Deep History

“Rich Gallaecia sent its youths, wise in the knowledge of divination by the entrails of beasts, by feathers and flames who, now crying out the barbarian song of their native tongue, now alternately stamping the ground in their rhythmic dances until the ground rang, and accompanying the playing with sonorous caetras” (or gaethas, bagpipes). – Punica of Silius Italicus on the First Punic War, 200 BC

There is a bit of referential evidence that in addition to or instead of the fiddle (actually, a Lyre), Nero was fond of playing what had been described as a pipe with a bag under the arm that buzzed like wasps.  Rome burning became the symbol of the fall of empire.

This pipe was also used to signal Roman infantry movements and is likely the first recorded mention of an instrument akin to a modern bagpipe.  And of course the drum.

Rome is burning again. Instead of a mad emperor, there will be more than a few heretic pipers heralding in the end of the old, and the creation of the new.

Many of the tunes come from very early tribal sources up through the middle-ages (Roughly 1400).   We are not only recreating, but reinterpreting traditional folk and court songs.  We draw our inspiration from primitive and ancient music, the great medieval acts of modern Europe, folk and liturgical songs, and a little bit of Conan the Barbarian.

With less of an interest in classical method, Terra Serpentis seeks to unlock the tribal (in the sociological sense) energies and roots that reverberate through nearly all early music. While many of the most well known versions of these songs are Christian or Muslim in origin, the original melodies and beats are often traceable back to much older traditions rooted in the North African and European ancient pagan past.

It is this wellspring of energy – often visualized as the World or Earth Serpent (the primordial dragon) – that Terra Serpentis seeks to mine.