Concert Review - Ensiferum, Korpiklaani, TrollfesT - May 27, 2015 at Baltimore Soundstage, Baltimore, MD

Sooo...I haven't reviewed anything on here for a while.

It's been largely a question of motivation, more than time or anything else, because I've managed to find time to write constantly for my another blog o' mine, sometimes even two posts a week. I have some attention issues which make me leap to do the things I find fun, interesting or obsessing (and make it hard to anything else till those things are done) while also making me adverse to doing anything that seems hard or boring. And unfortunately, for quite a while now this blog has felt like a chore. And so, as my writing projects (metal and otherwise) have piled up, this one has kind of fallen by the wayside.

But I'm not ready to give up on this blog yet. I've made a lot of friends and connections in the local scene because of this blog. And people are still visiting the site, even though I haven't updated in months. Most of all, I feel like reviewing local bands is still an important contribution I can make to the local scene. And so, I'm going to try to keep it going. Sometimes, we have to do things that are hard, cause they may be worthwhile even if they don't feel like fun at the time.

I'm also going to try to get back into doing book reviews, particularly of local and/or self-publishing authors.

Anyway, to get back into the swing of things, here's a review I drafted back in May the night after the show, but never got around to finalizing and posting. It actually doesn't include any locals, but after this I think I have the notes for an entirely local show, Isenmor's CD release party show in June. I actually typed a loooong thing about MDF, as well, but I'm not going to post it because it ended up being way more about personal stuff than about the music. I might still write a summary of the music, just to have an entry in my "concert diary" that, oh yeah, I went to MDF this year.

Anyway. Enough of that - here's my review of Ensiferum and Korpiklaani at Soundstage in May:

Seeing as this show was three days after Maryland Deathfest, I wasn't all that sure I'd have the babysitting cred, or social energy, to go. But then there was a two-for-one ticket deal, and I felt obliged to ask my brother if he'd like to go, and to my surprise he said yes, and so I bought the tickets and had to go. Turned out to be a good decision despite the potential guilting from my daughter's grandparents, cause I had an awesome time.

There was some sort of delay on the way up, and so we got there right as Korpiklaani starting. I had been aiming to get there sometime during or toward the end of TrollfesT's set, cause I don't much care for them, but we overshot it and missed some of Korpi instead :/

Korpiklaani played a lot of songs I didn't recognize - but then I don't listen to them, or folk metal in general, much anymore. (It's fun live, but at home I prefer the doomy end of the melodeath spectrum.) I hadn't listened to Korpi's new album, Noita, before the show, but I'm pretty sure they started with "Viinamäen Mies" from the new album. The first song I recognized was "Sumussa Hämärän Aamun" (one of my favorite Korpi songs) and that was maybe the 6th song in. After listening to Noita, I'm pretty sure they also played "Pilli on Pajusta Tehty," "Lempo" and I know they played "Ammanhauta" because Jonne introduced that song. There was an enormous pit on their first song, and I wondered if I would be able to go in the pit at all. But a couple songs later there was dancing, so I went in. The moshing to dancing ratio was still higher than I'd have liked, but it was still fun. I also had to spend time with my brother (who just wanted to stand in the back - concerts aren't actually really his thing), so I couldn't be in the pit all the time anyway. There were very few songs I recognized overall - besides "Sumussa Hämärän Aamun," there was "Vodka" (of course), "Wooden Pints" (of course), "Juodaan Viinaa," "Rauta," and maybe something else. But just about all the songs were in Finnish, so that was cool - there seemed to be less of the generic silly songs about alcohol, and more really folky stuff. And it was a fun time in the pit - I was literally soaked in sweat head to toe by the end of their set.

A little while later, Ensiferum came out to the intro and a song from their new album One Man Army, I believe. They played a second new one - and then the singer announced we were going to "ride INTO BATTLE." "Hold this," I said, pushing my ice water into my brother's hands, and made my way to the pit as that epic intro wafted over the crowd. As I expected, the pit was crazy, but I'd been waiting years to mosh to this song, so I toughed through it and kept moving the whole time. I even got to dance a little. After that song ended, I rested my head on my buddy L's shoulder and said, "I'm done." He wasn't gonna let me leave the pit so I had to tell him I had to retrieve my "drink" from my brother. The rest of the set consisted of a lot more songs from One Man Army, as well as a few other classics ("Ahti," "Victory Song"), and "Unsung Heroes" and "Burning Leaves" from their previous album. The songs from One Man Army were good - they were fast and interesting, though not quite like old Ensiferum. The singer encouraged the moshers, especially for "One Man Army," which was quite thrashy. (There were sound problems during that song though - I couldn't hear the lead guitar at first, just thundering drums and bass.) The songs from Unsung Heroes, meanwhile, sounded like "Ensiferum plays generic folk metal" - though they did have some redeeming parts. [I didn't write down what they were at the time, and by now I've forgotten :/ ] Their keyboard player was "left behind," but instead they had Netta Skog (formerly of Turisas) on accordion, which seemed to adequately complete their sound.

At the start of their encore, everyone switched instruments, and with Netta singing (and wearing a shiny police cap), they performed a silly cover of "Breaking the Law." Then they played "From Afar" and "Token of Time" with a sing-along, and closed with "Iron." I actually enjoyed their set a lot. The new songs were good, and they worked in a decent number of old songs, though I did wonder that they didn't play "Lai Lai Hei" or "Deathbringer From the Sky." I guess with a new album to promote, they had to leave something out.

Dare I say it - I think I actually had more fun at this show than at MDF. The pit was a little more brutal than I usually like, but still fun. It was totally worth winding up soaked in sweat and getting cracked in the jaw. Never mind all the hassle with getting to the show - that was all forgotten by the end of the night, subsumed by all the fun memories.

Next show - Well, tonight I'm going to see Iris Divine, MindMaze and Dogs & Day Drinkers, should be good!

Concert Review - Eluveitie, Tyr, Metsatöll - 9/19/14 at SoundStage, Baltimore, MD

My readers will know that there are few things I love more than a good folk pit. And Switzerland's Eluveitie makes some damn good folk pit music. Estonia's Metsatöll, meanwhile, is among my favorite folk metal bands for another reason - their music has a very authentic feel, in large part due to the solemn singing style that reminds me of actual Baltic folk songs. And they play the kannel (Estonian zither) live on stage! What other metal band does that? Tyr meanwhile.. tons of my friends love them to death. I like 'em all right. I didn't mind seeing them but wasn't super excited about them, either. But anyway, I was looking forward to this show for most of the summer, just for the kick-ass folk pits for Eluveitie.

I don't know how good this review will be, though, because I found it a bit hard to actually pay attention to the music that night. For one thing, I had a lot of personal stuff on my mind, which was taking up a lot of my attention, even during sets sometimes. And then there's the fact that I always have a frickin blast at folk metal shows, and spend all my energy dancing and going crazy instead of thinking about what to write in some damn review. But I'll give it a shot anyway, for the record if nothing else.

