Steelfest 2018 gathered yet again an impressive line-up with quite a few exclusive performances. This year it seems like there’s an even bigger focus on black metal than last time, which we definitely don’t regret looking at what we’re getting. So about halfway May, we geared up for what was going to be 2 days of black mass, heretics and pagan rituals…

Starter of the second day, Hin Onde (***) were city locals that have been around the scene for a while already. They brought melodic black metal heavily inspired by pagan and folk elements and a healthy dose of keyboards thrown into the mix. On moments of greatness they reminded me somewhat of older work by Ensiferum, but the quality never really stuck around enough to be consistently great. Still a very good kick off for another sunny day at Steelfest and ideal to shake that hangover out of your head…

Nattfog (***1/2) on the other hand, came across more powerful and consistent. Their more traditionally pure black metal came in as a wrecking ball of energy and relentlessness and was sure to blast away the last few remnants of sleep or hangover away. Vocalist Adelwolf threw himself into his music with passion and a feverish energy, regularly approvingly looking down to his followers and was backed by quality musicians for the show. Great simple black metal gig without any gimmicks and such!

Swedish Skogen (***1/2), takes on a black metal trip to their home country. Their music infused by folk melodies and death metal elements is dedicated to the beauty and destructive force that is nature. And especially their latest release Skuggorna kallar is sort of a homage to Sweden bringing the woodlands and nature closer to you all. Maybe the atmosphere could’ve been realized better if they had been playing on a darker stage where their dark, brooding black metal would shine. But with the hairs (or beard) in the wind, they brought their music with a passion like no other. Straightforward pagan inspired black metal that I’m definitely going to check out more in the future.

Within the metal scene, black metal is even more a male bastion than most other genres. Asagraum (***1/2) throws all that overboard with an all-female satanic black metal band that rivals the quality of many other proper black outfit. Being the only women to be on stage during all of Steelfest, they played a damn tight show that came across to me like one of those satanic metal rituals you often hear about when talking about black metal. After the solemn opening ritual during with front woman Obscura led the black mass with a chilling bell ringing, they kept the atmosphere of evil and darkness lurking around the corner high and I had the impression that even the sun started to dim a bit…

The only purely death metal band of the whole weekend was the legendary Finnish outfit Demilich (***1/2). Personally not being the biggest fan of death metal, when checking out their music in preparation of the Steelfest weekend, I found their music to be a bit too much for me. But at the festival itself once they started playing, I was pleasantly surprised by the slightly groovy yet brutal music. They all seemed to enjoy themselves on stage playing their songs and that clearly caught on with the crowd that eagerly encouraged these veterans.

As mentioned earlier, there were again many exclusive shows at Steelfest this edition. One of those was the very last public show by Finnish institution Alghazanth (****1/2). This band has been part of the Finnish black metal scene for over 20 years and has always been somewhat underestimated or the underdog of the underground music scene. They recently released their 8th and last album aptly named Eight Coffin Nails and seem to intend to quit on a high note. And even if it wouldn’t have been their last show, being able to see the band on a stage is a quite rare occasion, for which a big crowd showed up at the indoor stage. This was definitely a show to remember where all the stars were aligned. The melodic & sometimes borderline symphonic black metal raised the epicness in the room to unseen heights and the crowd seemed to revel in its glory. This performance added to the quite strong last album makes quite the impressive swansong for this band. We bid you farewell, Alghazanth. You ended it in absolute beauty…

Scottish Saor (****), was musically definitely one of the most impressive bands. Inspired by Scottish nature, folklore, heritage and overall sorrow, the atmospheric black/folk metal is simply amazing. Main man Andy Marshall gathered himself some top-notch musicians to bring across the soundscapes that he skilfully created, including a wonderful violist. The only things that took a bit away from the performance for me personally was that the keyboards came from a backtrack and that this kind of music simply doesn’t work as well in the blazing sun. This is music that needs darkness, intimacy and a touch of the wet sorrow that is usual weather on the Scottish Highlands.

