Release date: 28 March, 2025

Formed originally in 2015 as Skyway Corsair, SERPENT RIDER changed to the name they’re currently known as in 2017 in Los Angeles, California, with the new name coming from a line from Manilla Road’s “The Ram.” After two years, the band’s first demo, “Pour Forth Surquidous”, came out and drew international acclaim, setting the stage for a record deal with No Remorse Records and a split 12” with Canadian heavy metal magicians Ezra Brooks (featuring S. Vincent from the mighty Smoulder) in 2021.

After the recording of 2021’s “Visions of Esoteric Splendor” split, the band needed to change lineups once again to accommodate a move to Seattle from Los Angeles and quickly put together a new group of local wizards to get back to the work of delivering mystical heavy metal. With that new lineup the band cemented their status as a new regional force in the Pacific Northwest with a series of shows in 2023 leading up to a festival appearance at Legions of Metal in Chicago supporting Metal Church in 2023. The next year toured with Colony Drop and the mighty Anvil (Canada) and recorded their debut studio album, “The Ichor of Chimaera”, a dense and arcane exploration of heavy metal might coming out on No Remorse Records on March 28th of 2025.

“The Ichor of Chimaera” is a seamless blend of the myriad influences that make SERPENT RIDER’s music stand out from the crowded modern metal scene: not only the obvious Manilla Road, Warlord, Black Sabbath, Candlemass, and the like that so many other bands draw from but also featuring heavy influence from the Greek black metal scene (particularly Varathron, Agatus, and Rotting Christ) and 1970s rock a la Wishbone Ash and Scorpions, tied together via focused writing across the band’s ten years of operation to form a cohesive whole.
Brandon Corsair: “After ten years of playing in SERPENT RIDER’s music it’s a pleasure to finally deliver a debut album that I feel like is a good balance of everything I love so much about heavy metal alongside some of my best friends. This is easily some of the finest material I’ve ever written, some of the tightest musicianship I’ve ever been lucky enough to have alongside my songs, and all on my favorite label in heavy metal: truly this is the year of SERPENT RIDER!”

LINE-UP
R. Villar – Vocals
Brandon Corsair – Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals
Paul Gelbach – Lead Guitar
Brian Verderber – Bass
Drake Graves – Drums

Review

“Steel is the Answer” began with a spoken introduction from Nick Varsamis, followed by an incredibly dirty riff (in a good way) and soon the overall groove of the song sent me to an almost hypnotic trance. Villar’s vocal work was sublime in its subtlety, while the rhythm section made it impossible to not move along with. Overall, it was more a mid-tempo affair than I was expecting, but there was an odd foreboding feeling to the song. In a way that won’t make any sense, it felt like the song that muses would sing before a battle. The kind with triumphant words, but a lingering sadness behind the music.

The second track “Radiant” kicked off with a hard n heavy smashing riff, but really the incredible drumming from Drake Graves was the highlight for me. Just into the second track, I found myself reminded of how NEVERMORE was described as ‘death metal with clean vocals’, and wondered if I could describe SERPENT RIDER as ‘black metal with clean vocals’. Villar’s vocals continued to impress me, especially with their versatility. In terms of comparable voices, I went to a cross between Bruce Dickinson, and Johanna Sadonis from LUCIFER. Throughout this one was also a thumping bassline from Brian Verderber, the likes of which always reminds me of IRON MAIDEN.

The title track, “The Ichor of Chimaera”, was next up and was also the longest song on the album at a little over 7 minutes. A bit more of a doom metal opening that was very SABBATH, and the moment that Villar’s voice cried out, my mind immediately compared SERPENT RIDER to SMOULDER. Oh how the riffs in this one were crunchy as all hell (that’s a good thing). Even the sections where the tempo quickened, it never lost that dirty dirge-like quality that is all-too important for doom metal to work properly. I have to also commend the lyrics in this one for producing some incredibly fantastical imagery. To cap it all off, is a phenomenal guitar solo that, while at first seeming brief, eventually bleeds into a reprisal of the chorus in a way that just works. This was a surefire standout track, and might be in the running for song of the year for me.

“Matri Deorum” began with some great hymnal chanting that really showed off how beautiful Villar’s voice is. It reminded me greatly of the Elvish songs in Lord of the Rings. This also reminded me a bit of GRENDEL’S SYSTER, which I reviewed last year. Make no mistake, Villar’s vocals were the clear-cut star in this track, but that’s not to say that the other pieces of SERPENT RIDER were sleeping. Far from it in fact! The bridge section near the 4:30 mark really sent this one into the stratosphere, couple that with the added backing vocals of Brandon Corsair and this was a total winner. The way their voices harmonized together was superb, with Corsair’s being very akin to Klauf’s vocals from MORGUL BLADE.

“The Hero’s Spirit” had a bit of the same tempo as the title track, but this one didn’t feel too similar to SMOULDER. It’s an almost ambient track, with a very morose mood behind every note. While different from the rest of the songs, this is sort of the doom metal equivalent to a power ballad, a trippy ballad. These sorts of songs never do it for me in larger doses, but when a band or artist wants to do a song or two on an album that’s a bit different, like this, then I find it works very well. Great track to journey across the frigid wastes with.

“Tyrant’s March” was another starkly different track, opening with a thrasher of a riff and a crazy little solo that reminded me of the classical composition ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’. The droning guitar work during the chorus really gave this one an identity of its own, even if the beginning had already done that. More of Villar and Corsair harmonizing together as a cherry on top, would really like to hear more of the dual-vocal approach. Really need to commend Graves’ drumming on this one as well, some really powerful hits!

The final track, “In Spring”, had a subdued opening on the instrumental side o things, letting Villar’s vocals do much of the heavy lifting (besides Graves’ consistently incredible drumming). I don’t feel that I’ve complimented the bass or guitar work as much as I should be, but trust me that both are certainly pulling their weight and then some. Curiously, I found it odd how suddenly the track ended, but that also made it more endearing to me for some reason. Perhaps because I expected some sort of bombastic climax.

Conclusion

SERPENT RIDER have arrived in full force and take their place alongside the burgeoning legion of epic metal warriors. Villar’s vocal work and Graves’ incredible work behind the drumkit were surefire standouts for me, but another strong point was the songwriting and structure of said songs. It all came together to make it feel epic, and not just sound epic. In terms of drawbacks, my only one nitpick would be what I said in the section on ‘Tyrant’s March’, I would very much like to see more of Villar and Corsair harmonizing together. Their voices work so well together, that I think a Staley/Cantrell or Tankian/Malakian sort of vocal duo might work wonders.

TheNwothm Score: 9/10

Links

Bandcamp: https://serpentrider.bandcamp.com/album/the-ichor-of-chimaera

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SerpentRiderBand

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/serpentriderofficial/

Label: https://www.noremorse.gr/products?searching=serpent+rider