Genre : Mathcore, Djent
Released : May 27th, 2022
Label : Been There Scene That
FFO : The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza, Frontierer,
Joshua Travis, Weston Super Maim
Last summer, a brand new, unknown entity by the name of Serling came crashing down unexpectedly onto the underground mathcore scene and the force of impact was so strong it was able to immediately cause tremors whose far-reaching shockwaves turned many heads across the scene and even beyond.
Right away, from my first listen of "The James Bevis Chronicles" EP I could tell the New Hampshire duo formed by Caleb Marsters (Guitars/Vocals/Production) and Brandon Doughty (Drums) had struck something unique with their hulking, beefy style of mathcore fully based on the cult TV show, "The Twilight Zone", which also had the potential of a broad, accessible appeal despite its very specific conceptual anchoring point.
The duo have been keeping themselves quite busy in order to bring their vision to life, managing to get featured on various YouTube reaction channels, podcasts and Adam Warren's (Oceano) very own livestream as well as recently announcing their signing to BeenThereSceneThat Records for the release of their first full-length album, "Next Stop, Willoughby".
Serling have gathered quite the crew of featured guests including members of D.B. Cooper, The Sound That Ends Creation, Crisis Actor and Oceano, but it is Robbie Smith of Bone Cutter that quite literally, sets the stage for this demented train ride where peace comes with a grim twist of fate.
Musically speaking, "Next Stop, Willoughby" feels like an expansion of what Serling had unveiled with their debut EP but in the shape of a better fleshed-out and concrete statement in order to let everyone know what they're all about.
And that is; bone-crushing, stupidly low guitar tones that chug along to drums who could knock the air out of your lungs and gnarly vocals that firmly grip you into a world built on Twilight Zone references but that still manage to keep you engaged even if you don't have a single clue regarding what they're hinting at or growling about.
(Shout-out to Caleb for the vocal step-up on the LP, especially for those stank-face inducing lows!).
Add the occasional dissonant, spidery tapping riffs and eerie guitar ambiances and the picture is complete.
Production-wise, Serling are sounding insanely good yet again, with every element coming out surprisingly clear in the mix given how much low-end, bassy frequencies there are going on, but even those come out as crisp and hit with the perfect intended kick and impact which makes this record such an enjoyable experience if low is the way to go for you.
The only dark cloud I would have to point out is the potential lack of variety that can make the overall listening experience a bit too one-dimensional.
As of now, with a debut LP clocking in at a perfect half hour, this isn't too much of an issue. Serling have already developed an easily recognisable sound in less than a year of being active, which is quite the feat in itself;
What they do, they do it well.
But in the future, lack of variation could rapidly become an issue when it comes to keeping listeners fully engaged.
This wouldn't mean fully deviating from the sound they've carved out for themselves, but experimenting more with it, whether that is on the rhythmical side of things or going into more thorough experimentation with guitar effects to further highlight the confusing and unsettling nature of their conceptual source material.
Overall, "Next Stop, Willoughby" is a very solid statement for a debut full-length album and is a perfect amalgamation of what Serling are as a band, as of now, and what they are trying to accomplish and I think I can confidently say, they're only getting started.
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