Heronimus Fin
And Soon The Darkness
Best Selling Album #13
on
Discogs!
HERONIMUS FIN ‘AND SOON THE DARKNESS’ (GARDEN RECORDS/UK IMPORT)
Strutterzine, Netherlands 2025
Opener The Edomite (Hate) is a Classic 70`s Hardrock style with stoner rock touch.
It has high quality sound/production, strong raw vocals and a kick ass guitar riff (a la SABBATH/KISS/LIZZY) and superb soaring shredding guitar solo at the end. Here the band reminds me a lot of SPIDERGAWD!
Moving on we have The Gentrification Of Charlie Blint & The Great Unwashed (Self Control), which has female vocals (provided by guest singer Aurora Felusia), and is a sort of haunting folk/world music inspired psychedelic song that mixes JEFFERSON AIRPLANE/BLUE OYSTER CULT with influences from a band like ALTIN GUN! The band are very diverse and comparable to MOTORPSYCHO, who also mix all kinds of sounds from the past. The 70s epic progressive classic rocker Midnight Gardners (Crime), is pure JETHRO TULL, URIAH HEEP & WISHBONE ASH in a melting pot, including superb (twin) guitarwork once again.
And Soon The Darkness (War) follows in a straight ahead uptempo classic 70s hardrocking style like BLACK SABBATH, with some really beautiful melodies (a la GHOST) and of course excellent guitarwork. The Nail That Sticks Out Must Be Hammered Down (Rebellion) is a calmer epic progrock tune like JETHRO TULL created back in the day, while Rain Beneath The Umbrella (Peace) is a sorta epic semi rock ballad. The final 2 songs of this album are Diamond Queen (Love) (if this was released in 1975, it would have been a classic right now, because this is excellent catchy 70s hard rock a mix between THIN LIZZY/BLUE OYSTER CULT) and Chelsea High (Hope) (a calmer acoustic ballad).
Conclusion, this is an underground 70`s sounding classic rock/progrock kinda album that I would highly recommend if you’re into any of the aforementioned bands. These guys have created their own sound throughout the years, and they would have been huge if this was still the 1970s. However, this band nevertheless needs much more attention, because musically speaking they are not that far removed from the popular band GHOST (minus the goofy image!)
GABOR KLEINBLOESEM (Points: 8.4 out of 10) 2025
HERONIMUS FIN - AND SOON THE DARKNESS
1. The Edomite (Hate) 8:23
2. The Gentrification of Charlie Blint & the Great Unwashed (Self Control) 6:44
3. Midnight Gardeners (Crime) 6:14
4. And Soon the Darkness (War) 5:35
5. The Nail That Sticks out Must Be Hammered Down (Rebellion) 4:02
6. Rain Beneath the Umbrella (Peace) 3:20
7. Diamond Queen (Love) 6:31
8. Chelsea High (Hope) 4:13
Prolusion. UK band Heronimus Fin are psychedelic as well as a progressive rock band. In the two distinct phases of the band's existence they have released 5 studio albums, of which three have appeared in the last decade. The album "And Soon the Darkness" is the most recent of these released through Garden Records in the late fall of 2024.
Analysis. This is an album revolving around songs and the creation of compelling and interesting moods and melodies, challenging escapades and intricate song development. In many ways I would describe this as an album with the heart and soul residing in the 1970s, and the more expressive hard rock category of bands from that era. The album kicks off with a song that revolves around a sharp, dark and catchy classic hard rock riff, which is a feature that is recurring throughout this album. In this initial song there is a midsection phase that adds a contrast to the initial phase. We also get more expressive landscapes to enjoy with the more dreamladen and distinctly psychedelic 'The Gentrification Of Charlie Blint & The Great Unwashed (Self Control)' we also get songs that are more approachable and easygoing in their excursions, cue the concluding 'Chelsea High (Hope)'. The recurring elements throughout are certainly from the progressive rock tradition, alongside something of a psychedelic element and a recurring use of classic era hard rock elements in general with guitar details in particular.
