The Serpent
The Serpent by Still Remains isn’t a bad album. However, I don’t find it to be a great one as well. There are some strong elements that can be found here, but for some reason when I listened to this band I was expecting more. I had never heard Still Remains before, yet I still feel like The Serpent could’ve been so much more.
With The Serpent, the band tries to find a line between being heavy and melodic. That’s what they aim for, but it sounds uneven for the most part. There are times where it sounds like it’s getting really heavy and is going to stay that way, and then all of the sudden it gets very soft and mellow, but not in a subtle way. While the lead singer has a pretty good singing voice, I think he’s at his strongest when he is growling. I wished he would’ve incorporated that into the songs a lot more. The keyboard is a nice touch and a cool way to mix things up, but it sounds like it’s trying to overpower the guitars and drumming.
A really good song on the album is “Avalanche.” This is the heaviest song on The Serpent, and I feel like if most of the songs sounded like this it’d be more of a homerun. It reminds me of the band As I Lay Dying in some ways. As good as the song is, however, it’s out of place because the other songs are nowhere near as heavy or aggressive.
Is the band talented? I honestly think so. They know how to play the instruments nicely and the singing is also up to par. Like I said, I was just hoping they’d be a little heavier. Sure, not every band is meant to be heavy, but I feel that these guys could pull it off. Switching back and forth from heavy to soft made it hard for me to really stay with it all. I don’t know if these guys want to be heavy or more melodic in the end..
As I said in the beginning, The Serpent is not a terrible album. It’s not one that I need to revisit again and again, though. If you’re looking for something that’s somewhat heavy and more mellow, then this may be worth checking out. However, if you’re looking for something dark and heavy, you’re going to want to look elsewhere.
