The mead was flowing and the violins were humming Friday night at the famous Alrosa Villa in Columbus, OH as Paganfest America rolled into town, presumably on a well-oared Viking ship. I made the quick trip up I-71 from Blog of Doom headquarters to take in what turned out to be my favorite concert in a long time. Pagan metal, folk metal, Viking metal...call it whatever you like. There's nothing quite like it and it's pretty fucking fun.
A local band called Kingsblood got the festivities started at 6:00. They didn't have any folk instruments, so they didn't fit in perfectly, but they had Viking imagery, so we'll give them a pass. Kingsblood played a half hour of melodic death metal and it all sounded pretty good. Their stage presence was a little lacking, though. They didn't really know what to do between songs and it was a little awkward. They had a handful of killer riffs, though, and the Phil Anselmo lookalike singer had a pretty decent voice, as far as screamers go. They're worth keeping an eye on.
Winterhymn was up next. Despite being from the same city, I've never actually had the opportunity to catch a Winterhymn show, so I was pretty excited to finally see them on stage. Talk about stage presence; these kids have it in spades, especially the frontman/guitarist. The songs stood on their own, but the band's performance took the show to another level. Winterhymn slayed the crowd for 30 minutes with heavy, thrashy folk metal, complete with electric violin and some other keyboard-coaxed folk instruments. The crowd was singing along with their arms in the air for the majority of the set, which is pretty rare for early set bands. The between song banter was excellent and entertaining, which is also rare. I was really impressed with these kids and I think they're on their way to international acclaim. The lone complaint was the volume level of the violin really drowned out the guitars. Small complaint, but worth noting.
Next up was Varg, a blackened melodeath band out of Germany. Their performance was absolutely ferocious. The guitar parts were incredibly melodic while still staying heavy. This singer was an imposing force and he commanded attention throughout the set. There was no bass player on stage, but there were a few moments when the guitars dropped out and the bass was audible. I'm not really down with those kind of shenanigans, so I'm deducting a few points there. Also, I kind of wonder about the nearsighted decision to name your band Varg when one of the biggest dickheads in metal history goes by the same name. I imagine that's costing the band a few potential listeners here and there, but I'm glad they were on this bill so I had a chance to check them out. I'm a fan and I'll be checking out some albums when I get a chance. Very solid live show.
Heading into the show, I knew pretty much nothing about the next band, Chthonic. They're a black/melodeath band from Taiwan and they were pretty interesting, if not memorable. The singer plays some wild Taiwanese stringed instrument that looks like a ball with a stick and sounds like a violin. The bass player is quite attractive, but she's also a killer bassist. Their set was really powerful sounding, but the only moment that sticks out is when the singer said something along the lines of, "We're all from different countries, but tonight we all belong to the Republic of Metal". Cheesy stuff, but cool as shit. The crowd, including myself, ate that up.
Finland's Turisas took the stage next, and from the number of folks in the crowd with red/black face paint, I'd say they were the top attraction for a good chunk of the crowd. (Varg also does the red/black scheme, but it's a little different.) I was super impressed with these dudes. They're like a better version of Manowar, singing tales of battle and glory. The violin was a major part of their sound, but it worked perfectly. I was mesmerized for their whole set and I was completely sober. They don't take themselves too seriously, which is a breath of fresh air in the metal community, where everyone usually tries to act tough for some reason. Turisas just kicked ass, no scowls necessary. They were the first band of the night to feature exclusive clean singing and the whole set was catchy as hell. Add another band to the download list.
After the longest break of the night, the evening's headliners, Korpiklaani, finally took the stage. This is the band I was most familiar with heading into the evening and I'm happy to report that the live show just blows the albums out of the water. They look like a band of roving gypsies or something, not like a metal band at all. In addition to the required violin, Korpiklaani also features an accordion, which proves the age old adage that accordions are, indeed, metal as fuck. The songs were all extremely catchy and the folk elements were amazing. There were actually people doing jigs in the crowd outside of the mosh pit. I've never experienced anything like it. Korpiklaani played for well over an hour and the crowd was digging it the whole time. Highly recommended.
I never knew that folk metal was big enough in this country to support an event like Paganfest, so the whole evening was a huge success for metal. Every band on the tour is amazing in their own way and the camaraderie between bands and fans was palpable. Usually after 6+ hours at a show, I'm ready to roll, but I could've handled another 6 hours of killer folk metal on Friday night. Incredible show all around; insanely fun. I'll absolutely check out future editions of this tour and I implore all of you to check out the 2014 version when it hits your closest city. Bring a drinking horn for the mead.
