The song “Cathedral Walls” comes off Swallow the Sun‘s forthcoming fifth record, Emerald Forest and the Blackbird, and as if the death/doomers needed to be any more Finnish, they got Anette Olzon from Nightwish to do guest vocals. Accordingly, the clip features scattering ashes, candlelight brutality and interpretive dance in the rain. Scandinavia is so badass.

Emerald Forest and the Blackbird is due out Feb. 1 on Spinefarm. Hope you dig the clip:

2:11AM: Here’s a quick story. Before I got in the car to go to work this morning, I got a thorn in my thumb. It’s not really important how, or at least it’s a longer narrative than I care to relate, but the point is, this tiny piece of thorn was lodged in my thumb all day, until finally, just now, I went in the bathroom and did some minor surgery with a pair of rusty tweezers to extract it. Every time I hit the spacebar today, my thumb hurt, and I knew that there was just about no way in hell I’d be able to get to sleep until I dug the fucker out, so there it is.

Similarly, I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep without posting the following Hexvessel video for the song, “I am the Ritual.” The song comes from the Norwegian outfit’s debut, Dawnbringer, which was released earlier this year on Svart Records, and the clip was directed by Canadian director Justin Oakey of the production company Burial Offerings, who previously filmed the video for the song “Bent” from Toronto weirdo noisemakers Godstopper, and who sent over the link this afternoon.

Though Hexvessel is steered by British transport Mat McNerney (aka Kvohst, ex-Dødheimsgard vocalist), the woodsy psych folk sounds of Dawnbringer feature a host of collaborations with Norwegian artists, including links to Ulver, Virus and Dark Buddha Rising, among others. The video for “I am the Ritual” brings visual manifestation to the song’s pagan forest worship and foreboding title, and thinking about it now, perhaps a layer of protective furs would be just the thing to protect my poor thumbs on my way to the car in the morning.

Good night:

For more on Hexvessel (who are on the bill for Roadburn next year), click here. For more on Oakey‘s work, check out Burial Offerings here.

Nestled right in between the touring Groan did for last year’s The Sleeping Wizard debut (review here) and the dissolution of what future generations will no doubt re(e)fer to as their “Mk. I” lineup, the UK four-piece put to tape the final two tracks of their initial incarnation for a Doomanoid Records split with laudable Finnish doomly Hammond-philes Vinum Sabbatum. Groan’s young, brash and just-slightly doomed take on stoner rock was presented on The Sleeping Wizard with a rehearsal room rawness that fit the songs perfectly. They’ve hardly cleaned up their act on the Vinum Sabbatum split, but I wouldn’t call it lacking fidelity either. The guitars of Dan “The Riff Wizard” Wainwright sound full and are lent extra thickness by their interplay with Leigh “Forest Dwelling Fuzz Creature” Jones. It’s fortunate that they play so well together, since they’re the two members left in the band after the departure of vocalist Andrew “Mazzereth” Maslen and drummer Steve “Thor’s Hammer” Burnett, but then, locking in a solid groove has never been a problem for Groan since the start. The divide between bands time-wise is uneven — with Groan’s two songs totaling about six and a half minutes while Vinum Sabbatum’s two songs are about twice that and half again – but both acts use the space they’re given on the CD well, and seem to embody in their own way the stonerly art that American artist Ralph Walters has concocted for the Eden-evoking cover.

Their approaches vary. Groan are more modern-sounding if not actually more modernly influenced. Their two songs, “Cosmic Boogie” and “Throne of Weed,” feel short, upbeat and about as straightforward as you can get. They are stoned with the sort of abandon that only youth and a genuine love of the riff can bring, and where Vinum Sabbatum injects elements like acoustic guitars, the aforementioned Hammond, mellotron and a more mournful flow to closer “Disillusioned Pilgrims,” even the catchy “Sinister Sister” (the ‘70s backing vocals are a must-hear) which precedes feels more grown up. Part of that could be that the Finns – who released their full-length debut, Songs From the Convent, on Eyes Like Snow last year to a positive response – have an older presentation. They hone in not so much on the relatively-updated ‘70s methodology that comes through the filter of 21st century stoner rock, but unabashedly take on the original sound as a retro ethic. It works well for Vinum Sabbatum, who one could probably concoct in a petri dish by melding the methods and influences of Witchcraft and their countrymen in Reverend Bizarre, but probably have the record collection to back up their aesthetic. That inevitably plays into their favor, as does the analog-sounding production and the patience with which they execute the material. Neither they nor Groan are “intense” sounding, at least not as the word might apply to heavy music, but there is something immediate in the overall atmosphere of the split.

