I’ve heard Generation of Vipers described as a Neurosis-meets-Amenra plus a substantial shot of aggression.1 With four full-lengths and a split with fellow Tennessee post-or-sludge-adjacent metallers under their belt, the act’s sound remains stalwart—or stagnant, depending on the listener. Thick and bottom-heavy riffs dominate, from staggered Isis-esque rhythms, and rolling punk-sludge beatdowns à la Black Tusk, to ominous plucking straight outta Abraham. Although a decade exists between the last full-length Coffin Wisdom and Guilt Shrine, it’s business as usual. Guilt Shrine will not change your mind about Generation of Vipers or post-metal in any way, but the aggression adds a jolt of intensity that rises above the muck.
Guilt Shrine by Generation Of Vipers
Guilt Shrine’s tracklist tumbles across your ears like boulders in a landslide, Generation of Vipers chugging and barking their way through seven tracks and thirty-six minutes. While the balanced opener “Joyless Grails” and the southern-fried bruiser “Lux Inversion” deal with a sturdy balance of haunting melodies, highlights embrace the attack of cutthroat intentions. “In the Wilderness,” for instance, features a swarm of vicious riffs that hit you like the arsenal of post-metal Hammer Bro, balancing shredding palm-muting, punk chord progressions, and an unshakeable groove to get stuck in your head. “Elijah,” although not without its fair share of menacing placidity, utilizes these plucking movements and the empty silence to amplify the crushing weight that follows, concluding riffs pushed to a shuddering maximum. Generation of Vipers features a solid mix and production, guitars able to morph between galloping mammoth chugs and stinging melodies, while Joshua Holt’s vocals are sermonic and fiery, commanding the brig with charisma and fury, although the production has its issues.
Generation of Vipers adds a neat steel toe to the boot of post-metal. But the blueprint remains rooted in Through Silver in Blood and Panopticon, with touches of the Masses, and very little else sticks out beyond classic post-metal accomplished aggressively. This means that the crime that Generation of Vipers is guilty of is a lack of memorability resulting from the maximum safety and the seeming recognizability of the riffs and melodies. Their Amenra-isms are sparse, limited to albeit tasteful forays like “Elijah” and “Guilt Shrine,” or passages of “Lux Inversion,” but even the latter’s melodic template feels a tad like a weaker version. After the relatively pointless interlude “Doesn’t Mean Anything,” the most blatantly anticlimactic track here is easily “A Quiet Life,” no thanks to the production in which the ominous plucking quickly overpowers the riffs. It’s a problem that leaves a stain on “Guilt Shrine” as well—robbing the two tracks of their instrumental punch. As such, the album structure is a tad uneven, with the back half robbed of momentum.
Generation of Vipers isn’t interested in shaking up post-metal, and that’s fine. Guilt Shrine picks up exactly where Coffin Wisdom left off even after a decade, with sludgy riffs and an undeniable fire burning in the trio’s belly, with a touch of menace and darkness. However, although the production falters on the back end and there are weaker songs aboard, Guilt Shrine is a pleased-as-punch post-metal album that sounds a lot like Neurosis or Isis. I’m pleased to have found them, and I look forward to what they’ve got next.
Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Translation Loss Records
Website: facebook.com/generationofvipers | generationofvipers.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: August 23rd, 2024
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