The Caretaker - A Stairway to the Stars

2001; 14 tracks
Download.

Tenhi - Complete Discography

Hallavedet EP



1998; 2 tracks

01 Hallavedet (The Glacial Waters)
02 Hiljaiseksi Lampi Jää (The Pond Stays Still)


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Kauan



1999; 10 tracks

01 Näkin Laulu (The Chant Of Näkki)
02 Huomen (Morrow)
03 Revontulet (Northern Lights)
04 Hallavedet (The Glacial Waters)
05 Etäisyyksien Taa (Beyond Distances)
06 Lauluni Sinulle (Mavourneen's Song)
07 Taival (Straying)
08 Suoto (Drift)
09 Kielo
10 Niin Auer Hiljaa Vie


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Airut:Ciwi



2001; 3 tracks

01 Tuulennostatus
02 Kielo
03 Ciwenkierto


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Väre



2002; 12 tracks

01 Vastakaiun
02 Jäljen
03 Vilja
04 Keväin
05 Yötä
06 Suortuva
07 Tenhi
08 Sutoi
09 Katve
10 Varis Eloinen
11 Kuolleesi Jokeen


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Maaäet



2006; 12 tracks

01 Varpuspäivä (Sparrow-Day)
02 Kuoppa (Depth)
03 Kuulut Kesiin (July's Wreath)
04 Salain (Shapeless)
05 Viimeiseen (Through Bloom-Blades)
06 Vähäinen Violetissa (Lithe In Lilac)
07 Sarastuskävijä (Frail)
08 Maa Syttyy (Orphan Joy)
09 Tuulenkaato (Falter)
10 Aatos (Reverie)
11 Uuvu Oravan Luu (Ease Squirrel Bone)
12 Rannalta Haettu (From The Shore)


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I'm actually quite upset with myself that I haven't posted any Tenhi before now. I mean, seriously? They are one of the greatest ensembles of musicians this world has ever brought forth, and every single one of you needs to immediately drop what you're doing and listen to them. That is an order.

Tenhi is a Finnish group that plays neofolk and traditional folk music of a very dark and atmospheric kind. Exquisitely beautiful melodies and vocals are only two of the varied aspects that make Tenhi better than others of this style. From a few sources now I have seen that "Tenhi" means "village elder" in the Finnish language, so I am inclined to believe that is true. All throughout their music, ritual chants accompany extremely nature-based landscapes. There is a definite traditional aspect to the Tenhi's music, so much so that one wonders whether these are the very sounds of a Finnish village centuries and centuries ago. One can dream.

If you don't know where to start, my personal favorites are Kauan and Maaäet, respectively. I also really, really love the final track of Väre.

Sixx - Sister Devil

2009; 8 tracks

Get this. Get this. Get this. Get this. Get this.

Sixx = members of Von playing Joy Division-esque black metal. First recorded in 1991 but not widely distributed until 2009, Sister Devil is just so dark and bleak and perfect.

"The lo-fi atmosphere and an almost tentative approach to the songs are complimented and tied together by creepy spoken interludes by frontman Goat... that sound like 'found' recordings of a killer's last confession."


In the boundaries of the circle
Under natural light of white
Sitting with jointed fingertips
A voice which hums
Lost deep within the magic of the circle

Váli - Forlatt

2004; 10 tracks

This was one of my first ever purely neofolk albums, excluding some early Ulver. It really is a beautiful example of that genre which produces such lyrical and evocative music, and is usually very intimate.

Váli is a Norwegian one-man neofolk project. The band's first album, Forlatt, features mostly solo acoustic guitar pieces, but occasionally some other instruments make their way into the soundscape. Try this if you haven't heard much neofolk before. This is a very different kind of neofolk than, say, that of Rome, as it is much more nature-based.

Download.

Verdunkeln - Einblick In Den Qualenfall

2007; 6 tracks

I haven't posted any black metal in a while.

Despite many negative reviews, Verdunkeln's one and only full-length album is not bad.. not bad at all. The German band's sound is purely atmospheric, very resonant, with a psychedelic/hypnotic touch. If you like the more creative styles of black metal in the vein of, say, Urfaust, try this out.

Download.

Agalloch - The White EP

2008; 7 tracks



There is no better way to start the frigid month of December than with Agalloch. This EP, a partner to The Grey, blends the band's signature darkness with a slightly new element - neofolk. It is a masterfully made album, so beautiful and so cold.



