Heart Girt With A Serpent
(Crowley/Knight/Winter)
San Francisco-based gothic tribal folk metal band Pandemonaeon celebrates the release of their third album, Dangerous Beauty. Founded by a guitarist with a penchant for unusual chords and a vocalist enchanted by Celtic melancholy, Pandemonaeon blends their driving rock sound with the delicate beauty of folk instruments such as violin, oud, saz, mandocello, bouzouki, flute, and percussion. Fleshing out their sound with heavy rhythm, lush keys and “beauty and the beast” vocal stylings, Pandemonaeon is reminiscent of a harder edged Dead Can Dance. Their sound has been described as “Dark tribal fusion with powerful vocals and metal accents” and “Music for bellydancers in combat boots”.
Captivated by the realms of myth and dream, Pandemonaeon draws on Celtic, Scandinavian, and Middle Eastern folk traditions, imbuing their songs with rich archetypal imagery and creating soundscapes both modern and timeless. At times haunting and stark, at times driving and passionate, the result is deeply evocative. Pandemonaeon’s archetypal themes and otherworldly sound have made them popular among neo-tribals, neo-Pagans, Tribal Fusion bellydancers and lovers of dark fantasy. Dangerous Beauty was chosen as the number one Pagan music release of 2010 by tastemaker Jason Pitzl-Waters of “The Wild Hunt ” blog and “A Darker Shade of Pagan” music podcast. Their music has also been featured in the cult horror film, “The Commune” (2009) and a Gothic Fusion bellydance DVD “Dark Imaginations” by Anaar (2009).
Following an early courtship by Warner Brothers, they have maintained a strident DIY ethic, adopting a warrior-like can-do attitude toward bringing their musical vision to light despite hardship. This steely-spirited commitment to perseverance is reflected proudly in Dangerous Beauty.
“I am the Heart; and the Snake is entwined
About the invisible core of the mind.
Rise, O my snake! It is now is the hour
of the hooded and holy ineffable flower.
Rise, O my Snake, into the brilliance of bloom
On the corpse of Osiris afloat in the tomb!
O heart of my mother, my sister, mine own,
Thou art given to Nile, to the terror Typhon!
Ah me! but the glory of ravening storm
Enswathes thee and wraps thee in frenzy of form.
Be still, O my soul! that the spell may dissolve
As the wands are upraised, and the aeons revolve,
Behold! in my beauty how joyous Thou art,
O Snake that caresses the crown of mine heart!
Behold! we are one, and the tempest of years
Goes down to the dusk, and the Beetle appears.
O beetle! the drone of Thy dolorous note
Be ever the trance of this tremulous throat!
I await the awaking! The summons on high
From the lord Adonai, from the Lord Adonai!”
– Liber LXV Liber Cordis Cincti Serpente sub figura ADNI
Originally from Dangerous Beauty, released 25 September 2010
Sharon Knight: lead vocals
Tim Rayborn: harmony vocals, saz
Paul Nordin: extreme vocals
Winter: acoustic & electric guitars
Caith Threefires: bass
Mark Abbott: drums
The full track list for this inaugural anthology album consists of 15 tracks by 15 artists, 66 minutes of fantastic music:
- Kim Cascone – Black Flame
- David Shoemaker – In Space, There Might Be North
- Mahatma Dalí – Whence Came You
- Alka – Nether
- Last Three Lives – Memory
- Crossways – Invocation of the Kundalini
- Ego and the Ids – Post-Apocalyptic Ho-down
- The Moon is a Spaceship – Sweet Revenge of the River Bollo (Part 2)
- The Contrarian – The Magician
- NVSBL – NVSBL
- Whip Angels – Hermes
- Pandemonaeon – Heart Girt With A Serpent
- yzzy☥kyzy – 93
- SickTanicK – Path of Initiation
- J Simpson – Strange Angels
The Hermetic Library at Hermetic.com has an overall vision of Archiving, Engaging and Encouraging the living Western Esoteric Tradition. This is an anthology album of tracks by artists inspired by or who incorporate ritual and magick in their work. This anthology album will help promote artists to the audience of the Hermetic Library and beyond. It will also further raise awareness about the connection between magick, music, and ritual.
Over the last year, as a project of the library, I have created a group at SoundCloud, the Hermetic Library audio pool, for tracks and artists inspired by or manifesting the Western Esoteric Tradition. With this group I’ve been working to raise awareness that music and performance can be a form of ritual and magick. This has been a space for artists to share their music and other audio, as well as connecting artists who feel drawn to these topics and ideas, or, especially, incorporate and manifest ritual and magick in their works with other artists and a larger audience.
I encourage you to check out the Hermetic Library at Hermetic.com, if you aren’t already familiar with it, as that’s the reason this project exists and may also offer inspiration to you. The site was started in 1996 and has ever since consistently been an extremely popular resource for students and researchers interested in the Western Esoteric Tradition. You may also wish to check out other posts at the Hermetic Library blog and the Twitter and Facebook reflections to see how the library engages people in a living Western Esoteric Tradition.
Please join the Hermetic Library in promoting these artists who have contributed their work to this benefit anthology album project. All proceeds from album sales will support the library to help cover hosting costs and other expenses like materials acquisitions.
Additionally, this album is being released on the birthday of hermetic.com which was Dec 3, 1996. This release date marks the Hermetic Library’s 15th year in existence.
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