Wolvserpent Presents: Mix Vol. II

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I asked road warriors Wolvserpent to put together a mixtape of music they listened to on their travels. (See their amazing tour diaries here.) Instead, via software, guitarist Blake Green assembled a single-track compilation spanning many genres on a beautiful journey. It’s basically a DJ mix, meant to be heard in a single sitting. Download it below or stream it here as Green shares more wisdom from the road. – C.L.

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WOLVSERPENT PRESENTS: MIX VOL. II

Full stream

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DOWNLOAD: MEDIAFIRE [92.91MB .zip]

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Intro
: The Ring of Fire: by Wojciech Kilar
: Gates of Delirium: by Midnight Syndicate [link]
: Excerpt from: Invokation of the Gods by: Freya Asywnn [link]

1. The Gyuto Monks Tantric Choir: Mandala Offering
2. Wardruna: Heimta Thurs [link]
3. ВеданЪ КолодЪ: Слънце грее [link]
4. ВеданЪ КолодЪ: Заговор от нечистых сил (excerpt) [link]
5. Wongraven: Det Var En Gang Et Menneske [link]
6. Womens Choir from Permet: Song of Emigration (Albania: Vocal and Instrumental polyphony) [link]
7. Dark Sanctuary: Dies Morti [link]
8. Arcana: My Cold Sea [link]
9. Elend: A World in their Screams [link]
10. Antonius Rex: Neque Semper Arcum [link]
11. Abysmal Grief: When the Ceremony Ends [link]
12. Paul Chain: Reality [link]

Outro
: Seance by Ataraxia (Mort Garson) (excerpt) [link]
: Mantra II by Popol Vuh: (excerpt) [link]

wolvserpent.com
Mix arranged by Blake Green

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If any artists included in this mix feel they have been misrepresented or would like for this mix to be removed, please email. No disrespect is meant, this mix has been made with the best of intentions. Links to websites have been included for those who would like or need to find out more about these artists. If you have further interest in any of these artists and choose to seek out their albums, please support the artist by purchasing the albums!

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Listening to music in the van and witnessing the landscapes and cityscapes is one of my favorite aspects of touring. Our usual iron horse is equipped with an ample stereo system but is a thirsty beast when it comes to gasoline. At $4 – $4.25 a gallon, we opted to try a newer vehicle

The van we ended up taking on our last tour had a tape deck – perfect. Grab a tape-to-1/8th-inch adapter, and all formats are available. The speakers, however, were complete shit. The tape deck broke within the first 100 miles, and we drove 400 miles with no music. This was the longest period of time I had gone with out music in at least 15 years. Before we began our drive down the 101 in California, we rigged up another stereo system. Before leaving home, our sound guy and I had conspired to bring along a backup stereo: a home stereo amplifier, a subwoofer, two mountable speakers, a cigarette power inverter/adapter, and a power strip. With the help of some gaffing tape, we got it done. The sweet sound of blackened bliss could now heal our souls. The main problem with this system was that every time someone in the back seat would move, the stereo would get turned down. This was particularly difficult, as the back seat passengers became volume control as well. Everything was too loud in the back seats and not loud enough in the front. Fck it, put in some earplugs and turn it up!

This was around the time that Kim (Catharsis PR) & Cosmo (Invisible Oranges) contacted us with the idea of providing a tour playlist along with photos and descriptions of our travels: killer idea. Driving south on HWY 101, A Story of Rats and Wolvserpent took turns playing various dark wave and black metal albums. Some highlights were, Artesia, Elysian Blaze, Marblebog, Anhedonia, Arcana, Abyssic Hate, Dark Sanctuary, and Elend. Perfect music for the redwoods, perfect music for a tour play list. Once we hit southern California, things took a turn and our playlist became 1960s Thai psych pop, Turkish psych/funk, Persian funk, and African guitar music. Following that was the typical descent into some simple folk music. Seems like after so many loud, heavy shows, this always happens. Our ears get fckd, and the calm, quiet nature of folk music becomes a staple. Things were looking good for the playlist. One week down, lots of good music to go.

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After leaving Santa Fe, NM, somewhere in Texas our stereo had to be sacrificed. The cables were converted to Speakon cables in order to run a shabbily thrown together PA. That was it. Nobody bothered to purchase new speaker wire and get this thing running again. I look back now and wonder why. I thought about it everyday. I even had dreams that I had bought some new cable, and we could listen again. The heat wave and humidity that accompanied us through the South must have been affecting our brains. For the rest of the tour, our playlist was provided by the country itself via the good old-fashioned radio. This was rather masochistic, really.

In my experience, there comes a point in driving when the driver needs music, and it doesn’t really matter what that music is. If you are the type of person who can get down with some speed, trucker pills, or other drugs of the like, then you are good to go. If not, conversation, music, and willpower is about all you have. The radio is SHIT. Absolute shit. I don’t even understand what is happening with mainstream pop music. The sad part is, our standards had become so low after hundreds and thousands of miles of radio that we actually began to have favorite songs. Not that we actually REALLY liked them. We just liked them in comparison to the rest of the songs. It’s amazing what can happen. I started looking deeper into the music: “this production is good, melody is interesting”, etc. Katy Perry always wins: “Kiss me, ki-ki-kiss me. Infect me with your love and fill me with your poison. Take me, ta-ta-take me. Wanna be a victim, ready for abduction”. (Kinda fckd up, eh, not that I am one to judge a person’s sexuality; it’s just odd that abuse is so exotic in mainstream culture).

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My personal favorite radio gem was the 24-hour automated robo reading of the Old Testament. It was perfect for our trek across the Ozarks. There are many fascinatingly crazy stations when you are driving through the Bible Belt, but this was my favorite. A robot reading the Old Testament 24 hours a day: unreal. The robo Christian doom, murder, incest, rape station, all in the good name. Memphis had awesome radio, some great rock and country classic stations. Atlanta had awesome radio, if you can get down with some Dirty South. One station in particular was all women calling up to request their favorite booty bouncing music. Chicago also had awesome radio (home of R Kelly, of course they did). The main problem with any location that had good radio was that we didn’t have it for long. I’m sure we missed some better stations here and there. But what can you do? I’m just glad that part is over with.

Eventually we were gifted an iPod/FM transmitter by our friends Anna & Stephan (thank you!). This allowed us to listen to some better music. But the speakers still sounded like shit, and were VERY quiet. Almost all of our music was too distorted to hear, too quiet to hear, or killed our ears with too much high end. LESSON: Thank the Heathen Gods for Darkthrone’s ability to sound awesome through any sound system.

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PS. Turns out, this was not the best trip to make a tour-based mix tape, but the intention was there. The mix available here represents some of the music that has been a great inspiration to us at home and on the road. Though our main focus on this trip was video, we still managed to take some pictures to post as seen below. The USA is a godforsaken and beautiful land. Travel long enough, and it seems the apocalypse is already here… sneaking ever so slowly into our lives. Aside from the musical adventure laid out above, we made some wonderful new friends, caught up with some old ones, and played some great shows. Thanks to everyone who came out to support us!! We greatly appreciate it. -peace-

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Photos by Brittany McConnell & Blake Green

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