house_of_metal

» House Of Metal 2009

~ Reviewed by Tommy/Tribe
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The House Of Metal festival, located in Umeå in the northern part of Sweden, lives on and is now running on its third year. I think that the previous years have had a slightly better lineup overall, with the first year (2007) perhaps being the best so far, but also this year they had managed to gather some respectable names. This was my first year at the festival but when names like Amon Amarth and Stormwarrior ended up on the bill, the deal was sealed. Along with me this year I brought Tribe, who is going to join Metal Covenant on a steady basis from hereafter, and below you can find a couple of his first reviews.

The arrangement was very good and neat, and the visitors and the festival crew were friendly and helpful. I have no doubt that this festival will be able to live and prosper for quite some time in the future. Due to a few scheduled interviews, we were not able to attend everything we wanted to but the following is what we think about the weekend in general, musically speaking:

Friday - 27th of February

Band: The Haunted
Time: 20:00
Stage: Idun

~ By Tommy
I arrived a bit too late to be able to grade The Haunted fairly, I only caught the four last songs. They drew a large and enthusiastic audience and the band performed as the professionals they are. I personally have a hard time with the vocals and the lack of melodies in their music, so four songs were just enough for me in the end. It gets a bit too chaotic for me, but when they are in the clean, thrashy and riffing mood, they are good, but that is too seldom for my personal taste.

-- chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)

Band: Redlight Attraction!
Time: 21:15
Stage: Freja

~ By Tommy
When the guys in the band entered the tiny stage I did not expect much. To be honest, absolutely nothing at all. Five very young guys in sleaze outfits, looking like your next door garage band. They gave a very juveline and unexperienced impression, but the music was surprisingly good. Very riff based and with a fat guitar sound that appealed to my metal heart. The music was melodic enough and they also had a few killer choruses.

One of the guitarists fumbled a bit every now and then and seemed to forget to play the beginning of some riffs occasionally when cheering to the audience seemed more important, the vocalist overacted a bit in my eyes and the bass player simply looked wrong in the whole context. All of this was kind of amusing to me, but it felt like I was smiling for the wrong reason. Or perhaps I just can't relate to this whole sleaze approach. Perhaps this is how it is supposed to be…

Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable moment. I would not go out of my way to see them again, but if I would end up at a gig of theirs in the future I would probably stay until the end. Musically they get a 6,5 from me, but show-wise not more then around 2. So my final judgement on this performance settles to:

3,5 chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)

Band: Amon Amarth
Time: 22:00
Stage: Idun

~ By Tommy
This was actually my first encounter with Amon Amarth. At last year's Sweden Rock Festival I chose to see Axel Rudi Pell instead when the bands played at the same time, and that felt like the right choice at the time, but I'm not so sure anymore. This was just as mighty and massive as I had thought and even though the sound was not really good during any concert this weekend, Amon Amarth had one of the better sonic landscapes. With two recent magnificent albums in their backs the setlist was filled with killers, and the guys themselves seemed to have a good time.

When Johan Hegg sings, you listen. An old saying in Asgaard. The frontman sure has pondus and his voice was this night stable, confident and powerful enough, an important thing in Amon Amarths music since it in their case more or less serves as a vital fifth instrument, more so than in other bands in the same genre. It feels like he sings a bit darker and thicker now, meaning better, compared to a few years ago. The 80 minute set did not contain any dead parts and it was enjoyable from start to finish, both musically and visually, but at the end of the day it felt no more than a normal day at work for the band. The band's lowest level is however so high that you are garantueed a good show. And this sure was.

7,5 chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)

Band: Nifelheim
Time: 00:15
Stage: Studion

~ By Tribe
This was my very first encounter with this myth-riddden black metal band from Sweden since I'm quite new to their music, so I did not really know what to expect. Unfortunately I missed the beginning of the gig because the security guards did not, for some inconceivable reason, let more then 5-10 people in at the same time, to a venue that was never more than half full. A bit strange. Once I entered the hall and saw Nifelheim in action (and I do mean action), I was completely stunned. Four raving mad men dressed like spawns of hell.

The intensity that this band showed on stage was extremely impressive. Normally I think that some bands that try to give an impression of being overly evil as hell can be quite boring. But with Nifelheim it felt genuine. The music itself is not bad in anyway yet nothing extremely special either, but the music combined with the stageshow the band provides made this a really special occasion for me.

The best song of the night was in my opinion The Final Slaughter. The band played their hearts out giving the crowd a taste of a real black metal treat. Maybe it's because I hadn't seen them perform live before, or maybe it was just the chock I recieved that made this so special for me. But in any way, this performance was one of the biggest highlights for me during this two day festival. If I get the chance to see this band again anytime soon, I would go in a heartbeat.

9 chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)

Saturday - 28th of February

Drum clinic with Per M Jensen (The Haunted)
Time: 13:00
Stage: Äpplet

~ By Tommy
Per Jensen from The Haunted kicked off the second day with a soft and laid back drum clinic for a 50-headed crowd. He played a few The Haunted songs with pre-recorded guitars and vocals, answered questions about certain techniques and gave some advices. Not being anything of a drummer myself, my interest faded after a while and since there is not much of melodies in drumming, it's just too much after a while. The drummers in the crowd seemed please at least, they questions were plenty enough to keep Per busy during the hour or so, and he hung around for quite a while afterwards talking to fans with additional questions.

