Serpent is a new band from Leipzig in Germany. They formed towards the end of the summer of 2011 out of the ashes of a group called Pace Of Hearse. However, Serpent is not the direct continuation of Pace Of Hearse but rather a completely new project of Vent (guitars/bass) and Tongue (drums/vocals). ?Possessed by Night? is a re-release of the band's first and only demo tape plus three exclusive bonus tracks. The band is at the moment working on their debut'studio album. Musically the N.W.O.B.H.M. was a strong influence on Serpent, especially Satan (and early Blitzkrieg). ?Possessed by Night? (the vinyl edition is limited to 333 copies) also includes Serpent's own version of "Heavy Metal Ears" by the legendary Dutch band Picture. Guitarist/Vent explains: "Well, denying the influence of the N.W.O.B.H.M. on Serpent's music wouldn't make any sense, would it? Especially Satan was one of the best bands of the entire movement. They stood for everything we want to achieve with Serpent, writing dark and raw traditional heavy metal songs of the highest possible quality. But we have influences outside the N.W.O.B.H.M. also. There are no stylistic limits to what'spurs our creativity. There are countless influences. Serpent is not out to copy anybody. But I can give you a very rough idea of what we're all about: Take Savage's rock sensitivity and mix it up with Legend's bluesy groove feel performed with the raw edge of a band like Retrosatan and some second wave Black Metal. That's roughly how we want'serpent to sound." According to Vent, lyrics of songs such as "Midnight Murder", "The Stranger" or "Satan's Soldiers of Heavy Metal" deal with "magic, mythology and religion." But he makes clear: "We are no members of any organized movement whatsoever. We are true scholars. Writing about the supernatural has unfortunately become such a trend in today's scene. Serpent does not want to have anything to do with that at all. Of course, occult'symbols always look mysterious but I miss people researching the true meanings of those symbols. Occult Rock might be the trendy thing at the moment but that's not what'serpent is all about." The core of Serpent consists of only two members (Vent and Tongue), they have composed all the material on the album on their own. However, as Serpent also perform on stage, they are varying additional live members (e.g. Kadenic on bass and Apophys on rhythm guitar plus changing drummers). Matthias Mader
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