& They Shall Take Up Serpents

Byzantine | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 12, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Prosthetic
• ASIN: B0009VNBK6
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #255,298 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is what metal is all about., January 16, 2006

By 

R. Rinehart "Riff Merchant" (Allen, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: & They Shall Take Up Serpents (Audio CD)

I bought this CD the day it came out, from a Best Buy deep in the heart of Texas. This is a band that deserves your respect because they live and breathe metal and they always have. This is a band to root for...they've quit jobs, slept on floors, drove all night across country...because they love to play metal for those who love to hear it, anytime, and anywhere.

Regardless of who you think they sound like a mix of...they are a rock-solid NWOAHM act with a unique lyrical perspective (who else incorporates the culture of their home state so well, without an ounce of cheese?) These guys are proud of their roots in West Virginia and pour every ounce of pride and energy they have into pummeling you. That's a good thing.

As for the musicians...Tony Rohrbough has been woodshedding his chops since an early age. He's emerged as a mutant hybrid of Alex Skolnick and Steve Vai...and applied those influences to an extreme new form of metal. OJ can pull off any combination of screams/growls/bellows as well as sing, and is a hell of a rhythm player. It fits with the music. These guys played with a drum machine at countless gigs because they couldn't find a human to play the parts accurately! The current line-up is a precision metal, umm, machine.

"Jeremiad" is the obvious single on this one, and probably their strongest track to date. One of the gripes I've heard is that there are a few songs on this album that aren't quite as manic as on their debut "The Fundamental Component." Chalk it up to growth in songwriting and the desire not to make the same record twice. Regardless, this album is still a joyride of the brutal new american metal.

Buy it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Byzantine returns with another fully loaded release., August 15, 2005

By 

CathodeParticleShift (Southgate, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: & They Shall Take Up Serpents (Audio CD)

It's bands like Byzantine that deserve a lot of credit for keeping the American metal industry's sound unique and multi-faceted. In a day and age where the commonality of metalcore sound, to the calibur of Killswitch Engage and As I Lay Dying, and hardcore bands, like Hatebreed, has become over blown and greatly overdone, it is bands like this that give us something to listen to. At first listen, "The Fundamental Component" made me think that I wasted my money. After awile, I began to like it more and more because of how technical it was and how Byzantine had this uncommon and intriguing sound to its work. Their newest creation, "And They Shall Take Up Serpents", continues their use of this interesting sound and it even moves and sounds much better than the last.

Occasionally, you will hear a few new sounds within their very well written tracklist. These include bongo drums, a piano, and some acoustic work, and they add more of a flavor to the album. Still, the time signature changes and technicality of the songwriting are well planned and, at times, the album has more brutality to it than the last one. They even revived one of their older tracks on the CD (Jeremiad) along with the new tracklist. Overall, I think Byzantine has the ability to be a band that can consistantly write a good record that many will never look at or hear. I would prefer to keep their work in my back pocket, rather than have them get big and turn to crap in a hurry. If you are a fan of metal, buy this album along with the other. Byzantine is proving not to disappoint, at least they don't disappoint me.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars this kicks ass, September 8, 2005

By 

Prinskipenskgo Gruskgo "almighty gruskgo" (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: & They Shall Take Up Serpents (Audio CD)

quite frankly i dont know how anyone thinks this sounds anything like pantera. the guys who think it does need to clean out their ears. im a massive pantera fan and this is completely different, i love this stuff. this music is pretty original compared to most bands like it. the riffs are amazing, and the singer has an awesome voice. this is proper metal. amazing album.