A local band called Kingsblood got the festivities started at 6:00. They didn't have any folk instruments, so they didn't fit in perfectly, but they had Viking imagery, so we'll give them a pass. Kingsblood played a half hour of melodic death metal and it all sounded pretty good. Their stage presence was a little lacking, though. They didn't really know what to do between songs and it was a little awkward. They had a handful of killer riffs, though, and the Phil Anselmo lookalike singer had a pretty decent voice, as far as screamers go. They're worth keeping an eye on.
Winterhymn was up next. Despite being from the same city, I've never actually had the opportunity to catch a Winterhymn show, so I was pretty excited to finally see them on stage. Talk about stage presence; these kids have it in spades, especially the frontman/guitarist. The songs stood on their own, but the band's performance took the show to another level. Winterhymn slayed the crowd for 30 minutes with heavy, thrashy folk metal, complete with electric violin and some other keyboard-coaxed folk instruments. The crowd was singing along with their arms in the air for the majority of the set, which is pretty rare for early set bands. The between song banter was excellent and entertaining, which is also rare. I was really impressed with these kids and I think they're on their way to international acclaim. The lone complaint was the volume level of the violin really drowned out the guitars. Small complaint, but worth noting.
Next up was Varg, a blackened melodeath band out of Germany. Their performance was absolutely ferocious. The guitar parts were incredibly melodic while still staying heavy. This singer was an imposing force and he commanded attention throughout the set. There was no bass player on stage, but there were a few moments when the guitars dropped out and the bass was audible. I'm not really down with those kind of shenanigans, so I'm deducting a few points there. Also, I kind of wonder about the nearsighted decision to name your band Varg when one of the biggest dickheads in metal history goes by the same name. I imagine that's costing the band a few potential listeners here and there, but I'm glad they were on this bill so I had a chance to check them out. I'm a fan and I'll be checking out some albums when I get a chance. Very solid live show.
Heading into the show, I knew pretty much nothing about the next band, Chthonic. They're a black/melodeath band from Taiwan and they were pretty interesting, if not memorable. The singer plays some wild Taiwanese stringed instrument that looks like a ball with a stick and sounds like a violin. The bass player is quite attractive, but she's also a killer bassist. Their set was really powerful sounding, but the only moment that sticks out is when the singer said something along the lines of, "We're all from different countries, but tonight we all belong to the Republic of Metal". Cheesy stuff, but cool as shit. The crowd, including myself, ate that up.
Finland's Turisas took the stage next, and from the number of folks in the crowd with red/black face paint, I'd say they were the top attraction for a good chunk of the crowd. (Varg also does the red/black scheme, but it's a little different.) I was super impressed with these dudes. They're like a better version of Manowar, singing tales of battle and glory. The violin was a major part of their sound, but it worked perfectly. I was mesmerized for their whole set and I was completely sober. They don't take themselves too seriously, which is a breath of fresh air in the metal community, where everyone usually tries to act tough for some reason. Turisas just kicked ass, no scowls necessary. They were the first band of the night to feature exclusive clean singing and the whole set was catchy as hell. Add another band to the download list.
After the longest break of the night, the evening's headliners, Korpiklaani, finally took the stage. This is the band I was most familiar with heading into the evening and I'm happy to report that the live show just blows the albums out of the water. They look like a band of roving gypsies or something, not like a metal band at all. In addition to the required violin, Korpiklaani also features an accordion, which proves the age old adage that accordions are, indeed, metal as fuck. The songs were all extremely catchy and the folk elements were amazing. There were actually people doing jigs in the crowd outside of the mosh pit. I've never experienced anything like it. Korpiklaani played for well over an hour and the crowd was digging it the whole time. Highly recommended.
I never knew that folk metal was big enough in this country to support an event like Paganfest, so the whole evening was a huge success for metal. Every band on the tour is amazing in their own way and the camaraderie between bands and fans was palpable. Usually after 6+ hours at a show, I'm ready to roll, but I could've handled another 6 hours of killer folk metal on Friday night. Incredible show all around; insanely fun. I'll absolutely check out future editions of this tour and I implore all of you to check out the 2014 version when it hits your closest city. Bring a drinking horn for the mead.
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