ALBUM REVIEW: Servants to the Tide – Servants to the Tide
A little over two years in the making, Germany’s SERVANTS TO THE TIDE are hoping their self-titled debut will help carve out a place for them and their brand of ‘epic doom metal’ in a genre already saturated with acts that each bring something unique to the table. Formed by members of CRAVING, SCREAMING SOULS, and EYES WIDE OPEN, SERVANTS TO THE TIDE are hoping to hit the ground running with this self-titled, six-track offering.
Kicking the album off is a swift intro track that does wonders to set the tone of the album early. From this track alone it’s obvious that what will follow is going to be a theatrical journey of epic storytelling. Featuring stripped back instrumentation, Departing from Miklagard is heavily styled after early Germanic folk music and its lyrics, sang softly, beautifully illustrate the world and period where the album is set.
Following on from the thematically interesting opening track comes A Wayward Son’s Return. The introduction to the doom-heavy meat of the album gets off to a great start: an interesting melody coming from the distorted layers of guitars and underpinned by the creeping, heavy drums. The track is gearing up to be a really interesting doom metal piece until one of the main issues that is sure to polarise opinions on this album introduces itself: the vocals.
In what came as a perfect stylistic match in the stripped-back opening track, when backed by the power of the heavier tracks on the album, the vocals just seem to fall flat. Severely lacking in the power or tonal qualities needed to do each track justice, the vocal style seems to be aiming for a more power metal influenced style, and with that comes the unavoidable comparisons to other vocalists, which further serves to highlight the shortcomings of the vocals.
Instrumentally, the album is a solid doom metal offering with some extra theatrics and epic storytelling sprinkled in. From the eight-minute long North Sea, which showcases some of the band’s heavier sensibilities and contrasts that with more stripped-back, melodic piano sections, to the thumping drive of Your Sun Will Never Shine for Me, the band have a lot to offer.
Servants to the Tide is a really interesting musical offering. With an overt ‘epic’ feel to the band’s sound, the vocals just don’t have the power to do justice to such theatrical musical themes. Coupling that with an abrasive timbre that boldly sticks out from the mix, this is going to be the main factor on whether the album is pleasing to the listener or not. The album is musically and lyrically sound, but whether this album is for you or not will depend on how you feel about the vocals.
Rating: 5/10
Servants to the Tide is set for release March 26th via No Remorse Records.
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