Serpent Obscene - Chaos Reign Supreme

*=Staff's pick	Jackal Incarnate Necro Angel* Crescendo Of Violence Death Obsessed* Sinister Faces* Confessor Evil Ascends Dawn Of Suffer Execution Carnal Contortion

Genre	Thrash Metal	Erik Tormentor	Vocals
Tracks	10	Johan Thörngren	Guitar
Runningtime	34 Min.	Nicklas Eriksson	Guitar
Label	Black Lodge	Jonny Putrid	Bass
Release	21 April 2006	Jonas Eriksson	Drums
Country	Sweden	-	Keyboards
Similar artists	Aura Noir, Merciless

I'm not so familiar with this band, Serpent Obscene. Even though I've heard the band been mentioned some times, my only experience is from a compilation album. What I do know is the fact that this band stands for a more old-school form of thrash metal that includes a well weight portion of death metal and includes members from bands such as Kaamos and Maze Of Torment. Through the swedish label Black Lodge, Serpent Obscene are about to unleash their third creation called Chaos Reign Supreme, recorded at Berno Studio in Malmö, Sweden.

The introduction with the first song, Jackal Incarnate, starts very promising. Unholy speed and rage, all in all it feels very old and dirty. Uncompromising and quite primitive thrash from the old era are being served like a fist in the face. The music can best be described as a breed from swedish pioneers of thrash/death: Merciless. Overall I think that Chaos Reign Supreme sounds like a more wild and savagery form of the album Unbound from Merciless. The vocals from Erik Tormentor hold very high class, aggressive and mean, and fit the music very well. Sometimes I get the feeling that the song material on Chaos Reign Supreme are a bit to monotone, but luckily there are also songs that aren't. The good ones are Necro Angel, Death Obsessed, Carnal Contortion and the excellent street race Sinister Faces. Except from these mentioned songs there are some ones that can be filed under the "only ok" catalogue.

The sound and production on Chaos Reign Supreme are as old-school and dusty as the music, and that I mean in a positive way. Here are no massive arrangements or unnecessary show offs, just full speed ahead. With a bit wider register of the song material this album could have reached higher. But as long as there are songs such as Sinister Faces present, I'm pleased and ready to agree with Black Lodge's press statement that says: "Liberated from all modern influences, building on speed and pitiless savagery".

Production	Vocals	Compositions
7	8	6

Summary
7 chalices of 10 - Tim