Death is certain, life is not ! This is really a bad news for old-school metal lovers but the perfect sentence for Serpent Obscene's actuality. The swedish band just released their 3rd & last album ever on Black Lodge. Singer Erik Tormentor answered my few questions in may 2006 & explains the reasons about the band's split. >Could we begin this interview with a brief history of serpent Obscene ?
The band started as a few friends from school that where into metal and got some instruments and rehearsed in an old tool shed in our guitar players backyard. It was me, (Erik) on vocals, Johan on guitar and Nicklas on the other guitar, his kid brother played the drums and we asked a drunken teenager named Rob that used to hang out at my place on the weekends to play bass with us. This was in 1995 and the band that was to become Serpent Obscene was born. We recorded our first demo Behold the Beginning in 1997, we had not yet come up with a real name at the time (we used to go under the working name of Infernal Winter) but just before we recorded the debut demo we went for Serpent Obscene. Well then we did the Massacre demo in 1999, and our debut album in 2000, and the follow up in 2001, but it was not until last year (2005) that we did the final album Chaos Reign Supreme".
>You play raw & old school thrash/death/black-metal. Which bands do you feel being close musically?
Well modern bands or influential bands ? I go with modern bands. Desaster (ger) is a great band in the same vain, also Pentacle, Destroyer 666, early Nifelheim, Aura Noir and Repugnant. There are some less known bands like Necrovation (swe) and Toxic Holocaust. When it comes to influences I can name Merciless, Bathory, early Morbid Angel, Kreator, Sodom, Sadus, Venom, Angel Corpse, Kiss, Motörhead, Massacra (fra) etc...
>Let's talk about your brand new album "Chaos Reign Supreme". What did you try to achieve with this one comparing to the "Devastation" album?
Well, the "Devastation" is a very good al
bum, so it was not so easy to continue from that one. The thing we had in mind was to make an album that was faster, rawer, dirtier and more extreme, well more necro to put it in short words. And I think we did just that. The C.R.S. album is a filthy, nasty and profane piece of terror.>You guys play in several bands like Maze Of Torment & Kaamos. Each band plays old-school metal of death. In which way Serpent Obscene is different for you?
Well, Kaamos is more or less a pure satanic death-metal band, they have no thrash influences. Maze Of Torment on the other hand play in the same vain as Serpent Obscene. But it is still not the same thing. Maze Of Torment is not as dirty and raw as Serpent Obscene. You may say that Maze Of Torment is judas priest goes death/thrash. Serpent Obscene on the other hand is more like Motörhead goes death/thrash if you know what I mean? The basic concept for Serpent Obscene is rock´n roll. But we drape it in a death-metal cloth. Maze Of Torment has nothing to do with rock´n roll.
>Where did you record this brand new album ? Did you spend good times in the studio ?
We have always used Berno studio in Malmo, Sweden. It is a really great studio and Berno is a great producer. The best thing with Berno is that you can get your own sound there, I mean when you enter the Abyss or Sunlight or most other studios you often end up with a recording that sounds like all other recording from that studio. This is not the case with Berno, he has recorded stuff like Defleshed, The Haunted, Witchery, Vomitory, Deranged and they all get their own sound just like we do, we do not end up with the same sound as every band that enters the studio!
>How do you compose in the band ? Do you need many nights of jamming before a new track is mature.
Well yes, we compose all songs in the rehearsal room, so we do not write any material when we are at home. So it takes a lot of time to put the tracks together. But on the other hand it can sometimes get done in only one rehear
sal.>What do your texts deal with ? Who does write them ?
I, Erik write most of the lyrics, a few are done by Nicklas. Almost all the lyrics deal with war (and no, we are not a Bolt thrower tribute/copy band, but they are a truly great band). We draw all of our lyrical inspiration from historical events. There is always a deeper thought or meaning behind them than one might think at first glance, but we keep it a bit simple as I really like clichés. The lyrics are still of utmost importance, even if there are a lot of clichés in them I always have meaning behind them, though they may at times be concealed!
>Do you have plans for touring outside Sweden these coming months? Which kind of band would you like to play & drink with?
I'm sorry to say that we have no plans for the future! No live shows or anything, we will probably never do another live show! It might be that we never make another record as well. The only band I would like to play with would be Motörhead, or maybe Sodom, Sadus or darkthrone.
>Really ? It looks like the end of the band ?
It is not 100% official yet, but it will be in a matter of days. The reason is this as follows : Serpent Obscene was 3 very close friends from school that was heavily into metal and said, - we will start a band. It was us 3 against the rest of the world, we where like brothers, and if one of us left the band, there would be no reason to have a band. Now one of us in the unholy trinity has left the band. He has lost all interest in making music, he still loves listening to it, and is 100% devoted to the scene, but he does not want to play anymore. So there can be no more Serpent Obscene when one of the 3 founding members has left.
Serpent obscene R.I.P. 1997 - 2006.
>Thanx for your time, last words are yours.
Thank you, and remember, death is certain life is not! Serpent obscene will now transcend in to darkness and oblivion, and soon we are no more. Hell awaits!
www.serpentobscene.com
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Interview done by DJ In Extremis
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