SHRINE OF THE SERPENT - Entropic Disillusion (CD)

The jaw-dropping debut album from this U.S. band. Formed back in 2008 as Tenspeed Warlock, Shrine of the Serpent have been going under their current moniker since 2014. Comprised of past and current members of Aldebaran, Graves At Sea, Sod Hauler and Roanoke among others, this three-headed leviathan from Portland, Oregon conjure up visions of utmost ominousness and malodorous dreariness as a celebration of the inevitable, when life ceases to be and there´s nothing but a palpable somberness shrouding your passing to the other, unfathomable side.

The chosen guide for such a cryptic journey is über-heavy, gloomy and miserable Death/Doom Metal. When faced with such a fate, one can only help to prepare to be crushed under the weight of utterly monolithic riffs enhanced by tortured growls, ritualistically pounding drumming and eerie-as-fuck harmonies. Ultimately, this is but the sound of "Entropic Disillusion". Although more fertile now than any time in the past, true Death/Doom Metal is still a field that´s tricky to plow: lumber too long and you arrive at boredom; spice up the formula and you lose the necessary desolation.

Shrine of the Serpent exhibit mastery of the form on "Entropic Disillusion". Truly and unapologetically Death/Doom Metal to the bitter end, their slowly swirling sound patiently takes its time to entrance and then suffocate the listener, but it sure is fatal, not to mention absurdly heavy, in the most smothering way possible. Dismiss any hope for sentimental melodies, gothic overtones or operatic female voices, for the sole endeavor here is to oppress the listener. Fans of the bleakest approach to the subgenre who hail such bands as early Paradise Lost, Winter, Dusk, Hooded Menace, diSEMBOWELMENT, Loss, Druid Lord and early Cathedral will definitely find plenty of morbid joy from experiencing this concoction of impending death and doom. Completed by Mariusz Lewandowski´s ethereal cover art and a crushing mastering job courtesy of Dan Randall at Mammoth Sound Mastering, "Entropic Disillusion" announces the arrival of Death/Doom Metal´s newest titans: Shrine of the Serpent!