This tenth and possibly final chapter of a fine legacy sees inspirations grace a distinct and charactered return to form. The band's stride past the intoxicating Death Cult Armageddon has been a stifled mix of fruits, purposely seeking evolution but not quite encapsulating the enthralling experiences of their post Enthrone Darkness Triumphant run. With eight year stretches between their last two efforts, Grand Serpent Rising seems like a natural successor to that marvelous run over twenty years back.
Gracefully showing the age and maturity of its composers, the emblazoned thrills and aggressive stunts of Extreme Metal are stripped out in favour of rich atmosphere and grand storey telling. Clocking in at a meaty seventy minutes, all its thirteen songs march on a similar temperament. Mid tempo grinds of darkly wanderings, venturing through forbidden landscapes, immune to its dangers. We join the band like observes of this shadowy landscape, seeing its dramas like observing a battlefield from afar.
Thus its hardest movements tend to rattle blast beats over subdued chord plucking. As forementioned, their are no bombastic eruptions of aggression or pivots into sudden adrenaline. Its aphotic grandiosity emerges from devilish themes and structured composition. Orchestral elements often dictating the nefarious cinema. These are steady journeys, traversing metallic grinds to land on potent expressions of symphonic wonder as breaks in that grueling stride uplift with melodic reprieve.
My weakness as a listener is often lyrics. Well attuned to Shagrath's dense snarling screams, I've picked up on plenty of the words, gathering a sense of overarching theme. Cryptic lyrics of knowledge, secrets, conspiracy, power and truth seem to intersect across songs. References to this arcane union permeates key moments and ties together a sense of "secret society". Sequestered rituals, wisdoms and magics revealed. The records title perhaps suggests such a name for a cultic organization.
As a whole, Grand Serpent Rising doesn't have highs or lows, peaks or valleys. Instead it holds its tone well for a lengthy record, exploring its many ideas with steady measure. That being said, its closing beautiful instrumental Gjoll does feel like a special moment to end upon. I reckon this record achieves what Eonian set out to do, however this time their maturity as seasoned song writers really shows this time.
Rating: 8/10