Bone Serpent - hope

Bone Serpent

Hope
self-released; 2014

3.1 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

I have very little information about Bone Serpent. They are a band from Melbourne, Australia that from their recent three-song EP entitled Hope seems to be at the beginning of their journey. The recording is extremely raw and might serve as a demo they can shop around until they get something of a better quality. By far the worst part of the recordings is the piercing digital distortion that will make your ears ring even at low volumes. 

The music revolves around stoner/slacker metal that contains loose and sloppy playing that is best served in person. At this stage I’m willing to bet that Bone Serpent’s music is better in a live environment,

Their first song “The Pig” could have been wrapped up in about two minutes. Instead the band drags it out for almost five. It gets more intense but not in a good way. The high-end frequencies are ridiculously harsh and  about every other word is “Pig.” I’m not exaggerating. 

The second track is the highlight out of the three. It showcases some decent talent from the guys and the riffs come fast and hard. The band plays in the pocket and the drummer is especially on point here. The track is surprisingly vacant of vocals but when the vocalist did sing it was covered in a chorus-like effect and it was basically impossible to understand the lyrics. The guitar solo about two minutes in is pretty solid. This was also the only track that didn’t contain digital distortion.

Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the last track, which is basically unlistenable. Hidden behind the wall of distortion is some decent sludge but I don’t think many people are going try that hard. There is nothing wrong with a lo-fi record but this is way beyond that. The culmination of high frequncies not only only completely mask the mids and lows but you can't turn this up loud unless you want to damage your ears. 

Bone Serpent might have some talent but it’s hard to tell with this EP. There are only three songs and they don’t give us much to work with. Hopefully, these guys can improve the quality of their recording a tad and come back with more material, which showcases why they are a unique band.

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