Category Archives: music

>Music that matters is solemn, sacred, severe…

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In a time and age when it’s frowned upon when people take their arts seriously, when irony rules, when the norm is not to care and the attention span of the average fuck up is no longer than three seconds – it is the age of arts, morals and politics in decline – it’s good to know there are still people who are the exact opposite. People who are dedicated, solemn, severe…

As for Oswald Spengler‘s analogy when dividing cultures into seasons, where spring is the birth of religion and where the basics of this culture is being formed, in June 2007 I wrote this about winter: ”Politics is motivated by money and moves through imperialism. Science no longer reaches certainties. There is much cultural confusion. The arts do not speak from or to the soul of the people, but rather follow materialistic fashions with lots of changes in styles, not asking much from neither the artist nor the people. After a moment of atheism the people will turn to a renewal of religion and spiritual faith, based on the religion developed in the spring of the culture.”
Full article here.

For me, music is a way to gain strenght. Not always, but most often.
Here are some songs that move me in different ways. It’s songs that have a certain weight to them, and I guess what they have in common is the stunning dedication to the cause (be it just the music, something of spiritual importance, or whatever), and with that comes a very powerful performance. Many times the lyrics are as important as the music and the visuals. In fact, most of the times the lyrics are what really matters, and when there are no lyrics and the music still moves me, that’s when it really hurts, and that’s when it’s for real. You don’t hear that very often nowadays.

EDITED THIS POST BECAUSE ALL THE TUBES SLOWED DOWN WHOLE UNIVERSE…

Portishead – Roads
40 Watt Sun – Restless
Krister Linder – Vow
Esbjörn Svensson Trio – Seven Days of Falling / Elevation of Love
Low – Lullaby
Griftegård – Charles Taze Russell
Primordial – Empire Falls
Sigrblot -Endtime Communion (excerpt)
Watain – Waters of Ain
Funeral Mist – Jesus Saves

>The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood

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Prepare your feeble mind for some seriously genuine black metal where darkness, beauty, filth, hope and betrayal collide – as manifested in every damned religion. Rite is in a way reminiscent of Deathspell Omega, Negative Plane, MGLA, Ofermod and Glorior Belli, but really, Lie in wait for blood certainly holds its own ground. Containing great guitar work, perfect vocals, and a majestic wall of sound that manages to ooze of both darkness and beauty, not copying anybody’s band – at least not intentionally – and leading the way for great things to come, this album is a must have if you’re even remotely interested in any of the above mentioned bands.

Knowing that I’m old, grumpy, orthodox, narrow-minded and very picky about new black metal, I was truly surprised when Rite caught my attention with the very first seconds of sounds. Good thing is when I heard the music I knew absolutely nothing about the band, and I still don’t, to be honest. I know some names, but names are irrelevant, as are labels and other words not put into context. The feeling evoked by the art is everything.

The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the mouth of the upright will deliver them.




Lie in wait for blood on Spotify
Rite on Bandcamp (all songs are available here)
EEE Recordings

>Roadburn 2011

>The festival of all festivals – Roadburn – is only a few days away!
Until then, rest your eyes on some mighty fine art and worship the manifesto:

This is a gathering of like minded bands and fans from around the world, joined together by a love of music. This is a celebration of tube-driven distortion and crackling electric guitars, a raising of musical consciousness and brotherly and sisterly love, a communion with THEE MIGHTY RIFF, a time and place to get high en mass and bask in the heaviness.


















This is what it’s all about.