ROTTING SERPENT

BAND NAME: Rotting Serpent

GENRE: Depressive Unblack/Doom Metal, DSBM

STATUS: Active

LOCATION: Canada (early, now), International (Canada/Greece, mid)

2023: This artist currently does not identify as Christian.

"Rotting Serpent began with a dream, back in 1999 or therabouts. In this dream, I was rummaging through a discount bin of cassettes in some music store, and two casettes I looked at were "Infernity" (i.e., 'Infernal Eternity'), and "Rotting Serpent." The Rotting Serpent cover art was similar to Pantera's "Great Southern Trendkill," which I remember finding odd. I awoke with a sense that I should use one of these names for my music."[1] Although the project had a bit of overlap with Michael's secular project "Satan's Troops", they were ultimately separate projects. Rotting Serpent became Christian with its first release in 2003.

Various names the project went by, in chronological order:

Rotting Serpent; Rotted; Imbrued; Doxomedon; Rotting Serpent; The First Rotting Serpent; Rotting Serpent

Bloodbath refers to the genre of Rotting Serpent as "Suicidal Unblack Metal", citing Colossians 3:5,

"Therefore, put to death what belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry."

Originally, Noizen was brought on for a new album. This album was later released under the name Exalted Saviour instead ("Blood Sacrifice"). Eventually, Noizen just joined that project instead.

The top-right logo resembles secular band Rotting Christ's logo. About this, Michael has said, "Somewhat naïvely, I fashioned the RS logo after Rotting Christ's logo, not thinking at the time about the cringey trend of Christian Metal bands to offer "Christian versions" of various secular bands. Back in earlier days though, I suppose this was seen as 'cool' somehow, and was looked at with less scrutiny than today (where it just seems kitschy)."

Lineup:

Michael "Bloodbath" Mosher - Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Drum programming

Past members:
Noizen - Synths/Keyboards

Links:

Bandcamp

Unofficial links:
Unblack Metal Wallpapers

Discography:

Note: Several of the Mediafire versions of albums were reuploaded in March, 2015.

Seduced by the Ghosts of Rotting Serpents (The Death of Antichrist) (album)

13 January, 2003, Independent, Mediafire

28 June, 2018, Independent, Bandcamp

Also stream on YouTube (BAND-APPROVED)

Session musicians:

Devoted Follower - Vocals (track 5), Bass, Drum programming (tracks 3-5, 7)

J. Benson - Drums

Notes:

1) The 2018 version lacks "(The Death of Antichrist)" in the title.

2) "Celebration of Praise" is by Katachthonios. <-- See that page for more info on that project.

3) The 2003 version had no artwork. The image here is for the 2018 version only. Artwork was made under the project name "Imbrued" but was ultimately unused.

4) Tracks 8 and 9 are reversed on the Bandcamp version.

1) Intro 2:48, instrumental

2) Dove on Distant Oaks 2:31

3) Death of Antichrist 2:37

4) The Cleansing of Exposed Filth 5:18

5) Putrid Abscess 1:18

6) The Midnight Blood Dripping from the Moon (Exodus from Pain) 18:58

7) Black Funereal Mist 1:22

8) Celebration of Praise 6:38

9) Tragedy Is Her Lover 1:53

Raping the Grave (album)

19 October, 2012, Independent, Mediafire

29 June, 2018, Independent, Bandcamp

Also stream on YouTube (BAND-APPROVED)

1) Autumn of Eighteen Exorcisms

12:57

2) Dogs Will Lick Your Blood in the Streets

14:12

3) It's Good to Suffer When You're Young

28:52, lyrics:

I am the man that has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath

He has led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light

Surely He is against me, He turns His hand against me all the day

My flesh and skin has He made old; He has broken my bones.