Conclusion. With some songs having a bit more to say than others, the main comparison I can make for this album, as well as the general mood and atmosphere, is towards another band that tends to get a lot of interest among fans of progressive rock. That band being the legendary Blue Oyster Cult, and referencing their albums from the 1970s in particular. While there are some rather obvious differences too, I would suspect that many fans of BOC s should find this album quite the satisfying and rewarding experience nonetheless. Progmessor: December 2024
OLAV MARTIN BJORNSEN
Heronimus Fin
BBC CD Review In Fireworks Magazine (Sept 2022)
If you want a cult following, then I would suggest that you create an air of complete mystery and stay totally underground. This is not something that many musicians can easily obtain. However Heronimus Fin seem to be the absolute masters at this. There is little information at all about them and they rarely release records; when they do they have very limited runs.
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Despite forming way back in 1994 in Birmingham, this is only their sixth ever release and follows on from 2018`s `The Pharmacist`. Heronimus Fin comprise Jon Buxton (Vocals/guitar), Jez Nutbean (Vocals/Keyboards), Andy Cooke (Bass/Harmonica), Colin Edwards (guitars), Ashley Buxton (drums) and in Spinal Tap fashion Terry Boazman (also drums). `Live in Session @ The BBC` is, as the title suggests, a live album and is compiled from two shows. The first four songs are from a show at the BBC studios in 2018, whilst the final two tracks are from a gig in Birmingham dating back to 2016.
They are an underground Psychedelic band, and have been compared to various groups such as Hawkwind, Budgie, The Kinks and The Sensational Alex Harvey Band. I should explain that they have their own unique, quirky, fun sound that doffs its cap to each of those bands at different times. Opening track `The Pharmacist` has a hypnotic, driving rhythm beat that SAHB would be immensley proud of; I can just imagine a group of hippies dancing in a deep dark mysterious forest. The tempo slows down for the gentle `Fool Killer`, featuring jangly guitar playing and softer vocals. `Crossing The Rubicon` is driven along strongly by the rhythm section, and is a fabulous straight-up rock tune with a great guitar riff and an epic soaring guitar solo. Fans of Hawkwind`s `Space Ritual` album will totally be in seventh heaven grooving along to `Riding The Great Fantastic`, my personal favourite on this release; the song has a seriously psychotic driving beat. `Elviras Garden` and `Blown Into Another Man`s Sky` are much lighter power-pop/punk-like ditties, and will have you bopping and singing along to the choruses. If you are stuck in the seventies and want a new record to add to your collection, then look no further than this release. Light yourself an incense cone or two and enjoy the journey.
KEN ROBERTS
Heronimus Fin
Interview with Record Collector Magazine
Ian Shirley, Editor of The Rare Record Price Guide Talks to Jon & Andy In Issue 515 About Expensive 'Fin' Collectables, Bloodguilt & More...
Ian Shirley
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Heronimus Fin's
"Bloodguilt" Album Makes The Top 30 Most Expensive Items Sold on Discogs in August 2020!!
Nicole Raney posted October 7, 2020
It’s time for another breakdown of the most expensive vinyl, cassettes, and CDs were sold in the Discogs Marketplace. On the monthly roundup, we can count on seeing classic icons, limited LPs, and a few coveted 7-inch releases.
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Let’s starts the most expensive item on the list. The No. 1 spot, which usually goes an older rock record (think The Beatles or David Bowie) and occasionally something fun like this punk 7-inch, has been claimed by a $5,000 test pressing of Metallica’s 1984 album Ride the Lightning. According to the Database, this version was for the Music Connection for Megaforce. And according to the Marketplace, there’s another pressing available — for $7,000.
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Now, for the elephant in the room. If your eyes have already scanned the page and your initial reaction was shock at seeing No. 30, we don’t blame you. It’s not often that you see Adolph Hitler on an album cover (especially since any pro-Nazi or any other filth from hate groups is blocked for sale on Discogs).
The controversial cover was replaced with the one above.
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“We were in all the national newspapers, on mainstream TV here in the UK, however, we used a historical picture of Adolf Hitler and the Pope on the front cover and suddenly people started refusing to stock it, the UK music mags completely misunderstood the meaning and went for our throats, so we withdrew [Bloodguilt] and changed the sleeve,” Jon Buxton told It’s Psychedelic Baby in 2019. “By the time it was reissued the momentum had gone. Interestingly though, the vinyl test pressing has now become a real collector’s item.”
