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Transcending Bizarre? > The Serpent's Manifolds > Reviews
Transcending Bizarre? - The Serpent's Manifolds

Transcending Bizarre? - The Serpent's Manifolds - 86%

Tomecki666, February 28th, 2019
Written based on this version: 2008, CD, Dissonart Productions

Transcending Bizarre?’s The Serpent’s Manifolds keeps coming back into my CD player more often than anything else. Their music is something that makes me drift away and follow my imagination to some scary, surreal place. Anybody remembers the movie “Silent Hill”? The place is kind of like that. It’s time to share some thoughts, warn or invite some people and introduce a band and music that stung me with its mixture of musical genres that I’ve come to enjoy the most.

Transcending Bizarre? is a weird name for a metal band but maybe that was the reason behind the idea. Formed in 2000, released two demos and debut album The Four Seasons in 2003. Five years later they are back and looks like they might be on their way to the top of quite a few rankings most likely in more than one category. Listening to Transcending Bizarre? is an ongoing experience to me. Their music is an excellent blend of intense black metal speed, death metal heaviness, and an eeriness of a horror movie score. And this is just the beginning. On one hand they serve us double base drums with some blast beats, growls and screams, razor sharp guitar riffs and smell of sulfur, but one the other - piano passages, clean vocals, violins, movie soundtrack backgrounds and synthesizer samples. Black metal serves as a backbone or a frame to this creature but we can also find plenty of classical orchestrations, instruments and choirs. Bands like Septic Flesh, Dimmu Borgir, and Tvangeste come to mind if I had to compare those Greeks to someone. Whole album is packed with ideas that come forward with each listen, creating a multilayered feel to the album. All songs have their own identity or character, with main themes being very strong and recognizable. I must also mention that all that is perfectly recorded and each and every instrument is highly audible. Whole album doesn’t have a single weak spot, no boring moments or filler songs. Transcending Bizarre? managed to balance all ingredients and elements skillfully, creating album that demands numerous listens bringing new discoveries with each session.

The Serpent’s Manifolds may not be for all to listen and enjoy since it incorporates few different genres, but it is worth checking out. It took them only a few minutes to bring me on their side so open your mind, give it a chance and listen. I wonder where will their music take YOU.

An alternative solution to the Dimmu Borgir defect - 93%

feallan, February 27th, 2010

Transcending Bizarre? aren't newcomers to the concept of the avant-garde, otherwise either divine or profane demonstrated in their previous work, "The Four Scissors." They employ a particular sound in a done-to-death symphonic genre gone south. It's all done well enough to be appreciated in such grace, still manage to leave something to be desired.

However, a detraction from their almost caustic performance in 2003 wasn't what listeners would call a predictable shift -- instead, at first listen, you may confuse yourself with Dimmu Borgir's "Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia" in the nigh flawless presentation of orchestral instruments, synthetic and instrumental. This sort of metal doesn't dwell upon the concept of Satanism much to the degree of their predecessors, forsaking the obvious for a more astronomical approach. Fans of Arcturus rejoice.

The methodical nature of the instruments used in "The Four Scissors" isn't improved upon per se, but mastered correctly. People who enjoy technical music probably won't want anything to do with this album for how often it plays with melodic structures and interludes. Straight out the case, nothing is stark here; the drum work is played and mastered excellently unlike their previous album, and the guitar work is infectious when it comes to their solos. However, you'll find a lot of chugging in between, which could be a plus or a minus given your preference to that sort of technique during a transition or bridge.

None of this album is taken from the books. Straight from the introductory track exemplifying the prowess this band possesses in terms of synthesis and percussion moving inward to "Irreversible" is of the schemata of brilliance. Plenty of tracks follow this "trend," namely Cell and Infinite, which only further bolds the emphasis they place upon the building effect.

This is nothing short of a band that has not only managed to dodge all the bullets of typical symphonic metal, but one that exceeds expectations of those jaded to the genre. If you're into a wondrous lyrical nature, arrangements meeting coercive metal, chances are this will take you for a hell of a ride. Recommended.