SEPTICFLESH — Ophidian Wheel (review)

SEPTICFLESH — Ophidian Wheel album cover Album · 1997 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
Time Signature
Towards the topmost step of the Earth...

Genre: symphonic/gothic death metal

Released in 1997, Ophidian Wheel proved a major milestone in the musical development of SepticFlesh's, as it was on this album they transitioned from traditional death metal into the symphonic gothic death metal sound that characterizes their current efforts. The album was reissued this october on their current label Season of Mist with three bonus tracks and an awesome new cover artwork.

Ophidian Wheel opens rather weakly with 'The Future Belongs to the Brave'. The problem here is twofold. Firstly, the track itself is simply not among the most convincing songs composed by this otherwise very talented band. Secondly, the production is rather tinny, and the new mastering does not really seem to have helped much. Consequently, the ear which is attuned to the pristine and crisp production of modern metal releases has to get adjusted to the less refined sound on this album at the cost of the opening track. However, if the listener sticks around and listens the entire album through, the listener will soon realize that the rest of the album is pretty good. What I like about it is the eclectic nature of the album, as the listener is treated to od school death metal riffage and harsh vocals appearing side-by-side with symphonic elements and a gothic meodicism. Several tracks on the album sound like a more sophisticated version of Gothic-era Paradise Lost, in the sense that the album is full of melodic doom metal passages. There is also some pretty avant-garde stuff on the album, such as the dramatic 'Tartarus'.

A good album though it is, Ophidian Wheel suffers from not to convicing symphonic elements performed on a synthesizer (in 1997) which sound more like something out of a 1990s fantasy computer game than anthing else. Still, this does not really detract from the compositions or the performance, and the album remains an enjoyable listen. As for the three bonus tracks, I think that the reissue does not really need them, but, then again, I can imagine that hardcore fans of the band will be thrilled to hear them anyway.

Definitely not the best alum by Septicflesh, but perhaps the most important one, Ophidian Wheel should be of great interest to fans of their more recent efforts, such as The Great Mass, because this is where it started. Although I have my reservations towards this album, I really enjoy its eclectic nature and appreciate the gothic doom passages in particular.

(review originally posted at seaoftranquility.org)
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

The Goblin Sessions Heavy Metal
THEM
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tormenta De Arena Metalcore
VORAGO
Buy this album from MMA partners
Infinite Metalcore
FUTURE GHOST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Heretic Melodic Death Metal
SUNCINDER
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Skull Burned Wearing Hell Like A Life Vest As The Night Wept Mathcore
FRONTIERER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Future Ghost - Wolves (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Future Ghost - Nemesis Game (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Harrowed TwentyTenVideo
HARROWED
Bosh66· 3 days ago
Sunmancer - Realms of Dilemma (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
Sunmancer - Lower Cavalier (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed