by Chris Barnes
January 22, 2009

SerpentCult are a true success story in the sometimes sordid world of heavy music. After being poised for success with Thee Plague of Gentlemen, a series of unfortunate events tore the band apart in 2005. Immediately after the demise of TPoG, Fred, Cozy and Steven formed SerpentCult with a clear artistic vision but not the chops needed to handle the all important vocal duties. In steps Michelle Nocon and her amazing 'Air Raid Siren' voice. The lads persuaded her to join the band and they recorded the monstrously heavy EP Trident Nor Fire in 2006 to much praise. Not only was SerpentCult intensely heavy, dark and oozing with groove, but they had formidable weapon in Michelle whose voice was a welcome relief in a genre dominated by grunts, rasps and screams of the male gender. Here we are, three years later, and SerpentCult has just released their impressive 2nd recording on Rise Above Records / Candlelight called Weight Of Light. The band has come a long way since the dark days of 2005 and if any band deserves success, it's SerpentCult. With a mind blowing work ethic and dedication to quality in every respect of their art, they bring in a much needed level of professionalism in Heavy Music, with the tenacity and chops to back it up. Hellride catches up with guitarist and co-founder Frederic Caure to talk a bit about the band, it's history and most importantly, it's music.

Hellride Music: Fred, it's been awhile since we've checked in with SerpentCult and now that you this HUGE new album out, I thought it was time to check in and talk about the story behind the music. I think most fans of SerpentCult are familiar with the history behind the band, which was formed after Thee Plague of Gentlemen disbanded. That was an odd and unfortunate situation… there was a lot of steam built up behind the release of TPOG's 2005's Primula Pestis. You guys were getting a lot of attention even outside the normal doom metal circles and looked poised to really make an impact. And then.. BAM!!! It all goes sour right when it started to look good. How does it feel now looking back, some 4 years down the line now that you have this great new band that's garnered even much more attention than TPO? You guys get signed with Rise Above and then garnered a sweet licensing distro deal in the States with Candlelight? After only one EP??? Is there a sense now that your almost glad TPOG broke up when it did, forcing you guys to start up with something new? Or do you look back at the TPOG years with a little bit of regret, thinking you could have taken that band where SerpentCult is now?

Fred: Well, you're not the first one to ask this question. I must say that when TPOG split up, we were verrrry bitter at that time. Not only for what has happened then, but also the atmosphere in the band in the last few months before the split was really below zero. None of us knew what was happening at that time with our previous singer, but it was a period with many troubles in the band, at that point that I even left TPOG one month before the final split. Things were just not working anymore the way it had to be for me.

And then the rest is history I guess, TPOG splits up for the known reasons, it was a shock for us, and fortunately, the other members of TPOG and me were/are very good friends, so we could rely constantly on each other. Of course we were pissed; TPOG was the best thing that ever happened to us musically. After 15 years of struggle in the rehearsal room with different bands we finally got some recognition.

Thing was, we couldn't let this happen! We could not allow such an event stop us on our way. That's why we started SerpentCult only a few days after the split of TPOG.

The positive part of it was that, because we took a new band name, we were allowed to start from scratch again, we had a new kind of freedom which allowed us to spread our wings in a creative way, do some things we always wanted to do, but that were not always possible in the setup of TPOG. First thing was to work with Michelle, our new singer, which was to be the trademark of SerpentCult. Also musically, we could incorporate some new elements. And since then, everything has been going like a roller coaster with the band, in only 2 years existence, we've done some great gigs and tours with bands like Grand Magus, Candlemass, Warning, Krux, ... and played a series of fantastic festivals as Roadburn, Doom Shall Rise, and the Rise Above 20th Anniversary fest. Needless to say the release of our debut EP and Weight Of Light were a nice cherry on top of the cake.


Hellride Music: I have to say that takes tremendous drive to start a band so soon after the breakup of TPOG. There was no mourning period, no 'what the fuck do we do now??". You guys picked up the pieces just after it blew apart and built something new... not only new, but better in many ways. That's pretty admirable, there was no question that you would carry on. I think I read that between the original three of you, each of you tried your hand at vocals with less than stellar results. How did you guys come across Michelle? And when you found her, how did you persuade her to join the band?? With a voice like that, she had to have been approached by a few other bands, I'm pretty sure.

