#hexvessel — Public Fediverse posts

HEXVESSEL (Finlàndia) presenta nou single: "Horse Tears" #Hexvessel #PsychedelicFolkRock #Atmospheric #PostBlack #DoomMetal #Abril2026 #Finlàndia #NouSingle #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

HEXVESSEL (Finlàndia) presenta nou single: "Horse Tears" #Hexvessel #PsychedelicFolkRock #Atmospheric #PostBlack #DoomMetal #Abril2026 #Finlàndia #NouSingle #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

Hexvessel Embark on European Tour in Support of NocturneGhost Cult Magazine

Finnish psych-folk and occult doom outfit Hexvessel have kicked off their European tou…
#Europe #EU #AlukTodolo #atmosphericblackmetal #Beastmilk #Dødheimsgard #European #Europeantour #FinnishMetal #GravePleasures #Hexvessel #JukkaRämänen #KimmoHelén #Kvohst #limitedvinyl #MatMcNerney #Nocturne #OccultDoom #ProphecyProductions #Psych-Folk #RoadburnFestival #tourdates #VilleHakonen
https://www.europesays.com/europe/4558/

HEXVESSEL (Finlàndia) presenta nou àlbum: "Nocturne" #Hexvessel #PsychedelicFolkRock #Atmospheric #PostBlack #DoomMetal #Juny2025 #Finlàndia #NouÀlbum #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

HEXVESSEL (Finlàndia) presenta nou àlbum: "Nocturne" #Hexvessel #PsychedelicFolkRock #Atmospheric #PostBlack #DoomMetal #Juny2025 #Finlàndia #NouÀlbum #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

HEXVESSEL (Finlàndia) presenta nou àlbum: "Nocturne" #Hexvessel #PsychedelicFolkRock #Atmospheric #PostBlack #DoomMetal #Juny2025 #Finlàndia #NouÀlbum #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

HEXVESSEL (Finlàndia) presenta nou àlbum: "Nocturne" #Hexvessel #PsychedelicFolkRock #Atmospheric #PostBlack #DoomMetal #Juny2025 #Finlàndia #NouÀlbum #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

HEXVESSEL (Finlàndia) presenta nou àlbum: "Nocturne" #Hexvessel #PsychedelicFolkRock #Atmospheric #PostBlack #DoomMetal #Juny2025 #Finlàndia #NouÀlbum #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

Hexvessel's new freezing single is the perfect antidote against the merciless heatwave over here...

#music #μουσική #ERisNowPlaying #newreleases2024 #hexvessel #songoftheday
https://invidious.materialio.us/watch?v=oFc-sz5TWvI

#TheMetalDogArticleList
#BraveWords
HEXVESSEL Sign With Prophecy Productions; Share New Track "Under The Lake"
Finnish black metal act

https://bravewords.com/news/hexvessel-sign-with-prophecy-productions-share-new-track-under-the-lake

#Hexvessel #ProphecyProductions #BlackDeath #FinnishBlackMetal

#TheMetalDogArticleList
#BraveWords
HEXVESSEL Sign With Prophecy Productions; Share New Track "Under The Lake"
Finnish black metal act

https://bravewords.com/news/hexvessel-sign-with-prophecy-productions-share-new-track-under-the-lake

#Hexvessel #ProphecyProductions #BlackDeath #FinnishBlackMetal

#TheMetalDogArticleList
#BraveWords
HEXVESSEL Sign With Prophecy Productions; Share New Track "Under The Lake"
Finnish black metal act

https://bravewords.com/news/hexvessel-sign-with-prophecy-productions-share-new-track-under-the-lake

#Hexvessel #ProphecyProductions #BlackDeath #FinnishBlackMetal

#TheMetalDogArticleList
#BraveWords
HEXVESSEL Sign With Prophecy Productions; Share New Track "Under The Lake"
Finnish black metal act

https://bravewords.com/news/hexvessel-sign-with-prophecy-productions-share-new-track-under-the-lake

#Hexvessel #ProphecyProductions #BlackDeath #FinnishBlackMetal

#TheMetalDogArticleList
#BraveWords
HEXVESSEL Sign With Prophecy Productions; Share New Track "Under The Lake"
Finnish black metal act

https://bravewords.com/news/hexvessel-sign-with-prophecy-productions-share-new-track-under-the-lake

#Hexvessel #ProphecyProductions #BlackDeath #FinnishBlackMetal

I was not alone for Midsummer.

It had been a hard year for many. Some had lost those dear, and others still had lost part of themselves. The abrasion of existence scratching away at the best of us, compelling cruelty and distrust through uncertain times. A common burden, one often and needlessly borne alone.

Thoughts of the one who first brought me to the mountain haunted my mind, and in recent months another had passed. The kind landlady with whom I had lodged in prior years, and last summer delivered flowers to. Although I regret not finding time to attend her grave; I gain solace knowing fellow lodgers laid a stone heart upon it on behalf of all to commemorate the sense of family we once shared.

But this was a new family now. A gathering of separate ways, archetypes all their own. A Pilgrim of Death returning to the mountain; an Empathic soul who had performed at past gatherings; and a Priestess new to the Alm. Strangers to one another, each sworn to fire. My duty to braid together these disparate beings by way of friendship and camaraderie. Seeking communication and concordance, learning how each speak so all may hear. The centre around which madness must dance.

There would be no masks in our covenant. No biting of tongue for the sake of convenience. Any natural friction discussed openly, and resolved in kindness.

By this simple rule, strangers soon became friends.

As we fortified ourselves to ascend on the Solstice morning, a funeral procession solemnly passed through the town square. Different from the pomp of prior years’ Corpus Christi, a single soul was memorialised by what seemed the entire town. The clink of cup and cutlery grew silent as they filed into the church, and tears flowed in empathy.

Gaining comfort from our cohort’s closeness, we made our way upwards. To reconnect, refocus, and for most, return. As is the way of things, our group dispersed to meet others. Yet amid the joyful jubilation of reacquaintance, there was a fresh coldness in some we met. An insatiety of spirit staunched by quick-fix distraction.

It felt different this year. Some fellow veterans were noted by their absence, and others seemed too far lost. A mosaic of once-kind faces in abstract. Serpents on the mountain. Had the purpose of the gathering changed, or had I?

Such troubled thoughts sought solace by the stage. The music was violent, intense, and dramatic as it should be. With much Black Metal on the bill, there would be no half-measure at the apex of nature. At times the clouds spoke in response, a drenching certainty which took even this veteran by surprise.

Respite from righteous fury, Hexvessel were a needed counterpoint to chaos. Before their set, I burned incense with other old friends in the crowd. Sharing truth and Samhain herbs prepared by the Moon Temple and saved for this moment. It would be a night to speak to the spirits.

I returned to my empathic friend, to relax in good company even as others shuffled to-and-fro. A song was announced in tribute to those departed, and we wept for the one who introduced us all those years ago. The same who first brought me here. We held each other so tightly and dearly as anguish cried for comfort. A moment of sincerity in an often superficial world.

All turned to fire, and as the ritual began I daubed my eyes with ash. An embodiment of sorrows unspoken. With the hill thankfully dry underfoot, I swiftly scaled upwards to the pyre. Circling as I do once flame took hold, meeting with friends and wishing them well with gifts of love and liquor. Prior concerns of coldness melted away by the warmth of belonging.

I found my dear friend once more and we hugged joyfully in the fire’s glow, anointed in oils of rebirth. Smiling, laughing, we saluted the sky in libation as grief took flight to flame. The Sorceress, I feel, would be proud of the close, sincere friendship that has burgeoned in her wake.

The others made their own way to the fire, and it is not my place to speak of what they discovered. But as my heart raised and my burdens dispersed into the black, I considered what each of us brought to our crazy, dysfunctional family. For all the frustrations and misunderstandings found in our covenant resonated with my deeper concerns; and spoke of another tacit, yet ever-present, companion.

Death walks her path in parallel, and does not contrive to convenience. One cannot predict her swathe, nor can we escape her inevitable embrace. We can and should be angry and frustrated by all of this, to regret the words unspoken and love unrequited as in politeness we bide time ’til tomorrow. All we can do in the now is be reminded that we are together, to sustain such love in the echo of memory. And simply, especially, to just let go.

The tears of the mountain fall, and splash the earth in renewal. A ground salted by insincerity and the dust of dreams forlorn.

Sparks of divinity. Fragments of an ideal. We may strive to be superluminal beings, but are still nonetheless human. Caked in the dirt and ash endemic of our nature. Scrabbling through the debris of fearful obligation, suffocating virtue in the rote whims of expectation. Staunched by stimuli we find ourselves lost and yearning. White light simulacra supplanting our essential truth.

Yet the mountain is bigger than any of us, and impassively wise to the wickedness of man. It weeps for the profane and the lost potential of what was, yet churns in timeless tectonic cycle. Spirits of countless ceremonies ascend and descend through the centuries; each carving their own path yet ever sanctifying the land.

