Serpent's Curse

It’s really easy to find Swedeath bands that share members or labels with one another, and that’s pretty much how I came across Heads For The Dead. Jonny Pettersson has played in about 900 bands, with Ed Warby - the group’s current drummer, although not at the time of this debut album - not far behind, while Håkan Stuvemark contributes solos here in addition to being a growing presence in the scene. I guess the weird thing in this case is that Heads For The Dead didn’t actually start out as a Swedish project at all, Ralf Hauber being German and the initial stages of the band being split between there and the UK. The sound of Serpent’s Curse, however, combines churning guitar tones with heavy-duty percussion that references some of America’s hard-hitting death like Deicide and Autopsy, while the concrete grooves do have some overlap with Dismember and the like from Sweden.

Other than the deathly sonic element, Heads For The Dead formed with the intention of bringing classic horror movie atmosphere to an established genre, which works tremendously well. Naturally, a few sound effects are used, though very rarely do we hear actual samples in these 10 songs, usually the groan of distant apparitions or the cavernous boom of Pettersson’s Cthulhan guitar tone. Hauber was a new name to me prior to hearing this, but he’ll definitely stick in my head, ripping out savage low roars and terrifying higher yells that magnify the malignancy and add a dose of desperation to the mood. As a result, Serpent’s Curse functions at both slow and fast pace, as well as low and high intensity: since the atmosphere doesn’t clear very often, the dynamics can be utilized to surprise the listener, and that’s exactly what happens, the band flitting about between various song lengths, from the briefest minute-long ‘Death Calls’ to over 5 minutes on ‘Deep Below’.

Having plenty of different angles of attack makes for plenty of highlights. The standout to me must be ‘Gate Creeper’, where the gloomy swirling of riffs feels like the gathering forces of night and Hauber turns absolutely electrifying in the chorus despite having only the title to sing. Hear his vocal contortions to believe them. Other favourable moments come from ‘Heads for the Dead’, which transmutes frantic blasting into a blistering solo, ‘Return to Fathomless Darkness’, which manages a catchy refrain amidst all the chaos, and a closing cover of Wolfbrigade’s ‘In Darkness You Feel No Regrets’, which I guess perfectly summarizes the tone of the release. However, at 36 minutes the album never becomes tiring and flows well between cuts, meaning that a united listening experience is preferable.

With an even more prestigious line-up about to drop a second album, it’s high time for someone to point out just how good Serpent’s Curse is. We get a mix of all the best extreme deathly styles (not much melody despite a bit of catchiness), heaps of sinister atmosphere, and full-blooded performances, including from session drummer Erik Bevenrud. I’m not an enormous Swedeath fan (although my phone’s autocorrect knows the term, hehe) and I have practically zero interest in old school horror, but I’m certain that Heads to the Dead knew exactly what they were doing by marrying those two things. Turn up, close your eyes, and enjoy the darkness.