Fred: Indeed, "what the fuck do we do now?" was one of the first things we thought about as well, but that answer came quite fast. It didn't take long before we were in the rehearsal room all together again, and started making music again. What can you do? There was no reason we would stop making music, and from my point of view, things couldn't get worse and could thus only go further in a positive direction from where we were then at that point.

The first idea was indeed to keep SerpentCult as a trio, with Steven and me handling the vocals. We really wanted to try to keep it in between the three of us. Less is more, so we wanted to keep it to basics. Unfortunately my voice and Steven's voice were not as good as in the direction in which we wanted to go. We really wanted to have a band with a strong and melodic voice and good vocals are the backbone of a band. So there was no other way than starting to look for an extra band member. We knew it wouldn't be easy, we were very close the three of us, and on top of that, I'm not really an easy character to work with, haha!

We tried a few vocalists, the one a bit better than the other, but there always lacked something about it. We never had the "this is it!" feeling.

Now, that was quite frustrating, because that kept the band as good as technically unemployed, because we couldn't finish the songs we had written in the meanwhile, and we could not start doing gigs. Then came the point we were wondering if we should not start looking for a girl singing. Not the typical gothic whale of course, but at least a girl with a hell of a throat. Cozy happened to know Michelle, she was singing in a local band on the other side of the country, and she regularly showed up at TPOG gigs, so we called her, and the next week she came to do her thing. Few moments after we started our songs, she was in the band…

As for offers from other bands, you should know that Belgium is not the kind of country that is really interested in good heavy metal singers. Most bands here play death metal, hardcore or black metal, and clean vocals are not really popular. That was also one of the reasons why we had such a hard time finding a vocalist. It's only now that Michelle and the rest of the band start getting appreciated for what we're doing in Belgium.


Hellride Music: "Gothic whale"!!! HA!! That's pretty funny… there does seem to be a strange correlation between Goth gals and weight, that's for sure. You make a good point with Michelle that I hadn't thought about. Most of the modern metal scene is rife with raspers, croakers and grunters and not actually people that can hold a note. Those kind of vocals have their place but one of the differentiating factors for SerpentCult is that you guys have a brutally heavy sound, and one would expect to have a rasping, croaking or grunting male on vocals, not this female that sings clean with an incredibly strong voice! The other part of that is that I'm not sure any other female vocalist could pull it off - Michelle has a voice that fits perfectly with the band - it's an unusual voice for a female because there is an incredible amount of power behind it. I think the Bruce Dickinson comparisons aren't far off at all in terms of her style - also Janis Joplin to a degree. She didn't have the classic female voice, hers was powerful, steeped in the Blues, much different than her contemporaries. It's tough to find a really strong female voice like that. You guys struck gold! Now, you say that you're difficult to work with. How so? I'm interested in the band's chemistry at this point - SerpentCult has a couple of years behind it and you have this new record out with a pretty decent push behind it from Rise Above and Candlelight and a tour looming not too far off… that's a fair bit of pressure! Add to this having the four of you deal with the inherent differences that come with gender… There's Michelle, and three men. That can cause a lot of feelings, both positive and negative, to creep up out of the woodwork. For instance, and this is just an example – in my experience, females have to pee more often than males and it drives me nuts when we're in the car and I have to pull over at a gas station for my wife to pee. It's stupid, but it does create some tension. I can't imagine how that would be on a long tour. Plus, Michelle happens to be quite attractive, and that usually makes men act like primates. How is the chemistry in the band here and now in 2009? How do you guys maintain a positive attitude in the band without resorting to towing a psychiatrist along like Metallica?? Have there been any serious problems that you guys have had to deal with up to this point?

Fred: Well, I'm sure my band mates will agree with me I'm not an easy guy to work with. But I am very fortunate and grateful to them that they can cope with it, haha! I tend to lead the band as some kind of army, straight forward, into battle. This brings some consequences, but this is what makes SerpentCult is. I hate bullshitting and useless discussions about details, there's only one way, and that's straight ahead!

Fortunately, as said, the rest of the guys in the band know very who I am, and they are able to have a good laugh when I start going nuts again, and that's how it has to be! If we can't have a fuckin' good laugh at the end of the day, where would we be? Nowhere!

