Concert Review - Alestorm, TrollfesT, Gypsyhawk, Fallen Martyr - 12/4/13 at Soundstage, Baltimore, MD

Alestorm is one of my favorite bands to see live, so I was pretty stoked to see them doing a headline North American tour. The show was the night before my brother's birthday, so it was supposed to be a birthday celebration for him, too, but he ended up not being able to make it.

At first I was disappointed about the line-up - compared to Finntroll's stellar line-up, Alestorm's seemed especially lame. I had seen TrollfesT at this year's Paganfest, and while they were decent live, I still can't get into their chaotic, brassy sound. I wasn't too familiar with Gypsyhawk but what I'd heard about them - slow, stonerish - didn't make me want to find out more. But the uninteresting openers turned out to be a boon - it meant I didn't have to change my work hours at the library. After working at the library and getting changed at S's place (and scarfing down a burger) we headed to Baltimore.

We got there just as the rotund singer was setting up a wall of death for "Rundt Bålet." The floor wasn't that full, but a solid number of people lined up and the ensuing pit was actually pretty intense. The song itself featured a catchy polka melody played at a wild pace, which I have to admit got me bobbing my head and looking a little enviously at the pit. We saw the singer of Alestorm on floor taking part in a jig, and I felt happy knowing this crowd knew how to do a proper folk pit. Then TrollfesT ended their set with "Helvetes Hund GARM," where they had everyone bark like dogs. There were about a zillion people on stage - including people playing with a vacuum cleaner and a broom, a girl twirling an umbrella, Alestorm's singer with a tambourine, and other band members with maracas. Like last time, TrollfesT ended up being bearable, even kind of catchy, live; I didn't mind being there for their last two songs.

Not too long afterward, Alestorm came out. They didn't seem very loud, yet they seemed to be overwhelming the speaker system - they sounded fuzzy and feedbacky for the more intense parts, such as in "The Quest" and in "Death Throes of the Terrorsquid." The melodies and vocals were nice and clear though. Th pit was energetic, even a little too rowdy - the headbanging line was stumbling about during "Nancy the Tavern Wench," and there was moshing during the chorus of "Captain Morgan's Revenge."

They started out with "The Quest," which is not a song that I'm super familiar with, so I hung back. Then they launched into "The Sunk'n Norwegian" and I had to go jump around in the pit for the chorus. They played a new song, "Surf Squid Warfare," which was all right, with some fun melodies and a kind of slow chorus. I thought it might end up like "Leviathan," another song with a slowish chorus that I didn't dig too much at first, but ending up being one of my favorites. They did play the "In the Navy" cover as expected, which was fun. During "Terrorsquid," local Ethan Looney ("Admiral Derek") got onstage to do black metal vocals, which sounded great. There were a couple instrumental interludes. Besides the volume issues, Alestorm sounded great and delivered a great time. At the end of "Rum" (the last song of the encore), the singer jumped onto crowd declaring "Take me to the bar!" He got as far as pit, the crowd wavered, and then they pushed him back to stage.

Overall it was a fun time. I had been worried about the pit, because the pits at folk metal shows seem to be getting more brutal and less folky recently, but this one was pretty good. There was a guy trying to run the pit who did a pretty good job at getting people to mosh and jig in the right places. The pit was rather more open than I like, since in a pit with a lot of open space it's easy for a small person like me to get knocked down, so I didn't go in as much as I would have liked. Still, it was certainly fun enough, and Alestorm sounded great and had good energy.

Afterward we managed to spot the singer of Alestorm on the floor again, shook hands and took a photo.

Next show: Finntroll, Blackguard, Metsatöll, take 2, on Monday in Frederick (also my brother's birthday fiesta, take 2). With local openers Burning Shadows, Demiz, and March to Victory! Looking forward to an awesome night.

Concert Review - Arkona, Fallen Martyr, Yesterday's Saints, Burning Shadows, Vitality, Divine Conspiracy - 10/28/13 at Cafe 611, Frederick, MD

This was the first stop of Russian folk metal band Arkona's headline world tour. I was super excited to see them play a whole set. We've seen them open for bigger folk metal acts, but their set has always been short and rushed. Not only that, but since they were playing at Cafe 611, a tiny venue with a stage barely raised off the floor and barely big enough to hold a band, I knew we would be up close and personal with the band - especially Masha, the singer, who is one of my metal idols.

There was a pretty strong line-up of local bands warming up the crowd - the downside to that being that the show ran about an hour late, and so an already late start time for Arkona was pushed back to about midnight. We planned to get there sometime during Vitality's set in order to make sure to see Burning Shadows, but when we arrived sometime after 8, the first band was just going on >.<

The set-up was also interesting, because Arkona's drum kit had already been set up and was taking up about half the stage, which meant that for most of the opening bands, their drum kit took up the other half of the stage, the guitarists stood on the sides, and the singer was on the floor with the crowd - sometimes in the crowd. In fact, the first band had all their equipment set up right on the floor.

The first band was Divine Conspiracy, a three piece outfit. I heard people saying that it was their first show, and I believe the singer backed up when I talked to him later. Just as we came in, they launched into something very punk rock sounding. Then they did a System of a Down cover, which I didn't really listen to. I believe their third song was an original, and it sounded pretty energetic, although I couldn't hear much other than the bass. When I could hear it, the lead guitar (played by the singer) sounded pretty great. They ended with a Slayer-paced cover of Pantera's "Fucking Hostile"; the singer/guitarist's speedy playing was a little more audible in this song. He definitely has skills, but they need to work on their sound mixing.

