Wandering Midget, The - The Serpent Coven (2008)Release ID: 17348
The Wandering Midget were a finnish three-piece, formed in 2005 and split in 2020, who played traditional doom metal very much in similar vein to Reverend Bizarre. In fact, guitarist and vocalist Samuel Wormius has a voice that is remarkably similar to RB's Albert Witchfinder, making the comparison even more pertinent. The Serpent Coven marks the band's debut full-length, released in 2008 and comprises a short intro and five fairly lengthy tracks, clocking in between eight and thirteen minutes, so not as monolithically drawn out as Reverend Bizarre were often wont to be, but long enough to provide the full doom metal experience.
Fuzzy, crawling riffs, accompanied by glacial drum patterns and rumbling bass lines are the order of the day here. B-movie lyrics of the occult and monsters, both Lovecraftian and classic, tread the well-worn path of traditional doom metal lyrical tropes, delivered in an unfussy, basic style familiar to fans of finnish doom metal. The Serpent Coven's sluggish, Sabbathian-derived riffs ooze from the speakers with the implacable ponderousness of lava and the weight of mountains, delivering the goods for any doom metal junkie looking for another fix of the drug that had had it's supply cut off with RB's demise the year before. No marks for originality I'm afraid, but the tracks are well put together with some nice tempo changes, the rhythm section's work is simple, but effective and Wormius delivers some pretty good solos which stops the tracks from becoming too monolithic, all of which makes for a high quality doom metal release in my book.
And that is all there is to it, really. If you have ever heard Reverend Bizarre and thought "I like this but why do the tracks have to be so damned long", then The Wandering Midget may well appeal to you. If RB never floated your boat in any way then there's little chance these guys will either. For me, this delivers exactly what I look for in traditional doom metal and is an uncomplicated slab of metal that summons forth primal forces and allows my mind to drift and wallow in the album's slothful heaviness.
