HIERONYMUS HARRY – The River Of Doom (2023, LP Echodelick Records/US, We Here Now Records/CAN and Ramble Records/AUS)

RELEASE INFO:

Label: Echodelick Records/ We Here Now Records/ Ramble Records

Format: LP, Album, Limited Edition, 180gr Colored Vinyl (comes with Download code), 500 copies

Format: CD, Album, Limited Edition (comes with a 4-page digifile), 300 copies

Release Date: 18 Aug 2023

Hieronymus Harry is Harrison Forman. He is a Toronto (Canada) based artist drawing inspiration from all different variations/admixtures of Folk music. Acid folk, experimental folk, freak folk, progressive folk, psychedelic folk. So, naturally, Hieronymus Harry is a deeply 60s-influenced musician, so immediately he caught our attention! “The River Of Doom” was originally released independently on cassette and digitally on November 11th, 2022, and finally after almost one year, 3 different independent labels collaborated for its vinyl release! Echodelick’s Bandcamp page states: “Harry’s music conjures madcap, mystical worlds through naturalistic acoustical performances” and continues “Harry’s debut album The River of Doom is an odyssey of spellbound surrealistic, outsider folk songs that wholeheartedly embrace weirdness and the present self”…

“The River Of Doom” features musical performances by Eliza Niemi (Cello), Matt Coldwell (Double Bass), Sophia Katz (Vocal Harmonies), Steven McPhail (Flute) while the rest is by Harrison Forman and Patrick Lefler.
Let’s take a closer look/listen to the album. It contains 10 tracks, equally divided to the 2 sides of the LP album. The self-titled “The River Of Doom” opens the album and by the first moment, you find yourself wondering “What the Fuck is this? Where am I? Is this a kindergarten?”… No… Definitely no… But it surely feels like I’m in a garden right outside Cucko’s Nest! Yes, what I’m trying to say is that somehow magically I’ve been transported inside a fairytale… Gardens, trees, flowers, nature, waters, creatures, colors, rivers… A folkie acoustic serene soundscape flute-based covers it all… Wow… I’m so curious about next… The follower “Nymphs And Satyr” is a dreamy fairytale-ish tune, with strange and kind of “childish” vocals, it’s like a children’s song for adults, an acoustic environment under a progressive-flok vein that becomes experimentally acid-folk, diving deep into Psych weirdness, it feels like what if when Alexander (Skip) escaped the psychiatric clinic he accidentally met with Incredible String Band members and all together recorded this! Let’s move on… Well, I really don’t know if this guy, Harry, is familiar with Constantine’s magical 2015 album “Day Of Light”, but the atmosphere on the next one “Marsh Of Love” reminds me of the one in Constantine’s LP. It’s dreamy, mystical, folkie, and acoustic becoming dark with whispering spellbound vocals emerging an intense Renaissance feel! “The Fruit And The Flower” is an acoustic folkie kind of spoken-word interlude that is built on just a flute and a guitar… Side ‘A’ closes with “Radiant Planet”, a track that leans more toward American traditional country music than toward Folk and maybe you could blame the banjo for that, this is another magical tune that turns into country-folk… Side ‘B’ opens with “Colour Of The Mirror”, another piece of sorcerous rhythmic folkie music with rich backing vocals, flirting with Pop and Country while trying to embrace Folkie storytelling… “Softer Space” is a slow piece of Folkie acoustic music, becoming more progressive-folk and kind of surrealistic while the cello gives the song a gentle classical feel. “Sorcery On Holiday” is another short but witching kind of interlude that leans towards the Progressive side of Folk… And just before the end, here comes my personal favorite of the album, “Out Of Motion” has an outstanding, astonishing, magnificent ACID-Folkie acoustic environment, flirting with darkness and weirdness, a track that could have easily been recorded/captured by Alexander Skip Spence inside Cucko’s Nest! This song could probably act as a ‘door’ to Fantasy Land, Alice’s wonderland perhaps… Enchanting! The last track is called “Chariot’s Ear”, this is a classical-flirting acoustic folk-a-delic tune, dreamy but full of melancholy, blending Acid Folk with Progressive Folk resulting in a fantastic piece of Cosmic neo-folk! Yes, a highlight too! So, in conclusion… “The River Of Doom” is a beautifully mystical Folkie album that combines Syd’s cold weirdness, Alexander’s madness, Incredible String Band’s magic, and Pentangle’s folkie energy… In other words… Hieronymus Harry is the Madcap that Oars while opening the Basket of Light in a desperate effort to save Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter… Invest! TimeLord Michalis

Tracklist