Serpent Gates |The Veil Of Darkness |Venomoon Records/Inverse Records

Release Date February 20^th, 2026
Format CD/Digital
Genre Heavy Metal
Country Finland

Serpent Gates hail from central Finland. Drummer Juho Hakalax and guitarist Tuomas Västilä spent decades dreaming about playing traditional heavy metal. They worked hard, recruited bassist Sami Tapola, and finally made their vision a reality. To complete the lineup for their debut album, “The Veil Of Darkness”, they brought in Antony Parviainen from Psychework as a session vocalist.

When you blast “The Veil Of Darkness”, you immediately get loud, driving guitars and pounding drums. Antony Parviainen delivers high, soaring vocals. His singing actually brings Bruce Dickinson to mind on several occasions. He belts out the dark lyrics written by Jegori Miinin loudly. The music strikes fast and loud. The synths add dark layers to the overall sound, complementing the fast-paced riffs Tuomas Västilä lays down.

The riffing is aggressive and straightforward. Juho Hakalax plays fast beats and keeps the rhythm section moving aggressively alongside Sami Tapola. You get plenty of thrashing sections and dark atmospheres. Some sections speed up and break your neck. Other segments slow down and deliver heavy, doom-laden parts. The transition between the fast thrashing sections and the darker, synth-driven sections is rough around the edges. A little more distortion in the production could have made the guitars sound meaner.

“The Veil Of Darkness” is a strong first release for Serpent Gates. The Finnish metalheads deliver ripping solos, loud heavy metal screams, and fast drum fills. The pacing is mostly frantic. You hear the passion and sweat poured into the music. If you want heavy metal with soaring vocals and evil lyrics about the downfall of humanity, this release delivers the goods.

Score: 8.0

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