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That “real collector’s item,” which was intended as social commentary and not pro-Hitler, is what you see below. What is the most interesting album cover that you have in your collection?
Sold for $1,914.00
Label: Garden Records
Format: LP, Promo, TP
Country: UK
Released: 2001
Genres: Rock
Styles: Hard Rock, Stoner Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Space Rock, Acid Rock
Heronimus Fin
Interview with Psychedelic Baby Magazine
10th July 2019
Psychedelic Baby Magazine interviews Jon Buxton & Andy Cooke from acid rockers Heronimus Fin!
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Who’s in Heronimus Fin and what do you all play? Have you made any changes to the line-up since you started or is this the original line-up?
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Jon: Today’s line-up consists of myself Jon Buxton: Vocals & Guitar, Jez Nutbean: Vocals & Keyboards, Andy Cooke: Bass Guitar, Colin Edwards: Second Guitar, and Ashley Buxton: Drums. Yes as the band has been together for over 25 years now there have been lots of contributors, the main previous members were Mike Bates, Terry Boazman, Paul Brookes (all drummers) and Paul Panic who played Bass for many years. We were a bit like Spinal Tap when it comes to drummers!
Heronimus Fin already played in the early 1990s. Were you a member of any bands prior to the formation of Heronimus Fin?
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Jon: Myself, Terry Boazman and Paul Panic started in our teens in two bands Misspent Youth and The Accused. We then opened our own recording studios in Birmingham UK where we worked with other bands such as The Sweet, Felt and Napalm Death!
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Andy: No, I played the occasional gig but Fin has been my first serious band and I’m loving it!
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What do you consider to be your first real exposure to music?
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Jon: A guy down my street used to work as a doorman at a local rock venue and when I was about 11 years old he introduced me to Led Zeppelin/Sabbath/Purple/Curved Air etc. and started to teach me the guitar…well there was no turning back. I still love that era down to this day.
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Andy: I was raised in a house full of great 1950’s Rock n Roll records like Little Richard. Then one day when I was around 12 years old a friend told me about an album that had almost a whole side filled with a live drum solo…didn’t believe it, so I asked him to bring it to school. Turned out he was telling the truth! It was “The Mule” off Deep Purple’s Made In Japan album. Changed my life forever.
When and how did you all originally meet?
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Jon: The band started when I met drummer Mike (Bates) who moved from Plymouth to my locality, he needed a someone to test out a new recording studio so we quickly formed Heronimus Fin (although we were originally called the ‘Orange Chair Lookalike Competition’ glad we didn’t stick with that one).
I had written a few songs for a friends play and through that met a great keyboard player called Jez Nutbean so I called on him, also my old friend Paul Panic (or Mr P as he was now referred to). Unfortunately after a couple of albums Mike had some major alcohol issues and left the band as he was such a great friend. Then we took a break. It was then that I met up with our current bass player Andy (Cooke) due to our love of vinyl collecting and he was the inspiration to get the band back on the road. We called on another old musician friend of ours Terry (Boazman) to play drums and Andy called up Colin (Edwards) from his previous band to play second Guitar, that was that until Terry due to several other musical commitments wasn’t able to continue. That’s when we drafted in my son Ashley as our present man on the skins (that incidentally is why there are two drummers featured on The Pharmacist album). As I said ‘Spinal Tap’
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Andy: I met Jon after he ripped me off with a few records he sold to me (kiddin’)! We started talking about our love of 1960’s /70’s psych rock and realised how similar our tastes were. He then invited me over to have a jam (translated ‘audition’) which evidently I passed and he asked me to join the band.
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What does the name “Heronimus Fin” refer to in the context of the band name?
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Jon: I went to an English Grammar School and I used to take in albums by Mott the Hoople, Jethro Tull, Amon Düül II, Alice Cooper etc. and the other kids would get freaked out by the weird names… I loved that. Also people would often struggle to spell them i.e. Led Zeppelin “…surely it should be spelt Lead Zeppelin old chap?” So Heronimus Fin was from that world (Monty Pythons Flying Circus anybody?). When people write about the band we’ve been called Harmonius Fin, Hermogenous Fin, Heroneus Fin, Humungus Fin, Horonimous Fin even our live sound man Carl still sometimes announces us as Hermonious Fin ‘bless him’.
