A few weeks back, I heard the mind-crushing debut from Serpentine Path and in comparison with that mighty slab of horror, On Pain Of Death just cannot compare. It's not due to the fact that they lack any authenticity or true doomy feeling, it's just that they are betrayed by a weak production and the fact that there's so much of this creepy-crawling doom-death on display right now. 5 years ago, this would have been a revelation, but after bands like Moss, Bunkur and the aforementioned Serpentine Path, it is no longer so revolutionary. The production I believe is deliberately low-fi and muffled for "atmosphere", but anything that is gained in atmosphere is lost in power. The drumbeats sound were "engulfed" and the wooly guitar sound needs more heft.
Three miserable odes are on display and each one crawls in a puddle of its own blood like a dying animal, oozing towards the finality of death. It would take a pretty strong soul to endure "It Came From The Bog" or "Tell Your God To Ready For Blood". Melody is a stranger to this band, all is total suffocation.
It's a painful offering of doom-death but could have been much more damaging.
Words: Dr. Mality ( Wormwood Chronicles )
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