Customer Reviews

The Serpent

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

A good portion of the reviews for this CD are way off! Does a band these days have to scream like maniacs every song to satifsy their un-appreciative "metalcore" fans? This is a sound, hard rockin', great effort from Still Remains. Geez, let these guys get creative if they want!

Some spots are heavy, some spots are softer and more melodic. I loved their 1st album, and I also love this one. No matter which style their music slips into, there's always a certain 'groovability' to their tracks.

What I mean is this: I've listened to this album since it came out, at least a few times a week. Guess what? I still find myself singing along in my head and bobbing my head a little bit while it's playing. I don't even notice it or feel like it's gotten 'old' because of how many times I've heard it. This also holds true for their first album, although you may want this one instead if you prefer your music with less screaming lyrics.

PS - Hope you like this album because it's the last one from them you'll see. :(

Of Love And Lunacy was a masterpiece, and was one of the greatest metalcore albums created... looks like they hated it so much... this is exactly what happens when you start wearing eyeliner and singing like a faggot... biggest let down of the year, made me hate this band...

recieved the CD just fine. I'd been looking for it everywhere, with no success. Found it here for cheaper than expected, and it was received promptly with no issues at all

The Serpent is Still Remains' sophomore album and the follow- up to their 2005 album Of Love and Lunacy. It takes the album's hard-hitting metalcore sound which, for many fans, defined Still Remains, and expands upon it, bringing in elements of hard and soft rock, pop, and more metal.

The opening title track is a two minute instrumental, which begins with the keyboards that accentuate and define Still Remains, and introduces guitar and an exciting and suspenseful drum beat which set the listener up for the rest of the album. The Wax Walls of an Empty Room is a heavy song with a melodic chorus throughout, Stay Captive (the first single) is a hard rock song with a metalcore-inspired breakdown, and Anemia in Your Sheets takes thrash riffs and adds melodic interludes to round out the beginning of the album. The next track, Maria, is a soft song which builds into an emotional ending.

Dropped from the Cherry Tree is a fast and exciting headbanging song, which I believe really brings out the best of all the heavy aspects of Still Remains. The next four songs, Dancing with the Enemy, The River Song, Sleepless Nights Alone, and An Undesired Reunion set a more pop-inspired tone, with all but The River Song being completely devoid of vocalist TJ Miller's signature screaming. Avalanche, the lyrics inspired by role-playing video game Final Fantasy VII, is one of the heaviest songs Still Remains has ever written, and brings the album to a close.

Fans of hard rock and heavy metal, with an open mind for music inspired by other genres would do well to check this album out. It's different from Of Love and Lunacy, but great in its own way, and still retains the heavy metalcore aspect Still Remains' fans have come to know and love.

These Grand Rapids, MI-based metalheads slowed things down a bit on their second major-label release, restraining the guitars and screams while emphasizing their melodic keyboard/synth parts and clean vocals. They're still heavy, but this album proves they're not just another metalcore band in a flooded market. They are in fact, way too musically diverse to be categorized, for they can go from brutal, in-you-face metal to dance-influenced choruses to breakdowns that would make Unearth jealous and back to powerful rock ballads all in one album. The lyrics are better, the melodies are catchier, and the screaming is WAY better. Look out Massachusetts, Still Remains is out to prove that Michigan is the true center of good metal and hardcore. And to those naysayers out there crying because they changed their sound, fear not, for there are about a million other cliche metalcore bands out there just starving for your attention. If you can't get past your "if it ain't as heavy as a ton of bricks, it's wimpy" attitude, Still Remains isn't the band for you. However, if you enjoy good musicianship, creativity, and passion, pick up The Serpent today!

ok, I think this cd is pretty good. I haven't heard Of Love and Lunacy besides a couple of songs (and those are ok too). but yeah, this album has some pretty good songs and some fillers.

This album kind of sounds like a mix between Underoath's "They're Only Chasing Safety" and Haste the Day's "Pressure the Hinges", with a lot of extra keyboards thrown in (if you don't like keyboards with your metalcore, stay away from this album!). Another thing I like about this is the guitar solos. A lot of bands these days don't use guitar solos, or when they do, they're like 5 seconds long, but Still Remains uses them, and they're pretty good at them.

Here's my ratings of the songs:

1. The Serpent 10/10 ok, this is like my favorite album intro I've ever heard! Seriously, I feel kind of weird rating an intro (by the way, it's rated compared to other intros, not to other songs), but this is really good. I sometimes even listen to this without listening to the next song!

2. The Wax Walls of an Empty Room 7/10 I'm a pretty strict reviewer I guess, so even though I only gave this song seven out of ten, it's still a decent song. (remember 7 out of 10 means it's better than 70% of everything else out there). It sounds kind of like a normal metalcore song, but with extra keyboards (almost always a plus in my opinion) and a cool guitar solo.

3. Stay Captive 8/10 If you're going to show somebody what Still Remains sounds like (unless they're into really hard music) show them this song. I was blown away the first time I listened to this song. It has a really good intro and cool keyboards, the only problem was it got old kind of fast. and by the way, there is no screaming in this song.

4. Anemia in Your Sheets 10/10 BEST SONG ON THE CD! Amazing intro, great guitars, and nice vocals! one of the heaviest songs on the cd.

5. Maria 3/10 Not too good. they tried to make a slow song, and if they had worked on this some more it probably could have turned into a decent track.

6. Dropped From the Cherry Tree 7/10 A decent metalcore song with an amazing guitar solo! probably the best one on the album.

7. Dancing with the Enemy 7/10 Another song with no screaming, this one's not quite as good as Stay Captive, but it's still good, with a nice chorus.

8. The River Song 4/10 Now we enter what I call the trilogy of fillers. This song is ok I guess, but it's not really memorable.

9. Sleepless Nights Alone 5/10 Best part of the trilogy of fillers. This song does have a cool intro, but it's just not that memorable either. No screaming on this one.

10. An Undesired Reunion 3/10 Worst part of the trilogy of fillers. Pretty much nothing memorable. This just wasn't a very good song.

11. Avalanche 8/10 YES! We're out of the trilogy, and the last song is great! This song is all screaming, and it's really heavy, but it's a great way to end the album!

Still Remains definitely can improve, but this is still a decent effort. Don't spend too much money on this cd, but if you can find it for a normal price go ahead and get it (as long as you already have Underoath "They're Only Chasing Safety").

This album is a little bit of a different style than Still Remains previous albums, but I personally loved the album.

This c.d. is a step up from their last c.d. of love and lunacy. There is much more diversity on this c.d. yet I still think they should have left out the lame slow songs like maria, sleepless nights alone and so forth but songs like dropped from the cherry tree, the river song, white walls, are way better than all the songs on of love and lunacy. Don't get wrong I'm a fan of the heavier stuff which is why I was disappointed with the new Atreyu. They took a turn for the worse. Still Remains still has it so hopefully on their next c.d. they make another c.d. like this (maybe just a bit heavier) and leave out the lame ballads.

I can agree with both sides of this argument. They did change their sound but I dig it. It's not as hard or as good as their last album but I like it a lot. That saying I hope their next album is more like "Of Love and Lunacy". I'm not only a metalcore guy im also into a lot of different types of metal especially european metal which is why I still really like it. I really don't think they deserve such negative attention towards the album like they have received cause its well written music too. It seems like a lot of bands changed their sound this year including Atreyu, Aiden, Still Remains and others. Even still I like all of these albums I have heard thus far.