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Double-umlauted Finnish riffonauts The Fërtility Cült make their debut with Eschatology. The four-piece formed in 2008; their purported and noble mission to worship early Black Sabbath via the most potent means – i.e. getting stoned and riffing out. Three years later, their first full-length finds them more or less doing just that. Eschatology boasts five extended tracks — the shortest is second cut “Into the Sacred Grove” (7:38) – and a sound that matches its nudie-goddess-lady-meets-nebulous-gas-cloud artwork, the inclusion of saxophone helping at once tie The Fërtility Cült to the heyday of ‘70s prog (think the first two King Crimson records played at half speed) and distinguish them among their many fellow pilgrims. The extra dose of weird that Ryhänen adds with his horn goes a long way in setting a psychedelic tone for Eschatology, and though the term from which the album takes its name refers to knowing or theorizing the end of times, the album itself is far less apocalyptic than it is interstellar, where commonly the former relates to post-metal crush, The Fërtility Cült follow the vapor trails of Kimmel’s guitar through a star system of circular riffs and languid cosmic pacing.

Eschatology feels mostly instrumental, and rightly so given the expanse in these songs. Bassist Kaila proves able to add a reasonably diverse range of styles to the music with his singing, but it’s mostly an afterthought compared to the guitars, which set the tone and tempo immediately on opener “Cosmic Kaishakunin.” It’s actually one of the album’s more straightforward songs, with discernable verses and an instrumental chorus, but The Fërtility Cült aren’t trying to be mindful of structure as much as they’re using it to set up the jam, which is really the essential piece of the song. A bridge sets up a heavier part – Kaila’s low end well matched by Kimmel and drummer Mäkinen – and soon “Cosmic Kaishakunin,” finds Kimmel and Ryhänen pitting solo against solo, not quite the beheading promised in the title of the song (“kaishakunin” referring to the person charged with cutting someone’s head off as part of the Japanese ritualistic suicide, seppuku), but then, The Fërtility Cült’s specialty seems much more to be heady grooves than titles for them.

And a while lot of those grooves will be familiar to heads who’ve been around stoner rock for any amount of time, the Tampere outfit manage to put an individual mark on the nod-worthy “Into the Sacred Grove” (also a much more appropriate name). Again, Ryhänen is a big part of that, enacting improvised-feeling leads that give way to an underscoring rhythm for Kaila’s vocals, following his bass line. The addition of organ played by Antti Loponen further fills out “Into the Sacred Grove,” and a far-off spoken part leads to an extensively-wah’ed guitar solo that, in turn, gives itself over to the organ and sax to set up a return to the chorus. The Fërtility Cült may have started out wanting to pay homage to Black Sabbath, but they’re clearly doing more than that on Eschatology, as backing vocals sneak in to complement Kaila and the start-stop groove in the guitar begins to feel like the skeleton on which the flesh of the song is constructed, there’s clearly more at play here than just recognizable progressions. Still, with the overdriven fuzz of “Rheopolis” in both the bass and guitar, there’s no question that some listeners are going to hear The Fërtility Cült and be able to predict where the band is headed next.

