Review of Maryland Folk Fest on DC Heavy Metal

It's been a little while since my last review again. I have been to a couple shows, but other writing commitments and ridiculous real-life stresses have gotten in the way of keeping up with this blog. I have a review of Evergrey/ Voyager/ Borealis/ Oceans of Slumber that I've been working on for almost two weeks. It's almost done..but I haven't had a free evening to work on it since I almost finished it on Monday of last week :/

In the interim, in case you haven't read it yet, you can read the review of Maryland Folk Fest (US east coast folk metal fest featuring Aether Realm, Sekengard, Yonder Realm, Isenmor, Dogs And Day Drinkers and Heimdall) that I wrote for DC Heavy Metal (which is one of those other writing gigs that's distracting from this one ;) ).

Not included in the DCHM review is this photo of the pit for Isenmor. I'm in there :D

Photo by Tigran Kapinos

Concert Review - Shell Fest 2015 - Vitality, Aether Realm, Condemn the Infected, Frostclad - 5/9/15 at Nyumburu Cultural Center, University of MD, College Park, MD

So, this is my first review in months! I have actually been to a few shows in the meantime, but didn't review them for various reasons. Alestorm, Swashbuckle and Sekengard on January 29, but that was the night before my family's dog was to be put down, so I was in no mood to enjoy the show, much less review it. Sekengard and Isenmor the following Monday, February 2, which I started to review but never finished writing; I was still kind of out of it. And then later in February, I saw my girlfriend's band, but I can't review them if I wish to be taken seriously. I'm still trying to live down the review I wrote before she and I started dating, heh.

And then somehow a few months went by without me going to any concerts at all. Oh, I was supposed to see Kamelot and DragonForce on April 27, and wanted to see Apocalyptica on April 29, but I couldn't get away for either one. And then the Baltimore Uprising happened and that Kamelot show was canceled/ rescheduled anyway. I'm going to see them when they come around again in the fall. And I was going to go to Empire's Last Show Ever featuring A Sound of Thunder, Yesterday's Saints and Iris Divine (and some headlining band I'd never heard of) but again, couldn't get away.

So it'd been about two months since I'd even been to a concert. May was originally shaping up to be crazy with concerts, but Empire's closing wiped out several of those, and prioritizing my life removed a few others, so now the only things remaining on my calendar are NIGHTWISH, MARYLAND DEATHFEST and a folk metal show. Yes, those things are supposed to be shouted. No, I don't give a fuck if you hate me for liking COB Nightwish - they're the band that got me started on metal.

So anyway - to ease myself back into the metal life and the metal writing, a fun and free show at the University of Maryland - the UMD Metal Club's annual Shell Fest, this year featuring Vitality, Aether Realm, Condemn the Infected and Frostclad. Aether Realm is one my of favorite "local" bands - as a band from a few states away who hasn't quite hit it big yet. They're folky melodeath, or melodeath style folk/Viking metal, or something, in the vein of Ensiferum, with tones of Amon Amarth and Children of Bodom at times too. They were supposed to play at the Finntroll show at Empire in November 2013 but couldn't make it; before that, the last time (and also the first time, I think?) that I saw them was opening for Turisas that spring. So it'd been a while and more than anything else about this show, I was looking forward to seeing them again. I also recalled liking Vitality, so I figured at least half the show should be good.

Unfortunately, everything took way too long on Saturday, including finding the visitor parking on the UMD campus, and so my friend B. and I got there well after the first band, the UM Metal Club's black metal band Frostclad, finished playing. In fact, the second band, Condemn the Infected, was already playing when we got there. As soon as we stumbled upon the well-hidden Nyumburu Cultural Center, our discovery was confirmed by the sound blasting out the open doors. I immediately bumped into my buddy M and spent the rest of Condemn the Infected's set standing around in the lobby chatting with him. I had meant to watch at least a little of their set, but catching up with a friend I hadn't seen in a long time was more fun. (Sorry, folks, it seems I'm getting old and lazy..)

Speaking of people I hadn't seen in a while, Vincent of Aether Realm actually recognized me and said hi. When they were getting ready to play is when M. and B. and I finally abandoned our barricade of the water fountain and went into the room where the bands were playing. It was like a large, high-ceilinged classroom, with a hard tiled floor and a low stage at the far end. There were about forty people on the floor for the two bands I watched, loosely filling the front half of the room, a nice turnout for a hard-to-find venue on a night when two other local shows were happening. The sound was actually pretty good, too; no complaints there.

After numerous false starts/ sound checks, and jokes about being done and leaving the stage, Aether Realm finally got started. The first two songs  ("The Magician" and "One Chosen By The Gods") sounded all right, but I thought they really hit their stride with their third song, "Swamp Witch," and the fourth song, their new single "The Chariot," sounded exceedingly good and tight. Epic riffs warred with tremolo black metal guitars, and the vocals reminded at times of Alestorm and at times of Alexi Laiho. They like to joke around and act silly saying things like, "This is..um.. a song," but once they actually start playing you can tell they take the music seriously, at least. Surprisingly they only played five songs, when it had seemed like Condemn the Infected played for an hour. It was fun though - there was a strong pit, ten to fifteen people, for almost every song, as well as some headbanging lines that stretched almost across the whole floor.