He has built against me and surrounded me with bitterness and woe

He has set me in dark places, as those who are dead of old

He has imprisoned me, He has made my chains heavy

And when I cry and scream, He shuts out my prayer

He has blocked my pathways with crafted stone, He has made my paths crooked

He was like a beast lying in wait for me, like a lion in secret places

He has overturned my ways, and pulled me apart; He has made me desolate

He has drawn His bow, and I am His arrow's target

His arrows have Pierced my loins

I was a joke to my people, and the subject of their continuous mocking

He has made me bitter and drunken with absinthe

He has broken my teeth with gravel and covered me with ashes

And you have taken peace from my soul; I have forgotten prosperity

I told myself that my strength and hope is destroyed among YHWH

Remembering my affliction, the bitterness of absinthe

My soul still remembers, and I am humiliated

This I remember, and so I have hope

It is because of Yahweh's mercy we are not consumed, because His compassion fails not

They are renewed every morning; Your faithfulness is great

Yahweh is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in Him

Yahweh is good to those who wait for Him, to souls that seek Him

It is good for man to hope and wait quietly for the Lord

It is good for a man to bear suffering in his youth

He isolates Himself in silence, for he has brought it upon himself

He puts his lips to the dust; there may yet be hope

He allows his face to be struck, he is an object of scorn

Yahweh will not push him aside forever

Though He causes grief, He will still have compassion through His plentiful mercies

For He does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men

To crush under His feet all the prisoners of the earth

To avert the due justice of a man before the face of the Most High

Yahweh does not approve of subverting a man in his own cause

Who can say that something will happen when Yahweh has not commanded it?

Both good and evil are spoken from the mouth of the Most High

Why then should a man complain for the punishment of his own sins?

Let us examine and test our methods and turn again to Yahweh

Let us lift up our hearts and hands unto God in the heavens

We have sinned in rebellion: you have not pardoned us

You have shrouded us in anger: you have killed without pity

You have covered Yourself with a cloud that our prayers could not pierce

You have made us as the dregs, and garbage in the midst of everyone

All our enemies have spoken against us

Fear and traps, desolation and destruction have come upon us

My eyes run with rivers for the destruction of the daughter of my people

My tears pour unceasing without relent

Until Yahweh looks down, beholding from above

My eyes and heart are affected because of all the daughters of my city

My enemies hunted me like a bird without cause

They have placed me in the dungeon and put a stone upon me

Waters flowed over my head, and I told myself it was the end

I called upon your name, O Yahweh, out of the deep dungeon

You have heard my voice; do not hide your ears from my sigh or crying

You came near in the day that I called upon you, and you said not to fear

O Lord, you have pleaded the causes of my soul and rescued my life

O yahweh, you have seen my wrong: judge my cause

You have seen their animosity and devices against me

You have heard their scorn and thoughts against me

The lips of those that spoke against me, and their devices against me all the day

Behold their setting and rising: I am threir musick

Reward them, O Yahweh, according to the work of their hands

Give them Your curse, sorrow of heart

Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of Yahweh.

4) Only Fools Deny

8:24

5) Your Self Does Not Exist

12:03

Unblack Metal ist Krieg (album)

Left: 19 October, 2012, Independent, Mediafire

Right: 29 June, 2018, Independent, Bandcamp

Also stream on YouTube (BAND-APPROVED)

1) Empowered Ritual Abuse Victim 3:32

2) Demons in the Congregation 4:23

3) Forced into Life 7:19

4) Toward a Place Where No Death Is 5:32

5) Freezing Stormclouds of Depression 4:51

6) Upon the Scorched Winds of Addiction 6:02

7) In the Presence of the Living God 5:16

8) Unblack Metal ist Krieg 8:44

9) Where the Carcass Is, the Birds Will Gather 19:13 (2018 version only)

Listen to the Donkey (album)

5 November, 2012, Independent, Mediafire

29 June, 2018, Independent, Bandcamp

The tracks are in a slightly different order on each version.

2012 TRACKLIST

1) Jesus Is My Hope When I Am Hopeless 14:15

2) ...Then Face to Face 12:16

3) A Tower of Smoke by Day, a Pillar of Fire by Night 8:23

4) Choking in Occult Entanglement 27:07

5) He Who Holds the Keys to Death and Hell

18:07, lyrics:

Sound the fanfare, freedom rings
Bow and kneel for Christ, the King
Crowned with glory and majesty
Death and Hell, He holds the keys
King of kings, Prince of peace
Clothed in flesh, divinity

Holy bride, your Master comes
Shining brighter than the Sun
Celebrate the wedding feast
Prepared for those of true belief
Chosen saints, sound the horns
Now comes forth the virgin born
(...snow-white robes of crimson blood)

