Midgardsblot Metal Festival - Borre, Norway 17/8/23

My second day at Midgardsblot began with a walk along the wooded edge of the beautiful Oslofjord and around Borre Park, contemplating the historical significance of the area and soaking up its heritage.

Despite plenty of people milling around, there was an air of peace and calm within the Park especially amongst the burial mounds where people were behaving with appropriate respect and reverence.

All too soon, it was time to head into the festival site for the opening band of the day, Vargvrede. The Horten locals played an impressive set at the festival last year in the intimate confines of the Gildehallen, but this year opened the main stage in glorious sunshine and took full advantage of the opportunity winning over an ever growing crowd.

Their hard hitting music was dense and unrelenting as elements of thrash, blackened thrash and even a hint towards metalcore, all with a melodic edge, rumbled over those who had gathered at the barrier.

Vargvrede are rapidly building a well-deserved reputation and this was an impressive start to the day.

There was a clash for me next, which began with me catching the magnificent Vǫluspá in the Gildehallen. I had enjoyed the band a couple of time previously and so headed into the hall with high hopes and was not disappointed.

Taking to a stage full of props, Sól Geirsdottir (The Viking Queen) and Varg Saastad were joined by new bassist Rex who added a rich depth to their emotional Nordic folk.

Sól’s vocals were sublime – full of emotion, delicate and yet powerful, not least on ‘Wyrd’ dedicated to the women found in the Oseberg Grave Mound. Wonderful stuff!

I had to tear myself away for a rare opportunity to catch Danish black metal trio Wulfaz on the Kaupangr Stage. Their raw, punky, almost crusty, black metal was absolutely battering and was lapped up by a small but enthusiastic crowd.

As always, gritty vocals were provided by Simon on drums, until Ole from Afsky joined to provide guest vocals on the penultimate track.

I was disappointed to have cut short my time with Vǫluspá but was glad to have finally managed to catch Wulfaz live and they had not let me down.

There was a complete change in style back on the main stage as ISÁK delivered their modern interpretation of Sami music fusing traditional rhythms with synths and pop melodies, using both English and Sami. Ella Marie Haetta Isaksen danced around the stage to their electro pop including older track ‘Patience’.

The upbeat pop anthems, were in contrast to the most of the acts at the festival as well as the atmosphere, but the link to Sami music was important and appreciated by a large crowd who were dancing to the tunes in the afternoon sunshine.

The fact that ISÁK were so well received by this metal and Viking crowd shows how eclectic the festival is, and how open minded its attendees are, and I found myself really enjoying the set.

Iotunn followed over on the Kaupangr stage, and were one of my ‘must see’ bands of the festival. A big crowd had gathered and there was an air of anticipation for the Danish outfit. Playing in thick clouds of smoke in the bright afternoon sunshine, the band delivered their trademark and distinctive progressive melodic death metal.

Vocalist Jón Aldará (perhaps better known for his role with Hamferð) stood as a hooded figure in the centre of the stage while the rest of the band were full of energy and smiles as they traded riffs with each other.

Clean vocals alternated with death metal growls, but the music was melodic throughout with clear progressive elements, and although the bright sunshine was perhaps not the best setting to appreciate Iotunn to their full potential, they certainly won over large portions of the crowd and I for one will be looking to catch them again soon.

The highly anticipated Sowulo followed on the main stage with their spiritual, melancholic and powerful ritualistic tomes.

The band used a combination of traditional and modern instruments to create their rich sound. The main focal point was inevitably the dual male and female vocals which sat well together conjuring up images of times gone by.

The result was pulsating, mesmerising rhythms and captivating melodies which were impossible to resist. Occasional dense, heavier sections and screams punctuated the calm with great effect.

In recent years, there has been an explosion in Nordic/neofolk bands, but Sowulo are one of the standouts and I expect big things for this band.

I was back on more familiar territory back on the Kaupangr stage for a punishing set by Norwegian black metal outfit Nordjevel.

These have been built themselves a reputation for uncompromising live shows one the last few years and I could not wait to catch them again.

Taking to the stage with the usual corpse paint and spikes, the band unleashed a cacophonous barrage of uncompromising black metal. The set was accompanied by a massive amount of pyros with the stage seemingly constantly ablaze and a pit soon opened up in response to the relentless barrage.

Secthdamon (if my memory serves me correctly) joined for guest vocals towards the end of the set adding another dimension to the sound.

The band briefly left the stage while Norwegian flags were thrown out to the crowd before vocalist Doedsadmiral returned with a Norwegian flag draped across his shoulders before the set built to its raucous climax. Intense, punishing and unrelenting – exactly as black metal should be.

And so it fell to Enslaved to close the day for me. Over the years, their sound has evolved drastically from black metal to progressive extreme metal with many detours along the way and they have a huge back catalogue to pull from.

Of course, the Norwegian band have strong ties with their Norse heritage making them perfect for Midgardsblot and a huge crowd had gathered in anticipation of their ritual which opened with a powerful ‘Isa’.

The trees lining the festival site were once again lit with green and red lights creating the perfect atmosphere as ‘Jettegryta’ and ‘Homebound’ flew past. The latest album ‘Heimdal’ was well represented with four tracks being played including the title track which was appropriate following the unveiling of the Heimdal tree carving earlier at the festival, but older tracks were also played including a magnificent ‘Allfǫðr Oðinn’.

I have to admit that I saw Enslaved earlier this year and something didn’t click, but that was definitely not the case tonight when they were absolutely immense.

The set list was perfect, the crowd were all up for it and the band seemed to be enjoying themselves as their epic melodies swirled around the Midgardsblot festival site with Grutle’s harsh growls sitting comfortably alongside Håkon’s clean vocals.