Nest
Within A Decade
The Finnish Neofolk / Ambient project NEST by Aslak Tolonen and Timo Saxell is well known far beyond the mentioned genres. Every connoisseur of Agalloch will remember the beautiful Nest / Agalloch split from 2004 or the amazing album Woodsmoke on Corvus Records! This sumptuous 3CD edition, prepared in 2 and a half years of dedicated work, compiles not only ALL the music ever recorded by Nest (incl. compilation tracks, demos, covers.) for almost 200 minutes total duration, but also contains some of the illustrations painted by Aslok in a magnificent 20 pages booklet inside the very SOLID deluxe digibook-packaging! Nest was formed in summer '99 with the idea of making acoustic and ambient music to reflect the world of old fables, and folk tales. The main instrument of this atmospheric Folk / acoustic group is the traditional Finnish string instrument Kantele. In addition to the atmospheric ambient landscapes - like musical reflections of paintings - Aslak plots compositions revealed through the fragile beauty of melodies played with kantele. In fact, the kantele is one of the primary musical assets of the project, giving it a unique, fabulous sound and atmosphere. Aslak is also an extraordinary painter and his admiration for nature he does not only express through music, but also through pictures. In fact, Nest must be seen as a sort of audiovisual project because for almost every track there are specially made illustrations that com- plent the music. In existance for little over 10 years, Nest recorded 2 full-length albums "Woodsmoke" (2003) and "Trail of the Unwary" (2007), Nest has ceased to exist and Aslok now focused on the new project Syven. "Taken as a whole this is one of the most exhilarating and imaginative releases to come my way in a long time. This band is on the right trail to becoming one of the most exciting and original folk bands out there today." 9,5/10 Lunar Hypnosis "This, my friends, is an ode to our mystic landscapes in the far northern regions of the world. While Nest does not feature any hard-pounding guitars or percussion (at least, not much), this will attract many if not... all metal music lovers! For fans into Agalloch, Tenhi, Empyrium, or any acoustic/ambient music. Beautiful and dreamy!!" - Metal Fanatix