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neofolk

Volksweerbaarheid * Groeven In Zwart Vinyl (10″ 2003 hau ruck!)

Our young Dutch group sent a copy of the live-cdemo “Voorwaarts Lisse!” to mr. Julius who was interested enough to release a 10″ of Volksweerbaarheid. After some delay, it is finally here. Nicely “pigheaded” (what a strange expression!) with all lyrics in Dutch, title in Dutch (and a funny one, it means nothing more than “grooves in black vinyl”), titles in Dutch and artwork mostly in Dutch. Quite tastefull artwork too, I might add. Unfortunately there are only two tracks that are not on the cdemo and two others tracks are directly taken from this previous release. Also the demo is louder, more drumming and this 10″ more neofolky, but don’t worry, you will hear the drums too. Volksweerbaarheid is developing a nice style of not too typical neofolk with much drumming, some industrial elements and wonderfull 50’ies poetry-lyrics. Not too typical subjects and therefor not too easily put in certain corners. Hopefully a cd will follow soon, the band has material enough I heard in Lisse.

Volksweerbaarheid * Voorwaarts Lisse! (cdemo 2002)

Several months ago Volksweerbaarheid presented themselves to the Dutch gothic audience. It seemed to be not much more than an internetpage with humorous references to the neofolk scene. It was said though, that the guys and girl were also busy making music. Recently the band played together with Of The Wand And The Moon and Ostara in Lisse in the Netherlands and their show was by far the best of the evening. However there hadn’t been much practise (rumours say), there had been an earlier show. Recordings of both shows can be found on this debut cdemo of Volksweerbaarheid.
The members of the band seem to be rather young and probably haven’t been ‘involved’ in ‘the scene’ too long. The obvious touching upon the ‘sensitive’ subjects from the scene seems to indicate a going with the popularity of neofolk music. Who cares about that when the sound is fresh and original, well, in a way at least. The untranslatable bandname refers to ‘resistance of the people’ against the German invaders in both world wars. In the lyrics the band also refer to non-resistance symbols and ideas, so just say that they walk a middle path or either ideology is made fun off. Music-wise I can tell you that Volksweerbaarheid makes very drum-oriented music with folky songs and only here and there a little bit of keyboard. The lyrics are shouted in Dutch and are rather political, but also refers to older Dutch poetry.
The recordings of the shows are really good and the tracks are very enjoyable. The length unfortunately is only 23 minutes, while the show was (I believe) longer. The sounds of the audience are left out, which I prefer. Hopefully the band will enter a studio some time soon and record more music. Definately another Dutch band to keep your eyes on!

Victoria * Homo Rattus (7″ 2001 erebus odora)

Yes I know this review is very late, but it took me a while to get myself one of the 800 copies of this 7″. For those also looking for it, I just got my copy from Tesco, so you may want to try them as well. It is said there is a new 800-copies-7″ coming up.
To the few who don’t know Victoria, I can say that this is a project by the male halves of Arcana and ORE, released by Peter Pettersson (Arcana/Sophia) on his own Erebus Odora label. Side A is a nice ORE-like song called “This Carnival Of Light” but the best reason to buy this 7″ is a crazy jazz/bossanova/60’ies song on side B called “Like Rats Rattus Rattus”.
But don’t worry if you are not able to find a copy, the “Like Rats” song can be downloaded as mp3 from the Erebus Odora site. <13/4/02><4>

v/a * Wir Rufen Deine Wölfe (cd 2004 aorta)

Mr. Kadmon of Allerseelen/Ahnstern/Aorta asked 17 bands to make an impression of the same poem of Friedrich Hielscher. Most of the time you get (neo)folky or medieval music and there are a few industrial tracks to be found. As far as I know all material has not (yet) been released outside this compilation. The idea is very original and challenging and after several rounds in my player, I still haven’t made up my mind how I like the fact that all songs have the same lyrics. One or two bands use translations, but the majority sings the same. Musically this compilation surely isn’t disappointing, especially thinking of the fact that most music is neofolk. Particularly nice are the opening song of Der Arbeiter, Lady Morphia, Turbund, Blood Axis (folky) and Riharc Smiles. And now you also see that you get both well-known and less-known acts. For more information about Hielscher and the compilation to the the Aorta site.

v/a * Tyr II (book+cd 2004 ultra)

