Green Leaf-Nest of vipers

Small Stone
2012

Greenleaf are back with their first album since 2007's Agents of Ahriman and that is certainly a reason to be excited. They waste little time in proving that we should be excited as opener "Jack Staff" roars on with the infectious fuzz infused riffs that have come to define this band. That's not all because the same thick drumming, steady bass and driving vocals are still part of their sound as well. The album never lets up  after that. The style here is not totally new because they call upon plenty of 70's proto-metal influences. However it isn't always what a band brings as it is how they present it. Greenleaf are actually proficient in both the skill and presentation departments. More than either of those is the fact that they have taken their influences and put their own spin on it. As I listen to tracks like the haunting "Tree of life", the mesmerizing "At the helm" and the instantly memorable "Sunken Ships" it dawned on me that they have developed their own sound and quite an impressive sound it is. "Nest of vipers" hears Greenleaf really stretching out a bit and with that they seem very confident in doing varying tempos and really broadening their range. This is an album that had me hooked right away and each additional play just had me getting into it more and more. This is one of my favorite bands in this style going today and this album just enforces that view.