Pagan Fire

I have not been listening to a lot of doom metal the last 2-3 years. However, thanks to YouTube I stumbled upon “Pagan Fire”, the second full length by Finnish doomsters Serpent Warning. The combination of quite traditional riffing, great harmonies and the soaring vocals immediately drew me into the music.

The tempo is kept within mid-tempo for the most part with a few faster but also slower and slightly crawling passages. Instead of totally shifting the melodic element to the forefront the band put a lot of emphasis on the atmosphere. Melancholic themes and soundscapes are building the background with dark and moody elements working as counterpart to the relatively slow but heavy riffing. The chords are complemented by the hypnotic lead work which is not flashy but nevertheless pretty spectacular. This is the kind of album that will suck you in the more it keeps going.

While not overly fast the drumming is very intense with some impressive sections ramping up the aggression. Once the peak of such an outburst is reached we are going back to the more stoic and mellow trademark style which leads to a great and varied listening experience. The songwriting is spot-on and while the average song is over six minutes long there is no moment of dullness or boringness to be found here. This record feels like one connected piece of art taking the listener on a dark and hypnotic journey. Once the music has grabbed you it will be hard to escape the fascination. Don’t get me wrong though – while there are ambient moments and a certain dreamy overall tone the main driver of the music are the powerful riffs and the uplifting leads.

For a doom record this one is pretty easy to get into even if you are not a die-hard fan of this genre I would say. Part of the reason for this is vocalist Jimi who has a clean and commanding voice sitting on top of the instrumentation. Some doom heads might argue that they might prefer a more aggressive approach with deeper and growled vocals but I personally find this kind of more traditional metal approach perfectly fits into the picture.

The production is punchy without sounding too sterile. The mix is clear giving each instrument enough room to breathe. The overall sound is a nice mixture of using modern possibilities without sacrificing the old-school vibes inherent in that kind of music. “Pagan Fire” is a fantastic piece of pure metal played with a lot of heart and soul. This album is an easy recommendation for fans of doom but also classic metal and I look forward to checking out new stuff from the guys.