Svart HHV Records 521 Items

Tasavallan Presidentti's 1st incarnation with vocalist Frank Robson performed their last studio session at YLE Broadcasting Company in Helsinki, 1971. This session was, however, completely buried by time and forgotten, until Svart Records accidentally stumbled upon an archival copy.

This studio session recording from the autumn of 1971, found from the archives of the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is a sensational discovery in many ways. It is a studio live session which the band recorded just before parting ways with vocalist Frank Robson, which may be the reason why the tape was left unused.

Otto Donner, one of the three founders of Love Records, the band's current label, had become the head of the Finnish Broadcasting Company's entertainment unit, which produced this studio session. Perhaps he was planning to release it on Love Records?

The release features extensive liner notes by writer Petri Kuljuntausta, who provides background details which hint to the fact that had the band not decide to find a new vocalist a few months later, this tape could indeed have been the Tasavallan Presidentti album number three.

Tasavallan Presidentti's 1st incarnation with vocalist Frank Robson performed their last studio session at YLE Broadcasting Company in Helsinki, 1971. This session was, however, completely buried by time and forgotten, until Svart Records accidentally stumbled upon an archival copy.

This studio session recording from the autumn of 1971, found from the archives of the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is a sensational discovery in many ways. It is a studio live session which the band recorded just before parting ways with vocalist Frank Robson, which may be the reason why the tape was left unused.

Otto Donner, one of the three founders of Love Records, the band's current label, had become the head of the Finnish Broadcasting Company's entertainment unit, which produced this studio session. Perhaps he was planning to release it on Love Records?

The release features extensive liner notes by writer Petri Kuljuntausta, who provides background details which hint to the fact that had the band not decide to find a new vocalist a few months later, this tape could indeed have been the Tasavallan Presidentti album number three.

In four short years of existence, Green Lung have risen from the murk of the UK heavy underground to become a true cult band with a devoted following. Debut album Woodland Rites, released independently in early 2019, quickly garnered attention, resulting in a single being named ‘Track of the Week’ in the Guardian, plays on Daniel P. Carter’s Radio One Rock Show, a tour with fellow UK heavies Puppy and festival appearances across Europe.

This brought the band to the attention of the wider music industry, and after multiple offers from a variety of labels, the band decided to stay true to their roots and sign with the Finnish audio wizards at Svart Records, home to several of their doomy inspirations including Reverend Bizarre and Warning. Svart’s deluxe reissue of the album, and the preceding EP Free the Witch, sold out several pressings.

Two years later, the folk horror-obsessed fivesome have re-emerged from their mulchy catacombs armed with dozens of freshly-whittled riffs. Black Harvest, the sequel to Woodland Rites, is a more colourful reimagining of the band’s sound - Dawn of the Dead to its predecessor’s Night of the Living Dead.

Recorded at Giant Wafer Studios in rural mid-Wales over the course of two weeks with longtime producer Wayne Adams (Petbrick, Big Lad), it’s a more expansive and textured record than anything the band have done before, boasting a cinematic quality and more attention to detail. All samples were sourced from the local countryside and from instruments found in the studio, including the haunting opening vocal of ‘The Harrowing’ which was recorded on a whim after the band broke into the local church (the organ can be heard creaking in the background). The album was recorded in late autumn, and the seasonal atmosphere seeped into the music, which is redolent of mists, falling leaves, and the crumbling glory of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries of London, the city the band call home.

The album also soaks in new sonics beyond the ‘Black Sabbath meets Brian May’ blueprint of what went before. ‘The Harrowing’ takes the band’s tradition of instrumental opening tracks to dizzy new heights, like Atomic Rooster jamming with Boston, while ballad ‘Graveyard Sun’, based on the folklore around the ‘Highgate Vampire’, adds gothic synth lines that would give Type O Negative pangs of jealousy. That’s not to say the hooks n’ heaviness approach that made the band’s name isn’t here in abundance, as the Sabbath-meets-Purple chug and groove of revolutionary lead single ‘Leaders of the Blind’ and the Hammer Horror riff frenzy of ‘Upon the Altar’ prove. Closer ‘Born to a Dying World’ is unlike anything the band have written before; an endtimes ballad with an almost gospel feel, tying the band’s omnipresent nature themes to the Anthropocene.

