Blod og krek: Borknagar

Yet again I have too many ideas of what to write about, so I pick a band that also may seem a bit odd in this blog. Well, when I come to think of it many of my picks lately might be looked upon as fairly odd. Maybe I've written slightly too little about metal, but yes I still listen to a bunch of that as well. In my headphones right now Borknagar is comforting me with their new "Urd" which I've given a couple of listens and the more it grows.
I've also taken a liking to the new offering from Naglfar, more about that later...

Picture stolen from the Internet, which I then have altered and played with.

Anyway this time I wanna give some space to Mahavishnu Orchestra, a 70's band that I had no idea about before I discovered Billy Cobham, their first drummer, through the radio shows where Mikael Åkerfeldt played some of his favorite music. He played a song from Cobham's first solo album "Spectrum" which completely blew me away. And last year I found a copy of that LP on a trip to Gothenburg and finally could have a listen to the whole thing. Oh my. That is one hell of a drummer! So much progressive fusion, a really heavy type of jazz and it gives me the same feeling as really heavy early hard rock or even heavy metal. It has so much energy!
Later I dug some deeper into it and realized he was brilliant in Mahavishnu Orchestra as well and as the months have passed I've managed to find the 2 first albums with him as a drummer, a good thing since they are cheap. BTW, one sometimes wonder how such amazing music can be so cheap?!? It is a ironic and fascinating thing that some records which are mindblowing are sooo expensive and some which are just as groundbreaking only cost a couple of kronor.

"The Inner Mounting Flame" from 1971 is not a calm release, it's fast as lightning and cannot leave one unimpressed. It's simply some sort of masterpiece, although it's almost too heavy and too much to comprehend. "Birds of Fire" released in 1973 is almost equally good and has a little more variation to it as it has some calmer moments. That does not make it boring though, the time flies by when listening to Mahavishnu Orchestra. I really like the fact that they incorporate so much violin in the complicated songs.
Jerry Goodman who plays the violin impressses as much as mr Cobham and the one who shines the brightest must be the guitarist and leader John McLaughlin as he has written all of the songs!
Genious.
So, if you're open and searching for something different but want the heaviness of metal and heavy prog - search no more!

Close your eyes and relax:

Oh my, the Spring has so much nice releases to offer! There are so much good shit getting released after winter has almost vanished that one really has to plan a budget and get only a few of them.

So far I've gotten the ones I wrote about in January and has lended them my ears, a few of them more regulary.

There are a few coming my way this Spring in assorted formats: Borknagar - "Urd" (The song "Roots" made me interested, as I liked what Borknagar did some years ago), Hawkwind - "Onward" (because Hawkwind with Dave Brock and Tim Blake are in fact whole of SPACE), Burzum - "Umskiptar" (the stuff Varg gives out now is amazing!), High On Fire - "De Vermis Mysteriis" (some Lovecraftian stoner and rock'n'roll)...

What I have heard of the new Meshuggah, entitled "Koloss" is really groovy and nice too and I wouldn't say no to that one nor the new Naglfar.

But even if I haven't taken a trip on vacation (to more that Sweden Rock Festival haha) I can't get 'em all. Let's hope I get myself a job! ;)

One has to have the time to listen to them all too, I've got plenty of time right now but hey there are as always too many records, movies & books!

Stopped by at Rusta for some reason the other day and went through the pile of CDs which were like scattered on a shelf, upside down and everything. You can understand I hate that, the disrespect one shows music like that - just throwing them on a shelf. Haha, I am like an old lady there (which I'm starting to become!) and you can imagine me shaking my head and thinking they need some help... ;)

Anyway, hidden behind a load of crap CDs I found Ihsahn - "After" from 2010 as CD+DVD in a nice limited edition which I've been after (haha) since it's release but skipped because I then was a bit scared of the Saxophone. The Album cost me 29 swedish kronor which is not much at all. For that price I might as well have sorted out their CDs and placed them nicely but as the most of the others were crap I just wasn't an old enough lady. Screw you, I'm going home... To listen to Ihsahn!

I really his solo albums too even if Emperor is the greatest. But as you know, I'm not so scared of a little prog or if it is somewhat strange so I think Ihsahn has really made a more complex work that "The Adversary" and angL". Looking forward to what the new one might sound like! (Holy crap, another one to look forward to and hope to buy?!?!)

"Frozen Lakes On Mars":

Something completely musically new to me were Woods of Ypres, I've never really listened to them before I now for some reason started to dig a little into it. I guess I needed something different!

I got "Woods 4: The Green Album" and the really new "Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light" both on vinyl. Woods 4 on 2-LP in a nice forest green color and the new on on regular black but with the limited 7".

This is really some depressing blackened doom, especially the forth album. The new one is even a longer step forward from their early blackened stuff and I think of bands like My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost, Type O Negative and even some Sisters of Mercy (my darling, who loves them, agrees). "Woods 5" is very dark, dealing with death all the way, but the music is more melodic and not as heavy as before. It's eerie and I find it both difficult and easy to listen to.

But yet I've listened to "Woods 4" a few more times and some of the songs there has really gotten stuck in my head. The lyrics are very over the top, almost ironically depressing, but at the same time very honest.

David Gold.

Stolen picture from the Web, which I have altered/tempered with.

The 21st December of last year the founder and main member David Gold died in a car accident.

I remember reading that just a few hours later or so, not knowing the band's music or who they really were. I kept the name in my head but didn't want to listen to them "just because he had died" but if I actually found them interesting, which I now after a listen did.

The Canadian band died with their founder and "Woods 5" is the absolute final album.

The record ends with the beautiful song "Finality" which brings me to tears actually.

I think of the family I've lost when I hear that song, it is both sorrowful as it is somewhat hopeful.

And I guess no other songs of Woods of Ypres are hopeful, they are all mostly just black...

Have a listen to some yourself:

"Everything I Touch Turns To Gold... then to Coal"

"Finality"

The last weekend we decided to make us some nice vegetarian (as we are just that: vegetarians hehe) sandwiches, some coffee and take a little trip to see some tranor (in english: common crane, latin: Grus grus) at Hornborgasjön as it was premiere there. 5100 in fact. And lots of other birds as well. The weather was fantastic and we just completely relaxed and I didn't miss the City at all. I love nature and I'm so glad Spring is here now so I can move around more freely and just enjoy what Mother Nature has given us.