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Speedtrap - "Powerdose"

TEKSTI-TV 666 - PIRITORILTA TAIVAASEEN

Recorded by Onni Töyrylä & Santtu Vainio
Mixed & mastered by Santtu Vainio

GAEA Records
2014

Piritorilta taivaaseen

Torchbearers of Finnish progressive rock Sammal return with a new single this week and a second album, to be released on May 15th via Svart Records. The eponymous debut album of these Finns, who sing in their native language, garnered widespread praise: Classic Rock called Sammal “an impressive, obsessive rendering of 45-year-old dynamics across a set of beguiling and timeless rock melodies” while Decibel called them “a rare prog band that knows when to say when.”

Last winter, Sammal entered the studio and laid down nine new tracks for their second album, Myrskyvaroitus ("Storm Warning"). Whereas the self-titled debut and the band's other early work had mostly been the work of two people - singer Janu Kiviniemi and guitarist Jura Salmi - with last year’s EP release No 2, Sammal closed the doors on its past.
 Myrskyvaroitus is very much an ensemble album, and the band worked on the material as a tight-knit unit. The album was mixed and mastered by Jaime Gomez Arellano (Messenger, Hexvessel, Paradise Lost, Ulver) in London.
Says guitarist Salmi, “We decided to get rid of the comparisons to Black Sabbath and Uriah Heep and be just Sammal. As leading influences in the rehearsal room and studio, we had Vangelis, Moody Blues, Scandinavian jazz, and early Turkish progressive psychedelic rock. We are ready for our second coming."

Digital single “Aika on alkamassa” is available via all digital outlets on Friday, March 27th and can be heard in the meantime HERE. The album Myrskyvaroitus is out on May 15th, on CD, LP, and digital formats via Svart Records. The distinctive cover art is by singer Janu Kiviniemi, and all other album artwork by bassist Lasse Ilano.

Sammal: Aika on alkamassa

Mikko Joensuu: Dream About A Miracle

Norway's ambassadors of macabre romanticism take a step towards the great beyond with their new album Hinsides, out on Svart Records on May 12th. Despite the group's love of all things curious and off the beaten path, they have taken their native Norway by hailstorm and were just recently nominated in the local Grammy awards for best rock album. Transmission from the band sets the record straight regarding the new album:
 

Hinsides means Beyond; 
Past life or past sense 
Dead or dead drunk; 
Whether on wine, poetry or virtue 
Sex, drugs or Baudelaire 
 
The entire work deals with death in one form or another 
Lingering ghosts of rented apartments 
Wishing a violent end to insomnia 
Futile existence facing apocalypse 
Funeral rites and the burial of loved ones 

The grand 24 minute epic Sankt Sebastians Alter was composed in commemoration of the 666th anniversary of the Black Death in Norway. 
 
This album is less of a gloomy affair than might be expected by its theme, and the tunes are as catchy as the Plague. Join us in the Dance of Death, for verily Tusmørke sayeth unto you: Groove is in the Heart of Darkness.

Tusmørke: I Feel Like Midnight

Svart Records

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