Generation of Vipers “Grace” CD

I decided to make this one today's post at the absolute last minute because I'm a little surprised by how much I like it, and I generally tend to favor helping new and/or lesser-known bands get the word out over anything else, so here you go. Generation of Vipers is from Tennessee, and their debut full-length, "Grace", is the first release on Red Witch Recordings—which may or may not be the band's own label, I'm not sure. The disc offers four songs that flow from one to the next in over 40 minutes, the longest of which is the mammoth "In the Crushing Fists of God", which tops 18 minutes without a second thought. If such running times start creating certain visions in your mind, you might not be surprised that these dudes are sure to draw comparisons aplenty to the Neurosis/Isis breed (with a side order of doom), though this is actually significantly more interesting than most of the numerous acts out there toying with this type of sound.

Now, as usual, I don't want that kind of a statement to pass as hailing the band as "original", because that's not exactly the case, but there are some variances at work here. Their material isn't necessarily more stripped down per se, but despite a good amount of layering the fact that they're a trio does pay off in the sense that they don't overdo anything, and I really enjoy that on several levels. First, the general tone of the music is a little more ominous, and comes across as something that moves me much more than a lot of this style tends to do in its use of pounding rhythms and surging abstract melodies or droning pulses (not to mention the excellently bitter shouting). And secondly, those dynamics are housed within a recording that has a lot of natural depth and breathing room—so while there's a hint of room for improvement (more distinction to the bass perhaps), this is a well-mixed outing in terms of creating a resonant wall of sound without feeling busy: What gets "lost", or at least obfuscated, almost feels like it's supposed to be fighting to be heard.

There's just something very genuine and emotional about the way this material comes across, and that really hits me. I enjoy this CD quit a bit. Hopefully this massive file won't destroy my bandwidth...

Generation of Vipers "Blood in the Belly"

The CD isn't listed for sale on the band's site just yet, but they have mentioned its availability on MySpace, so get in touch with them about ordering information.