### Maveth: Of serpent and shadow & Impious servant

#### 19/04/11 || Daemonomania

Maveth is a cheerful death metal 4-piece from the frozen wastes of Finland. Except the guest vocalist/guitarist, Sir Christbutcher (does he provide quality meat products to Jeebus?), who seems to make the incredible commute from the US of A for band practice. The drummer sent me over their first two EP’s in a well-beaten package stuck together with electrical tape forming an upside-down cross. INDEED. That should tell you most of what you need to know. But I’ll spoon-feed you more detail anyway. Since they’ve since released these EP’s as a single album, I’m gonna go ahead and cover ‘em both in one review. Efficiency is my middle name. Unless it is sexy time, then my middle name changes to Longshanks.

The band worships daily at the altar of I(mmol/ncant)ation, unleashing a heads-down blastfest of twisting, turning riffs with occasional slow parts and hints of melody to keep you involved in the proceedings. Butchie supplies a good growl with plenty of low-end and echo, though some ventures into the higher register would not be amiss. Oh yeah, and they got a certain Antti Boman on backing vocals. You Finneys mighta heard of him. If I were to pick out a specific album to compare Maveth’s vibe to, I’d say Lost Soul’s “Chaosstream” rings the memory-bell hardest. Sometimes this style can get a bit repetitive, and I feel like the production on the “Impious servant” tracks coupled with no-frills songwriting detracts a bit from the full frostbitten experience. Not to mention they put both a fifty second intro and a cover tune (Mancanstation) on a 4 song EP – eh?

Thankfully, “Ov penises in shadow and dust” sports a much meatier, more modern sound and many more “Army of Darkness” sections. You know – those riffs that make you unconsciously raise your chin a bit, scowl toward the heavens, and picture yourself rushing toward the Pearly Gates with a mass of unwashed evil hellions, ready to impale yerself an angel on your fiery fudgepounder. THOSE typa riffs. I sincerely hope they stick with the “Serpent” and not the “Servant” modus operandi, as it clearly is superior. A couple more beasts like “The cyclopean pylons of dis” and Maveth’s name will ring out far beyond the fjords they call home.

Quick note on the packaging/booklet – Ville and friends are on evil image overload. Just one of these cool goat heads or snakes or inverted crucifix would convey the blackened death mood just fine. If you keep dropping 50 diabolical pictures into each set of liner notes, dudes, you’re gonna run out pretty quickly. Their 20th EP will feature a Dora the Explorer cartoon with a pentagram hastily sketched on her forehead. Or not.

- Information
- Released: 2010
- Label: Aural Offerings/Self released
- Website: www.maveth.com
- Band
- Christbutcher: vocals, guitars, roast beef supplier to the holy trinity
- Mikko Karvinen: guitars
- Jani Nupponen: bass
- Ville Markkanen: drums

- Tracklist Of serpent and shadow:
- 01. Of Serpent and Shadow
- 02. A Ritual of Flame to Flesh
- 03. Gateway to an Eternity of Death
- 04. The Cyclopean Pylons of Dis Impious servant:
- 01. Tempering Titanic Steel
- 02. Forge of Gadrial
- 03. Black Lord Titans
- 04. Immortal Cessation (Incantation Cover)