Shrine Of The Serpent Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Well, Shrine of the Serpent is a 3 piece form Portland, Oregon consisting of myself, John Boyd and Garret Hubner. Garret and I have been friends and in bands for the better part of 10 years. John and I are both tattooers so we knew each other from that. We would sometimes talk about bands we were into and guitar nerdery.  As Tenspeed Warlock was grinding down in the early part of 2014, John and I had been talking about forming SOTS and Garret and I wanted to continue what we had been pushing towards with Roanoke/ Tenspeed  so he was a shoe in for that and we started writing soon after. We are very picky about what we write. We probably scrapped and cannibalized like 10 songs before decided on the three we recorded. We had a bassist early on but John and I tune super low so we figured it wasnt necessary. At our first show we had people come up and tell us it took  a few before they realized we didn't have a bassist.

2.Recently you have released an ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?
Death doom is what I keep hearing from folks.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
 Basically all my lyrics are based off the Occult, movies and writers like Lovecraft, Barker, and such.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Shrine Of the Serpent'?
It has to do with my fascination with Oroborus, the symbol for the cycle of life. none of us can escape the wheel. We all must follow the cycle and way of things to the inevitable end. Do we repeat it? Who can say? So many theories and the truth is well hidden.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance? We actually just started playing shows. We like low light so if that tells you anything. I mean, we are a doom band. We dont move a whole lot.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
Yes. We are currently working on a tour from Seattle to Oakland in June. Our friends from Eugene in Hiding are going with us on this. We also have a couple local show as as well. April 25th at Wisp house in Salem Oregon with Hungers, Hiding and Eye of nix and May 8th at the High Water Mark here in Portland with Eye of Nix, Hiding and Usnea. I try to keep the webpage updated with all that .  I will soon be trying to get a tour together for fall on the east coast and I'm planning on Europe for next year.

7.The ep was released on Materia Prima Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
Materia Prima is a label I'm just getting off the ground. Also Im using the web page to draw attention to other bands and projects I feel people need to hear. I just concentrate on doing small run duplication .Sometimes with alternative packaging. the next one Im putting out is a dark ambient project from Slovakia called Morvranh. I found him on Soundcloud, he composes great music with excellent atmosphere. materia-primalabel.blogspot.com

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of doom and death metal?
 Very good! Its been selling pretty steady just on word of mouth. Very positive feedback. Cant wait to play more shows. Especially Europe!

9.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part off?
Well Garret plays in a stoner rock band called Dwarf Giant who should have an album coming out later this year and I have a dark ambient project called Withering of Light that I have a few releases with. Im currently working on new material for that as well. As far as Aldebaran goes, we all of  have a bunch of different music projects so it may be a bit before that beast emerges from slumber again.

10.When can we expect a full length album and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future? Maybe not a full length. We tend to write long songs so maybe 4 or 5 songs on the record is the most your gonna get. We will be recording 2 new songs for a split with Hiding that will come out on Belief Mower records later this year.

11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
 I've been listening to a TON of stuff! Cauchemar, Dead Can Dance, Lurker of Chalice, Bewitcher, Leviathan, Discharge, Crass, Death in June, Shroud of the Heretic, Sempeternal Dusk, Loss, Corrupted, Coffins, Sisters of Mercy, Valenfyre, Burzum, Darkthrone, Lycia, Samhain, Nails, Asunder, Dismeballerina, My Bloody Valentine, Mournful Congregation, Arditi, Funeral Mourning, Masturbatory Dysfunction, Forn, Locrian, Gnaw their Tounges, Rush and Nortt just to name some.

12.Does occultism play any role in your music? Yes to certain degree. Some of what I study and fits in to what we do but some of it I'm obligated not to say much about. Some will know what I mean by that.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?
Well Ive been a tattooer for the better part of 20 years and own Imperial tattoo in Portland, Or. so there is always that. I like bicycling quite a bit, I actually hate driving so that's primarily how I get around. Hiking, shooting and practical self defense as well as spending time with my family and doing illustrations I feel inspired to do .  I study runes and Odinism as well as a the occult, sociological and political happenings world wide. I like to read about history quite a bit. I also build speaker cabs for guitar and bass and housing for amps on a per order basis. I know, not super exciting but you did ask.

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thanks to those who have been listening and supporting us thus far. Thanks for your time.