Swedish black/death metal outfit Necrophobic (****1/2) released a smashing record not too long ago (for our review go here) and was one of the performance I was really looking forward to. And they absolutely delivered! I was expecting a brutal and high energy show and straight from the start they blasted us away with powerful playing. All band members participated in a tornado of a show during which they didn’t stand still for a second. Interacting with the crowd to rile up everyone in front of them. They simply blew my mind and were definitely one of the most entertaining bands of the weekend. If you have the chance to see this brutality that is Necrophobic, don’t hesitate!

Quebec-based Forteresse (***1/2) was another band that clearly had quite the following looking forward to their gig. A quite the big amount of people gathered in front of the outdoor stage to greet these Canadians. Their atmospheric black metal is liked by a lot of people in the scene and based in history, their music comes across as if they’re on a warpath despite being friendly Canadians. Personally I think the atmosphere comes across better on an album than what I saw on stage, but I can’t deny that they played with absolute passion and power, bringing a pretty decent gig.

One of the most impressive and memorable shows of the weekend was definitely the one from Cult of Fire (*****). While the melodic and sometimes almost atmospheric epic black metal might not be the most original, they manage to package it so damn well. The Czech band made a topic shift with their second full-length, taking a focus on the darker side of Hinduism with the goddess Kali as the focal point. Even before any band members came on stage, a certain atmosphere was already set by the 2 altars with statues, candles and incense. The band appeared dressed in robes and big hoods completely hiding any notion of who they are. Influenced by several senses at once, the whole performance felt like a trip to a different darker world. The interaction between slower atmospheric pieces and fast ferocious moments created a trance-inducing exotic feeling ritualistic experience that left many present behind struck with awe.

Outside Necros Christos (****) quickly dragged us out of our trance-like state with their black/death metal. The often intricate yet brutal music quickly made many heads bang and a few attempts at moshpits took place. The played a crushing set during which they introduced quite a few new songs from the album they released just the day before. It was quite interesting and impressive to see that the newer and lesser known songs brought the same reaction with the fans as the old work. One of the surprises of the weekend for me, a band you need to check out for sure!

On a festival dedicated to the obscure Dødheimsgard (****1/2) was still a somewhat weird experience. The Norwegian band mixes avant-garde, industrial and black metal into a psychedelic and progressive sound with often long and intricate tracks. The look, sound and feel of the outfit is quite different from the usual black metal aesthetic and vocalist/guitarist Vicotnik was an extremely talkative and wacko personality. Simply the combination of the off-beat black metal music and quirkiness of their performance and attitude, this has become a band that quickly got on my list of “bands I need to check out more”!

Last outdoor show of this year’s edition of Steelfest was given to the quite popular pagan metal outfit Moonsorrow (*****). When they announced that this band was part of the line-up, it felt a bit weird to see this band between all the very underground and often obscure bands. Moonsorrow came across as almost “commercial” compared to most bands playing at the festival. But they definitely proved that they’re absolutely worthy of their spot on the festival. Besides the quite unique live appearance of musical brain Henri Sorvali at this show, I’ve never seen the band play with this level of energy before. With Henri joining them on stage, it freed main vocalist Ville from his bass duties which brought a whole other dimension to their show. Ville could walk up to every corner of the stage, regularly seeking out their fans. Every time I see Moonsorrow live, the surpass my expectations. I don’t know if they can do much better after this performance though.

The band to close down the whole festival weekend was again a somewhat legendary band. Hungarian black metal outfit Tormentor (***1/2) was the breeding grounds for one of the most well-known black metal vocalists of the scene. Attila Csihar is Mayhem‘s present vocalist besides a long list of other projects but Tormentor was his first. The music was for a big part old school black metal with here and there a more experimental rock sounding track of their more recent work. Attila is clearly having a lot of fun touring with his old band, bringing a very passionate and energetic performance. There was a rather big crowd again to see these “oldies” play and it was a good band to close the festival with. Though I guess you have to be a real fan of the band to get really excited about the show. It wasn’t bad at all, but I just couldn’t fully get into it.

For more pictures of the event go here