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A well-suited pairing between Finnish and Canadian outfits, Eyes Like Snow’s recently-issued split between Lord Vicar and Funeral Circle is doom for traditional doomers. It’s available in a variety of vinyl editions as well as CD, and with a total runtime of 22 minutes across three tracks, it’s a decent opportunity for anyone who hasn’t yet to get to know either band. Lord Vicar, with former members of Reverend Bizarre and Saint Vitus/Count Raven, is obviously the higher-profile act of the two, but Funeral Circle, who formed in 2007 in Vancouver, give a solid showing of themselves and even cover Witchfinder General to add memorability to their side of the record. It’s over quick, either way, but both Funeral Circle and Lord Vicar have something to offer doom heads: Namely, doom.

For Lord Vicar, this split with Funeral Circle follows one from this past winter with Swedish act Griftegård and will lead into one with Maryland doomers Revelation and the follow-up to 2008’s Fear No Pain debut full-length, reportedly titled Signs of Osiris. One thing that should be abundantly clear right away, then, is that Lord Vicar likes to keep busy. And why not? Guitarist Peter Inverted has been able to maintain the steady momentum of limited releases that helped Reverend Bizarre’s cult and sphere of influence grow as wide as they did and continue to do, and his pairing with vocalist Christian “Lord Chritus” Lindersson – who sang on Saint Vitus’ underrated C.O.D. album after fronting Count Raven for their 1990 debut, Storm Warning – has led to one of the most formidable partnerships in the current European scene. Here, Lord Vicar offers the 13:50 woeful epic “The Fear of Being Crushed,” which unsurprisingly finds Peter taking the lead on guitar with bassist Jussi “Iron Hammer” Myllykoski and drummer Gareth Millsted (ex-Centurions Ghost) adding righteous thickness behind. The song weaves its way, slowly, through longer heavy sections and offsetting acoustic breaks that do more to complement the atmosphere than detract from it, also – in the case of the middle one as opposed to the song’s intro or outro – allowing for Lindersson to show his emotional range in a kind of existential “how low can you go?” verse before the driving electric riff kicks back in with the bass and drums. Even without the context of Lord Vicar’s pedigree, it’s easy to hear in “The Fear of Being Crushed” why they’re among European trad doom’s forerunners; their overall melodic sensibility, Peter’s riffing, the tonal strength of Myllykoski’s bass (as heard when everything else cuts out 12 minutes in), Millsted’s steady plod and Lindersson’s sparse but effective vocals are not only paying homage to the foundational principles of their genre, but are helping to refine them as well. With crisp, clear production and the stateliness of their approach, the “duh” factor is high, as in, “Well, of course it rules. Duh.”

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As for pronunciation, I’ve been going with “neerg nahrg,” but across the board, Finnish stoner metallers Gniyrg Gnaarg make it clear from the outset that they don’t care how you say their name. The Helsinki trio are a band worth noting for everyone out there who’s sick and tired of the influx of guitar/drum-only duos. Not one, but two bass players, and a drummer. Needless to say, the four cuts that comprise their From Mother Sun self-released full-length aren’t lacking for low end.

They’re also not lacking for vocals. The songs, the shortest of which is a little over nine minutes long (that’s closer “Big Bang”) and the longest 10:56 (“Earth Fire”), have a dark, dank atmosphere that Gniyrg Gnaarg rightly refers to as “dungeon.” Even better that they come on with some classic metal elements, but the only issue is that the vocals are so high in the mix you very nearly can’t hear the bass. It’s almost as though From Mother Sun was mixed with room left for the guitars that were never going to be there.

Put that aside if you can, because the suitably dungeon-centric “Enter the Dungeon” — which you can hear with the other tracks on the band’s MySpace page — easily justifies investigating, as you can also see on the live clip of the song below, where the vocal thing isn’t so much of an issue.

Earlier this afternoon, I got in a link exchange/battle with our very own/very dear Mike H., in which we tried to out-retro occult doom each other. He wisely played Sweden‘s Långfinger, which was a solid move, and I countered with the Finnish Vinum Sabbatum, — who you’ll see above — before he broke out some band from Ohio and I bitched about the vocals being too high in the mix and ruined the game. My fault entirely.

New Podcast Alert. There is a new podcast coming this weekend.

