Classic Rock 229 Items

Jess and the Ancient Ones released a three-song EP titled Astral Sabbat on 22 February 2012, recorded with the Swedish sonic wizard Tore Stjerna of Necromorbus Studio in their hometown Kuopio. Astral Sabbat pushed forward the boundaries of the sound established on their first full-length and forging their own path, as personified by the rather unusual choice of cover song Long and Lonesome Road, originally written and recorded by the Dutch rock outfit Shocking Blue, known for their mega-hit Venus.

“We wanted to give these works a space entirely their own, so that listeners can focus on them completely. For this purpose, we considered an EP the perfect means. Regarding the surprising choice of cover, I had heard the song at a very young age. And now, after travelling many roads, it returned to me. It is a timeless song and I hope someone discovers Shocking Blue through us”, revealed guitarist Thomas Corpse more than 10 years ago.

Astral Sabbat proved that Jess and The Ancient Ones were already back then way beyond all those occult, prog or retro-rock tags and playing a game of their own. Svart Records will release limited 12” colored edition of Jess and The Ancient Ones mini-LP Astral Sabbath on 25 October 2024. Svart Records’ webstore also has a limited edition of 150 copies package of green/red/purple marble vinyl version of the self-titled debut album, limited edition of Astral Sabbath mini album with a special slip mat Svart Records’ webstore has a limited edition of 150 copies package of green/red/purple marble vinyl version of the self-titled debut album, limited edition of Astral Sabbath mini album with a special slip mat – all of these are packaged in a unique Jess & The Ancient Ones totebag.

Back in 2012, the Jess and the Ancient Ones debut album was an essential part of what was known as the occult rock revival. The band's progress has since then ventured beyond such sub-genres, but the debut remains a cult classic, with its triple guitar NWOBHM-influenced melodies and furious vocal delivery. On this album, the band's lyrical concept is based upon the personal occult experiences of the writers. Combined with music it creates a strong mystical atmosphere.

With the vocal talent Jess as their frontwoman and three guitars in the lineup, Jatao draws inspiration from heavy metal and rock groups of the classic era, such as Mercyful Fate, Roky Erickson, Iron Maiden and Abba. The album was recorded in December 2011 by Necromorbus Studio, known for their previous work with bands such as Watain. The result of these sessions is the eponymous album, a 53-minute moonlight ride into the nether regions of progressive occult heavy rock.

Svart Records releases the new edition of this modern classic on 25 October 2024 as a part of the record label’s 15th anniversary. Jess and the Ancient Ones’ self-titled debut album will be out on CD, black and transparent lime/black marble vinyl. Moreover, Svart Records’ webstore has a limited edition of 150 copies package of green/red/purple marble vinyl version of the self-titled debut album, limited edition of Astral Sabbath mini album with a special slip mat – all of these are packaged in a unique Jess & The Ancient Ones tote bag.

Jess and the Ancient Ones released a three-song EP titled Astral Sabbat on 22 February 2012, recorded with the Swedish sonic wizard Tore Stjerna of Necromorbus Studio in their hometown Kuopio. Astral Sabbat pushed forward the boundaries of the sound established on their first full-length and forging their own path, as personified by the rather unusual choice of cover song Long and Lonesome Road, originally written and recorded by the Dutch rock outfit Shocking Blue, known for their mega-hit Venus.

“We wanted to give these works a space entirely their own, so that listeners can focus on them completely. For this purpose, we considered an EP the perfect means. Regarding the surprising choice of cover, I had heard the song at a very young age. And now, after travelling many roads, it returned to me. It is a timeless song and I hope someone discovers Shocking Blue through us”, revealed guitarist Thomas Corpse more than 10 years ago.

Astral Sabbat proved that Jess and The Ancient Ones were already back then way beyond all those occult, prog or retro-rock tags and playing a game of their own. Svart Records will release limited 12” colored edition of Jess and The Ancient Ones mini-LP Astral Sabbath on 25 October 2024. Svart Records’ webstore also has a limited edition of 150 copies package of green/red/purple marble vinyl version of the self-titled debut album, limited edition of Astral Sabbath mini album with a special slip mat Svart Records’ webstore has a limited edition of 150 copies package of green/red/purple marble vinyl version of the self-titled debut album, limited edition of Astral Sabbath mini album with a special slip mat – all of these are packaged in a unique Jess & The Ancient Ones totebag.