We arrived about quarter or ten of eight, for an 8:00 show time -- and found that the line to get into SoundStage wrapped around the corner, from Market Pl onto Lombard St. Needless to say, K and I started to get antsy about whether we'd get in in time to see Metsatöll. Then we were told if we needed to buy tickets or pick up will call tickets, to go to another line, which seemed shorter, but in fact moved slower than the first line we were in. I heard some guys in line discussing my, uh, appearance, but didn't hear what conclusion they came to, but did hear an unfortunate slur :( It was not an omen of things to come though, as the evening went great for me in my new persona :)

We did get in in time for Metsatöll -- they started just as we were purchasing/picking up tickets. K and I watched from the back for a song or two. I linked arms with a guy who was dancing nearby. Then I saw that a pit had formed, so I ran to it, but it was rather brutal for me. They played a lot from their new album (so not a lot of stuff I recognized), which does indeed have a rather thrashy vibe under the the folk instruments and the solemn vocals. The singer even introduced one of the songs as a thrash song and told the audience to go crazy in the pit - which they did. The only song I can remember for sure was "Kivine Maa," although I think there were a couple of other older songs. I'm sure they played "Küü," for instance. I was stoked to hear/see Lauri play the kannel on stage (and also to hear people chanting his name..cause I recently changed my own first name to Lauri, so it was like people were chanting my name XD). From the new album, I believe they played "See On See Maa" and "Must Hunt," and perhaps "Tôrrede Kôhtudes," which, if I have the song right, they introduced as a "love song," and I went and danced around in the pit for it. They ended with something they introduced as "Together," which was another of the fast, thrashy ones.

It was to be a night of missed beginnings. When Tyr started, I was wandering around the venue looking for someone. I hurried into the crowd, and found some friends. (I can't remember if this was the point when I picked out S by his white Rainbow shirt. I do recall I was standing beside Im. for the first couple songs of Tyr.) Of course they started out with "Blood of Heroes" - I knew it from the opening riff that sounds so much like Amon Amarth's "Twilight of the Thunder God." It's a fairly catchy song, and the crowd was amped to hear it. They followed that up with an oldie, "Tróndur í Gøtu," one of my favorite Tyr songs for its epic melody. A few songs after that was the classic "Hold the Heathen Hammer High," and I think I ran to the pit at that point, because who could resist jumping around in the pit to that song? Besides, I wanted to mosh a little with my friend L, and he had said he was going to get destroyed in the pit for Tyr and be no good for Eluveitie, so I had to seize my chance during Tyr's set. But the pit was still so brutal I hardly dared go in. While I'm not super familiar with Tyr's discography, it seems like they played a pretty good mix of songs from their latest album Valkyrja ("Blood of Heroes," "Mare of my Night," "Lady of the Slain") and older songs, including the ones mentioned above, "By the Sword in My Hand," and "Shadow of the Swastika" (ok, just slightly older). Besides one slow song - which I liked for the vibes of old songs like "Ormurin Langi," my fave Tyr song - the songs were quite energetic, which made the pit fun, if even just to watch.

And then when Eluveitie started, I was outside, and had to abandon people who were slow getting back in the venue. I think they were in middle of something from their new album, Origins, when I made my way into the crowd and eventually to the pit. Of course, it was still big and crazy. This is the first pit in a while that's been so crowded that my hair was getting stuck between people (which is incredibly painful, and made the pit a lot less fun than it could be). They played largely from Origins, with one of their older (or newer) classics thrown in every 3 or 4 songs. Many of the new songs are quite speedy and heavy, which really got the pit going, but there were fun folk-melody moments as well, where I, and a couple others, tried to get the dancing started. Every now and then we were successful in getting a jig line or circle going, or at least in getting a bit of dancing in before the shoving started. There were a couple guys who insisted on shoving people around even during the slower, quieter or more danceable parts of songs. I mean, come on, "Slania's Song" and "Rose for Epona" are not really moshing songs. There are plenty of other Eluveitie songs for that. I was psyched that they played "Luxtos," which is probably my favorite Eluveitie song, or least their best folk pit song in my opinion. It has this chorus that makes you wanna jump, sing along, dance and push people around all that the same time, and I'm pretty sure I did all four at some point during the song. They would follow that up with the classic "Inis Mona" and then the highly danceable "Vianna," so I was too exhausted to do much besides watch for the rest of the set after that. But I got energized again during the encore, which started with their theme song, "Helvetios" (including the album intro track) and then another classic, "Omnos." I was stoked to get in a jig circle for them one more time, and then hung back while the crazies brutalized each other to the last song of the evening, "King." I'd be surprised if they hadn't played every song from Origins by the time the set was done.

I limped out of the pit with massive bruises on one leg (from someone falling over my leg while I was just standing by the pit), some scratches oddly enough, and my waist-length hair matted into one big tangle (yay!). It was worth every battle scar and all the time it will take this week to untangle my hair. Folk metal shows are the best - all the best people are there, the pits are the most fun, and the energy is amazing. The pits were certainly more brutal than I really like at a folk metal show (cause it makes it hard to dance), but I still had an awesome time, and the bands definitely did not disappoint.

Next show: Within Temptation & Amaranthe, Oct. 7

Paganfest America V - Korpiklaani, Turisas, ChthoniC, Varg, Winterhymn - 4/25/14 at Empire, Springfield, VA and 4/26/14 at Ottobar, Baltimore, MD

So for some reason, Paganfest had two shows in my area this year - and as it's folk metal's biggest party of the year and I had to party with my best folk metal pit buds, and some were going to one show and some to the other...I had no choice but to go to both XD In order to make that happen, I had to take my kid along to avoid asking for two nights of babysitting, and thus, she accompanied me to the show at Empire :) (If someone has a pic of us, pls send, cause I didn't manage to get one! We were both wearing Turisas warpaint and my daughter got so many compliments for it :) )

Anyway, I'm just going to write both shows up together, cause no way I have time to write two separate reviews.

Unfortunately, both nights I missed the locals due to traffic. Cause of some silly sportsing event it took me twice as long as normal to get to Baltimore >.< So unfortunately, I missed Demiz who are awesome but did not even want to open for Paganfest XD And also Yesterday's Saints and March to Victory. Grrr!

But at least I got there in time for the first touring band. This year's US band on the tour was Winterhymn from Cinncinnati, Ohio. I didn't have a chance to listen to them before the show, so I was pleasantly surprised to find they had a solid sound, with a fiddle prominent in their sound, gruff vocals done by the portly rhythm guitarist and energetic guitars (including some galloping basslines). They started out sounding more Vikingy, but got more folky as they went on, peaking with the drinking and dancing song "Ale Song." They were a good start to the night both nights, with a decent pit going.