The collective that involves The Patient Mrs. and I — we were calling ourselves Our Dichotomy Opens the Combat for a while, but that faded — is out tomorrow night for social obligation, and Sunday evening is my nephew’s birthday, but. There. Will. Be. A Podcast. This. Weekend. So help me Robot Jeebus.

And next week! Next week will rule. I will be reviewing new albums from American Heritage, Crowbar (fucking finally) and Six Organs of Admittance and I’ll have an interview posted that I did earlier tonight with Scott “Wino” Weinrich himself. That’s right. The fucking man. We had a good chat this evening in advance of his acoustic tour with Scott Kelly and I’m fucking thrilled to say it’ll be posted next week.

We’ll also wrap up the numbers for January (of course they’re down from December, but that’s understandable) and give the latest forum statistics. If you haven’t yet, please feel free to register for the forums, because we’re this close to 500 users, and I’d like to get there before this month is out. Pure egotism on my part. What a jerk. Ha.

Be sure to check in this weekend for that new podcast, and until then, have fun, have a few drinks and please be safe. This week was a tough one with the weather and school and whatnot, but there’s good stuff to come, so stay tuned.

It’s a hell of a sprawl, but there’s something about the complexity of the atmosphere created by Finnish heavy epic space purveyors Mr. Peter Hayden (named not for any member of the band) on their Winter Records/Post-RBMM full-length that not only holds interest, but envelops it. The album, dubbed Faster Than Speed and centered thematically on astrophysical notions on the nature of time, is comprised of two 33-minute songs – complete ideas in and of themselves – but where Mr. Peter Hayden really stand apart is in the construction and arrangement of their material. Grandiose heavy psych excursions are nothing new, even with the elements of metallic crunch that the Kankaanpää six-piece incorporate, but where many of their center-galaxy-bound peers fill their extended track lengths with heady jamming and an improve feel – nothing against it, it works wonderfully when done well – Mr. Peter Hayden don’t lose sight of song structure no matter how far out they go. That’s not to say that either “Smoke in Space” or “Delta t=0” feel overly composed or somehow contrived, just that there’s a charted course the players are following.

“Smoke in Space” begins its long journey literally from silence. The track is a long groundswell built on post-rock churn and brought to cohesiveness with the creative drumming of M. Marjamäki. S. Kuosmanen’s synth begins first, and gradually the rest of the unit joins in. This section of the song is essential in setting the atmosphere, and by that I mean that the song puts you in the world Mr. Peter Hayden are creating, so that you know what to expect in terms of pace and level of execution. It’s this quiet beginning and ultra-patient build – you could argue it lasts for 22 of the song’s total 33 minutes, though there are ebbs and flows within that time – that keep Faster Than Speed from losing the listener, since as you take on the album, you know right from the start that the ambience in which you’re embroiled is central to the music. You’re not waiting for the song to start, in other words. J.P. Koivisto and V. Vatanen, who join Kuosmanen on guitar, add some of the aforementioned metallic crunch, while bassist L. Kivelä thickens out the sound and keeps “Smoke in Space” from coming off as too tonally skeletal and the added percussion T. Santamaa, though featured more on “Delta t=0,” adds rhythmic flourish. The several shifts from loud to quiet feel natural and show admirable restraint on the part of Mr. Peter Hayden collectively, but like the entirety of Faster Than Speed, keep a natural, live feel that does best services the track’s presentation.

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With Finnish doomers Garden of Worm, the trick in listening is not to succumb to riff hypnosis and miss out on the interludes and progressive movements that make their sound unique. Right from the opening track of their self-titled debut Shadow Kingdom full-length, the trio offer deceptive intricacy on songs like “Spirits of the Dead” and “The Ceremony,” sounding on the one hand like little more than post-Reverend Bizarre players in a crowded scene, but actually exploring roots both deeper and more satisfying to hear. You’re not three songs in before they break out the mellotron sounds.