As for pressure, honestly, I don't feel any pressure at all. Why, we've always done what we've been doing, and that's where we're good at. It's not that we have to prove 'again' what we do, the albums and live shows are the result of our years of hard work. We are very fortunate to have been picked up by a good label as Rise Above, and finally we can bring our music to another level and reach wider audiences.

And pressure by having a girl in the band, in our case, that's as good as nonexistent. Michelle is just 'one of the guys' in the band. She helps unloading the van just as everybody, and doesn't take bullshit from anybody either. I'm glad she is this 'though' girl, 'cause I think we would all have gone mad if she would have started acting like a Barbie doll. We don't take special treatments or anything for anybody, we all do the same together, because we're a band, and as long as nobody fancies a successful solo career, I think we're safe.

By the way Chris, you have to tell me about that pissing thing, I've never noticed… Mostly it's us guys having to stop every hour for a piss, 'cause we drink in the bus all the time…


Hellride Music: Yeah, the heaviest we get drink wise in the Grand Cherokee is Diet Coke… but it seems like I have to stop every hour for the wife to pee. I suppose if you're all drinking then it sort of mitigates the 'girls have to pee a lot' premise I had.

That's great about Michelle pitching in just like the rest of the band. She could easily pull that "But, I'm a girl!" thing and stand around watching you guys bust your backs loading and unloading. She definitely has the voice to back up the tough attitude. Does she ever unload on you when your doing your "General Caure" thing and order her around? They don't call Belgium the "Battlefield of Europe" for nothing!

Fred: No, the rest of the band just say I'm totally insane and mad, and I guess they're right! There is a good balance between all of us.

Belgium is indeed the Battlefield of Europe, not only after the First World War you could find limbs on every corner of the street here, particularly in this area here, where the frontline was. But also in the last few centuries we've been run over by as good as every European 'superpower', the Germans, the Austrians, the French, the Spanish, and even the Dutch… I cannot say it helped us with creating an own identity. Don't get me started about history, it's one of my passions besides music.


Hellride Music: OK, I'll steer away from history and over to the new album. Let's talk about Weight Of Light a little bit. I wanted to talk about the band chemistry initially because this record sounds angry to me, I thought the chemistry might have some influence on the music. Tell us about this record. How did you guys go about writing and recording for this one? We have a couple of tracks off of Trident Nor Fire, but most of this is new material, correct?

Fred: In the first place, we wanted to create a very dark and sober atmosphere for this album. Less is more, so we turned back to basics, dissected and evaluated every piece and bit on this album so that the riffs would work in the most efficient way. Some songs were rewritten endlessly before we finally got them right, other songs were perfect from the first hit. It all depends. We're very picky when it comes to writing music. I think no less of 80% of the stuff we first come up with gets thrown away again before it's a finished song. Riffs, riffs and even more riffs, that's what it's all about when we make music. The impact of a riff is often underestimated; a good riff can almost change the world. It makes the crappiest recordings sound great, and the most boring song can be elevated to heights with just adding one fantastic riff. That is the essence for me in music, and it does not only restrain to heavy metal or hard rock.

I understand your link with 'sounding angry'. There's a lot of bitterness involved in the riffs, a lot of anger I try to channel in the music. Some songs I try to build up like an erupting volcano. "Arkanum" for example is a slow, terribly heavy build up, with a bombastic explosion at the end, "New World Order" is just a plain fist in the face, Weight Of Light is a scream of anger.

We have incorporated 2 songs from Trident Nor Fire on Weight Of Light because they fitted perfectly on the album, structure wise and also the atmosphere was more or less in the same vein.


Hellride Music: "New World Order" and "Arkanum" are perfect examples of what I'm talking about when it comes to anger… where does this anger get generated from both for you personally as well as the band?

Fred: I can't speak for the rest of the band. But from my side, I am very critical and skeptical about today's modern society, and I try to live my own individual way in between all this. Some true values are lost, and are replaced by shallowness, materialism, egoism, hypocrisy… anger, indeed, but by just sitting down and cry about it, we won't get anywhere either. This is mainly what the concept of Weight Of Light is all about.