Next was Vitality, whom I had somehow mentally confused with Vital Remains. Once they took the stage, though, it was immediately clear that they look and sound completely different from that band. As soon as they launched into fast melodic riffs and aggressive vocals alternating between a high rasp and guttural growl, I wondered how come I never heard of them before. I was also amazed at the low growls emerging from the rather diminutive and normal-looking singer - although I really should know better than to judge by appearances! S kept comparing them to Black Dahlia Murder, and I can see the comparison in terms of style, but their pace was more moderate than BDM's frenzy. They only played three songs. Hopefully we'll be seeing more of them.

Then came Burning Shadows, a power metal band that I've been trying to see for years. We always seemed to arrive too late to shows they were playing, but this time we finally made it. They started off with something from their latest album, Gather Darkness - I think it may have been "A New Dark Age." They played three songs total, and they all seemed rather long. When listening to the album Gather Darkness, I found the vocals a bit overly pompous, but this effect was diminished in the live setting, and they had some headbang-inspiring thundering power metal bridges. There was a headbanging section on the left side of the floor that was pretty into their music; I might have been up there too if I hadn't been hanging out with people. They exceeded my expectations, so I hope it's not years before I see them again.

After that was Yesterday's Saints, another band we've been trying to see for a while. During their set, we moved to the floor and I tried out wearing earplugs, since S insisted I would need them if I wanted to go up close for Arkona. The earplugs were a terrible experience - as I expected, everything sounded muffled, the singer's voice sounded distant, the bass was just a blur of low noise and I couldn't hear the guitar at all. By the end of the set I decided I wasn't going to waste my time not hearing the music and took them out. Even without earplugs, though, the bass and guitar sounded like a confused roar, and the singer's vocals were so low, he might as well have been singing without a mic. I heard him complaining about the sound afterward and I don't blame him. Fortunately he had a powerful voice, both for growls and clean vocals, so I was able to hear him, but the vocals didn't quite have the bad-ass or soaring effect, respectively, that they would have if the volume matched the instruments. They played three songs total, including a new song that the singer warned might not be quite polished, but at the least it didn't sound any worse than the rest of the set. The singer got into the crowd a couple times, and even tried to start a pit at one point, but people didn't seem to be having it. It was kind of a disappointing experience with the earplugs and the sound issues, since it seemed like some cool heavy stuff was going on. I guess we have to continue our quest and try to see Yesterday's Saints again, without sound problems.

The last local band was Fallen Martyr, which, ironically in contrast to the previous two elusive bands, is a band that I have seen several times and have never been able to get into. This time, though, I was actually able to enjoy their set a little. I'm not sure if it was that I got drunk during their set, that I'm finally getting used to the agonized vocals or that said vocals were being halfway drowned out by the guitars (which, by the way, are excellent and are Fallen Martyr's saving grace). I think they played four songs; the first was "Soul Left Bare" (whose chorus is among the more bearable of their songs and always makes me think of Paradise Lost's "Faith Divides Us...Death Unites Us" just because of the lyrics) and the last was "Body of Light" (whose repetition of the words "I rise" led me to troll S with talk of the Batman).

During Fallen Martyr's set, a guy came up to me and asked me, in all seriousness, if I was Masha and said I looked just like her. Best compliment I've ever gotten :D \m/

And then at last Arkona. As soon as the sweeping intro started, I totally forgot the lateness of the hour. I had worried that the folk instruments or melodies might be drowned out on Cafe 611's sound system, which is usually tuned to rumble as though made for bass-heavy death metal bands, but in fact they sounded perfectly clear, at least from the center of the floor, front to back. I spent some time getting as close to the stage (and Masha) as possible, but much more starting mosh pits and jigs. There was a core of three or four guys and three other girls who could be relied on to get moving when the music got fast or polka-y. Most of the crowd pressed up to the front of the floor, leaving the pit in the back; I never did get all the way up to front like I hoped.

They started off fast and heavy with "Arkaim" and I couldn't resist pushing a friend around and starting a pit. That song has some great headbanging grooves, too, and Masha got everyone clapping for the more melodic parts. While the crowd wasn't the loudest, they were very willing to clap, fistpump and shout "Hey!" (and the band had us doing a lot of all three, so much my arms are still sore) and the crowd even sang along and jumped along with the band for some parts. The floor was about half full, but people were packed pretty tightly up at the front. The sound was perhaps not quite as rich as their recent live album Decade of Glory with its backing choir and orchestra, but this was a tiny venue in Frederick after all. The guitars were heavy, thundering in the fast parts; the bagpipes and recorder melodies floated over them nice and clear; and Masha's vocals were commanding or naturally beautiful, depending on the circumstance. It is pretty amazing how the band can go from flowing folk singing and wind melodies to black-metal-like furious guitars and drums and dark, harsh vocals; I think the variety, along with the earthy feel of the folk parts and the intensity of the harsh parts, is one of the reasons I like Arkona so much. They played most of the "classics" people would expect like "Goi, Rode Goi," "Slavsia, Rus," "Arkona," "Yarilo," and "Stenka na Stenku" as well as "Maslenitsa," "Po Syroi Zemle," and "Slovo," with "Rus" and "Kupala i Kostroma" as the encore, and also some other songs I can't name off the top of my head. (Someone has posted a setlist.) About two thirds through the set, the rest of band took a break for a bagpipe solo. As at Paganfest last year, Masha called for a wall of death for "Stenka na Stenku"; unlike at Paganfest, this time she had time to make herself understood and so it actually happened. Even though I said beforehand that I didn't think I could orchestrate a wall of death, I did have to goad people to line up for it, and then finally took part in my first honest to god wall of death. A lot of people got into and fell down in the crazy pit right after that. I hope we did Masha proud :P

Masha was getting pretty pink by the end of the set, and on the last song ("Kupala i Kostroma") she sounded a bit weak - that was probably the only weak point in the whole set. It's got to be difficult performing under those lights in furs. I was a tiny bit disappointed that they didn't play "Pokrovy Nebesnogo Startsa" (a great moshing song) or "Vyidu ya na Volushku" (which has a lovely folksy melody) but I had such a great time with the songs they did play, I could hardly complain about missing songs. Actually, it seems like all the songs they played are on their Decade of Glory live album, which would make sense, if they consider those songs their "hits."

