act, Ramesses. I know that all of the pseudo-intellectual, "new wave" internet metal-hipsters have been beside themselves with orgasmic delight over the last few Ramesses LP's, but I have to tell you, the shit is fucking lame. Aside from a precious riff or two, the majority of the mess found on those albums easily falls under the category of 'incoherent self indulgence'. The lot of it far too abrasive and haphazardly strewn about to be consistent with a "pleasant" listening experience.

Enter Serpentine Path. I'm glad that the 9,000,000 other styles of whatever-the-fuck Ramesses is known for has been cast to the wayside in favor of a more concentrated assault upon Heaven's gates. To a certain degree, some of the riffs on this album even manage to bring me back to the guitarists ultra-whacked bass performance on Electric Wizard's earlier works. This record reminds me a bit of Usurper's first few albums as it is similarly difficult to categorize.

Apparently some folks out there have boo-hooed over the fact that the drums aren't "very exciting". Well what did they expect... gravity blasts? Sure, homeboy might not exactly be a "flailing savage" behind the kit, but this is doom, is it not?

The vocals are of the 'death/doom' variety, though, again, it's hard for me to pin point exactly what style of music this is other than the fact that it is undoubtedly doom. I guess to some extent this could pass as a Ramesses album sans all of the over indulgent and nonsensical experimentation. There is also a notable Autopsy vibe that rears its deformed head from time to time as Serpentine Path have a similar fondness to employ a barrage of muddy dissonance amidst their slow trudge through the post-apocalyptic haze. Not a bad album here by any means, but I have a feeling that the band's "career defining moment" lies yet ahead.