Cea Serin – The Vibrant Sound of Bliss and Decay

By gchiricuta on October 14, 2014

Cea Serin, ever since its beginning, has been known for its unusual approach when it comes to music and for its mercurial metal that to a certain extent gathers all kinds of extreme metal influences but ends up screaming progressive.

After a ten year break, the US progressive and extreme metal band, Cea Serin is finally back with a follow-up to continue their debut’s album work (“…where memories combine…”). Although the new record consists out of five songs, the last one lasts as if there were four more.

The album feels imperceptibly split into two parts. The first two songs submerges us into a confusing and peculiar world with their explosion of influences that range from extreme to a touch of black metal that may weirdly remind us of Cradle of Filth. But the second part… well, this is where things get interesting.

But let’s start from the beginning. The opening track, “Holy Mother” has an industrial metal vibe right from the intro just to end up alternating, most likely because of the wide range vocals, power metal with black metal. The keyboards complete this sci-fi-like atmosphere, but as you pay more attention to the song you can hear the progressive guitar work and the intense drumming trying to reach the surface. Usually, the song that opens an album sets the tone to it, but this is definitely not the case. The second track, “The Illumination Mask” begins with an apocalyptic intro and a repeated voice whispering “they are not here, my lord” but goes right into progressive during its second part with the aid of the mighty dynamic contrast between soft and heavy. I should probably mention that this first two tracks date back from the ’90 and that they were re-recorded for this record with the current line-up.

The third song, a cover of Sarah McLahlan’s “Ice”, makes the passage from the more mercurial and extreme tracks to the progressive ones a little bit lighter. We can hear right from the intro some melancholic and classic keyboards preparing the scene for the ballad off the album that also benefits from an official video. The ballad has an ‘80’s vibe sustained by the saxophone, percussions and a Spanish guitar solo that you probably wouldn’t have guessed coming.

The last part on the record, composed by “The Victim Cult” and “What Falls Away”, is my personal favorite. The dynamics and harmonics now fully plunge into what progressive is really about with a touch of fresh 2014 air. “The Victim Cult” is the one that brings the fresh air with its math metal guitar work and the feeling it leaves you with. The guitar is definitely the star of the song while giving us an amazing time with its perfectly executed bends, its shredding and a very refreshing and soulful solo. The ethereal keyboards announced us in a slightly dramatic tone that the 20 minutes masterpiece is coming our way.

The ending track, “What Falls Away” conquers us, body and soul, right from its two minutes classical keyboard intro and into that five minutes mark when it hits you. A perfect balance between instruments where each gets its spotlight, starting with the versatile and alternating guitar solo between soft whispers and heavy riffs while the powerful voice takes over and alternates with some melodic vocals that were clearly mold for progressive, and to the technical and intensive drumming balanced by the calm and wistful keyboards. The masterpiece tells a wretched story through a rain of acoustic solos intertwined with keyboards solos, percussions and a powerful outro.

The record proves the extensive work that has been done and although they may be overwhelming at some point, the various influences on it are what actually recommends it.

Favorite songs: “What Falls Away”, “The Victim Cult”.