Svart Records aloitti lokakuussa 2020 massiivisen yhdeksän levyn julkaisusarjan, joka käsittelee kotimai-sen hiphopin aktiivisia vuosia vuosituhannen vaihteessa ja sen jälkeen. Kivijalka-nimen alla ilmestyvä koko-naisuus esittelee jo osin kadonneita rap-klassikoita genren aktiiviajoilta vuosilta 1999 – 2009. Tuolloin biisit tehtiin kotona, poltettiin kotikoneilla CD-R:lle, jotka taas kiikutettiin suoraa päätä paikallisiin hotspotteihin, kuten legendaariseen The Funkiest kauppaan Helsingissä. 
 
Kokoelmasarjan on kuratoinut Niko Toiskallio (aka Chydeone), kun taas tuottajana on häärinyt Svartin oma Olli Hänninen (aka Klaus Kustaa). Pitkän linjan rytmimusiikki-aktiivit ovat keränneet julkaistaville levyille merkittävän määrän materiaalia, joita ei ole koskaan julkaistu vinyylillä. 

Sarjan toinen osa keskittyy Turun underground-julkaisuihin ja keskeinen piirre Aurajoen varrella hiphop-hommissa oli alusta alkaen niin tietoinen ulkopuolisuus kuin se, että kaikki kanavat olivat periaatteessa lähellä ja tavoitettavissa. Turussa saatiin kehitellä omia keitoksia rauhassa, mutta haluttaessa niihin löytyi mausteita tai koemaistajia helposti.

Svart Records julkaisee Kivijalka – Suomiräpin kotipolttoiset vuodet: osa 2 vinyylinä 25.3.2020

LempiJoe - Sua Kaipaan

Ronskibiitti - Överit


February 2014 sees the two piece German monster MANTAR release their debut album on Svart Records. Recorded earlier in 2013 and titled "Death By Burning", the album is a raw, self produced and 100% DIY display of power. The half German, half Turkish band has existed for less than a year and released one limited run 7" - probably sold out by the time you read this.

MANTAR manages to sound even and heavier than most five piece bands you may know, in spite of the fact that no bass guitar was used on this record. Just drums and guitar set for destruction. Forget about Rock `n Roll. This will hurt. Flogging beats and blackened melodies meet feedback orgies and doom mayhem. Early Melvins, Motorhead, Darkthrone. You name it. Don`t call it sludge though. Everything as black as possible. A soundtrack for the final battle.

Svart Records will unleash the black 10 track attack on February 7th on CD, LP, tape and digital.

Mantar: White Nights

Taken from the forthcoming album Kadotetut, out on Svart Records in rather early 2014. 

Vainaja is a three-headed metal band from Finland. Taking influences from early 90's death metal and doom, their debut album "Kadotetut" is one of the heaviest records ever made in the Finnish language. Besides the crushing riffs and dark melodies, the album's concept is based on encrypted true events from the past.

Not much is known about the events that took place in the 19th century rural Finland. Traditional lore tells of an evil cult inducing chaos among parishioners of old Finnish religions. Evidence of such sinful formation have been gathered from church records and filmographies.

Traditionally, only three cultists are scarcely identified. The local preacher "Wilhelm", the church cantor "Kristian" and the gravedigger "Aukusti" seem to have been the main malefactors. Adjacent to the local church, these churchmen practiced their own crooked religion in the church cantor's vast mansion. Besides blasphemy, the cult performed sacrificial murder and enslaved villagers to be buried alive.

Further evidence of the nefarious activities was recently found among the now ruined cantor's mansion. Up to this date, only little has been known about the cult's actions, since most of their belongings were burned together with the culprits. As a matter of fact, it is known that the cultists were ultimately condemned to be scorched to death upon a church altar.

What was found in the ruins has not been revealed until now. Consorted as the main discovery, an incredibly well preserved book contains sermons written by the preacher Wilhelm. It seems that these twisted chants have led the cult to the series of murder, sacrifice and conspiracy. The aged texts and hymns are now carefully transcribed in the songs of "Kadotetut", the full-length album of Vainaja. The concept album adds unprecedented details to the controversial and encrypted story.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. But never forgotten.

