Category: Blog
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Onto the Next Chapter
With the festive baubles packed away and the first proper week of the year ahead, I prepare to get back on track to tackle the next twelve months. Many folk scoff at the concept of ‘starting afresh’ when the calendar flips over to January. That the New Year is just another day, or not even…
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The Year that radicalised me
Although I knew there were challenges ahead as the world ticked into 2024, I had no expectation of the struggles that would manifest from week one. Launching straight into the Mentors tour as festive fireworks still echoed was hardly the wisest timing; but through grit, good humour, and the able help of the Witchfinder, we…
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New Site, same as the Old Site
Despite lurking for years within the dark recesses of the internet, the HeathenStorm website has never been formally “announced” until now. Originally hacked together on a default WordPress install for tour promotion, it has been painstakingly recreated from scratch as a self-contained theme. Ensuring site upgrades and maintenance won’t cause as many headaches in the…
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Cave of Wonder
With just over a week before Solstice fly out to Finland, and life outside the band likewise refusing to slow down; I take brief pause to reflect on a wonderful weekend in and around Balver Höhle. Prophecy Fest has always been a unique affair. Expertly curating an eclectic line-up of bands beyond the usual expectations…
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Et in Arcadia ego
There is a place, one supposes, that calls to a simpler time. An age of pastoral greenery and unbridled passion. An idyllic ideal of the imagination, yearning to unravel through the concrete and tarmac trails of modernity. Arcadia, ever-present yet elusive, flickers in words and thought. An ancestral echo, barefoot in fecundity yet fragmented in…
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Tears of the Mountain
I was not alone for Midsummer. It had been a hard year for many. Some had lost those dear, and others still had lost part of themselves. The abrasion of existence scratching away at the best of us, compelling cruelty and distrust through uncertain times. A common burden, one often and needlessly borne alone. Thoughts…
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Into the Sixth Decade
With a full half-century now behind me, it seems appropriate to mark the moment and look ahead to what remains of the future. My birthdays always bring with them a twinge of melancholy, and this year has been no different. These past months have been weary to body and soul, stressful for many reasons obvious…
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End of Vortex
It is sad in recent weeks to learn of the sudden and permanent closure of Wakefield’s Vortex Bar and Nightclub. Having put on a few shows in recent times, and playing there myself with Solstice, I was immediately impressed by the quality of both sound and staging. A professional, talented crew always worked hard with…
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Battles on the brink of War
The dust has settled on the English leg of the DIOCLETIAN tour. Five dates of utter devastation across the country. Filling venues to capacity almost every night, with those who missed out eager for more. Ending the tour with the debut UK performance of ABRAXXUM was an inspired conclusion, but each and every show delivered…
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A Weekend’s Grift with Darkher
Although I’m often to be found helping out local siren DARKHER in all my usual capacities, last weekend reminded me just why the music draws me in. The final dates of an intimate candlelit tour alongside GRIFT and CARCASS OF SIGHS, it fell to Stephen and Karen of The Velvet Sheep to handle merchandise and…
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Selim Lemouchi (1980 – 2014)
Like so many others today, I mark ten years since Selim Lemouchi made his departure. The Devil’s Blood were the soundtrack to an important era of my life. A re-awakening into a vibrant sense of belonging; through years of self-discovery, hedonism and magick. Many stories remain untold from that licentious time, although many averted gazes…
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Remembering the Sorceress
She was the “Sorceress of my Soul”. An affectation, drunkenly blathered in Brussels at one of the many, yet honestly few, gatherings in which we crossed paths. Alex took such purple prose in good grace, as sincerity welled up my eyes in significance of our friendship. Nine years ago, she and partner Konstantin took me…