SERPENT - The Pit and the Pendulum CD (Pre-order)
Release date is November 11th, comes in a jewelcase CD in slipcase.
Swedish Melodic Death Metal with occult themes and guitarwork extraordinaire!
The occult melodic Death Metal band Serpent emerged from Stockholm’s underground metal scene in 2000. Across the ensuing decade, the band cultivated a small, devoted underground following through six critically acclaimed demo releases.
The album is a masterclass in occult melodic Death Metal. Built upon razor-sharp guitar work, haunting melodies and crushing melodic Death Metal intensity, the album takes the listener on a dark pilgrimage through the occult, the secret rites of clandestine sects, the illicit practices of necromancy, and onward into Edgar Allan Poe’s nightmarish vision of the Spanish Inquisition, rendered with crushing weight and architectural grandeur in the formidable title track “The Pit and The Pendulum”.
The journey darkens further. In the relentless “Der Hexenjäger” one stands face to face with history’s most infamous Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins himself, before being cast as an unwilling witness amid the hysteria and bloodshed of the Salem witch trials of 1692. The record reaches its devastating close as the Black Death (1347–1351) advances across Europe like a spectral plague, an inexorable, haunting shadow that extinguishes light, hope and life in its path.
The striking cover artwork, executed by the renowned illustrator Gyula Havancsák (Nile, Kreator, Accept) is far more than mere ornament. It functions as a meticulously crafted visual index to the entire album: each of the eight tracks is encoded through subtle symbols, recurring motifs and carefully embedded references woven into the front cover itself, inviting repeated scrutiny and deeper immersion into the record’s occult narrative.
“The Pit and The Pendulum” stands as a triumphant culmination of more than two decades of underground dedication. For devotees of intelligent, historically charged and uncompromising occult melodic Death Metal, this is essential listening.
Line up:
Kenneth Alutoin - Vocals
Kristian Niemann - Guitars, bass, drums, synths, backing vocals
• A distinctive style of occult melodic Death Metal that draws inspiration from classic metal, black metal and thrash
• Lyric video for the title track, together with both music videos and lyric videos for “Lightbringer” and “Season of the Witch”
• Produced, engineered, mixed and mastered by guitarist Kristian Niemann (Sorcerer, Demonoid, ex-Therion)
• Guest vocals by Anders Engberg (Sorcerer, ex-Lions Share, ex-Therion) and the rising Swedish soprano Frida Cewrien-Sollerhag
• Striking cover artwork by the celebrated illustrator Gyula Havancsák (Accept, Kreator, Powerwolf, Nile)
For fans of: In Flames, Septic Flesh, Arch Enemy, Hypocrisy, Children of Bodom, Cradle of Filth