Osculum Serpentis

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Band(s): Osculum Serpentis
Label(s): Self-Released
Release Format(s): Digital, EP
Release Year: 2023
Review Date: March 23, 2024
Author(s): LV

Osculum Serpentis is the new brainchild of blood painter, visual performer, writer, actor and multi-talented artist Maxime André Taccardi.

Maxime is notorious for his unconventional ways of pushing the boundaries into new dimensions and seeking out the macabre, the gore, the unorthodox views and delving deep into topics such as madness, primitive instincts, deviant behaviour and other controversial matters. He slams you in the face with your own demons, forcing you to introspect.

Osculum Serpentis is, according to his own statement, rotten and vampyric Black Metal. Ugly, raw and evil – as it should be. K.F.R. was his musical project that blended elements of dark ambient and twisted Black Metal A mindblowing and very disturbing piece of music. GRIMM was an electronic hybrid that pushed the boundaries even further and explored the fusion of experimental soundscapes, industrial with harsh noise.

Now there is Osculum Serpentis with ‘The Curse of the Vampyre’. An onimous ‘Shadow of a Shadow’ opens the EP. Etherial voices, shards of neurotic shredded guitars, monotone pounding martial drums, pulsating drone and illusive decrepit creepy voices, murmurs and wail, delivering an uneasy feeling of coldness, desolation and fear of the unknown.

You can actually sense the decay and mould of abandoned rooms, dust, roaming vermin, cobwebs and the presence of something … that lurks in the dark. This is Maxime Taccardi’s representation of a vampire, ladies and gentlemen. A creature banished from the mortal world, doomed to walk in damnation.

‘I have no Name’ is the second sonic outburst, with deformed guitars like you hear in the music of Orgy Of Carrion, Conjuro and other notoriously ground breaking Black Metal acts. ‘Le crépuscule des Morts’ festers with centuries of pain, and the rising of the repulsive Vampire, after the sun sets. Think: ‘Nosferatu’ (1979): a horrible disfigured wretch of a creature, tormented by eternal agony and seeking to quench it’s thirst. In all this violence which engulfs you, there’s melancholy and conflict to be found. ‘God forgot about Me’ perfectly shows this discord. Beautiful keyboards and piano deliver a chilling rendition of the despair, grudge and immeasurable damnation. The abyss beckons floating in oceans of time.

‘I lingered in my Torment for Centuries’ is a dissonant outroduction that fades like the Vampire with the first rays of light.

Osculum Serpentis is definitely more Black Metal orientated than Max’s other projects. Vintage Xasthur, Leviathan, Striborg and to some extent Drowning The Light/Harvest with eerie soundscapes come to mind. The music is relatively slow, though with fast linear tribal outbursts and it claws deep into your imagination. Needless to say that with each listening session, new layers are being revealed, additional details are discovered.

This EP was meant to be played loud for maximum discomfort. Music fanatics and other open minded trendy finger-on-the-pulse underground freaks who like to show off with bands like Sanguine Relic, Black Cilice, their Dungeon Synth and the earlier mentioned bands must have a listen to Osculum Serpentis. It hasn’t been released in physical form, yet. but the crossbreed of shards of raw Black Metal and cinematic sounds are enough to add it to your collection. And the production isn’t low fi, but high end. Maxime Taccardi nails it again and bleeds himself dry for our entertainment. What an artist, what a visionairy. Pure genius.

Beware of the dark. Don’t look behind and run as fast as you can … This is how I felt after playing this remarkable EP.

VM-UNDERGROUND

Extreme Metal Fanzine est. 2012

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Osculum Serpentis – The Curse of the Vampyre [EP]

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