But now, their debut is unleashed and it has the power to shake the foundations of the black metal scene. With harsh, dissonant and eerie metal, Serpents Lair seems to build a bridge between the old school and today's scene with massively immersive instrumental passages. Yet, they still know perfectly well how to sound like a nineties black metal band, often reminding me acts like Emperor or Immortal.
The album opens with 'Epiphaneia', a dark chant, right before.absolute highlight 'Epistomology Of Death' and title track 'Circumambulating The Stillborn' throw spùe fierce riffs, blasting drums and blackened screams through my speakers. The songs are quite complex and well varied, while still breathing this beloved bleak atmosphere. That atmosphere is present throughout the entire album, and actually, so is the level of variation. Both will undoubtedly appeal many blackened fans.
While the controlled chaos rages on in awesome tracks like 'The Serpentine Gnosis' and 'Devouring Wrathe', there are some highly interesting deviant sounds to be found too. 'Dwelling On The Threshold To Tartarus' for example, is a great instrumental blackened doom track which fits perfectly within the overall atmosphere. That blackened doom feel often appears, giving a whole lot of credibility to Serpents Lair.
So, to conclude, this certainly is a smashing piece of harsh but melodic black metal which pretty much every blackened collector should have in his collection. I've seen some good comments and reviews for this one and I'm not surprised. This is a highlight in the scene and a potential future classic. So check it out, you won't be disappointed. And if you are, well, that's not really my problem, not Serpents Lair's.
Serge