Throw some more incense on the fire, here comes another flaxen-haired acolyte come to join the coven of female-fronted, psychedelic and devil-worshipping hard rock. Last one of these I covered was Finland’s Jess and the Ancient Ones; here are their labelmates/countrymates in Seremonia.

This variety of 70s proto-doom is shaggy like a forest nymph in the moonlight. The vocalist sounds, in her more sultry and crooning moments, like Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth; when she’s more strident, I get L7. She also sings entirely in Finnish, which, if you’re not from Finland, lends the music an alien authenticity. (If you can understand what she’s saying, I suspect it’s a less impressive effect).

Although I love the bleary-eyed and fuzzed-out sound, the songs are a bit of a mixed bag. They’re all listenable, sure, but not all necessarily dark or forbidding. Bluesy, upbeat tracks like “Uhrijuhla” or “Huutava Taivas, Kuiskaava Maa” sound halfway between Cream and Black Sabbath, while “Kosminen Ruumisvaunu” is a blur of punk and grit.

I much preferred the moodier murk and squawk of “Rock n’ Rollin’ Maailma” and “Hautakiven Varjossa” – particularly the latter’s pastoral, psychedelic instrumental outro. “Antikristus 666,” along the same chalk-drawn ritual lines, weaves in whispered spoken word, crashing cymbals and isolated wisps of bass. For me, though, “Aamuruskon Kaupunki” is the album’s centerpiece – the just-removed and still-beating heart placed on the forest altar. The track twists and struts and seduces with funereal melodies and a death knell bassline before falling into a deep trance of sinister, Goblin-esque sound effects. If the students from that dancing academy/witches’ coven in Suspiria even snuck out to a rock concert, this is what I’d expect them to go and see.

Seremonia revels in its dirt, cavorts in its nakedness, and lures you into the firelight with a wink and the taste of honey on her lips. Still, I’m not fully under her spell. More doses of the occult, keyboard-driven psychedelia next time, and I might finally succumb to her dark, musky magic.

[Visit the band's website]

---

Comments