Serotonin - Motiv
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SEROTONIN - MOTIV LABEL: NARCOLEPTICA PRODUCTIONS RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 2nd 2024
Dutch black metal force Serotonin have always been a band that have followed their own star in the extreme music firmament, exploring the outer reaches of darkness and the forgotten places far below. Taking an avant-garde approach to their music, unbound by the expectations of others or the restrictive rules of the genre, they have allowed their music to develop naturally, spreading like acrid smoke into whatever areas of sound and composition most successfully capture the strange atmospheres they seek to create. Lyrically too they turn their gaze to deeper, more disturbing and thought provoking stories than fantasies of screeching devils and random acts of mindless violence…and never has this concoction of creativity been more challenging and more rewarding than within the black pages of their fourth full length album, Motiv…
With Motiv, they have sculpted the shadows of their creative energies into the most unnerving, skin-crawling forms to date. After opening with the formidable, driving power of ‘Climbing The Colossus’, which leads us up the steps within the imposing structure of the Sancarlone - a staggering copper statue which gazes down upon Lake Maggiore in Italy - the album then slips sideways into ever darker territories, where tracks like ‘Sinner Box’, with its twists of chaos and warped edges, threaten to swallow you whole as it compares the callous experiments of the operant conditioning chamber with man’s endless, mindless pursuit of wealth. ‘Garrote In D’, a defiant refusal to bend the knee, to conform or obey, is a creeping manifestation of the sinister that seems at first to be working with familiar black metal motifs, but it is subtly caressing them into different structures – surprising melodies and atmospheres bleeding into the blackness – until, gradually, the realisation that you have lost your way begins to surface and you are confronted with something profoundly different, something that gnaws at your sense of understanding with splintered teeth. The voyage through this sonic landscape of the unknown and unpredictable continues with slow death marches and fever dream aesthetics, with every familiar landmark proving to be just another signpost to the unknown. Finally you reach the majestic ending of ‘Leidmotiv’ that weaves the memories of Motiv into the fabric of your mind with its stark warnings against complacency in the face of insidious political evil, ensuring that you will never forget your journey through the night time world of Serotonin.
Mixed by Magnus Devo Andersson at Endarker Studios (Marduk, Ofermod, Count Raven etc) and mastered by Greg Chandler at Priory Recording Studios (Code, Alkerdeel, Ungfell etc) Motiv sounds spectacular – raw, rich, jagged and dangerous, every element of sound alive with malice and mystery. Completing this stunning package is the superb artwork of Emil Underjberg (Sunken, The Mountain King etc), the perfect seal upon this covenant of chaos. Motiv will be released by Narcoleptica Productions on September 2nd and all who hear it will be lost within its labyrinth of thought and revelation.
Genre: Black Metal
For Fans Of: Ofermod | Shining | Khold | Sulphur Aeon Line-up:
Sander Hordijik - Guitar, Bass, Backing Vocals
Martin Perescis – Vocals, Drums, Programming
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