product: Serpentine - Circle Of Knives
label: AOR Heaven
release date: 24.04.2015
format: CD
PR territory: Europe (without UK)
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The bands origins can be traced to Cardiff, Wales, where in 2007 keyboard player Gareth David Noon, original bassist Gareth Vanstone and guitarist Chris Gould were put into contact with Birmingham based singer Tony Mills, whose reputation with other melodic rock acts such as Shy and TNT made him an obvious choice for the band.
With a vast catalogue of demos, the four set about creating a collection of songs for what would become their 2010 debut album "A Touch Of Heaven". The album was produced by Sheena Sear and Mark Stuart, British Producers whose work with Magnum as well as rock icons such as Robert Plant and Phil Lynott is well known. Serpentine subsequently inked deals with German based label AOR Heaven and the Japanese label Marquee/Avalon and the album was released in March of 2010 to much critical acclaim, especially in Japan where the band hit the TOP 30 on the National ROCK chart as well as scoring a 92% review in the rock magazine Burrn!.
In the summer of 2010 work began on the follow-up album, unfortunately in the December of that year, with the band geared up to return to the studio, Mills announced his departure following a heart-attack at a Norway airport but committed to finish the ‘Living & Dying in High Definition’ album with the band. Not resting upon their laurels and with live work in the offing Serpentine quickly moved to recruit Matt Black, a singer working in the rock covers band ‘Six Of The Best’ and who they felt had the stage presence and vocal range to pull off the Mills material live.
Serpentine hit the road with Black in March 2011 first appearing at a showcase in London with Houston, and later as part of a tour with Crashdiet. ‘Living & Dying in High Definition’ was released in September 2011 with sections of the press gushing that the band could well have “delivered the album of their lives”. Festivals dates at Firefest, Hard Rock Hell, Rockfest Madrid, HRH AOR and HEAT Festival in Germany followed as well as tours with Ten, Romeo’s Daughter and FM while Noon and Gould worked up musical ideas for their third album.
After having toured with Gary Hughes of Ten during the summer of 2012, the band met with him several months later in the north-west of England with their management to assess the demos they had amassed over the previous year and to iron out details of a collaboration/producer role for their next record. A year later, and with the material all but finalized, Matt Black left the band citing his will to move in a different direction musically. A few weeks later and after a period of ill health, Gareth Vanstone also bowed out. SERPENTINE quickly moved to recruit Adam Payne - a singer whose talent had come to their attention after hearing his voice on a track with his former band ‘Tidal’ - and prodigiously talented bassist Owen Crawford from ‘Triaxis’. The new look Serpentine entered Gary Hughes’ Doghouse Studio in Blackpool to record their new opus - ‘Circle of Knives’. The band had also lined up Neil Kernon to mix the record, but after a short time working together the sound emerging from the mixes were not what the band had envisaged, and so Sheena Sear who had produced and mixed the bands previous two records stepped in to finalise the mix.
Payne and Crawford made their live debuts with SERPENTINE at Planet Rockstock and a warm up date at EVI in Ebbw Vale in late 2014 and the band are now approaching a release date for their new album ‘Circle of Knives’ on AOR Heaven with live dates in 2015 kicking off with an appearance at this year’s HardRockHell AOR3 Festival in March.