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Can you share some further details how your latest album was recorded and released?
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Jon: We have our own recording studios ‘Garden Records’ which we usually use, however as my son Ashley had never had the experience of recording in a top studio with a history, we opted for that. I remembered John Rivers and Woodbine Studios from my days working with Felt. I knew of John’s impressive track record (Ghost Town – The Specials, The Nightingales and Ocean Colour Scene) and he was still an indie set up. The whole thing was a very positive experience which I think is evident in the music. It’s released in 3 formats Vinyl, CD & Cassette; which all have a limited first issue, the second issues will have different designs as we like to keep things collectible.
Is there a concept behind it?
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Jon: Absolutely, it deals with Steven who suffers from depression and turns to prescription medication to try and overcome it, this leads to him becoming addicted to the medication so the solution becomes the problem! The songs tell his story…his fight to combat his addiction.
Ashley (Drums) & Andy (Bass Guitar) Woodbine Studios, December 2017
I really love the production of the album.
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Jon: Thank you. As a band you’re always trying to get the balance between making a well recorded/produced album but not losing the live energy of the band and we feel we definitely achieved that. We also approached the initial recording process with the knowledge that it must cut well on vinyl. John Rivers did a brilliant job. He said it was the best sounding vinyl production he had been involved with. However it was never meant to be a modern sounding, sterile production that you seem to hear on many releases these days, it was deliberately meant to sound like it was recorded in early 1970’s. John was in his element as he owned all these great vintage f/x which he rarely got to use, but we used lots of them, he said he was fed up of the usual customers question “Do you have auto-tune?” John: “Yes but I also have some great Phasers, Synths, ADT, & lots of Percussive instruments you can use” customer: “nah let’s just stick with auto-tune & samples”.
Who is behind the artwork?
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Jon: Credit has to go to Andy on this one. He is a real connoisseur when it comes to album artwork. He has met with Storm Thorgerson (one half of the famous Hipgnosis team – Pink Floyd, UFO, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Scorpions etc etc) several times and purchased some originals, he’s always dragging me across the country to various exhibitions. My only brief to Andy was it had to be a bit of a gimmix sleeve the rest was really down to him and he did us proud!
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Andy: Ahh thanks Jon.
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You released four other albums. Would you like to tell us about those albums? How would you compare them with your latest release?
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Jon: With the first 2 albums The World According To… and Riding The Great Fantastic you have to think of me in the Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) mold as I had a vision and really the band just applied that influence. Musically those albums would fit more in the late 60’s Psych mode (Barrett, Pretty Things/Blossom Toes/Kinks).
The third album Bloodguilt was a marked change in that it was recorded live and allowed all the band to add their own personal influences. As it was live it had a nice rawness to it. It was at this time we’d signed a deal with BMG and things were really starting to take off big time. We were in all the national newspapers, on Mainstream TV here in the UK, however we used a historical picture of Adolf Hitler and the Pope on the front cover and suddenly people started refusing to stock it, the UK music mags completely misunderstood the meaning and went for our throats, so we withdrew it and changed the sleeve. As you can appreciate by the time it was reissued the momentum had gone. Interestingly though the vinyl test pressing has now become a real collector’s item. It was also at this time that the drummer had his drinking issues so we slowed it all down and I discovered ProTools.
This lead to remastering all the old analogue tapes of the early albums/out takes etc. and we put together our 4th album Blown Into Another Man’s Sky which was up for The Mercury Prize, in hindsight as this album also dealt with High School shootings and other controversial subjects it was never going to be a winner was it?
All of your material is released on Garden Records. What’s the story behind Garden Records?
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Jon: Having been involved in the music business in their youth and the control it had over their creativity, Garden Records was set up by a group of musicians as a means of managing/selling/recording their work without interference, rather like a musical Kibbutz. Unfortunately musicians and business rarely mix so many fell by the wayside and Garden Records is now run by just a small team and has also added reissues to plump up the catalogue.
Live at The Astoria 2001
What are some future plans?
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Jon: Over the years the band has been fortunate enough to make some great friends/contacts throughout Europe and it is still our desire to conduct a small promo tour, as with the US where we have a great fan base but that might prove a lot harder to do!!
