It has been three years since Dutch black metal band Serotonin released their last album, the impenetrable Fracture. During those years they have poured all their eternal anger and scorn for the idiocy of humanity into their creative cauldron… Indeed, they have explored the darkest outlying territories of their imaginations… Furthermore, they forged a sound darker, more overwhelming, more soul consuming than ever before. Let’s join them on a voyage through obscure knowledge and reflections on strange realities and portentous possibilities… Hence, let’s give ourselves to the ineluctable deluge of Motiv.
Since the early 2000s Serotonin has been invoking their own unique spirit of black metal intensity… Infused with chaos, shrouded in horror and defiant in its diversity and independence of thought. Over the course of three EPs and three full-length albums they have forged a reputation as conjurers of thrilling nightmares and observers of mankind’s folly… And all of those years, exploring the hinterlands of extreme metal have led to the creation of Motiv.
About the album
Opening in a barrage of imperious power with Climbing The Colossus, Motiv goes on to venture through the shadowed realms of the human mind. Carving a path through avarice and sickness, admirable defiance and contemptible cowardice. Familiar faces prove to be deceiving masks and places of safety mere illusions that dissolve into twisted, bewildering visions. From the seething malice of Garrote In D, which dares to stare down god and spit on the trappings of authority, religious or secular, to the momentous death march of Kanishibari, a hellish descent into the phenomenon of sleep paralysis and the disturbing mythology that surrounds it.
Also, from the pounding bass heartbeat and terrifying sound palette of Glioma Psychedelica that charts the disintegration of a mind trapped in a body ravaged by sickness, to the staggering, bone-scarring Leidmotiv and its stark warnings of a vacuous society wandering into tyranny, Serotonin has curated an incredible voyage through the darkest hours. Each song follows a distinctly different path. Moreover, each piece casts different curses upon the listeners’ certainties and expectations. Yet, they are all drawn together, bound at the soul, in one remarkable, venomous, metallic elixir.
Release date and recording information
Motiv will be released by Narcoleptica Productions on September 2nd and every facet of this sinister sonic gem has been carefully crafted. The renowned Magnus Devo Andersson mixed the album at Endarker Studios (Marduk, Ofermod, Count Raven etc). Then, the highly regarded Greg Chandler mastered it at Priory Recording Studios (Code, Alkerdeel, Ungfell etc), ensuring the deepest tones and the sharpest blades of sound. Finally, Danish artist Emil Underjberg (Sunken, The Mountain King etc) created the cover artwork – an image that intrigues and suggests as many questions as the complex music that lurks beneath its enigmatic presence. Be prepared for an incomparable ride through a ruinous, endless, starless night.