Seremonia – Kristalliarkki (the Crystal Ark)

Seremonia – Kristalliarkki (the Crystal Ark)

Svart Records – 2015

Garage, Doom, Proto, Punk

Rated: ****

Emerging from the darkest depths of Finland, Seremonia manage to mix doom, 70’s psych rock and grimy punk without sounding forced or experimental. The primary feel is dank and doomy, with riffage suitably low slung and powerful but thanks to the wonderful vocals provided by Noora Federley, the range goes from a velvet croon to a more hard edged style. She is complimented by the band who have a vast array of talent to back her up. Vintage scorched earth keyboard stabs and solos mix with ghostly backing vocals, flutes, synths and effects which provide a suitably graveyard feel. Nik Turneresque sax bursts explode with gritty squalls of frenzied scales to add another dimension. Sung all in their native tongue there is a genuinely foreboding tone but in case you think that this is a strictly retro affair, the modern, hard hitting production and bursts of fast, ballsy workouts will stop any doubts you may have. Seremonia have enough punk attitude mixed with a love of darkness to make them stand out among the crowd.

Many thanks to Svart Records for the promo.

(Written by Tony)

Svart Records

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