In fact, you’re not through the aforementioned “Spirits of the Dead” before a left turn leads to a proggy-type jam that concludes the cut. The guitars of EJ. Taipale take a temporary backseat to SJ. Harju’s foundational bass (both also handle vocals), and gradually the track comes to an apex with the driven cymbal work of drummer JM. Suvanto, and if you weren’t paying attention you could have easily missed it. To be perfectly clear, this is doom we’re dealing with. Garden of Worm play doom and Garden of Worm is a doom album. “The Black Clouds” is lumbering, slow and riff-led, with crashes and mournful vocals in the grand tradition. There’s just also more to it structurally. Like the opener, it soon twists toward the progressive for its back end.

The second half of Garden of Worm is little different from the first, although anyone with a track name fetish should be able to easily get off on “Psychic Wolves.” As for the song itself, it’s a great hulking beast, all the more powerful coming off “The Black Clouds” – both songs are well past seven minutes in length – but Taipale’s guitar leads into a jazzy, near Opethian thoughtful musical space where the song seems to want to rest a while. Guest keyboards from Markus Pajakala (who also provided the “mellotron” to “Rays from Heaven”) make the piece standout, but the real surprise is when a heavy Scott Kelly-style riff takes hold and Garden of Worm transpose the vocal style they’ve been using the whole time over top of it. You wouldn’t think it would fit, but they make it work.

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[Please note: Pekka Koskelo plays drums and Lasse Pyykkö plays bass, guitar and sings on Never Cross the Dead. This information was not included with the album promo I received. Sorry for any inconvenience this mistake caused.]

Fuck me, this is heavy. One has certain expectations when one hears the words “Finland” and “death/doom” in the same sentence, given that the land of a thousand lakes is the same one that gave us Thergothon and Skepticism (funny how that nickname never caught on), and relative newcomers Hooded Menace, who hail from Joensuu, pick up the ceremonial death/doom mace and drive it right into any and all unsuspecting would-be worthy eardrums on their sophomore full-length, Never Cross the Dead (Profound Lore). Play slow, play loud, play horrific; they’ve pretty much got the formula nailed down.

The four-piece Hooded Menace made their debut in 2008 with Fulfill the Curse, which I haven’t yet heard, but listening to Never Cross the Dead makes me want to go back and find it, whether it’s the surprise sample scream on “Terror Castle” (spoiler alert) or the cement-drying pace of “From Their Coffined Slumber.” Vocalist Oula Kerkelä has a growl that could crack the earth, and it sits well on the thick metallic riffage of guitarist Lasse “Leper Messiah” Pyykkö (formerly of Acid Witch), and Hooded Menace find some of their most effective moments when the balance tips more toward the death metal side of death/doom. Don’t get me wrong, the plod works. Drummer Jori Sara-aho pulls off the ultra-slow crash/ride hits on “Night of the Deathcult” perfectly with bassist Antti Salminen rumbling beneath, and the droning riffs are flat-out killer, but Hooded Menace pick up the pace for a part here and there, and it sounds like Immolation on downers, which, as I’m sure you can imagine, rules.

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Didn’t you ever have one of those bands that everyone you ever met was like, “Holy shit, you need to hear this immediately!” and you just didn’t give a damn? Well, for me, Finland‘s now-defunct Reverend Bizarre is one of those bands. Any time I’ve had a conversation with either friends who know who they are, dudes at shows or anyone else about them, it’s always been how amazing they are, this and that, blah blah blah, changing the world, best doom since Vitus, so on and so forth. I mean, come on. They put out an EP dedicated to Christina Ricci and called it The Goddess of Doom! That’s gotta count for something, right? Meh.

So along the way I’ve periodically picked up Reverend Bizarre albums and tried to convince myself of their ass-kickery (because don’t we all just want to fit in?). I’d put on 2005′s II: Crush the Insects, for example, and be like, “Yeah, this is pretty killer, alright,” and then back onto the shelf it went and was forgotten almost as soon as it was over. My life remained unchanged; the “meh” was fully in tact.