Tyr is a magazine by Collin Cleary and Michael Moynihan and “celebrates the traditional myths, culture, and social institutions of pre-Christian, pre-modern Europe”. In the editors own words, the magazine is of a “radical traditional” content. The magazine can hardly be called a magazine, it is more like a book that is “published annually”. I will review the book in my bookreviews section as soon as I read it. On to the cd.
It opens with a wonderfull song of Primordial. If I didn’t know this was a black metal band, I might have described this song as neofolk. Then we get Moynihans own Blood Axis with the well-known track “Brian Boru”, but this time the opening statement seems to be more focussed on current events. Further you will hear nice tracks by Changes, Fire + Ice, Blood Axis/LJDLP, Waldteufel and other bands. Most tracks are exclusive.
When I wanted to order this thing from my usual distro a month or so ago, it was already sold out, but when I was in the States, it is sold in the regular magazine stands for ‘only’ $ 22,-. Certainly not bad with our strong Euro. For the rest of you who do not live or will be in the States, you may have to look around to get a copy. If the book is worth it (from what I have seen of it so far it is), you will hear from me lateron.

v/a * The Pact… Of The Gods (cd 2000 fremdheit)

Let me start with quoting the back of the booklet: “The Pact… Of The Gods” is the companion cd to “The Pact: Flying In The Face” [that was released some time ago]. The original idea was conceived by Ian Read and the late Robert Williams”. It is compiled by Ian Read and Michael Moynihan and the latter participates in several of the contributions with Annabel Lee.
The opening track is for the godfathers of neo-folk: Changes. Then Der Blutharsch has a tranquil and very good track. Some nice tunes are then presented by Fire + Ice and Ataraxia contributed a song from their 1995 cd La Malédiction d’Ondine. The Austrian occultist Kadmon presents a tranquil ‘orchestral ambient’ track with Allerseelen and then we hear a very nice folky song by In Gowan Ring. The first negative thing on the cd is from Camerata Mediolanense who can be found with a live song with a horrible sound. Blood Axis worked a bit on their contribution to the “Saturn Gnosis” and this is a very minimal track that you may have to get used to. The booklet has the ‘original’ face of the “Saturn Gnosis” cover to accompany the Blood Axis information and it doesn’t look a bit like Anton LaVey anymore (see my “Saturn Gnosis” review). The first band that I didn’t know is Shining Vril (a project of John Murphy) with an ‘organ ambient’ track which is quite nice. Another band that I didn’t know is next: Mee. Minimal ambient to accompany female vocals, a bit long for my taste. The Forseti song can be found on their Eis & Licht 10” “Jenzig” and the Ostara song is taken from the “Secret Homeland” cd that was released a while back. A wonderfull folk song from Waldteufel is followed by some spoken work of Dave Lee and the closer-off is for Beastianity with a chaotic ‘industrial punk’ track so to say.
All in all I think that the largest part of this compilation is really worthwhile. A few more exclusive tracks may have maded it a bit more interesting, but people who are not too familiar with this music and/or those who can’t keep up with the (vinyl) releases can be pleased with “The Pact… Of The Gods”.
Get your copy from Tesco!

v/a * Swarm (2cd 2006 cold spring records)

It sure has been a cold spring so far, but fortunately the British label with this name comes with a heartwarming compilation. There are some famous bands, but also new names to me, especially on disc 1. The compilation opens with a heavy martial industrial track by Kreuzweg Ost, followed by ambient and industrial tracks (some pretty heavy) ending in the noise of Necropolis and Deadwood. The second disc begins with the new noise star Sistrenatus from Canada with an alternative version of track “IV” from the demo. Disc two is mostly dark droning noise in the beginning, but what are these terrible version of Von Thronstahl’s “Adoration, To Europe” and the poor track “At Dawn We Meet Our Maker” by A Challenge of Honour doing there? Also the last one may be a bit out of place, but “Stalingrad” by the Dutch band HERR is a nice track to close this compilation with. A compilation with old and new, good and bad tracks, but a good introduction to the Cold Spring label.