Next up was Varg from Germany (no relation to Varg Vikernes; the word means "wolf" in Old Norse and these guys just like wolves, apparently; the frontman kept calling their music "wolf metal"). I saw a song or two of them when they supported Eluveitie a couple years back, but didn't really get into them then. However, I was quite impressed this time. Especially at tiny Ottobar, they filled the venue with their racing drums, heavy guitars and the singer's harsh vocals, somewhere between a bark and a death growl, and some outright hellish roars in "Nagelfar." It was mostly dark, headbangable stuff with a few folkier moments in "Rotkäppchen" and "Guten Tag." My kid got into them and danced and jumped around a little.

I was perhaps most excited to see blackened-death-metal-with-folk-tidbits band ChthoniC (閃靈)  from Taiwan. I feel like they're one of the most original things lately in the international metal scene and the broad spectrum of metal-that-involves-folksy-bits. At Empire, I went up close with my kid, but she didn't let me concentrate much on staring at Doris, or at Freddy playing the erhu (Chinese fiddle). Besides, the sound up at the front was all distorted. In general, the kid did not like them much - I guess they were a bit dark and heavy for a five-year-old, more brutality than fun. It was disappointing, too, that Freddy played the erhu very little; most of the erhu and other folk instruments were piped in.

At Ottobar I got to headbang to my heart's content and hear them clearly from a bit further back (and I think I went in the pit for "Takao"). They seemed more confident and professional this time than when I saw them touring with Arch Enemy and Freddy's English seemed better, too. At both shows he proudly announced that the band was from "the country where the people have occupied Congress!" and interacted with the crowd a bit more than at the last show. They played mostly from their 2013 album Bu-tík, with just "Oceanquake" and "Takao" from (the previous album) Takasago Army, and nothing earlier. It would have been nice to hear something older, but I wasn't terribly disappointed since I'm more familiar with their newer stuff anyway, and it has a more polished, epic sound. Perhaps if they get up to a headline tour, they'll be able to play a greater variety, as well as some hidden gems like "Resurrection Pyre" from Bu-tík, which starts off with such an awesome guitar riff! After their set I talked to Doris and Freddy for a few moments by their merch table, and like every Taiwanese person, Doris told me I should go to Taiwan for the snacks! XD It's totally why I want to go, too. I almost got to pick up the Taiwanese version of Bu-tík for just $10 but I waited too long and they sold out! :(

Turisas-painted me with Doris and Freddy of ChthoniC!

After that great performance, the night was only half over; next was Turisas from Finland, second band of the night in red and black face paint and inventors of "battle metal." (Just kidding, I totally don't think that's an actual genre.) At Empire my kid and I enjoyed them from the counter at the side while finishing off some chicken fingers (her bedtime snack, as she fell asleep several songs from the end of the set); I couldn't wait to push people around to them at Ottobar! They came out to "Ten More Miles" ("Tu-REE-sas! You can count on us!") dressed in their new barbarian-biker-punk attire. I'm one of those old fans who is gonna complain that I preferred their old songs and their old barbarian look. But the new songs actually sounded ok live - epic choruses and some folksy bits courtesy of (fiddler) Olli - except "For Your Own Good" which was rather bland. (Song has a pretty good message, though; go read the lyrics.) And they actually played a great mix, with some epic old songs thrown in - "Rex Regi Rebellis" and "Miklagard Overture" - as well as the crowd-pleasers like "Battle Metal" and "Stand Up and Fight." Not only that, but, by popular demand as explained by Mathias, they played "Rasputin" both nights! Not unlike the last time, I got the crowd chanting at second show, cause damn if they were not going to play it when I could actually be in the pit. They actually went off and came back on to play that and "Stand Up and Fight," one of the few times I've seen a second slot band do an encore. At Empire, Mathias said they would play a different set at Ottobar, but this was not the case - they played the same songs in a different order, and there was perhaps one more song at Empire but I forget what it was. I was totally satisfied after their set, cause they played so many good songs, the pit was great, and the new songs didn't suck so that wasn't too bad.

I do wonder what they think of the fact that the song everyone wants to hear them play (and their most played song on Spotify, too) is "Rasputin," which is a cover XD

We left the Empire show after Turisas cause my kid was literally asleep. I wasn't too bummed, as I'd seen the bands I really wanted to see, and I would see Korpiklaani the next night anyway.

At Ottobar, I was worried that Korpiklaani wouldn't be very inspiring after Turisas - great respect for them, but they just don't get me as amped. After a little ginger beer, though, things were great, and Korpiklaani's set was a lot of fun, in spite of it being surely after midnight by the time they started (I left my watch and phone in the car to keep them safe from the pit). I think they played a lot from their latest album Manala - a lot of very folky, mythology-steeped songs with some joik vocals thrown in (yes!), and it seemed like less of the drink-themed songs than usual. They did play "Vodka," "Ievan Polkka," "Wooden Pints" and "Happy Little Boozer" to get party going, though. At Ottobar, they played "Pellonpekko" as the first song of the encore because D.P. kept shouting for it. In spite of recognizing hardly any of the songs, I had a great time dancing to the folky parts, and pushing people around a little for the heavy parts. (In general, the pits were a little fast and brutal for me, so I tried to stay near the edge.) There was a good mix of moshing and dancing in the pit, which has been a little harder to find recently around here. I was not quite as dead afterward as at Finntroll, though, so I must have been holding back a little XD

Personally, I thought this was the best Paganfest so far. Winterhymn started things off great, Varg and ChthoniC blasted our faces off, Turisas played an epic selection of songs and Korpiklaani's set was so much fun. I can hardly remember another show where I've had such a solid night of enjoyment. I know some people came especially for this band or that band but I was lucky enough to find something to enjoy in each of them \m/

Next show: Primal Fear, tonight! And then Negura Bunget, on 5/10.

Face-Melting Friday Melodic Metal Edition - Cassandra Syndrome, Iris Divine, Dogs and Day Drinkers, Fair Skies - 2/28/14 at Sidebar, Baltimore, MD

I'm on a quest to make my kid into a little metalhead :) As part of that, I took her to a show organized by my friend Bobbie at the Sidebar in Baltimore: Face-Melting Friday, Melodic Metal Edition. The lineup changed a couple times before the show, but I was still excited to see the bands. I'd heard good things about Iris Divine and Cassandra Syndrome, and heard that Dogs And Day Drinkers were folk metal, so I figured they'd be fun.

We got there before they were even ready to start selling tickets, although there were already people milling about inside. Shortly we were asked to form a line, inside. We met up with S and some other friends, and staked out a spot near the front, since besides being rather short and needing to be close up to see, Iz also just plain likes to rock out at the front of the crowd :D Unfortunately, this meant I had to wear earplugs, which I felt seriously dulled the sound. (I never wear earplugs. Why bother going to live shows if you can't hear the thunder of it being played live?) Partly for this reason, I don't feel like I got a very in-depth impression of any of the bands.

