Serpent Crown-Incantations of Vengeance

Horror Pain Gore Death  Productions
2016

It has been a long-time coming, but "Incantations of Vengeance" is the sophomore album of California metal band Serpent Crown. With a total running time of twenty seven minutes and fifteen seconds this six-track release was recorded at Green Dot Studios and it serves as the proper follow-up to Serpent Crown's 2013 self-titled debut*. The new album finds band founder Dara Santha** (vocals/guitars) joining up with bass player Tommy and the well-traveled drummer "Woz" (I Klatus, Lair of the Minotaur, ex-Earthen Grave, ex-Trifog, ex-Blood of Martyrs, ex-Left Testicle Syndrome). Despite the three year gap between releases, "Incantations of Vengeance" actually picks right up where Dara's band last left off and for longtime fans of this sludge-laden thrash metal group that of course means more soul crushing material that is as fearsome as it is fascinating! On album number two Dara sounds just as menacing as she did the first time around (if not more so!) and that applies as much to her guitar playing as it does her voice!! With the help of her new crew and a nice production that does it's job by not stepping on the toes of Serpent Crown's fiery front-lady (!), Dara Santha has showed the heavy metal community not only what this California band has to offer, but women in general!! In a scene that is still far too dominated by men, heavy metal in general needs more terrific musicians like Dara Santha so that we might encourage young women to step up and get involved. There's a huge reason why Serpent Crown is as intense and imposing as it is and that has everything to do Dara Santha. As the mastermind behind this acid-spitting mythological beast, Dara wields all the power and when it's fully unleashed on the unsuspecting public at large it is best to simply stop what you're doing, turn around and face the wall of heavy fucking metal as it comes crashing down upon you! Like "Serpent Crown" before it, "Incantations of Vengeance" packs a real wallop and it is one of those ear exploding albums that you will want to hear over and over again. In closing I would just like to say welcome back Serpent Crown. What took you so long? 





*As you can see by clicking here, 2013 was a great year as far as heavy metal music was concerned. If you scroll down through my list best of the year list you will find "Serpent Crown" and for good reason! Serpent Crown's debut is a one hell of a album and just like "Incantations of Vengeance"it comes with my highest recommendation!

**Back in August of 2013 I had the pleasure of interviewing Dara Santha. If you have never read that piece then you can find it here.

Interview with Serpent Crown's guitarist/vocalist Dara Santhai

Serpent Crown's Dara Santhai and Dave Dinsmore.

 
Recently I had the pleasure of talking with Serpent Crown's lead vocalist/guitarist Dara Santhai. If you haven't had a chance yet to read my review of their new self-titled release then be sure to check it out at the link below this interview.

 Andy- First things first I just want to thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions for us. Could you tell us how it was that you and drummer Will Carroll first met up and how Serpent Crown first got off the ground?  

Dara-We were friends for a number or years and had a lot of similarities in our visions about music and what we enjoyed musically so I thought it would be a good match.  Will is definitely a musician who is very oriented towards song structure even though he likes a lot of extreme metal, and I felt that would be a good precedent for the band.  I wanted to do a project that was riff driven with the foundation of technical double bass drumming, and Will had the skills to pull it off.

Andy-Serpent Crown was not your first group correct?

Dara-No I had two others, Ravana, my first band ever.  Started it two years after I first learned to play guitar. Than Santhai. I'm kinda embarrassed that that band was named after me but none of my bandmates seemed to like or be able to pronounce the other name ideas I came up with.   

Andy-Have you always had an interest in heavy metal?

Dara-I started getting into metal when I was in middle school.  At first it was mostly more mainstream stuff like the Scorpions and Van Halen, but one of my friends introduced me to thrash.  The first "extreme" metal albums I listened to were Show No Mercy by Slayer and Beneath the Remains by Sepultura.  I think I felt a little scared when I first heard them but then I was sold, and things went on from there.

Andy-You were born in Manila correct? Did you spend time there as a child or did you move here to the States early on?

