By all accounts this is an awesome tour, headlined by one of the best bands in metal in Finntroll and with a Herculean supporting cast, how could this night not be totally amazing?

 Arkona are a great start to the night, playing a thrashy folk metal, heavy on the sea shanty esque break downs designed to get you hoping along. Masha, sporting a large, dead animal round her shoulders, bounces around the stage with seemingly limitless energy, sometimes picking up a tambourine and looking like a derranged extra from the Wicker Man. All good fun though, and a good way to start off the evening.

 I was really looking forward to Dornenreich, even though I haven’t particularly liked any of their albums since ‘Nicht um zu Sterben’. Unfortunately it all sounds a bit thin and weedy. The lack of bass is a real problem live, and the songs don’t really set the world on fire. A piss poor lighting show and luke warm reaction from the crowd leave a disappointing taste in the mouth. Or maybe that was because I spent £4 on a beer…

 

 It’s quite amusing watching them all vie for space up on that tiny stage. And during songs like ‘Inas Mona’ and ‘Quoth the Raven’ it looks pretty tight up there. It’s now an accepted fact of mine that, sound permitting, this band are always tight and put on an effortlessly good show.

 How do you follow a set like that then? If you’re Finntroll, you do it with ease. The first song is lost in murky sound, not that the crowd seems to care, but follow up with a volley of ‘Skogens Hämnd’ and ‘Slaget Vid Blodsälv’ (!!!) all is swiftly forgiven. I really can’t believe my luck tonight, ‘Slania’s Song’ and ‘Slaget Vid Blodsälv’, one of the most balls out cheesey songs I’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing this side of Destroy Destroy Destroy, in one night! And it only gets better, obvious classics like ‘Nattefodd’ and ‘Fiskarens Fiende’ are balanced out perfectly with new material like ‘Den Frusna Munnen’. And when the good ol’ ‘Trollhammaren’ is bashed out the crowd erupts into a venue wide Humpa party. If you’ve never been in a Humpa pit before, you’re missing out! I bizarre mix of skanking and a pub brawl, there’s nothing quite like it! And Finntroll know how to whip a crowd into a dancing frenzy. Something almost as amusing as the pit, is the fact that not many people seem to know the words to the songs, instead bellowing out the motifs and riffs. Closing with the majestic ‘Jaktens Tid’ and ‘Solsagan’ from the new album, Finntroll have proven their worth in the live arena as one of the most entertaining bands around today. Was it ever really in question?

 

By Carl Sucharyna Thomas