released July 20, 2024

Original album version: moanhand.bandcamp.com/album/present-serpent

The Making of 'Present Serpent' - a film about the creating process of this album. Featuring tons of studio footage from recording sessions & interview with English subtitles: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4McEWDd_kGo

Studio live video for 'Serpent Soul (A Tale of Angels' Slaughter)':
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQUzM7fLBsI

Album reviews:

"It's a feral fusion of stoner, sludge, doom and black metal. Present Serpent sees Filatov take a sledge-hammer to pigeonholes whilst pushing the perceived boundaries of extreme music. Peppering proceedings with some post-metal, classical and cinematic elements, the six-track is a hypnotic and serious heavy effort loaded with exciting hybrid moments."
- METAL HAMMER UK, 8/10

“Endless Embrace” sees Filatov showing off his range, offsetting chugging, bottom-heavy riffs with gorgeous, synth-washed melodies and trading off his venomous, throat-ripping growls with hypnotic clean vocals. Filatov also incorporated an array of world music influences."
- DECIBEL MAGAZINE
www.decibelmagazine.com/2021/05/03/track-premiere-moanhand-endless-embrace/

"Blackened, Classic Doom. The project covers everything from Monolord-esque riffs to more Khemmis-style blackened doom.
If you like them, you'll like this."
- METAL INJECTION
metalinjection.net/av/new-music/moanhands-new-song-the-boomerang-of-serpents-is-blackened-classic-doom

"The heaviness and emotionality of Present Serpent (gasp, they’re anagrams! Clever Moanhand!) is really far-reaching, which elevates them above many of the acts making similar music. Rather than try to ooze, these guys really strike an airy, elemental chord which makes the music as inspirational as it is crushing. Do not mix with depressants."
- THE PIT
www.wearethepit.com/2021/06/new-metal-out-today-6-18/

"Moanhand’s Present Serpent is a keeper, alive with poignant feeling, heart-rending affectation, and inspired heights of grandeur. For me, at least, it was a profoundly moving experience taken in from beginning to end (and in repeated listening sessions). It will go high on my Top 25 submissions to the Doom Charts council toward month’s end, and with any luck will hold steady in Doomed & Stoned’s HeavyBest of 2021. Roman is a sensitive musician and an accomplished vocalist. Here’s hoping that circumstances will usher him to a stage near us in the future."
- DOOMED & STONED
doomedandstoned.com/post/654254914583871488/moanhand

“Captivatingly caustic and brilliantly cohesive, Moanhand’s Present Serpent is a stunning example of emotive, hypnotically cinematic heavy metal. It’s grand, but not gauche, it’s wildly feral but also fertile with a luxurious sensitivity in the songwriting which strikes at an almost gothic sensuality without the cliché.”
- DOOM CHARTS
doomcharts.com/2021/07/02/doom-charts-june-2021/

“Sitting somewhere between Khemmis and Alcest – a blend which, on paper, you might not expect to work but which, once you’ve heard it, you’ll soon start to wonder why no-one’s done it before – these six songs marry brooding riffs and doomy dynamics, soaring vocal melodies and slithering tremolo runs, in a way that doesn’t quite sound exactly like anyone else out there.. I will tell you that I haven’t heard anything else yet this year that’s struck such a chord and made such an instant connection with me. It really is something special.”
- NO CLEAN SINGING
www.nocleansinging.com/2021/07/15/moanhand-present-serpent/

"Present Serpent is a mammoth release from the Russian project. It delivers six colossal tracks that all stem from the creative mind of just one individual. There’s a lot to love, but variety is easily the most appealing aspect of Present Serpent. Bold, melodic, yet spiteful in the best possible way, Moanhand‘s latest effort deserves praise, at the very least, for the unstoppable, malevolent noise you are taken captive by. If heavy, tastefully composed brutality with moments of bitter beauty is your thing, give Present Serpent a spin: it is a gift that will snake its way into your mind and constrict until you succumb."
- EVERYTHING IS NOISE
everythingisnoise.net/reviews/moanhand-present-serpent/

