The creative flames that light the imagination of black metal bands in Greece seem to have become bonfires over the last year, as we have been the beneficiaries of one stellar release after another from that country — and now one more is on its way: The Athenian dragon cult Serpent Noir are poised for the release on Walpurgis of their second album, Erotomysticism. It will be delivered via Daemon Worship Productions, and today we present to you the premiere of one of the new rituals, a song named “Al Runa“.

Serpent Noir have crafted this new album through a Draconian collaboration, following the Left Hand Path — the path of the Red Dragon — through gateways into other worlds of spiritual freedom and hidden potential. When you listen to “Al Runa”, you do get the sense of participating in a ritual, and of a gateway opening.

At the beginning, the pace of the song is stately, the deep bass tones and measured drum beats providing the rhythm of a processional, the dissonant guitar harmonies preparing the way forward, the chanted words providing the incantations. But soon enough, the music catches fire — the riffs begin to writhe and the drums to hammer as the intensity of the music grows. The chants don’t disappear entirely, but they’re joined by echoing, inflamed exhortations and the piercing voice of a shimmering lead guitar, which creates eerie melodic traceries, like spiraling smoke in a vaulted cavern. Continue reading »