2016 Metal Album Review - "Serpentine Dominion" by Serpentine Dominion
Welcome, fellow Steemians, to a new installment of music talk, specifically of the metal variety! I hope that so far you have all been enjoying the series I have continued to do as of late. I apologize for the long wait for the new installments of "Metal Music for Beginners" and "Folk Metal A-Z", but I promise you the journeys in those two series are FAR from over! I just needed a little break from the both of them so as to rejuvenate the drive to continue them both. But fear not, for continue they shall! .... in due time.
But for now, please enjoy this new series I am trying to jumpstart. For a while, I have been meaning to start writing on here about metal albums as they are today, in this day and age.... and what better way to do that than to do some reviews here and there? It took some time to process how I was going to go about it, but the wait is now over.
So without further ado, allow me to introduce to you the first installment of this new review series, starting with this ripe old year of 2016, which is soon coming to an end. Time to seize the moments while we still have them!!!! Please welcome Volume One, covering the brand new melodic death metal supergroup, SERPENTINE DOMINION, with their self-titled debut album released through the prominent and worldwide known label Metal Blade Records!
Back in 2009, a year had already passed since the inaugural summer tour of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, a summer concert festival that spanned nationwide on an onslaught of city-to-city chaos, showcasing some of the most well-known and well-loved bands spanning across the entire genre of metal music. 2008 went off without a hitch with headlining bands like Slipknot, DragonForce, Disturbed, Mastodon, Machine Head, Walls of Jericho, Underoath, Suicide Silence and many more. Because of its buzzing popularity and approval in the metal world, they decided to continue with it ("they" being founder Kevin Lyman, who is also responsible for founding Vans Warped Tour; and John Reese, who was Lyman's partner on the creation of the Taste of Chaos Tour).
So by 2009, as you can imagine, the metal community was simply buzzing about who would be on the tour after such a rager in 2008. Well, to everyone's surprise, it may have even one-upped the debut year, as the initial headliners were announced to be Slayer and Marilyn Manson, of all choices! I can imagine that was quite exhilarating to discover in the first weeks of announcements for the tour. And with accompanying powerhouse bands such as All That Remains, God Forbid, Job For a Cowboy, Behemoth and Whitechapel, this tour was going to prove to be one of the most brutal to date. However, there were three specific bands on the tour that year that would cement a friendship, and eventual joining of forces that would lead to this year's most exciting metal release, arguably.
Those three bands were Killswitch Engage, Cannibal Corpse and The Black Dahlia Murder.
[From left to right: Adam Dutkiewicz of Killswitch Engage, Lead and rhythm guitars, bass guitar, backing clean and unclean vocals; George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher of Cannibal Corpse, vocals; Shannon Lucas, formerly of The Black Dahlia Murder, drums]
Now, during the 2009 Mayhem Fest tour cycle, Adam Dutkiewicz of Killswitch Engage and George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher of Cannibal Corpse began spending a lot of time together.... hanging out before and after shows, shooting the shit, talking about music, life, love, whatever. Soon they became close friends and not long after that they befriended Shannon Lucas, who was the drummer for The Black Dahlia Murder at that point in time (alas, he no longer is). Suddenly, inspiration struck and Adam and George soon began discussing the prospects of a side project the likes of which had not yet been seen by the metal community. Sure, Killswitch Engage was strictly metalcore whereas Cannibal Corpse and BDM were strictly death metal, but why would something so trivial stop them from creating music anyway????
So, to put it simply, this debut album is the culmination of several years of dreaming, discussing, writing, recording and distributing. For the most part, it is Adam D's brainchild, as he is the main songwriter for the music. And as for the lyrics, he actually teamed up with fellow Killswitch Engage bandmate, vocalist Jesse Leach, to write words that would suit the music on a profound level. The product? Melodic death metal that will cast shadows over metalcore bands and death metal bands alike, in a perfect marriage of two of the most influential and inspiring subgenres of metal in recorded history. It is groundbreaking what they've done here, and it only feels right to share it with the Steemit community in the best way I know how!
Through example!!!!
I have compiled my four favorite tracks from the album, in track-listing order, for your listening pleasure.
Enjoy, and as always, Stay Metal! \m/
"The Vengeance in Me"
"Sovereign Hate"
"Jagged Cross Legions"
"This Endless War"