The day began in an apt manner with snow descending all around London. The long awaited Paganfest had finally breached these shores on day 5 of the tour.

Eluveitie are breaking grounds in the folk metal scene, thanks to the Swiss eight-piece’s ambitious effort of fusing melodic death metal with folk metal. Opening with ‘Inis Mona’ from the band’s latest well-received offering Slania, the catchy melodies took the crowd instantly by storm, with jigs and mosh pits spontaneously forming. Unfortunately, the poor sound of the KOKO hindered the vocals dramatically but it was still a pleasure to hear the more unusual instruments, such as the hurdygurdy. Closing with an enthusiastic performance of ‘Tegernakô’, Eluveitie’s first UK trip was an obvious success.

Next up were Finnish maelstrom Moonsorrow (with a rare appearance of guitarist Henri Sorvali, better known as Trollhorn) with their astounding brand of black/folk/Viking metal. As they started with ‘Sankarihauta’ from the Suden Uni album, the band were on top form, brimming with raw energy and drenched in blood. ‘Ukkosenjumalan Poika’ proceeded with such beautiful musicianship that sums up this band perfectly. Unfortuantley, the exhausting ‘Jotunheim’ did not appear to appeal to the worn out audience, which is a shame considering the rarity this song probably is live.

Korpiklaani, however, had the audience throwing themselves forward. The setlist was generated by the usual fan favourites, including ‘Wooden Pints’, ‘Cottages and Saunas’ and ‘Happy Little Boozer’. With the usual party style antics they undergo on stage, the set proved to be enjoyable and with showcases from old and new material, the set appears to be rejuvenating and the alternating paces is welcome. Closing with the brazen and unsubtle ‘Beer Beer’, Korpiklaani proved why they are considered top-class Finnish folk metal.

A tedious wait gave birth to Ensiferum who kicked of ‘Iron’ with a horrible start; muted guitars and a compact insipid sound overall did them no favours. The audience managed to coerce the band into upping their guitars with chants of “Turn it up!” and frontman Petri Lindroos explained that there had been ‘technical difficulties’. ‘Lai Lai Hei’ dawns the presence of the guitars and these Viking/folk metallers continue the show, better than previously. Despite the audience numbers waning slightly as the show progressed, Ensiferum kept a bold existence on stage although they appeared meek compared to the charismatic Korpiklaani before them. The crowd were rewarded with a medley which keen ears would recognise snippets from the Conan The Destroyer soundtrack and Iron Maiden’s ‘The Trooper’, the latter heating the audience intensely. Drawing down the night with ‘Battle Songs’, Ensiferum sent the audience home merry and potentially intoxicated after a night of frantic party folk and grand Viking metal.

Reviewed by Elena Francis

Photography by Asif Salam