Doom-metal.com (Review by Laurent Lignon)
It took nearly 5 years to this Australian band to release a first full-length, but the result is damn worth the wait. Musically, the four-piece from Adelaïde is rooted in Traditional Doom, but with a lot of hints toward other subgenres. The riffs are brooding, heavy and thick as a tar pit, and boiling just the same. The pace is slow, very slow. The vocals range from mournful cries to aggressive growls. And the solos never hesitate to go into old Blues Rock territories when needed.
This description could fit so many Traditional Doom bands, so what it is that makes Rote Mare stands above the crowd? Soul and personality. While it's easy to spot the influences of the band (Reverend Bizarre here, Celtic Frost there and a bit of Trouble and even Warhorse all along), Rote Mare never sound like a basic copycat. Take for example the well-named 'Funeral Song' : there's some spoken parts coupled with clean guitars, followed by grievous vocals thats sounds like if Rozz Williams has crept out of his grave to come and sing about his own death on a heavy Stoner diet.
The songs are damn long, but never boring. Sometimes there's some spacey drug-infused parts that will reminds you of Electric Wizard or YOB, albeit with a more bluesy feeling. Everything is so well done that you recognize Rote Mare style at the first listening. This is so rare nowadays to find a Traditional Doom band that is able to come up with its own personality that it makes this album a must-have for anyone into the genre. As a tribute, the album ends with a very funny experiment : the song 'Children Of The Sabbath' is entirely composed of lyrics, riffs, names and parts of various Black Sabbath songs from the Ozzy era (you can easily recognize 'Tomorrow's Dream', 'War Pigs', 'Wheels Of Confusion', 'Black Sabbath' and so on...) but it is so well done that it sounds like a real song (or at best, a cover ) that just the medly it is in reality. Frankly, there are many bands that do covers of Black Sabbath that are less well done that this well-thought tribute : this alone shows that Rote Mare is not just another average band, but a force to be recognized and whose future holds great promises for the fans.
In his review for their 'Sorrows Path' EP, my fellow reviewer Arnstein was saying : « If [the forthcoming album] is anywhere near as good as this then it will be a classic. » He was right, and 'Serpents Of The Church' is sure to stand as one of the best 2011 releases in the genre.
Medazzarock (Review by Marco)
Kommt her, Juenger der schweren Riffs und der tief gestimmten Gitarren. Ergibt Euch der Kost von Rote Mare und frohlocket des dargebotenen Werkes. Oder was auch immer es ist was Doom-Juenger machen, 'frohlocken' ist vielleicht ein bisschen zu froehlich und farbig. Der erste Longplayer dieser Australischen band ist tiefschwarz, schleppend und zieht den Hoerer in seinen Bann. DOOM ist hier gross geschrieben und wird konsequent kompromisslos durchgezogen, die CD muesste eigentlich schwarz statt silbrig sein und sie muesste nach Pech und Schwefel riechen. Die sieben Songs bieten 76 Minuten schwerster Riffs und schleppender Harmonien und zahllose Anleihen an die fruehen Black Sabbath. Die Drums werden minimalistisch eingesetzt und die Stimme ist eindringlich. Bei aufmerksamem Hinhoeren oeffnen sich die Tracks und zeigen sorgfaeltiges und liebevolles Songwriting. Den uneingeweihten wird dieses Werk monoton und langweilig erscheinen, aber habt Ihrer Ignoranz Mitleid. Extra-Super-Bonuspunkte gibt es fuer die schier unvorstellbare Anzahl Black Sabbath Referenzen im Song "Children Of the Sabbath". So, ich muss jetzt schnell nachschauen ob im Duden beim Eintrag 'Doom' ein Foto von ROTE MARE ist. 9+2 Punkte
Noizz webzine
8,25/10
Dirigimos nuestras miradas hacia tierras australianas para conocer el debut en larga duración de esta banda de Doom que responde al nombre de ROTE MARE. Un proyecto que comenzó en el año 2005 como la one-man-band de Phil Howlett, quien grabó varias demos hasta que el proyecto se convirtió en banda aumentando su alineación. Su primer lanzamiento oficial fue el EP de 2010 titulado “Sorrows Path” que contenía dos temas de puro Doom, y ahora le toca el turno a su primer disco en larga duración que lleva el título de “Serpents Of The Church”, el cual ve la luz a través del sello francés Altsphere Production.
