My Favourite Pictures and Memories from April

Hi everyone!

I’ve been terrible at remembering to create blog posts, oops! April was an extremely busy month for me, so prepare for lots of photos! As always, this post is done as a Swap-Bot swap.

The first awesome thing doesn’t have a photo, but I successfully completed level 2 of my Dutch course! I am now busy with level 3! I think I will be able to speak enough Dutch to get a job after this level!

One of the most exciting things for me was that I got featured on the cover of FEMME Rebelle Magazine‘s April issue! Thank you to DeeDee Boop Photography for this amazing shoot! I am so proud of us! This was actually her first time ever even submitting photos to a magazine!

I also made a new friend called Hjalmar! We met on my folk metal community on Amino, and it’s nice to finally have a friend here in Belgium who loves folk metal as much as I do!

On the 6th April, I tagged along to a my friend Orphea‘s video shoot, and the photographer Erik Noppe, took some photos of me too. I am really happy with how they came out! This one of the two of us is my favourite.

I travelled to The Netherlands to work with the incredible Sanne van Bergenhenegouwen Fotografie and Ashley Design Make-up Artistry. The trip was absolutely worth it as the photos from this shoot are probably my favourite photos of my entire modeling career so far! Here is one photo of each of the looks we shot:

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The headpiece in the second photo was made for me by my friend Samantha Els before I left South Africa, and my necklace is one of my own creations and is available to purchase here!

While I was in the bus on my way back home from The Netherlands, my parents phoned and asked if I wanted to go to Damüls, Austria in two days, so of course I said yes as soon as they mentioned the possibility of skiing! Here’s a photo of my mother and I on the slopes!

When I got back, I had one day to relax, then I had my stall at the monthly Etsy Market in the Sint-Niklaaskerk in the Gent city centre!

Orphea also took this lovely photo of me on one of the days before the market opened!

I also travelled to Roeselare to see Elvenking live! Elvenking has been one of my favourite bands for almost 10 years now, so it was a very emotional night for me.

The other two bands who played that night, Desert and Frozen Crown, were also amazing and I enjoyed hanging out with them. Here’s me with Desert, and their unicorn mascot!

And finally, the last photo from April – my favourite jewellery creation from the month! I had lots of fun making many one of a kind beaded necklaces and chokers in April, but this one with the Green Man is my absolute favourite. It’s available to purchase here!

That’s all from me for now! I hope you enjoyed this post!

J

xx

Album Review – Elvenking – The Pagan Manifesto

So this is my first album review =D I hope you enjoy it. I am going to try to do this every time a band I like releases a new album. Artist: Elvenking

Album: The Pagan Manifesto

Genre: Folk Metal

Released: 9th May 2014

 

Track listing:

01. The Manifesto

02. King Of The Elves

03. Elvenlegions

04. The Druid Ritual Of Oak

05. Moonbeam Stone Circle

06. The Solitaire

07. Towards The Shores

08. Pagan Revolution

09. Grandier’s Funeral Pyre

10. Twilight Of Magic

11. Black Roses For The Wicked One

12. Witches Gather

 

I’ll always have a soft spot for Elvenking, as they were one of the first Folk Metal bands I discovered when I first got into the genre. They have always been one of those bands that I listen to every now and then, but not all the time, as their usual stuff gets very predictable. However, I feel this album marks a new beginning for Elvenking. There is immense improvement in their musical skills and this album honestly blew me away. It does not happen very often that I can listen to an entire album on repeat for hours without skipping a single song, but this album is one of these. Elvenking’s sound has matured a considerable amount over the past few albums. Their catchy melodies and lyrics about witches, rituals and magick had me ensnared from the first song. With this album they have moved away from their alternative sound and incorporated more Folk metal. Keep in mind though that Elvenking is known for their cheeseyness when it comes to melodies, but I actually love this part of their sound. The best way I can think to describe the album as a whole is the theatrical sound of Avantasia meets the folk melodies of Eluveitie.

Choosing a favourite track was next to impossible, because there is not one song on the album that I don’t adore, but I think it’s between Black Roses For The Wicked One or Witches Gather. The album also includes 3 beautiful instrumental tracks, of which Amethyst is definitely my favourite.

This album is a great listen and I’d highly recommend it to any Folk metal fan, or even to those who are unfamiliar with the genre.

 

J

xx