Back in 2012, the Jess and the Ancient Ones debut album was an essential part of what was known as the occult rock revival. The band's progress has since then ventured beyond such sub-genres, but the debut remains a cult classic, with its triple guitar NWOBHM-influenced melodies and furious vocal delivery. On this album, the band's lyrical concept is based upon the personal occult experiences of the writers. Combined with music it creates a strong mystical atmosphere.

With the vocal talent Jess as their frontwoman and three guitars in the lineup, Jatao draws inspiration from heavy metal and rock groups of the classic era, such as Mercyful Fate, Roky Erickson, Iron Maiden and Abba. The album was recorded in December 2011 by Necromorbus Studio, known for their previous work with bands such as Watain. The result of these sessions is the eponymous album, a 53-minute moonlight ride into the nether regions of progressive occult heavy rock.

Svart Records releases the new edition of this modern classic on 25 October 2024 as a part of the record label’s 15th anniversary. Jess and the Ancient Ones’ self-titled debut album will be out on CD, black and transparent lime/black marble vinyl. Moreover, Svart Records’ webstore has a limited edition of 150 copies package of green/red/purple marble vinyl version of the self-titled debut album, limited edition of Astral Sabbath mini album with a special slip mat – all of these are packaged in a unique Jess & The Ancient Ones tote bag.

On August 27th 2021, The Third Sound will release their fifth album ‘First Light’ on Fuzz Club Records. Dealing in a hypnotic blend of neo-psychedelia, post-punk and new wave, The Third Sound is a Berlin-based band led by the Icelandic musician Hákon Aðalsteinsson, who is the guitarist in Brian Jonestown Massacre and formerly played in the cult rock’n’roll outfit Singapore Sling. A mainstay of the European psych underground in his own right, not just through his collaborations with the likes of Anton Newcombe and Tess Parks, The Third Sound has been Hakon’s primary solo endeavour since the release of his self-titled debut on Newcombe’s A Recordings a decade ago.

Arriving following 2018’s ‘All Tomorrow’s Shadows’ LP, ‘First Light’ marks an evolution into a brighter and at times uplifting sound. Marrying moments of light and dark, the result is The Third Sound’s most dynamic full-length to date. Talking about the album, Hakon said: “This album is definitely less gloomy than the previous one, although some ghosts from the past are lurking in the background. We always try to make something new on each album and never make the same album over again, but this feels like an even bigger change than usual, especially regarding the mood. Something new is beginning although the past is not forgotten. I think the title, First Light, describes the overall feel of the record pretty well.”

‘First Light’ is the fifth full-length from The Third Sound and arrives off the back of 2018’s ‘All Tomorrow’s Shadows’, 2016’s ‘Gospels of Degeneration’, 2013’s ‘The Third Sound of Destruction and Creation’ and their 2011 self-titled debut. With Hakon Aðalsteinsson leading the group on vocals and guitar, the rest of the band is currently comprised of Robin Hughes (Guitar / Organ), Fred Sunesen (Drums) and Andreas Miranda (Bass). With a number of European tours in tow, the band have previously shared the stage with the likes of the Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Warlocks, Singapore Sling, Crocodiles, Clinic, Tess Parks and more.

Like a puff of smoke, Stoned Jesus have risen above the Carpathian Mountains as not only the heaviest, but perhaps the most important rock band to emerge from Ukraine. Prior to Stoned Jesus' first communion, affable frontman Igor Sydorenko was just another familiar face among local progressive rockers. But after rekindling his old flame for metal amidst a stormy period in his personal life, Igor and his two new bandmates went off in search of more crushing highs. While only their second album, Seven Thunders Roar marks an early milestone for Stoned Jesus. The riffs still roll downhill with all the sludgy force of a mudslide, but the band added crisp acoustic guitars to reflect their newfound inner strength. "Climbing up", Igor sings on "I Am The Mountain", a 16-minute instant classic that charges through lush folksy valleys and peaks of headbanging doom at full steam. "And we're never going to stop". For fans of Black Sabbath, Sleep, Electric Wizard. 1. Bright Like The Morning 2. Electric Mistress 3. Indian 4. I'm The Mountain 5. Stormy Monday 6. Bright Like The Morning (Extended) 7. Stormy Monday (Extended) 8. I'm The Mountain (Extended)

