Serpent Rider – The Ichor of Chimaera

vote
6.5

• Band:
  Serpent Rider
• Duration: 00:36:11
• Available from: 28/03/2025
• Label:

• No Remorse Records

Streaming not yet available

The time has come for the Serpent Rider to get to the Full-Length of debut: after exactly ten years from the foundation of the group-the first two of which under the Monicker Skyway Corsair-the Americans show up with their first long-term release, strong of a name like that of the No Remorse Records to sponsor everything.
In their previous releases, the US had given us an Epic Metal of discreet workmanship, very well played, with Doom veins and a decidedly brisk female song. The closest comparison, like Sound, was with the Smoulder, where guitars are massive, but more than Candlemass, in the intentions, here you look at Warlord and Manilla Road.
Just as it had been for the previous “Vision of Esoteric Splendour”, released as a split with Ezra Brooks, we prefer pressing songs, which do not affect too much on slowdowns, but aim for a traditional heavy metal.
In this “The Ichor of Chimaera”, we then find a better production than the previous release: both the guitars and the voice resonate in fact in a crystalline way, and this is a point in their favor. Songwriting is therefore of discreet workmanship: we go from more incisive songs, such as the Open “Steel Is the Answer” and the subsequent “Radiant”, characterized by convincing refrains, to others more structured such as the title-track, less focused on the song form and more on the sense of general epicity of the individual passages.
The Doom, however, is certainly not absent, and we can hear it strong in songs such as “Matri Deorum” (with a start that recalls the solstices but with a Maidenian continuation) and “The Hero's Spirit”, as well as in the aforementioned title-track.
Overall, in short, we are faced with a good job: no smudging present, a well -packaged product without technical defects of any kind. The only thing that one cannot fail to notice is that, in its entirety, the work does not shine great for personality: you have the impression of having a good album of a group in front of them which, however, as a whole does not stand out from others that we have already heard, is not very memorable and therefore ends up not shining for particular merits. We can praise the preparation and technical skill of the musicians, however it is also right to expect something more.
For the moment, the Serpent Rider have earned the promotion and also a general trust in the next releases, waiting to be able to confirm this judgment even in the live. After all, wanting to paraphrase the opner of the disc, the steel remains the best response.