Catching up with La Mère Vipère

Formed in 2005, La Mère Vipère is the best band in Richmond you haven’t heard of yet. La Mère Vipère is about to release its third album, "Prayers are for Beggars," which will be released on the local independent label C.N.P Records. La Mère Vipère is a sharp blend of post-punk hardcore and a touch of metal that draws influences from bands such as Nation of Ulysses, Circus Lupus, The Fall, The Birthday Party, Fugazi and even the poet Eugène Ionesco. La Mère Vipère invokes a wide spectrum from the past, but bridges it with its own unique blend of power rock and roll.

La Mère Vipère’s members have been playing together and in other bands, such as Seven Hearts, Leper Colony, Silver Ninjas and Amoeba Men, for more than 15 years. Professionalism is the key to the door that opens into the talent that is La Mère Vipère.

Every band must have a strong rhythm section. That is essential to driving boredom away. La Mère Vipère may just have the best rhythm section in Richmond. Brothers Alex Tomlin on drums and Derek Tomlin on bass lay down the canvas unlike any drummer and bass player I’ve ever seen in Richmond. Through their expected juxtaposing, the Tomlins’ technique is truly a beacon on this band.

Alex does split drumming duties with La Mère Vipère and the Richmond metal band Battlemaster, so Brandon Whittaker fills in on drums for La Mère Vipère from time to time when needed. Whittaker is fabulous with the bang, yet even more impressive with his solid attitude.

To be a great band, of course, you need guitars. La Mère Vipère has two guitarists in Michael Layne and Chris Conrad. Layne has turned a serious corner in the past year, as his rhythm guitar rivals any other in Richmond. He possesses nice backing vocals as well. Conrad, on the other hand, is the best guitar player in the city of Richmond. I’ve seen hundreds of guitar players in Richmond, but none as efficient and flawless as Chris Conrad. Conrad, since joining La Mère Vipère a little over a year ago has sent the band into another stratosphere, beyond another stratosphere. Conrad takes his dramatic playing style from an Epiphone ES-335 and breaks it over your eardrum every time.

Then there is the maestro of it all, lead vocalist and front man Daniel Trice. Holy Grace Street, this man is a poet. Trice’s creative writing when crafting a song’s lyrics is sheer transcendence. Quality songwriting in music today is usually left to the singer-songwriter type musicians or bands. Not so with Trice; his triumphant way around a microphone with his academic lyrics requires everyone’s attention, regardless of La Mère Vipère’s genre.

Okay, now let’s get to the good stuff. I can tell you this, La Mère Vipère’s "Prayers are for Beggars" took me places I didn’t think I would go. This band has seriously matured from its two previous LPs and is making art. Some tweaks in sound, style and the addition of Chris Conrad to the band lineup significantly show up on "Prayers are for Beggars."

Opening the parade is the track "Mark My Words." "Mark My Words" is a meat hook that will lift your senses immediately toward La Mère Vipère, and is one of the best songs on the album.

The next track that caught my cerebellum was the erratic "Leave Them Behind." Here, Conrad’s guitar thrusts Trice’s lyrics all over the place and it is most catchy with its schizophrenic overtones.

"Bled White," which is in the thick of the order of the album is definitely in the right place. Angst is quality and therapeutic while listening to "Bled White." Just take a gander at this song and, once again, Trice’s highbrow lyrics take us on a rightful journey to what exactly is important in our miserable lives.

The album really begins to grow as one reaches the haunting track "Column of Fire." Yes, this band can slow it down, and I love the somber guitars of Layne and Conrad, as well as Derek Tomlin’s melodic bass here. Through this song you can really hear the emulating of Nick Cave and his early band, The Birthday Party.

"Supreme Death Maxim" and "Suicidar Por Policia" at the ladder of the album are arguably two of its best. "Supreme Death Maxim" is a blues song, of sorts, in the middle of a traumatic ballad of life less lived amongst. Trice’s vocals have an eerie feel here as they layer over a distant champing at the bit by the brothers Tomlin.

"Suicidar Por Policia," sung entirely in Spanish by the ever so change-it-up Trice, is a protest song about what you are thinking when you hear the title, "Suicide by Police." I tell you, this track comes complete with incredible drums running along Trice’s larynx, and Conrad’s guitar shuffles the deck at every turn in this spiral of a sonnet.

"Thought Negates Life" ends our journey through "Prayers are for Beggars." It is fitting that this is the last track because this song truly captures all five members of this dysfunctional organized team in perfect unison. I honestly feel that this song is quite the beautiful song, where Alex Tomlin’s timing on drums stands out a tad bit extra as scary brilliant.

Now this album isn’t perfect, not many are come to think about it, but the tracks "M.D." and "Titan Prism" just fall flat. These songs just aren’t in synch with what I know this band can accomplish.

There is just too much substance to put away this album. It will stay on rotation on your mp3 player or turntable for multiple days. Some may say "Prayers are for Beggars" is an acquired taste. I say it’s delicious from the very beginning.

You can purchase La Mère Vipère’s forthcoming LP, "Prayers are for Beggars" this September on vinyl, which includes a free download code through C.N.P Records: www.cnprecords.com and at La Mère Vipère’s website: www.lamerevipererva.blogspot.com

La Mère Vipère will be performing Friday, Aug.12, along with Dead Fame, Lost Tribe, and Denmark's Iceage at Strange Matter at 10 p.m. $8; 18+