In anticipation of the release of their debut album Hymns For Wilderness, Finland’s psych folk quintet Dust Mountain release Holy Equinox, the second single off the album, accompanied by a haunting music video made by the Valreza Collective (Tekla Valy & Tereza Holubova). The video’s choreography is by Nuppola fight, sister to Dust Mountain’s sibling pair Henna and Toni Hietamäki.
Holy Equinox is a song of sun worship, and the movements of the dancing girls are metaphors of various Finnish traditional Midsummer spells.
“Midsummer is one of the only festive days in Finland where old pagan traditions are still alive: when the day is longest and the night shortest, the magic was believed to be the strongest. Therefore it was a good time to do spells, and we still commonly know the ones about love (7 flowers under the pillow etc). We still light bonfires to the celebration of the light. Even though these practices are just fragments from their original meaningfulness, these are pieces of the heritage that has mostly been stolen from us. Our true traditions, deeply connected to nature”, comments Henna Hietamäki.
Dust Mountain was founded in 2016 by siblings Toni Hietamäki (Oranssi Pazuzu, Waste of Space Orchestra) and Henna Hietamäki (Cats of Transnistria, Henna & Houreet). The sisters are accompanied by an exceptional band: drummer Jukka Rämäen (Hexvessel, Dark Buddha Rising) bassist Riku Pirttiniemi (Death Hawks) and guitarist/backing vocalist Pauliina Lindell (Vuono).
In April 2021 Dust Mountain performed their international live debut at the legendary Roadburn Festival, Redux edition as part of the Black Sessions, and instantly captivated audiences around the globe with their shimmering, otherworldly harmonies. Inspired by 1960’s and 1970’s acts such as Fairport Convention, Pentangle, Jefferson Airplane, Coven and Linda Perhacs, with a soft touch of doom riffs and distortions, Dust Mountain’s joyous pagan gospel seeks pieces of a world hidden but not lost. Their stories celebrate the connection to nature and ancient rituals, moving between fictional fantasies and true, close-to-heart beliefs, making “Hymns For Nature” a startling and outstanding debut record. The mandolin riff driven “Village On Fire” is a powerful theme for burning down unjust kingdoms, so kick back and let Dust Mountain blow their magic breath of fiery air through your mind now!
Dust Mountain: Holy Equinox (digital)
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(Could be translated from Finnish)