Instincts

Provinssirock, check. I was pretty much glued to one single stage for the whole weekend because of work, but luckily Hexvessel, Solstafir and Domovoyd performed right there. Ended up listening to random music after we'd closed yesterday. This came up and I thought it deserved a post.

Craft of the witch

I was introduced to Witchcraft sometime in 2009 when I was dragged to their gig  (quite willingly, as they were playing with Graveyard and Pharaoh Overlord). I was initially struck by their varied sound and songs, ranging from more traditional rock ballads to crushing doom riffs, all fittingly accompanied by the voice of Magnus Pelander. Of course, the influences of a band that was first formed just as a one-off Pentagram tribute were quite obvious and distinctly part of their music, but since their formative years they had truly found a sound of their own. To provide a brief look into their past, here are two songs from that 2009 gig that really stuck in my head. One is actually their first own composition from 2002 and the other is from their third album The Alchemist, 2007:

After a rather long break, some line-up changes and a definite evolution of their sound, the band released a new album last year that I missed completely. Luckily a friend reminded me of the band's existence with a well-placed link and I was able to relive the feelings I had when I first heard them live. Be spellbound:

Sunless sunday

Back to basics

I'm just returning from my first trip to Helsinki since the short overnight stay on my way back from DC. The only music I've really listened to during these last couple of days was at the gig of Café de Abejas yesterday. The show was amazing, something I can't really put it to words. Because of the setting (studio of Reunanen Photography), you really just would've had to be there to understand. It was the first time I heard them play with percussion and cello added to the mix and it worked really well. The event was filmed, stay tuned for a live video sometime in the future.

Just now, sitting in the train I realized that I actually have my headphones with me and I had to tune to something. Looking at some of the music I've stored on my Google music library, I found an album by an artist that I should have mentioned a long time ago. It's actually a shame I didn't have this playing while I was pedaling away on the streets of Helsinki, in the beautiful spring sunlight reflected by the thawing ice and snow.

My home is where my heart is