Shrine of the Serpent - Shrine of the Serpent (2015)

   Shrine of the Serpent debuted with a stunning EP (the basically could be a full-length album by its nearly 30 mins of duration if it wasn't death/doom), that served as an accurate introduction for the band's (unfortunately) short career. 
   While the music definitely reflects the traditional aspect of the style, that focuses on absolute hopelessness, strongly demoralizing tone, and completely lacks aesthetic or romantic features; the crystal clear sound that was picked is usual at the more popular form of death/doom. At one hand it's advantageous, cause it's also a way to highlight the music's rumbling heaviness, and to show the endless depths of desperation, but a noisier, dirtier sound could have been more effective if that was the goal. Anyways, the EP includes everything why death/doom could be preferred. It's ominous, down-pulling and includes such a dark atmosphere, that would be difficult to compete with in any other styles. During the 3 extended songs the band did a great job by keep building up the songs slowly step by step and avoiding monotony meanwhile. The compositions are simple, nothing unexpected happens, it's high quality death/doom in its raw simplicity. Could be a potential favorite for the fans of the genre.