Finntroll / Naglfar / Amoral - Munich/ Germany, 10th April 2005
Full of expectations I made my way to the „Metropolis“ club on April 10th, because in contrast to the hundrets of Finntroll fans (who wanted to party to the Humppa music) I was more interested in Naglfar`s gig, because this was the first time I was going to see them with the new line up. As you know, unfortunately Jens has left the band, and Kris (the ex-bassist) stepped in for him, and Morgan Lie is the new member of the band, playing bass. All in all an exciting prospect…
So I got to the hall just before 5:30 pm and could go in right away (thanks to Andreas of Naglfar for that!) because I wanted to watch the soundchecks. But first of all I got to know Morgan, the new member of Naglfar. He´s just as nice as he is small and sweet. And he´s really easy to talk to (which cannot be said for all the other members of the band).
Suddenly Wilska sprang past us heading for the stage, because it was the time for the Finntroll soundcheck. And I really have to say that I`ve seldom seen a band, who had so much fun with a soundcheck (even if the sound-technician got heated up once about the poor sound quality and shouted the place down). There was a lot of laughter (as you can see in the photo below) and from time to time Wilska did some wild jumping to the songs that were being practised.
Anyway the gentlemen had a lot of fun. To avoid any hassle I made sure to ask Routa, if it was okay to take photos during Finntroll`s soundcheck, and he gave the go-ahead. So here´s some more for you:
Unfortunately because of the bad sound at the venue this meant that the rehearsal took so long that Naglfar only had very little time, so they just tuned their guitars without any proper rehearsal. Here´s a photo:
It was the same story for Amoral, and they played to themselves in a corner of the hall, because it wasn`t at all clear whether or not they would have any time to rehearse. And this is how it looked:
After a boring time of sitting around doing nothing (which is quite painful for me, as I like to be busy) the doors finally were opened for the concert visitors. It was nice to meet V.Santura of “Dark Fortress” again, being there among the guests as well, who just these days answered some interview questions for Sheol Magazine (see interview section). After I found a good place beside my old fellow Claudia in the first row, the evening started with “Amoral” from Finland.
Unfortunately I can`t tell you anything about their setlist, as I´ve never seen them live before and don´t own their album. Some of their songs seem to be cool, but I couldn´t really judge, as the sound quality in the venue was terrible and it was impossible to hear any clear tones. Anyway, here´s another photo of their gig for their fans (more photos of all 3 bands will be online within the next 3 days here on Sheol Magazine!).
After that it was Naglfar`s turn. The first impression you probably got of them, was the appearance of Kris with his new “haircut” (which means: no hair at all) and in his leather coat. I know, that some people have problems with his outfit and his posing (plus the fact that he´s growling the comments between the songs instead of just talking normally), but there were opposite opinions as well of course… just for instance V.Santura said, he looks like the devil himself, showing himself like that on stage (I mention it, because I don´t wanna steal other people’s words… but I have to agree… he´s right with that point of view).
But about Kris` voice > it fits 100 % into Naglfar, the songs do really sound good with Kris doing the vocals. After this gig I was convinced that it was the right decision to have him as the new singer.
Unfortunately Naglfar had to face the same extremely bad sound and the same problems as the other bands. I couldn`t hear Andreas` guitar, and the rest of the noises wasn`t fantastic either due to the technics, even though the playing qualities of the band probably are excellent.
Naglfar started with some of their classics (“Of Gorgons Spawned through witchcraft” and “Wrath of the fallen”) and continued with one of my favourites concerning the live qualities of the song > “Emerging from her weepings”. After that we were provided with a song of their upcoming new album “Pariah”, … the song title is “A swarm of plagues”. I can`t tell you too much about it, as due to the sound quality I couldn`t hear the details. I can only tell you that much: the speed is faster than we`re used to from Naglfar`s previous songs, and the lyrics seem to be very misantrophic.
(crowd @ Naglfar)
The next song was “Blades”, followed by “Horncrowned majesty” and “The Brimstone gate”. The crowd seemed to enjoy the gig, because they really went wild. Naglfar even granted us a second song from the next album, titled “Spoken words of venom”, which I liked much better than “A swarm of plaques”. The gig found its glorious end with my favourite Naglfar song “I am vengeance” (I just love this one, it´s so full of wrath and anger).
Oh… and before I forget > Morgan, the new guy on the bass, did a really great job. It feels like he had been in Naglfar ever since. I can´t tell you what it is about him, but it wasn`t necessary to get used to him or something, for some reason I was able to accept the dude right away.
But I don`t wanna miss it to add some words about the drummer (you know > the guy who`s never really mentioned by anyone, no matter what band we´re talking about, but who does a really hard and tough job). I really had a feeling that Mattias has technically improved since the last time I saw the band live. Great work! (Click HERE to see all photos of Naglfar from this gig!)
Okay… and then it was time for the wildest party in the country with the appearance of Finntroll! Must I really tell you, that the crowd went berserk? Jumping, headbanging, moshing, screaming along… and especially a neverending number of crowdsurfers and stage divers (who had their fun by shaking Wilska´s hand, before jumping onto the crowd).
Unfortunately even Finntroll weren`t save from the bad sound quality. In the beginning I wasn´t able to hear Wilska`s voice at all. It sounded to me, as if his microphone was turned off. But inbetween the songs (when he talked to the crowd) I could hear him, so it wasn`t off, it just wasn´t tuned loud enough. Very unfortunate! But of course the band is professional enough to continue anyway, being in the best mood.
I don´t remember all the song titles they performed, but I´m sure about hearing the following: Jaktens tid, Grottans barn, Rivfader, Ursvamp, Nattfödd, Fiskarens fiende, Eliytres, Skogens Hämnd and especially “Trollhammaren”, which seemed to be the favourite of the fans, because they all sang along and it was a wild party among the crowd during this song.
Routa even gave applause to the crowd by the end of the gig, because he seemed to be enlighted by their passionate reactions. All in all it was a total success. I think all visitors were totally satisfied when they left the venue, because even apart from the crappy sound quality people had a good and wild party with Finntroll. (To see all photos of this Finntroll gig > click HERE !)
