Serpents – L’Âge D’Or (Album – Electro Aggression Records)
Genre/Influences: EBM, Dark-Electro.
Format: Digital, 3CD.
Background/Info: German Serpents were set up in 1988 featuring Kazim Sarikaya, Stefan Kuboteit, Frank Heiner and Nicole Altmann. After a few demo tapes they released their debut album “Terminal Breath” at the legendary Gothic Arts Records. Despite different line-up changes the band moved on releasing new works on an irregular basis. This album is a fine selection -kind of ‘best of’ from tracks that have been featured on their different releases. Both bonus discs feature remastered songs from early demos. The title of the album also was the title of their last demo (cassette) released in 1992.
Content: The main disc brings a fine selection of Serpents-songs getting us back to the early sound revealing a sophisticated and robotic EBM. There has always been a connection between Serpents and Plastic Noise Experience and that’s an element which is clearly noticeable in the global production process. There also is one previously unreleased (new)-song entitled “In Your Mind”. Two remixes have been accomplished by label mates Synaptic Defect and R01t0r. The remastered demo songs are an opportunity to (re)discover the very first steps of the band.
+ + + : Serpents remains a band which I think should have deserved a wider recognition although 90s EBM fans for sure known most of the prominent songs they’ve ever written. Serpents had their own elaborated and styled Electro sound. Another main characteristic is the typical 90s EBM sound. This work will bring you back to songs like “Kill What Kills You”, “Cyberspace”, “Gib Mir Alles”, “Resistance”, “Violence” ao. Both bonus discs let us discover the way this band has accomplished over the years. It’s definitely stuff for the band’s die-hard fans but also for retro-EBM lovers.
– – – : The single ‘new’ song is not exactly the best one ever composed by Serpents. The remastered demo songs are a nice gift for the fans but quite long to endure if you’re not a die-hard.I also salute the booklet featuring essential information about the band’s history but it’s a pity it’s only written in German.
Conclusion: This is a real cool ode to a prominent EBM formation which got mainly success during the 90s;
Best songs: “Kill What Kills You”, “Resistence”, “Protection”, “Das Zweite Leben”, “Violence”.
Rate: 8.
Artist: www.facebook.com/serpents.de
Label: www.electroaggressionrecords.com / www.facebook.com/ElectroAggressionRecords
About Serpents
Serpents is a German EBM act founded in March 1988 by Kazim Sarikaya and Stefan Kuboteit; Frank Heiner and Nicole Altmann joined a few months later. The band self-released the tapes “The Clock Strikes the Midnight” (1989), “Until Eternity” (1990) and “L’Âge D’Or” (1992) before signing to Gothic Arts Records for the debut album “Terminal Breath” (1993), followed by the “Have Fun” mini-CD (1995). Out of Line released “What’s Fear?” in 1999, and the digital-only “Immer Voran!” followed in 2010. Electro Aggression Records issued the fourth album, “State Of War”, in 2015 alongside a revised edition of “Immer Voran!”. The label’s 2024 3CD “L’Âge D’Or” reuses the title of that 1992 demo tape for a compilation of reworked tracks, the new song “In Your Mind”, and remastered early tapes alongside “Terminal Breath” and “Have Fun”.
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I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.
