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 - 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!

Primordial, While Heaven Wept, Cormorant - 9/12/12 at Empire, Springfield, VA

I saw Primordial last summer in Finland, and thought they were great. They're one of the longest running pagan metal bands, and while they do have some Celtic influence in their music, they have a slower and darker sound overall than some of the more upbeat, folk-heavy pagan bands. It's an intense experience, but rewarding if you like heavy music.

They did a short US tour before heading to ProgPower USA this weekend (a bit odd destination for them, but if it brought them to the US, who am I to complain?), accompanied by While Heaven Wept and Cormorant, two US bands that are rather outside the genre box.

Cormorant, a band from California, has a dark, churning black metal sound in their heavier moments, combined or interspersed with melodies that sound synth or even pop-like. One of their songs, "Blood on the Cornfields," literally sounded like a pop song speeded up and blasted full of metal riffs. The vocals were mostly harsh, with an intonation and rasp that I associate with pirate voices. (Perhaps this is purposeful, as the band apparently takes their name from the Latin corvus marinus, sea raven.) In spite of sudden changes in tempo and mood, there were only a few instances where I found the shifts jarring, such as the several sudden tempo changes in quick succession in the second song.

While Heaven Wept, originally from Virginia, has a background in doom, but their current sound is far too uplifting for me to comfortably put them in that box. Their vocalist, who joined the band in 2008, sings to the heavens in an unabashed clear and high power metal style, and the chord progressions on their newer songs have a very hymnal sound. They did play an older song, "Soul Sadness," which sounded darker and more textured. Overall, they had a much more polished and unified sound than Cormorant, with melodies that flowed seamlessly into and over the heavy segments. They ended with their best song, "Vessel"; during the chorus I noticed some "super-fans" rocking out near the front, and then realized that it was the members of Cormorant, swaying and singing along.

Primordial's performance was quite a change in tone - a pagan metal band from Ireland, they have a strong black metal vibe in their slowish, dark sound and their choice of themes - the persecution of their people, the fall of civilizations, the evil nature of man. Not to mention the singer's corpse paint and Irish miner outfit that looked like it was stained with grave dirt, and the way he gazed at the crowd with demonic intensity and pointed and gestured as though commanding a swarm of ghouls. They gave a solid performance, very heavy, with some Celtic influences in the guitars and drums. The instruments often struck a faster pace while the vocalist used a slower tempo, an angry lament if you will. I thought they sounded as good, if not better than when I saw them last summer in Finland.

Metal Chris from DCHeavyMetal.com posted some videos from the show:
Cormorant - "Two Brothers" (This was one of their most consistently heavy songs)
While Heaven Wept - "Saturn and Sacrifice"
Primordial - "Bloodied Yet Unbowed"

So, if you're headed to ProgPower and wondering what the heck this Primordial band is all about, now you know. They probably won't sound a bit like anyone else there, but isn't that the whole point?

Next concert: Korpiklaani, Moonsorrow, Tyr and Metsätoll, 9/21. FOLK PIT!!!!

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.

TUSKA - 7/23/11 at Suvilahti, Helsinki, Finland

So, I know this is very late, but one thing or another has conspired to keep me from typing it up ever since the event and since I got back from Finland. Now I have some other concert reviews piling up, so I need to get this posted, and expect a few more posts in quick succession.

So. I believe Tuska is Finland's largest metal festival, held each summer in Helsinki for three days (I only went for one day, though, because the tickets were so expensive). In the past, I think it has drawn some performers from overseas, but this year the line-up was mostly Finnish, with several Swedish visitors and a smattering of other European bands. Oh and Devin Townsend Project, which I believe is from Australia. The biggest names there - off the top of my head, and with considerable bias according to my tastes - were Amon Amarth, Blind Guardian, Epica, Amorphis, Wintersun, Turisas.. I could go on and on.

I went on Saturday, the middle day. Most of the big names like Amon Amarth, Amorphis and Turisas performed on Sunday, but I chose Saturday because I already saw Amon Amarth and Turisas earlier this year, and on Saturday I would have the chance to see Wintersun and Moonsorrow.

