Black Velvet, a new religion.

Black Velvet, a new religion...

Mississippi in the middle of a dry spell,
Jimmy Rogers on the Victrola up high...

Now to some Alannah Myles's "Black Velvet" is just a cool bluesy tune sung by a leather cladded woman with a raspy voice. And no doubt Alannah did it really good, so good in fact that even I liked it from the very beginning...and I am not normally into blues!

But what I really like about the song is that it is a history lesson not read aloud from a book, but sunged. And it is a history lesson that does not care about timelines and significant dates but about settings, emotions, creativity, music, and one of the greatest artists known to mankind!

The origins can probably most like be traced to the beginning of humankind - a beat of a drum, a voice finding its own tune...later on, the same energies, the same vibrations could be found amongst Celtic warriors, Buccaneers at sea and with artists like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart when he created music which shocked the sheeple and touched the hearts and souls of their counterparts. Black Velvet might be a new religion, but it's roots are ancient...

In 1954 in Memphis, Tennessee, a young man with handsome facial features and dazzling eyes goes into a recording studio, pays a fee and the plan is to record a single for private usage...just one copy... and nothing more. Then during a break in the recordings, the young man suddenly begins to sing..."That's alright, mama" and history suddenly there and then took yet a turn down some at that time unknown and obscure path which in time lead to bands like Led Zeppelin, Sex Pistols, Stray Cats, Judas Preist, Bauhaus, The Damned, Satyricon, Lacuna Coil...and the list just goes on and on and on and on...

Now when we today watch old television clips of Elvis Presley we either see him as a hip-thrusting rockabilly, some leather-clad wanna-be tough guy who failed at doing so or some fat, tired and sweaty rapidly aging man in a jumpsuit. In his younger days Elvis Presley himself might have seen the old classical artists such a Mozart as some obscure beings wearing wigs and yet, today many metal heads see these same "stuffy" artists as being the musical rebels of their day and age and as an inspiration.

Elvis Presley was at the end of his life a tired and overweight guy who looked like he just wanted to lock himself up in a hotel room and drug himself to sleep instead of being on stage...but he was a hell of a lot more than just that! Let's try and imagine a world where Elvis never went into Sun Studios on that summer's day in 1954, let' s imagine a world where Elvis lived and ended his days as a truck driver or perhaps had never even been born...

There would never have been a Jimi Hendrix who in the 1960s took the full advantage of the electrical guitar, neither had there been a punk revolution in 1976 because there would not have been a rockabilly movement to be inspired by at exactly the right moment in time to spark that fire. Had there been any rock bands at all then they would have carried on their drug trip and they would have died out in all senses of the term hence hard rock would never have gotten the kick in the ass by punk that it so desperately needed to turn into heavy metal...and goth would only have been limited to buildings, paintings, and literature.

The flutter of the wings of a butterfly in one place can set of hurricanes in others.

Now it is no secret that I love music and it is no secret that may it be Elvis singing about rock n roll parties in jail or Motley Crüe singing about Doctor Feelgood then the vibrations are the same...risen to a high level which in extension affects the mind, soul, and spirit in a positive way and Black Velvet is the religion that worships this - it's temples are the teenage rooms, big festival stages, obscure miniature club scenes and within the followers themselves. There is no hell, no right or wrong and despite the sometimes tensions none of us would be who we are had it not been for warriors of the past creating the first flame, Mozart bringing it to the bonfire, and Elvis Presley setting it ablaze!

Elvis's personal flame went out for more then 40 years ago, but the fire is like the one of Olympia...it just keeps on burning!!!! Thank you, Elvis...thank you!!!!

Asatru is my spiritual path...Black Velvet is my religion!!!!!!

A gothic romance

A gothic romance...

Goth as a musical style has been with us for almost 40 years, but in other art forms is has been with us for almost a millennium - from old gothic buildings, Bram Stoker, Hammer House of Horror to Dave Vanien and Cradle of Filth. And I listen to Goth rock before going to sleep, I still dance to it in the dark despite not looking die-hard Goth or being part of the scene anymore, but what exactly is the magic behind the alluring grip of Goth that just will not let you go?

Back in Copenhagen, when I used to live on the 11th floor, late at night I used to put on some Goth rock and just stare at the night sky. To me the sky transformed into a lover dressed in soft black velvet holding the whole world lovingly in its arms and that is the best way to describe Goth as a whole - the loving side of death often manifested as a seductive Vampire in gothic literature and media, the soft touch of heavy velvet, the soothing embrace of a 1000-year-old but forever young lover, the eternal romance with the night sky! So despite me not being able to really see the night sky anymore due to my living quarters - I live in a cellar flat and Sweden is, as these words are written, still in the grip of the midnight sun, then I will never fall out of love with Goth, because why say no to the above, if you equally love life?

I must honestly admit that I do not know how things are now, I simply do not care anymore to even be bothered to stay updated, but there used to at least be a misconception that Goths were depressed and generally suicidal. Obviously, I do not know the mind of every single Goth who has ever lived on this planet, but none of them that I ever knew were suicidal or self-destructive - they were and are very creative people and many of them extremely intelligent. Many of them were and are shy, but once you got/get to know them, very nice people. And in a world increasingly obsessed with meaningless reality T.V,  then Goths were and are reading Edgar Allan Poe and Yeats when not listening to music including Manowar and W.A.S.P! And as with the ancient Egyptian, then Goths love life...and see the beauty in death and rebirth! Some of my best memories of late-night outdoor parties in forests and on beaches have been Goth parties...Goths are just flipping good at arranging and holding picnics and bonfire parties! They are also extremely good at organizing gigs, festivals, clubs etc. No one has ever handed the Goth movement anything on a silver platter which is why Goth has always been so unique and why it is despite its thousand-year-old history like the Vampire...eternally young and forever giving birth to a new incarnation!

