Metsatöll / Kuolemanlaakso / Soulthrower
14. March 2014, On the Rocks, Helsinki, Finland
An exuberant Estonian celebration with some Finnish guests – this might be the shortest description of this evening at On The Rocks. Perhaps a bit too short, therefore here some more details…
The long queue at the club already foreshadowed how full it would be later – which is great for the bands, but not for the disciples of photography who wished they had an American Football gear or 2-3 bodyguards… therefore sorry for not managing to get nicer snapshots of the headliners. Would have been to risky for life, health and camera set…
During the show of the openers Soul Thrower it was still possible to move in front of the stage with a camera, although there were many fans (mostly countrymen) cheering to this Estonian act. Quite impressive and original sound, let´s call it Stoner Rock meets Sludge, or Grunge/Alternative, played with the low-tuned heaviness of Doom, and also in a certain slow motion. Plus the rough “whisky” voice of Daner – who reminded me of Los Bastardos Finlandeses´ Bryn. Songs like Skeleton Dance (their latest single) sounded really cool, occasionally there were too many repetitions, which had quite an hypnotic effect in a live-situation, though. A band to check out.
Kuolemanlaakso caused some stir in front of the stage, which means taking pictures became a suicide mission. Because in the supposedly safe spot in the pit the danger came from above – Usva´s dreads beating you to death… Therefore when they played one of my faves from the debut album – the title track Uljas uusi maailma – I simply gave up and enjoyed the gig, just like the enthusiastic crowd. Which had obviously studied the debut as well as the new album Tulijoutsen, due to the perfect clap/sing along cueing. After a tight set – no talking to the audience, no pauses, it seemed they tried to deliver as much music as possible – the audience naturally wanted more, so did I. Like for example Glastonbury lehto. Or the new album as a whole. But this night´s schedule was tight…
Setlist: Aarnivalkea / Me vaellamme yössä / Uljas uusi maailma / Nostos & Algos / Kalmoskooppi / Verihaaksi / Minä elän / Aurinko
After a very short changeover the headliner everybody had been longing for in this now totally full club entered the stage – Metsatöll. And well, the audience upped their expressions of appreciation – an incredibly passionate crowd, they seemed to know every line of every single song… For me it was the first time to see those Estonian Pagan-Folk-Metallers outside a summer festival, and I have to admit I liked this atmosphere much better. First, those exotic instruments (flute, bagpipe etc) really stood out, then those appealing announcements with a certain amount of extremely dry humour, delivered in such a deep voice, and then the fun on and in front of stage that simply infected everybody in such an intimate setting… Therefore at some point I just gave up, packed up my camera and enjoyed the show, consisting of material from the new CD Karjajuht and a best-of all their releases (e.g. Kivine maa). Great set, great band, a lot of fun. Great evening.
