Swedish melodic death metal band SERPENT have unveiled their new single “Lightbringer,” accompanied by an official music video. The track is taken from the band’s long-awaited debut album, The Pit and the Pendulum, arriving November 13 via Hammerheart Records on CD, vinyl and digital formats.
The “Lightbringer” video was filmed at Popskolans Green Screen Room in Åkersberga, Sweden, with Richard Hedlund serving as cinematographer. Andrea Mantelli handled editing and visual effects, while Kenneth Axx produced the video.
Formed in Stockholm in 2000, SERPENT spent their early years establishing a presence in the Swedish underground through six demo releases. More than two decades after the band’s formation, The Pit and the Pendulum marks their first full-length album.
Musically, the record combines melodic death metal with occult and historical themes, pairing sharp guitar work and dark melodies with narratives drawn from mysticism, persecution and some of history’s bleakest chapters.
The title track takes inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum” and its nightmarish depiction of the Spanish Inquisition. Elsewhere, “Der Hexenjäger” turns toward Matthew Hopkins, the notorious 17th-century English witch-hunter, while the album also explores the Salem witch trials of 1692 and the devastation of the Black Death across medieval Europe.
The album’s cover artwork was created by renowned illustrator Gyula Havancsák, whose credits include NILE, KREATOR and ACCEPT. The artwork serves as a visual companion to the record, incorporating symbols, motifs and references connected to the songs and their occult and historical subject matter.
The Pit and the Pendulum will be released November 13 via Hammerheart Records.
The Pit and the Pendulum tracklist
- Introitus Ad Inferos
- Serpent Rising
- Necromancer
- The Pit and the Pendulum
- Der Hexenjäger
- Lightbringer
- Season of the Witch
- Salem 1692
- Magna Mortalitas
Watch the official video for “Lightbringer” on YouTube.
Pre-order The Pit and the Pendulum on CD and vinyl ahead of its November 13 release. Pre-order