Dara-I was born in Manila, my grandfather had a business there.  I grew up traveling and lived in 7 different countries by the time I was twelve, and my dad did NOT work for the Military.  I moved to the USA when I as around 17, and it was major culture shock for me, I had a hard time figuring stuff out at first. I was pretty much a foreigner except that I spoke English.  

Andy-Besides playing in heavy metal bands you've got a background in the fine arts. I would assume that plays into your day job correct?

Dara-Unfortunately I don't do anything artistic for my day job right now.  For a while I was making some money doing commissioned artwork, and prop fabrication, but that got too stressful for me.  Now I only do artwork for my band.

Andy-In fronting Serpent Crown you've got such a forceful delivery. Did you ever have vocal lessons or is that just how you roll when a mic is placed in front of you? 

Dara-I did a lot of singing growing up.  One of my first singing role was when I was six years old. I was cast  because I could scream the loudest.  I was supposed to be this farmer's wife who was screaming because these birds ate our crops, and I had to yell, "Oh dear our crops have disappeared, whatever shall we do?"    Obviously I enjoyed screaming at an early age.  I did a lot of musical theater as a kid and I was cast in a lot of solo roles not because I have exceptional vocal skill, I was still pretty good, but  I could sing in tune and most importantly I could project.  I also had no fear and LOVED being on stage.

Andy-Your self-titled EP covers a lot of ground from hardcore to Bay Area thrash. What are some of your favorites bands?

Dara-My favorite bay area bands right now are High on Fire, Black Cobra, Exodus, Necrot, Pale Chalice.


Andy-On the EP you've got bassist Dave Dinsmore, formerly of Bl'ast, LAB, Che, and Unida, as well as Will Carroll of Old Grandad, Cutthroats 9, Scarecrow, Vicious Rumors, and Machine Head (not to mention being the touring drummer for the Bay Area's own Death Angel!). Between the three of you that's one killer line-up! Was there ever a moment during the recording of this EP where you stepped back and thought about all you've achieved?  

Dara-Well, it's been such a hard long road getting our album released I never really looked at it that way. Sorry if that sounds bad.  It's been very hard simply to get our material out there, and then to have the opportunity get up on  stage to perform, which is what makes me most happy. BUT I am glad to have had the experience with working with talented top notch musicians, I've learned so much from all of them!!

Andy-Now, while Will Carroll did play on the EP (doing a bang-up job in the process!) he sadly had to bow out of future live shows due to his commitments as the touring drummer for Death Angel. Upcoming Serpent Crown shows will feature Mike Jochimsen (Apocryphon) on the drums correct?

Dara-Yes, Mike's been doing a great job.

Andy-Are the upcoming shows limited to the West Coast or is there any plans to travel East? 

Dara-So far we only have west coast dates but I am planning to go East.

Andy-So far who are some of the bands you've shared the stage with?

Dara-The Accused, Black Cobra, Holy Grail, Witch Mountain. Insanity, 16, Jucifer, Slough Feg, Grayceon, Totimoshi, Lord Dying, Black Tusk, Zoroaster and Dark Castle.

Andy-Wow, that's a pretty cool list there (especially The Accused who I absolutely love!). Are there any bands you'd like to play with if you were given the chance?

Dara-So many,  I don't even want to say.

Andy-I can understand that. So, besides touring behind this EP what does the future have in store for Serpent Crown?

Dara-We just need to solidify some lineup stuff before we embark on our next tour, but I've been working on new songs so by the time it comes to do a new recording we'll have a bunch material and can actually produce a full length this time.

Andy-There's no doubt that your fans will be clamoring for a full-length release! For now though where can people pick up a copy of your self-titled EP?

Dara-They can purchase it here:

http://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/store/hpgd066.html

Or just come out to one of our shows.

Andy-Is there anything else you'd like to add before we wrap things up? I always like to give the artists and bands the last word.