"What begins with a sampling of the 1973 film The Wicker Man then spreads into an ethereal neofolk fable concerning religion, culture, children, morality, hindsight, and foresight."



The White further instills in the listener Agalloch's eternal theme... God is dead.



Download



Purchase

Dornenreich - In Luft Geritzt

2008; 10 tracks

Austrian atmospheric black metal band Dornenreich might still be my favorite group of all time. I prefer their earlier works in the vein of Durch Den Traum and Her Von Welken Nächten (a truly haunting album), but In Luft Geritzt, translated as "Carved in Air," is nothing short of a masterpiece. Abandoning their black metal roots, Dornenreich strips down to something of a bare minimal, but in no way "less," overall sound.

In Luft Geritzt is a neofolk album that wonderfully effuses all of that which every other neofolk album lacks. A raging, intense energy. It is present in Eviga's voice, Inve's mournful violin, and the frantic guitar's sheets of sound. With every track a new door is opened. The lyrics are especially evocative, as all of Dornenreich's are.

Download

Purchase

Hate Forest - Purity

2003; 7 tracks

I know this is an older album that everyone has probably already heard, but I still wanted to post it. It's really very lovely, one of the better black metal albums I've heard in a while.

Download.

Jesu & Fog - Kissing Kin

2010; 2 tracks

Collaberation between Jesu and Fog.

Greatest 8 minutes of my life.


I guess.


Download.

Colleen - Les Ondes Silencieuses

2007; 9 tracks



This is the most recent album from French ambient/electronic artist Cécile Schott, a.k.a. Colleen. This album is very different from her previous one that I have posted on this blog, Everyone in the World Wants Answers, but no less beautiful and atmospheric. This is a purely instrumental release, but the atmosphere she creates is, although quite minimal, luscious and incredibly beautiful. Many different instruments are used - including the harpsichord, a full strings section, various wind instruments, a harp, and many more...



Download.

The Angelic Process

Macon, Georgia. 1999. 2 members.



Great band right here. Tragic story, though. It is a husband/wife duo (or was, rather...) MDragonfly is the woman. The main guitarist and songwriter, Kris Angylus, ended his life on April 26, 2008, due to a severe hand injury. This injury had hindered the band's progress in touring, composing, and playing for about a year, and without that ability Angylus saw no point in living...

Every release from The Angelic Process is truly exceptional. The music is deep, soul-deep, and will move you. It is powerful, it feels so heavy, like an ever-growing mountain being transmitted electronically into your ears, it pulls you down and lifts you up and transmits your strongest emotions into sound and space and color and oblivion. I swear this stuff is godly.


...And Your Blood Is Full Of Honey (2006)



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1. Welcome To Oblivion 6:07
2. Mouvement - Humble Man 1:29
3. Worried Man 4:41
4. ...And Your Blood Is Full Of Honey 4:20
5. Mouvement - The Body In Its Space 1:04
6. The Ruined Life Of Someone Better 8:47
7. Hang Him Higher 4:24
8. Cages Of Blood And Bone 4:36

Coma Waering (2006)



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1. My Blood Still Whispers 4:28
2. The Sun In Braids 4:44
3. Mouvement - The Flesh Is Weak 1:57
4. Crippled Healing 7:00
5. Coma Waering 9:20
6. Mouvement - The Rest Of The World Is Noise 2:23
7. Rid The Past By Dying 7:08
8. Mouvement - Shielded By Death / Suspended In Light 3:59

Sigh EP (2006)



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1. Sigh 10:15
2. Trance To The Sun 6:48
3. Mouvement - With Mouthfulls Of Blood 1:11
4. The Black Ark 5:37

We All Die Laughing (2006)



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1. We All Die Laughing 5:58
2. BleedBeliever 5:16
3. Mouvement - Soleil Et Noir 1:03
4. The Resonance Of Goodbye 5:13
5. How To Build A Time Machine 5:34
6. Mouvement - Every City Is A Prison 2:33

Weighing Souls With Sand (2007)



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1. The Promise Of Snakes 9:32
2. Million Year Summer 3:52
3. The Resonance Of Goodbye 5:14
4. We All Die Laughing 6:05
5. Dying In A-Minor 8:19
6. Weighing Souls With Sand 5:19
7. Mouvement - World Deafening Eclipse 1:59
8. Burning In The Undertow Of God 6:46
9. Mouvement - The Smoke Of Her Burning 4:16