And under the mountain’s eternal auspice, this house may yet become holy.

https://heathenstorm.com/2024/07/05/tears-of-the-mountain/

#blackmetal #death #fire #hexvessel #houseoftheholy #livemusic #mementomori #metal #music #occult #ritual #solstice

GardensTale Goes to Roadburn 2024

By GardensTale

Roadburn is a unique festival. Many have no idea what it is, but those who know it often revere it. Starting in 1999 as a traveling stoner festival, it has grown into one of the most adventurous, envelope-pushing celebrations of music worldwide. The line-ups have grown increasingly experimental, and a few years ago the festival adopted the slogan Redefining Heaviness. It’s a mission statement that indicates the wide scope of the festival, exploring other forms of heaviness through the inclusion of genres beyond metal.

My partner and I have visited every Roadburn since 2017, when I last wrote a report on the experience. At the time, we had a sweet arrangement allowing free entry by playing host to a performing artist. Unfortunately, this option no longer exists since the pandemic, so instead we have been inviting random festival goers, which has netted us a steadily growing slew of festival buddies from across Europe. This year was no different, with a few old friends and a few new ones taking up residence in our living room. With the fires of friendship thus stoked, we set off on our sixth voyage into the depths of the heavy underground.

Day 1 (Thursday, 18th of April)

2:34 PM — Got to Hexvessel’s set playing Polar Veil a little late, because one of our guests needed a bracelet still. Good doom, played well, but doesn’t blow me away. Room is crammed, but it’s the first show of the festival.

2:44 PM — Watched a few songs, then went to grab merch. Hoodies were already sold out in several colors.

3:11 PM — Sunrise Patriot Motion is like “what if Ashenspire swallowed a synthwave band” and I like it. It’s a strange contrast but it works.

4:03 PM — Wiegedood were doing a live soundtrack to a Japanese experimental silent film from 1926 and it was as odd as that sounds.

5:44 PM — Grabbed some food during a gap in the schedule and afterward watched a few songs of Sean Mulrooney’s set (from Tau and the Drones of Praise). Dark folk with sparse vocals doesn’t really work unless the vocals are good, and these weren’t.

5:47 PM — Now sitting outside the venue where UBOA is doing her thing and it sounds like two supercomputers on train tracks colliding head-on. Bit above my maximum noise-to-music ratio.

7:16 PM — Inter Arma is pretty dang massive. Sound in the venue isn’t great so the guitars aren’t getting their due but faces are caving in.

8:26 PM — WHITE WARD IS FUCKING AMAZING

8:35 PM — Their saxophone player is in the army so they had to make do with samples, but after 4 canceled appearances due to Covid and the war, it was worth the wait.

9:46 PM — Everyone and the family dog wants to see Chelsea Wolfe, so being 20 minutes early still meant nosebleed spots in the balcony. Wolfe fills the room anyway. I don’t always click with her albums that much, but man she is a force to behold on stage.

10:54 PM — Shows hadn’t left much time for food today, so a big fat doner wrap will have to do. A fellow with too little blood in his alcohol walked into the door and cracked his head on the tiles. Walked away 10 minutes later. Hope he survived.

11:37 PM — Goddamn, Backxwash is heavier with her hip-hop than most bands are playing metal. No one on stage but a black woman in a poofy dress laying down the law over raw industrial beats. Fucking awesome set.

Day 2 (Friday, 19th of April)

3:14 PM — Started off crammed into the room like sardines to hear Fluisteraars do an experimental set: the droniest of drone with birdsong on top. Handled about 10 minutes of that before bailing. Not my jam and way overcrowded.

3:39 PM — Mat McNerney (aka Kvohst of Hexvessel and others) doing a commissioned piece called Music For Gloaming: A Nocturne. Very gothic doom/black mixture, pretty cool set with loads of atmosphere.

6:33 PM — After a meal we went to check out Lucy Kruger + The Lost Boys in the Hall of Fame venue. Very nice weighty dream pop, not unlike Emma Ruth Rundle.

8:31 PM — Good thing we were there because Inter Arma was drafted for a second performance, a secret set of material from their classic albums. Also in the Hall of Fame, the smallest venue of the festival. Absolutely brainscramblingly colossal. Easily the heaviest thing on the festival so far.

9:52 PM — Another secret set, this one by Couch Slut in the skate park. Harsh music under the harsh glare of the tubes. Great performance and the venue brought out their punky DIY spirit, looking forward to seeing them again early tomorrow for their new album playthrough.

Day 3 (Saturday, 20th of April)

1:24 PM — Knoll for breakfast is kind of terrifying and overwhelming but also kind of awesome in a “my skull is now 2D” kind of way.

1:26 PM — Suddenly a wild trumpet appears!

2:25 PM — Couch Slut playing their new album. Raw as all fucking get out. Great show! Excellent live band both performances, visceral as fuck. The frontwoman confessed to only sleeping 90 minutes that night, and occasionally it showed, but by and large, she killed it.

2:50 PM — Oneiroporeia is a super young band and it shows, but their blackened prog-goth sound is solid and promising.

5:04 PM — Roadburn has a queue problem this year, especially today, and primarily at the Spoorzone venues. It’s always unclear when a venue opens and the queues have gotten gigantic. After wasting some time in a queue in an attempt to see Agriculture, we decided to settle in at the Main stage and wait for The Keening.

5:52 PM — The Keening is as beautiful and fragile as the titular Little Bird, but could use a few more dynamic stanzas to balance out the mid-weight atmodoomfolk a little. Still quite pretty though.

8:37 PM — Between rain and queues we settled on Ni in the Paradox jazz club. Super skronky instrumental jazzmathcore is healing my soul right now.

10:44 PM — Ni turned out one of the best things I’ve seen at the festival this year. Cult Leader’s acidic sludgy hardcore made a run for the podium, but their gothic-doom passages just aren’t as captivating. When these guys go full blast though, they’re absolutely vicious.

11:32 PM — In the spirit of trying new things, we ended the day with a few Frail Body tracks. Safe to say that screamo is not my new passion.

Day 4 (Sunday, 21st of April)

3:05 PM — We dragged our exhausted husks to the Terminal for the final day. Kicking off with Laster is a good start. The weird psych black band with ghoulish masks are pretty much studio-tight. It does feel a little clinical or impersonal as a live show but it’s a very solid performance.

4:47 PM — Today really is black metal day at the Terminal. No complaints from me! Verwoed tears down the place with their ritualistic and reasonably melodic take. Good sound and a spirited performance. The Dutch black metal scene proves to be thriving once more.

6:27 PM — After all the doom and gloom, a little black thrash that’s all riffs and no brakes is just the ticket, and Devil Master hits the spot. Doing the second half of the set sitting on the floor by the wall because my feet are withered stumps at this point.

6:31 PM — I’m also surprised by the amount of delighted surprised faces I get from bartenders when I show them my order on my phone screen. Is it really that uncommon? It’s so much simpler than shouting!

8:32 PM — Biological necessities (aka food) and a queue meant missing the first half of Fluisteraars’ full black metal set. This is a shame because fuck me this is one of the best performances of the whole festival. It’s apparently only the second time the band performs live and they put most of their peers to shame.

10:18 PM — Dödsrit led a 50-minute war band to raid and pillage the Terminal. Baller set, tons of energy and extremely fun! Sound was a bit off, as is tradition in this venue, but it didn’t spoil a good time. Thought this would be the last show for us, but in the interest of a last drink with a few friends we went to…

11:29 PM — …the main stage for Cloakroom. Not a terribly engaging band even by shoegaze standards, but a nice lullaby to sing the festival to sleep.

Between collaborations, commissioned pieces, secret sets, and integral album presentations, not to mention a lot of bands that would not fit in at many other festivals, Roadburn’s line-up is always unique. I’d never have found bands like Ni or Lucy Kruger without the concerted efforts of Walter Hoeijmakers and Becky Laverty to keep Roadburn one of the most forward-thinking festivals out there. I found some new favorites and checked out some bands I knew only by reputation. But best of all is experiencing it all with an ever-expanding gaggle of friends. We’ve rarely watched a show with just the two of us; nearly every time we had the company of friends, and come rain or queues, that is the best way to experience this festival.

#Agriculture #Ashenspire #Backxwash #ChelseaWolfe #Cloakroom #CouchSlut #CultLeader #DevilMaster #Dödsrit #EmmaRuthRundle #Fluisteraars #FrailBody #Hexvessel #InterArma #Knoll #Laster #LucyKrugerTheLostBoys #ni #Oneiroporeia #SunrisePatriotMotion #TauAndTheDronesOfPraise #TheKeening #UBOA #Verwoed #WhiteWard #Wiegedood

GardensTale Goes to Roadburn 2024

By GardensTale

Roadburn is a unique festival. Many have no idea what it is, but those who know it often revere it. Starting in 1999 as a traveling stoner festival, it has grown into one of the most adventurous, envelope-pushing celebrations of music worldwide. The line-ups have grown increasingly experimental, and a few years ago the festival adopted the slogan Redefining Heaviness. It’s a mission statement that indicates the wide scope of the festival, exploring other forms of heaviness through the inclusion of genres beyond metal.

