Almost exactly two years ago we had the privilege and great pleasure to premiere a fantastic new album by one of the earliest death metal bands to come out of Denmark — Maceration. That album, It Never Ends…, was the first Maceration full-length since their pioneering debut album A Serenade of Agony in 1992.
The comeback album drew a lot of quick attention because, like the Maceration debut, it featured guest vocals by Dan Swanö, but the record proved to be a mad and monstrous success for many reasons beyond Swanö‘s vocals (though the vocals were indeed extremely good).
It is thus excellent news that Maceration‘s will continue their return with another new album on the Emanzipation Productions label to follow up It Never Ends…. To help spread the word, and to give you a strong taste of what’s coming, we’re now hosting the premiere of the album’s title track, “Serpent Devourment“, which will be released as a digital single on October 25th.
Photo Credit: Anna Vibeke Johansson – Nation North
To answer a question that some may ask, there’s no Dan Swanö appearance on this new song, but Maceration vocalist Jan Bergmann Jepsen‘s own gritty, howling growls and strangled screams are themselves savage and scary enough to wake the dead.
The recording lineup for the new album also includes drummer Nicolai Kaltoft and bassist Rune Koldby joining original Maceration members Jakob Schultz and Lars Bangsholt, along with Robert Tengs, who appeared on the 2022 comeback album and performs guitars along with Jakob and Lars on the new one.
The song you’re about to hear, “Serpent Devourment“, is as sinister, slithering, and devouring as its name, and as ghastly and deranged as its cover art.
The guitars bring the massive and mauling tones of classic Swedish death metal and deploy them in riffs of varying speed and voraciousness. They slowly and menacingly whine and snarl; they convulse in cruel and crushing frenzies; they gruesomely moan and groan; and in their midst the lead guitar miserably wails.
Meanwhile, the bass rumbles and thunders, staggers and lurches, and the drumming snaps, cracks, and slugs with pulse-popping and neck-wrecking impact. Near the end, as Jepsen expels an especially hair-raising scream, the drums also explode in a blasting fusillade, helping drive the song to a zenith of unhinged savagery — capped by some swift hammer-blows to the skull.
Maceration have already proven their songwriting skills, and they do so again here, because in addition to being a spine-tingling thriller, “Serpent Devourment” is also fiendishly infectious.
The black-and-white video by Troy McLure is also a great thing to watch, at least if you don’t have a weak stomach. Of course, it features the chilling movements of a pale serpent (and a helpless mouse about to be encoiled and crushed), but it also gives us an excellent view of Maceration doing their thing, and a vivid reason to catch them live whenever the chance presents itself.
RECORDING LINEUP:
Jan Bergmann Jepsen – vocals
Nicolai Kaltoft – drums
Rune Koldby – bass
Robert Tengs – guitar
Jakob Schultz – lead guitar
Lars Bangsholt – guitar
As noted above, this new single will be digitally released on streaming services tomorrow. We’ve also included links so you can follow Maceration and stay abreast of forthcoming news about their next album.
DIGITAL SINGLE PRE-SAVE:
https://bfan.link/serpent-devourment
WEBSHOP:
https://bit.ly/topt-bndc
FOLLOW MACERATION:
https://www.facebook.com/maceration
https://www.instagram.com/macerationdenmark/