“Comprised of six tracks, Present Serpent is as progressive as it is extreme, as doom as it is any number of other microgenres, and despite the formidable and varied nature of his performances throught — second track “The Charmthrower” has more scope than many bands do in an entire career arc — he does not fail to put songwriting first ahead of either technique or impact. Present Serpent will not hit a nerve with everyone, but the lumbering “Raw Blessings” and the atmosludge metal of finisher “The Boomering of Serpents,” calling back to opener “Serpent Soul (A Tale of Angels’ Slaughter)” in semi-blackened throb, just leaves me wondering why the hell not. On the level of Moanhand‘s forward potential alone — never mind any of the actual songs — it is a staggering debut.”
- THE OBELISK
theobelisk.net/obelisk/2021/07/12/quarterly-review-summer-2021-day-6/

"One of the biggest pitfalls with doom is that songs can easily blend into one another with the glacial pace but this doesn’t happen here. Songs have distinct identities and the pacing and arrangement of the album means that it’s not bogged down by its own vast scope. Filatov’s vocals are of particular note, with an emotional, yearning croon as well as devastating shrieks and roars complementing their considerable songwriting chops. For a debut, this is remarkably well formed and a must-listen for fans of more experimental, sometimes shoegaze-y, doom."
- HARDBEAT UK
hardbeat.co.uk/2021/08/31/album-review-moanhand-present-serpent/

"In a unique twist of harsh tones and diabolical lyrics the softer tones of Filatovs’ beautiful, beautiful voice contrast the coarse texture of the instrumentation. Morphing the countenance of the music into a derivative of prog. These ingredients have been mixed before, and to great effect, but are often referred to as out of place and/or avant-garde. With Moanhand the style fits like a plug in a barrel. Filatovs’ clean singing is both confident and captivating, supplying a depth to the occasionally bland backing track. What is clear from this wonderfully black slow metal affair is how impressive Filatov as a songwriter is."
- METAL EPIDEMIC
www.metalepidemic.com/moanhand-present-serpent/

"This is the culmination of his talents and a springboard to what promises to be a new level of notoriety for this truly dynamic singer and songwriter."
- V13
v13.net/2021/06/moanhand-endless-embrace-free-song-download/

“It’s all solid, but if anything stands out in particular it’s his vocal performance. We get the first taste of this around a minute into opener Serpent Soul (A Tale Of Angels’ Slaughter), where he comes in with powerful soaring cleans. The cleans on third track Nightwings which elevate it to a firm overall highlight. This is a grand, emotional offering with a particularly powerful chorus. The same is even more true of fifth track Raw Blessings. Here, the vocals draw comparisons to the floating ethereality of Maynard James Keenan’s work in A PERFECT CIRCLE, while the music evokes the meditative, melancholic doom of a band like PALLBEARER.”
- DISTORTED SOUND
distortedsoundmag.com/album-review-present-serpent-moanhand/

“This guy has one hell of a range and can do whatever he wants. It sounds stupendous, the production is crystal clear and helps show off everything happening in the songs. Vocals are extraordinarily—this dude screams his ass off through out the album using a blackened scream. However, he also has beautiful clean vocal approach so he also sings his ass off too. This album does a lot of different things but I'd day this is overall a sludge/doom album but one with a lot of different dimensions.”
- METAL TEMPLE
www.metal-temple.com/site/catalogues/entry/reviews/cd_3/m_2/moanhand-present.htm

'Serpent Soul (A Tale of Angels' Slaughter)’ Visualizer: youtube.com/watch?v=r8L_QhTbKTU&t=302s

‘Endless Embrace’ Visualizer: youtu.be/oAyqMZXb3s0

"The Boomerang Of Serpents" Visualizer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct-1GIvI6Lc
credits

Originaly released June 18, 2021