Like a puff of smoke, Stoned Jesus have risen above the Carpathian Mountains as not only the heaviest, but perhaps the most important rock band to emerge from Ukraine. Prior to Stoned Jesus' first communion, affable frontman Igor Sydorenko was just another familiar face among local progressive rockers. But after rekindling his old flame for metal amidst a stormy period in his personal life, Igor and his two new bandmates went off in search of more crushing highs. While only their second album, Seven Thunders Roar marks an early milestone for Stoned Jesus. The riffs still roll downhill with all the sludgy force of a mudslide, but the band added crisp acoustic guitars to reflect their newfound inner strength. "Climbing up", Igor sings on "I Am The Mountain", a 16-minute instant classic that charges through lush folksy valleys and peaks of headbanging doom at full steam. "And we're never going to stop". For fans of Black Sabbath, Sleep, Electric Wizard. 1. Bright Like The Morning 2. Electric Mistress 3. Indian 4. I'm The Mountain 5. Stormy Monday 6. Bright Like The Morning (Extended) 7. Stormy Monday (Extended) 8. I'm The Mountain (Extended)

From the same continental cosmic egg that hatched Marc Moulin, Marc Hollander and Belgian synth fusion combo Placebo comes your favourite new Franco-Flemmish pop discovery. COS, where have you been all my life? Compact in name but wide-eyed in nature, it’s understandable how the 70’s band known simply as COS has remained trapped in the tight cracks between pop stardom and prog indulgence where other like minded names like CAN, Zao, Neu! And Egg have managed to squeeze into gaps of your record collection. In presenting one of the band’s most infectious and potentially crossover legible tracks on this exclusive user-friendly 45, COS mastermind Daniel Schell not only breaks an unlikely new format for this lesser-known femme-fronted, electro/jazz fusion/prog pop opera/would-be disco cinematic six-piece but also sends a sonic telegram to a new generation of futurist pop aficionados ready to explore the deep realms of his band’s dense, expansive and consistently rewarding catalogue. Placing the microscope over the central motif of the band’s onomatopoeic 1978 triptych known as Mein Maschine Ist Schön (My Machine Is Beautiful) this very rare proposed single edit from the group’s third album combines the type of warm, brooding, discoid funk and nymphish Morse code vocals that unite fans of Stereolab, Curved Air, Jan Hammer, Emerald Web and Ursula Dudziak not to mention Schell’s own close friends, the aforementioned, Hollander, Moulin and Placebo. A prog rock 45 might sound like a contradiction in terms but with a band like COS you can only expect them to defy convention. Backed here with another deeply conceptual sliced of deep orchestral symphonic psych from Schell’s short-lived FF Boom project from the previous year this suitably compact introduction to your new favourite COSmonauts provide digestible versions of some of Schell’s finest moments and clears the decks for future explorations of a wider musical universe waiting to be explored. Turn on this beautiful machine and let yourself melt into the COSmix.

Jeff Hill Band strongly resonates with the energetic pop sound of the early 1980s, often referred to as power pop. While their music embodies elements of both pop and power pop, it's evident that they draw inspiration from the diverse landscape of 1960s pop music, incorporating various genres such as doo-wop and surf into their repertoire.

All the tracks on this Rides Again album are unreleased studio material recorded after 1st album came out in 2005. At that time the band members had some troubles during recording, so after the recording sessions they broke up. These tracks were sleeping in the vault for more then fifteen years. The music is a mixture of psychedelic groove, rock, funk, and doom metal. For fans of Cactus, Grand Funk Railroad, Mountain, Sir Load Baltimore, Captain Beyond, Meaters, Graham Central Station and Funkadelic. On the album you can find four original songs plus two cover tracks: "Earthquake" from Graham Central Station and "Stay Away" from Meters.