My partner and I have visited every Roadburn since 2017, when I last wrote a report on the experience. At the time, we had a sweet arrangement allowing free entry by playing host to a performing artist. Unfortunately, this option no longer exists since the pandemic, so instead we have been inviting random festival goers, which has netted us a steadily growing slew of festival buddies from across Europe. This year was no different, with a few old friends and a few new ones taking up residence in our living room. With the fires of friendship thus stoked, we set off on our sixth voyage into the depths of the heavy underground.

Day 1 (Thursday, 18th of April)

2:34 PM — Got to Hexvessel’s set playing Polar Veil a little late, because one of our guests needed a bracelet still. Good doom, played well, but doesn’t blow me away. Room is crammed, but it’s the first show of the festival.

2:44 PM — Watched a few songs, then went to grab merch. Hoodies were already sold out in several colors.

3:11 PM — Sunrise Patriot Motion is like “what if Ashenspire swallowed a synthwave band” and I like it. It’s a strange contrast but it works.

4:03 PM — Wiegedood were doing a live soundtrack to a Japanese experimental silent film from 1926 and it was as odd as that sounds.

5:44 PM — Grabbed some food during a gap in the schedule and afterward watched a few songs of Sean Mulrooney’s set (from Tau and the Drones of Praise). Dark folk with sparse vocals doesn’t really work unless the vocals are good, and these weren’t.

5:47 PM — Now sitting outside the venue where UBOA is doing her thing and it sounds like two supercomputers on train tracks colliding head-on. Bit above my maximum noise-to-music ratio.

7:16 PM — Inter Arma is pretty dang massive. Sound in the venue isn’t great so the guitars aren’t getting their due but faces are caving in.

8:26 PM — WHITE WARD IS FUCKING AMAZING

8:35 PM — Their saxophone player is in the army so they had to make do with samples, but after 4 canceled appearances due to Covid and the war, it was worth the wait.

9:46 PM — Everyone and the family dog wants to see Chelsea Wolfe, so being 20 minutes early still meant nosebleed spots in the balcony. Wolfe fills the room anyway. I don’t always click with her albums that much, but man she is a force to behold on stage.

10:54 PM — Shows hadn’t left much time for food today, so a big fat doner wrap will have to do. A fellow with too little blood in his alcohol walked into the door and cracked his head on the tiles. Walked away 10 minutes later. Hope he survived.

11:37 PM — Goddamn, Backxwash is heavier with her hip-hop than most bands are playing metal. No one on stage but a black woman in a poofy dress laying down the law over raw industrial beats. Fucking awesome set.

Day 2 (Friday, 19th of April)

3:14 PM — Started off crammed into the room like sardines to hear Fluisteraars do an experimental set: the droniest of drone with birdsong on top. Handled about 10 minutes of that before bailing. Not my jam and way overcrowded.

3:39 PM — Mat McNerney (aka Kvohst of Hexvessel and others) doing a commissioned piece called Music For Gloaming: A Nocturne. Very gothic doom/black mixture, pretty cool set with loads of atmosphere.

6:33 PM — After a meal we went to check out Lucy Kruger + The Lost Boys in the Hall of Fame venue. Very nice weighty dream pop, not unlike Emma Ruth Rundle.

8:31 PM — Good thing we were there because Inter Arma was drafted for a second performance, a secret set of material from their classic albums. Also in the Hall of Fame, the smallest venue of the festival. Absolutely brainscramblingly colossal. Easily the heaviest thing on the festival so far.

9:52 PM — Another secret set, this one by Couch Slut in the skate park. Harsh music under the harsh glare of the tubes. Great performance and the venue brought out their punky DIY spirit, looking forward to seeing them again early tomorrow for their new album playthrough.

Day 3 (Saturday, 20th of April)

1:24 PM — Knoll for breakfast is kind of terrifying and overwhelming but also kind of awesome in a “my skull is now 2D” kind of way.

1:26 PM — Suddenly a wild trumpet appears!

2:25 PM — Couch Slut playing their new album. Raw as all fucking get out. Great show! Excellent live band both performances, visceral as fuck. The frontwoman confessed to only sleeping 90 minutes that night, and occasionally it showed, but by and large, she killed it.

2:50 PM — Oneiroporeia is a super young band and it shows, but their blackened prog-goth sound is solid and promising.

5:04 PM — Roadburn has a queue problem this year, especially today, and primarily at the Spoorzone venues. It’s always unclear when a venue opens and the queues have gotten gigantic. After wasting some time in a queue in an attempt to see Agriculture, we decided to settle in at the Main stage and wait for The Keening.

5:52 PM — The Keening is as beautiful and fragile as the titular Little Bird, but could use a few more dynamic stanzas to balance out the mid-weight atmodoomfolk a little. Still quite pretty though.

8:37 PM — Between rain and queues we settled on Ni in the Paradox jazz club. Super skronky instrumental jazzmathcore is healing my soul right now.

10:44 PM — Ni turned out one of the best things I’ve seen at the festival this year. Cult Leader’s acidic sludgy hardcore made a run for the podium, but their gothic-doom passages just aren’t as captivating. When these guys go full blast though, they’re absolutely vicious.

11:32 PM — In the spirit of trying new things, we ended the day with a few Frail Body tracks. Safe to say that screamo is not my new passion.

Day 4 (Sunday, 21st of April)

3:05 PM — We dragged our exhausted husks to the Terminal for the final day. Kicking off with Laster is a good start. The weird psych black band with ghoulish masks are pretty much studio-tight. It does feel a little clinical or impersonal as a live show but it’s a very solid performance.

4:47 PM — Today really is black metal day at the Terminal. No complaints from me! Verwoed tears down the place with their ritualistic and reasonably melodic take. Good sound and a spirited performance. The Dutch black metal scene proves to be thriving once more.

6:27 PM — After all the doom and gloom, a little black thrash that’s all riffs and no brakes is just the ticket, and Devil Master hits the spot. Doing the second half of the set sitting on the floor by the wall because my feet are withered stumps at this point.

6:31 PM — I’m also surprised by the amount of delighted surprised faces I get from bartenders when I show them my order on my phone screen. Is it really that uncommon? It’s so much simpler than shouting!

8:32 PM — Biological necessities (aka food) and a queue meant missing the first half of Fluisteraars’ full black metal set. This is a shame because fuck me this is one of the best performances of the whole festival. It’s apparently only the second time the band performs live and they put most of their peers to shame.

10:18 PM — Dödsrit led a 50-minute war band to raid and pillage the Terminal. Baller set, tons of energy and extremely fun! Sound was a bit off, as is tradition in this venue, but it didn’t spoil a good time. Thought this would be the last show for us, but in the interest of a last drink with a few friends we went to…

11:29 PM — …the main stage for Cloakroom. Not a terribly engaging band even by shoegaze standards, but a nice lullaby to sing the festival to sleep.

Between collaborations, commissioned pieces, secret sets, and integral album presentations, not to mention a lot of bands that would not fit in at many other festivals, Roadburn’s line-up is always unique. I’d never have found bands like Ni or Lucy Kruger without the concerted efforts of Walter Hoeijmakers and Becky Laverty to keep Roadburn one of the most forward-thinking festivals out there. I found some new favorites and checked out some bands I knew only by reputation. But best of all is experiencing it all with an ever-expanding gaggle of friends. We’ve rarely watched a show with just the two of us; nearly every time we had the company of friends, and come rain or queues, that is the best way to experience this festival.

#Agriculture #Ashenspire #Backxwash #ChelseaWolfe #Cloakroom #CouchSlut #CultLeader #DevilMaster #Dödsrit #EmmaRuthRundle #Fluisteraars #FrailBody #Hexvessel #InterArma #Knoll #Laster #LucyKrugerTheLostBoys #ni #Oneiroporeia #SunrisePatriotMotion #TauAndTheDronesOfPraise #TheKeening #UBOA #Verwoed #WhiteWard #Wiegedood

GardensTale Goes to Roadburn 2024

By GardensTale

Roadburn is a unique festival. Many have no idea what it is, but those who know it often revere it. Starting in 1999 as a traveling stoner festival, it has grown into one of the most adventurous, envelope-pushing celebrations of music worldwide. The line-ups have grown increasingly experimental, and a few years ago the festival adopted the slogan Redefining Heaviness. It’s a mission statement that indicates the wide scope of the festival, exploring other forms of heaviness through the inclusion of genres beyond metal.

My partner and I have visited every Roadburn since 2017, when I last wrote a report on the experience. At the time, we had a sweet arrangement allowing free entry by playing host to a performing artist. Unfortunately, this option no longer exists since the pandemic, so instead we have been inviting random festival goers, which has netted us a steadily growing slew of festival buddies from across Europe. This year was no different, with a few old friends and a few new ones taking up residence in our living room. With the fires of friendship thus stoked, we set off on our sixth voyage into the depths of the heavy underground.

Day 1 (Thursday, 18th of April)

2:34 PM — Got to Hexvessel’s set playing Polar Veil a little late, because one of our guests needed a bracelet still. Good doom, played well, but doesn’t blow me away. Room is crammed, but it’s the first show of the festival.

2:44 PM — Watched a few songs, then went to grab merch. Hoodies were already sold out in several colors.

3:11 PM — Sunrise Patriot Motion is like “what if Ashenspire swallowed a synthwave band” and I like it. It’s a strange contrast but it works.

