Serpent's Knight

Serpent's Knight operated as a semi-professional heavy metal outfit based in Seattle, Washington, whose primary historical distinction lay in serving as the earliest platform for vocalist Warrel Dane before he fronted Sanctuary and later Nevermore. Brad Poland on guitar and John Kimmel on bass initially formed the group in 1979 while still teenagers, yet the lineup only coalesced in 1983 once Dane and second guitarist Doug Stibbs came aboard. Drummer Michael Witkowski arrived soon afterward, prompting the five members to relocate into a shared band house where they merged influences drawn from Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Accept alongside the more theatrical approach of Kiss, Alice Cooper, and Mercyful Fate, complete with evil panda makeup, tombstones, and assorted stage props. They also shared bills around the local scene with unsigned acts such as Metal Church, Culprit, Fifth Angel, and Myth, the pre-Queensrÿche ensemble.

Between 1983 and 1985 the band captured enough material for a full album of demos eventually titled Released from the Crypt, reaching their high point by establishing a connection with Mercyful Fate while the Danish group passed through the Pacific Northwest. Dane departed shortly thereafter to join Sanctuary, after which the remaining members effectively disbanded once Poland was imprisoned under unusual conditions. During his incarceration he encountered future vocalist Mark G.; an interim singer known as Father Scorn participated briefly as well. A fresh set of recordings issued as 3000 Degrees in the Shade appeared in 1989 shortly before the project ended for good. Decades afterward the collected home tapes, including the earlier Dane-era tracks, surfaced on the 2010 compilation Silent Knight… of Myth and Destiny, an effort undertaken both to affirm the band’s legacy and to revive memories of Dane’s formative, unpolished period.