I realized it was a long time since the last folk metal show - even this year's Paganfest doesn't really count, since most of the bands were more epic-riff Viking metal rather than folk metal chock full of folk instruments and melodies - so it was a while since I'd experienced a good folk pit. Arkona was an awesome cure to that! The band put on a great show, and the crowd made it really fun too. Like the last show at Cafe 611, the local line-up was also solid, keeping me well entertained till the headliner finally came on. Now, I just wish I wasn't operating on 3 hours of sleep, still..

Next show: Next Monday - Finntroll, Blackguard, Metsatöll and more awesome locals! Another chance at Yesterday's Saints, as well as North Carolina vikings Aether Realm and a new folk metal band from Maryland, Sekengard.

Wintersun, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Arsis, Starkill, Fallen Martyr, March to Victory - 8/6/2013 at Soundstage, Baltimore, MD

This was probably my most anticipated show of the summer. As a fan of all sorts of melodic metal, Wintersun is of course one of my top bands - Jari Mäenpää is the king of epic, sweeping guitar riffs. Their tour in support of Eluveitie last winter - their first North American tour - skipped the DC area. We did go see them in Pittsburgh, but it was still exciting to see them come back and headline. And what a line-up they brought! Fleshgod Apocalypse, with their classical piano woven into fast and brutal death metal, is one of my favorite melodic/symphonic acts, and Arsis, another speedy and melodic band, are also highly enjoyable. And I was super stoked to see Starkill on the bill. When I first heard them, I could not believe something so epic and melodic was made in the USA (although, I guess we do have Dethklok). I figured they would tour sooner or later. My hopes were raised and then dashed when they toured with Krisiun - but not in my area. And then I heard that they were going to tour with no less than Wintersun. It was like a dream come true.

We got to Soundstage early - on time, rather - to catch the first opener, but it turned out the show was running about 15 minutes late - unfortunate for such a long line-up, but not the worst delay we've experienced. So we had time to check out the merch. There were plenty of Wintersun shirts and other items such as shorts, underwear, cap, koozie, patch, button...Fleshgod Apocalypse had shirts and their new album Labyrinth which doesn't come out till August 20 in the US (!!), Starkill was selling shirts and CD's, and Arsis had...donuts. Their merch was delayed, again.

Lancaster, PA death metal band March to Victory started the night with a solid set. Most of their songs were full of nice headbangable grooves, also the second song, "Soulless," had some pounding jackhammer moments, and the unusually named song "Funeral of the Lizard Beast" (did I hear that right?) was rather complex. Like last time we saw them, they covered Death's "Crystal Mountain," quite well - Danielle does high-pitched Chuck Schuldiner well. She mostly sings in a high rasp, but can produce some nice low growls, too. They were going to play a cover of "The Philosopher" as well, but got cut off. Danielle did not talk to crowd much besides to tell us what each song was - she's new to the band, so perhaps she's still finding her feet onstage. I wish she had called for a mosh pit, though, cause I would have loved to push people around to the thundering fast parts, but was too shy to start a pit in such a large venue.
Setlist: Deadly Venom. Soulless. Funeral of the Lizard Beast. Crystal Mountain (Death cover). Consumption. The Philosopher (Death cover, cut off before they played it).

The next local opener was Fallen Martyr, a sort of melodic fusion of different things. We've seen them a couple times before, but this was the first time I saw them with a good sound system. (Cafe 611 does have a decent system, but it's usually tuned to rumble, which means some of the higher tones get drowned out.) So this was the first time I really got to appreciate their guitar work in a live setting. The guitars are really good - some groovy death metal moments, some blasting black metal moments, some nice solos. The vocals..well, during the first song, I thought I might finally be getting used to them. There were moments when the singer's vocals meshed nicely with the music, and altogether they painted an image of desperate yearning - I imagined a drowning person struggling for air. But as the set went on, the whininess started to get to me again. They're not overly whiny - they're kind of like Muse's vocals, just whiny enough to be a little irritating. And his screams took it right out of the ballpark for me. Some people may like screamo, but it's not for me. Frankly, the singer ranting, "You will all bow" at the end of the set was kind of ridiculous. I've seen him do that before, and it always sounds and looks like a petulant teenager. So, I've given them several tries and still can't get into the vocals. But hey, I did really enjoy listening to their guitars.