4:03 PM — Wiegedood were doing a live soundtrack to a Japanese experimental silent film from 1926 and it was as odd as that sounds.

5:44 PM — Grabbed some food during a gap in the schedule and afterward watched a few songs of Sean Mulrooney’s set (from Tau and the Drones of Praise). Dark folk with sparse vocals doesn’t really work unless the vocals are good, and these weren’t.

5:47 PM — Now sitting outside the venue where UBOA is doing her thing and it sounds like two supercomputers on train tracks colliding head-on. Bit above my maximum noise-to-music ratio.

7:16 PM — Inter Arma is pretty dang massive. Sound in the venue isn’t great so the guitars aren’t getting their due but faces are caving in.

8:26 PM — WHITE WARD IS FUCKING AMAZING

8:35 PM — Their saxophone player is in the army so they had to make do with samples, but after 4 canceled appearances due to Covid and the war, it was worth the wait.

9:46 PM — Everyone and the family dog wants to see Chelsea Wolfe, so being 20 minutes early still meant nosebleed spots in the balcony. Wolfe fills the room anyway. I don’t always click with her albums that much, but man she is a force to behold on stage.

10:54 PM — Shows hadn’t left much time for food today, so a big fat doner wrap will have to do. A fellow with too little blood in his alcohol walked into the door and cracked his head on the tiles. Walked away 10 minutes later. Hope he survived.

11:37 PM — Goddamn, Backxwash is heavier with her hip-hop than most bands are playing metal. No one on stage but a black woman in a poofy dress laying down the law over raw industrial beats. Fucking awesome set.

Day 2 (Friday, 19th of April)

3:14 PM — Started off crammed into the room like sardines to hear Fluisteraars do an experimental set: the droniest of drone with birdsong on top. Handled about 10 minutes of that before bailing. Not my jam and way overcrowded.

3:39 PM — Mat McNerney (aka Kvohst of Hexvessel and others) doing a commissioned piece called Music For Gloaming: A Nocturne. Very gothic doom/black mixture, pretty cool set with loads of atmosphere.

6:33 PM — After a meal we went to check out Lucy Kruger + The Lost Boys in the Hall of Fame venue. Very nice weighty dream pop, not unlike Emma Ruth Rundle.

8:31 PM — Good thing we were there because Inter Arma was drafted for a second performance, a secret set of material from their classic albums. Also in the Hall of Fame, the smallest venue of the festival. Absolutely brainscramblingly colossal. Easily the heaviest thing on the festival so far.

9:52 PM — Another secret set, this one by Couch Slut in the skate park. Harsh music under the harsh glare of the tubes. Great performance and the venue brought out their punky DIY spirit, looking forward to seeing them again early tomorrow for their new album playthrough.

Day 3 (Saturday, 20th of April)

1:24 PM — Knoll for breakfast is kind of terrifying and overwhelming but also kind of awesome in a “my skull is now 2D” kind of way.

1:26 PM — Suddenly a wild trumpet appears!

2:25 PM — Couch Slut playing their new album. Raw as all fucking get out. Great show! Excellent live band both performances, visceral as fuck. The frontwoman confessed to only sleeping 90 minutes that night, and occasionally it showed, but by and large, she killed it.

2:50 PM — Oneiroporeia is a super young band and it shows, but their blackened prog-goth sound is solid and promising.

5:04 PM — Roadburn has a queue problem this year, especially today, and primarily at the Spoorzone venues. It’s always unclear when a venue opens and the queues have gotten gigantic. After wasting some time in a queue in an attempt to see Agriculture, we decided to settle in at the Main stage and wait for The Keening.

5:52 PM — The Keening is as beautiful and fragile as the titular Little Bird, but could use a few more dynamic stanzas to balance out the mid-weight atmodoomfolk a little. Still quite pretty though.

8:37 PM — Between rain and queues we settled on Ni in the Paradox jazz club. Super skronky instrumental jazzmathcore is healing my soul right now.

10:44 PM — Ni turned out one of the best things I’ve seen at the festival this year. Cult Leader’s acidic sludgy hardcore made a run for the podium, but their gothic-doom passages just aren’t as captivating. When these guys go full blast though, they’re absolutely vicious.

11:32 PM — In the spirit of trying new things, we ended the day with a few Frail Body tracks. Safe to say that screamo is not my new passion.

Day 4 (Sunday, 21st of April)

3:05 PM — We dragged our exhausted husks to the Terminal for the final day. Kicking off with Laster is a good start. The weird psych black band with ghoulish masks are pretty much studio-tight. It does feel a little clinical or impersonal as a live show but it’s a very solid performance.

4:47 PM — Today really is black metal day at the Terminal. No complaints from me! Verwoed tears down the place with their ritualistic and reasonably melodic take. Good sound and a spirited performance. The Dutch black metal scene proves to be thriving once more.

6:27 PM — After all the doom and gloom, a little black thrash that’s all riffs and no brakes is just the ticket, and Devil Master hits the spot. Doing the second half of the set sitting on the floor by the wall because my feet are withered stumps at this point.

6:31 PM — I’m also surprised by the amount of delighted surprised faces I get from bartenders when I show them my order on my phone screen. Is it really that uncommon? It’s so much simpler than shouting!

8:32 PM — Biological necessities (aka food) and a queue meant missing the first half of Fluisteraars’ full black metal set. This is a shame because fuck me this is one of the best performances of the whole festival. It’s apparently only the second time the band performs live and they put most of their peers to shame.

10:18 PM — Dödsrit led a 50-minute war band to raid and pillage the Terminal. Baller set, tons of energy and extremely fun! Sound was a bit off, as is tradition in this venue, but it didn’t spoil a good time. Thought this would be the last show for us, but in the interest of a last drink with a few friends we went to…

11:29 PM — …the main stage for Cloakroom. Not a terribly engaging band even by shoegaze standards, but a nice lullaby to sing the festival to sleep.

Between collaborations, commissioned pieces, secret sets, and integral album presentations, not to mention a lot of bands that would not fit in at many other festivals, Roadburn’s line-up is always unique. I’d never have found bands like Ni or Lucy Kruger without the concerted efforts of Walter Hoeijmakers and Becky Laverty to keep Roadburn one of the most forward-thinking festivals out there. I found some new favorites and checked out some bands I knew only by reputation. But best of all is experiencing it all with an ever-expanding gaggle of friends. We’ve rarely watched a show with just the two of us; nearly every time we had the company of friends, and come rain or queues, that is the best way to experience this festival.

#Agriculture #Ashenspire #Backxwash #ChelseaWolfe #Cloakroom #CouchSlut #CultLeader #DevilMaster #Dödsrit #EmmaRuthRundle #Fluisteraars #FrailBody #Hexvessel #InterArma #Knoll #Laster #LucyKrugerTheLostBoys #ni #Oneiroporeia #SunrisePatriotMotion #TauAndTheDronesOfPraise #TheKeening #UBOA #Verwoed #WhiteWard #Wiegedood

Iterum Nata – From The Infinite Light Review

By Iceberg

Another week, another genre mashup for Iceberg, the frozen fringe-dweller. After a disappointing—and apparently controversial—dive into more straightforward waters, I was excited to spy the black/neofolk/prog tag on the newest release from Finnish one-man band Iterum Nata. Jesse Heikkinen spent some time with countrymen and fellow genre-blenders Hexvessel before striking out on his own, and this will mark his fifth solo release. After reading the heady concept of “…the birth of Darkness and Death” and eyeing a paparazzi picture of Dear Hollow on his lunch break, I hoped to find something new and untamed in From The Infinite Light. But whether or not Heikkennen can deliver on his patchwork of styles remains to be seen.

Those of you familiar with Hexvessel will have a good idea of the jumping-off point of Iterum Nata’s sound. There’s a strong element of psychedelic folk here, albeit darker and moodier than Heikkinen’s previous outfit: “Nights in White Satin” is a good reference. Much of the album is driven by acoustic guitar—standard and 12-string—and Heikkinen’s vocal styling reminds me of Roger Waters at times, Nick Cave at others. Iterum Nata augment their acoustic core with bookends of black metal (“This Gleaming Eternity,” “The Crown of All”) and a surprisingly deep bench of auxiliary instruments. Except the spoken word voice overs and some guest spots on “A Darkness Within,” it seems Heikkinen is responsible for the totality of the performances, and his work is solid enough to convince me I’m listening to a group as opposed to a one-man band.

From The Infinite Light’s greatest strength is its ability to transport the listener into the dark, nightmarish forest of Heikkinen’s imagination, and to do it in the fewest steps possible. “Overture Limitless Light” opens the curtain on a deranged vaudevillian troupe, reminiscent of Danny Elfman’s orchestral output, and is the best example of Heikkinen’s use of strange and unnerving colors. There’s a tendency to subvert expectations with chord progressions and melodies, shifting notes or chords ever so slightly, or changing to an unexpected key, giving the music an uneasy, slithering quality (“A Manifested Nightmare,” “Ambrosia,” “The Drifter”). “Ambrosia” is an album highlight, a simple minimalist ballad built around a gorgeous descending melody featuring a single lowered pitch that stuck with me long after I had passed through it. While I found the narrative a bit difficult to follow, there is a palpable sense of momentum here, with the black metal tracks acting as beginning and end, sentinels of dissonance guarding the gates of the mystical woodlands through which our hero journeys. The final track is particularly unhinged, with Heikinnen throwing everything at his drum and guitar performances. It comes a little off the rails, but within context the insanity is effective and a fitting close to the record.

