The Serpent Coven

This was a cool re-discovery. Basically, I left it in an old car and before it got turned into a cube (it was a real piece of shit of a car) the wrecker dude gave me a little box consisting of things I'd left in the car- a distortion pedal, about 20 guitar picks, a book that my brother lent me four years or so prior, a toilet brush? (unused) and this cd from the car stereo system- badly scratched but still playable. And fortunately so! It's albums like this that remind that Finns can actually still play doom, despite what Reverend Bizarre may suggest.

A friend of mine once put forth that doom metal "should basically be heavy metal but a whole lot darker and a bit slower", using Candlemass as his ideal. Wandering Midget don't sound much at all like Candlemass, but they fit that description well enough. The Serpent Coven is certainly dark and endlessly atmospheric, but it doesn't forget to riff; in fact that's what it spends it's entire time doing. A lot of it's your typical doom vibe- slow, low and dripping with grime, but there's enough tempo changes to keep you occupied, to keep the interest flowing and the tension growing; from Taynia's stomping end section, Family Curse's neat as dissonant circus lead part (which must've been super fun to jam) and Black Reef's big choruses.

I think the thing I like most about this album is that avoids all the annoying modern doom-isms that've filled the genre with completely forgettable bands. There's no stoner stuff, the singer doesn't sound like Ozzy (or sound like someone trying to sound like Ozzy), there's absolutely no "occult rock" garbage, the Sabbath influence, if any, is very well hidden. It's just heavy as balls, riffs all the time, and keeps you endlessly interested. They remind me of High of Fire in the way that they aren't really reinventing the wheel- there's no abrupt left turns to latvian electronica or anything- but they don't really sound that much like anything else.

Yeah, it's not a classic- some moments are a bit overlong, not every riff is a flat out winner and the anguished-but-no-range vocalist does get on your nerves a bit upon repeated listens. But it's still very good- not an overlooked classic or anything, but a neat little gem that's well worth seeking out if you're a bit bored with the current state of doom.