An then it was time for Starkill. They take melodic death metal to a new level epic power metal solos and film score-based symphonics, besides throwing in some black metal or other influences at times. I was really looking forward to these guys, so I was disappointed that they started out weak. At first, they were too quiet - then the vocals were too loud and lead guitar so low that I could hardly hear it - not all whenever Parker was singing. It was frustrating to the point that I thought of shouting, "Turn up the lead guitar!" but I didn't, for fear it might throw the band off. Fortunately, the sound was corrected during the solo of their second song, "Immortal Hunt." After that, they sounded much better, although still a bit quiet compared retrospectively to the acts that followed. Their sound has a strong resemblance to Dethklok at times, especially the song "Below the Darkest Depths." There was a decent pit for most songs - if there wasn't, I might have felt compelled to help out, but as it was I decided to just headbang to their epic grooves. They played a good selection of songs from their new album, Fires of Life, although I didn't think "Wash Away the Blood with Rain" was a good choice to end on, not being one of their stronger songs. I would have preferred to hear "Sword, Spear, Blood, Fire" or "This is Our Battle, This is Our Day." But oh well - that leaves something to look forward to when they come around again.
Setlist: New Infernal Rebirth. Immortal Hunt. Fires of Life. Below the Darkest Depths. Wash Away the Blood with Rain.

Starkill used be known as Massakren and released a self-titled EP under that name, so after the show I screwed my courage to the sticking plate and asked one of the band members about their name change. He said they changed the name, as well as cleaned off their corpse paint, in order to better represent their sound. Apparently Massakren kept getting labeled as a black metal band, even though there is so much to their sound than that, so they wanted to get away from that - to have a fresh start, I suppose.

Their image is a bit mixed, though. Their clean-cut looks fits with the epic, melodic metal vibe, but the skinny jeans they wear make me think of the throwback thrash scene - and thrash is one thing that doesn't appear in their sound at all. (I dunno, maybe that's just the way people dress these days, though.) Their album cover with its warrior on a mountaintop and lightning or lasers flying everywhere, makes me think of Manowar, while their T-shirt designs are rather dark and ghoulish, in the vein of death metal or deathcore bands. But hey, it's their band. They can do pretty much anything, as long as they keep making that sweet epic melodic metal goodness.

After Starkill were Virginia natives Arsis. While not one of my top bands, I can get behind their very fast and melodic style of technical death metal. Their songs all sound rather similar to me; I can't really tell them apart (aside from a few singles like "Forced to Rock" or "We Are The Nightmare"), but there's enough variation within the songs that I don't get bored. We were very near the front for their set, perhaps in the fifth row, but off to the left of the stage. Yet the sound level was bearable without earplugs, so perhaps they weren't very loud either. They sounded great even way off to the side, a barrage of furious riffs punctuated by the James Malone's raspy vocals. I was trying to headbang with a drink in my hand and wondering whether or not I'd be too drunk to go in the pit for Fleshgod Apocalypse. They played a short set, but a fun one.
Setlist: Handbook for the Recently Deceased. A Diamond For Disease (first few minutes). Seven Whispers Fell Silent. Unwelcome. Carve My Cross. Face of My Innocence. (Thanks to XcKyle93 on M-A for filling in my gaps :) )

Fleshgod Apocalypse had the second slot, of which I was glad, since after Wintersun and Starkill, I most wanted to see more of them and go crazy to their fast, brutal sound with its tidbits of classical piano. Actually, it seems the piano plays a larger role than I thought, because they had an actual piano on stage during this show, with a guy playing constantly - I don't remember if they had that last time. I still couldn't hear it much of the time, though, and I feel like their symphonic backing track was pretty low, too. Their sound was much bigger this time; I don't know whether that has to do with the difference between Soundstage and Empire's sound equipment, or their own gear/sound guy. They played a couple songs from their new album: "Minotaur (The Wrath of Poseidon)" and "The Elegy," both of which had a good death metal groove going on and utilized more operatic backing vocals, compared to the sporadic line or two of agonized cries on most songs on the previous album, Agony. They had a female singer in a feathered mask standing at the back right, doing the operatic vocals. Besides the new songs, they only played songs from Agony. That was all right with me since that's the album of theirs I know best, and I got to hear some of my favorite songs. I wanted to go in the pit for "The Violation," the pit was too fast and brutal; I thought I'd better stay out. They were good - solid, headbangable guitars and crushing vocals - but when am I going to get to hear the symphonics and piano live, hm?
Setlist: The Temptation (intro). The Hypocrisy. Minotaur (The Wrath of Poseidon). The Deceit. The Violation. The Egoism. Elegy. The Forsaking. (Thanks to Dave_o_rama on M-A for id'ing the first song.)

And then, it didn't seem long at all before the ethereal strains of "Time Fades Away" wafted over the audience, and we grabbed a spot and waited for Wintersun to come out. They emerged at the climax of the intro, Jari second after the drummer, and launched right into "Sons of Winter and Stars." There is nothing quite like belting out that chorus along with a hundred odd other metalheads while the epic strains of Jari and co surround you. It was an awesome experience all the way through. The sound seemed fuller than when we saw them supporting Eluveitie, but that's probably because this was a bigger venue than the "metal church" where we saw them before. Fantastically epic riffs contrasted with heartwrenching sorrowful moments - I actually teared up at end of "Land of Snow and Sorrow" and "Time" (although maybe just because I associate them with the sad moments of a certain novel). I was stoked to hear "Beautiful Death," a charging fast song that made up for the lack of a certain other fast song. There was an enormous pit for "Beyond the Dark Sun" - I've only seen pits that large at thrash shows. Their "new" song, "The Way of the Fire," was another fast one, though with slower choruses. At some point there was a solo from Teemu, showing that he's a great guitarist in his own right (I mean, he was in Imperanon after all). They finished the set with the epic "Starchild."

