Divulgence by Sacred Serenity

In December of 2009, Sacred Serenity released their seven song debut to the underground metal scene in package titled, “Enemy in the Clouds.” Showing the perseverance of the band; vocalist Pat Scanlon and guitarist, Nate Parker found Kyle Peronteau to play drums and Dave Jamison to tear up the bass. May 22, 2010 the four musicians released, “Divulgence” creating a new standered for themselves
The opening song, “Homicidal Generation,” begins slowly with a few harmonic notes and distorted chords that make listeners unsure of what exactly is going to come. The tempo quickly turns up and the harmonics abruptly move into a melodic poppy-metal song that should remind metal-core fans of “Two Weeks” by All that Remains. Lyrically the song is by far the best on the album with the line “Kill or be killed that’s the choice I have to make in this world, I choose to kill.” this is by far one of the most badass lyrics I’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing. Just as the rest of the album, “Homicidal Generation” has the perfect mixture of breakdowns and melody to create a well balanced sound that fans of all metal sub-genres will appreciate.
Nate Parker’s guitar work on this EP is truly the driving force behind the songs. Whether quick or slow he hits the head on each riff leaving no mistake on this audio piece of art. Particularly the song, “Prisoner of Regret” has what to me sounds like the most technical guitar work seeing as it sounds most like something that I could hear, Between the buried and Me writing. The whole album is filled with riffs that will impress music critics everywhere.
The line up choices Pat and Nate made definitely had a positive effect in the song writing process. Dave Jamison adds clear distorted bass lines and some pretty epic bass sweeps over the breakdown in the song “Prisoner of Regret.” Kyle Peronteau keeps steady rhythms while adding his own flare to each song.
Heading towards a more progressive style of music, the CD ends with the slower song, “Divulgence.” Not my favorite song on the EP but it can definitely be appreciated for its musicianship and soothing rhythms. Six tracks which are all worth listening to come clocking in at 31 minutes and 40 seconds that will give you a new appreciation of what an unsigned band can do when they put their hearts in the music. This is for fans of Dream Theatre and Between the Buried and me. “Divulgence” can be found be purchased online and listened to on the bands myspace: www.myspace.com/sacredserenity.

Impending Doom's new sound

I can probably say I was one of the last Impending Doom fans to hear the band’s new single, “The Great Fear,” the others being the three other people who were in the room with me listening to it. While my friends initially gave it bad reviews and complained about how they will never have an initial sound because the only consistent member of the band is, Brook Reeves who is the bands vocalist and only writes the lyrics, I found the music to be an improvement and still hold on to the sound they created with, “The Serpent Servant.”
While the band has sped up a little bit, once you get towards the end of the song you hear the same crushing breakdowns that gave them a name for themselves in the past year. The same minor notes are played over the breakdown just as they were in the bands previous album to give listeners an eerie vibe about the wrath of god.
When it comes down to it the new members seemed to feel that Impending Doom’s third effort should be a mix of their debut “Nailed. Dead. Risen,” and their sophomore effort, “The Serpent Servant.” My only complaint is Brook’s vocals in the beginning of the song but maybe it’s just because I’m not used to hearing death-core vocalists use a thrash vocalist’s vocal chords.
Impending Doom’s new album, “There Will be Violence,” hits stores July 20 and they are currently on tour throughout the United States.