Well, when I was in London, I made another attempt by purchasing the two-disc reissue of their first full-length, 2002′s In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend. I’d been meaning to pick it up for a while and ever since the band “broke up” in 2007 (they’ve had eight releases since then), I’ve had it in the back of my head that I should get these records while I still can, so there it was, there I was and there we were. Only yesterday did I finally convince myself to listen to it.

Maybe I just don’t like being force fed bands. I don’t know.

Anyway, after listening to In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend — plus points for the King Crimson reference — I’m still not a convert to their cult, but at least I get why someone would be. Songs regularly in the 10-plus-minute range, slow, mournful, doomier-than-thou. I can see where the backpatch-on-denim crowd (nothing against them; those are good people) could get down with it, and maybe in the right mood I could too, but there’s still that “meh” element that doesn’t see what all the fuss is about. Maybe I’ll feel differently about the third record, which I’m sure I’ll pick up eventually, either because I actually want to hear it or because I’m a sucker. Maybe that’ll be the one that finally gets me to their altar.

Progressive death metal supergroup Barren Earth are set to begin a short tour of their native Finland tomorrow, May 12, in support of their debut full-length, Curse of the Red River (review here), which follows the Our Twilight EP (review here), from the title track of which the above headline comes.

But, to hear bassist Olli-Pekka “Oppu” Laine tell it, that’s kind of how the band came together as well. Disparate players involved in separate bands, each trickling in the direction of what would become Barren Earth. As the central organizing force, Laine — formerly of Amorphis and Finnish stoner rockers Mannhai — had the task of bringing everyone together — and with members of acts as far-reaching as Kreator and Moonsorrow, it couldn’t have been easy.

The complete lineup of Barren Earth includes Laine, vocalist Mikko Kotamäki of Swallow the Sun, lead guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö of Kreator, guitarist Janne Perttilä of thrashers Rytmihäiriö (also live Moonsorrow), keyboardist Kasper Mårtenson who was also in Amorphis and Mannhai, and drummer Marko Tarvonen of Moonsorrow. If you didn’t follow all of that, here’s what it boils down to: a lot of talented players and a lot of crowded schedules.

Nonetheless, in the short three-year time Barren Earth has been together, the level of output has displayed a cohesiveness that goes well beyond having players on the same page. Not only is the band tight, they’re productive, and as Laine explains in the following interview, it’s a common influence ranging from ’90s death metal to ’70s prog that unites them and makes them able to compose material as diverse as that on Curse of the Red River.

Whether or not you’re in Finland and can catch them in the next couple days — they’ll be playing Turku, Kuopio, Jyväskylä and Oulu — please enjoy the Q&A to be found, as always, after the jump.

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As an admitted and unrepentant Amorphis geek, I was thrilled last year to find former bassist Olli-Pekka “Oppu” Laine (in the band from 1990-2000; inarguably their best and most influential years) resurfacing in progressive death metal outfit Barren Earth. Laine, who’d found the stoner rock leanings of prior outfit Mannhai limiting, wanted a return to deathly heaviness, and with the Our Twilight EP, released through Peaceville, he found it, accompanied by such Finnish luminaries as vocalist Mikko Kotamäki (Swallow the Sun), guitarists Janne Perttilä (Rytmihäiriö) and Sami Yli-Sirniö (Kreator) and drummer Marko Tarvonen (Moonsorrow) in an underground supergroup of devastating musical heft.

Inevitability dictates there must be a full-length to follow-up a debut EP, and Barren Earth have theirs in the form of Curse of the Red River (still Peaceville), which, like Our Twilight, boasts a cover strictly adhered to an old school mid-’90s European death/doom aesthetic, even as the music finds itself in a different niche entirely, veering away from the Paradise Lost-worship suggested by the visuals in favor of a thoroughly modern progressive death approach. Opeth was a sticking point comparison to the EP and the same holds true for Curse of the Red River, Kotamäki’s multi-layered vocals moving gracefully between throaty growling and clean melodies. The title track of the EP shows up here as well, and fits in well enough with the rest of the material, which on “Forlorn Waves” puts keyboardist Kasper Mårtenson, also ex-Mannhai and Amorphis, to work on a track that recalls Elegy’s masterful blend of folk-inspired beauty and wrenching metallic crunch.