There was all sorts of talk beforehand about what they were and weren't going to play - well, they played all of Time I (though in separate chunks), the new song, and all but three songs from Wintersun. I know several people were upset that they dropped "Battle Against Time," but I was pretty happy with their set. They played a solid set - an hour and a half - and didn't take up much time talking (come to think of it, none of the bands did).
Setlist: When Time Fades Away. Sons of Winter and Stars. Land of Snow and Sorrow. Beautiful Death. Darkness and Frost (Time intro). Time. Death and the Healing. Winter Madness. Beyond the Dark Sun. The Way of the Fire. Starchild.

All in all, it was an epic night, well worth being up till nearly 2 in the morning.

Next show: Midnight Eye's release party - tonight! Check out my review of their new EP, and stream all 3 songs from it, here. :)

Concert Review - The Agonist, Fallen Martyr, Demiz, March to Victory, Area 52, Iris Divine - 7/19/13 at Cafe 611, Frederick, MD

This show was the day after we trekked up to PA to see Amaranthe, but we decided to go anyway since it was so close by. I also felt like I was getting a cold, but thought I could power through the evening. I'm not a huge fan of The Agonist - I feel like their music lacks intensity somehow - but I was interested in seeing the long line-up of local bands opening for them.

We wanted to see Iris Divine, but left too late and missed them. We got there just before Area 52 started. They sounded like they might have some promise, but it was hard to tell. The mix was off, so they sounded like a lot of bass noise punctuated by way too loud (and slow and repetitive) drums. The guitar player did (mostly) clean vocals, and the bass player harsh vocals, but I could hardly hear them (from my seat at the bar). They had some promising moments, like when the bass and drums were obviously doing something thrashy, but I couldn't hear the guitar. They called for a mosh pit and the crowd actually obliged, which doesn't always happen with the local acts at Cafe 611.

Gettysburg, PA death metal band March to Victory was on next, and they sounded really good. They had a different vocalist than the last time we saw them - they had a male vocalist previously, but this time the vocalist was a woman (with fake(?) blood smeared on her face and neck). I liked her vocals more than the previous guy - I still couldn't make out what she was saying, but it sounded more like words than the former vocalist's unintelligible growls. Overall their sound was much clearer and groovier than last time. I headbanged a lot and would have pushed people around if I wasn't sick and wanting to save my seat for later.

Next was Demiz (pronounced like "demise"), who also sounded good. They played mainly fast, fierce black metal in the vein of Marduk, very loud and energetic. They had a song about Vikings, which sounded rather Viking-y. I think they need to work on their image though - the guy in a red Subway shirt and the singer's plug earlobe piercings really threw things off. They would look much more like a professional black metal band if they had a more unified image. The guitarist (who looked rather more black metal with his dark hair and clothing and crosses painted on his face) jumped on the speakers a couple times. I did enjoy their sound.

After that was Fallen Martyr, who also sounded better than last time we saw a whole set of theirs (opening for Blackguard). They collected a good crowd and had a very professional demeanor and sound. The guitars and drums were nice and heavy, and pretty well mixed, although I couldn't hear much of the guitar melodies. Still, they are not quite to my taste, mainly because of the vocals. The singer sang with a lot of gusto this time (lack of which was one of my gripes before) but I was not digging the anguished sound of most of his vocals. There were some moments where he sang with more aggressive punch to his voice, kind of like Halford's vocals, which I thought were good, but overall things tended a little too much toward emo for me.

By the time The Agonist came on, I was feeling rather weak. They sounded pretty good, loud and riffy (this is another venue whose sound system seems generally tuned to rumble), and I headbanged a bit when I was able to pay attention. There seemed to be something lacking, though; they didn't inspire me as much as March to Victory and Demiz. It may also have been that I was sick and tired, because I literally passed out on S's shoulder by the end of the set.

Next show - Mayhem Fest on Wednesday!

Concert Review - PAGANFEST IV - Ensiferum, Tyr, Heidevolk, Trollfest, Helsott, Yesterday's Saints, Fallen Martyr, Demiz - 4/15/13 at Soundstage, Baltimore, MD

I'm pretty sure Paganfest (America) will be my favorite show of the year - and it's only April! I have a real soft spot for folk/pagan metal, mainly because it is so fun to mosh to, and this show delivered a nonstop blast of rampaging folk metal with a great reaction from the crowd. This will also be a really long concert review, cause it was an immense show with eight bands. That's a mini festival right there.

Needless to say, what with the massive line-up causing things to start super early, we missed the first two bands, and only caught the last song of Yesterday's Saints. Although they've been on the line-up of several shows we've been to (including one where one of their guitars got stolen) this was the first time I actually got to see them. They were good, with kind of melodic riffs.

I was really looking forward to seeing Helsott, a folk metal band from California (yes, I was spreading lies when I mistakenly said they were from Texas). Their music has a heavy (ha,ha) thrash and death metal influence, and the songs I listened to ahead of time sounded full of intense, heavy energy. I thought it would be great to mosh to them, but I can't remember if I actually did (some social things were stressing me out and made it hard to pay attention at times during the show). I really enjoyed their set, though; their guitars were great. The vocals were too low, so I couldn't make them out most of the time (except the female vocals, provided by the keyboardist, which were a nice touch), but the guitars were amazing. I think at some point they even sounded a bit like hurdy gurdies, although that could just have been my imagination/being too obsessed with Eluveitie.