All the tracks on this Rides Again album are unreleased studio material recorded after 1st album came out in 2005. At that time the band members had some troubles during recording, so after the recording sessions they broke up. These tracks were sleeping in the vault for more then fifteen years. The music is a mixture of psychedelic groove, rock, funk, and doom metal. For fans of Cactus, Grand Funk Railroad, Mountain, Sir Load Baltimore, Captain Beyond, Meaters, Graham Central Station and Funkadelic. On the album you can find four original songs plus two cover tracks: "Earthquake" from Graham Central Station and "Stay Away" from Meters.

All the tracks on this Rides Again album are unreleased studio material recorded after 1st album came out in 2005. At that time the band members had some troubles during recording, so after the recording sessions they broke up. These tracks were sleeping in the vault for more then fifteen years. The music is a mixture of psychedelic groove, rock, funk, and doom metal. For fans of Cactus, Grand Funk Railroad, Mountain, Sir Load Baltimore, Captain Beyond, Meaters, Graham Central Station and Funkadelic. On the album you can find four original songs plus two cover tracks: "Earthquake" from Graham Central Station and "Stay Away" from Meters.

Music produced in the 70’s in the Basque Country got trapped between two earth shattering artistic currents; Ez Dok Amairu in the 60s and Basque Radical Rock in the 80’s, and unfortunately, most of the lovely discs and tunes created at that magical time have been pushed to a remote (and sometimes even despised) corner of our collective memory. 60’s and 80’s music currents are almost opposite, and both work as magnetic poles with a very strong power of attraction, and maybe also as a burden for any of the later artistic currents. 60’s generation of artists searched within their rich and ancient cultural roots to acknowledge and update them, in proud, hopeful and unforgettable folk songs. The 80’s one on the other hand, worked in a flammable environment in constant social and political conflict and found in punk the perfect way to express their anger and weariness for so many unfulfilled promises and the lack of opportunities into short, noisy, direct and corrosive songs, technically sparse but full of energy and expressive power. Most of the “classic” names engraved in our memory come from one or the other like Benito Lertxundi, Mikel Laboa, Lourdes Iriondo and Xabier Lete or Kortatu, Hertzainak, Zarama, Las vulpes, Eskorbuto or Cicatriz. 70’s generation and their music works somehow as the “missing link” (“katebegia” in Basque) between the two. They loved folky tunes and don’t forget their ancient roots, but they also look outside for inspiration and experimentation. Just as the 80’s boys and girls found punk the 70’s guys found a completely different sonic and aesthetic landscape in the works of Grateful Dead, Fairport Convention, King Crimson, Soft Machine, Gong,… and worked closely with keen souls in other neighboring regions such as Maquina!, Pau Riba or Sisa in Catalonia or Smash and Triana in Andalusia. This resulted in more abstract and poetic lyrical content, much longer psych-folk-prog-jazz tunes, full of complex instrumental passages and mesmerizing structures of sheer ambition and masterful execution in many cases. But, most important of all, they found a voice of their own, rich, unique, and fascinating, and that’s what makes them so valuable to us. Not only to us, but also to lots of vinyl collectors and crate-diggers around the world, who have in many cases paid fortunes for some of the original editions of LPs that are the source of tunes in this compilation. Mikel Unzurrunzaga Schmitz aka DJ Makala, Dj and producer of worldwide scope and wisdom, noticed this fact first and decided to pay homage to these wonderful tunes through this masterful and dedicated selection for your pleasure and as an open invitation to dig deeper into your adventures in the dark and hidden side of Basque popular music. The album Katebegiak, now published by Elkar, contains 13 tunes on double LP gatefold edition from Haizea, Izukaitz, William S. Fischer, Magdalena, Enbor, Itoiz, Koska, Itziar, Errobi, Lisker, Amaia Zubiria & Pascal Gaigne, Gontzal Mendibil & Taldea and Urria, and the CD-Book edition adds an extra bonus track by the great unknown artist Juan Arkotxa. Along with this compilation, and as a sample of the era, we reissued two more little gems of which we have included a track on the compilation.