HEXVESSEL Release Fourth Studio Album ‘All Tree’
February 15th, 2019
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Tampere, Finland-based psychedelic folk rock band Hexvessel issued fourth full-length studio album All Tree on February 15th, 2019 through Century Media Records.
McNerney stated: “It’s important for us to herald All Tree’s release on All Hallows Eve or Samhain because the veils are drawn, when the doorways between this world and the otherworld are open for spirits to pass through. This is a time of year when we, still to this day, make offerings to the spirits through ‘trick or treat’ rituals. Those spirits represent our landscapes and wilderness.
“All Tree is not just about going back to the heart of Hexvessel, with a slight return to our forest folk roots, it’s about drawing fresh inspiration from my own heritage too. The English pastoral folk influences are infused with Celtic mythology from my Anglo-Irish blood, with Finnish nature as our backdrop.
“From the Canterbury folk scene and early prog bands that soundtracked my youth in England, to the ghost stories I was told as a child on my uncles farm in Ireland, this album is a spiritual journey where the old myths are doorways to enlightenment. The dawn light across boggy fields, the wind blowing through the keyhole, the branches dragging their breath inwards as the seasons ignite a magic sense of mystery about the wilderness.
“That’s what we tried to bring out into the songs on this album. By bowing old dead tree branches with violin bows, by summoning the sounds of the fire and the birds in the field outside, we gave the music a life which, like the liminal spirits of Samhain drifts in and out of this world. That’s what folk means. It’s the countryside singing out from within me. It’s their story we sing. And no matter where I go or where I end up staying, it’s that folk countryside which is the seed from which I sprang. All Tree.”
The track listing is as follows:
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01. ‘Blessing’
02. ‘Son Of The Sky’
03. ‘Old Tree’
04. ‘Changeling’
05. ‘Ancient Astronaut’
06. ‘Visions Of A.O.S.’
07. ‘A Sylvan Sign’
08. ‘Wilderness Spirit’
09. ‘Otherworld Envoy’
10. ‘Birthmark’
11. ‘Journey To Carnac’
12. ‘Liminal Night’
13. ‘Closing Circles’
Hexvessel’s line-up was as follows:
Mathew Kvohst McNerney (vocals)
Andrew McIvor (acoustic guitars)
Kimmo Helén (piano, keyboards, viola, and bass)
Jukka Rämänen (drums, percussion, and bass)
Jesse Heikkinen (lead guitar, acoustic guitars, and 12-string guitars)
Antti Haapapuro (sound effects and field recordings)
Marja Konttinen (vocals and percussion)
Music videos were released for the tracks ‘Old Tree’, ‘Son Of The Sky’ and ‘Changeling’, which can also be viewed below.
Third studio record When We Are Death was released in January 2016 via Century Media.
