It really is a shame that Thy Serpent's, 'Death' EP from 2000 effectively marked the end of the band as nothing has surfaced since, but at least the four songs present here are among some of the finest the band wrote and its a fitting epitaph to one of Finland's mightiest. Although similar to 1998's, 'Christcrusher,' this EP refines the melodic and atmospheric qualities considerably as well the riffing is mostly mid-paced death metal, the vocals switched to a growled voice and there's a looming sense of melancholy throughout this twenty two minute recording. 'Deathbearer' kicks things off with a catchy mesmerizing riff, which leads into a brilliant melodic lead followed quickly by Azhemin's whispery sort of death metal vocals. The song although mostly mid-paced has a driving sense behind it, with some faster parts, which makes it a headbanger for sure, but the riffs are colossal, just immense throughout the whole song and the atmosphere... damn! 'Wounds of Death' opens with an acoustic part coupled with a backing synth melody, before diving into a breath taking solo and scything melodic lead, when around the two minute mark some somber clean vocals enter the song. At a little over seven minutes the song chugs along brilliantly, melodic and atmospheric as ever, though its through this song that a keen sense of gloom is felt. 'Sleep In Oblivion' feels similar to the opening song in that its melodious, aggressive and driven with a reacquiring synth line that's reminiscent of Emperor's debut, while, 'Parasites' just offers up more twisted, dark and gloomy guitar melodies with enchanting atmosphere.
Thy Serpent has been a favorite of mine for a while now and although they only have four releases to relish in all of them are massive and slightly different from each other too. I'm guessing after eleven years a new recording is not on the horizon, but at least I've always got this superb EP and their previous efforts to immerse myself in.
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