01. Never Ending Winter
02. Hellstorm
03. Life Chain
04. War Machine
05. Evilution
06. Rise Of The Serpent Men
07. The Final War
08. Malfunction [bonus]
09. Virtual Reality [bonus]
10. I Need Face [bonus]
11. Slow Motion Rewind [bonus]

Although Rise Of The Serpent Men was originally released way back in 1988, this is the first time I've heard the album, which has now been reissued with bonus tracks in 2006. Axegrinder were an English band, existing from 1986 to 1991, and their style is a combination of Punk, Grind and Metal (or Crust if you prefer) with a strong political edge. This re-release from Peaceville helpfully includes some history about the band, written by bandmember Matt, who says how the lyrical content was reflective of the band's attitude towards the world at the time - not just politics, but also greed and the "stupidity of mankind" in general.

The music here is fairly simplistic and quite catchy, and amongst the heavy riffing there's a surprising amount of keyboard and acoustic guitar used, providing an atmospheric, almost ambient touch to songs like 'War Machine'. The plaintive piano intro of 'The Final War' also takes the listener by surprise on the first listen. This use of contrast and dynamics is quite effective, showing there was more to the band than just rage and angst. The vocal style is basically a hoarse shout, which sometimes vaguely borders on early Death Metal style, but is generally rather more like an English football hooligan with a sore throat.

When Axegrinder split up in 1991, some of the bandmembers formed the band Wartech. The 4 bonus tracks on this re-release are essentially Wartech songs, which are real rarities that only previously existed on demos. The music here is rather lighter than Axegrinder, even reminding me of Fugazi (not my cup of tea, but I've heard a couple of their older albums) and the vocal style has also changed, sounding rather bizarrely like the style Keith Flint would use many years later with The Prodigy!

Although the album isn't something I feel compelled to listen to a lot, there is a certain primitive touch which I like - although it's not as dark or ultimately memorable as a classic band like Hellhammer. Overall, this certainly has historical interest, but that doesn't automatically make it an essential purchase. Admittedly, I only discovered the band fairly recently, so maybe those who heard it when it was first released would argue that it had more impact then. However, I can also imagine these songs appealing to a younger, modern audience, perhaps those people into the so-called 'Metalcore' scene.