Death In June / Von Thronstahl / The Days Of The Trumpet Call / Folkstorm vs MZ.412 * Steel Night 29/11/01 (4cd 2003 cold spring)

This box is a registration of the first evening of the “Stigma festival” in London end november 2001. I’ve travelled to this little festival (see my report here) and I was surprised that after all this time a release dedicated to it comes out. A strange release by the way. Douglas P. asked if he could open the night with an accoustic set. A nice surprise, which you can hear here. The official and original fourth act, Nocturne from Germany, does not have a disc in this box though and I don’t know why. Another thing is that in two years time you would say that the recordings could have been polished through and through. Nothing is less true! It seems as if the recordings are taken from the microphones instead of directly from the PA. Especially in TDOTTC and Folkstorm you can hear the audience talking loud and clear. Further the sound is quite flat in most cases and for example Von Thronstahls ‘soundcheck’ in the middle of the show isn’t cut out. When you’ve been there, you know the situation, but ‘new listeners’ will see no advantage in it I guess.

So, what do you get? Inspite of the spectaculair descriptions you will read, this box is nothing more (but also nothing less) than a small box like TMLHBACs “The Smell Of Blood…” or Sopors “Songs From The Inverted Womb” (cd box size but slightly bigger). Inside are four slips with a disc in it and a small ‘poster’ with some live photos. The front cover is black with black letters.

DIJ has an 11 minute cd with 6 songs. Just Douglas with a guitar. There was almost no audience when DIJ played (even though the doors opened far too late), so the recordings are alright.
Von Thronstahl has a cd of a little over 50 minutes. They played tracks that were not yet released back then and different versions of known tracks. The recording is quite good.
The Days Of The Trumpet Call present their (to me) best material. In contraction to the normal releases there are some guitars and nice vocals which surely adds to the sound. As mentioned, the audience is too present and the sound is too flat. Short too, 16 minutes.
Folkstorm vs MZ.412 had a nice set which slowly builds up from dark industrial to extreme noise. Also here not too good sound and too present audience. The lenght here 42 minutes.

The price of this box is quite impressive, I paid E 40,- for these 2 hours of alright to nice recordings. Of course (again), I’ve been there, which makes this box a nice memory, but I don’t know if I should recommend this box to people who just like the bands presented. Should you consider buying it, be sure to be quick. There are 1500 copies, not extremely limited, but I suppose that with DIJ on it, it will sell out rapidly.

v/a * Riefenstahl (compilation 2cd 1999 vaws)

As far as I know the second compilation by Vaws dedicated to ‘controversial’ artists (see Thorak below). This time Leni Riefenstahl, filmmaker, photographist, dancer (in younger years), etc.
A nice orchestral opener by Voxus Imp. is followed by a tranquil industrial track of Von Thronstahl. Then Vaticans Children are up with an alright industrial track after which we hear some magnificent orchestral tunes of Forthcoming Fire and also a great track by Allerseelen. Less interesting songs of Nothwende, DIJ/Kapo bring us to a few guitar sounds. First a horrible track by Ruckgrat (pre-Orplid), a nice technoish track with guitar samples by Forthcoming Fire, a horrible dark ambient/industrial track with guitar samples by Nothwende. Then soft industrial by Preussak (another project of Josef K.) which is not too good. Neither is the atmospheric track of Andromeda Complex. Lady Domino has a nice track with a pulsating beat, gregorian samples and singing and the worst track of this compilation is for Projekt Blauland with a gothic song. Then Von Thronstahl with a funny technoish track and Josef goes even more techno with Preussak after that. Another horrible gothic song by PP?, again a no good track by Andromeda Complex, Tombstone with some boring dark ambient and Swirling Swasticas with a lousy industrial track.
This compilation starts off alright, but ends badly.

v/a * Ny Regret Du Passè, Ny Peur De L’Avenir… (online compilation neo-folk.it)

It was only a matter of time before this would happen: a compilation that can be downloaded entirely, tracks and artwork. I didn’t know the site neo-folk.it yet, but this compilation surely changed that. However the sitename says “neofolk”, this is (fortunately) not just a neofolk compilation. It begins (very) industrial with the bands Omnicore, Atomtrakt, Die Macht, Cold Fusion and Ghost of Breslau. Of course there is also neofolk to be heard and not the worst either: Storm of Capricorn, Sonne Hagal, The Green Man, Belborn, The Well Of Sadness, Apatheia and Rose Rovine & Amanti. At the end there are more experimental things of Naevus, Calle della Morte, Nemodog, Division S, Novo Homo and Der Feuerkreiner. As you will notice immediately, there are wellknown and unknown bands and I must say, for a compilation this is really not bad, so for a free compilation it is great!