Not too long after we got in, the first band, Fair Skies, took the stage. I didn't know much about them besides a friend's comment that they were "power metal but not really." They did have soaring power metal vocals; I got some serious Stratovarius vibes from the vocalist during their second to last song, "More Than a Memory." The music had a bit of an oompah beat in the beginning (something that seems to happen occasionally in power metal) but settled into more of a NWOBHM sound as the set went on.

Next up were Dogs And Day Drinkers, all the way from Chestertown, MD (home of the schooner Sultana :D ). They were supposed to be folk metal, but they didn't actually seem to have much in the way of folk melodies. They perhaps had more of a Viking metal sound, with songs about drinking and war and science fiction. The vocals were average, rather like I think I'd sound if I tried to sing. Their take on Priest's "Breaking the Law" was decent. The crowd was pretty excited for them and there was a bit of moshing.

After that was Iris Divine. They were very proggy, but not in annoying way. The guitarist seemed to have a bunch of pedals that gave his guitar a synth-like sound, and they might have had some synth piped in, too, I couldn't tell. Unfortunately some drama happened during their set so I zoned out a bit and even had to go outside to deal with things :(

Finally, Cassandra Syndrome ended the night. I don't know how I never got into these guys earlier! I think I heard a song or two several years ago but somehow didn't get interested. I definitely should have seen them earlier. They featured lovely soprano vocals - I didn't know we even had a band around here with vocals like that! Their music was pretty straightforward heavy metal, with nice solos, but it was the vocals that really made it for me. So beautiful.

I enjoyed all the bands, although I would have preferred to hear them without earplugs. But Iz had a great time up at the front, dancing for Fair Skies and Dogs And Day Drinkers (and also taking some photos with her Leapster, which I should try to retrieve before she draws all over them :) ). Even though she got pretty tired and cranky by the end, it was still a great night, and everyone was telling her what an awesome little kid she is :D I'm not sure if I'll be able to make the next Face-Melting Friday since it's the day after The Ocean, but I can definitely see these face melting shows becoming a regular social fixture for me and Iz :D

Next show: Hoping to go to a locals show on March 8. After that, Children of Bodom, Death Angel and Týr on March 21. (The Fillmore's website seems to have the wrong date for this show, saying it was Feb. 28 O.o)

Concert Review - Finntroll, Blackguard, Metsatöll, March to Victory, Demiz, Burning Shadows - 12/9/13 at Cafe 611, Frederick, MD

Finally getting around to posting this. December has been rather weird - I managed to make myself feel overworked even though I didn't really have much on my plate, and as a result got almost nothing done. Going to have to plan better for January! Anyway, here's my review of the Finntroll show near the beginning of the month. Luckily I made some notes a few days after the show, otherwise I would have no idea what to say by this point.

So we already caught Finntroll and the other touring bands (as well as more awesome locals) on the first tour stop, but when we found out they were going to be hitting Cafe 611 in Frederick, we had to be there as well, cause Finntroll was sure to tear that place apart! And I'm sure glad we went, cause I had a much better time at this show than at the first one.

We tried to be there early, because like at the first show, a great line-up of local bands was opening. We got there about 7:30, and I went inside just in time to catch the last half, or third, or something of Burning Shadows's last song. I was just getting my layers off (it had snowed the day before) and was just getting into their thundering power metal riffs when they finished and bade the crowd good night :(

As soon as I got inside, I saw that band wasn't set up on the usual tiny stage, but on the left side of floor, spreading into the room back where the second (rarely open) bar is. We had wondered how Finntroll was going to fit on that tiny stage. Now it turned out that apparently they were going to share the floor with us instead :D

The next local band to come on was Demiz, a death metal band from Baltimore. I saw them open for The Agonist over the summer and had been trying to catch them again since then. They got me headbanging with their fast blackened death metal sound. The vocals were indecipherable, and I didn't catch any song titles. My favorite song of the set was "Last Stand" with its melodic, Amon Amarthy lead. That was the only song with much melody to it, but  I picked up their cd afterward (way afterward, just as they were trying to leave), and they sound much more melodic on the cd, with pretty killer solos as well.

Next was another death metal band, March to Victory  from Pennsylvania. They played the same songs as all the other times we've seen them: "Deadly Venom," "Funeral Blizzard Beast" (I think I finally got the title right!), "Consumption," "Soulless" and a cover of Death's "The Philosopher." They were not as fast and furious as Demiz but had more of a rumbling groove. My favorite song of the set was "Consumption" with its very headbangable grooves. Unfortunately they didn't have any merch, otherwise I would have gotten a cd.

Like last time, I was most looking forward to Estonian folk metal band Metsatöll - but I missed their first song (I think it was "Küü") because there was drama and I was talking to my brother in the bathroom. (And yeah, that works.) When we came out, they were playing "Kivine Maa." We started out very close to speakers on the left side. It didn't seem that loud, but later my left ear hurt - oops, now I may have destroyed both ears (the other one was already destroyed by listening to an earbud all day at work). Then they played a song about enslaving women or something, which was insidiously catchy. I started jostling H, and a guy in a kilt said, "We can make it that kind of show!" He became the pit boss for the night and kept things nice and folky. After that I think they played "Vaid Vaprust," which is a great song but too slow for moshing, but after that I got in pit. From the middle of the floor, I got to glimpse Lauri "Varulven" Õunapuu playing the kannel, which is a type of zither. (I shook hands with him later and babbled in a pit-drunk way, and got told for calling it "kantele" - "It's kannel. It's Estonian, not Finnish."). Again they ended the set with "Metsaviha Part 2" and it was even more intense this time - maybe because it was a more intimate setting, and I was in the middle of crowd, clapping along and getting mesmerized by the rhythm. Most of Blackguard came onstage to do backing vocals with them, then they went off, then Paul came back on and stayed for the rest of the song. Then they went off. It seemed like a shorter set than at Empire - we couldn't figure out the setlist afterward to compare (even though someone picked up the actual setlist, I don't think they played those songs in that order). For that reason I was a little disappointed, since I had been looking forward to another long set from Metsatöll.

Canadian symphonic/melodic death metal band (and erstwhile folk metal band) Blackguard was on next, and they sounded way better than at Empire. I think they played the same songs as at the first show, but in a slightly different order - I know there was "Wastelands," "Scarlet to Snow," "Northern Storm," "This Round's on Me," "Firefight," and they ended with another new one, "Dying Season." S hurt his nose headbanging in the pit during "Wastelands" - I think he bashed his head right into someone. It was pretty fun to hear a few of their old folk metal songs and get a bit of a folk pit going.

