Swedish shoegazers Degrees have a new album "Dream on dreamy" coming out at the end of the month and you can now preview a few of the tracks from it at Bandcamp: https://degrees.bandcamp.com/album/dream-on-dreamy
Look for a video for the track "Idiot dreaming" to come out May 10.
Adrien Begrand braves the reissued back catalogue of Swedish power-metal louts Sabaton for PopMatters: https://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/139970-once-more-unto-the-breach/
Heavy masturbation and unibrows on display in this NSFW clip from Swedish electro/pop act Lilla Sällskapet: https://youtu.be/5bTpIQAb7d4
Swedish noiserockers ÅBE will be touring to France and back this summer -- help them out with shows and floors to sleep on: https://aabe.se/?p=109
They're also working on a new record which should be out around midsummer, expect more details as they progress.
HexvesselIt's quite an enigmatic release, this debut from Finland's Hexvessel. It's enigmatic in that it's profoundly strange; in some places it's like the alternate soundtrack to "The Wicker Man", exuding an off-kilter folk presence that is somewhat unnerving, while in other places it's simply beautiful, as if this is the music of the fairies. Of course, given the name of both band and album, together with the ritualistic cover art and black metal-type song titles, it comes as quite a surprise that's there's no metal here whatsoever. Instead, "Dawnbearer" is just under an hour of psychedelic folk music that conjures up visions of lace-clad maidens dancing around a hayfield on a late summer's eve. That might sound a bit strange, but give this a spin and you'll know exactly what I mean. If occult '70s folk is your thing then this will quite possibly be your release of the decade.
- John Norby
Highly esteemed artist Mr. Dennis Dread takes you behind the scenes into the creation of the artwork for "Aion of Drakon", the new album from Swedish doom act Saturnalia Temple: https://dennisdread.blogspot.com/2011/04/gross-anatomy-part-13.html
A new video from Fredrik, the first official clip from the band's new album "Flora" outside of the excellent full album stream. Details:
Inspired by early motion picture magicians like Stan Brakhage, Harry Smith, Isidore Isou and Viking Eggeling, it features an abstract take on Palm Shadowplay using "a vintage British overhead projector, an off-white canvas, scissors, paper, 8 hands and a fishtank full of flammable liquids". The colorations are natural and come from the way the lens refracts light at various distances, much like a prism. The effect has been "accentuated and slightly colour-corrected to fit the overall style".
"Flora" also got a decent review at Pitchfork today: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15388-flora/
Fenriz' new band of the week is Execration from Norway: https://www.myspace.com/officialdarkthrone/blog/542840550
Dude. MATH. Direct link: https://vimeo.com/23166122
sits down for a chat with Fredrik Zmuda, CEO of Norway-based streaming music service WiMP, a competitor of Spotify: https://blogs.playgroundmusic.com/intlpub/music-business-interviews-wimp
The Finnish Music Information Centre hails skweee label pioneers on their 5th anniversary and the release of the new double compilation "Harmönia family album": https://www.fimic.fi/fimic/fimic.nsf/0/86C8F5BCA7AAADF6C225787F003FE369?opendocument
Fluid Radio reviews the new Jasper TX album "The black sun transmissions": https://www.fluid-radio.co.uk/2011/05/jasper-tx-the-black-sun-transmissions/
New music from Skellefteå-based artist Vote Dukakis plus a tweaked-out remix courtesy of fellow Norrlander Chicagojazzen: https://c-h-i-c-a-g-o-j-a-z-z-e-n.blogspot.com/2011/05/just-real-mothafucka-goin-out-for-loot.html
Worth checking out.
A new video from I'm Kingfisher for the tune "A continent lost". Direct link: https://youtu.be/PF5-mBEHbZs
Panter are streaming their new EP "Newlyweds arrived" at Bandcamp: https://panter.bandcamp.com/album/newlyweds-arrived-ep
Recommended!