Truthful way that makes us free
Warrior and Shepherd King
Praise the risen lamb who came
So that we could then be saved
Judah's Lion, strong and true
I have life because of You
(...opener of the seven seals)

Overcome and persevere
His return is almost here
When He appears, it's too late
Cannot reschedule the date
Church of God-forgiven sins
New Jerusalem descends
(...you don't even have to be Jewish)

2018 TRACKLIST

1) ...Then Face to Face 12:15

2) A Tower of Smoke By Day, A Pillar of Fire By Night 8:23

3) Choking in Occult Entanglement 27:07

4) He Who Holds the Keys to Death and Hell 18:07

5) Jesus Is My Hope When I Am Hopeless 14:12

In the Dead of Winter (album)

5 November, 2012, Independent, Mediafire

29 June, 2018, Independent, Bandcamp

1) There But for the Grace of God Go I 7:33

2) In the Dead of Winter (Sun Won't Rise cover)

16:06, lyrics:

The dawn breaks open
Snowfall comes
Northern kingdom
The blizzard never stops

In the dead of winter
Heal my first light
Try to feel something
Wrought in shadows of the night

Between blue moments
Beneath unblackened sky
Crush the crystal mountains
Cross the barren divide

Golden scepter
In Allfather's hand
Beckons frost on everything
Praise the God of Light

Praise Jesus Christ

3) Break the Curse (in Jesus' Name) 6:07

4) Tolerance Will Not Be Tolerated 13:59

5) In Service to the God You Despise 8:52

6) Let the Dead Bury Their Own 11:17

7) Psalm 88

12:53, lyrics:

(Psalm 88, KJV)

1 O lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:
2 Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry;
3 For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.
4 I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength:
5 Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand.
6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.
7 Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah.
8 Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.
9 Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: Lord, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.
10 Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.
11 Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?
12 Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But unto thee have I cried, O Lord; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.
14 Lord, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?
15 I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.
16 Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off.
17 They came round about me daily like water; they compassed me about together.
18 Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.

 

^ Lower res, higher quality ....... v Higher res, lower quality

Advanced Systematik Operations for Xristian Terrorism (album)

8 November, 2012, Independent, Mediafire, link expired

10 March, 2020, Coleiosis Media, Bandcamp

1) Decrepit Hope 6:46

2) Blasphemy of the Failed Accuser 13:50

3) The Moment Least Expected 3:48

4) Blinded by the Idiocy of Satanic Cowardice 6:09

5) Grinding the Nephilim 4:57

6) The Demon-Circuit Vomits in the Factory of Lies 3:50

7) Trauma 5:30

8) Knee-Deep in Dismembered Annunnaki 13:53

9) Your Corpse, My Closet 8:00

10) Forget Me 4:23

 Where Is My God Now? (album)

13 November, 2012, Independent, Mediafire

29 June, 2018, Independent, Bandcamp

1) Where Is My God Now?

9:31, lyrics:

I rise or fall by the Word of Yahweh
Only He holds my life in His Hands
My life isn't yours for you to take
I live or die by Christ alone

Mercy Lord, I call to Thee, the Only One Who Is
Snared by my own hypocrisy, I don't deserve to live
But Your grace and lovingkindness covers me in blood
Come against my enemies, before I come undone

I am nothing without You
Make me strong, unyeilding
Let not the wicked triumph against me
So they may not say

"Where is his God now?"

You are there
You are everywhere

Thank You, and praise Your Holy Name

2) Death Swallowed Up in Victory

9:25

3) Je suis pathétique

12:35

4) Snowblind

22:15

5) Bludgeoned to Life by Truth Undesired

11:19

6) Kill Yourself for Jesus (original) 

13:35, instrumental

The Last Noel (album)

Left: 30 November, 2012, Independent, Mediafire

Right: 29 June, 2018, Independent, Bandcamp

1) Dead Holly 6:09

2) Drowning in Loneliness 16:08

3) The Christmas-Eve That Would Not Die 6:17

4) My Misery Compleat 11:03

5) Dance of Thirteen Dead Reindeer (Last Dance Mix) 10:02

6) (The Last) Noël 10:45

7) Journey to the North Pole 17:05

 Extreme Conditions (album)

13 December, 2012, Independent, Mediafire, link expired

29 June, 2018, Independent, Bandcamp

1) Shattered Spirits 3:37

2) Abstract Faith 3:32

3) Autumn Breeze 5:35

4) Crystal Truth 4:40

5) Farewell to Lovers and Friends 4:16

6) Flowers 5:43

7) Hate Me Then 3:29

8) Locked in the Catacombs 9:03

9) Ruins of Life 5:30

................................................................. This has been resized. See original 1840x2312 [here].

