SERPENTINE – Circle Of Knives (2015)

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Fighting against adversity, British AOR / Melodic Hard Rockers SERPENTINE are back with their third effort: “Circle Of Knives“, and they’re back with vengeance, believe me.
Serpentine seemed to be on the verge of something big just a few short years ago when this young quintet burst onto the scene like a breath of fresh air. Two well received albums (both featured here) and subsequent live work with the likes of FM, Crashdiet and Ten saw the band impressing in a big way – then fate took a hold.

Firstly frontman Matt Black jumped ship, which was followed by bass player Gareth Vanstone quitting due to illness. Both have now been replaced with Adam Payne (ex-Tidal) on vocals and Owen Crawford (ex-Triaxis) on bass. And so begins another chapter in Serpentine’s history.
Matt Black’s departure, as painful as it was, allowed the remaining members to hunt for a new singer with a different style, a different direction.
The new songs for “Circle Of Knives” were written with a more melodic hard rock vibe in mind than AOR, and the powerful Adam Payne fitted in exactly.

‘Season Of The Witch’ is the grand opener starting with a multi-layered keyboard intro, with Chris Gould’s guitar straight from the UK traditional Hard songbook – the rest of Serpentine kick in and then you hear that voice for the first time and all feels awesome.
This is an absolutely massive track, in more ways than one; first it introduces us to Serpentine’s new sharper sound, and also to Payne’s incredible vocal talent. Serpentine have struck gold here, Adam’s voice is just amazing, full of controlled power and passion.
This is still Serpentine with that AOR pre-chorus and the pumping melodies, just more of everything, turned up to 11.
‘Season Of The Witch’ is a massive statement of intent, and it kicks home, hard.

‘La Tragedienne’ is a great reminder of just how good Serpentine are at writing AOR tunes, an upbeat catchy song with a killer chorus that will have you reaching for the hairbrush.
‘Forever’ opens with a stabbing riff before dropping back as vocals take the lead, segueing into a great verse and even better chorus. Gareth David Noon’s keyboards really shine through making this a fest, while guitarist Chris Gould then picks up the baton and runs with it, delivering one of the best solos on the album.
A hard and fast guitar riffs leads us into ‘The Hardest Fall’, an edgy track. A pounding rhythm section towards the last part of the track really gives Chris a base in which to play off, delivering once again the perfect solo to match the song.

The melancholic emotive guitar playing on the opening bars to ‘Bleed’ gives away this tracks direction – not so much a ballad, more of a lament. Noon provides a beautiful piano accompaniment to a sad and soulful vocal really bringing this song emotion, and, as expected by now, Gould turns up to add a beautiful well-crafted solo into the mix.
‘Where Does Your Heart Beat Now’ is a great slab of AOR, something which Serpentine do particular well, a quick paced tune with a sing a long chorus. I’m a firm believer that a solo must enhance a song, and not exist because of it. The solo’s in the last two mentioned tracks not only fit in beautifully, but they add another level to the songs; they are simply exquisite.

A pounding rhythm section powers ‘Bound By The Strings Of Discord’, another fast paced rocker, followed by title track ‘Circle Of Knives’, a six minute journey into the new melodic, at times even progressive direction this new version of Serpentine are taking. A grand sweeping soundscape from the opening keys, a gentle guitar leads the listener through an epic musical landscape. The track has a life off its own and could quite easily have been twelve minutes long.
‘Such A Long Way Down’ heads back into AOR territory opening up with a keyboard run before a blistering guitar solo kicks in. There are lots of keys helping to give the song some depth, while a simple drum beat helps in keep it all together until Gould once again reappears near the end to add a delicious solo.
‘Suicide Days’ is sadly the last track on this reborn Serpentine’s third album, and it’s another one of the band’s new direction tracks, most noted by Noon’s elaborated opening arrangement, before heading into Melodic Rock territory with a crushing guitar riff. The interplay between Adam Payne and Gareth Noon towards the end add’s a nice touch.

This ‘new’ Serpentine is a much more mature, organic Melodic Hard Rock than before.
Gareth David Noon’s assured and imaginative keyboard work is certainly some of the best he has ever done and puts him at the forefront of melodic rock players. Likewise Christopher Gould has risen to the challenge on this leap forward of an album to deliver guitar playing that is at times superb – I knew he was good, but on this album he is simply outstanding. The pounding rhythm section of new bassist Owen Crawford and drummer Roy Millward are certainly a match as they lay the foundations of these tracks.
Producer Gary Hughes said that he wanted to ‘raise the bar’ for the band with this album. His collaboration with Serpentine recalls his best work with Bob Catley and maybe even excels it.
Released by AOR Heaven Records, quite simply “Circle Of Knives” is one of the best British Melodic Hard Rock albums of the year.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

01. Season of the Witch
02. La Tragedienne
03. Forever
04. The Hardest Fall
05. Bleed
06. Where Does Your Heart Beat Now?
07. Bound By The Strings of Discord
08. Circle Of Knives
09. Such A Long Way Down
10. Suicide Days

Adam Payne – Vocals
Chris Gould – Guitars
Gareth David Noon – Keyboards
Owen Crawford – Bass
Roy Millward – Drums

BUY IT !
www.aorheaven.com/index.php/englisch_b/serpentine-circle-of-knives.html
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