Imagine someone stuffing your body into a laundry dryer and then turning on.
You’re trapped, surrounded by noise, your mind and body is spinning at the speed of light. A thrilling experience, however maybe your last surge of adrenaline ever. This was the experience I got from the debut Serpent of Gnosis album As I Drink From The Infinite Well Of Inebriation (1126 Records).
Serpent of Gnosis is Heavy Metal’s newest Death/Grind supergroup consisting of
members from Job For A Cowboy (John Davey on vocals and Tony Sannicandro as well as Al Glassman on guitars) The Black Dahlia Murder, (Max Lavelle on bass), and Goratory (Darren Cesca on drums). Although this is the band’s first release, this project was a second attempt at all the members working together after parting ways on a previous project. Sharing the same love and passion for fast and extreme music, the band formed to create this deeply personal album, which highlights substance abuse and addiction.
This album is really insane because of its speed and technical compositions.
What stands out the most to me on this album is the drumming. The rhythm – often tribal at times – resonates with you and builds the energy throughout the record. It is for that reason that I believe this record will be popular for those who like to two-step. The drumming is also the very first thing you are introduced to on the opening track ‘Decoherence,’ which makes for an extremely destructive intro. I also like how it has elements of Blackened Death Metal in it. This track is then followed by the band’s single ‘Paroxysmal Dance,’ which has a lot of grooves to it, especially towards the end of the song.
Two songs I enjoyed in particular and are worthy of a mention are the band’s
second single ‘The Colorless Capsules,’ which is probably the fastest record on the entire track. I love how cohesive the arrangement on this track is. The guitars also stand out on this record. I also love how the vocal styling goes very low at the last stretch of the song. ‘Cognitivity’ is where the album begins to mellow out and serves as the album’s intermission. It starts off very slow and the opening riffs have a lot depth. It sets the tone for this very suspenseful song, which becomes very extreme halfway through. ‘A Mask Of Lucidity,’ although a very short song, also deserves an honorable mention. What it lacks in time, it makes up for in creativity. The band treated this song with love and did a great job with its technical composition. There were many components, which made the song unique. And if you’re a fan of guitars, ‘Entrenched Euphoria’ is the song for you as it is the track where the guitars stand out the most. In all, the album was put together really well and the sound quality was amazing.
It gives you the feeling that you’re at a live show. You’re present, surrounded by noise, being spun around in the pit, getting that surge of adrenaline, knowing you’ll survive to see another show.
7 / 10
KIM GILL