As enchanting as From The Infinite Light is, there is still room for improvement. Heikinnen’s previous effort Trench of Loneliness was almost exclusively psych-folk, so the inclusion of black metal at all is relatively new, but I think it can be integrated further still. While there’s a structural argument to be made for confining the trems and blasts to the open and close, the center of the album sags due to the homogeneity of instrumentation, tempo and atmosphere. And as beautiful as I found the mix in its support of a kaleidoscope of instruments, I thought the vocals were often muddied in the back-center of the soundscape; more clarity would be helpful for a narrative album with all-clean vocals. That being said, after multiple focused listens I found myself straining for more criticism, a credit to Heikinnen’s deft use of trimmed resources to craft his record. Simplicity of material is often a double-edged blade for one-man acts, but it’s resulted in a complexity of expression for Iterum Nata that reveals maturity and skill.

I feel my final score may undersell From The Infinite Light, though that’s not my intention. Iterum Nata clearly made a strong step forward from their previous record, but the takeaway from my time with this album was that the best is yet to come. Heikinnen is well-positioned to continue his one-man metal act—I think of The Reticent in the same regard—but I’d like for him to push even further past the safety of psychedelic folk and into newer, darker, heavier, more alien sound worlds. Fans of folk or atmospheric metal will find much to like here; Iterum Nata has woven a delicate tapestry of darkness and light, well worth the price of admission.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Nordvis Produktion | Bandcamp
Websites: facebook.com | Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: March 15, 2024

#2024 #30 #AtmosphericBlackMetal #DannyElfman #FinnishMetal #FolkMetal #FromTheInfiniteLight #Hexvessel #IterumNata #Mar24 #NickCave #NordvisProduktion #PinkFloyd #ProgressiveMetal #PsychedelicMetal #Review #Reviews #TheReticent

Iterum Nata – From The Infinite Light Review

By Iceberg

Another week, another genre mashup for Iceberg, the frozen fringe-dweller. After a disappointing—and apparently controversial—dive into more straightforward waters, I was excited to spy the black/neofolk/prog tag on the newest release from Finnish one-man band Iterum Nata. Jesse Heikkinen spent some time with countrymen and fellow genre-blenders Hexvessel before striking out on his own, and this will mark his fifth solo release. After reading the heady concept of “…the birth of Darkness and Death” and eyeing a paparazzi picture of Dear Hollow on his lunch break, I hoped to find something new and untamed in From The Infinite Light. But whether or not Heikkennen can deliver on his patchwork of styles remains to be seen.

Those of you familiar with Hexvessel will have a good idea of the jumping-off point of Iterum Nata’s sound. There’s a strong element of psychedelic folk here, albeit darker and moodier than Heikkinen’s previous outfit: “Nights in White Satin” is a good reference. Much of the album is driven by acoustic guitar—standard and 12-string—and Heikkinen’s vocal styling reminds me of Roger Waters at times, Nick Cave at others. Iterum Nata augment their acoustic core with bookends of black metal (“This Gleaming Eternity,” “The Crown of All”) and a surprisingly deep bench of auxiliary instruments. Except the spoken word voice overs and some guest spots on “A Darkness Within,” it seems Heikkinen is responsible for the totality of the performances, and his work is solid enough to convince me I’m listening to a group as opposed to a one-man band.

From The Infinite Light’s greatest strength is its ability to transport the listener into the dark, nightmarish forest of Heikkinen’s imagination, and to do it in the fewest steps possible. “Overture Limitless Light” opens the curtain on a deranged vaudevillian troupe, reminiscent of Danny Elfman’s orchestral output, and is the best example of Heikkinen’s use of strange and unnerving colors. There’s a tendency to subvert expectations with chord progressions and melodies, shifting notes or chords ever so slightly, or changing to an unexpected key, giving the music an uneasy, slithering quality (“A Manifested Nightmare,” “Ambrosia,” “The Drifter”). “Ambrosia” is an album highlight, a simple minimalist ballad built around a gorgeous descending melody featuring a single lowered pitch that stuck with me long after I had passed through it. While I found the narrative a bit difficult to follow, there is a palpable sense of momentum here, with the black metal tracks acting as beginning and end, sentinels of dissonance guarding the gates of the mystical woodlands through which our hero journeys. The final track is particularly unhinged, with Heikinnen throwing everything at his drum and guitar performances. It comes a little off the rails, but within context the insanity is effective and a fitting close to the record.

As enchanting as From The Infinite Light is, there is still room for improvement. Heikinnen’s previous effort Trench of Loneliness was almost exclusively psych-folk, so the inclusion of black metal at all is relatively new, but I think it can be integrated further still. While there’s a structural argument to be made for confining the trems and blasts to the open and close, the center of the album sags due to the homogeneity of instrumentation, tempo and atmosphere. And as beautiful as I found the mix in its support of a kaleidoscope of instruments, I thought the vocals were often muddied in the back-center of the soundscape; more clarity would be helpful for a narrative album with all-clean vocals. That being said, after multiple focused listens I found myself straining for more criticism, a credit to Heikinnen’s deft use of trimmed resources to craft his record. Simplicity of material is often a double-edged blade for one-man acts, but it’s resulted in a complexity of expression for Iterum Nata that reveals maturity and skill.

I feel my final score may undersell From The Infinite Light, though that’s not my intention. Iterum Nata clearly made a strong step forward from their previous record, but the takeaway from my time with this album was that the best is yet to come. Heikinnen is well-positioned to continue his one-man metal act—I think of The Reticent in the same regard—but I’d like for him to push even further past the safety of psychedelic folk and into newer, darker, heavier, more alien sound worlds. Fans of folk or atmospheric metal will find much to like here; Iterum Nata has woven a delicate tapestry of darkness and light, well worth the price of admission.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Nordvis Produktion | Bandcamp
Websites: facebook.com | Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: March 15, 2024

#2024 #30 #AtmosphericBlackMetal #DannyElfman #FinnishMetal #FolkMetal #FromTheInfiniteLight #Hexvessel #IterumNata #Mar24 #NickCave #NordvisProduktion #PinkFloyd #ProgressiveMetal #PsychedelicMetal #Review #Reviews #TheReticent

Iterum Nata – From The Infinite Light Review

By Iceberg

Another week, another genre mashup for Iceberg, the frozen fringe-dweller. After a disappointing—and apparently controversial—dive into more straightforward waters, I was excited to spy the black/neofolk/prog tag on the newest release from Finnish one-man band Iterum Nata. Jesse Heikkinen spent some time with countrymen and fellow genre-blenders Hexvessel before striking out on his own, and this will mark his fifth solo release. After reading the heady concept of “…the birth of Darkness and Death” and eyeing a paparazzi picture of Dear Hollow on his lunch break, I hoped to find something new and untamed in From The Infinite Light. But whether or not Heikkennen can deliver on his patchwork of styles remains to be seen.

Those of you familiar with Hexvessel will have a good idea of the jumping-off point of Iterum Nata’s sound. There’s a strong element of psychedelic folk here, albeit darker and moodier than Heikkinen’s previous outfit: “Nights in White Satin” is a good reference. Much of the album is driven by acoustic guitar—standard and 12-string—and Heikkinen’s vocal styling reminds me of Roger Waters at times, Nick Cave at others. Iterum Nata augment their acoustic core with bookends of black metal (“This Gleaming Eternity,” “The Crown of All”) and a surprisingly deep bench of auxiliary instruments. Except the spoken word voice overs and some guest spots on “A Darkness Within,” it seems Heikkinen is responsible for the totality of the performances, and his work is solid enough to convince me I’m listening to a group as opposed to a one-man band.

From The Infinite Light’s greatest strength is its ability to transport the listener into the dark, nightmarish forest of Heikkinen’s imagination, and to do it in the fewest steps possible. “Overture Limitless Light” opens the curtain on a deranged vaudevillian troupe, reminiscent of Danny Elfman’s orchestral output, and is the best example of Heikkinen’s use of strange and unnerving colors. There’s a tendency to subvert expectations with chord progressions and melodies, shifting notes or chords ever so slightly, or changing to an unexpected key, giving the music an uneasy, slithering quality (“A Manifested Nightmare,” “Ambrosia,” “The Drifter”). “Ambrosia” is an album highlight, a simple minimalist ballad built around a gorgeous descending melody featuring a single lowered pitch that stuck with me long after I had passed through it. While I found the narrative a bit difficult to follow, there is a palpable sense of momentum here, with the black metal tracks acting as beginning and end, sentinels of dissonance guarding the gates of the mystical woodlands through which our hero journeys. The final track is particularly unhinged, with Heikinnen throwing everything at his drum and guitar performances. It comes a little off the rails, but within context the insanity is effective and a fitting close to the record.

