After the demo was sent around to various record companies, Season of Mist signed Tactile Gemma.
Rune rebuilt his apartment, and recorded the self entitled full length debut album there.
Monika's words about Tactile Gemma :
"The music is mainly based on programming/synths/samples and two singers with similar voices but with different style of singing."
Tactile Gemma is very difficult to classify , Season of Mist ( the record label ) said :
"Concerned about being categorized as a Black/Death Metal label, and seeing Season of Mist more as an eclectic label, we took the risk of signing TACTILE GEMMA having listened to two songs only: "Come Eclipse" and "Blackberry Jam". Between these two radically different songs, the "poppy" "Blackberry Jam" and the "très Avant Garde" "Come Eclipse", nobody knew what to expect... but what a glorious and unique result!
Indeed, TACTILE GEMMA's music is impossible to classify & even harder to describe: Bjork meets THE 3RD AND THE MORTAL? A Metal PORTISHEAD?"
www.myspace.com/tactilegemma
Serpentarium
Tactile Gemma Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where jeremiads drone in the walls
Hum softly words in fear of punishment
Swallow their words dreding mind readers
Meander in toxic, hot pools
Where cast-off zigzag skin floats
which now sear their hides
Only to envenom one another
Coil up in swarming bundles
Only to strangle one another
Crush and abandon their eggs
Euthanasia for the unborn
Serpent comforting serpent comforting serpent
Caressing in virulence
Adders dig their way throught sunburnt soil
But rock walls stop them in every tunnel
The harmless grass worms slip out throught tiny punctures
And come back at night with tales of the world outside
The opening lines of "Serpentarium" by Tactile Gemma speak of a collection of snakes, kept in an enclosure. The snakes are personified as wailing and droning, humbling softly to themselves. They're afraid of punishment, human-like in their fear of retribution. This personification of the snakes is continued through the song, imbuing them with a sense of self-awareness, almost as if they are trapped in this enclosure against their will. The tone of the song is melancholy, with a heavy focus on the negative aspects of their existence.
The song goes on to describe the harsh conditions of the serpentarium, a place filled with toxic and hot pools. The snakes' discarded skins float in the pools, and the creatures lash out at each other in acts of aggression, even envenoming one another. The scene is brutal and dark, with the snakes ultimately turning against their own offspring. The lyrics in the middle of the song ("Serpent comforting serpent comforting serpent") describe the snakes as vicious and dangerous, but also in need of comfort and support from each other.
Line by Line Meaning
The wailing snakes in my serpentarium
The sound of snakes in my enclosure is sorrowful and mournful.
Where jeremiads drone in the walls
I hear the sound of lamentations echoed in the walls of the serpentarium.
Hum softly words in fear of punishment
The snakes whisper words softly, afraid of the consequences they may face from speaking out of turn.
Swallow their words dreading mind readers
They fear telepathic intrusion and so they keep their thoughts to themselves.
Meander in toxic, hot pools
The snakes leisurely move about in the dangerous and heated waters.
Where cast-off zigzag skin floats, which now sear their hides
The discarded skin of the snakes floats on the water, and because the water is heated, it burns their skin.
Stroke split tongues against each other, only to envenom one another
The snakes rub their split tongues together, but as a result, they end up poisoning each other.
Coil up in swarming bundles, only to strangle one another
The snakes wrap themselves around each other in massive piles, but in doing so, end up suffocating and killing one another.
Crush and abandon their eggs
The snakes destroy and leave behind their own eggs.
Euthanasia for the unborn
They kill their own unborn offspring.
Serpent comforting serpent comforting serpent
The snakes seek comfort in each other.
Caressing in virulence
They embrace each other despite their toxic nature.
Adders dig their way through sunburnt soil
The snakes burrow through scorched earth.
But rock walls stop them in every tunnel
The snakes are unable to tunnel through the solid rock walls that block their path.
The harmless grass worms slip out through tiny punctures
Other small creatures escape through small holes in the walls of the serpentarium.
And come back at night with tales of the world outside
They return to tell of the outside world and its wonders.
Contributed by Avery F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.