{"id":18115,"date":"2026-05-26T15:44:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T19:44:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/?p=18115"},"modified":"2026-05-26T15:45:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T19:45:11","slug":"review-opprobrium-serpent-temptation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/26\/review-opprobrium-serpent-temptation\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Opprobrium – Serpent Temptation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Place yourself in the late 80s.  You’re caught in the middle of the thrash\/death metal movement, and emerging bands are slapping together photo collages to include in their debut albums.  You see cutouts of several band photos taken before their albums came into existence, photos of them in the studio, and first live shows to get the crowd warmed up for what is soon to come.  Opprobrium is one of those bands, and their appearance in the scene sparked a legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally going by the name Incubus, Opprobrium was not only one of the first death metal acts of Louisiana, but they were also one of the first CHRISTIAN death metal acts as a whole.  Comprised of brothers Francis (guitars) and Moyses Howard (drums) and Scott Latour (bass and vocals), they were ready to hit the scene with absolutely no punches pulled whatsoever.  They recorded a demo session in 1987 titled “Supernatural Death”, though only four of the ten tracks they produced were properly released.  A handful of those tracks would then be given the proper studio treatment in early 1988 for the first album “Serpent Temptation”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The performance Opprobrium delivered on the album itself was probably one that not a lot of metalheads would have seen coming.  The songs are played at an incredible speed that perhaps only Opprobrium could handle, between the chugging guitar riffs and hard-hitting drums that help the album pack just the right punch.  And let’s not forget how easy it is to pull off the vocals; Scott Latour’s vocal performance is incredibly basic that you can even LEARN from it.  The sound quality of this album is way ahead of its time compared to other death metal albums released around that time; we could take a good look at the year it was made and think “Why did we not have more like this back then?”  However, some exceptions I can think of at least from the top of my head is Death with their first two albums “Scream Bloody Gore” and “Leprosy”.  But we can only guess that they were albums Opprobrium learned from during the early stages of their career.  “Serpent Temptation” was released April 14, 1988, by Brutal Records, but only on vinyl and cassette at the time; CDs and digital streaming did not happen until several years later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the experience of that album does not stop there.  Shortly after the album was released, Scott Latour left the band, and Francis Howard took over on vocals, in which his performance is first showcased in their second album “Beyond The Unknown” in 1990.  But lo and behold, a new idea would soon strike the Howard brothers that would make “Serpent Temptation” be seen and heard differently.  Returning to the studio that helped breathe life into the album, Francis and Moyses rewrote so much of the lyrics and re-recorded the vocals, guitars, and bass; the drums remained the same, retaining their speedy beats.  Even the album artwork was completely different, as it screams out typical Christian metal artwork in the mid-90s.  This is only one prime example of many death metal acts reworking older material as a breath of fresh air into what was once native; even the first two Sepultura albums would eventually be given the same treatment by Max and Igor Cavalera, under their current band Cavalera Conspiracy.  The rework (or “alternate version” as they call it) of “Serpent Temptation” was released by Radiation Records in 1996.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I still personally enjoy both renditions of the album.  They still hold up very well to this day, and I’ll listen to whatever track my song shuffling lands on no matter what version it’s from.  They certainly don’t make thrash\/death metal music like this anymore, but if that’s what makes the early Opprobrium material stay unique, I’m all for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are multiple editions of the album you can choose from over at Opprobrium’s Bandcamp.  The deluxe reissue by High Roller Records includes the “Supernatural Death” demo in its entirety, plus a live recording from VFW Hall in New Orleans.  You’d probably want ALL of it if you’re a hardcore collector…
https:\/\/opprobriumband.bandcamp.com\/music<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

YouTube<\/strong> (original version):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n