Es muy fácil reconocer el estilo de ROTE MARE puesto que no se andan con experimentos ni florituras de ninguna clase, lo que hacen es simple y llanamente Doom de tintes clásicos. Por supuesto las influencias de grupos como BLACK SABBATH están garantizadas, pero siempre llevadas a un término mucho más oscuro y denso. Este es uno de esos trabajos que encantarán a los amantes de los riffs pesados que se mueven como lava espesa, a la vez que una voz épica y oscura a partes iguales va relatando los negros pensamientos que se apoderan del espíritu con tales sonidos. Y es que conforme vas escuchando los temas que componen el álbum tu mente entra en un estado casi hipnótico, llevándote directamente a los desolados parajes por los que discurren las notas de cada riff.
Como no podía ser de otra manera la mayor parte de los temas que componen “Serpents Of The Church” superan los diez minutos de duración, algo muy característico en el Doom más ortodoxo. Por que básicamente ROTE MARE están aquí para ofrecer precisamente este tipo de música, sin desviarse un milímetro de lo que es su esencia, lo cual a mi personalmente me parece todo un acierto puesto que si se hacen las cosas tan bien como las hacen ellos, no hace falta perderse buscando adornos o modernidades que contaminen algo tan puro. Por eso estoy convencido que cualquier seguidor del Doom Metal estará más que satisfecho con este álbum entre las manos.
Metal Rules
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewer: Aaron Yurkiewicz
Rote Mare is prepared to school the masses on what traditional doom is all about. The Australian four piece wears their influences prominently and proudly, blending heavy doses of Celtic Frost, early Cathedral, Trouble, Electric Wizard, Saint Vitus, and well…you get the idea. Sufficed to say that the band has taken their inspirational cues from all the right places. And while Rote Mare has been self releasing a healthy line of demos and EPs since 2005, SERPENTS OF THE CHURCH is the band’s first official full length through Altsphere Productions. And given the band’s influences, it sounds exactly like you’d expect it to – methodically slow, polished, wailing DOOOOOM.
The pace of the album reminded me a lot of Cathedral’s mighty FOREST OF EQUILIBRIUM debut; the tunes are slow and precise, yet they survive from getting stale (for the most part) by integrating various degrees of twin guitar harmonies, bouncy bottom end riffs, and of course, the mandatory crushing plod. It’s a simple enough formula, but one that can easily go awry. Vocally, Phil Howlett sounds like an angrier Scott Reagers, with his pained, melodious vocal bellowing. It’s a great balance to the weighty musical backdrop behind him and quickly becomes a signature of the band’s sound.
The songs themselves are pretty standard fare for the genre – topics of misery, death, greed, and general human interest abound, but they’re well thought out and diverse enough to make most the album’s hour and 16 minute run time bearable. Which if I have any beef with the SERPENTS OF THE CHURCH, that’s probably it – it’s reeeeally long. You certainly get your money’s worth here, but there are a few tracks that felt more like endurance tests than they should. The band could’ve easily shaved a few minutes of exposition off of “The Funeral Song” without sacrificing any of its power, and the same could be send for the closing “Children of the Sabbath.” It’s a delightfully cheeky song that namedrops classic Sabbath albums for its lyrical inspiration. Being the huge Sabbath fan that I am, I was smiling for the first half of the song, but was checking my watch by the halfway point. But these moments are counterbalanced by standout tracks like “Slow Decay,” the epic title track, and the massive “In Doom’s Name.”
The good definitely outweighs the not so good on SERPENTS OF THE CHURCH and the album succeeds in most of its endeavors. Rote Mare isn’t reinventing the doom genre, but why fix what’s not broken? Fans of doom will find plenty to like on SERPENTS OF THE CHURCH when it releases in September. Check out the band’s website for purchase info.
