ALBUM REVIEW: Seed Of Mankind – Serotonin Syndrome

Finnish blackened post-metallers SEROTONIN SYNDROME didn’t set out to make their second album quite so gloomy. In fact, approaching ten years as a band, they intended to write an album that celebrated their decade together and their sonic evolution from often clean vocals and more early KATATONIA influences to ones that incorporated more blackened elements a la AGALLOCH. Life, however, had other plans. Their sophomore effort Seed Of Mankind is both a sonic departure and a thematic departure from their original aims, instead acting as a monument to the pain and tribulations of the past three years. 

Seed Of Mankind starts strong in the eight-minute opener Among Others, with a melancholic guitar lead that underpins a churning riff. It’s all very ISIS or CULT OF LUNA initially, but the band soon throw those comparisons out by accelerating to a far more frantic pace as the song morphs into melodic black metal. The rasped vocals exude pain and anger, the guitars yearning for release in an emotional cascade. Fortunately, SEROTONIN SYNDROME also know when to take their foot off the gas, with the midway point marking a transition into quiet, classically-inspired guitar before once more erupting. 

This penchant for post-metal crescendos is echoed across the album, earning those comparisons to the titans of the genre; though they’re not necessarily doing anything new, Seed Of Mankind executes its genre hallmarks compellingly. The Pitiful One is a comparatively short blackened rager that still manages to fit a decent chunk of musical exploration into its runtime, even if it is almost entirely black metal. Unfortunately though, it does feature one of the album’s few low points with the vocal line “shut your stupid face, you stupid fuck”, whose lack of accompaniment only makes the cringe factor worse. 

Fortunately, that’s a rare miss; they don’t repeat the line for the rest of the song, and the remaining three songs circle back to more expansive territories. The title track opts for a slow-burn open more similar to the blackened majesty of Among Others, and follows a similar track of a quiet segment round the halfway mark. Thankfully Dot Marks The Spot bucks the trend and avoids the trap of structural repetition, though there’s still a sense that the band aren’t particularly keen of branching out of the blackened post-metal niche. 

The aforementioned post-metal greats earned that recognition by not only bringing something new to the table, but by exploring emotion in dynamic, fluid ways that weren’t bound to one particular soundscape or pattern. SEROTONIN SYNDROME don’t quite avoid that pitfall, and their melancholy and yearning does tend to follow one particular pattern. There’ll be a sorrowful lead counterpointed against chunkier guitar, or a tremolo melody that echoes similar feelings and wintery soundscapes; the vocals are a fairly constant blackened rasp with rare forays into lower growls and the speed is either plodding or frantic. 

All that taken together makes Seed Of Mankind an enjoyable listen, but also one that’s fairly one-dimensional outside of closing track The End. The thirty minutes it takes to get to that song has a tendency to blend together; not unpleasantly, but it happens. With The End there’s a far greater emphasis on melody across instrumentation, with the use of a piano, synths and guitar to carry different melody lines. It’s a great closer, but unfortunately comes at the end of an album that spends much of its initial runtime being just fine. 

Rating: 7/10

Seed Of Mankind is set for release on January 27th via Pelagic Records.

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