Dead Can Dance – The Serpent's Egg

Released on 24 October 1988 by 4AD, The Serpent’s Egg is Dead Can Dance’s fourth studio album and their final work as a romantic duo.

Most of it was recorded in an apartment block on the Isle of Dogs in London, resulting in a sound that blends gothic resonance with ethereal and neoclassical sensibilities. The album opens with The Host of Seraphim and includes powerful tracks such as Severance, In the Kingdom of the Blind the One‑Eyed Are Kings and Mother Tongue, before closing with the dramatic Ullyses. Short instrumental interludes like Orbis de Ignis, Song of Sophia and Echolalia reinforce its ancestral and ritualistic character. Running around 36 minutes, the album is widely celebrated as an atmospheric masterpiece, admired for its emotional depth, vocal ensembles, ancient strings and haunting textures.