Paganfest Recap! TYR and Ensiferum at The House of Blues on 4/02

The LA metal scene loves European metal and I am no exception to the rule! Paganfest has become one of my favorite annual concert series because they always book a solid lineup and it's always so fun. This year's lineup was Helsott, Trollfest, Heidevolk, TYR and Ensiferum! The House of Blues was jam-packed with excited fans and I was right in the thick of it. 

Please tell me you didn't miss this!

 
At long last I finally got to see TYR play some songs off of the Eric the Red album! Now I know that when I die, my ghost won't angrily haunt the Faroe Islands, demanding to hear a live performance of Regin Smidur. No one else does viking metal like TYR! This is the band to go see if you like Norse mythology told through artfully composed riffs and archaic Scandinavian chants. They have a completely original (and amazing) sound! I swear this band's guitar tone resounds with the blessings of Valhalla.

Somehow, the moshpit was raging during the entire TYR set, even during the slower songs. It's just proof that LA loves TYR and they need to headline their own serious North American tour!

Ensiferum was the headliner on the Paganfest tour, and they played a bitchin' set, too! They're one of those incredible folk metal bands that's come out of the spectacular Helsinki, Finland music scene. 

Be sure to check out TYR and Ensiferum on Facebook, Reverb Nation, and most importantly, on their next tour!

The next event on my concert calendar is Ascendancy, tonight, at the Smoke and Metal event.

Turisas at The Key Club on 2/22!

Man, oh man, what a show! Turisas put on an incredible performance last Friday night at The Key Club! Any fan of power metal or Finnish folk metal should check out this band. They take the best elements of viking, folk, power and symphonic metal, and blend them together into the stunning amalgamation they call "battle metal".  And from what I can tell, their epic movie soundtrack feel is created live by keyboards and a violin, not from a cheater backing track. These guys had tremendous energy and really know how to get a crowd excited! There were tons of dudes in the pit sporting the red Turisas warrior facepaint.

Olli Vanska shreds the hell out of his violin!

I'll have to make it out to Helsinki, Finland one day because there are just too many good bands over there! Be sure to check out Turisas on Facebook and watch out for their next US tour!

The next event on my concert calendar is Scattered Hamlet at The Viper Room on Monday, March 4th. I might also make it over to The House Blues to catch The Future Villains right before Scattered Hamlet plays.

Enslaved at The Roxy - Scion Metal Matinee on 11/10

Enslaved played a special FREE show last Saturday at The Roxy courtesy of Scion A/V Metal's Label Showcase. If you are not on the Scion A/V email list or at least following them on facebook you need to do so ASAP! Scion works with various record labels to host a free matinee show every month and the bands they choose are good at least 50 percent of the time (I've seen Holy Grail and Skeletonwitch on two different metal matinee occasions). That's a pretty good ratio if you ask me. The catch is that you have to RSVP to go to the shows.

So as I was saying, Enslaved played last Saturday. These guys flew all the way out here to play one show in LA, so I feel really fortunate that I was able to attend.  The crowd was pretty good although I was a bit disappointed that the venue didn't hit max capacity since it was a FREE show. I think some people were confused and didn't realize that the show was in the afternoon at 4:00 pm. Pay attention, people! 

If you aren't familiar with them, Enslaved is an awesome metal band from Norway. It's hard to pin them down to a particular genre although Enslaved is currently associated with viking metal. They certainly had roots in the Norwegian black metal movement but their music has become more progressive and atmospheric over the span of their 20 year career. I enjoy it, although there are a few prog moments that make my head spin. Mostly, it reminds me of being lost in a Norwegian blizzard after slaying all of your enemies in a surprise ambush!  If you're into that sort of thing, Enslaved is the band for you! They played some songs off of their newest album, (which I do not currently own but it is on my Christmas wish list) as well as plenty of old stuff. Fans always love the old stuff! Of course they finished with Isa and a cover of Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song. I don't place Led Zeppelin on a masturbatory pedestal like lots of other music fans but I really dug this cover. It was kind of evil and foreboding! If you missed them this time, check them out when they come back to LA on an official tour early next year.

Be sure to check out Enslaved on Facebook if you have not done so already. (I always plug everyone on Facebook because it's the easiest thing to do.)

The next events on my concert calendar are Legal Tender, Ascendancy, and Desecrate tonight at The Whiskey, and Eluveitie at The House of Blues on 11/29.

TYR at The Whiskey, with Moonsorrow, Korpiklaani on 9/12

After almost three years of being a huge fan, I finally got to see TYR live at The Whiskey! As soon as Metsatoll completed their set, I squirmed up to the very front of the stage to maximize my viking metal experience. And what an experience it was! Sure, there are plenty of other folk metal and viking metal bands out there, most of which I've seen, but no other band comes close to sounding like TYR. Ah, the bright clear guitar tone, the Faroese chanting, the ancient rhythms of old Norse songs... all of these attributes and the feelings they impart are unique to TYR. Their songs conjure up images of viking long ships navigating the foamy oceans centuries long past during the great Norse expansion.... sigh. As expected, their live show was nothing short of breath-taking and it exceeded every expectation I had. Now, all of my metal dreams have come true!

Korpiklaani and Moonsorrow also played great sets and I'd say all around it was a stellar show. Major props to whoever managed to put together such an amazing line up! Sometimes a concert is just a concert, but sometimes a concert is a mind-blowing, time traveling journey into an age of epic sagas and glorious, heathen adventures! 


Check TYR out on facebook https://www.facebook.com/tyrband

The next event on my concert calendar is Accept and Kreator at The Avalon on Wednesday, September 26th.