Finally Finntroll came out, in elf ears as at Empire, and with much more ridiculous face paint - the singer had huge swathes of black paint like Abbath of Immortal. I had so much fun during their set, dancing in the pit and pushing people around, but mainly dancing. Empire used to be the place for folk pits, but I think Cafe 611 may be taking over that title; pits at Empire are getting too brutal. People were pretty rowdy at this show, too, but there were a lot more jig circles than crazy melees. The singer of Finntroll commented that we weren't very good at moshing, but we were dancing our butts off :P He called for a wall of death for one song, that was probably the biggest and most brutal pit, but pretty short lived. I still don't recognize many Finntroll songs, but they sounded good. They had less the look of trolls partying in the forest, and more of trolls partying in a small club, probably due to the fact that they were not really on a stage at all, just sort of in a corner of the room. And we found out that the guy who looked kind of un-Finnish was Brandon Ellis of Arsis, filling in on guitar.

So, it was definitely worth it to go see this tour a second time. Besides the fact that we were celebrating my brother's birthday, it was way more fun than the first show. Definitely hope more folk metal acts will hit up Cafe 611 if this is the kind of crowd we can expect.

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 - Finntroll, Blackguard, Metsatöll, Yesterday's Saints, Sekengard - 11/4/13 at Empire, Springfield, VA

Finally getting around to this :/ Work has been pretty much eating me alive this month, never mind trying to write a novel for National Novel Writing Month. Mix in a devastating cold, and you get me, too busy to even check email and so singleminded about work that I forgot to make my daughter do her homework all last week. Oops.

Anyway, so this being the second show of this epic fall of folk metal (kicked off the week before with Arkona) and featuring a pretty kick-ass line-up, I was looking forward to this evening greatly. While there were a few disappointing moments, the show actually exceeded my expectations in many key ways, and I'm still super excited about seeing the whole touring line-up again in December at Cafe 611!

First of all (and irrelevant to most of my readers, sorry) there were tons of people I knew, and not just that but so many close friends or people I want to be close friends with, that it was hard to decide who to talk to between sets! I find being a social butterfly pretty damn exhausting so please pardon me if I did not give you, dear reader, the attention you felt you deserved. Even if you only got a hug, I was super stoked to see you :)

We were planning to get there early to catch the first local opener, Maryland's own folk metal band Sekengard for their first ever show. The need to acquire healthful nourishment from a certain store across the way, rather than eating Empire's heavy pub fare, infringed slightly on that - fellow Dove crewmember L and I got into Empire during Sekengard's first song. They sounded very on top of things for their first show, with pretty good sound quality and no obvious goofs to the untrained ear. They also got a great reaction from crowd. Granted, everyone on the floor at that point probably knew at least one person in the band, but still, you don't get that excited about your friend's band unless they actually do sound really good. The violin was pretty dominant in their sound, and I couldn't hear the mandolin except for a brief "solo." Guitars don't seem to be their strong point - there was not much of interest going on there. Sarah (also the fiddler) provided strong vocals - not the prettiest, but powerful. My favorite of theirs was undoubtedly the polka - it showed off Sarah's virtuosic fiddling, especially as they kept increasing and increasing the pace.

Next up were Yesterday's Saints, who I had just seen for the first time opening for Arkona. They sounded much better than at Cafe 611. My impression was that they're kind of like Arsis, melodic but brutal, and rather groovy. Among the guttural growls, the vocalist threw in some clean vocals, which sounded a little strained. Their last song, "Cain something" (I kept thinking Cain's Offering but no, that's a band) brought the epic - like Amon Amarth meets Arsis. I definitely should have gotten into these guys a lot sooner.

I had been looking forward to seeing North Carolina Viking metal outfit Aether Realm bring their epic melodic riffs to Empire for the first time in ages, but apparently they cancelled at the last minute. (I think Sekengard even did a shoutout for them, unaware they weren't coming, and I wasn't sure until after a chat with Paul of Blackguard.)

Estonian folk metal band Metsatöll quickly erased any disappointment about the missing band. I first became acquainted with them when they opened for Korpiklaani last year, and admired the solemn vocals, which are distinctly similar to what I know of actual Baltic folk singing. With this show, my appreciation of them deepened. I've been telling everyone recently that I'm really digging metal with prominent, authentic folk elements, and Metsatöll has that - they even had an actual kantele (a zither used in the Baltic region, called kandled in Estonian) which is the first time I've seen one of those on a metal stage. They were much more impressive overall this time - they played a more inspiring set, and had a much stronger and heavier sound and stage presence. They played a surprisingly long set for a third slot band, but I wasn't complaining! They started out with faster songs, and I started a pit which got unexpectedly big and crazy - after getting pushed three people deep into the crowd I decided to stand aside. After a few fast songs, there was the obligatory sing-along segment, and then they launched into "Merehunt," which unfortunately sounded a mess in the beginning (it got better though). A bit after that, they began bringing in slower songs like "Kui meid sõtta sõrmitie" (I'm not great at naming their songs, but I recognize that one because one of the words sounds like "kalarätti," which would mean "fish-rag" in Finnish XD). I feel like they played a lot from Hiiekoda, but that may just be because that's the album I have. Further on in the set, they played a song with a lot of starts and stops, sudden changes in rhythm and sudden furious moments, which I think was "Alle-aa." I saw someone about to start a pit and then get confused by the rhythmic changes. Of course they played "Vaid Vaprust" and "Muhu Õud" (with uber-deep vocals done by the folk-instrument-player), and probably some other songs I should have recognized. They ended with "Metsaviha" (part 2, I believe) which had a really cool segment where three band members used their voices to create an effect like throat singing, with a low undulating undertone over which the lead singer sang the lyrics (or who knows, one of them may have been actually throat singing). Overall, I found the set extremely satisfying in both the folk and metal elements - the folk parts weren't just decoration, but permeated the band's whole sound and essence, and yet there were also thundering headbang- and moshable parts. They were definitely my favorite band of the night.

They were followed by Blackguard, usually one of my favorite bands since they taught me to mosh and were pretty awesome the last couple times we saw them. It seemed like they played a shorter set than Metsatöll, only seven or eight songs (also, Metsatöll's set seemed extremely long, almost like a headlining set). The mix for Blackguard was totally off in the beginning - I couldn't hear the lead guitar or symphonics, and vocals were pretty low too. It was so bad that S and I couldn't even recognize the first song. It took them a couple more songs to fix the sound, and by then they had already played "Wastelands" (one of our favorite songs) and were halfway through "Scarlet to Snow." The poor sound and their song choices from Profugus Mortis (besides "Scarlet," they played "In Time" and "This Round's on Me") dampened my excitement. They played two new songs which sounded pretty good, though not as great as the one we heard before. They ended with "Firefight," which finally got me excited enough to push some people around. They had two substitute musicians - bass and lead guitar (because the bassist left and Louis Jacques, their "new" lead guitarist, was sick). The lead guitar sounded a little different, maybe a little uncoordinated - but then again it was that fill-in guitarist's first show with the band (I can't remember whether he's the one who's Paul's brother). L pointed out they've played here a ton, so they may have been trying to give fans something they hadn't heard live before (or in a while). Still, I think I would have preferred to hear "Allegiance" or "The Sword," again.  