The next band was Trollfest, from Norway, who I was not looking forward to seeing at all. (It is almost impossible for me to dislike a European metal band, but this is one out of two that I outright dislike, the other being Vildhjarta.) I forced myself to listen to them ahead of time, and they sounded messy and discordant, something that does not appeal to me, being a fan of melodies and riffs. But they were better than I expected - they sounded much better live. Their sound was still very chaotic, and I was not a fan of the blaring saxophone, but the polka beat and melodies were difficult to resist. I would definitely have been in the pit if I had not been drinking. Actually, I did start a mini drunken jig with my friend K and crashed into some people. They came out all wearing bee antenna, and the singer was actually in an entire bee costume. As if their music wasn't silly enough.

I was also really looking forward to seeing Heidevolk, a Dutch folk metal band that I had fallen in love with while doing my pre-concert homework (that is, making a giant youtube playlist of all the bands that I then foist on my friends). Heidevolk sounded excellent. They started with "Nehalennia" and "Ostara," two songs I really wanted to hear. I fell in love with this band because of the rich, deep clean vocals, and Mark Bockting's voice sounded just as amazing live (though friends reported difficulty hearing it further back). At one point I was up in the second row, right in front of Mark Bockting - ahhh, it was amazing. Besides the vocals, the songs are kind of moderately paced with riffs that are all right, but not spectacular - just sort of generic metal riffs - but there was still a pretty good pit. I think I went in it a bit - definitely for "Vulgaris Magistralis."

Heidevolk with their two vocalists. Photo by Steve Wass

I was not really looking forward to Tyr, in spite of their awesome reputation, because they were kind of lackluster the last time we saw them. But they were so much better this time - much more energetic, and with much better sound. They mainly played the faster paced fan favorites. I do enjoy their older, slightly doomy songs with chant-like vocals like "Ormurin Langi," but the newer slow song they played last time, "Evening Star," totally sucked the energy out the set. This time they kept the energy going. I was not feeling great during their set, but ran into the pit for the second song, "Tróndur í Gøtu," since it's my favorite Tyr song. They finished with "Hold the Heathen Hammer High," and I really regret that I was sort of having an anxiety attack and couldn't go in the pit.

Finally, Ensiferum topped off the night with a great performance. The riffs were epic and the harsh vocals commanding. They started with "In My Sword I Trust" from Unsung Heroes, which is a pretty catchy song. I was rather angry at the beginning of the set and as a consequence kind of aggressive in the pit at first (not cool, really :( ). There was lots of jigging, even to the more death metal like parts of their songs, and some really furious pits for the faster, more intense songs like "Ahti." They sounded very good. While doing my homework, I had watched a live Wacken video where the singer's voice started to give out, but there no such issues that night. I did wonder why the spoken parts, such as in "From Afar," were piped in - no one in the band could do those parts? And I guess the Finnish vocals on "Lai Lai Hei" were not as nice as on the album, but acceptable. I was terribly disappointed that they didn't play "Into Battle" -  I was really looking forward to the pit for that song. They did play a good mix of old and new, though, including songs like "Retribution Shall be Mine" that I don't think get much live play. Even if they are not innovative as they used to be, I'm glad to see they can still put on a great live show and play the old songs flawlessly.

Out of two Paganfests I've been to, this one was far the better. Every band sounded great and the crowd was energetic and folky for each band. A really solid evening.

S also wrote a review (although he falsely alleges that Ensiferum played "Treacherous Gods," which they most definitely did not - I would have had to be carried out of the venue after tearing up the pit if they had played that song!). He also posted a ton of photos.

Next concert: Death To All (Death tribute/charity benefit tour), tomorrow!

Sonata Arctica, Arsis, Yesterday's Saints, Fallen Martyr, Trihexyn, Radamanthys - 12/9/12 at Empire, Springfield, VA

We missed all the local bands at this show, which was too bad, because some of them were decent, one had a cool name and one used to be my friend's brother's band (I'll leave it up to you all to figure out which one's which :P) We actually got there right around the time Yesterday's Saints was supposed to go on, but one of their guitars got stolen and they didn't play.

Eventually, Arsis came out instead. They were much faster and heavier-hitting than I expected. The only song of theirs that I had any previous impression of was "Forced to Rock," and the impression I got from that was an old school medium paced heavy metal band, not this whirlwind of pummeling guitars and undecipherable lyrics. Some pits formed, especially later in the set, but I was kinda tipsy and not wearing very secure shoes, so I didn't go in :( I just stood there and headbanged instead. I enjoyed their set; the music was energetic and the rolling sound of the guitars was great for headbanging. (S. said they were better the last time he saw them, so they must have been fantastic.) I talked to one of the guitarists later (the one with amazing long curly hair :D ) and he said that they play everything faster live. A great plan, in my opinion.

I didn't enjoy Sonata Arctica's set as much. They used to be one of my favorite bands, but I don't particularly like their new stuff. It's not horrible, it's just not the melodic epicness that they used to put out. (I know, I just trolled In Flames fans in my last review for similar attitudes, but I guess I'm more open-minded about In Flames since I only recently started listening to them.) Sonata still sounded good, and the few old songs they played (ex. "Black Sheep," "Full Moon," "Don't Say a Word") were awesome, every bit as fast and melodic as ten years ago.  I spent most of the set in suspense to see which (if any) song from Winterheart's Guild they would play; I won't spoil it, but I will say that sadly, I was disappointed with their choice from that album (so many other epic songs!). There was a clump of people in the middle who pretty much only moved when they played the old songs, and a bunch of people on the right who were jumping and waving the horns for every song - somehow the old and new fans self-segregated :P I guess Sonata did play a decent mix of old and new, and the new songs sounded all right, with some catchy choruses - with the exception of "Cinderblox," which sounded messy and terrible. I liked that they ended with one of their best old songs, "Don't Say a Word." There was an honest to god pit for this song, with 6 or 8 people in it. I hoped the band wouldn't ruin the vibe with an encore of newer songs, and they didn't.

