audiObelisk: SerpentCult Premiere “Longing for Hyperborea” from Raised by Wolves
Hard-luck Belgian trio SerpentCult got together in 2006, following the unsightly demise of Thee Plague of Gentlemen, who weren’t bad except for the fact that it turned out their lead singer was a pedophile. Reasonably wanting to distance themselves from that, guitarist Frederic Caure, bassist Steven Van Cauwenbergh and drummer Frederik “Cozy” Cosemans stuck it out as SerpentCult and successfully released Weight of Light through Rise Above in 2008.
That record was fronted by Michelle Nocon, who also now is out of the band. So, on their new album, Raised by Wolves, SerpentCult have basically reinvented themselves — again — 
as a mostly-instrumental three-piece of sprawling and atmospheric doom. Raised by Wolves is SerpentCult‘s most honest and accomplished album yet, and it’s a testament to how strong the connection is between Caure, Van Cauwenbergh and Cosemans that they’d persist after losing two vocalists.
Raised by Wolves is out now on Listenable Records, who were kind enough to let me stream the all-instrumental and longest track from the album, “Longing for Hyperborea.” The song skillfully shifts through varied movements, but remains consistently morose throughout. It’s the sound of the defeat to which the band simply refuses to succumb. Hope you enjoy:
[mp3player width=460 height=120 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=serpentcult.xml]
For more on SerpentCult, check them out on Thee Facebooks here, or hit up the Listenable Records website.
Tags: Belgium, Ghent, Listenable Records, SerpentCult
great record, great band. I really like how they play doom but make it impossible to tag it any further. There is a lot of subdued anger and over-arching wisdom in it, if that makes sense. I just hope they start performing live again. The shows I saw with Michelle were massive I hope they return to the stage with or without vocalist.