Virago Submission

CD Cover Septimus
Strawbridge Records

Review by Darren Kerr



45-second excerpt from "Feed the Dragon" (351 Kb .au file)


Everything about this album screams death metal. From the oh-so-Scandinavian band name to the album title and cover art, you would think this was more odes to Baphomet. It's not. This Calgary band sounds like a lukewarm cross between intense Brits Skunk Anansie and bad 80's speed metal.

I've got no quarrel with bass player Vova Poplavski, a string-popping demon who almost succeeds in elevating these songs above dated, hookless metal fodder status. No, the main problem I have with the band is that everything sounds so flat, especially Pamela Bryan's vocals. Did the Roland Space Echo break? Did they blow a fuse on the multi-effects unit? The only ways to make this type of music work is to tweak the hell out of it, write lyrics that are either damned good or damned funny, or give it a straight adrenaline shot through the breast plate. Septimus do none of these.

One more thing: never sing about armour or dragons unless you are Ronnie James Dio or the bell-bottomed guy from Cathedral.


Artist Contact Info: P.O. Box 50116, Marlborough Postal Outlet, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2A 7P1




First published in Drop-D Magazine on December 7, 1996

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