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Band: Serpents Oath
Album title: Nihil
Release date: 4th December 2020
Label: Soulseller Records
Genre: Black Metal
Tracklist:
01. Vox Mortis
02. Speaking In Tongues
03. Leviathan Speaks
04. Thrice Cursed
05. Malediction
06. Serpents Of Eight
07. Bestia Resurrectus
08. Into The Abyss
09. Mephisto
10. The Beast Reborn
11. The Swords Of Night And Day
12. Beyond The Gates
"To live by the force of fang and claw. Forever respecting the one true law."
One of my mottos in life is "in all evil, a hidden good", 2020 was a daring year in many ways, but one of the good things that this year provided was, without a doubt, excellent creativity in the arts in general and especially in music. Black metal has always been indisputable, one of the most authentic and intelligent musical styles, with some exceptions, of course. Closing my 2020 album reviews with a bow, I couldn't leave out the Serpents Oath debut album. Hailing from Belgium, Serpents Oath's line-up embody Daenum (guitar), Tes Re Oth (vocals) and Draghul (drums). The band presents itself as a nihilistic black metal entity, and honestly, this is a point that attracts me a lot.
Nihil was released on 4 December, and it brought a deep and brainy concept. The transformation of an individual who strives to become transhuman with the ultimate goal of winning death. The philosophical transhuman theme addressed masterfully in the lyrics, alone makes the album Nihil unique. But the musical mantle with tyrannically overwhelming riffs, a merciless hammer drums and frightening screams pushes to the limit the extreme metal genre. It's a blast. The album comprises 12 tracks with a run time around 36 minutes, five of them are of a beautifully dark ambient ritualistic atmosphere that transcends the limits of mundane reality. These tracks are strategically placed between those of extreme metal, these a never-ending assault. As I said it before, a blast of arrangements with Tes Re Oth showing all his mastery on the vocals.
I liked the whole album, hard to choose a track, both ambient and pure black metal nihilistic tracks are perfect for me. If I were forced to say, I would choose the tracks that I repeated over 11 times and that in part makes me almost memorize the lyrics: "Malediction", "Into The Abyss", "The Beast Reborn" and "The Swords Of Night And Day". For a debut album of a band with only three members, it is impressive. Nihil is a breathtaking explosion, something not expected for a debut album, pure art. Tes Re Oth, are you sure that you and your fellows are not transhumans? Thank you for this masterpiece, and congrats! I don't expect less from your sophomore album!
The review was written by Felin Frost
Rating: 9/10
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