And then finally to round out the night, Finntroll. They sounded great.  I realized that their sound is more jazzy or a  dark carnival sound than the polka one expects based on "Trollhammaren" (my first and deepest impression of the band). Still, the energetic, heavy, mischievous sound combined with their pointy ears and pale, black-streaked make-up made them look and sound just like a bunch of trolls having a party in the woods. They seemed to play a lot from Blodsvept, at least at the beginning. I was surprised how few Finntroll songs I can recognize - "Solsagan," "Under Bergets Rot" and "Trollhammaren" were the only ones I could pick out for sure. They also played my favorite song, "Jakten's Tid," but there were no joik vocals, which are my favorite part (or they were on backing track which was lost in the rest of the sound). L planned on instigating a wall of death for "Trollhammaren," but the singer called for one for "Skövlarens Död," I think, and also goaded the moshers. There was a little bit of jigging but mostly a rather brutal pit, for folk metal, and people linking arms in long rows and swinging around the pit - it was much too dangerous for me. I was rather disappointed about that, since the folk pit is usually one of the best parts of a folk metal show. I had so much more fun at Arkona.

In fact, that was the feeling I left with - it was a good night, with good music and fun people, but I definitely enjoyed Arkona more. The best part was probably getting to see a long, awesome set from Metsatöll, and the worst, being disappointed with Blackguard. Hopefully the show at Cafe 611 will only improve on this one!

Next show: Fucking Slayer, with Gojira, at that place in Silver Spring.

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.

Concert Review - Dread Crew of Oddwood - 8/28/13 at Piratz Tavern, Silver Spring, MD

With a tagline like "A pirate themed band that blends Heavy Metal, Celtic Folk and progressive rock" and this salty-looking poster, how could I resist the Dread Crew of Oddwood? Although I was in class until 9:30, I hurried down to Piratz Tavern afterward, and got there not long after the scurvy rascals started up.

I was a bit flummoxed at first, though - turns out in my excitement, I forgot to read the end of the tagline, or look closely at the poster, and so when I got to Piratz and squeezed into the back bar area where the rain had forced the event to retreat, I wondered where exactly the "heavy" and "metal" elements were. I could hear the pirate and folk influences quite clearly, but there was not an electric guitar or amp in sight - I could see a guy playing a "grandpa's guitar" and the top half of a double bass, could hear some snappy drums, and eventually caught sight of an accordion, a mandolin and what seemed to be a tiny piano in a wooden box, strapped on the musician like a concession seller's tray of snacks.

At first I thought it was something like Sabaton's acoustic promotional performances - or just that they couldn't use their amps at Piratz or something. Come to realize I missed some crucial information: "a unique acoustic instrumentation...Heavy Mahogany!" Which sounds impossible, you must be thinking - I mean, they're called grandpa's guitars for a reason. Most acoustic versions of metal songs suck. But these guys actually managed to capture the spirit of metal in spite of not actually being heavy at all.

It sounded weird at first, with the aggressive drums very prominent in the sound, the weak and soft grandpa's guitar struggling to compete. But the more of the wooden instruments got in the fray, the more it came together, and the more it started to make sense why a couple familiar metalheads were headbanging at the front and why something slightly resembling a folk pit erupted toward the end. These guys aren't trying to make soft, artistic, expressive versions of metal songs that ruin their inherent visceral power. They're bringing that same visceral power to a new medium, riffing and shredding on the acoustic guitar, harnessing the old-fashioned booming reverberation of the double bass, keeping it lively with jaunty melodies on the accordion and the piano (a toy piano, according to the band's website). While the vocals scream "pirate" (or "sea chanty" or "drunken rabble") rather than any particular metal genre, they're also in no way weak or soft.

So was the room full of the overpowering thunder of modern electronic instrumentation? No, not really. Was it thick with energy intense enough to headbang, jig, and push people around? Hell yes.

The band played two sets of about half an hour each, with a highly varied repertoire - fiendishly fast and aggressive folkish songs that could have been Alestorm without amps, more moderately paced tales of glory or musings on mortality, a humorous account of bawdy deeds around the world. Their best received song was a Flogging Molly cover that had half the room singing along to the chanty-like choruses. (They also played a rendition of Metallica's "Master of Puppets" and a snip of tin whistle from Eluveitie's "Inis Mona.")

While not what I expected, the piratical assault of grandpa's strings turned out to be surprisingly enjoyable. Without any of the sonic qualities usually associated with heaviness - shaking the walls with bass thunder and pummeling your soul with distorted riffs - the Dread Crew of Oddwood managed to bring the energy of heavy metal to a small pirate bar without any sort of sound system to begin with. I really should have been at the front headbanging and jigging, but I was feeling unsociable. Too bad, cause this was probably a once in a lifetime chance to experience such heavy folk music made on such lightweight instruments.

Next concert: Kamelot on Tuesday - can't believe how soon it is!

Concert Review - Mago de Oz, Metanium - 5/22/13 at Howard Theatre, Washington, DC

Step aside Alestorm - the title of best folk pit now belongs to Mago de Oz. What an amazing show, and amazing energy from the band and the crowd.

That said, there were definitely some downers at this show, the biggest one being that it started over an hour late. We got there a little early, around 7, for a start time of 8. But the opening band didn't go on till about 9:30, so for two hours we had not much to do besides stand around saving at spot at the rail between the bar and the sound booth. Drinks were so heftily priced that I didn't drink at all ($10 for a rum and coke? I don't think I could drink $10 worth of rum in one sitting without passing out) and since it was a Heineken sponsored event, the only beer they were selling - at first - was Heineken. That is, until they ran out, in spite of the ridiculous price of $7-8 for a beer.

Finally the opener, local Hispanic heavy metal band Metanium, came on around 9:30. They seemed to be well known to the sizeable crowd that had gathered by then, with a lot of people jumping during their first song, and small pits thereafter. They played fast-paced NWOBHM or early power metal style heavy metal, a little reminiscent of Iron Maiden and Helloween. Their riffs were energetic and groovy, but their strongest point was their singer, who was capable of both powerful singing and lasting screams. He pulled off Helloween's "I Want Out" as easy as breathing. Overall, they were more interesting than I expected.

