Review: Saint Deamon – League Of The Serpent
AFM Records ( 21st April, 2023 )
Reviewer: Stephen Brophy
One of the most rocking Power Metal albums I’ve heard in a long time, Saint Deamon really have nailed it with ‘League Of The Serpent‘. This one is just a riot, an explosion of energy and fast paced anthems that I would love to hear live. The band have a cracking lineup, vocalist Jan-Thore is outstanding throughout as expected and the musicianship is just brilliant from Toya (Guitar), Nobby (Bass) and Alfred (Drums).
From the opening track you are transferred to a life on the ocean waves and the lands of pirate raids, ‘At Break Of Dawn’ is just such a great way to kick off the album, there is just something about the punch in what they have made here that elevates it above the majority of Power Metal releases.
What sends this album over the top for me though is the melody all the way through, it just makes the music so uplifting. Be it the melodic rock of ‘The Final Fight’ or the runs through the bombastically catchy ‘Load Your Canons’ it’s everywhere, it adds to the sound, to the music to everything. Eleven gems that fit and flow together perfectly, the production, the mix all just work here and it’s so easy to wax lyrical when everything is done properly.
Of course there are highlights, but they are everywhere, what I think will be wonderful live, well ‘At Break Of Dawn’ and ‘Load Your Canons’ are standouts straight away, but also the title track ‘League Of The Serpent’ and what I think would be a fist pumping track ‘Gates Of Paradise’ but you can pretty much pick anything in the same way that through listening to the album a lot different tracks may become favourites depending on that your mood is when listening. Albums like this don’t drop very often, so listen over and over and just enjoy it, whether you are a power metal fan or not I think this one has enough for everyone to enjoy..
Not just one of the Power Metal releases of the year, ‘League Of The Serpent‘ is of such a high quality I’d be very surprised if it doesn’t stay in many Top 10 albums of the year at the end of 2023, it really is just that good. An album that you can stick on at any time and just start feeling lifted, outstanding work.
Tracklisting:
01 At Break Of Dawn
02 League Of The Serpent
03 The Final Fight
04 Lord Of The Night
05 A Lie To Be Undone
06 Raise Hell
07 Lost In Your Sin
08 Gates Of Paradise
09 Load Your Cannons
ROCKPOSER DOT COM! 