Swedish doom / sludge metal band Serpent Omega are back after seven years away with their new single / video "Land Of Darkness", taken from the band's forthcoming new full-length, II. The album arrives September 4th via Icons Creating Evil Art.

“Land Of Darkness” is a showcase for vocalist Urskogr’s rasped and guttural delivery, filthier than ever but tempered by clean passages, adding elements of both strength and vulnerability which only deepen the overall sense of a looming end. Urskogr from the band explains:

"'Land Of Darkness' basically sums up the essence of Serpent Omega with its brutal energy and simple yet complex sound. The lyrics were written by me and Jonson while we were recording the song. Like most of the stuff Serpent Omega does, we do it together and everyone contributes with a lot of passion. That is usually a really time-consuming process since we rarely agree about stuff in the band, but 'Land Of Darkness' was more like binge drinking with Lemmy, in comparison to our usual way of working. The riffs were written a while before the lyrics but when they merged together it was a perfect fit. The song was just there. 'Land Of Darkness' needed to be unleashed and it basically wrote itself."

Serpent Omega meld sludge, doom, metal and crust into a unique and sordid brew. The first and self-titled album was released in 2013. The long-awaited sequel II was recorded in Stockholm, Sweden by Jonsson at Dark Prod Studios, mixed at Studio Humbucker by Robert Pehrsson (Runemagick, Death Breath, Robert Pehrsson’s Humbucker) and finally mastered by Magnus Lindberg Productions (Cult Of Luna).

To say it sounds grotesquely heavy and good is obviously an understatement. Seven years since its debut, the Stockholm-based quartet offers the perfect soundtrack to what may well be the end of the world as we know it. It’s all here… despair, hopelessness, fury, and perhaps a glimmer of bloody triumph and distant hope in the inevitability of a new beginning. The songs are a pile of bleak upon bleaker riffs that move from a slow and low crawl into d-beat and black metal territory with a smattering of NWOBHM in for good measure.

Serpent Omega has recently changed personnel, bringing well-renowned drummer Peter Stjärnvind, a.k.a Fast Feet Pete (Entombed, Nifelheim, Merciless) joining original members Urskogr (vocals), Brief (bass) and Jonsson (guitar).

For further details, visit Serpent Omega on Facebook.

(Photo: Jonas Husbom)