Tuska used to be held at a park called Kaisaniemi, but this year it was in what seemed to be an old industrial location called Suvilahti. It was very convenient to the metro - you literally walk about 100 feet from the Kalasatama metro station, following the stream of metallic looking people. I got there early in the day, about 1pm, and there was no line to speak of at the gates. The space inside the area felt a little small, maybe because the arrangement of the vendors and merch booths, food stands and stages created some sort of narrow, winding areas with large open areas only in front of the main and second stage. However, it did not feel cramped, even in the evening when the crowds got bigger, but then again the festival wasn't sold out either.

Facilities at the venue were excellent. There was a veritable maze of portapotties, with no line. There were a couple water fountains for drinking and refilling water bottles. The lines for food and merch were not too long (wait about 5 minutes) and moved fast, especially the line for the Alepa (convenience store) kiosk. The only long waits were at the signing booth, where I waited an hour each of the two times I went (for Wintersun and Epica). The Alepa kiosk was great - you could get sandwiches, ice cream, energy drinks and other basic supplies for very good prices there. (I read on the Tuska website that the prices were the same as in regular Alepa stores around Helsinki. Mad props to Alepa for doing that, it made being at the fest all day much more economical \m/) The area was pretty clean, compared to what I'd seen on the news a few days earlier about a big gathering in a park in Helsinki or Turku, with trash everywhere - at Tuska, there were just cigarette butts everywhere, and a few cans.

I loved the relaxed atmosphere - my favorite part of the day had to be sitting on the ground in the shade of this huge domed thing, eating something called "kebab" which was really not a kebab at all, with a bunch of people I didn't know but felt totally cool with, all while watching Blind Guardian perform not too far away on the main stage. I didn't talk to many people - as I well exemplify, Finnish people are kind of taciturn and not given to small talk - but I felt very comfortable. The Finnish metal scene has a strong goth/industrial edge, so I fit in better than at metal shows in the US ;D

So now to the actual bands. The entire list of performers and schedule for the day can still be found on the Tuska website (and when they can't anymore, well, I guess it means it's time to move on and think about Tuska 2012 XD) I shall just go through the bands that I actually saw and/or was interested in.

Witchery - They were onstage when I got through the winding corridor of vendor booths, and I sort of watched the with one eye while buying stuff at the merch stand (T-shirts!!) and then waiting for Wintersun at the signing booth. They were fast and heavy though not particularly remarkable.

Medeia - Just as I stepped away from the signing booth, it started to rain, and a bunch of people headed into the building where the fourth stage was (only that and the third stage, which was in a huge tent, were covered). I was going in there anyway since it was time for Medeia to start. Medeia is a death metal band from Finland with hilarious videos. This video is my favorite. I don't think they're well known abroad but they definitely had a lot of enthusiastic fans at Tuska. Their riffs were kind of simple but the guitars were very heavy. The last song they played sounded like thunder - always a good sign for a metal band. (I just wish I'd written down which song it was because now I have no recollection >.<)

Moonsorrow - A pagan/folk metal band with a very strong influence from Finnish folk music in particular, which is rare compared to the more jig-like Scandinavian/Celtic sound that a lot of folk metal bands use. Their songs are long and often slow, although in a good way (I think) because of the melodies and folk elements. "Kivenkantaja" (The Stone Carrier) was a crowd favorite. For the first time, I realized the (apparent) influence from Finnish shaman chants - when the vocalist starts in, the guitars, not just the drums, even seemed to imitate the sound a of shaman's drum. Starting from this song, their set got heavier, which made me happy.

Katatonia - Wandered out to see them partway through their set after a having a snack. They were a little lite for my taste. A person who started randomly talking to me said they used to have a heavier sound but their singer damaged his voice and can't do growls anymore, thus the classic metal sound.