As enchanting as From The Infinite Light is, there is still room for improvement. Heikinnen’s previous effort Trench of Loneliness was almost exclusively psych-folk, so the inclusion of black metal at all is relatively new, but I think it can be integrated further still. While there’s a structural argument to be made for confining the trems and blasts to the open and close, the center of the album sags due to the homogeneity of instrumentation, tempo and atmosphere. And as beautiful as I found the mix in its support of a kaleidoscope of instruments, I thought the vocals were often muddied in the back-center of the soundscape; more clarity would be helpful for a narrative album with all-clean vocals. That being said, after multiple focused listens I found myself straining for more criticism, a credit to Heikinnen’s deft use of trimmed resources to craft his record. Simplicity of material is often a double-edged blade for one-man acts, but it’s resulted in a complexity of expression for Iterum Nata that reveals maturity and skill.

I feel my final score may undersell From The Infinite Light, though that’s not my intention. Iterum Nata clearly made a strong step forward from their previous record, but the takeaway from my time with this album was that the best is yet to come. Heikinnen is well-positioned to continue his one-man metal act—I think of The Reticent in the same regard—but I’d like for him to push even further past the safety of psychedelic folk and into newer, darker, heavier, more alien sound worlds. Fans of folk or atmospheric metal will find much to like here; Iterum Nata has woven a delicate tapestry of darkness and light, well worth the price of admission.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Nordvis Produktion | Bandcamp
Websites: facebook.com | Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: March 15, 2024

#2024 #30 #AtmosphericBlackMetal #DannyElfman #FinnishMetal #FolkMetal #FromTheInfiniteLight #Hexvessel #IterumNata #Mar24 #NickCave #NordvisProduktion #PinkFloyd #ProgressiveMetal #PsychedelicMetal #Review #Reviews #TheReticent

Suldusk – Anthesis Review

By sentynel

Way back in early 2020, Suldusk played the last show I attended before fun was canceled. I was introduced by the non-suspiciously departed Emya‘s excellent TYMHM piece on one-woman debut Lunar Falls. This sort of black metal-inflected atmospheric folk is incredibly My Thing, as you can tell from where Helga landed on my list last year. So Suldusk were a pretty important fixture for me, particularly in the tough early pandemic months. The whole thing has that slight air of unreality you get with memories from around then. Now they’re back—finally—with a full band and signed to Napalm, so the stakes are high for Anthesis (meaning flowering, or the time when a flower is open).

Fortunately, Anthesis is an apt name, with Suldusk successfully finding their feet as a full band. This sort of music is made or broken first in its ability to conjure atmosphere, and Anthesis is steeped in atmosphere. The acoustic guitar, violin, and cello work reminds me at times of the wonderful Nebelung (“Leven,” “Crowns of Esper,” “Sphaera”) and at others of Hexvessel. Both are favorites in the “lost in a misty forest” genre. At its best it’s genuinely beautiful; as I edited this sentence I got entirely distracted by the progression in “Crowns of Esper.” The second make-or-break point is not getting so lost in the woods that memorable songs fall by the wayside. Here, Emily Highfield’s vocals do a lot of the heavy lifting. From the BSG theme-esque intro to the almost campfire folk melody of “Mythical Creatures” to the unsettling cries of “Sphaera,” she offers many of the record’s best moments. Balancing these two factors isn’t easy and Anthesis manages admirably.

Many bands in this genre suffer a slightly awkward relationship between the acoustic folk and black metal elements (Myrkur, the aforementioned Helga). Suldusk doesn’t have this issue. The actual metal is used very sparingly—about half of the tracks feature fully metal passages, with only “Verdalet” dominated by this sound. Where it’s used it accentuates the songs very well, with a satisfying flow between elements. Unfortunately, the production hampers things a bit here, a common black metal complaint. When distorted guitars and blast beats hit I want it to thunder, but the production doesn’t offer enough room above the acoustic sections. This lack of contrast robs it of some of the impact. This issue hits “Verdalet” the hardest, and its placement as the first real track after the intro gets the album off to a slightly awkward start. Fortunately, it’s all smooth sailing from there.

I’ve mentioned “Sphaera” a couple of times already, but it’s an early Song o’ the Year frontrunner. The artful buildup reminds me of The Otolith, and every part of it from the piano to the spoken word sample to the vocals hits perfectly. Title track “Anthesis” nails the folk/black metal balance perfectly; “Mythical Creatures” is the catchiest song on the record. Finale “A Luminous End” brings together everything the album does well, and adds a solo by site cello bae Raphael Weinroth-Browne. As I allude to above, while it’s not a one-woman show anymore, Emily Highfield’s vocals are the most obvious draw here. Her versatility is notable, from the warm, sweet tone seen on “Mythical Creatures” to the cutting clean tone and black metal howls of tracks like “Anthesis.” The addition of Shane Mulholland’s pretty tenor on a couple of songs (e.g. “Leven”) adds further vocal variety. But the most impressive bit is how smoothly the voices flow among the instruments (“Sphaera” again). There are a lot of instruments to balance here, and the composition across the whole record is excellent.

My fear of reviewing bands that mean a lot to me is here assuaged; I love Anthesis. Beyond the production gripe, I have nothing to complain about. It delivers everything I want from an album like this: I can get lost in the atmosphere, hum the songs, and headbang. Suldusk have successfully grown as a band, both literally and figuratively. They do more than the debut without losing what I loved about that record. Anthesis is beautiful, thoughtful, and moving.

Rating: Great
DR: Less than I’d like | Format Reviewed: Stream
Label: Napalm Records
Websites: suldusk.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/Suldusk
Releases Worldwide: March 1st, 2024

#2024 #40 #Anthesis #AtmosphericBlackMetal #AustralianMetal #BlackMetal #Folk #Helga #Hexvessel #Mar24 #Myrkur #NapalmRecords #Nebelung #Neofolk #Review #Reviews #Suldusk #TheOtolith

Suldusk – Anthesis Review

By sentynel

Way back in early 2020, Suldusk played the last show I attended before fun was canceled. I was introduced by the non-suspiciously departed Emya‘s excellent TYMHM piece on one-woman debut Lunar Falls. This sort of black metal-inflected atmospheric folk is incredibly My Thing, as you can tell from where Helga landed on my list last year. So Suldusk were a pretty important fixture for me, particularly in the tough early pandemic months. The whole thing has that slight air of unreality you get with memories from around then. Now they’re back—finally—with a full band and signed to Napalm, so the stakes are high for Anthesis (meaning flowering, or the time when a flower is open).

Fortunately, Anthesis is an apt name, with Suldusk successfully finding their feet as a full band. This sort of music is made or broken first in its ability to conjure atmosphere, and Anthesis is steeped in atmosphere. The acoustic guitar, violin, and cello work reminds me at times of the wonderful Nebelung (“Leven,” “Crowns of Esper,” “Sphaera”) and at others of Hexvessel. Both are favorites in the “lost in a misty forest” genre. At its best it’s genuinely beautiful; as I edited this sentence I got entirely distracted by the progression in “Crowns of Esper.” The second make-or-break point is not getting so lost in the woods that memorable songs fall by the wayside. Here, Emily Highfield’s vocals do a lot of the heavy lifting. From the BSG theme-esque intro to the almost campfire folk melody of “Mythical Creatures” to the unsettling cries of “Sphaera,” she offers many of the record’s best moments. Balancing these two factors isn’t easy and Anthesis manages admirably.

Many bands in this genre suffer a slightly awkward relationship between the acoustic folk and black metal elements (Myrkur, the aforementioned Helga). Suldusk doesn’t have this issue. The actual metal is used very sparingly—about half of the tracks feature fully metal passages, with only “Verdalet” dominated by this sound. Where it’s used it accentuates the songs very well, with a satisfying flow between elements. Unfortunately, the production hampers things a bit here, a common black metal complaint. When distorted guitars and blast beats hit I want it to thunder, but the production doesn’t offer enough room above the acoustic sections. This lack of contrast robs it of some of the impact. This issue hits “Verdalet” the hardest, and its placement as the first real track after the intro gets the album off to a slightly awkward start. Fortunately, it’s all smooth sailing from there.

I’ve mentioned “Sphaera” a couple of times already, but it’s an early Song o’ the Year frontrunner. The artful buildup reminds me of The Otolith, and every part of it from the piano to the spoken word sample to the vocals hits perfectly. Title track “Anthesis” nails the folk/black metal balance perfectly; “Mythical Creatures” is the catchiest song on the record. Finale “A Luminous End” brings together everything the album does well, and adds a solo by site cello bae Raphael Weinroth-Browne. As I allude to above, while it’s not a one-woman show anymore, Emily Highfield’s vocals are the most obvious draw here. Her versatility is notable, from the warm, sweet tone seen on “Mythical Creatures” to the cutting clean tone and black metal howls of tracks like “Anthesis.” The addition of Shane Mulholland’s pretty tenor on a couple of songs (e.g. “Leven”) adds further vocal variety. But the most impressive bit is how smoothly the voices flow among the instruments (“Sphaera” again). There are a lot of instruments to balance here, and the composition across the whole record is excellent.

