Classically trained multi-instrumentalists Blake Green and Brittany McConnell, known collectively as Wolvserpent, are indicative of the inquisitive artists currently experimenting within extreme metal these days.
Across two well-received albums since 2010, this exceptional duo have used the deep-rooted atmospheric nature of distinct genres, including doom, neo-folk, black metal, classical, drone, and dark ambient. Their latest 40-minute release isn’t a progression of Wolvserpent’s multi-textural sound, but rather an exercise in constructing a single composition that focuses on specific styles – most notably, folk and drone – present throughout their previous works.
The new EP favours a linear song structure. The duo heighten tension with sawing violins and martial drums during early cinematic movements before becoming darker, dropping to echoing depths through the gut-rumbling frequencies and percussive crashes of drone.
The dominant, heavier passages are minimalistic and repetitive, which may prove disappointing for those expecting dynamism, but deep explorations of the suffocating feedback swells, field recordings and disorientating loops more than make up for the lack of riff variations and sharp rhythmic surges.
