Hexvessel share new visualizer video for Goldfrapp cover »Horse Tears« feat. Jan Kenneth Transeth (ex-In The Woods…)
Finnish avant-garde black metal/folk band Hexvessel drop the digital single »Horse Tears«, which was previously only available as a bonus song with the premium edition of their latest album »Nocturne«. »Horse Tears« is a cover track taken from British electronic duo Goldfrapp’s debut album »Felt Mountain« (2000) and features the original former In The Woods… vocalist Jan Kenneth Transeth.
“Me and Jan Kenneth Transeth go way back,” singer and songwriter Mat “Kvohst” McNerney writes. “I have toured Europe with In The Woods… in 1996, a stowaway in their van, after tracking them down to Kristiansand as a young blackpacker (as black metal tourists to Norway are now commonly known, myself being one of the first in the mid-90s). I have always adored Jan’s voice and the early In The Woods… demo and records are so important to me. It is such a high honour to have him sing this song, one of my most favourite singers of all time doing a cover with us of one of my favourite songs, »Horse Tears« on one of my favourite albums, Goldfrapp’s »Felt Mountain«! To have his daughter Lea join him, singing this song with him, makes it even more touching. Those that have missed Jan’s voice with that old sound, can take a trip with us to a time when avantgarde black metal was truly influential and alive. For me those albums and sounds, Jan Kenneth’s voice and the atmosphere that goes with it has never stopped being so vital. Let the shivers take possession!”
Founded in the magical forests of Finland, via the green and pleasant lands of England and Ireland, Hexvessel are wyrd folk. Formed in 2009 by Mat “Kvohst” McNerney, who having already made a name for himself in extreme metal bands in the UK where he was born and raised, and again in the Norwegian black metal scene, finally found his home in the land of the midnight sun. Settling in a country where mythology, tradition and pre-Christian heritage is still alive McNerney, (who also fronts 1980s-excess-tinged gothic pop band Grave Pleasures), found solace in the constant reflection of Finland’s pagan past, awakening secret knowledge that led to the formation of Hexvessel.
The group reveals nature’s universal tales of hidden spirits. The pagan wilds are portals to reality. Hexvessel write songs in the oral tradition of the old balladeers. They weave everyman stories that create a bond between the teller and the audience, bringing alive a sense of shared purpose and spiritual history. By drawing on older folk acts like Shirley Collins, Vashti Bunyan, later folk rock bands such as Steeleye Span, Fairport Convention and King Crimson, to more recent artists such as Nick Cave and Coil, imbued with Karelian and Nordic folklore rhythms, Hexvessel have created a sound that is both ancient and modern.
Hexvessel shop: spkr.store/collections/hexvessel
Hexvessel is:
Mathew Kvohst McNerney – Vocals, Guitars
Kimmo Helén – Piano, Keys, Viola, Violin
Jukka Rämänen – Drums, Percussion
Ville Hakonen – Bass
Courtesy of Prophecy Productions
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well