Paganfest – Elvenking / Heidevolk / Tyr / Ensiferum / Alestorm – O2 Academy Brixton – 19.01.2025

 

Sunday afternoon a bit different as we went out to go and see the London leg of the Paganfest!! I’m not usually too much into this sub-genre but there were a couple of bands I wanted to re-watch and after not having a great impression of Alestorm’s music, I wanted to see their show!!

So we got to Brixton (me, Ines and the rest of the warrior sisters), had a beer in the box park and then headed to the Academy, which I have to say, I missed going there as the place usually is quite good (more on that ahead)!! Queue was huge, so when we got inside, Elvenking was already playing!! They were, besides Alestorm the only band I hadn’t seen before, so I was curious to see what they were all about. With a new album coming out in April (they played at least one song from it: “Luna”) the Italian sextet showed plenty of energy in stage with the singer running quite a lot but never losing his breath. They brought a mix of Power and Folk Metal, with some crazy solos, heavy riffing and a damn good violinist!! They ended the show with “Elvenlegions”, which I’m assuming it’s their gathering song, and they were fun to watch and opened the day quite good!!

Next, would be one of the bands I really wanted to see: Heidevolk!! I had seen them in Sheffield on the HRH Vikings and they left me with a good impression!! And again, they were really good to watch!! This time I knew a couple of more songs from them, so identified some like “A Wolf in my Heart”, “Winter Woede”, plus the enormous, and fun, to try to sing, “Vulgaris Magistralis”!!! They released their seventh album in 2023, so there was no surprise that half of the songs in the set were from “Wederkeer”!! They are a very well oiled machine, with every riff hitting the spot, and a bunch of different vocals, as besides the two main vocalists (great harmonies coming from them), Rowan, the bassist, also shows up to growl in quite a few songs!! The fact they sing most songs in Dutch for me is even a plus as I think the harshness of that language fits very well their music!! Top-notch and for me it would be the show of the night!!!

We had time for a couple of more beers and now time for me to complain about the venue!! It was so cold inside the place, that at some point I thought we were watching an outdoor show in freezing cold London!! Don’t know what happened but man I think for the first time in an indoor concert, I didn’t take my jacket off!!

Used to the cold must be Tyr, the next band in stage, as they are from the Faroe Islands, and after seeing them opening for Sabaton in 2014 in Portugal, I was looking forward to see them again!! Some people said they looked a bit tired but I must say it was quite enjoyable to see them and sing songs like “By the Sword in my Hand” (opening things in a high note), “Hail to the Hammer” (many Manowar fans were doing the sign of the hammer eheh) and closing with “Hold the Heathen Hammer High (again some Manowar influence with a lot of songs about axes, hammers (their newest guitarist surname is Hammer so better than that, impossible!!) and swords eheh)!! They also played a couple of songs from their newest album “Battle Ballads”, which contrary to the title is quite fast/mid-tempo!! They have a lot of melody in their music (something very noticeable this evening, with exception of the last band) with some very gripping riffs, a very dynamic rhythm section and vocals very well balanced between grit and melody. Very good show!!!

Ensiferum was next, and the only time I’ve seen them was in 2010 in a Portuguese festival where they played in the same day as My Dying Bride (got love the internet to remind you of these things ahah)!! So 15 years later, they showed up, played a hell of a concert and left with the feeling of a job well done. Another band with a very recent album, so no surprise to listen to a couple of songs from it and they weren’t that bad!! Opener “Fatherland” can become a song which will stay in their set lists in the future!! They surprised me when the guy playing keyboards all of the sudden delivers some Rob Halford type of vocals which I wasn’t expecting that much!! I’m still as of today deciding if I liked them or not ahah!! It sounds weird in their music but well, they just trying something different, maybe it’s just a phase ahah!! Things got interesting when they delivered some of their old material like “Victory Song”, “Iron” or “Lai Lai Hei” (a song with a bit of Finnish Iskelma) which made some heat return to the Academy. Good show although for me a couple of notches below the previous bands!!