My fear of reviewing bands that mean a lot to me is here assuaged; I love Anthesis. Beyond the production gripe, I have nothing to complain about. It delivers everything I want from an album like this: I can get lost in the atmosphere, hum the songs, and headbang. Suldusk have successfully grown as a band, both literally and figuratively. They do more than the debut without losing what I loved about that record. Anthesis is beautiful, thoughtful, and moving.

Rating: Great
DR: Less than I’d like | Format Reviewed: Stream
Label: Napalm Records
Websites: suldusk.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/Suldusk
Releases Worldwide: March 1st, 2024

#2024 #40 #Anthesis #AtmosphericBlackMetal #AustralianMetal #BlackMetal #Folk #Helga #Hexvessel #Mar24 #Myrkur #NapalmRecords #Nebelung #Neofolk #Review #Reviews #Suldusk #TheOtolith

Recent find: #Hexvessel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC-VgFNbhmY

#NowPlaying #NP

GardensTale’s Top Ten(ish) Album Art of 2023

By GardensTale

As we drag our bloated stomachs from the dinner table of Listurnalia to the couch of January, it’s easy to forget that dessert has yet been served. Like a Monty Python waiter with a thin mint, the artwork article is here to ensure everyone’s entrails are catapulted across the living room in a shower of vomitus and viscera. Our yearly celebration of metal visuals is a wonderfully diverse one, if I say so myself, with a wide range of color palettes, moods and styles for you to feast your eyes on. This is the latest I’ve ever written this article, but spending a week among the clutches of Transsylvanian vampires held me up in completing it sooner.

The rules, the rules, the rules. Order must be established lest the resultant list means nothing at all.

• If we haven’t reviewed it, included it in a filter piece, or wrote a TYMHM article about it, it won’t be included. I’ve made one exception this year, because I can, but mostly because the review has just been sitting in the queue for ages as of this writing. So it’s been reviewed, just not published. Loophole!
• One entry per artist. This turned out to be easier than any other year. My stricter and quicker selection process had no doubles at all! Perhaps Kantor didn’t have much time this year.
• Original art only. While this does include photography (in vain, I’m afraid), it does not include a painting from 1739 with a logo slapped on. Be better than that, bands!
• And a new rule that is guaranteed to bite me in the ass at some point: no AI art! While there are ethical use cases for AI art, album covers aren’t one of them, and if I can at all help it I will not add fuel to that fire.

THE WORST

#3. Eternity // Mundicide — I didn’t want to just do artwork where the band clearly doesn’t give a fuck. That’s too easy. The joy is when a band has put in the effort to make something uniquely idiotic, and that is where Eternity’s cover comes in. How did no one at any point in the creation of this artwork say “Hey guys? This looks incredibly stupid.” The little arms, man. It’s like the world’s worst rendition of “It’s a small world after all.”

#2. Secret Rule // Uninverse — This is the unpublished exception and I’m sure you can see why I felt the need to make it. The amount of unskilled photoshop here is downright grotesque. Band photo album covers are rarely advisable, but with these outfits and poses, peak awkward is achieved several times over. Add the weird band name with overengineered logo and illogical pun of an album title and the cringe is complete.

#1. Savage Grace // Sign of the Cross — This is How Not To Composition 101. Everything on this cover is in the wrong place at the wrong scale. Not to mention, the typefacing is a disaster. Unexplained additional text, fonts that don’t match, vertical text, you name it, Savage Grace has got it. The lady knight in the foreground looks like she’s taking a very satisfying dump, and do try not to spray your drink across your screen when you zoom in on the meme-worthy face on the floor. An unmitigated disaster.

THE BEST

#(ish). Varathron // The Crimson Temple (artist: Paolo Girardi) — Girardi has been doing this for well over a decade and along with Burke, Kantor and Chioreanu is one of the most recognizable artists in the scene. This one is one of his more horrifying scenes, a grisly and visceral mass sacrifice. The many details and surreal horror recalls Hieronymous Bosch, but the clever composition draws the eye back to the crimson pool and the screaming evil god-face.

#10. Hexvessel // Polar Veil (artist: Benjamin König) — I’ve made it no secret that I love surreal art, and this deeply intriguing illustration by Benjamin König fits that bill completely. Both the misty blue sky and the black of night fit perfectly well over the idyllic snowy town, but the way the split forms a curious celestial figure is inspired. The largely monochrome coloration gives the art a sense of cold stillness, hovering between serenity and grim portent.

#9. Sanguine Glacialis // Maladaptive Daydreaming (artist: Alex O’Dowd) — This is probably the most meta we’re going to get today. I love the contrast of the dark, bleak room and forlorn painter with the glowing, overspilling painting full of warmth and life. The logo and title placement are uncommonly nice as well here. It’s such a lovely work of art I can even overlook the fact that the woman is clearly not dressed for the job at hand.

#8. Raider // Trial by Chaos (artist: Mitchell Nolte) — It’s difficult making art that’s purposefully crowded but still easy to read. Mitchell Nolte, who was featured here with last year’s excellent Dawnwalker art, manages with ingenious color use, creating contrast with the warrior’s fiery aura to spotlight him in the center of a writhing mass of monsters. Wielding a broadsword in one hand and strangling a multi-eyed monster snake with the other solidifies the subject’s status as one of the most badass bastards in metal art this year.

#7. Fire Down Below // Low Desert Surf Club (artist: Christi du Toit) — Comic style illustrations are a rare treat in metal, and those done well are rarer still. Christi du Toit clearly has a knack for wondrous, intriguing layouts. I love the sharp shading and color palette, and the atypical, adventurous feel the illustration exudes. I read a lot of webcomics, and if I saw this on a cover page I’d already be hooked.

#6. Grant the Sun // Voyage (artist: William Hay) — So many metal covers are grim, dark, foreboding or violent. The art for Voyage, on the other hand, is a quirky and colorful affair. The diving panda and the anglerfish make for an interesting dichotomy, a collision of worlds that are never supposed to meet. But the wink and smile belies the beautiful details, such as the streams of air escaping the panda’s mouth or the various level of refraction in the turbulent waters.

#5. Wormhole // Almost Human (artist: Adam Burke) — Adam Burke is usually the go-to guy for sci-fi cosmoscapes, but his strongest artwork this year graces the cover of Wormhole, or as I’m told the correct pronunciation is, WWWWOOOOOOORRRRRMMHHHOOOOOOOOLLLEEEEEE. What I especially like about this art is how much story it suggests. Either something that wasn’t human is in the midst of becoming gradually more so, or someone is shedding their humanity (as well as skin). Either way, it has something to do with the rhino beetle, and I can’t wait to find out what.

#4. Evile // The Unknown (artist: Eliran Kantor) — Few artists could make me include a cover that is like 75% black. Kantor can, though. The slim beam of light cast by a cracked cellar door is the only light for the father and son, surrounded by inky blackness. Kantor is an expert at expressive faces, and this pair ooze fear and despair. It’s an effective and haunting image that uses black as a tool to tell a story. If only the album were as great as the artwork.

#3. Slomatics // Strontium Fields (artist: Ryan Lesser) — I knew this had to be on the list the moment I saw it. I’ll even forgive the lack of album and band titles. The breathless figure reminiscent of the Statue of Liberty, her eyes beaming and her hair waving as if underwater, stands in stark contrast with the glistening embodiment of cosmic horror behind her. A clever trick that enhances that contrast, besides the clash in color, is the difference in shading. The flesh monster has been rendered in angry blotches, the statuesque woman in more marble-like tones. Don’t forget to check out the full-size art in the review!

#2. Harm’s Way // Common Suffering (artist: Corran Brownlee) — This stark, haunting piece makes it abundantly clear that “It’s Raining Men” is a horror scenario. The dreamlike surrealism and the apocalyptic climax clash into a nightmare depiction that took my breath the first time I saw it, and still fills me with an appropriate excess of dread when I look at it now. Rendering it entirely in black & white and cleverly constraining the cloud of people with a frame makes the scene feel both immense and claustrophobic.

#1. Deadly Carnage // Endless Blue (artist: Alexios Ciancio) — Though this list is ever a contentious one, I don’t think much protest will be levied at the winner this year. Graphic designer Alexios Ciancio is the vocalist and guitarist for Deadly Carnage, making this the rare treat of a band member designing their own album’s cover. Inspired by traditional Japanese art, Ciancio has created an absolute feast for the eyes. Though the portrait-oriented illustration leaves a lot of blank space on the sides, the dynamic composition that spills out the frame grants sumptuous life and vitality. The spectral nature of the cresting whale elevates the scene above the earthly and into the ethereal, which the music inside encapsulates. And whereas many artworks suffer from zooming in too much, the crisp lines and myriad beautiful details keep me scrolling endlessly across the canvas, from the swans flying out of the frame to the upended rowboats. A visual masterpiece.