Solstice of Failed Prophecy (album)

22 December, 2012, Independent, Mediafire

29 June, 2018, Independent, Bandcamp

"Made to commemorate the failed prophecy of the 2012 apocalypse"

1) Chlorophile 8:23

2) Decompression v2.0 6:30

3) Defecating Satan 5:22

4) Divine Slavery 12:05

5) Don't Forget the Sacrifice 6:28

6) Inferno of Frost 8:52

7) Perverse Incarnation 6:06

8) Soldier of Misfortune II 8:51

9) Through It All 6:37

10) Unceremoniously Flung to the Outside 7:09

 The Future Is Dead... (album)

22 January, 2013, Independent, Mediafire, link expired

29 June, 2018, Independent, Bandcamp

1) Flailing in a Fecal Sea 4:27

2) Catholic Lies 4:22

3) Excommunicated 3:29

4) The Last Step to Self-Destruction 5:31

5) The Future Is Dead 5:29

6) Character Assassination 5:36

7) Technological Advancement to Redundancy 6:32

8) The Dead Coming Back to Life 4:29 (bonus track, both versions)

Suicidal Ministries (album)

27 January, 2013, Independent, Mediafire, link expired

29 June, 2018, Independent, Bandcamp

"Gazing at the Altar of Souls" was originally planned to be a Mourning Woods song, with the alternate song title "... Shoes".

1) Uncompromising Display of Militance 4:22
2) Warriors of Pure Light 6:03
3) The Road to Hell Is Wide Enough for Everyone 3:59
4) You Have Been Deceived 4:43
5) Truth Is Not Relative 5:22
6) Read the Bible Before You Choose to Oppose It 8:32
7) Stupidity Is the Only Reality Created by Belief 4:20
8) Gazing at the Altar of Souls 5:32

Breathless Mourning (album)

8 February, 2013, New Life Recordings, Mediafire, link expired

29 June, 2018, Independent, Bandcamp

1) Funérailles mort 9:09 ("Funérailles morte" 2018 version)

2) Beautiful Death 10:12

3) Bitter Embodyment 9:38

4) Sterile Crypt 9:47

5) Mists of a Breathless Morning 11:41

6) Performing My Own Autopsy (demo) 7:30

7) Enraptured and Embalmed (demo) 4:51

8) Untitled (demo) 4:39 (2018 version only)

Christian Funeral (album)

Left:

11 February, 2013, New Life Recordings, Mediafire, link expired

Right:

11 February, 2013, No Sleep till Megiddo Records, CD-R, limited 15 copies

29 June, 2018, Independent, Bandcamp

Session musicians:

Jewel (Michael's wife) - Bass (track 6)

1) I Won't Be at My Funeral 14:58

2) Suffer Inside a Shallow Grave 10:11

3) Scared to Death of Living 7:57

4) Threatening Decisions 12:08

5) Trudging Through the Cemetaries of the Living 10:30

6) Happy Valentine's Day 11:42

7) Dreams of Dead Snakes (demo) 7:52

Original Keyboard Recordings '97 (compilation, 17 April, 2018, Independent)

Format: Mediafire and Bandcamp

Mediafire (OFFICIAL), Bandcamp (OFFICIAL)

Also stream on YouTube (BAND-APPROVED)

"Rough ideas recorded during the night hours of Summer 1997, recorded at the Green House, Sawyerville, QC. All keyboard and Arrangements by Michael Mosher (under the pseudonym Gorin)."