Whee. Hope he's singing something good. (Photo by Steve Wass)

I had a pretty good time at the show, but mainly because Arsis was good, and I got to hang out with some friends and family. Old Sonata fans will have to weigh whether you can stand through half a set of new songs for a few of the oldies. If you really need to hear "Don't Say a Word" live one last time, then go - the rest of the set won't be (too) terrible. If you would rather stay home and listen to all the epic songs on Winterheart's Guild that they won't play, I can't really argue with you.

Next show: Heading up to Pittsburgh to see WINTERSUN with Eluveitie and Varg (not in that order) on 12/19!!!

Kamelot, A Sound of Thunder, Cassandra Syndrome, Fallen Martyr - 9/14/12 at Empire, Springfield, VA

For this show, I was equal parts excited to see Kamelot, one of the best power metal acts in existence, and to see local band A Sound of Thunder in the second slot, where I thought they would have plenty of time to play. I turned out to be disappointed on one of these counts, but not the other.

I headed out a bit late, picked up a friend on the way and then had to grab some food, so we got to the venue just before A Sound of Thunder came on. They had a great sound, loud, heavy and clear, and a bigger crowd than I've ever seen for them - about 3/4 of the floor. Like last time I saw them, they played songs from Out of the Darkness and new songs. They didn't play anything from Metal Renaissance (no "Blood Vomit"???). They seemed to be running short on time - Nina's explanatory spiels were cut short several times, and they were about to play my favorite song, "A Sound of Thunder" when they got cut off at the end of their set. I thought this was unfortunate, since their vocals are pretty difficult to decipher live, so any new listeners in the audience probably missed out on the meaning of the songs.

Kamelot also sounded excellent. Their new singer, Tommy Karevik, sounded a lot like Roy Khan for the songs I was familiar enough with to judge. He was very energetic and well received by the crowd. I think I enjoyed their set more this year than last year since I was more familiar with their songs. S. tried to start a pit for "Center of the Universe," and we jumped around a bit - I think we were some of the most enthusiastic fans there. Alissa White-Gluz of The Agonist provided female vocals, including harsh vocals in the new song "Sacrimony." The new song sounded good, with a catchy chorus, which makes me optimistic about their new album.

This show was a good warm-up to the next, even more epic show...Korpiklaani, Moonsorrow, Tyr and Metsatoll on 9/21!

PAGANFEST - Turisas, Alestorm, Arkona, Huntress, Deranged Theory, Yesterday's Saints, Fallen Martyr - 3/29/12 at Sonar, Baltimore, MD

Ok, finally touched this up - as in, finally wrote it in complete sentences.

This was probably the biggest show of the year for me - three awesome folk metal bands in one night. It was a lot of fun, although there were a few points where I was disappointed. Mostly organizational things; the actual performances were great and I had a good time.

We got there during the second band's set - just after 8pm. We had judged that getting there around 8 would get us there just in time for Huntress (the fourth band and the first of the official Paganfest bands). It turned out the show was running way late. For a show with seven bands, that definitely cut my enthusiasm a lot - it meant sitting through several not as interesting bands hoping I wouldn't get hungry before the fun started, and a really, really late night on a week when I have no days off.

But anyway, enough of the whining, in spite of the annoying lateness, I did have fun, so here's my review of the bands:

We missed Fallen Martyr entirely. S thought they had cool shirts though.  (As I go to post I realize we have indeed seen these guys before since I already have a tag for them, so if you want to know about them, click on the tag at the bottom of the post.)

We arrived in the middle of Yesterday's Saints' set. They were loud, but not every interesting. The singer had a nice voice though.

Deranged Theory was the last of the openers (we perhaps cheered a little too heartily when they finally cleared the stage, no offense to the band, we were just getting a little impatient). They had some headbang worthy melodies and riffs, reminiscent of Iron Maiden at one point. S disapproved of the singer's vocals, but I thought he sounded all right. Perhaps a slightly deeper growl would have been better. But still, I enjoyed their songs, and S was amused that many of them were about video games, like Castlevania.

Huntress had a strong metal sound, but I find the vocals kind of bland - at least, that was my initial impression of them. "Eight of Swords," their single, is not a good representation of singer's vocal range - she can growl like Masha (of Arkona) and also has a lovely clear high singing voice. S compared her to Doro. She had an..eye-catching outfit that helped to keep attention on her for the whole set.

Arkona came out blasting with "Pokrovy Nebesnogo Startsa", which I have always considered a great moshing song and was really looking forward to hearing and moshing to. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the pit, because I was too far back; the pit was right in front of stage. I got in on the second song though. The pit was big and brutal, with a lot of big lumbering drunk guys, so I didn't go in as much as would otherwise. They played a really short set, about 5 songs, with no time wasted on talking. They sounded good and heavy to me, but S thought they didn't sound as good as on their recordings. Perhaps the sound could have been clearer, I dunno, I was mostly thinking about the pit, and wishing that the pit was better. Masha called for a Wall of Death for Stenku Na Stenku but the moshers ignored her or didn't hear (but at least they were folking). I didn't quite feel like being pit boss and making it happen. Maybe next time.

Alestorm sounded great, and the pit was a blast - besides the usual shoving, there was lots of jigging and headbanging circles. I sort of got my right side abraded off by a guy in chain mail. In contrast to Arkona, Alestorm got a really long set - the singer kept saying how no one was telling them to stop so they would just keep playing. They didn't play Captain Morgan's Revenge, which was disappointing, but on the other hand, we got to hear a bunch of other songs that aren't played as much.

