From Bandcamp, “Curling Serpents Under Stone” is meant to serve as a tribute to the 90’s Norwegian Black Metal scene and bands like early SATYRICON, VED BUENS ENDE, ISENGARD, DARKTHRONE, and EMPEROR," G.Rex explains. "It's my way of paying respects to those who influenced me the most and paved the way for this artistic form and way of life. To them I owe the privilege of standing in the higher seats of Hell’s amphitheater, side to side with bards and predictors of humanity’s downfall.” The end result is less experimental, more medieval-like and more traditional than past releases, while at the same time maintaining the usual sophisticated arrangements, unpredictable riffing and a never obvious melodic style, true trademarks of the Portuguese artist.”

The album has eight songs, and “Funeral March” is first. It opens with some ominous tones, and they grow, at least until we are headed to the end, then they crawl back up under the rock from whence they came. “All is Hell, Hell is All” is the first proper track, and although this may be a tribute to the FMOBM, it’s inventive. The lead guitar notes create a harrowing effect within the music, and the backing vocal chants add a dangerous layer. “Night of Nights” is another song that uses a steads dose of lead notes to carry some of the sound. Again, the background has a lot of harrowing ambiance, although it does sound pretty similar to the previous song.

“Undertaker of Men” used both lead guitar and meaty bass notes along with the sorrowful, but at times, regal sound. The scratchy, raspy vocals augment the music though, rather than overtaking it, which if often the case in Black Metal. “Augment with the Stars” is a short instrumental of acoustic guitars that follows a classical pattern. The title track is almost a Dungeon Synth song at first, with low brass, until the riff comes in. It holds steady though, and that familiar wall of sound we often get from the genre is not there. “To My Last Day on Earth” has a slower pace at first where some faster passages are intermixed, and it’s a combination of solemn tones with frightening ones.

“Depois da Batalha” closes the album, again with more of a dungeon synth opening. It transitions to some aggression, but not overly done. Instead, the focus is more on darkness. Although the album paid homage to the NWOBHM, it has its own modern edges, and didn’t contain the madness we sometimes hear in the genre. Each move was calculated and detailed, and this was a good album to listen to.