1) I 1:03

2) II 5:16

3) III 4:50

4) IV 2:06

5) V 2:54

6) VI 2:32

7) VII 2:43

8) VIII 3:04

9) IX 5:19

10) X 4:05

11) XI 3:08

12) XII 2:49

13) XIII 2:21

Disenchant (album, 17 April, 2018, Independent)

Format: Mediafire and Bandcamp

Mediafire (OFFICIAL), Bandcamp (OFFICIAL)

"Recorded during the Summer of 2000, at the Green House, Sawyerville, QC. Guitar and vocals by Michael Mosher (under the pseudonym Bloodbath)"

1) Tetrahydrocanabicide 3:58
2) Struggle 00:43
3) Dismembered Psychosis 5:07
4) Sin Dethroned/Northern Praise (Deuteronomium cover) 6:11
5) Completely Saturated in Blood 4:18
6) At the House in Front of the Red Crucifix 5:42
7) Tearing Inside 1:36
8) Broken Mirror (for Mom) 6:09
9) Bludgeoned by Horrific Truth 1:23
10) Daybreak/The Foolish Desire of Apostacy 4:39
11) Under the Sign of the Cross 5:04
12) Sawyerville Exorcism 5:55
.

Legends of the Sawyerville Cult (album, 17 April, 2018, Independent)

Format: Digital / Bandcamp

Stream / Download (OFFICIAL)

"Referencing the reign of paranoia and slanderous rumors in a small town that caused a circle of youth to suffer victimization and shunning by the local folk.
The village gossip caused an amount of prestige to surround the influential personalities of this group to the point of giving them a sort of (unwanted, yet useful) celebrity status.

In the end, many of the events and crimes this group was accused of simply did not occur; but that doesn't mean that nothing actually happened... Hail to the Sawyerville Cult!

All vocals and horrible guitar playing by Michael Mosher, recorded April 2018."

1) Graveyard Shift 6:09
2) Draining the Sun 8:55
3) Snow 3:09
4) Ghost in the Cellar 9:55
5) Somebody Else 10:30
6) Remember 5:57
7) Woe There 8:12
8) Down 7:18

Spirits of the Unblack (compilation, 17 April, 2018, Independent)

Format: Mediafire and Bandcamp

Mediafire (OFFICIAL), Bandcamp (OFFICIAL)

The tracks "Marching on to Victory" and "Alive in the Forest of Death" were originally released under the name "Satan's Troops".[1]

From Bandcamp:

"Recorded/compiled in Winter of 2003, in Sherbrooke, QC. This album contains a few tracks recorded at different times, such as "Marching on to Victory," recorded in 1999, "Vessel of Wrath," Which may have been recorded in early 2000, and "Alive in the Forest of Death," recorded in the early year of 2001.

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), many prior recordings have been lost, especially about 10 or so recordings that comprised all of the material for the earlier project known as Satan's Troops. Depending on the time-period in question, there was some overlap between those two projects, and these songs are all that remain as a testament to it. Guitar , vocals, live drums, and keyboards by Michael Mosher (under the pseudonym Bloodbath)."

1) Unbind Me from This Vain Delusion 3:31

2) Cleansing of Exposed Filth 4:54

3) Exempt from the Undertaking/Pronounce them Dead in Jesus' Name 3:52

4) Marching on to Victory (1999) 2:38

5) Spirits of the Unblack 3:15

6) The Sun Burned Black 3:15

7) n.o.i.b.n. I 4:12

8) Rise in His Majesty 3:38

9) Alive in the Forest of Death (2001) 5:33

10) n.o.i.b.n. II 2:44

11) The Law of the Inheritance of Evil 3:06

12) Vessel of Wrath 3:19

13) Cleansing of Exposed Filth (Alternate Version) 4:48

Non-Christian music:

Manitou, 29 June, 2018, Independent

______________________________________

SimilarTo

Miscellaneous stuff:

Left / Middle:
Here are a couple images from when the project went by Doxomedon
Right:
Logo sketches for Rotting Serpent, from 2003

 

 

Similar to: [SECULAR] Æreløs / Aerelos, Agathion, Animus (Isr), Acheron's Reticuli, Aramathea, Be Persecuted, Kryatjurr of Desert Ahd, Psalms of Suicide, Oceansnow, Godemiché / Godemiche, Tunes of Despair, Wheels Within Wheels, Oaks of Bethel, [CHRISTIAN], Agathothodion, Alstadt, Bedeiah, Beksvart, Exalted Saviour, Flaskavsae, Glaciial, Hated (Can), Jordskaelv / Winterkou