Guitar clinic with Stefan Elmgren (ex-Hammerfall)
Time: 14:30
Stage: Äpplet

~ By Tommy
The guitar clinic with Stefan Elmgren was for many reasons much more interesting. If Per Jensen was pretty laid back, that was nothing compared to what Elmgren was. Giving a very down to earth, humble and almost shy impression, he started with playing a few songs consisting of never before released ones as well as some older Hammerfall material. He asked for guitar related questions but the audience was silent as in the grave in the beginning, so he just kept playing some more and in between talking a little about himself and some guitar related anecdotes. The audience loosened up after a while,and from there the questions kept him busy for the rest of the clinic. He is not the most technical skilled guitarist, but I love his type of melodies and style of playing, and I could have listened to this all day. After he was done, I sat down with him for a short, spontanous interview which you can read if you follow the link below.

Band: Stormwarrior
Time: 20:00
Stage: Idun

~ By Tribe
My general expectations on House Of Metal 2009 were high, to say the least, and this was mainly because one of my all time favourite bands were about to play this year: Stormwarrior. They were scheduled to play 20.00 at the main stage called Idun (quite suitable…), and around 19.45 my anticipitation started to rise like a little child´s on Christmas morning.

I think Stormwarrior managed to surprise the entire audience when they started the gig by playing Signe Of The Warlorde instead of Heading Northe, which I thought whould be the obvious choice considering it is generally the most famous and praised song on their latest album. Although, not a bad choice since Signe Of The Warlorde is a really powerful song. I noticed immediately that parts of the sound on this particular stage did not play in favour for Stormwarrior. Lead singer Lars Ramcke, as most of you know, does not have the most powerful voice and it was hard for him to do himself justice.

Which made me feel a little bit sad, because one of the main reasons why I love this band is their ability to make incredible bridges and choruses on top of those lightning fast riffs. The only thing that was really clearly heard was the riffs (which really were enough to give me goosebumps, by the way), so it was a bit of a loss for the fans who turned up for this metal feast expecting heavy and brilliant refrains. A very positive thing about this show was that Stormwarrior played a lot of songs from their earlier albums (Stormwarrior and Northern Rage) and that indicates, in my opinion, that this band has a lot of courage. They could have played it safe and mainly picked songs from the Heading Northe album, which is probably the most known to people at this point. But that´s why I respect this quartet so much; it takes some guts to play in front of small crowd and not playing out their strongest songs right away.

The best song during this set, spanning over seventy minutes, was without a doubt Metal Legacy from the Heading Northe album, and the entire band nailed it to perfection. I would like to be so bold that I am going to compare it to a flawless diamond. Another thing that adds to Stormwarrior's greatness in my eyes is the fact that when the band had played their strongest card in the song Heading Northe and a big part of the audience had left, they still gave the ridiculously small remaining crowd an encore. Most bands, including myself if I was in one, would probably have called it a day at that point. This simply tells me this: if you as a follower of Stormwarrior are faithful, they give a lot back in return.

So were my expectations fulfilled? Yes, even though there was a lousy attendance, a questionable sound and quite a sleepy crowd. Stormwarrior delivered despite these poor conditions and that is a sign of their pure love for metal.

9 chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)

Band: Danko Jones
Time: 22:00
Stage: Idun

~ By Tommy
Due to a scheduled interview with Stormwarrior, Danko Jones only got 20-25 minutes of my attention and I can't grade anything based on that. However, I don't think that I would have chosen to seen more of him in any case. The recent years hype surrounding him leaves me with a very confused face. Perhaps I have not heard his albums enough to be able to back up what I am saying, but from what I have in fact heard they play very boring music. Relatively easy pre-party rock 'n roll with nothing special to it.

One cannot deny that he is a fantastic showman, though. Danko himself takes up space on the stage, to say the least, and knows how to drill an audience. During a couple of the songs I saw, where they brought it up a notch and played harder riffs, it was quite enjoyable, I must admit. When the boring AC/DC-esque riffs appear, my attention drops and I get restless. In general, regardless of what type of song they played, I found it way more interesting to watch the energetic Danko Jones himself than listen to the music. The hall was packed to the very last seat, which would be somewhere around 1000 persons. He both had the best and most massive sound of the weekend, and he also got the best and loudest response from the audience judging by the short time I was present.

-- chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)

Band: Opeth
Time: 00:00
Stage: Idun

~ By Tommy
Opeth drew an audience just as big as Danko Jones, it was packed to the very last seat. I had looked forward to finally seeing the mighty Opeth, but sadly I just had to leave prematurely. I don't know if it was because of where I was standing, but the sound was ruining this concert completely for me. The drums were way too loud, and they sounded like an earthquake (not in a good and powerful way, just an annoying one) and drowned everything else, and the otherwise so marvellous vocals by Mikael Åkerfeldt were too low and a lot of times I was not able to discern his growls from other blurry sounds emerging from stage. Since his growls are a vital part of their sonic landscape, a lot is lost already there.

It did not get better by time, and I just grew irritated from having to concentrate so strongly on even hearing the riffs and melodies that I decided to depart earlier than expected and see the full Guillotine set instead. As I moved around trying to get out of the hall, the sound did not turn for the better one bit so I believe I made the right choice. At least I would like to believe that.

-- chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)

Band: Guillotine
Time: 00:45
Stage: Studion

~ By Tommy
Even if Opeth would have had an acceptable sound, I would have cursed myself if I would have missed this. The Guillotine guys were obviously in a good mood this night, playing in their hometown with a great new album in their back. The band consists of Fredrik Mannberg and Nils Eriksson (both of them also in Nocturnal Rites), Daniel Sundbom (Persuader) and Efraim Juntunen. Guillotine was formed 1996 by Mannberg due to his passion for old Kreator and it can sure be heard in their music. Classic, old school thrash of the 80's is mixed with a slightly modern sounding thrash and the result is great.

Nothing fancy, just energy and great riffs accompanied by Mannbergs suitable vocals. They performed an explosive set with a good setlist, and not even the fact that a part of the drumset broke after a fews songs, with a five minute pause as a result, could ruin a great ending of an enjoyable weekend.

7 chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)