Written by Ain Sof Aur
Atra Serpens deals with a process of man's spiritual evolution. The title 'black serpent' means, briefly, what is considered to be an abomination by right hand path religious standards. The use of theology and philosophical views may corroborate what we say on an inverted perspective.
An existence that will or have reached apotheosis through Death. This album marks only the beginning of the journey toward that goal, as a metaphor of our own initiation.
In general, the whole booklet is a complete concept of what Atra Serpens really is - apart from the whole idea that this album is to be felt, it is an abstract insight that might be difficult to name or explain.
The songs' description might be an in depth approach to some of the views presented in the booklet, though they can be quite vague in some ways.
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Conjurating Oblivion
Oblivion stands here as the primordial Darkness that will bless the entire concept of Atra Serpens. It could also stand for the conjuration of the Holyness of Spiritual Death, as a form to destroy the old (that will, hence, be forgotten) to strengthen the new: the becoming of the black serpent.
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Aeons of Silence
A perception of how limited and frail the Cosmos is and the need to negate or free oneself from it.
Silence stands for blindly accepting the rules of existence and marching towards the corrupt essence of a man related to God - zealotry and intransigence could also be related to corruption; in any way, it marks the perception of the terrors of the Lord.
The questioning of Faith or a deeper look at the dichotomy of life and death are also present. -
Celestial Moral
The first glance at the morality of the Gospel of Creation, the manifestation of denying it to be able to see inside oneself.
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Resquiessence in Abscess
The remains of the essence of the divine failure of Creation in men, or he who is realizing a whole new perspective of existence in a metaphysical point of view. It'd be, in a certain way, a stigmata originated from the spears/swords of Death and its Holyness molding a new form of abomination.
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Marduk-Apla-Iddina-II
Using the name of an ancient Chaldean prince (song title) as an ironic metaphor for the destruction of the idols of Merodach, or simply, Marduk - he who engaged in a fight with the almighty Tiamatü, the Ancient Serpent of Chaos.
This prince claimed to be the very descendant of the aforementioned Sun God to usurp the Babylonian throne in 721 B.C. His arrogance and self righteous ways may be related to Marduk when dealing with the Chaldean account of Genesis and our own current - and man as the Black Serpent concept, the main focus of the album.
Hence, this song is the realization and awakening to the nightside of existence, with the Gods and Goddess of Sitra Ahra guiding one's path to devour the children born from the womb of Creation. -
Withered Husk of Amaziah
Amaziah or Amatzyah (אֲמַצְיָהוּ) stands for "IHVH the almighty" or "strength of the Lord". After the perception and first contact with the Other Side, the calling from Ama Lilith to her womb, and the whole process of negating the right handed perception of existence, one realizes how fragile and petty the Evangelium is - therefore, the 'withered' husk of the title.
Thus, this is a sonic manifestation of how one disrupts the mundane and cuts the umbilical cord with God to enter what is considered to be "true terror", or the forbidden and hard Path to reach divinity. -
The Call of the Sick
It is a pure mockery of the Evangelium after being completely away from the Lord, showing how sick one who dwells in the siege of Divinity can be.
The relation of this sickness with the concept and belief of Sin and Faith (fides quea creditur) under the Lord's Gospel, have an important role here. It is also related to the brief Kenosis part in the booklet. -
Distress of Transgression
Meaning, literally, the anguish or misery of sin.
It could be seen as how the blessing of Death and Darkness represents the utmost sin on the Evangelium. This "inverted" aspect of a blessing may represent what the whole process of becoming that the Black Serpent is going for: it is draconian.
Misery actually stands for the hard path that blessing is directing the Black Serpent for or, perhaps, under another view, the consequence of sinning?
Either way, the end of this album is just the beginning of what is yet to come and the first manifestation of a process to free oneself from the shackles of Samsara - thus, the first step of denying the Gospel. The first step one should take to get away from a superfluous, mundane rebellion to be able to look inside oneself.