Killswitch Engage’s Adam Dutkiewicz and Cannibal Corpse’s George ‘Corpsegrinder’ Fisher are hardly two names that immediately spring to mind when thinking of musicians who might form a side-project together.
So with former The Black Dahlia Murder drummer Shannon Lucas also onboard, it came as some surprise when this long-gestating supergroup was first announced some years back.
With the long-awaited record finally here, the question of quite what this coming together would produce is answered in emphatically violent style as the lulling, Killswitch-like vibes of its instrumental intro gives way to the ferocious death metal assault of The Vengeance In Me. Ragers such as Vanquished Unto Thee and Jagged Cross Legions only further the barrage as Fisher goes about showing just why he’s one of the best extreme vocalists out there, while his eviscerating attack is more than matched by some face-destroying guitar work from the often unsung Dutkiewicz and the equally impressive work behind the kit from Lucas. Sparingly used clean vocal moments from Dutkiewicz work well to bring touches of melody to proceedings here and there, but really this is a mission of short, sharp violence – and Serpentine Dominion is brilliant for it.