After short break, Spanish folk metal band Mago de Oz emerged. In my opinion, they put on a great show. Every song was filled with catchy folk melodies, jump inspiring power metal riffs and anthemic choruses. The energy never stopped; even the ballads cast a spell on audience. Well, there was some down time before "Finisterra" which killed the energy a little, and that song itself was a bit long and wandering. Other than that, they kept things going for their whole set. The crowd was very lively - the pit even took over most of the floor on a couple songs (and we're talking about a floor about a hundred feet across). Even in its most brutal moments, though, it wasn't a very brutal pit; mainly people were jumping, jigging, skipping around in pairs, forming big circles or knots of people with their arms over each other's shoulders. It looked like so much fun, I really regretted wearing a skirt (this always happens when I wear a skirt to shows!). If it weren't for the fact that people were throwing their drinks everywhere and the floor was like a huge slip and slide, I would have gone in anyway. It would have been amusing to see how the Hispanic dudes reacted to a girl in pit, since it didn't seem like something that really happens in the Hispanic metal crowd - although a female friend who did go in the pit said we got grabbed more than at any other show :/

Afterward S. raised the question of why there wasn't any crossover between this crowd and folk metal crowd for acts like Ensiferum and Korpiklaani. I figure it has something do with the language - the crowd for Mago de Oz was almost entirely Hispanic. Also, the style of music is different - Mago de Oz has more of a power metal sound rather than Viking metal, which might explain why more of the typical folk metal crowd isn't drawn to it. I found them through a power metal playlist, and didn't immediately associate them with folk metal. A friend called them "the Spanish version of Iron Maiden" in that most every Hispanic metalhead she talked to in her travels seemed to know this band.

They certainly lived up their reputation, and I'm glad I got to see this great performance by a band outside my usual metal circle.

Next show: A Sound of Thunder's CD release party, June 8

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!

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!

Eluveitie, Wintersun, Varg - 12/19/12 at Mr. Small's Theatre, Millvale (Pittsburgh), PA

Wintersun's first ever US tour! I think we would even have driven to New York to see them, or even further if we had to, but as it was, the closest stop to us was in Pittsburgh, PA. The show was very well attended - several of the other tour stops were sold out, but I'm not sure if this one was. The venue seemed to have about the same capacity as Jaxxpire (a couple hundred people) but with a different layout. More on that later. The drive up to Pittsburgh, although long, was not bad because of the interesting terrain/roads/things on the side of the road, the mountain views and the proliferation of Sheetz along the way (I think we stopped at Sheetz four times on the round trip).I would definitely do it again for a group as phenomenal as Wintersun.

The show started at 7:30, but due to traffic and walking from a distant parking spot, we got there around 7:45, and then still had to wait in line to get in. Mr. Small's gave a new meaning to the term "Metal Church" - it literally was a big old brick church that had been turned into a concert venue (and recording studio and "funhouse"?). Inside, it was just one big cavernous room (former church after all) with a stage at one end and a bar at the other. On one side was the merch, and on the other a stand selling french bread pizza (every now and then during Wintersun's set, a garlicky smell would waft over the audience).

Because of our tardiness, we only caught the last song by Varg. They sounded much better live than on their recordings - more intense and more folk melody/vibe. It was too bad we missed most of their set.

Wintersun was great as expected. They played mostly songs from their newest album, but also a few old ones. They didn't play any of the "new" ones that they've played before like "The Way of the Fire." There were pits for most of their songs, with an especially wild pit for "Battle Against Time." I noticed that that song in particular sounds a lot like Ensiferum - not a huge surprise since Jari used to be the singer for Ensiferum.

Eluveitie was also great. They played the entirety of their latest album, Helvetios. I was pretty stoked about that since it meant I'd get to hear some of favorite songs from that albums, "Helvetios" and "Luxtos," which were songs that I didn't think they would play live otherwise. But I was also worried about having enough energy for the pit, because there are sooo many furious fighting songs on that album. In the end, I didn't go in the pit for every song, or stay in for the whole song when I did. There wasn't much of a folk pit in the beginning, but I managed to get people dancing, and we did have a few good jig circles, as well as pits full of jigging pairs. It was a fun time.

There was a wall of death (for "Meet the Enemy"?), which Chrigel invited with the words "I want it to look like fucking Braveheart!" I was behind some people in the wall of death, and during the crazy pit immediately after, a guy took me by the shoulders and literally pushed me out of the pit. The audience actually set up a second wall of death during the same song. A tall girl in gray sweater actually took charge of it! I wanted to say hi to her but she disappeared as soon as the encore was over.

Oh yeah, so after playing all the songs from Helvetios, the band left the stage, but they came back and played four more songs, including "Everything Remains...," "Inis Mona" and "Tegernako," energetic songs with lots of moshing and dancing, and a little sing-along for "Inis Mona." Not only was there a mosh pit for "Inis Mona," there were pits for slower sadder songs like "Rose for Epona" and "Alesia" which just made me shake my head. (But the same big guys who were moshing during the verses were singing along to the choruses XD) Chrigel apparently thought we were an awesome audience, and at the end of the show, he gave his necklace to a girl in the front row, so that she would remember him :P

The show was totally worth the trip up to Pittsburgh, not just to see Wintersun, but also to see Eluveitie with such a great crowd. I had almost no complaints (besides that the pit should have been more folky); it was an almost perfect show.

Next show: Enslaved, at the end of this month

Blackguard, Not-Liable - 10/10/12 at Empire, Springfield, VA

Blackguard hasn't been around much this year (whereas last year we saw them 4 or 5 times), so I was pretty excited to find out they were doing a headlining show. Only downside is that crowd turnout tends not to be so great for their headline shows, but that didn't stop the band from putting on a great show.

Blackguard vocalist Paul Ablaze. Awesome energy

At the last minute, local opener Not-Liable was announced. They were pretty energetic and catchy, with fast, heavy songs, and surprisingly loud for a three person band. Most of their songs had a very punk rock sound, with racing guitars and shouted vocals. They did have some slow and heavy metal interludes, and their last song featured some more complicated guitar work. They were interesting to listen to, though punk rock isn't my favorite style of music (I like riffs and guitar solos). The frontman (vocalist/guitarist) had a very interesting outfit, with shiny shorts, a scarf hanging from his belt, and hat.

