Review Summary: I'm drifting... closer to you.
Serianna are one of those bands that were unfortunate enough to release their expertly crafted debut album of unashamed August Burns Red worship about 2 years after that band had redefined the game. The weak timing I think resulted in this album flying right under most people’s radar which is a shame, because while there isn’t a single original thought conveyed on this entire release, every derivative idea is honed and polished to a mirror sheen and arranged with razor precision.
Serianna tries to distinguish themselves from their superior counterpart by invoking -wait for it- clean vocals, with highly varied levels of success. Chris Nutting delivers competent and stoic (if generic) harsh vocals throughout, but his clean vocal style is completely different, straying to the melodramatic side ala Davey Havoc circa Sing The Sorrow. He really runs the gamut of spine-tingling and awful on a regular basis and since the songs (thankfully) do not follow verse/chorus structures, his hooks never repeat themselves for better or worse; when they flop it’s a bit cringey like during the plaintive bridge of Virtues, but when they hit on tracks like the devastating The Rescue, the results are dynamic and sublime.
Chris Ferraro keeps the whole ship anchored with his ridiculously driving beats that simply dare you not to head-bang and get into it, and he really gives this record an infectious amount of energy. Since the songs are structured mostly as riff-salads, this allows Serianna to alternate between melodic harmonies, bludgeoning breakdowns and big sing-a-longs with ease, and that’s what this band excels at. Other album highlights include Deep Sleeper which I’m convinced is just a missing track from the August Burns Red album Constellations, as well as the short-but-sweet Redeemer which pleasantly implodes upon itself at the very end.
All in all, if you’re still reading you probably already know if Serianna’s Inheritors will be an album you’ll like. It’s a shallow album yet it scratches a very deep metalcore itch, and sometimes that’s all it takes to get you through the day. If you’re interested, check out the song The Rescue and tell me you don’t wet your pants a little when Chris bellows ‘Fear not, I was sent to save you’.