Last band of the night was Vitality from Frederick, MD. I had seen them a year and a half ago at Cafe 611 opening for Arkona. Perhaps the sound there was poor, for this time they were much more brutal and less melodic than I remembered. There were more battering drums and hammering guitars than I recalled, and the vocals were that sort of low roar that sounds almost wordless, it's so incomprehensible. They did have some groovy parts, which were fun. Also, I kept getting distracted by how closely their guitarist Chris resembles by friend S. Chris is taller with longer hair and able to play guitar, but his face, facial hair and hair type are so much like S, and the expressions he makes while playing guitar are spot on like S's expressions (when not playing guitar), that I couldn't help giggling whenever I saw his face (which wasn't often as there was usually a curtain of hair in front of it). I talked to him after their set (and up close, sporting a man bun and with a distinct voice, he's not so reminiscent of S) and it turns out he actually knows S! Go figure, haha.

Being that it was a college campus, the show was over around 10:30, but we hung out till about 11, chatting and pestering Aether Realm about merch. Between meeting up with friends, seeing the long-lost Aether Realm, and hanging out in a chill metal atmosphere, it was a really fun night.

Turisas, Firewind, Stolen Babies, Aether Realm - 2/5/13 at Empire, Springfield, VA

February is a busy month with a concert every week except the last! S has even more - this week alone he intends to go to five concerts, and has already been to three of them. But seeing as I can only get away about once a week, I had to choose between Gojira and Turisas this week. A little of a tough choice - I've never seen Gojira, and was stoked to see they were touring after the Lamb of God tour they were on didn't happen. But TURISAS! They're one of my top five bands, and also a sort of up-and-coming band in the US, so I felt had to go support them. Besides...moshing to "Battle Metal"??! Need I say more?

We were distracted by a Viking Metal lady on the way into the venue, and so we missed most of Aether Realm's set, which was too bad. What I caught of their last song sounded pretty awesome - epic guitar riffs rather like Amon Amarth, except even more melodic. They looked and acted the part of a full scale folk metal band - the singer was shirtless with a bear pelt biting his shoulder, and the band members all windmilled their (very long) hair on the guitar parts. My only issue with them was that something - bass and/or drums, I think - was too loud and dominated their sound with this indistinct roar, obscuring a lot of the melodic guitar parts. Still, if they come around next time, I would try harder to be there in time for their set - they're from North Carolina, so I hope they decide to make the trip again!

I didn't know what to expect from Stolen Babies, since I was too busy listening to Enslaved and then Turisas in the weeks before the show to have time to check them out. They were interesting, although not really my type of music. They seemed to combine the dark edge of goth (with some industrial moments as well), the loudness and heaviness of metal (including some harsh vocals) and the musical and vocal stylings of punk, especially cabaret and gypsy punk. The vocalist played an accordion, was made up on the sparkly side of goth and wore her (greenish?) hair in two pigtails with a ragged scarf on top. They had melodic moments that reminded me of pirate metal, harsh noises and a few screamed vocals that were reminiscent of the harsher industrial genres, and some pretty heavy guitar parts, although the riffs were generally pretty simple. They were fun to listen to, and perhaps something I'd foist on friends in the punk scene :P

Firewind was as I expected or perhaps a little better. They're not one of my favorite power metal bands, but on the good side of tolerable, I guess. They were also on the heavier side of power metal bands I've seen live, especially on the song "Few Against Many." S said they have a new singer; I thought he sounded good. If I hadn't known, I probably wouldn't have been able to tell the difference; he sounded fairly similar to their previous singer (although that's the judgment of someone who doesn't really follow Firewind much). I think possibly I have a grudge against them because when the song "World on Fire" came out, they started playing that on the radio and stopped playing Symphony X's "Set the World on Fire," and I really, really like "Set the World on Fire" and its cheesy video.

I was mostly just waiting for their set to go by so that Turisas would come out. I was really just there to see them, as was probably obvious from my face paint XD I've seen them twice before, and this time was the best yet. First of all, they sounded much louder and heavier in the small confines of Empire than in the larger venues where I saw them before (The Quarter and Sonar). Also, the crowd at Empire was so much better than in Baltimore, and since a folk metal show is a highly interactive experience, it made all the difference.

Their set started out similar to last year's Paganfest - they started with "March of the Varangian Guard," "Take the Day" and "To Holmgard and Beyond." (I started the first pit during "Take the Day," and I think I started the first jig, too, but I didn't have to work nearly as hard as at Paganfest. This crowd was rambunctious; someone even started a pit during Stolen Babies, and there were pits during Firewind, too. I didn't participate in those, but I was glad to see all the energy and hoped it would last for Turisas, and it did!) After that they mixed it up a bit - they played a lot from The Varangian Way, which was awesome. Most amazingly of all, they played (pretty much) every Turisas fan's favorite song, "Rasputin," which they don't seem to normally play live in the US. After the encore, the crowd started to chant "Rasputin" - and they actually came back out and played it! It was a fantastic end to the show. That, and the fact that I got to shake hands with Mathias and got some of his face paint on my hand XD I joked, "I'm never going to wash this hand again!" But in fact, that paint on my hand got wiped off during the pit for "Rasputin" :/

Other random fun things: There were quite a few girls in pit. There was a super fan who grabbed me after "Rasputin" and lifted me in the air. (That was in addition to my friend L lifting me up judo-style and holding me on his hip for several minutes in between Firewind and Turisas's sets.) I petted the Aether Realm singer's bear pelt. I didn't have to pay for water. Overall, an awesome night!

Next concert: Hatebreed and Shadows Fall on Valentine's Day - how sweet!