This is the fifth album from US solo black metal band Serpent Column.
Following on from 2024’s Tassel of Ares, Aion of Strife contains 50 minutes of new material from the esteemed Serpent Column. Prepare yourself for overstimulating oblivion.
This is an arcane feast of underground black metal. The songs are forged from dissonance and viral blackened hatred into impenetrable hymns of seething fury and malevolent atmosphere. In this way, Aion of Strife picks up from where Tassel of Ares left of, but that’s not the whole story.
Aion of Strife has been dipped in the poisoned waters of heavy metal history, leaving it tainted by its exposure. The songs boast warped strains of lethal melody that war with the harsh dissonant heart of the music in an unending battle for supremacy. Frequently, they’re almost defeated, only to rise again triumphant, or at least to struggle valiantly against their demise, bringing colourful release to Serpent Column’s dense, intricate world. Alongside this the artist has thrown armadas of barbed riffs into the Aion of Strife warzone. These depraved creations are just as corroded and decomposed as their melodic counterparts, yet are similarly impactful. The net effect of the frenetic riffs is one of lessening the album’s dissonant/avant-garde elements to lower levels than you might expect, but I feel that this is to the music’s betterment; Aion of Strife is vicious, and the visceral jagged guitars are an intrinsic part of the record’s winning formula.
Don’t let mention of melodies and riffs delude you though – this is not a record of wide appeal. These aspects succeed in broadening Serpent Column’s brutally claustrophobic nightmare sound, but without subtracting from its malignant heart of darkness. Aion of Strife is relentless in its pursuit of aggressively nuanced ferocity. It’s a marathon of extremity and textured violence, yet when completed, it has an unnerving ability to draw you back for more.
Complex, technical, bizarrely infectious, Serpent Column’s individual and idiosyncratic black metal is remarkable. Aion of Strife is one to absorb and digest over time. Although striking, it is music that requires time and attention to fully reveal its secrets.
Very highly recommended.
Wonderbox Metal 