Album Review: Serpent Moon – On Love… (Cursed Monk Records)

Serpent Moon is the brainchild of New York based writer and composer Peter Morsellino. Blackened Funeral Sludge from the bitter north of New York. Peter describes Serpent Moon as:

The sound of the ghosts screaming inside my head.

On Love… is a double album. The second half being Serpent Moon’s self-titled debut album. Cursed Monk Records will be releasing it on August 20th, 2021.

A gruelling 80 minutes long with 19 tracks, this is how you get your fix of heavy. The new stuff makes up the first 8 tracks of the album and it’s what this review will focus on first.

We begin with Burns A Hole as jagged and rough atmosphere builds towards a jarring but sweet sounding melody. That continues as rough percussion and effects cut through before the horror of the vocals skulk out of the darkness. If there’s anything that makes this harsh, aside from the bleak overview, it is these vocals.

That being said, this opener stays on the mellow side for the most part. Which is also the case with the wailing noise of I Tried, but here the funeral sliminess is more present and very consuming. It is very harsh to the ears, which makes Thrown Away and Turtledove’s beautiful melody ones to really enjoy. Both are dripping in cold and dark atmosphere.

The sound of suffering, Creeps Inside is darkly depressive and those vocals are so pained, it’s hard to hear. Moody and even harsher to the ears, Living is almost too much to bear but thankfully the title track’s eerie sounds scale things back a step even though the melody is ear-splitting.

The new album then wraps up with an emotive epic called Smile. One that is all the agony, grief and despair this album holds rolled into one. It sounds almost too much to take but it is wonderfully poignant and darkly enchanting.

The debut self-titled then takes over for the second half of the album, tracks 9-18 and it is nice to hear that there’s isn’t a wild jump between the old and new stuff. Here, once again, we get uncomfortable atmosphere, haunting melodies and bursts of funeral sludge heaviness.

It’s got some of the darkest melodies, harshest vocals, most intense atmospheres and most unnerving moments. Tracks like Bitter North, What I Wanted, A Hand to Hold, Brave Face (Terrified), Underwater and Snow showcase the variety in Serpent Moon’s sound. Which, considering, just how unique that sound is, should go some way to explaining just how interesting and eclectic the album is.

The two together is a lot to take in and unpack but it’s not unenjoyable. Both the beauty and harshness of Serpent Moon cuts through and it embodies anguish.

Serpent Moon – On Love… Full Track Listing:

1. Burns A Hole
2. I Tried
3. Thrown Away
4. Turtledove
5. Creeps Inside
6. Living
7. On Love…
8. Smile
9. Compendium
10. Bitter North
11. Hellbound
12. What I Wanted
13. A Hand To Hold
14. Kept To Myself
15. Brave Face (Terrified)
16. Under The Knife
17. Underwater
18. The River
19. Snow

Links

Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Cursed Monk Records