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The PR wire has gone international, it seems, and that rules because it only just occurred to me the other day that, potentially, there are people reading this site not in the greater Jersey area. Jukka H?tinen, organizer of the Psychotropic Caravan sent over a press release about the second installment of the festival, set to take place in Helsinki, Finland, in February 2010 (that’s the future!) with none other than the British bastards of doom Orange Goblin headlining. Looks like it could be a pretty cool gathering, so I figured I’d share the news. One assumes updates will be available at the fest’s MySpace going forward. Meantime, here’s this:

The first and nearly sold out Psychotropic Caravan was held at Nosturi in February 2009, featuring live performances from Circle, Lord Vicar, Vibravoid and Dark Buddha Rising. The next festival celebrating heavy and psychedelic music will be held on Saturday the 6th of February 2010 with Orange Goblin, The Heads, Litmus and Pharaoh Overlord as the main acts.

The headliner for Psychotropic Caravan II is the stoner rock/biker doom act Orange Goblin. The psychedelic fuzz rock band The Heads and Rise Above Records? 21st century space rock elite Litmus play in Finland for the first time. Pharaoh Overlord consists of members of Circle and play hypnotic stoner rock.

Temples, Mr. Peter Hayden and Tuliter? will play at bar Alakerta on the ground floor of the venue in between the main stage bands. Psychedelic visuals and cosmic projections will blow your mind on both floors. Psych rock fest veteran DJ Kozmik Ken will spin vinyl at Nosturi, while Psychotropic Zone and Club Planet Caravan DJs are present at Alakerta.

Psychotropic Caravan II Warm-Up is on Friday the 5^th of February at Alakerta. Big Naturals – a loud psych rock duo – and Semtex – green smoke reeking sludge – play gigs and the night culminates in an Open Stage Deep Space Jam Session.

Merchandise and distros will be present on both evenings.

Tickets for Saturday are 26 ?, pre-sold at Tiketti (www.tiketti.fi) and Lippupalvelu (www.lippupalvelu.fi). Warm-Up tickets are 7 ? and pre-sold at Tiketti. Pre-sales start on Wednesday December 2^nd. The age limit for the festival is 18.

Psychotropic Caravan II
Sat 6.2.2010 19:00
Nosturi & Alakerta
26 ?

Orange Goblin (UK)
The Heads (UK)
Litmus (UK)
Pharaoh Overlord
Mr. Peter Hayden
Tuliter?
Temples

Psychotropic Caravan II Warm-Up
Fri 5.2.2010 20:00
Alakerta
7 ?

Big Naturals (UK)
Semtex
Open Stage Deep Space Jam Session

This is the second band suggested by Obelisk attendee and former member of Finland‘s Abhorrence, Shrike (first is Temples, here), whose opinions on the heavy have thus far proved to be top caliber. Dark Buddha Rising is a Finnish trio who give Ufomammut a run for their money when it comes to droning musical weight. The two tracks they have posted on their website have been regular features on my desktop player since I downloaded them, and even as I type this I’m having an easy time losing myself in the hypnotic riffs and lumbering pace.

There isn’t much info to relate (totally kvlt drone). The only contact info on their site is an address, there’s no MySpace and the band’s bio/manifesto is largely useless when it comes to obtaining an idea of how they got together or what they’ve done so far. Something in me doesn’t think their origin came, “As the remnants of flesh dance to the endless pulses of the multiverse, the underlying directives in biorhythms to which these pulses are synchronised (from ego to the universe on the left hand and no ego in the void beneath the veil) are to be followed like a call of nature,” but if you take the music for what it is, the rest stops mattering.

You might note a Primordial influence in the vocals on the 17-minute-plus “Enneargy” from the album Ritual IX (for sale here) streaming below. In case it needs clarification, that’s awesome.

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