#2023 #DeadlyCarnage #Eternity #Evile #FireDownBelow #GrantTheSun #HarmSWay #Hexvessel #Raider #SanguineGlacialis #SavageGrace #SecretRule #Slomatics #Varathron #Wormhole

GardensTale’s Top Ten(ish) Album Art of 2023

By GardensTale

As we drag our bloated stomachs from the dinner table of Listurnalia to the couch of January, it’s easy to forget that dessert has yet been served. Like a Monty Python waiter with a thin mint, the artwork article is here to ensure everyone’s entrails are catapulted across the living room in a shower of vomitus and viscera. Our yearly celebration of metal visuals is a wonderfully diverse one, if I say so myself, with a wide range of color palettes, moods and styles for you to feast your eyes on. This is the latest I’ve ever written this article, but spending a week among the clutches of Transsylvanian vampires held me up in completing it sooner.

The rules, the rules, the rules. Order must be established lest the resultant list means nothing at all.

• If we haven’t reviewed it, included it in a filter piece, or wrote a TYMHM article about it, it won’t be included. I’ve made one exception this year, because I can, but mostly because the review has just been sitting in the queue for ages as of this writing. So it’s been reviewed, just not published. Loophole!
• One entry per artist. This turned out to be easier than any other year. My stricter and quicker selection process had no doubles at all! Perhaps Kantor didn’t have much time this year.
• Original art only. While this does include photography (in vain, I’m afraid), it does not include a painting from 1739 with a logo slapped on. Be better than that, bands!
• And a new rule that is guaranteed to bite me in the ass at some point: no AI art! While there are ethical use cases for AI art, album covers aren’t one of them, and if I can at all help it I will not add fuel to that fire.

THE WORST

#3. Eternity // Mundicide — I didn’t want to just do artwork where the band clearly doesn’t give a fuck. That’s too easy. The joy is when a band has put in the effort to make something uniquely idiotic, and that is where Eternity’s cover comes in. How did no one at any point in the creation of this artwork say “Hey guys? This looks incredibly stupid.” The little arms, man. It’s like the world’s worst rendition of “It’s a small world after all.”

#2. Secret Rule // Uninverse — This is the unpublished exception and I’m sure you can see why I felt the need to make it. The amount of unskilled photoshop here is downright grotesque. Band photo album covers are rarely advisable, but with these outfits and poses, peak awkward is achieved several times over. Add the weird band name with overengineered logo and illogical pun of an album title and the cringe is complete.

#1. Savage Grace // Sign of the Cross — This is How Not To Composition 101. Everything on this cover is in the wrong place at the wrong scale. Not to mention, the typefacing is a disaster. Unexplained additional text, fonts that don’t match, vertical text, you name it, Savage Grace has got it. The lady knight in the foreground looks like she’s taking a very satisfying dump, and do try not to spray your drink across your screen when you zoom in on the meme-worthy face on the floor. An unmitigated disaster.

THE BEST

#(ish). Varathron // The Crimson Temple (artist: Paolo Girardi) — Girardi has been doing this for well over a decade and along with Burke, Kantor and Chioreanu is one of the most recognizable artists in the scene. This one is one of his more horrifying scenes, a grisly and visceral mass sacrifice. The many details and surreal horror recalls Hieronymous Bosch, but the clever composition draws the eye back to the crimson pool and the screaming evil god-face.

#10. Hexvessel // Polar Veil (artist: Benjamin König) — I’ve made it no secret that I love surreal art, and this deeply intriguing illustration by Benjamin König fits that bill completely. Both the misty blue sky and the black of night fit perfectly well over the idyllic snowy town, but the way the split forms a curious celestial figure is inspired. The largely monochrome coloration gives the art a sense of cold stillness, hovering between serenity and grim portent.

#9. Sanguine Glacialis // Maladaptive Daydreaming (artist: Alex O’Dowd) — This is probably the most meta we’re going to get today. I love the contrast of the dark, bleak room and forlorn painter with the glowing, overspilling painting full of warmth and life. The logo and title placement are uncommonly nice as well here. It’s such a lovely work of art I can even overlook the fact that the woman is clearly not dressed for the job at hand.

#8. Raider // Trial by Chaos (artist: Mitchell Nolte) — It’s difficult making art that’s purposefully crowded but still easy to read. Mitchell Nolte, who was featured here with last year’s excellent Dawnwalker art, manages with ingenious color use, creating contrast with the warrior’s fiery aura to spotlight him in the center of a writhing mass of monsters. Wielding a broadsword in one hand and strangling a multi-eyed monster snake with the other solidifies the subject’s status as one of the most badass bastards in metal art this year.

#7. Fire Down Below // Low Desert Surf Club (artist: Christi du Toit) — Comic style illustrations are a rare treat in metal, and those done well are rarer still. Christi du Toit clearly has a knack for wondrous, intriguing layouts. I love the sharp shading and color palette, and the atypical, adventurous feel the illustration exudes. I read a lot of webcomics, and if I saw this on a cover page I’d already be hooked.

#6. Grant the Sun // Voyage (artist: William Hay) — So many metal covers are grim, dark, foreboding or violent. The art for Voyage, on the other hand, is a quirky and colorful affair. The diving panda and the anglerfish make for an interesting dichotomy, a collision of worlds that are never supposed to meet. But the wink and smile belies the beautiful details, such as the streams of air escaping the panda’s mouth or the various level of refraction in the turbulent waters.

#5. Wormhole // Almost Human (artist: Adam Burke) — Adam Burke is usually the go-to guy for sci-fi cosmoscapes, but his strongest artwork this year graces the cover of Wormhole, or as I’m told the correct pronunciation is, WWWWOOOOOOORRRRRMMHHHOOOOOOOOLLLEEEEEE. What I especially like about this art is how much story it suggests. Either something that wasn’t human is in the midst of becoming gradually more so, or someone is shedding their humanity (as well as skin). Either way, it has something to do with the rhino beetle, and I can’t wait to find out what.

#4. Evile // The Unknown (artist: Eliran Kantor) — Few artists could make me include a cover that is like 75% black. Kantor can, though. The slim beam of light cast by a cracked cellar door is the only light for the father and son, surrounded by inky blackness. Kantor is an expert at expressive faces, and this pair ooze fear and despair. It’s an effective and haunting image that uses black as a tool to tell a story. If only the album were as great as the artwork.

#3. Slomatics // Strontium Fields (artist: Ryan Lesser) — I knew this had to be on the list the moment I saw it. I’ll even forgive the lack of album and band titles. The breathless figure reminiscent of the Statue of Liberty, her eyes beaming and her hair waving as if underwater, stands in stark contrast with the glistening embodiment of cosmic horror behind her. A clever trick that enhances that contrast, besides the clash in color, is the difference in shading. The flesh monster has been rendered in angry blotches, the statuesque woman in more marble-like tones. Don’t forget to check out the full-size art in the review!

#2. Harm’s Way // Common Suffering (artist: Corran Brownlee) — This stark, haunting piece makes it abundantly clear that “It’s Raining Men” is a horror scenario. The dreamlike surrealism and the apocalyptic climax clash into a nightmare depiction that took my breath the first time I saw it, and still fills me with an appropriate excess of dread when I look at it now. Rendering it entirely in black & white and cleverly constraining the cloud of people with a frame makes the scene feel both immense and claustrophobic.

#1. Deadly Carnage // Endless Blue (artist: Alexios Ciancio) — Though this list is ever a contentious one, I don’t think much protest will be levied at the winner this year. Graphic designer Alexios Ciancio is the vocalist and guitarist for Deadly Carnage, making this the rare treat of a band member designing their own album’s cover. Inspired by traditional Japanese art, Ciancio has created an absolute feast for the eyes. Though the portrait-oriented illustration leaves a lot of blank space on the sides, the dynamic composition that spills out the frame grants sumptuous life and vitality. The spectral nature of the cresting whale elevates the scene above the earthly and into the ethereal, which the music inside encapsulates. And whereas many artworks suffer from zooming in too much, the crisp lines and myriad beautiful details keep me scrolling endlessly across the canvas, from the swans flying out of the frame to the upended rowboats. A visual masterpiece.

#2023 #DeadlyCarnage #Eternity #Evile #FireDownBelow #GrantTheSun #HarmSWay #Hexvessel #Raider #SanguineGlacialis #SavageGrace #SecretRule #Slomatics #Varathron #Wormhole

Μεσημεριανές μουσικές για χαλάρωση και περισυλλογή. Από τα πιο όμορφα τραγούδια των Hexvessel νομίζω....

#μουσική #hexvessel #ERisNowPlaying #nowplaying #folkmusic #music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbIofZoCX4c

#ThursdayFiveList #Space

#NicolasJaar #TweakBird
#BadCompany #Hexvessel
#TheSmashingPumpkins

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6S20AQBs9NkI4FVIfIY2nW

#ThursdayFiveList #Space

#NicolasJaar #TweakBird
#BadCompany #Hexvessel
#TheSmashingPumpkins

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6S20AQBs9NkI4FVIfIY2nW

#ThursdayFiveList #Space

#NicolasJaar #TweakBird
#BadCompany #Hexvessel
#TheSmashingPumpkins

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6S20AQBs9NkI4FVIfIY2nW

#ThursdayFiveList #Space

#NicolasJaar #TweakBird
#BadCompany #Hexvessel
#TheSmashingPumpkins

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6S20AQBs9NkI4FVIfIY2nW