Venue: 013, Tilburg (Netherlands)
By: Elvira Visser
Paganfest 2010 has a story: The holy fire of the gods is blazing upon the horizon. Hailing from all points of the compass, hordes of all imaginable heathen tribes arrive to continue their march through Europe in 2010. The location for one of the Dutch Paganfest dates was 013 in the Netherlands. A fest where trolls, black magicians and pagan warriors meet up, all to create a great evening, to become once more an unforgettable heathen spectacular. Insatiable drinking hymns or dramatic war-epic. A festival that leads every pagan metal fan into a world of mythology, mystic and heathen believe.
| Before the show people were already judging Svartsot as they were not suppose to play at this festival. Equilibrium was on the bill and many were sad that they cancelled and got them something like Svartsot. They rather wanted Turisas or Ensiferum. People should have given Svartsot a fair chance because they do play some nice music. A bit different then the other bands, less hymning but more growling. Svartsot is a Danish band and was founded back in 2005. The band had done some shows in the Netherlands in the past, but do not attract a large group of fans. However I was amazed that after hearing many people saying negative things about the band, that it was actually crowded. The band mixes a bit more black metal and growls with happy sounding melodies from the flute. The band had a lineup change late 2008 and got a new one in 2009. Comparing the gigs, personally I think the band now needs a little something. It sounds not complete, but good enough to start Paganfest 2010. |
| Varg is a German band that brings the fans Viking Metal. They were founded back in 2005. After the five year existence of the band they have released their second album is “Blutaar”. When seeing this German band entering the stage it seemed that they stolen Turisas paint and used it on themselves. Only the black is more out there then the red. The music has some similarities with Turisas, Thyrfing and Ensiferum but is a bit more harsh both musically and vocally. There is no keyboard or violin but more the guitar based melodic black metal. The band plays a steady set but there are no real high or low moments. The band however lacks something, something that makes the crowd go wild. Maybe it was still too early or maybe it was because of the band. It had a good rhythm and the music was good to headbang on but the audience was not truly convinced by these German guys. |
| The beginnings of Arkona date back to 2002. The band was called Hyperborea back in the days. It wasn’t until 2002 that Arkona and its folk surfaced from the Russian underground scene. And today they were playing Paganfest. The energy from front vocalist Masha is right there in your face. No time to breath she runs over the stage from left to right, jumping and in between she sings and growls. Some in the audience were not sure if this was a girl, her growls are amazing. Like what I have written in their album review the band sometimes sounds a little chaotic, many layers of different sounds. Not all of the tracks are catchy or easy to follow. Like “Yarilo” might be their most catchy track. That makes this band interesting for some but some might get bored as they do not see/hear/feel how things fall together. The band left a strong impression over the audience, a great and energetic performance. |
| Dornenreich founded back in 1996, was the little weird on today. Their music is tottally different then those humppa bands that were dominating the line up. Playing between energetic Arkona and the yarrr! From Alestorm, there are people who did not gave this band a chance as they were different. No hymning, no jumping around and cheering with beer in your hand. Dornenriech brings you ambient folk metal. Simple by vocals, a guitar and a violin. It takes a bit more to like this band, you do need to listen feel the flow and then you like it. Just do not pout immediately if there is not as much action in the crowd as the other bands. Personally I think a band like this might need another line up around it to shine. |
| Alestorm the band that is not really about the pagan lifestyle but does know how to build a party. Their songs as always are about drinking rum, raids, songs about the pirate life, think about Blackbeard and rum and drunken men, women and treasures, with a Scottish touch. When they play and you close your eyes you can place yourself in an Irish/Scottish cafe where the men get drunk and sing out loud. And this was the case, the audience was singing and shouting out loud. The voice of singer Christopher Bowes sounds raw, which fits in perfectly with the pirate lyrics. The music sub genre is a mixture of Korpiklaani and pirates. And it seems very contagious. When you hear the lyrics you just have to shout along just like everyone around you and turn it into one big party. However Alestorm is more a party band then that they deliver fine quality. You hear plenty of humppa-pa and moments to shout along, but maybe that is the jewel of pirate metal? Raw not perfect in every aspect but really ready to have a good time. Guitarist Dani Evans does know how to play the guitar and bring you some great guitar solos in between hymns. |
| Eluveitie was not so know when I saw them two years ago playing early at Paganfest, today they are right before Finntroll the headlining band. What I remember from them is that they played folk sounding metal with folk instruments but today on stage they were less folk minded and a lot more metal, black/death metal to be precise. In the words of Eluveitie: “fascinating ancient melodies and stories, bonebreaking, heavy but still danceable death metal and huge choruses that will appeal to all kind of metalheads.” Nothing wrong with how they sounded as they got the crowd going wild and the atmosphere was very good. They were much better then how I remember them from years ago. They certainly have grown as a band, as they also have see minor line up changes. The folk has its inspiration from Celtic music. What started out by Chrigel Glanzmann as a studio project has grown to live entertaining band on stage that gets the crows moshing tonight. |
| Finntroll is this years Paganfest headlining band. Around the year 1997 one of the best Pagan metal bands was founded in Finland after an evening of alcohol. Those who started the band had the diea to fuse the darkness and grandeur of black metal with the traditional Finnish humppa-music. After some line up changes the band was completed in 2006 when singer Vreth had joined the band. Ever since then Finntroll has gained fans all over the world and it is no wonder that a band like this is headlining the evening. The band has recently released their cd “Nifelvind” and this tour was a good way to play some tracks of this new album. The lyrics from Finntroll are sun in Swedish and the audience seemed to know many of these lyrics and not only the known tracks such as “Trollhammaren”. The band got the crowd humping, moshing, shouting and it was clear that Finntroll is still one of the best Pagan metal bands around. Because they know how to mix the humppa, the folk and good doze of metal together. |
More photo’s of this event can be found at Photographic Retentions
Links:
Finntroll Official
Eluveitie MySpace
Alestorm MySpace
Dornenreich Official
Varg MySpace
Arkona MySpace
Svartsot MySpace
Paganfest MySpace
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