24-04-2024 Finntroll

Supports: Suotana & Metsatöll

This Wednesday evening brought folk minded fans to the venue Effenaar in the Netherlands. Long bearded man and dressed up girls with troll ears. It was time for a bit of a folk metal party with Finntroll and Metsatöll this evening to hold your beer high and enjoy the tunes.

First off this evening was the Finnish Suotano. I was late this evening and missed out on this band. I caught their last song which was nice. Unfortunately, there were not that many people. But, even catching their last song I could feel they did deliver a great set. The audience seemed to like it and cheered during the last song when the band asked for it.

Metsatöll

It is up for the Estonians from Metsatöll to shine a bit more light on the traditional folk instrument style metal. They use a bagpipe, flute and traditional string instrument. All played by guitarist or more multi-instrumentalist Lauri Öunapuu which make me think of kantele but then a tad different. They clearly have their own distinctive style after all these years (they started in 1999) that sets them apart. But you need to like this kind of approach. The bass and drums are always nicely present. And even more so when they have a more intermezzo like song where the throat singing gets full attention and the lights get dimmed a bit to create a certain atmosphere where you just need to let the music take over.

It is this throat singing combined with these traditional instruments that make this band interesting on a strong backbone – which must be said. The audience seemed to really like it and many cheer along or even throw in a little dance from time to time. The songs take you on a journey through the history of Estonia and are quite often about their home country pride and fighting spirit that can be found on the battlefield.

Finntroll

The headliner this evening is the Finnish Finntroll, who actually sings most of the time in Swedish. As that somehow sounds more troll-ish and parts of Finland has Swedish as a second language. Tempelores has seen Finntroll throughout the years and they are always a favorite. Simply because to us they always bring out a good vibe and fun. They bring a more black metal style to the folk metal genre. The vocals from Mathias ‘Vreth’ Lillmåns are nice and raw and make sure there is a nice contrast between the happy humppa sound that gets us all dancing along when there isn’t a moshpit or polonaise.

They played a nice mix of their repertoire from the old albums with songs like Manniskopsten and Nattfodd and of course their fan favorite Trollhammaren gets welcomed with open arms. The band has been around quite some time and you can notice that in the way they act on stage. Although the front man takes up some attention there is enough room for all band members to shine. From some guitar solos to nice bass lines and drum parts that stand out. There is not much room for long conversations in between songs which is perfect as it keeps the good vibe up. It must be said thought that the audience seemed a bit tame today. Maybe it’s because it’s a Wednesday evening. Or it might be that some people have forgotten them as their latest work dates back a few years. We would love to see Finntroll doing their thing at a festival.