Review by Michael on March 1, 2022.

Ouch that hit me! I didn't get the opportunity to review the new Wound album Serpent Crown right in time, not even in the right year. The German quintet released their very rousing third album last December so this might have been a very nice birthday or Christmas present for me. Too bad!

The opener 'Silent Indoctrination' just blew me away when I listened to it for the first time. I hadn't expected such a great step forward by the band. What they are performing here is very old-school death metal with some nice Gothenburg melodies here and there ('Dethroned Surpremacy') and a lot of Gothic-era vibes ('Forged For Death'). Nevertheless the tunes stay very brutal and not really trendy in any way you might think melodic metal could be. The band continues this style on most of the album though I have the feeling that they weren't quite sure which way they should go – the doomy way or the melodic one. But that doesn't matter, the tracks sound very coherent and on some tracks the guys from Wiesbaden are quite surprising because they increase speed and deliver some brutal stuff too like in 'Disciples Of Downfall' or 'Antagonism'. Another very appealing track with thriving riffs and an intense wall of sound is 'Towers'. This is a monolithic track with a very catchy ending. I won't mention any outstanding tracks on Serpent Crown because there are so many things that want to be discovered on here and it will take several listens having fully explored the album.

The production is done very well, just the drums might be a little bit richer, and I think they sound a little bit muffled and tinny sometimes. The vocals however are really powerful and aggressive and the guitars are pretty nicely distorted and have a buzzing sound. This one doesn't reinvent the wheel of course but who needs it if the old one is still working perfectly fine? This is a very cool gem for old school death metal fans who are very happy with their stuff from the late 80s up to mid-90s and maybe want to try out something new that sounds pretty much similar to the era when a lot of milestones in the genre came out.

So sorry guys for having not reviewed you in 2021, this would have probably been one of my favorite death metal albums back then!

Rating: 9 out of 10 wounded belated Santa Clauses