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Let’s end this interview with some of your favourite albums. Have you found something new lately you would like to recommend to our readers?
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Jon:
Blossom Toes – We Are Ever So Clean
Nick Drake – 5 Leaves Left
Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother
Golden Earring – Moontan
Various Artists – Nice Enough to Eat
Genesis – Lamb Lies Down
Stray – Stray
Kinks – Arthur
Led Zeppelin – III
Camel – Camel
Budgie – Never Turn Your Back on A Friend
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Andy:
Budgie – In For The Kill
Kate Bush – Hounds of Love
The Doors – The Doors
David Gilmour – Rattle That Lock
Nick Harper – Lies, Lies, Lies
Pink Floyd – Meddle
Not really a new band but most underrated – Rose Hill Drive (first album – awesome)!
KLEMEN BREZNIKAR
ABUS (France)
HERONIMUS FIN Blown into another man's sky, CD, Garden Rds
Another band that emerged from nowhere, at least for me. Yet here is their fourth album, after a 15-year hiatus... Heronimus Fin began their discography in the mid-90s with a first album marked by English Weird Folk and a touch of progressive rock. Since then, their musical range has been greatly enriched, with elements of Sixties Pop, even Indie Pop, notably with a slightly 'synthetic' touch that is distinctly '80s (because of its excess and revivalism). A tension reminiscent of he Neo Mod scene, small bursts of Freakbeat, even old-school Power Pop.
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In fact, on this new album (with a brilliant title), Jon Buxton, the singer and main composer of Heronimus Fin, has let himself go with his most 'Englishness', which places the album and its music in the great tradition of the island's best songwriters: Ray Davis, Elvis Costello, Marc Bolan, Nick Drake, Paul Weller... no less! With these specificities and its sonic innocence, this 'Blown into another man's sky' is a beautiful work whose melodic and harmonic richness is revealed over time! BETRAND TAPPAZ
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Rockerilla (Italy)ccc
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​HERONIMUS FIN "The World According To..." (Garden Records)
From the psychoscopic observatory, we witnessed the birth of a new floral label open to imaginative intrusions of sonic spices from times gone by, happily channeled into our current soundscape. Garden Records began its journey with a wonderfully psychoactive group, elegantly serving up sauces of flavors ranging from beats evolved into playful electro-acoustic crossovers of the Kinks and Beaux-Arts to the introspective capabilities of certain early '70s songwriting, from the brilliant intuitions of Syd Barrett to the acid-sprinkled expansions of London's floral summer.
Little is known so far about this quartet (guitar, bass, keyboards, drums) split between Birmingham, Plymouth, and Liverpool, except that their leader, is very clear about his influences—"the English underground between 1966 and 1971"—and his immediate plans — "to accept no compromise." Their immediately striking ability to mix tones and to know how to alternate acoustic and infectious electric riffs, produces a constant see saw between songs of absolute melancholy, like the poignant 'This Place Has Changed', and energy-drenched R&B like 'The Line of Least Resistance' and the playful pop of 'Home James and Don't Spare the Horses'.
In reality, 'The World According To...' has an almost 'concept' structure, as demonstrated by its second part, collected under the title 'The Crabtree Road Suite', which directly recalls the vein of an album like 'Arthur' by the group Ray Davies or, in the more surreal episodes, - 17” like the hallucinatory 'The Lone Fox ..: - to the squilli of the 'Sergeant Pepper' band. They are often frescoes of everyday life and uncertainties that fill lyrics that are anything but banal, with the help of pressing rhythms ('Michelle Step Out') or more rarefied atmospheres (the sympathetic 'Shadows'). 'In the Library' has an infectiously mod flavor, while 'The Ladder' mixes the choice of a very modern rhythm with singer-songwriter nuances worthy even of a great like Leonard Cohen. Then there is the varied spectrum of 'Wardrobe Sunset,' where the four forcefully open up to the current, expanding the use of keyboards towards aqueducts and that of guitars towards distorted subversions, progressing, in what is almost a suite within a suite, to modernize the myth of an album like 'Atom Heart Mother,' including wind instruments and synthetic vocals, with unprecedented crossovers and modernisms.
Thus, captivated by the evident beauty of the sounds, our rational attempt comes to a halt; the history of Garden Records has just begun… JOHN VIGNOLA