Facebook.com/vainaja
vainaja.bandcamp.com



Vainaja: Valon lapset

Six sampler tracks from the 20-track compilation


Hot on the sold-out heels of the three previous Svart-issued early 80’s synth pop and underground electronic music compilations (Satan in Love, Dance For Your Life, Cold War On The Rocks comes the last part of the quadrilogy: Black Hole, that reaches the final frontier of collectable cult synth disco music: privately released and completely unreleased music from 40 years ago.

 

Black Hole has been again compiled by Mikko Mattlar, whose encyclopedic knowledge in the field of Finnish electronic music produces 20 cuts of electro-cult has helped him dig up 20 cuts of rare groove from obscure regional compilation records, seven inches of which only a test pressing exists, demo tapes and privately financed singles. Stylistically the compilation moves from 1979 disco funk as performed by Peak Funktion on their unreleased record to homebrewed synth visions by late 80’s bedroom wizards.

 

Interesting curiosities among the 20 tracks include the riveting dance number by Jarkko Väljä, who received some fame back in the day as a Michael Jackson impersonator, and released one 7” single, that has become an expensive rarity.  Another thing you wouldn’t believe existed at all if it wasn’t included here is “Israel Is Real” by We, a short-lived gospel vocal quartet, accompanied here by a drum machine and a synthesizer, which makes for an unforgettable and surprisingly catchy four minute piece of underground gospel disco from 1983.

 

The compilation Black Hole – Finnish Disco and Electronic Music From Private Pressings and Unreleased Tapes 1979-1991 will be released by Svart Records on double vinyl and CD on October 14th.

Kim Kuusi: SMO

We: Israel Is Real

Tanjalotta Räikkä: Huominen Eurooppa

Pxies: Guilty Of The Crime

Jarkko Väljä: Tunnen

Helena Miller: Kuumaa laavaa

Witch Mountain: Your Corrupt Ways (Sour The Hymn)

“This is the third in our trilogy of comeback albums. It's the third with Uta Plotkin singing, and the third with Billy Anderson as producer. This one is the most fully developed, with the best sound and songs that we've yet mustered in our 17 years as a band. In many ways, it was also the easiest to make, because we've been working and touring so hard, the communication is flowing, and our close relationship with Billy keeps us from wasting time in the studio. Yes, we could have spent another week fine-tuning and mixing the album into the ground. But we didn't bother. Like all Witch Mountain albums, this one authentically captures where we were at when we made it. Since tracking this in May, we've toured Europe again and dialed the live presentation even further. We are firing on all cylinders. Side one of the new album will crush your skull, and Side two will make you want to slit your wrists. This is honest, heavy, American rock music that keeps one foot in the doom metal tradition, and another stepping beyond the fringe of genre and into the landscape of pure, emotional rock and roll expression. “ – Nate Carson/Witch Mountain

Witch Mountain: Psycho Animundi

Svart Records proudly presents Castaneda, a new and exclusive 10" record by Jess and the Ancient Ones. Mixed and mastered at Orgone studios, 10" cover art by Markus Räisänen. 

http://svartrecords.com/shoppe/en/home/2698-jess-and-the-ancient-ones-castaneda-10-.html


A: Castaneda
B: As To Be With Him


“A path is only a path, and there is no affront, to oneself or to others, in dropping it if that is what your heart tells you . . . Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary. Then ask yourself alone, one question . . . Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't it is of no use.”

Thus spoke Castaneda, and what wise words they are. Written thoughts can sometimes make a profound impact upon others, even though they are rarely found. Music holds the same power. We see our art as a path to eternity's veil, a place where the notes we play echo in infinite artistic freedom. Where we feed our minds and thus draw strength to our mundane lives. It keeps us sane, and throws colors to our personal growth.

We are alive once again, and it brings great joy to our hearts, when we transmit our sonic waves into your minds as well. Hope you all find what you are searching for...

