Osculum Serpentis
United States · formed 2023 · last active 2025
Osculum Serpentis ('Kiss of the Serpent') is a French one-man raw/vampiric black metal project from Paris, formed in 2022 by Maxime Taccardi under the alias Vipera, who handles all guitars, bass, synth, drums, and vocals. In roughly two years the project released a striking run of material — Maleficia (2023), The Curse of the Vampyre (2023), Miseria (2024), Satanā (2024, Giin Productions), Vampyre Lord (2024), and The Streams of Sorrow (2025) — steeped in the primitivist Légions Noires lineage but pushed toward theatrical excess: Vipera deploys 'a multitude of demonic voices' compared to Attila Csihar's ceremonial delivery, layered over dark-ambient, cinematic textures amid the raw riffing. Reviewers have called it 'sheer diabolic Black Metal extravaganza,' an 'epic, even flamboyant' take on vampiric/occult raw black metal.
SCORE PROFILE
Accent numbers counted towards the index. Hover an axis — or hold it on a phone — for what it means.
WHY THOSE SCORES
- Black 7 — Raw black metal rooted in the French Légions Noires tradition, downtuned riffing and blast-driven primitivism.
- Theatrical 6 — 'A multitude of demonic voices'; reviewers call the project 'flamboyant' and 'theatrical.'
- Ambient 4 — 'Dark ambient atmospheres and creepy cinematic' textures beneath the raw assault.
MEMBERS
- Maxime Taccardiall instruments and vocals (stage name Vipera; sole member)· also in K.F.R.
CONNECTIONS
- Griiimpath →
Both are solo projects of Maxime Taccardi — vocals/all instruments in Griiim, and all instruments and vocals under the stage name Vipera (sole member) in Osculum Serpentis. source ↗
- K.F.R.path →
Maxime Taccardi in both — vocals, guitars, bass, all instruments, art in K.F.R., all instruments and vocals (stage name Vipera; sole member) in Osculum Serpentis. source ↗
FURTHER LISTENING
Nearest score profiles in the atlas.
- UnaffiliatedEI 21K.F.R.BlackTheatricalAmbient
K.F.R. (Kâfir, 'disbeliever' in Arabic) is the solo black metal / dark ambient vehicle of Paris visual artist Maxime Taccardi, treating each album as a sonic extension of his blood-paintings and demonological iconography. The music alternates chaotic, deliberately unmusical raw black metal with slow, cinematic dark-ambient passages, across a sprawling catalogue on Purity Through Fire. Drummer Déhà tracked drums from 2013 to 2015.
- UnaffiliatedEI 12Eibon la FuriesBlackTheatricalAmbient
Eibon la Furies are an English industrial black metal/ambient act from Lincolnshire, formed in 2005 by Lord Eibon Blackwood (Paul D. Sims), built around Victorian occultism and 'esoteric ascendance.' The full band lineup adds Matt Cook (bass/vocals), Jamie Batt (drums) and Neil Purdy (lead guitar), with live performances historically fleshed out by keyboardist/programmer Spectral Symphony and burlesque performers Cara and Leah. Signed to Italy's Code666 Records, they released four records between 2006 and 2013, described by Zero Tolerance as an 'entertaining mix of black metal, gothic hysteria and horror movie inspired soundscapes.'
- UnaffiliatedEI 17KZOHHBlackTheatricalAmbient
KZOHH is a Ukrainian 'pestilent black metal ritual' project from Kharkiv, active since 2014, drawing members from Khors, Ygg, Reusmarkt, Ulvegr and Elderblood. Known for atmospheric, drone-like passages punctuated by blasting tremolo sections, and for ceremonial live shows featuring black masks, hooded robes and incense smoke.
- UnaffiliatedEI 9TitaanBlackAmbientTheatrical
Titaan is the one-man occult black metal project of Italian musician Lalartu, based in Trieste, built around a conceptual exploration of ancient Mesopotamian mythology across Kadingir (2016) and ITIMA (2020). The project fuses aggressive second-wave black metal with dark ambient textures and ritualistic vocal chanting, aiming for a 'cinematic' rather than song-based listening experience. Releases are issued via the Italian label ATMF.
- UnaffiliatedEI 13Grave GnosisBlackAmbientTheatrical
Grave Gnosis is a ritualistic occult black metal band from St. Petersburg, Florida, formed in 2015, rooted in Theistic Satanism, framing its recording sessions as literal ritual and trance work.
- Norwegian avant-blackEI 17ArcturusBlackTheatricalAmbient
Arcturus is a Norwegian avant-garde metal band formed in 1991 by keyboardist Steinar Sverd Johnsen and Mayhem drummer Jan Axel 'Hellhammer' Blomberg, evolving from the symphonic black metal of Aspera Hiems Symfonia (1996) into the theatrical, cabaret-inflected avant-garde of La Masquerade Infernale (1997). Their sound fuses classical instrumentation, spaced-out electronic samples and semi-operatic vocals with a black metal backbone. The band drew personnel from the core of the early-1990s Norwegian black metal scene, including Ulver founder Kristoffer 'Garm' Rygg, who fronted the group from 1993 to 2003.
- Blackgaze / avant-blackEI 15Angst SkvadronBlackTheatricalAmbient
Angst Skvadron was a Norwegian avant-garde/post-black metal project formed in 2008 by Trond Bråthen (Trondr Nefas, also of Urgehal, Kvist, and In Lingua Mortua), fusing early-90s black metal with 70s progressive rock around a recurring alien-invasion concept. Core collaborator Lars Fredrik Frøislie (drums, keyboards, mellotron, minimoog) helped build the project's spacey, synth-laden atmosphere across the Flukt (2008) and Sweet Poison (2010) full-lengths on Agonia Records, with Octavia Marina Petru contributing vocals, Tibetan singing bowls, and vocoder. Bråthen died in 2012, and the project's status is listed as split-up.
- UnaffiliatedEI 11EscarreBlackTheatricalAmbient
A Montreal avant-garde black metal trio whose 2015 album 'Une voûte sans clef' has been described by reviewers as a terrifying, exhilarating merger of black metal and circus music — cinematic, synth-layered black metal that lurches between harsh blast passages and eerie, carnivalesque calm. Roots trace back to the black metal project Esker before the 2015 rename.
- UnaffiliatedEI 16LeukotomyBlackTheatricalAmbient
Leukotomy was a black metal duo from Hanoi, Vietnam, formed in late 2020 and active until 2023. Their sole full-length, 'Eternal Path to Eden' (House of Ygra, March 2023), is a nine-part conceptual 'tragedy' set in a gothic world, blending second-wave black metal aesthetics with avant-garde, noise, and ambient elements to tell a story of vengeance, mental torment, and unrequited love. The album was produced by Imperial Cult (Elcrost), mastered by Nemo Lockeheart, and features spoken-word passages by Sam Tang.
- UnaffiliatedEI 15The Black MysteriesBlackTheatricalAmbient
The Black Mysteries is a one-man ritualistic black metal project of the Dutch multi-instrumentalist M. de Jong -- better known as Mories, the mastermind behind Gnaw Their Tongues, De Magia Veterum and Cloak of Altering. Debut album Lemegeton (2018, Iron Bonehead Productions) marries malevolent riffing with choirs and organ passages in service of occult, ceremonial-magic themes drawn from the grimoire of the same name. Reviewers describe a hybrid of melancholy and 'uncomfortable negativity,' alternating ponderous, ambient-tinged passages with feral barrages of riffs.