After Not-Liable's set, Blackguard came out to hang out at the merch table and bar, possibly waiting to see if more people would turn up (it was still early, maybe around 9pm). Around 9:20 they decided to get things rolling and got on stage. They sounded amazing, full of energy and with a great dynamic, probably the best I've ever heard them. They definitely gave it their all even for a crowd of about 20 people. They started with some songs from Firefight ("The Path" and "Firefight") and then gave us a few of their old folk metal songs from Profugus Mortis ("Cinder," "The Sword" and "Allegiance") before going back to songs from Firefight. Paul invited the guitarist from local band Cab Ride Home, who once filled in for Paul when he had to mysteriously disappear from a show, on stage to sing some vocals for "Allegiance." At this show, I finally started to see connections between the band's older and newer work. The songs from Firefight are more melodic in the vein of Amon Amarth rather than folk metal, but the fierce vocals and epic energy are the same. At the very end of the set, after numerous disclaimers that they might completely bomb it, they played a brand new song, "In Dreams," which they had apparently composed that very same day. It sounded good - it started off with a folk melody, and then transformed into the thunderingly heavy sound they used on Firefight. If that was their draft, the final version is sure to be amazing. The set seemed short - they played for about an hour, but there was a lot of talk too - but then again they were just playing for 20 people after all. S. mentioned that they may not be used to playing so long since they don't usually headline. I thought perhaps their new guitarist didn't know enough songs yet.

I spent the whole set jumping around and headbanging like mad; I figured if the band is giving their all for this tiny crowd, then the crowd had damn better give the energy right back. S, J and I shoved each other around a bit but couldn't really get a pit started. For one song, Paul called for a "passive aggressive wall of death" where everyone would calmly walk back to their places, and threatened to stop the show if there was any violence. (They didn't stop playing when I started shoving S and J though XD) Most of the crowd seemed content to lean on the rail and headbang.

Hanging out at the merch table before the show, we met their new guitarist, Louis Jacques. He mentioned that he comes from a power metal background, and said that the next Blackguard album will be like a mix of Profugus Mortis and Firefight, incorporating some of their earlier folk metal sound, and also with more orchestration. During the set, he sounded good, but I think he needs to work on his stage presence - to smile and interact more with the audience, like the other band members did. But then again, he may have had to focus more on playing since he'd be less familiar with the songs.

 Blackguard guitarists Terry Roadcase and Louis Jacques

Blackguard is doing a few more headline shows and then 6 dates with Epica, and then they head to Europe to support Kamelot! I'm so excited for them. I've been following this band for a while and to see them go across the pond to tour with such a top level band makes me very happy for them. These guys work their butts off, touring like mad, and it's great to see it paying off. I hope all goes well and they have a great time in Europe.

And before then I get to see them one more time, because our next show is...
Epica, Alestorm, INSOMNIUM, System Divide, Blackguard on 10/23

(That is, unless a miracle happens and I do get to see my two favorite local bands A Sound of Thunder and My Enemy Complete on Monday at 98Rock's Noise in the Basement...)

Photos by Steve Wass

Korpiklaani, Moonsorrow, Tyr, Metsatöll (Manala North America Tour), Yesterday's Saints, Burning Shadows - 9/21/12 at Empire, Springfield, VA

I couldn't believe it when I first heard about this line-up - some of my favorite folk metal bands on the same night (the only better combination so far has been Ensiferum and Finntroll). I looked up Metsatöll a few days before the show, and got pretty stoked to see them too - they have a very heroic folk metal sound.

I hoped to see Burning Shadows open for them all as well, since I've heard about Burning Shadows (BSMetal on Facebook XD) for ages, but there was no way I could make the 5:40 start time.

As it was, I got there just as Metsatöll started, during their first song. Surprisingly, the place was already full - both the floor and the bar and merch area - and the crowd responded enthusiastically to Metsatöll. There was a pit for almost every song - a folk pit no less - even though their tempo was a little slow for moshing. (Still, I went into the pit for "Vaid Vaprust" - favorite song largely due to the video.) Their sound combined aggressive guitars with a slow, solemn singing style which I think is typical of folk songs from the Baltic area. The bag pipes could be heard loud and clear. They only played five songs; it would have been nice to hear more, but I guess the schedule was a little crowded.

Set changes happened fast that night - it wasn't long before Tyr came out. Unfortunately, their first song, a newer one, was pretty weak - the vocals weren't strong and the guitars weren't very loud. The second song was better, and at the third one, "Hall of Freedom," they hit their stride. Their newer songs sounded a bit like power metal or Manowar, with the clean vocals and fast guitars and keyboards. "Hall of Freedom" and some others also had a polka-like melody, but there was no folk pit :( Their best songs were the slightly older songs like "Tróndur Í Gøtu" and "Hold the Heathen Hammer High," fast-paced, anthemic songs which led to energetic pits. They also played a ballad which slowed their energy way down without being exceptionally epic. They would have been better off playing more of their classics like "Hail to the Hammer."

Moonsorrow was quite a change in pace, and only about half the crowd stuck around on the floor for them. They play a slower, darker vein of folk metal, with melancholy melodies interspersed with fierce guitars and growled vocals of black metal intensity. Unlike the other bands of the night, it's not music best enjoyed by jumping and dancing around, but heavy and intense enough to slowly headbang while they lead you on a musical journey through bloodsoaked battlefields and the desolation of the land of the dead. They sounded excellent, as good if not better than they did a year ago at Tuska - perhaps because they could fill the small, dark room with their sound more easily than a gigantic tent. Their third song, "Taistelu Pohjolasta," which they introduced as "a demo song from 1998," was probably the fastest Moonsorrow song I've ever heard, and there was even a pit for a bit in the beginning. To my surprise, I noticed a large part of the crowd singing along for the last song, "Kuolleiden Maa," even though the lyrics are in Finnish.

After Moonsorrow I tried to get a quick bite to eat in order to be fueled up for the folk pit madness of Korpiklaani's set. Unfortunately, Empire's new menu does not feature anything quick to prepare and digest - the dishes sounded like something you'd get at a classy restaurant, not a bar. The quickest thing we could get was hummus and pita, and even that took ten minutes, in part thanks to the bartender's obliviousness. We got the food just before Korpiklaani came on; I stuffed as much hummus and pita in my face as I could and then hurried out to the floor. If any Empire staff are reading this: bring the old menu back! When I'm about to go into the pit, I want chicken tenders and mozzarella sticks, not fine dining, dammit.

Korpiklaani was great, in spite of the stomach cramp from moshing right after gobbling food. They started with several newer songs, which were heavier and more serious than their usual jovial drinking songs, and seemed based on older Finnish folk songs (ie. melancholy songs about how much life sucks, or eerie shaman-like spell-chants). They also had a song a bit heavier than the usual Korpiklaani, with a pop-song-like chorus. Their drinking songs as well as their version of "Ievan Polkka" made up the second half of their set (although they did play "Juodaan Viinaa" as their third song). There was an almost constant folk pit/communal jig going on, including people who didn't look like they'd usually be found in a folk pit. (Alestorm still holds the title for best folk pits though.) As a special treat, in the middle of their set the violinist played a solo from the band's days as Shaman, when they made songs based on Sami folk music.

This was probably the best show of the year for me (unless Wintersun upstages them). It was everything that I had hoped Paganfest would be - great performances, and great folk pits.

Next show: Blackguard, 10/10