And it is a bit hard to enjoy and appreciate all the above if you decide to slash your wrist and die. In fact, as a person who is deeply in love with Goth and it's true nature, then I am not concerned about the average Goth...because I know this person is perhaps the most mentally stable of all despite being eternally in love. I am concerned about those who have succumbed to a life of social control and mental enslavement, those who fear darkness but ignore the signs of mental and physical burn out due to the burden of next years holiday aboard or the longing for a fix of whatever drug that controls them may it be junk food or heroine. I am concerned about the many who feel unloved but still convince themselves that they are happy in terrible relationships...

While the Goth is happily enjoying life in the arms of a lover dressed in a black velvet cloak, feeling the warmth of the lover's breath on their pale cheeks, and sensing the sweet blood pumping through an ancient but strong heart...while listening to Rosetta Stone.

Goth is life and love...at night!!!!!!

Post copied from my other blog: The Sejd of Music

For those of you who are interest in the occult, magic and the power of music!

The sejd of music...

The very first and the very last thing we sense in each incarnation is sound! Sound vibrates on the highest density of almost all things...sound are atoms which vibrate the second fastest in our universe, on our plane of exsistance, and within ourselves. The more solid things are the lower the vibration and since sejd is the life force which is pure energy, then sound is the closets we come to this externally.

The ancient Egyptians, as far as we know, were the first ever to connect sound with the sejd! In addition to this they connected architecture to sound, so not only can you hear sejd, you can also see it! But back to the sound....

The vibrations of sound vibrate on different frequenzes! A frequency can in some ways be compared to a binary code...on and off! But unlike a binary code, a frequency is not "on and off" full stop, but acts and is sensed like waves of sound: the next time you are standing on a shore, pay attention to the waves hitting the shore line or bank...both the way these waves look and the sound pattern is what frequencies look like!

Another way to see these vibrations and frequencies are to take a large boxed loudspeaker, pour some salt on it and play around with the bass -and treble levels. Each vibration...the low ones being bass and the high ones being treble...has it's own unique pattern!

All the above is about understanding, and conciously sensing, hearing, and seeing the energy of the second highest density in the entire univers, only topped by force of the universe and life itself! But what does this sound do to us, without many of us even noticing it?

We all have our different preferences when it comes to music: one person's favorite styles of music, is another persons source to head aches and annoyment and some do not even like music as a whole! But two things are begining to become more clear as the studies of vibrations on our minds progresses: low vibrations in frequencies can cause feelings of passivness, despair, sadness and in the most severe cases mind dumbingness...while high vibrations in frequencies promotes the entire opposites! People listening to Heavy Metal are less likely to develope depressions according to scientific studies, while you just have to look at most rap/hip hop fans or pop fans to sense the lack of intelligence and the effects of brain washing!

This might also explain why those in power are so worried about Heavy Metal, Punk and Goth...all three genres have of course a bass sound to them, but it is clearly a different one opposed to the bass sound in techno or hip hop where the bass is much more constant and profound creating continually low vibrations! Heavy Metal, Punk, and Goth may not leave one feeling docile and in a state of deep meditation, but these three musical styles promote feelings of personal strenght, healthy aggression (supressed anger is one of the well known factors to depressions and lack of mental well being), creativiness, the urge to learn more, and free thinking etc. So no wonder that the politicians and the general public in 1970's Britain were so terrified of punk: at one moment all were relieved, the last remains of the early hard rock movement were all on drugs playing 20 minute long guitar solos at gigs were the audiences were increasingly bored ( Yaaayyy, the slaves are falling into the trance again, ready to do as we bid) and then suddenly a loud flesh piercing scream of anger was heard...the birth of Punk! Looking back at old media clips from the birth of Punk in England, you shoud think by the way the brain washed majority of Brits and the media reacted that the whole country had been taken over by aliens from outer space, zombies, KGB spies or what have you...the reactions are hillarous to watch today and you can barely believe that this mass hysteria ever took place, but this is to date the most perfect example of how those who will do anything to control us loose control and try to regain it..when things do not go as planned! No matter how one feel about Punk then it was and is still in some ways a huge FUCK YOU!!! to those who see us as nothing but slaves...the clergy of the abrahamic religions and their mindless followers, the zionists, the bankers and multi international corporations, the power hungry politicians and organisations such as the EU and UN...and the jewish controlled media!!!!

But what does sejd have to do with all this? Other affects of high vibrations is mentally opening and maturing your mind to a higher sense of spirituality, to delibrately alter your mind to a certain situation by the aid of music, the ability of sensing vibrations in your surroundings and in some cases actually feed on the vibrations of as an example, music: as for the latter, days after going to a gig I felt an increase in my energy levels and could get by on less food than normal together with a general improvement in my mental well being and during a gig the vibrations litterally sent me into a semi trance! Whether this is elemental vampirism or not can be debated. But never the less, from going into a trance to choosing the right crystals and tarot cards to banishing the effects of negative influences and those who create or feed on them, then vibrations is a key element in working with magic and the occult....by using sejd, the force of the universe, best found and sensed in...music!!!!!!!!!!

It is now 23:58 ( those who like Iron Maiden will get this), time to wake up if you want face a brand new dawn!!!!!!!

Welcome to my blog....

Welcome to my blog...Hammer & Music

A blog dedicated to my favorite genres of music...vids, live recordings, interviews, and documentaries. And a blog dedicated to gothic horror and the master pieces from the legendary Hammer House of Horror.

This first entry is dedicated to one of the legends of gothic horror...Mr. Bela Lugosi...enjoy :)