it wasn't that long ago that i actually discovered this swedish doom band for me. something like two months ago i bought 'empress rising' and just a few days later i sensed news of an upcoming album flowing through the aether. as i was really liking 'empress...', i naturally wanted to be in the game for 'vænir'. so i weighed the odds for the pre-orders.
'vænir' was to appear on riding easy records from the states. the fact alone put me off. it meant high shipping rates. all together just too much money involved and really just the last possible option for me. fortunately the band offered an exclusive clear yellow version in their own web-shop. shipping from sweden wasn't cheap too by any means, but affordable at least and therfore reasonable.
i would have liked an opaque colour version but beggars can't be choosers. so i ordered. when the time of release date came nearer, the band posted on their facebook that it had to be delayed due some shipping errors by the delivery company. it all took an month or so extra but last week it finally showed up. the record looks pretty good as long as i am concerned. cool cover art. the word vænir is the name of a swedish lake, the third biggest in the world actually.
considering this, there should be a story to the cover motive. would really like to know it. anyway, the musical part of this release is pretty damn good. i just listened to it for a couple of times but i can say that it is every bit as crushing as 'empress rising' is. check out some tunes on the band's bandcamp page. riding easy has orange and black vinyl left. monolord has still some of the band exclusive clear yellow, or better clear gold, left in stock. get a copy, it's worth it! 200 made with a monolord amp-etching on the d-side. riding easy records. 2015.