Come alive and feed your mind,
Jess and the Ancient Ones

Jess and the Ancient Ones: Castaneda

Since their 2004 debut, True Nature Unfolds, Callisto have sought out new ground in the post-metal genre. Their 2006 album Noir took the quintet's sound to cinematic proportions, and 2009's Providence further developed the combo's original approach.
 
Now, Callisto have returned after five years of relatively quiet existence with a new album for Svart Records, entitled Secret Youth. Having gone through some minor lineup changes, the band's new digital single "Backbone" was released in November. Never wanting to record the same album twice and always eager to experiment, the band members themselves describe the new material as “progressive noise rock” - a contradictory concoction of easier, more straightforward elements in the same melting pot with a youthful, experimental spirit.
 
Callisto's Secret Youth will hit the shops on January 30th, 2015 on CD, vinyl, and digital. Celebrating the new album, the band will first perform selected dates around Finland and is then going to embark on an extensive European tour in the spring of 2015.

Callisto: Pale Pretender

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

Roll out the red carpet - ACID KING are breaking their ten year studio silence with a new, deliriously heavy album, Middle Of Nowhere, Center Of Everywhere.
 
On their fourth outing, the three-piece maintains the corrosive concoction at the heart of their identity, while simultaneously progressing. “I really wanted to add more depth and layers to our signature sound,” says Lori. “Everything still feels like riding a motorcycle on Quaaludes, but things have expanded. It was important that we didn’t write the same record over and over again. This is a little moodier. It happened organically that way.”
 
In order to achieve that goal, the musicians riffed away in their Bay Area practice space, and the good old fashioning jamming yielded eight artfully architected tracks bookended by an Intro and an Outro, fusing together a cohesive journey.
 
Middle Of Nowhere, Center Of Everywhere was recorded at both Sharkbite and Tiny Telephone Studios in San Francisco, mixed at Different Fur Studios and produced by ACID KING and Billy Anderson. Striking artwork from famed tattoo artist Tim Lehi (who has designed cover art for High On Fire, Earthless and Witch) provides a preliminary indication of the cosmic scope of the musical innards.
 
Certain pillars uphold the underground. Their influence pervades throughout future generations, shaping the sound, style, and spirit of artists for years to come. Such can be said of ACID KING, bubbling up from San Francisco in 1993 through a fog of revved up riffs, thunderous drums, and hypnotic vocal howl. This unholy triumvirate of visionary, vocalist, and guitarist Lori S, drummer Joey Osbourne, and bassist Mark Lamb existed before terms like “stoner rock” and “doom metal” entered the musical lexicon.
 
They unleashed three EPs and three full-length albums, starting with Zoroaster in 1995, the 1999 full-length Busse Woods, and culminating on 2005’s Acid King III. Their seismic chemistry transfixed audiences everywhere from high-profile festivals such as Hellfest and Roadburn to now iconic shows alongside peers such as Sleep and Mystick Krewe of Clearlight. As personal lives became busier, they focused on a handful of packed local shows and special appearances overseas during the next decade. Song ideas volleyed back in forth, but 2013 saw them hunker down and flesh out the vision for what would become their next offering. ACID KING returns to its throne with 2015’s full-length Middle Of Nowhere Center Of Everywhere.
 
ACID KING are doing things on their own terms, letting their personal ethos continue to drive the music…“We never played this music for popularity,” Lori S. exclaims. “There are no rules. We do everything how we want to. Acid King has always been driven by that.”

Acid King: Silent Pictures

Cult of Endtime is a five-headed cadaver from Finland, reanimated with the blackest of magick and possessed to play vintage death metal. The beast has roamed the barren wastelands of eastern Finland since 2010 and has now been successfully on tape. The resulting album has been christened In Charnel Lights, and Finnish label Svart Records has been given the daunting task to unleash the work to the world on May 29th. 

In Charnel Lights sounds like something one would see circulating in the tape trading circles of the early 90s, played back by long haired teenagers at high volumes on beaten ghettoblasters. The same black blood that gave birth to the best of early Scandinavian death metal flows in Cult of Endtime's ruptured veins. 