Wintersun - Obviously, they were epic. Jari Mäenpää is a god to many Finnish metal fans - though he seemed like a regular dude when I asked him to sign a t-shirt for a friend of mine, maybe a little aloof but what Finnish person isn't? (Digression, you could definitely feel the difference in national personalities between Wintersun and Epica, the former being civil, smiling and perhaps chatting a little with you if you started the conversation; the latter joking, hitting people with flyswatters and all around out to have a good time.) Anyway, so Wintersun was not very heavy but they were FAST. The guitars were sometimes so fast and complicated that it was hard to headbang. They were easily the best performance of the day.

Blind Guardian - As I said before, I listened to them while eating dinner XD I would have been more enthused if it weren't for the fact that I saw BG last December (battling a nasty nasty cold to go the show, too). I was walking away toward the signing booth when "Valhalla" started and I had to back and sing along (best BG sing-along song EVER). I listened to them more while waiting for Epica. As at Jaxx last December, they gave a solid performance and played all the crowd-pleasers like "Valhalla," "The Bard's Song," "Nightfall" and so on.

Enslaved - After BG finished, while I was still waiting for Epica, stages 2 and 3 started up at the same time, and I couldn't make out much except when one of the bands stopped to talk. After getting another shirt signed for another friend, I went to listen to Enslaved while eating ice cream. (What's better than eating something yummy while watching awesome metal? Well, I suppose not eating while watching so that you can HEADBANG or MOSH.) Enslaved, I found out, is an epic Swedish death metal band in the vein of Amon Amarth. Strong melodies and epic riffs. I liked their last song, "Allfadr Odin" so much that I chose to headbang, rather than use the portapotty before dashing out to the metro for a two hour bus ride back to Turku.

Since my mom and I opted for the 9:00 bus (which would let us get back to Turku before midnight), I didn't get to hear Devin Townsend Project (as it was, I just barely made it to the bus terminal in time; but luckily there was a very clean and functional toilet in the back of the bus :D). And I definitely didn't get to go to the afterclub, where Turmion Kätilöt, one of my favorite Finnish industrial metal bands, would have been performing. But as my aunt said, "Leave something for next time!"

Hopefully, next time will be Tuska 2012, just waiting to see who the performers will be, and figure out a way to get airline tickets.... O.o

Next reviews: I have a review of KMFDM already typed up, and need to do one for Blackguard who we saw headlining this past Wednesday. I hope I can get those up before we head out to see Blackguard, Alestorm and Kamelot tonight - braving a hurricane no less!

I will also later proofread this post and add links to wonderfully awesome live vids from the festival....

Urgamla, Axegressor, Primordial - 7/14/11 at Klubi, Turku, Finland; and Summer Wars

Something extra for you today. Not just a concert review but also a short movie review! And there will be a book review when I get back to the States. I finished One Jump Ahead in June but I left the draft of my review on my laptop. So it will be posted when I get back. Now I'm reading Kadonneet Kyyneleet (Lost Tears) by Mike Pohjola, so you may get a double review. And now on to the good stuff...

In Finland, everything is death metal

I thought there'd be this huge metal scene in Finland but it seems to be concentrated in Helsinki and Tampere - then again I have to drive an hour to most metal shows in my area too. But I did find a couple of shows in Turku as part of Hammer Open Air Metal Festival and decided to go see Urgamla, Axegressor and Primordial at Klubi.

Getting into Klubi is a little disorienting but once inside its quite cozy, kind of like Jaxx. You have to go into this alley, down some stairs, through a restaurant/bar area (empty both when I arrived and left), up some stairs and finally you're at the entrance to Klubi Live. The floor is a little smaller than Jaxx (I'm terrible with measurements though so don't ask me what the dimensions are) but there are more tables, chairs and benches for sitting and a little room to the back that I didn't really explore.

Hardly anyone was there when I arrived - and Urgamla had already started even though it was only ten minutes past their scheduled start time. Perhaps in Finland concerts actually start on time? Anyway, Urgamla is a black metal band from Turku with a very brutal and death metal like sound - growled vocals (mostly in Finnish) and heavy guitars, with very headbangable riffs and melodies, and a little folk flavor. They were going for a very evil image - the singer was covered in fake blood and at some point brought out an inverted cross with some candles on it. I wish they had more CDs (they only have two short demos) and/or more stuff on youtube. I liked them better out of the two openers.