Mastered by John Davis at Metropolis (Led Zeppelin, Royal Blood), Black Harvest comes packaged in stained glass artwork by renowned artist Richard Wells (Doctor Who, Dracula, Ben Wheatley’s In the Earth), and is available in gatefold vinyl and CD formats.

Limited Svart exclusive box set edition. The demo LP will not be available separately.

Hexvessel and Svart Records celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Hexvessel’s debut album Dawnbearer with a set of reissues, including CD, double vinyl plus an exclusive vinyl box set with a bonus LP containing demos and early versions of tracks on the album.

“Dawnbearer is a very important album for us, being our first album but also the first original album release for Svart Records. It’s also a very special record for our fans, and one that’s particularly close to my heart, in a world of its own when compared to the other records we have made. Considering that it’s been out of print now for some time, I’m delighted to be able to oversee a reissue of this album, together with original demos and out-takes, and liner notes showing the making of this album which carries the initial DNA of Hexvessel’s musical and spiritual journey”, says band leader Mat McNerney, “We haven’t touched a thing on the original layout, but added some bonus material for the limited edition, should you wish to own a luxury edition of this, our now classic debut.”

Hexvessel band was founded by English singer/songwriter Mat McNerney (Beastmilk, Grave Pleasures, Carpenter Brut etc) after he moved to Finland in 2009. Their style of music has been referred to as “forest folk” or as Noisey/Vice puts it: “Weaving English folk, lilting Americana, and mushroom-induced psychedelia”. Their debut album 'Dawnbearer' was released worldwide in 2011 on Svart Records and is considered to be an influential classic record of the modern Occult Rock revival. Highly popular with Hexvessel fans and unique in their catalogue, featuring guitars by Andrew McIvor (Code), violin work of Daniel Pioro (who works on Paul Thomas Anderson’s soundtracks with Jonny Greenwood from Radiohead), the early production work of Jaime Gomez Arellano (Ghost, Paradise Lost), and guest vocals from Carl Michael Eide (Virus, Ved Buens Ende, Aura Noir).

“Think Woven Hand, haunted ’60s/’70s pastoral folk, or a darker riff on Midlake. McNerney covers Clive Palmer’s post-Incredible String Band crew C.O.B. and successfully transforms and darkens Paul Simon’s “Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes.” He quotes Crowley, Truman Capote, Isaac Babel, etc. Unlike black metal-ready folk, this is folk by a talented, ambitious black metal musician. But the energy’s there. As is the atmosphere.” - Stereogum

“(Part of) a new wave of bands who share many of the original occult bands' musical and philosophical characteristics, spearheaded by Ghost, from Sweden, and the Devil's Blood, from Holland – have begun to lure in a new generation of fans, predominantly from the metal scene, their names alone – Ancient VVisdom, Hexvessel, Blood Ceremony– point to a focused step back to the age of Wheatley and Hammer. ” - The Guardian (2011)

The ultimate Hellhound compendium, a must for any self-respecting fan of late 70’s Finnish punk rock! Features the Soitetaan rock’n’rollia LP, all single and compilation tracks plus unreleased material.

One of the early Finnish punk bands from the city of Tampere. Hellhound released three singles and one album between 1978 and 1980.

Solemn Lament present a limited edition of their debut recording. 4 tracks of somber yet heavy, crushing and melodic doom metal.

Solemn Lament ‘s doom metal is rooted in tradition, influenced by both the UK and American canon of doom metal. With Phil Swanson (Hour of 13, Seamount etc) on vocals, Justin DeTore (Dream Unending, Magic Circle) on drums, Drew Wardlaw (Blind Dead) on bass plus Adam Jacino (Blind Dead) and Eric Wenstrom on guitars.

Original Soundtrack to this modern horror masterpiece!