Album Review: Saint Deamon - League of the Serpent
Reviewed by Richard Oliver
Saint Deamon haven’t been the most prolific of bands but when they do release an album you can always be assured of its quality. The Swedish/Norwegian power metal band formed in 2006 and wasted no time in getting their debut album 'In Shadows Lost From The Brave' released in 2008 rapidly followed by 'Pandeamonium' in 2009. Then there was radio silence from the band until they made a comeback of sorts in 2019 with their third album 'Ghost'. Thankfully we haven’t had to wait another ten years for a follow up as 2023 sees the release of the fourth album from the band 'League Of The Serpent'.
Saint Deamon have always had a knack of writing an interesting and varied bunch of songs for their albums with songs that range from traditional speedy power metal numbers to more mid paced progressive songs to a more bombastic sound. One thing that always unites the material on a Saint Deamon album is the band's ability to write monstrous hooks and irresistible melodies and that is still certainly the case on 'League Of The Serpent'. Opening song ‘At The Break Of Dawn’ is strongly melodic with a bit of a folk feel to it with a nice acoustic section whilst ‘The Final Fight’ is just a pure piece of melodic and anthemic heavy metal.
‘Lord Of The Night’ has a bit of a contemporary metal sound to it whilst also being one of the biggest earworms that the album has to offer whilst the band's epic sound really comes to the fore in ‘A Lie To Be Undone’. If you want a more traditional Euro power metal sound then ‘Gates Of Paradise’ and ‘Heaven To Heart’ will tick all your boxes with choruses big enough to cause structural damage to your home.
'League Of The Serpent' is the debut recording for drummer Alfred Fridhagen who joined the band in 2020 whilst the other three members of the band have all been there since the beginning which is a rarity in metal. The standout performance on the album has to be from singer Jan Thore Grefstad who quite simply has an amazing voice and utilises it to its full effect throughout. If you don’t like melodic power metal then this album is going to do nothing to change your mind but if you are partial to a bit of cheesy Euro power then this is definitely a must hear album. This is Saint Deamon firing on all cylinders and playing to their strengths.
