Enthroned Serpent Interview

Band Photo: Dove Tatiana

Impressed by Enthroned Serpent's debut demo, Ancient Witchcraft, and their new EP, Towards the Unknown, I was pleased to contact the band and gather additional information for my readers. Thank you Enthroned Serpent for providing some enlightenment!

Enthroned Serpent: Greetings from Athens, Greece. Thanks again for taking an interest in our music regarding our latest release Towards the Unknown.

Contaminated Tones: Can you give a quick rundown on how “Enthroned Serpent” was formed? How did the current lineup manifest?

ES: We took our first steps as a tribute band just for the fun of it. A few musicians with similar music taste, gathered in the studio to enjoy their selves. Of course back then we went by the name “Ancient Witchcraft” which later became the title for our first Demo. At that time, we performed a couple of live gigs and composed a few songs, but due to several personal reasons the band came on hiatus. It took years to find the right line up to create the band which exists to this day as “Enthroned Serpent”, a name that was conceived by the current line-up.

CT:  Enthroned Serpent, to me, sounds like a veteran band, both on the Ancient Witchcraft demo, as well as on your new EP, Towards the Unknown. What do you believe gives Enthroned Serpent this confidence and sound? As far as I can discover, none of you have been in previous bands.

ES: True, we haven’t been in previous bands not something worth mentioning anyway regarding the extreme metal sound, except of our new vocalist Rex Sanguis who is also the vocalist for Tartarus Depth. Therefore, we cannot be described as a veteran band but you could say we have a veteran sound that resembles the influences we have and the things we like in music all these years.



CT: I hear bands like Sear Bliss, Dissection, Varathron, and Mortuary Drape in your music. What bands would you say have an influence on Enthroned Serpent?

ES: Where to start on this one? We are mostly influenced by the 90’s sound of Black & Death Metal with a hint of Thrash Metal and Heavy Metal as well. It’s a long list that combines all the bands we like individually but the strongest influences are Dissection, Immortal, Mayhem, Slayer etc.

CT: When I first heard Ancient Witchcraft, I was impressed by how captivating the melodic sensibilities of the songs were. There was never a glimpse of anything other than darkness and melancholy throughout. What do you look for in the melodic movements of your songs? What bands inspire you in this realm?

ES: In our songs we explore the nature of human emotions in the concept they describe, these melodic movements for us is the way to go, in order to achieve that. Such melodies are quite common in the Greek Black Metal scene for example another influence we have is Rotting Christ, Septic Flesh etc.

CT: Your music is not predictable, and you do not shy away from an even cinematic quality at times. What kind of imagery does Enthroned Serpent hope to invoke?

ES: What we want to invoke is the reaction which is caused by the extreme metal genre in being different by expressing the spirituality, darkness and evil which exists to this day in a metaphoric sense.

CT: Tell me about your most recent release, Towards The Unknown. It's not a Helstar reference, which would normally depress me but doesn't at all here. Your EP is such a strong continuation of your demo. Did you have anything you specifically wanted to improve upon from Ancient Witchcraft?

ES: Actually yes, we wanted some improvements to take place after the demo version of the songs in Ancient Witchcraft, for they would better represent what we’re trying to achieve. Towards The Unknown is our first release that put us to the test of making something more out of our music, some solid work that gave us experience and helped us reach the strong result you listen.

CT: As mentioned earlier, you picked up a new vocalist, Rex Sanguis, who replaces Angelus Tenebrae. What does Rex bring to the band vocally? How involved has he been, if at all, in the creation of the new material on the EP?

ES: Rex was one of the many trials in vocals who made a difference. He can do a lot with his voice and he experiments a lot in rehearsals in order to intensify the feeling of the songs. His inspiration is not only vocal but in the lyrics as well, as he was a big help in configuring, orchestrating and writing lyrics. Everyone had a role to play in the making of Towards The Unknown as did Rex.

CT: You had a couple higher profile guest appearances by Rotting Christ's Sakis Tolis and Order of the Ebon Hand's Merkaal appear on the EP. How did these partnerships come about and what was it like having them appear on the EP?

ES: At first I ‘d like to say that it is an honor for us to have Sakis Tolis and Merkaal join us in our musical journey for they gave our songs a dynamic we couldn’t anticipate. These partnerships came from good friends that share our love for this genre. I’d also like to point out that working with Sakis and Orestis (Merkaal) means a lot to us cause this is a great support to the underground music by people that made quite an impact in black metal, and their support is of utmost importance!!! Thank you guys, words can’t express our gratitude.

CT: Is it fair to say that "Towards the Unknown" is the most intense track you've released thus far? Other than a short melodic breakdown, it is relentless.

ES: As the title track of the EP it should be. The truth is that a lot of effort has been made for "Towards The Unknown" to reach its state, and we are happy with the result. So far yes, it is the most intense track we have released but there is more to come in our full length album that is in the making.

CT: "Ghost" is a memorable track for the perfectly written guitar solo that splits the song in two. I didn't notice how well done it was on the demo, but it really stood out to me on Towards the Unknown. Is there any kind of history or story behind this track?

ES: "Ghost" is in fact the first song that was complete and ready for recording. It is a typical occult story in which we find our selves fascinated by in general and that’s the reason we wanted to “transform” it from the previous demo version.

CT: "Elixir of Existence" is your best song, in my opinion. It is blistering and aggressive then, on Ancient Witchcraft, It had a beautiful clean vocal section over acoustic guitar halfway through that really struck me when listening to it from a songwriting and atmosphere standpoint. It reminds me a lot of Primordial at their best, such as on The Gathering Wilderness or To The Nameless Dead. But on this EP you removed the clean vocal section! Was there a particular reason for doing this?

ES: There's no particular reason, other than the Vocalists point of view for the specific section, as he believed that this way has a better impact regarding the essence of the song created by the lyrics and the rest of us agreed, so it was established.



CT: I had seen while skimming social media, that you have been working on a full-length album? How is that coming along? Will any of the tracks from the Ancient Witchcraft demo and Towards the Unknown EP appear on this full length and how many new songs are planned?

ES: That is correct, we are working on new material for the full length album and it’s coming along great, the only factor that stands in our way is the every day struggle with responsibilities outside the band, but little by little, the full length album is taking its form. To answer your final question, The Channeling, song from our Demo, will be in the setlist of the new album that consists of eight songs in total.

CT: Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions! If you have any last things you'd like to say...

ES: Thank you all for the support and for listening to our music. For all the metalheads out there, keep the underground flame alive!