Undersmile – A Sea of Dead Snakes

When most people think of United Kingdom doom bands, they probably think of Cathedral, Electric Wizard, Orange Goblin or even Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine. Undersmile shouldn’t be in the conversations of classic UK doom bands yet, but with the debut EP soaring into peoples hands, it won’t be long before these girls & guys are gonna be in that vary discussion. Undersmile is in fact, two females and two males that bring some of the great doom we love to the table but they do it with such class. Hailing from Witney/Oxford, UK, this 4-piece of rotten doom lovers are just starting out and spreading like a disease that everyone would want. Already being on a show with Weedeater, nothing seems to be in the way of Undersmile, this is exactly why I love the EP and the band altogether.

The first time I gave this EP a full listen, I was still kind of iffy if this was going to be a solid release or just a flop. After I finally listened to it all the way through, I decided that I had to give it another go because I had to of been missing something. Second go around with the EP and it finally clicked, I realized that the way they bring on such force and integrity to each track was something I was overlooking. I literally had goosebumps the second time I listened to this EP, as I laid back on the bed and just dreamed away into never never land, I was blown away by how well Undersmile is putting together each track. From the intro “Instrumenstrual”, all the way to the last track “Spore”, hooked was the new word that crossed my mind. If the state of Louisiana had to have one album as the soundtrack to be played on the streets daily, “A Seas of Dead Snakes” was it, bottom line. Giving my bones the chills is something an album hasn’t done in quite some time, I was sort of scared but it felt so good to have that feeling again. “Cutters Choice” is the best example of that goosebump/bone chilling feeling I was getting.

With chants that will have you wanting to sing along a couple listens later, to the solo around the 6 minute and 5 second mark, how the hell can you go wrong with solos in a doom song? Exactly, you fucking can’t so stop trying to think of the answer. If I had to pick two words to describe this EP, I’m going with unforgivable and sledgehammer. Unforgivable because of it’s raw guts and gloomy as hell riffs, such as on “Teutonic Dyselxia”, and sledgehammer, only because it will beat the fuck out of your face until you are pleased with the results. You just can’t go wrong with an EP such as “A Sea of Dead Snakes”, it’s everything you dream of in a doom release, plus more. I’ve heard people have some complaints about the vocals, but in my opinion, the vocals are what make this release soar above and beyond what it would be with different vocals. We may think that doom is okay just the way it is, those people haven’t heard Undersmile and when they do, they will welcome this band with open arms.

Enough can’t be said about this band as a whole, from the way they just keep pushing and striving for more on a daily basis to the way every song stands on it’s own. If the future has Undersmile in it, I’m beyond happy because if it didn’t, these reviews might be even more shit then they are now. Also, if you wanna listen to Undersmile just because they have two females in the band and the band is fronted by a female, go kill yourself. These females will make you weep in misery, you could only hope to be doing what they’re doing, that’s a fact because I wish I could be doing what they’re doing. As always, the link below will give you everything you need to check them out. Support real doom from the UK and support any band that give you raw fucking emotion.

Official Facebook. Official Myspace. Official Band Camp. Official Reverbnation. Buy their shit here.