hedvig mollestad trio: all of them witches

Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen is a guitar heroine for our times. Her molten, overdriven guitar sound is forged in the same fiery furnace as Hendrix, Tony Iommi, and Jimmy Page, then plunged into a steaming vat of free jazz in the Sonny Sharrock/Fred Frith mould. On tracks like "The Rex" and "Lake Acid," you'll hear the megalithic riffology of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" and "Rock 'N' Roll," but with an agility and intensity peculiar to the dark Northern regions where she and her bandmates were raised. Her drummer Ivar Loe Bjørnstad grew up in a Norwegian hillbilly town where the kids taste moonshine before they've started school. And bassist Ellen Brekken was raised on a farm and is extremely fascinated by trains -- which, given her impeccable timekeeping, seems highly appropriate. All of Them Witches follows the Trio's previous Rune Grammofon release, Shoot! and, like label-mates Elephant9 and Grand General, represent a thrilling new progressive wave of Norwegian avant-rock/free-metal energy. This latest batch of electrifying instrumentals was recorded live in the island environment of Ocean Sound studio, a grass-roofed wooden barn on the edge of the Norwegian Sea fitted with state-of-the-art equipment. "Sing, Goddess" takes its name from the opening line of Homer's Iliad. Inspired by the wide-open skies, "Shawshank" and "Ghrá Rúnda" are more reflective pieces, bathed in controlled feedback. Witches have historically been victims of persecution, but as Hedvig reminds us, black magicians can also hold the reins of power. Prepare to be spellbound.

Hedvig Mollestad Trio - Lake Acid