 Ok so let’s go to the last band!! I wasn’t a fan before their show and didn’t become one now, but honestly, this wasn’t the worst concert that I’ve ever seen!! But come on man, they had three huge, inflated ducks on stage, and then no songs about ducks?? Not even Drunk Duck, Zombie Duck or Pirate Duck? Was too much to ask for a song about ducks when they had those three yellow monsters on stage? Pretty lame if you ask me!! Am I not being serious?? Well don’t blame me, Alestorm started it!! There are songs about drinking, pirates, zombies, more drinking, geography (it seems there were songs about “Mexico” and “Uzbekistan” (a country that deserved a song long ago), some guys trying to steel a beer (at the price you pay for them at the O2, I promise you, there’ll be a big fight for it) and some sexual gratification with an anchor (don’t ask me why)!! The songs are funny, people were having fun and singing, so I’m not going to rain on their parade!! Kudos for Patty Gurdy, with the Hurdy Gurdy (I promise I’m not making it up), which was very fun to watch and she has a hell of a voice, let her sing more for drunks sake!!!

Night came to an end, it was interesting, it was also a Sunday, so it was time to take the tube and get back home because as Alestorm said, their fans have no jobs, but unfortunately I’m no fan, so I needed to work Monday morning!!!

Retribution Alive – Lethal Evil / Drones / Die Kur / Kill II This – The Underworld, London – 18.01.2025

 

January started slowly for us, a good way to recover from the holiday season and also a way to gather some energy for what comes ahead!! So, our first night out with concerts was on the 18^th when Alan delivered one more night of Retribution Alive!! This time it was in the Underworld and there were new and old names to see and revisit.

We lost a bit of time on shenanigans so when we got to the venue Lethal Evil was already thrashing their way around. Before heading to the floor, we stop by the bar because you need to keep hydrated and this time, I chose Deya as my choice of beverage for the night!!! The London trio have a sound that drinks from the Thrash godz like Kreator or Sepultura and opened with a lot of energy this evening. We only caught a couple of songs from them included their new single “We Fight” and must say we will keep an eye for future appearances in the city by these guys!!

Next was Drones from Margate, Kent, a young quartet that delivered an interesting alternative Metal sound with plenty of different influences very well mashed!! They brought a ton of positive energy to the Underworld, which I think infected everyone present!! Great vocals (excellent range and a great stage presence), some excellent riffs, and a thick sound on the rhythm section, makes of this new horde, one to watch out for the future!! A couple of songs got stuck in my head like “Glass Houses”, “I’m Dying to Survive” or the very catchy “Love Me/Hate Me”, so that’s always a good sign!!!

Back to the bar for one more Deya, and next on stage was Die Kur, a veteran band from the London scene, which we had the chance to see already a couple of times!! Their music is quite challenging with a lot happening in stage, from the theremin and keyboards played by the singer, to the violin pieces or the very technical bass lines, they have a very unique sound. I can’t say is my usual choice of music but being honest, it was quite a good performance with some strong songs, and you can see the band was enjoying themselves on stage, which then usually transmits to the audience.

Back up to the bar, toilet and then another beer (honestly sometimes I don’t know why I work as the intermediary for the beer as it always ends in the same place but well, still looking for the meaning of life)!!! And last band to go on stage was Kill II This, a quartet which delivers a Thrash Metal with plenty of modern influences (in the 00’s that is). My history with these guys goes around almost 30 years earlier, when I saw them opening for Megadeth in Cascais, Portugal, on the Cryptic Writings tour!!! At the time, they only had one demo and their debut album, and it was cool that on this night they played pretty much the entire demo with songs like “Crucified” or “The Flood” sounding very catchy after those three decades. They also have a new album (which is their first with the new singer) and of course they had to show some of those songs like “Deus” or “ComaKarma”, which must say, sounded very good. Very tight sound, great stage presence, good riffs (courtesy of the man which has been always there, Mark Mynett) and again one other band which seemed to be enjoying the evening very much. I think this concert also marked the return of Caroline Campbell on bass (she spent a couple of years in the band in the late 90’s) and it seemed she’s been there all her life!! Our friend Trigger was ecstatic with their show, so it had to be great!!! An excellent way to end this night!! As we had another concert the next day, we did an early exit, with a mandatory stop at Woody's for a nice meat and chips!!

So congratz to Alan for one more Retribution Alive, and to a million more to happen in the future!!!