Ensiferum

                      Naildown

                The Belonging 

                           @ 

         Brixton Fridge Bar, London 

 The Belonging
 

Richard – Vocals/Guitar
Paul – Vocals/Guitar
Levi – Bass
Rich - Drums

The Belonging

English band The Belonging were on stage first. Their sound was a Viking metal one, which leant towards the black metal side of the genre. They were quite fresh and Viking metal bands are not a common sight so they proved to be refreshing to hear. Unfortunately, their set was criminally short.

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Naildown
Daniel Freyberg –Vocals/Guitar
Asko Sartanen – Guitar
Matti Hamalainen – Bass
Jarmo Puikkonen – Keyboard
Janne Jukarainen - Drums

Naildown were the next band to grace the stage. They played a brand of melodic death metal which appeared to be hit-or-miss with the audience tonight. Although they showed a great deal of enthusiasm for playing in front of the London crowd, initially they could not raise much of a reaction. However, they got heads banging in the end.

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Ensiferum

Petri Lindroos – Vocals/Guitar
Markus Toivonen – Guitar/Vocals
Sami Hinkka – Bass
Meiju Enho – Synths
Janne Parviainen - Drums

Ensiferum’s appearance was welcomed by a roar of cheers throughout the venue.  Opening with the song ‘Blood Is The Price Of Glory’, the band had the audience jumping up and down on their feet and singing along. The sound of the band was rather good, although the vocals could have been improved at times. They keyboards were excellent, soaring loud above the music as opposed to taking the traditional role of the keyboard during live shows and being drowned out by the guitar.

The set list was sure to contain all the crowd pleasers from Ensiferum’s three full-length albums, including ‘Wind Rider’, ‘Tale Of Revenge’ and ‘One More Magic Potion’. ‘LAI LAI HEI’ had the entire audience singing along to the chorus and the bands enthusiasm shined through very prominently. New front man Petri Lindroos seemed very comfortable performing the old material before he joined the band. Additionally, his stage banter was fulfilling and he managed to retain the audience’s attention. The show was closed with ‘Battle Song’ much to the delight of many and left a long lasting impression of Ensiferum’s live capabilities even though Jari Maenpaa is no longer with them. This was a very enjoyable gig and one worthy of all folk metallers to raise their pints to!

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Review by Elena Francis
Photos by Asif Salam