Crawl Before The Crypts of the Undead as Serpentis Commands Withered Flesh To Arise

I. Walking Among The Corpses

Beneath the dread pallor of the Serpent Moon did I happen upon the Obsidian Relic—It’s rotted resonance sparked within my soul a foul and fiendish flicker. Dare I heed the call of the grave? Brazen was I, in the belly of beast? Onward I marched, beyond the gates of the necropolis, to walk among corpses.

Withered Flesh Arise is the latest ritualistic offering from the altar of Obsidian Relic Records. The Lords of Seregost call forth from the crypt— Serpentis! To begin this crawl into the cemetery, the listener is beckoned beyond by the haunting haze, the chilling calm before the sacrilegious storm that is Walking Among Corpses. The wrought iron gates whisper their tale on the wind. The cold kiss of the grave festers a certain fear. The fear of familiarity. Your wishes for revulsion are replaced by a righteous reverie for the rot. You’re unnerved by your very nature as your toes cling to the touch of the damp soil. Longing to dance with the lich, you proceed to the Crypts of the Undead.

II. Crypts of the Undead

There, within the Crypts of the Undead, I found peace with the phantoms of my past. Solace was mine within the stench of that sanctuary of souls. Black candles cast an eerie light upon the strange sarcophagus at the crypt’s center. Sorcery seeped from this stone prison. A spell of death and of new-risen flesh.

Gone is the ghostly pied piper that is the initial incantation of this album. Where the first track was a mere jaunt among corpses, Crypts of the Undead serves as a grim and blistering reminder that true blasphemy requires force. This is no longer a walk, but, rather, a supernatural sprint towards the faintly familiar dark. Wielding a sonic buzzsaw and chewing through the silence, the blasts of the ritual drum herald the arrival of this ominous ode to the 2nd wave of Black Metal. The wool spun from Walking Among Corpses is removed from your eyes. You crawl before the Crypts of the Undead, exposed like a raw nerve as withered flesh arises.

III. Withered Flesh Arise

As I approached the sarcophagus, lost litanies and forgotten spells returned to my tongue. For the mysteries forsaken to the Keep of Anguish, entombed by this venomous shrine, were once my own. With the power of ageless centuries, I utter the enchantment over the casket of corrupted bones.

Immortal memories, the dreams of the long-dead return, your purpose is now clear. The resurrection is at hand. While the taint of time has withered their flesh, the Lords of Cinder are eternally bound by the words of the Fell Sorcerer. Continuing the magical malediction initiated by the previous song, title track Withered Flesh Arise assaults the ears with the fury of countless ages. By Rod and Rot, you are bound as you hiss the final spell, “Awake, O Dead!”

IV. Awake, O Dead

Upon my completion of the necromantic rites, skeletal ancestors stirred within the Keep. The bones of the betrayed groaned and clattered as they crawled forth from their chambers. The Lords of the Carrion Swarm have whispered their wishes to me. Arise, O Dead, this world shall be no more.

As the corrupted corpses are freed from their prison to cleave the populace, the grip of the grave loosens on your soul. The language of the Lich is once more lost. Bones bearing withered flesh march to war on the living as you are abandoned by memories that were never quite your own. Awake, O Dead, the fourth track, conjures the corpses from the crpyt. The power of the winter solstice washes the shores of your subconscious rendering your mind free of the blackened might. Defeated and forever damned, you begin your journey back to the gates of the Necropolis as the first rays of morning spy into the Sanctuary. By the light of dawn, you can now clearly decipher the inscription on the Crypts entrance. . .

V. Armata Mortilor

The dead were never living. This I know. The plague fires I have rekindled and set forth on this world cannot be extinguished by the light of day, nor by will of man. Doomed are the days of humanity, destined to the dark at the hands of the Armata Mortilor.

Armata Mortilor serves as a parting and lasting reminder of your nefarious deeds of the previous night. The revulsion you prayed for has now manifested itself in every fiber of your being. You’ve danced with the undead and reveled in the rot of the grave, and now your body seems to reject your spirit. If you seek penance, Withered Flesh Arise is available on the Obsidian Relic Records Bandcamp page. True absolutely is offered, however, as Serpentis will make the following cassettes of cryptic black malevolence available on July 3rd.

The sinister sage behind Serpentis will also be performing live this Saturday, June 13th as Seregost on the Dungeon Siege Channel.

Read more within the Museum of Macabre Media on Monsters, Madness and Magic: Erythrite Throne and Seregost Perform A Sacrilegious Ritual Upon Once Holy Ground