Axegressor bills themselves as a thrash metal band and if you really listen for it, you can hear the thrashiness in their songs. The heaviness and melodic touches were more reminiscent of Scandinavian death metal, though, and I (who doesn't like thrash too much, I find it kind of boring) thoroughly enjoyed their set. I thought the singer had some kind of odd shorts on of some kind of printed fabric, and then toward the end I realized they were actually covered in band patches. Hoped he would be hanging out somewhere afterward so I could compliment him on the awesome shorts but didn't happen. However, I just realized that Axegressor will be at Tuska the day that I'm there so I'll get the chance to hear them again, yay.

Primordial, lastly, is a pagan/black metal band from Ireland. They started late and I had to leave early, so I only got to hear 45 minutes of them (4 songs, I think?). But they were well worth the wait and I would happily have stayed for the whole set (although my neck might not have liked me the next day). This is the start of their set (not my video). I was shocked to see that the singer had a shaved head since I had the impression they all had lovely long hair, and everyone else in the band had epic long wavy hair. Instead, the singer had corpse paint, but it fit the mood of the songs - a little bit slow paced, but very heavy. I didn't headbang much, because of the slow beat, but there were some epic melodic moments that were quite headbangable. There were a definite Celtic influence and the songs seemed to have Celtic themes, including the fall of Rome. We got to sing along to that one.

For three unknowns - I'd never heard of any of these bands before this concert - this was a great find. Definitely a fan of all three of these bands now, looking forward to seeing Axegressor at Tuska, and hoping Primordial will tour the US.

next concert: TUSKA, Helsinki, Finland, 7/23

Summer Wars

Now for my first ever movie review (on this blog at least).

Someone pointed out a review of an anime movie in the paper, which turned out to be Mamoru Hosoda's Summer Wars. I'm a bit of anime fan but not an expert, so I hadn't heard of this movie or director before. The picture in the paper looked a bit goofy, but it said the director was a big Miyazaki fan, so I figured, it's got to be ok at least. And I was kind of bored. So I went to see it at Turku's biggest (and only) movie theater. There were exactly three other people in the that theater with me - everyone headed to the Harry Potter movie next door.

The movie started out plunging us straight into a virtual world called OZ, moving very fast, with lots of bright colors and cute images - it was very disorienting, and I thought, if the whole movie is like this, then I'm going to get tired of it very fast. But luckily, it soon moved to the "real" world. And once the main conflict emerged - BEGIN SPOILER - OZ, which controls everything from GPS navigation to cell phone and TV transmission, was hacked by a powerhungry AI thing, and an unlikely team of programmers and game fanatics got together to beat it - END SPOILER - I was hooked and followed the story on the edge of my seat.

The characters were not very deep, but easy to relate to - the shy and awkward computer geek, the girl he likes and tries to help, the kid who spends all his time on the computer and turns out to be the game champion of OZ. The girl Natsuki's huge family was very interesting - the aunt who just wanted to watch baseball, the silly kids and the spitfire great grandmother were very memorable. It was probably because there was such a huge cast that no one in particular could be excessively complicated, and props to the director that in spite of the huge cast, I didn't have any trouble keeping track of who anyone was - they were very distinctive (although, I'm not sure I could say for sure how anyone except the most important characters were specifically related. For instance, I have no idea whose kid Kazuma, the game fanatic and martial arts genius, was.)

The action sequences - battles between Kazuma and the hacker, which took place in OZ - were downright amazing. So much fun to watch.

The story a bit simple, so I don't know if this is a movie I would want to watch over and over (unlike other anime favorites like Appleseed and Perfect Blue). But I certainly enjoyed it this time and would recommend it to other anime fans. Non anime fans might find it less than amusing due to unapologetic animatedness of the OZ segments and not quite logical moments (ex. magical girl costume morph) that anime fans take for granted.

Next movie: don't know..I hardly ever watch movies.