Dara-Just stoked that more people have been checking out the album and there is some interest in what we're unleashing upon the world.

http://metalmark.blogspot.com/2013/07/serpent-crown-serpent-crown.html

Serpent Crown-Serpent Crown

Horror Pain Gore Death Productions
2013 

Serpent Crown  is a power trio that hails from the mean streets of San Francisco. OK, San Fransisco probably doesn't have mean streets, but you do have to wonder about that when you're faced with the hardcore-tinged, doom-drenched, punk thrash that is Serpent Crown. Formed in 2008, and featuring the mad skills of guitarist/vocalist Dara Santhai (who is frighteningly forceful in her vocal delivery!), Serpent Crown first released a 3-track demo in 2009 (Black Cobra drummer Rafa Martinez not only recorded the demo for the group, but he also played bass on it!) before hitting everyone smack dab in the face (at full-force no less!) with this 6-track release! As it's only a little over 1 month old (it was released back at the start of last month) it's just now picking up steam and should continue to thanks to word of mouth and reviews like this. For the time being it's good to be on the inside track as I can totally picture Serpent Crown making waves with this dead-serious slab of abusive thrash metal. If nothing else, and for some ungodly reason this band doesn't break out like they rightly should, at least there's comfort to be had in the knowledge that this EP is in your hands and blaring in your ears! With that said let's turn back around and look at the meat of the matter. The multi-talented Dara Santhai (who has also had stints fronting the groups Ravana and Santhai) was born in Manila and, besides kicking ass as a front-woman, she has a background in the fine arts. That's rather impressive all around. That's especially true when you consider that without question it's her skills on both the mic and guitar that are the main focus of Serpent Crown as well as it's chief selling point. It's not that the rest of Serpent Crown, who are listed below, are incapable of holding their own as they are much more then a talented bunch of musicians. It's simply that Dara is what you notice first and what you notice most often. She's the highlight of this EP which conjures up images of everyone/everything from the Bay Area thrash scene of old (as well as 80's thrash metal in general) to miscellaneous acts like Carnivore, Prong, Cycle Sluts From Hell, Gwar, S.O.D./M.O.D., The Crumbsuckers (their first LP), Excel, Pro-Pain, Eyehategod, The Melvins, The Plasmatics and early Cryptic Slaughter. So, while female-fronted heavy metal outfits are cropping up like weeds these days, which is good for those of us who appreciate fine-crafted heavy metal, but bad when you consider that some of these new acts come across as more of quirky novelty then a legit band, it's rare to find one that channels everything from old-school punk and hardcore to Bay Area thrash and comes whipping across the landscape like a gale force wind! This self-titled debut EP, which features drummer Will Carroll (Death Angel, Warning S.F., Old Grandad, Cutthroats 9, Scarecrow, Warfare D.C., Vicious Rumors and Machine Head), offers the listener first-rate metal without sacrificing any of it's raw appeal. Bassist Dave Dinsmore (formerly of Bl'ast, LAB, Che and Unida) rounds out the party here and his heavy-handed playing only adds to suffocating feeling that Serpent Crown invokes. While the band has seen some shake ups since the release of this EP (drummer Will Carroll had to leave due to his commitment as the touring drummer for  Death Angel) they still plan to hit the road in support of this 6-track EP of extreme brutality. Future shows will first feature the skills of drummer Mike Jochimsen (Apocryphon) so fans should have no reason to worry a out catching this group live and in blood-red color! That is to say that one would have to assume that in a live setting Serpent Crown  just slays everything in it's path given how uncharacteristically dark and deranged this EP is! If there's one downside I can picture some people having with this group and this EP it's that everything comes across as fuzzed-out and blurry. In that way Serpent Crown almost invokes the spirits of  thousands of stoner rock/doom rock bands. Whether it's the production that stands to blame or that's just how Serpent Crown rolls who can say. Since it only adds to the overall appeal of the EP for me it's not something that I would dock points for, but on the other hand I could imagine some folks turning up their noses at this EP because it's too "raw". That comes down to personal preference I suppose, but I still strongly recommend this 6-track release to those of you that love street metal as well as all things crossover.

 www.facebook.com/SerpentCrown
serpentcrown.bandcamp.com