Serpent Rider - The Ichor Of Chimaera

Angry Metal Guy 60

Steel never gets his fill of old-timey, sword-swinging trve metal. It’s one of the few genres that pulls me away from the rot pit these days, and a break from the reek of putrefaction is always nice. Enter The Ichor Of Chimaera, the debut from Los Angeles-based trvesters Serpent Rider, featuring Brandon Corsair of Houkago Grind Time and Draghkar. Their goal is a convincingly throwback sound and an epic vibe, taking pages from Manilla Road, Brocas Helm, DoomSword, and newer acts like Smoulder. With ample musical chops and solid appreciation for the sounds of past glories, can Serpent Rider tame the snakes of inexperience and triumph over the other trve hordes stalking the wastelands?

Things open in a deceptively low-key way on “Steel is the Answer.” The title would lead one to expect pounding war drums, martial marching, and much chest-thumping bravado, but instead, you’re met by the smooth and decidedly mellow vocals of R. Villar, who operates in a sedate, hypnotic space despite spinning tales of steel conquest and retribution. The supporting music is fully retro, with 80s-centric proto-metal riffs and flashes of glory-seeking harmonies. This creates a bit of a disconnect, but it isn’t bad at all. The war hammers rattle more forcefully on “Radiant,” where the might of trve metal reveals itself, even if the vocals never rise to match the fervor. The album grows stronger as it goes along, with the victorious, valorous (and somewhat liturgical) “Matri Deorum” charging into that sweet spot between Cirith Ungol, Manowar, and DoomSword, and I want to hoist a banner in its honor. This is the stuff that brings Steel to the fightspace.

Other moments of entertaining throwback barbarian fury include “Tyrant’s March,” which is what I expected more of based on the genre and promo language. This is more like all thunderous war galloping and ravaging, and I’m here for it. Closer “In Spring” changes things up with bouncy NWoBHM riffs that eventually merge into blackened terms and frantic blastbeats. This is an ingredient they should have mixed throughout the entire Manocake for added thrills and kills. There are a few stumbles on the way to Helm’s Deep, however. The title track is a decent enough 5-minute song stretched on the Rack of Elongation to an unwieldy 7-plus minutes, and it gets tiresome before it retreats. “The Hero’s Spirit” suffers a different fate, opting for a quasi-Goth doom sound that recalls Within Temptation, but doesn’t quite come together. At a crisp 36:11 minutes, most of The Ichor of Chimaera goes down pretty easily like ice-cold Night Train. The production is warm and appropriately retro, with a certain Cirith Ungol-esque clang and clomp I appreciate.

Though a vocalist can often be the guiding force for a trve metal act, in the case of Serpent Rider, it’s the fretboard acumen of Paul Gelbach and Brandon Corsair that fills the sails and cracks the whips. They run through a variety of old time influences along the way, like Cirith Ungol, Helstar, and Manilla Road, and they know exactly the sound and vibe they want to invoke. They’re adept at creating 80s-centric soundscapes and bring a goodly amount of heat to the forge. R Villar is an interesting frontwoman. Her smooth, laconic delivery is pleasant but feels out of place on songs that sound like they were made for battle and heroics, and the music cries out for more passion and invective. Her laid back approach works better on the slower, doomy cuts like the title track, but I still want MOAR oomph from her. She seems unwilling to take things into a more forceful gear, even on the aggressive cuts like “Radiant” and “In Spring.” This makes me long for Tower’s Sarabeth Linden to show up and roar against the dying of the light.

Serpent Rider exist inside the trve wheelhouse of Steel, and I enjoy what they do on The Ichor Of Chimaera. I just wish they brought more swords to the slaughter and fewer Gothic sleepytime lullabies. There’s plenty to like here, and a few keepers to honor in the Playlists of Titans. They just need to dial the trveness up a few more notches if they hope to curry favor with the Lords of Metal on Mount Crom. Hoard the damn swords, people. HOARD THEM!



Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: No Remorse
Websites: serpentrider.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/serpentriderband | instagram.com/serpentriderofficial
Releases Worldwide: March 28th, 2025

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