Midgardsblot Festival - Borre, Vestfold, Norway 19/8/22 ⋆ Ave Noctum

Friday began with me taking in some of the Mimir seminars as well as exploring the artefacts in the Vikingsenter museum.

The bands kicked off for me with Endezzma. I’ve had the opportunity to catch them a few times and I’ve always been impressed by their live power, and today was no exception.

The modest crowd was treated to a masterclass in Norwegian black metal with tracks such as ‘The Archer, Fjord and the Thunder’, title track of the new album, showing that these are a force to be reckoned with and will surely become one of the leading lights in their dark art in years to come.

In complete contrast, but perfectly fitting, there was then a Viking battle re-enactment in front of the Valhalla stage, next to Gildehallen. There was something satisfying about watching these re-enactors take chunks out of each other before I headed back to the main stage for the hugely talented Lindy-Fay Hella.

Perhaps better known for her role with Wardruna, Lindy-Fay has stepped out as a solo artist where her haunting vocals create an ethereal, evocative atmosphere. Her most recent album was recorded with Dei Farne, who joined her on stage for this special set.

There was a slight delay to the start, but very soon the melodies were floating across the hallowed grounds as bright sunshine accompanied the set. There was a relaxed atmosphere as the gathered throngs soaked up tracks such as the wonderful ‘Insect’.

Keeping with the less metallic theme, Marekvist followed on the Valhalla stage. Opening with ‘Sjellaus’ and ‘Bergtatt’ their Scandinavian folk inspired psychedelic rock tomes floated around the site. A relatively small crowd had gathered but were appreciative of tracks such ‘Natt’ and ‘Mare’ emanating from the stage.

The vocalist has a great voice, and as much as I enjoyed the wordless vocals, I’d be really curious to hear her singing lyrics, but until then, Marekvist are well worth checking out.

I made sure I was at the Helheim stage in good time for the immense Ragnarok. The band have a long history dating back to 1994 and since then they released numerous albums to critical acclaim and they never disappoint live.

This was no exception as they took the stage with their trademark corpse paint and spikes. They had a flaming torch on either side of the stage adding to the heat of the day, as they battered the front rows with vitriolic tracks such as ‘The Great Destroyer’ and ‘Infernal Majesty’.

Imposing and confrontational, just the way Norwegian black metal should be.

Keeping up the intensity but in a completely different way, Nytt Land drew a huge crowd back at the Valhalla second stage. Having played at Midgardsblot previously, as well as other high-profile tours, many of the crowd were familiar with their shamanic rituals, mesmerising tribal drumming and throat singing.

If I recall correctly, they opened the set with ‘Ritual’ followed by ‘The Fires of Ragnarok’ and the crowd were entranced for the whole performance which passed in the blink of an eye.

Up next was a bad clash for me with Darkend clashing completely with Eivør. Having previously caught Darkend but never seen Eivør, I made my way back to the main stage for the Faroese songstress. A big crowd had again gathered and were treated to a set of folk pop/rock/synth tunes and tracks such as ‘Salt’, ‘This City’ and ‘Falling Free’ were completely sublime.

This set was in direct contrast to some of the more abrasive black metal on the bill but they nestled together wonderfully. Eivør was looking resplendent with her bright blue and pink hair and was energetic throughout as she bounced around the stage. Unfortunately towards the climax of ‘True Love’ there was a loud pop and the sound cut out.

This was soon resolved but it was time for me to head back to the Valhalla stage for more battering Norwegian black metal this time from Djevel.

Opening with ‘Englene Som falt Ned I Min seng, Skal Jeg Sette’ on a stage full of dry ice Djevel took no prisoners as they launched into their abrasive set. Their sound was fierce and raw with no frills as they relentlessly pounded the crowd with one black metal anthem after another.

I have a few of their albums, but I wasn’t overly familiar with the band. However, I was very impressed and I look forward to catching them again at Inferno Festival next year.

There was more black metal, although of a more atmospheric nature, on the Helheim stage courtesy of Batushka. I’m not gonna get involved in the discussion about which version of Batushka this was, but will simply report that the combination of melodic atmospheric black metal and Orthodox aesthetics worked well.

The stage was full of ornate props including an altar and many candles. The band took to the stage dressed in their detailed robes waving an incense burner and spending five minutes lighting the candles as part of their ritual before delivering their mesmerising brand of atmospheric black metal.

By this time I was weary and trudged back to the Valhalla stage for a band called Nebala who I had never heard of. I have to admit I didn’t have a particularly high hopes but I was completely wrong. Nebala are the brainchild of Jonas Lawrenson who has previously spent time with Heilung and may now be better known for his role with the movie ‘The Northman’.

Nebala use traditional Nordic instruments including traditional frame drums, lyre, tagelharpa, and Tibetan singing bowls as well as throat singing. The multi-layered approach added different layers and dimensions to the music which was completely absorbing. This was definitely one of my finds of the festival and I made a dash for the Merch stand straight after they finished to pick up their vinyl.

This is a band that are clearly very niche, but I suspect have a big future in that niche area and I will definitely be looking to catch them again live as soon as possible.

And so it fell to the Hellenic black metal masters Rotting Christ to close my day. The band have a long history and during that time they have developed their own trademark style but sit well within the black metal arena. Their pounding, pulsating rhythms went down well with the crowd who quickly opened up a pit. Opening with ‘Χ Ξ Σ’, Sakis Tolis soon had the crowd eating out of his hand as the band interacted with the front rows.

Crowd pleasing favourites such as ‘King of a Stellar War’, ‘In Yumen Xibalba’, ‘Grandis Spiritus Diavolos; and ‘Non Serviam’ were relentless and kept the momentum going. Putting it simply, Rotting Christ were epic, immense and had a massive sound during this set which was one to be remembered.