Snakedoctors – Obligation CD (Case Studio)

Snakedoctors are a Polish post-punk group from Gdansk, formed in May of 2020. The group immediately jumped on writing, so the first songs have seen the light of the day in July of the same year. One month later, Snakedoctors released an unofficial private demo recording with thirteen compositions, presented to close friends and fellow musicians. Then, the group recorded the material for their debut album during August and September, so after the recording process, Snakedoctors decided to release their debut named Obligation at the end of the year, on the 22nd of December. A couple of singles almost immediately hit the charts at the worthy positions, so it seems the listeners recognized the qualities of the band.

The group combines cold, melancholic, chaotic post-punk aesthetics with the dirtiness and progressiveness of grunge music. You may also stumble upon at some nineties alternative rock maneuvers, but they are laying somewhere beneath the early nineties grunge sound that partially defines Snakedoctors as a band. Obligation takes both post-punk and grunge on an entirely new level, mainly because of the guitar works that are resonating in recognizable late seventies tones. The guitar sound is submerged into generous portions of the chorus, reverb, and fuzz effects, but each articulation is vividly hearable throughout the entire material. Perhaps these guitar maneuvers are suppressing the bass guitar in particular moments, but it doesn’t spoil all the fun. Both instruments are equally presented in the mix.

The rhythm section keeps everything in line with precise, uniformed, and compact rhythmic sequences. These rhythmic structures are another characteristic that defines late seventies post-punk music, so the band perfectly encapsulates those aesthetics. Lead vocals illustrate the dark, depressive, melancholic imagery and the stable performance contributes to the overall listening experience. You may hear slight resemblances with Warsaw or Joy Division, but the group keeps their music unique as much as possible. Obligation has a lot of qualities that are yet to be discovered by the broader auditorium. There’s something about the dirty and depressive sound of Snakedoctors that keeps the listener’s attention throughout the entire album. Obligation is available on Spotify, while the compact disc is available at Case Studios.