There is nothing like a good live show after four days of vacation. ME AND THAT MAN had one at Korjaamo, Helsinki, on April 2nd, 2024, which happened to be a rainy day. The terrible weather was surely counterbalanced by the outstanding concert they played, along with FRANK THE BAPTIST, a very interesting American rock band who played as an opening act. Given the big popularity of the Polish outfit, we decided to get to the venue well in advance, to secure a nice spot in the front row. We got lucky enough to be exactly in front of Nergal, the leader of the band, known also for being the frontm ..read more

T. JARVA & THE DARK PLACE released their debut album, “Post Festum,” at the beginning of this month, so it was only a matter of time before they hosted a much-needed release party. The event took place on February 10th, 2024, at Kuudes Linja, featuring KILÓMETROS as the opening act. We were eager to witness their performance once again, this time in a different environment and on such a special occasion. The band was formed through the collaborative efforts of Taneli Jarva, known to most for his work with bands like SENTENCED and IMPALED NAZARENE in the early ’90s, among others, and Sami H ..read more

On Friday, April 8th, 2022, FORNDOM – with supporting musicians THE DEVIL’S TRADE and LILI REFRAIN – hit Klub Zaścianek in Krakow as part of their European tour. The show was organized by local booking agency Iron Realm Productions and was set to start at 20:00.  LILI REFRAIN was the first to kick off the show. This Italian multi-instrumentalist has been in the scene since 2007, using electric guitar, vocals, percussions, synth, and loops in real-time, without using any computer or pre-recorded tracks. She replaced DARKHER for the final part of the tour. The performance started with her w ..read more

On November 13th, 2022, HEILUNG with EIVØR and LILI REFRAIN hit Tempodrom in Berlin as part of their European Tour.  LILI REFRAIN is an Italian multi-instrumentalist that creates dark, unique, and haunting yet soothing music, combining raw kulning-like singing with operetta. It was my second time this year seeing Lili perform, but this time was on a big stage. She delivered the same kind of mysterious energy as well, looping and mixing sounds in real-time with intense drumming and an electric guitar. She performed only three songs from the latest al ..read more

Playing an acoustic guitar is the ultimate zen exercise in precision and songwriting. When you strip away the distortion, by-pass the effects, and swap the Fender Stratocaster for a Martin D-28, the whole art of songwriting narrows down to the six strings on the acoustic guitar and a killer melody. Going unplugged is the ultimate litmus test for a song, the make-it-or-break-it stage with no in-betweens. It is the naked moment of truth that can breathe new life to an old song or simply showcase a piece of songwriting perfection. On 3 July 2020, the Finnish acoustic duo with a name reminiscent o ..read more

I hadn’t yet heard of THE DEVIL’S TRADE before I received their promo material. I don’t know what it was that drew me to their music… perhaps it was their name, perhaps it was their mystical album cover, or then maybe the description of what to be expected when I turned on “The Call of the Iron Peak,” out on 28 August 2020 through Season of Mist. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised. The man behind THE DEVIL’S TRADE is Hungarian singer-songwriter Dávid Makó, who was – prior to his acoustic solo project – mostly involved in doom metal acts. This doom metal influence is present throughou ..read more