Fagerlund's reviews

First band of the night was this hard rock quartet. It was their first gig ever apparently. Really good musicians for sure, well played stuff. Wasn't too impressed with the vocals either, don't know if it was because they were nervous but wasn't quite there I felt. The lead singer (for most songs, the drummer was doing main vocals for some songs as well!) kind of reminded me of Jörn Lande. Not on the same level though, but a bit same character in the voice which is pretty awesome.

Definitely has some potential, but not quite there yet!

 

Then on to some Black Metal, of the very punkish kind. Also a debut gig actually. It was fast, but not super-fast, and quite melodic with a lot of guitar solos. So I got this Black'n'Roll / Punk vibe. And it was pretty tight, all though the first couple of songs felt pretty messy (probably intentional though). They also delivered with a lot of energy which is always nice to see!

A nice set (but a bit short), and will be interesting to see what these guys will come up with in the future.

 

So Månegarm are soon 20 years old, which they wanted to celebrate with a gig on their home-soil of Norrtälje (first one in ten years!). To make it extra special they invited some guests (Martin Björklund, the singer from Mercury X handled the violin, and also a acoustic bass by John Gullmarstam as well as some female vocals from Elinor Videfors) and played a couple of never-played-live before acoustic songs! This is something I've wanted to see for years! So that made me really excited!

 

Himmelsfursten

Utfärd

Hemkomst

Segervisa

 

So three songs from Urminnes Hävd and one from Vredens tid. Excellent choices all around, but it's difficult not to miss a song as Eld when an opportunity like this comes along! Hopefully the guys were pleased enough with the crowd reaction (sing a-long for every song!) so that they'll do something like this again! It was simply put, really awesome to hear these songs live. The band shows their talent, and that they can deliver great folk music live as well. I was particularly pleased to hear Jakob on the drums - I know he can play fast, but tonight he showed that he can play slow as well.

I had actually had the pleasure of seeing Segervisa before (the first time I saw Månegarm actually), but to hear it with female vocals as well... chills all over the body. This song could be used to describe Månegarm's performance I suppose (it translates into Victory Song for those not speaking Swedish). 

 

And so, after a short break the guys came back on stage with the electrical instruments ready - but unfortunately no violin. I guess it would've taken too long for them to practice all the songs with Björklund. Ah well, backing tracks works as well!

They played roughly six months ago in Stockholm together with Thyrfing, and the set-list tonight was very close to that one. Mostly new songs, but with some old classics in there as well. I'm still not sure of Legions of the North as an opener, it's a great song but for me it doesn't quite manage to set the tone for the set. And I also still miss Fallen. Maybe on the next tour! But other than that, awesome set. I've said it before, and I will say it again: ending a set with I evig tid, Hemfärd and Vinternattskväde is just perfect. They go so well together, and after hearing them you're always really satisfied. 

So there was a slightly smaller venue since last time, and thus less people - but to compensate it was a super-happy crowd. The sing-along was awesome, and a good amount of headbanging around the venue as well! And this was also reflected on to the band as well, who delivered with a lot of energy, many smiles and a generally happy time. And also close to flawless, as I've come to expect from Månegarm really. It was also cool to hear Erik experiment with some of vocal melodies for some songs, don't know if it was a "in the moment improvisation" or if it's something he has worked on. But it sounded cool!

I also have to give an extra big thumbs up to the sound guy, he made an awesome job here!

 

Setlist (might've messed up the order)
-Arise
Legions of the North
Eternity Awaits
Nattsjäl, drömsjäl
Hordes Of Hel
Fimbultrollet
Sigrblot
Vedergällningens Tid

 

-Vigverk
Sons of War
I evig tid
Hemfärd
Vinternattskväde

 

After Månegarm Norrtälje based band Of Fire were playing, but due to delays and it was quite late anyway we didn't stay as we didn't want our driver to fall asleep behind the wheel... Which is unfortunate, because what I've heard from them sounded very promising, but hopefully I'll get another chance to see them!