High On Fire!

A post I should have done some time ago! But anyway... I got the new High On Fire record "De Vermis Mysteriis" some weeks ago, the european version which isn't a double-LP sadly but sounds great anyway. And looks killer! I must say, this is my absolute favorite of all the albums they have done and I am so glad the production is dirtier and heavier than the last record. This is just the way High On Fire should sound! Angry, stoned and rockin'! ;) They sure didn't let me down at all with this release. And the cover and back is so damn nice, great artwork for this one and it surely fits with the interesting concept. The trio has read some Lovecraft, thankfully... :)

Woods of Ypres, Ihsahn and more nature...

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.

Observing nature.

My pretty little lady.

Smoking lady. ;P

My meateating plants have survived! And the weirdest flowers are taking form.

Zelda totally built her own little cave in the bed, looking very sleepy.

Zeus eating grass which I planted for them, otherwise I am not popular at all.

Våren är kommen, låt oss bli höga på eld...?

Den senaste tiden har det varit lite fullt upp, därav tystnaden... Igen. :P

Det har hunnits med en tripp till Ullared (!), mycket tv-spelande, vårstädning och inoljning av utemöbler, fönsterputsning och som alltid vid vårens ankomst får jag lite grönare händer och dyrkar moder jord genom att så lite växter och kryddor. Som ni förstår har jag alltså blivit lite mer tantig, och det är härligt! ;)

Här är det lite praktmalva som skall växa upp genom mycket metalterapi.

Mina mediterande katter, lyssnandes på månadens skivhög.

Äntligen är samlingen med High On Fire-plattor komplett! Inte är det någon stor mängd skivor direkt, men det har inte prioriterats.

Skönt att variera lite black metal-rens, dödsmangel, rymdprogressive, dyster doom och thrash-riv med lite High On Fire-rockande. Färgerna på vinylerna var hemliga så när jag trött öppnar några av dem konstaterar jag att jag fått (vad jag tycker är) 1 pee-colored, 1 poo-colored och en moss-färgad - härligt! Samtliga naturfärgade alltså! ;)

Nyaste alstret "Snakes for the divine" saknas på bild, detta är de första fyra.

Favoritskivorna är absolut "Surrounded by thieves" och "Death is this communion" men samtliga är riktigt sköna på olika sätt. Bonus 7:an till förstaplattan innehåller även en grym cover på en gammal dänga med Celtic Frost gjord med lite Motörhead-feeling.

Här kommer "Wolfspeed"!

Psykedeliskt mörker

Jag inledde söndagen med ett smygande (sovande sambo) upp och till tv:n för fortsatt tittande på musikdokumentärer, efter en liten besvikelse av "Until The Light Takes Us" fokuserade jag på "Such Hawks Such Hounds - Scenes from an american hard rock underground" som kort och gott främst handlar om stoner- och doombandens framfart i USA. Och här blev jag icke besviken! Nästan 1,5 timme om allt ifrån bandens influenser från 70-talet (bland annat Captain Beyond och Hawkwind nämns!) till hur de klarar sig på musiken.
Några av banden som medverkar och hörs (ja, för här hörs verkligen musiken också!) är Om, High On Fire, Kyuss, Saint Vitus (i form av pratsamme Wino), Pentagram, Earthless, Dead Meadows, Sleep (eftersom Om och High On Fire är med)... etc, etc!
Väldigt intressant dokumentär som gräver sig in och som först och främst handlar om musiken. Rekommenderas som sjutton om man är något som helst intresserad av dessa två många gånger ihopvävda genres.
Ännu en gång måste jag rekommendera bandet Earthless, som för övrigt verkar ha en mycket mysig och välsorterad vinylbutik, och deras psykedeliska gift. Lyssna här. Igen och igen.
Nu börjar jag även sakta men säkert greppa Om och deras speciella hypnotism.
Och just Om blev de sista skivorna jag unnar mig innan jag har fått skivförbud innan skivmässan jag kommer stå på. Nu måste jag hålla i slantarna. Men det är svårt, det finns så myyyycket musik som är så så så så bra. Inte sant?

Such Hawks Such Hounds hemsida.

För övrigt vill jag klaga på Rise Above som ännu inte levererat mina Electric Wizard-plattor.
Ingen die hard box. Inga färgade vinyler. Och inget svar per mail eller telefon.
Men jag är inte den enda som drabbats av dessa förseningar och detta krångel - tydligen har de fått sitt PayPal-konto fruset då massor av kunder inte fått dessa skivor och tappat tålamodet.
Svårt att ha tålamod då man väntat sedan slutet av november...
Tips till er andra som väntar är dock att kolla runt noga, det finns fortfarande vinyler att hitta som inte är svindyra. Dock inte die hard boxen såklart.