Nordicfest 2011 Introduction

This year's annual European celebration of all things extreme in in the world of Christian music is nearly upon us. Yes that is right friends, the final Nordicfest kicks off in less than a month and already it looks to be a quality lineup:

Living Sacrifice
Becoming The Archetype
Whitecross
War of Ages
HB
Crimson Moonlight
Leviticus
Lengsel
Golden Resurrection
Reinxeed
In The Midst Of Lions
A Hill To Die Upon
Enshrouding
Dyst

 As you can see, it is not only a varied line up but a pretty good one so far (and there are more bands TBA!) which promises to provide some fantastic music, great showmanship and 3 nights of sheer, utter, unadulterated brutality. There are some special shows in there, I believe this is the first time Lengsel have ever performed live so whether or not they play their newer weird alt stuff (the album grew on me actually!) it will certainly go down in the history of Christian metal as a night to be remembered. It is the first time in something like 13 years that LS have played in Europe, so again it will be an incredibly exciting show from a band that will be at the top of their game and who will almost certainly be excited about being back in Europe after so long. A personal touch, I have wanted to see Crimson Moonlight for a long time and have always missed out so I am very excited to see them.

My thoughts on confirmed bands:

HB

HB should be good fun and while their music is nowhere near as extreme as a lot of the other bands (they lean towards the symphonic rock/metal thing) I think I'll enjoy it quite a lot, let me tell you why. All the live videos of HB I have seen they are performing in fairly large venues, I am not sure if this is commonplace for them but based on my YouTube experience it should be good to see them in a small, intimate environment which often invokes more energy from the performers.

In The Midst Of Lions

I'm gonna put it out there, ITMOL sound a lot like Whitechapel (though I do think ITMOL are better, but that is pure subjectivity, no flaming please!) and I'm not a huge fan of Whitechapel... However, I frakking love this stuff live so while I'm not a fan of the studio stuff I'm looking forward to seeing these guys live. They seem to exude a lot of energy which is a good thing and I think they will thrive with the NF crowd.

Becoming The Archetype

I've been waiting to see this band live since I first heard Terminate Damnation and have missed every gig they've done in the UK. Seriously looking forward to seeing these guys and won't be surprised if they're headlining or on just before the headliner.

Whitecross

Well these guys are classic metal so I need say nothing more, should be a great show with some great musicians.

War of Ages

These guys seem to have consistently put out some great metal and I have heard from reputable sources that their live performances are quality affairs. It'll be good to see them, even though I'm not an avid fan I do like them and as I say, they are unlikely to put on a bad show. 

Living Sacrifice

I hear a bunch of people on two sides the camp here, some say they are boring and others just love them. Personally I side with the latter group, I think they put out some great death metal (mixed with a couple of other things...) and I rated 'The Infinite Order' pretty highly, it was in my top 20 albums of 2010. Because this is their first show in Europe for 13 years it wouldn't surprise me if it is something of a 'best of...' gig, but either way I am very excited about this.

Crimson Moonlight

If you are anywhere near the Christian extreme metal scene you will know that these guys are good. They really are one of the best black metal bands around, whether or not you are a Christian and most people who say they suck do so on the basis of ideology, not musicality and sheer awesomeness. As with a lot of bands on the bill this year I have been waiting a while to see them and this will be an epic gig (won't be surprised if they headline the Saturday night...)

Leviticus

It'll be really nice to see these guys, a bit of classic rock in the middle of Nordicfest will make me smile and Leviticus are a good band to do it! I will probably be stood near the back with a huge smile on my face wishing my dad was there to enjoy it with me. 

Lengsel

Boy has this booking got people in a stir! Lengsel are pretty legendary, existing for about 16 years they have released two albums and never performed live. These two albums differed HUGELY! 'Solace' is a simply incredible piece of progressive black metal and was very influential (and still is). 'The Kiss, The Hope' was a very different affair and had a sludge metal feel to it. I heard 'Solace' first and so on the initial listen of 'TKTH' was confused, I didn't like what I heard. Over time the album has grown on me, but there are a whole bunch of people who are really hoping they don't focus on the TKTH material. Considering this is their first live performance and assuming the band know and understand the legendary status of their debut album I am hoping they focus on it. Either way, this will be a show of epic proportions and one I am privileged to be attending.

Golden Resurrection

To my shame I hadn't heard of GR before they were announced but as any good festival goer should do, I instantly youtubed them. Holy Power Metal Batman! This will be a good one and a fun one. I love power metal and GR seem to do a good show and their music is just pure... well, power metal. Yeah. POWER METAL!!!! Looking forward to this one too!

ReinXeed

More Power Metal! I had discovered ReinXeed a few weeks before they were announced and again I loved what I heard. This will be another quality show. I can't be getting enough of the power metal at the moment...

A Hill To Die Upon

I haven't even seen this band live and I have a t-shirt of a tour they headlined in the US... A great black/death metal band who again I have wanted to see since Infinite Titanic Immortal came out.

Enshrouding

Great band, brutal wall of noise, will be a great show. If you don't know who they are then listen to them NOW. 'Nuff said.

Dyst

Again, hadn't heard of Dyst till they were billed and what I heard was pretty good though not what I'm really into at the moment. With so many mature bands on the list it should be interesting to see some fresh faced youngsters take the stage! Can't really say much more as I haven't heard enough of their music to judge.

Well that's all the announced bands so far. This is going to be a very good Nordicfest and if all goes to plan I will have a new and dedicated blog up the week running up to the festival. My hope is that the current blog will be a personal, reflective one and a new one will be dedicated to serving the Christian metal community with quality reviews, interviews and more. 

For now I leave you with love,

The Rambler
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