“Host of the Seraphim” by Dead Can Dance is a Meditative, Mesmerizing Song

With a musical style and tempo that refuses to be boxed and categorized, Dead Can Dance consists of the core duo of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry. The band draws inspiration from old country pagan ritual chants, African polyrhythms, Middle Eastern music, and Gregorian chants, composed to resonate with something primal within all of us. Their critically acclaimed “Host of The Seraphim” from their 1988 album “The Serpent’s Egg” seems to express grief without words, with a haunting, long-lived melody that seems to beckon the listener to continue on. 

“Host of the Seraphim” has gained notoriety for having served as the musical backdrop to some of the most chilling films in cinematic history, including  The Mist and Baraka. With the majority of the song backed by an organ playing an apocalyptic melody with bellowing wails and chants of indiscernible lyrics, it’s a beautiful, meditative piece that seems like an exercise in musical mesmerism. 

It is for this reason that “Host of The Seraphim” may be the perfect accompaniment to the introspective moments of a memorial service. Through its clever use of melodies and vocals, it puts its listeners into a trance-like state where incoherent yet beautiful vocals speak to a part of us that words rarely express, a part of that is more often conveyed through emotions such as love, pain and the bonds that friendship and family are built on.

Dream on my dear
And renounce temporal obligations
Dream on my dear
It’s a sleep from which you may not awaken

In just six minutes, “Host of The Seraphim” can help carry you and the pain you feel during the grieving process. It’s a song that seems better suited for use by an angelic choir than by mortal persons. As such, it seems to give body and mind a place to rest from the mental anguish by expressing it in song and carrying that negativity to the furthest reaches of the cosmos.