Recorded and mixed by the band's guitarist and mastered at Orgone Studios, London, the album takes what was an exceptionally promising demo band to wholly new levels. Ranging from more melodic doomy parts to breakneck riffery, from the muddy, fuzzy walls of guitars to demonic growls also known as vocals, Cult of Endtime are here not to reinvent things but to reinforce and refine them. 

Cult of Endtime: Cairns On Mercury

Speedtrap’s sophomore album, Straight Shooter, will hit the shops September 11th via Svart Records, and the new single, also titled Straight Shooter, will be made available on vinyl on June 12th, also via Svart Records. The single will also be available on the band’s High Speeding Through Europe 2015 tour, which begins on May 30th from Sweden’s Muskelrock and continues at breakneck speeds through 15 other European cities.

Speedtrap's debut album, Powerdose, took many by surprise and left many established acts eating dust on several end-of-the-year lists in 2013. Metal Hammer called it "metal fed on a diet of Motorhead and alcohol, Exciter and suspect powders – high octane and hellbent for leather” while InvisibleOranges.com considered it a “fist-raising triumph.” Since then, Speedtrap have performed across the European continent and also gone through some lineup changes: Jaakko Hietakangas (ex-Ranger) has joined the ranks as second guitarist, and Antti Salminen has taken up bass duties while earlier bassist Markus Hietamies has switched to the drum-set.

Even though Speedtrap still are a loud, obnoxious bunch of catchy riff-mongers with no regard for speed limits, Straight Shooter also showcases the band’s ability to push the envelope and, with their new dual-guitar setup, write memorable songs that twist and turn like a drag racer on LSD.

Speedtrap: Straight Shooter

Costin Chioreanu: The Night

Mikko Joensuu: Dream About A Miracle

Hallatar: Mirrors

A slice off the debut full length album, coming soon on Svart Records on CD/LP. 

Jess and the Ancient Ones: Sulfur Giants

07 Hiljaa Vuotaa Maa (Joose Keskitalo)

02 Muukalaisen Kotielämä (Joose Keskitalo)

01 Savonlinnan Palvojat (Olli Ainala)

Fresco - Jousimiehen Kuolema

Syntax - Help Me

Raya - Harhaa

Regarded by many to be the original true U.S. doom band, BEDEMON release their first-ever set of all-new material on August 24th in Continental Europe, September 5th in the UK and in October 23rd in the US on Svart Records.

Inspired by the goriest of fright films and the most menacing of music at the time, guitarist/composer/journalist/author Randy Palmer churned out the very first doom songs written on North American soil. This understated innovator recruited the help of his band mates, PENTAGRAM co-founders Geof O’Keefe (drums) and Bobby Liebling (vocals) as well as schoolmate Mike Matthews (bass). Throughout the 1970s, the band recorded numerous sinister, doom-drenched slabs of metallic gold — Black Sabbath were Palmer’s idols — that illegally floated around on sub-standard bootlegs for decades. Finally, in 2004 to much fanfare, these rough, never-intended-for-public recordings were collected, repaired and released as Child of Darkness: From the Original Master Tapes.

Since then, BEDEMON has seen a surge in popularity due to their intertwined history with the original PENTAGRAM, in addition to their music being featured in the critically acclaimed award-winning documentary, Last Days Here (Sundance Selects/914 Pictures), chronicling the life and times of PENTAGRAM and original BEDEMON vocalist Bobby Liebling.

Literally a decade in the making, BEDEMON now proudly issues their sophomore release, Symphony of Shadows. Shortly after completing recording of the basic rhythm tracks in April 2002, band founder Randy Palmer was involved in a tragic car accident and passed away in August of that year. O’Keefe, Matthews and new vocalist Craig Junghandel worked with recording engineer Shawn Hafley over the next decade to finish the project both in tribute to Randy and also because they felt so passionate about the strength of the material; the result is nine bone-crushingly heavy slices of pure 70s-flavored doom metal.

Popular tracks by Svart Records