Hellride Music: So is Weight Of Light about following your own path in a civilization in moral and economic decline? I'm interested in the meaning of the title as well as the message in the music.

Fred: The deeper meaning of Weight Of Light is about individualism, choosing your own path towards personal enlightenment. For me this includes living according to my own true values, and not according to today's "moral expectations", away from modern shallowness.

It's not an easy way, walking against the stream, bearing this Weight Of Light, but it has a great reward. It's about individualism, power, will, vision and even hope! It has a positive message at the end!

This was a very personal subject that I was struggling with for quite a while already, but since I'm a musician and not a lyricist, I have a hard time expressing these feelings into words. Cozy wrote all the lyrics for the album, and we have our discussions about it from time to time about what we would want to tell with our lyrics. It's not easy, it has to be subtle, lyrics are a total different dimension than music, and I would feel bad if we would neglect it as being just an extension and an 'obligation', just because we're a band and suddenly need lyrics. As an "artist", we should put added creative value in every single aspect of our "art", otherwise it's just a waste of time, air and noise.

The lyrics on itself have a more historical content, which reflect these feelings of Weight Of Light. Many people have sought after deeper meanings in life, civilizations have risen and crumbled, which is fascinating. There has been a quest for knowledge all over the centuries, a search for a reason, infinity, sometimes even supernatural… We tried to channel all this in the lyrics of the album.


Hellride Music: I like what you said about "putting creative value in every single aspect of our art". This is what separates the wheat from the chaff in my book. You guys go the extra mile to make sure that your art doesn't start and stop with a riff – you pay careful attention to the message of the music, the artwork, the packaging… it really says a lot about you all as a band.

Fred: Thanks, we do pay a lot of attention to it indeed. For example, JP, the guy who makes the artwork for our releases (he did both Trident Nor Fire and Weight Of Light) is very closely involved in the creation process of the album. He makes all the visual art of the band, from A to Z, this includes the artwork, the posters, the t-shirts, everything. This brings coherence, and we speak on the same level, because he knows what we want and vice versa


Hellride Music: Let's talk about the sound and production on Weight…. First off, there's no doubt that it sounds huge, which is Billy Anderson's trademark. My criticism of Billy has always been that the 'hugeness' of the sound tends to bury the vocals. I found the same issue on Weight… although thankfully not to the degrees I've heard before. Michelle is higher in the mix, but it still seems she is overshadowed by guitar, bass and percussion. She's got a powerhouse voice, I just hate to have that SerpentCult signature not used to it's fullest potential. What did you guys think of the final mix? Am I being too picky here?

Fred: Honestly, I don't know. I think the mix works perfectly on the album. I remember first time I told you we were going to work with Billy, you also told me the same about the vocals, and seriously, I kept it in mind when we were mixing, haha, and have taken it into account. But yeah, we're very happy with the result as it is. It's true, that some people tell us the vocals sound differently live than on the album. In live situation, Michelle's vocals are put much more on the front of the mix, which is the deliberate choice of our sound engineer. I think it's a matter of taste, and both work perfectly, it just brings a different atmosphere to the listening conditions you're in. Actually, I'd be very interested to hear how we would sound live from the crowd, because on stage we always hear a different mix than in the venue.


Hellride Music: Very good. Fred, this is going to bring us to a close. I really appreciate you putting the time in to make this interview interesting. I think we got a pretty good idea of what SerpentCult is all about. I admire the fact that you guys really make a conscious effort to put quality into everything you do whether that is the music, the artwork, even the t-shirts. It's sets a very high bar for your peers in terms of professionalism. Is there anything you'd like to add that we left out? Or maybe a few words of wisdom to close out the interview?

Fred: Thank you, Chris, for giving us a way to speak about our idea(l)s. We really appreciate all you have been doing for us throughout the years. I sincerely hope we can finally meet one day, who knows on our US trip this summer.



Purchase Weight Of Light in CD, Limited Edition Digipack or Limited Edition 12" Vinyl. Also purchase Trident Nor Fire in Limited Edition Gatefold 10" Vinyl at the Hellride Music Superstore

Read the Hellride Music review of Trident Nor Fire

Visit the SerpentCult website at www.serpentcult.be