Turisas came out strong with "March of the Varangian Guard." They followed it with "Take the Day," the second song from new album, and I wondered if they were going to play the whole album. But that was not to be. The third song was "To Holmgard and Beyond", and I started looking for pit. On the next song ("Dnieper Rapids") I started a pit. People did not seem to realize that one could mosh to Turisas. (Someone called me a warrior maiden for starting /constantly being in the pit.) Then, the music slowed way down, with slow paced solos from Olli and some slow paced songs. A lot of the crowd drifted away, dunno if it was because of the late hour (well after midnight) or because of the slow songs. Netta (accordion player) is not with band anymore, and I noticed that some parts sounded a little odd, so I wondered if they replaced the accordion parts with keyboard. I missed the accordion sound. Toward the end, the set picked up again; Turisas saved the best for last, with "Stand Up and Fight" and "Battle Metal" at the end.

I had fun, although besides for Alestorm, I didn't have the epic folk pit experience I was hoping for. I also expected more of the pirate/Viking (Varangian) rivalry, and perhaps more songs from Turisas. It would have been great for if they could have pulled out "Rasputin" or "Those Were the Days." If not at Paganfest, where else? But still, for folk metal fans, these 3 bands in one place is not a show to miss.

Sanhedron, Sixteen Cylinder, Vitality, Fallen Martyr, BLACKGUARD - 8/24/11 at Krug's Place, Frederick, MD

I was pretty excited when I found out that as warm-up for their tour with Kamelot, Alestorm and The Agonist, Blackguard would be doing a headlining show in my area. (If you don't know why I'm crazy about Blackguard, read this post.) They'll play a whole set, I thought, which means a bunch of their old stuff! (These days they tend to mainly play songs from Firefight, their latest album, with a few old ones thrown in along with a comment about their fans who've followed them since the beginning of time and how they used to be a folk metal band, which always causes me to throw the horns and yell, "FOLK METALLLLL!" Although before that, they were a black metal band.) But anyway, I digress.

Well, this show started late. By the time we managed to get our butts in gear and get out the door (and stop by Giant for supplies..) it became clear it would be past 9:00 when we got to Frederick. We figured we were going to miss most of the opening bands, which made me sad since the tiny samples that Sixteen Cylinder put up online sounded pretty tempting, and I wanted to hear some full songs from them. But it turned out the show, which was supposed to start at 8, didn't start till 9. We missed Sanhedron, but Sixteen Cylinder was on when we got there.

Sixteen Cylinder is an insanely heavy band, with a little industrial flavor particularly at the beginnings of their songs, and also a female vocalist with a great voice. I was glad we got to see them, disappointed that they didn't have any CDs or merch for sale. I guess they're just working on their first album. They had an amazing, loud and heavy sound for a band that's so new they don't even have an album or full song samples.

After Sixteen Cylinder, we skipped out for a bit. Krug's place is more of a bar and restaurant than a real concert venue - there was plenty of seating, as well as pool tables, in the bar area to the left, and the room to the right where the bands played was jammed with tables, chairs and five bands' gear. The "floor" area was so tiny and the "stage" so small and low, that it was wonder none of the moshers crashed into any of the band members. Things at the venue were pretty relaxed, so it was easy to go in and out..so figuring we were in for a long night, we left and got some fries.

When we got back, Fallen Martyr was on. We missed Vitality, whom S. would have liked to see, but I was not that excited about. Fallen Martyr has a pretty nice sound, and they sound more intense live than on their recordings, but they're still missing something. Their songs tend to be long and ramble a bit, with lots of different pieces that don't quite come together. They have epic and heavy guitars, but the singer doesn't quite live up to the rest of the band. He has a nice voice, but in my opinion he doesn't sing strongly enough - although this was better live than on the recordings; S. thought he would be more suited to a different music genre.

By the time Blackguard finally came on stage - I think it was near midnight, I didn't even dare look at my watch cause I had to go to work the next day - there were only ten or so people left in the floor area. We chatted a bit with Terry (guitarist) earlier in the show, and found out that since Kim (lead guitarist) couldn't make it, they were not going to be able to do any songs from their Profugus Mortis days, only a limited set that the guest guitarist (someone from Destrophy \m/) had learned. And then since they came on late, they announced they were only going to play a short set :(

They started with "Firefight" like usual. I felt like there was something off about the song, but maybe that's just from listening to the album version too many times. Even with a small crowd in a small space, they sounded loud and awesome, and they used the low stage to their advantage - the bassist got on the floor a couple times to join in the pit, and Paul put his hand on people's heads and gave one avid fan the chance to sing into the mic. The highlight of the night for me was that they played "Sarissas," my second favorite song from the new album and one that they don't usually play live; I said to S., "If no one else starts a pit for this song, I think I'll have to." No one else did - so I ran into a bunch of big dudes, who looked at me like I was crazy - I'm female and kind of small, so I don't think they believed I was serious. I couldn't get a real pit going for that song, but I joined in a few more and tried to start a folk pit for "Allegiance." (More about folk pits in the next review XD) Overall, the expected solid, fun performance from Blackguard, and it was just too bad that there weren't more people there to hear them. (S. commented that the advertising for the show and for Krug's Place in general was pretty nonexistent.)

Next review: I believe the one I will post after this is Kamelot, Alestorm, BLACKGUARDDDDD and The Agonist, from 8/27/11