Getting Psyched for Tyr

The Pagan Knights show - Tyr, Suidakra, and Alestorm - is this Sunday night. I was enthused about the idea of seeing Tyr again when I bought the ticket, but since then I've discovered a few things:

• I like Suidakra's most recent album enough that I'd probably go see them on their own anyway.
  
  
• Tyr is the pagan metal version of Soundgarden: every time I hear something new, it takes me a few listens to get it...and then I slowly grow to love it. It took me 30 minutes into their set last year to grasp where they were going, Eric the Red was a closed book that I only kept trying to reopen because I wanted to translate the magic of the live performance to the recordings, and Land seemed a difficult disappointment until once again something clicked. Now I wake up with "Eric the Red" stuck in my head.
  
  
• Now that I've heard Alestorm, I see how Pagan Knights is trying to be a better, more efficient Paganfest II. Alestorm and their pirate metal takes the place of Swashbuckle and Blackguard, Suidakra has the kind of pop energy to fill the Eluveitie/Korpiklaani portion of the bill, and Tyr's more intellectual focus is a stand in for Moonsorrow and Primordial.

Three more reasons to get psyched for Sunday. I can't wait!

Pulling Out of Paganfest II

Well, that settles that: "ELUVEITIE Pulls Out Of 'Paganfest America: Part II' Tour." I was already on the fence about going, and out of the remaining lineup, I know nothing about Swashbuckle, would love to see Moonsorrow, and - after a thorough review - have no interest in Korpiklaani, Blackguard, or Primordial, creating a negative balance of interest. Hopefully Moonsorrow will come around on another tour and I can enjoy their wonderful atmospheres in person. It's starting to sound like the Tyr/Suidakra/Alestorm show at the end of this month will be the true successor to the original Paganfest.

By the way: what kind of bullshit reasoning is "[The tour organizers] decided that it would be wiser to wait for the band to return in the fall since they've already played during Paganfest America 2008's touring cycle." It's been a year, guys. If you're worried about oversaturation, I think you're ok. If you're going to tour them anyway (whatever that means), as you say in the next sentence, why make us wait until the fall?

To PaganFest or Not to PaganFest...That is the Question

I loved PaganFest 2008. Afterwards, I grabbed albums from the three bands I didn't know and developed a level of affection for the recordings that made me wish I knew the songs before the show. When Rock the Nation announced PaganFest 2009, I decided to make good on the lessons of the past and checked out the bands before the show.

Doing so might have been a mistake, because now I'm not sure I want to go.

Here are my thoughts on this year's lineup:

• Korpiklaani: Tales Along This Road was singularly underwhelming. Singing about booze is cool; sounding like a drunk bar band while you do it is not. Simply put, these guys could take a few lessons in that area - and a few others, like how to write a proper melody - from Turisas.
  
• Eluveitie: Slania was one of my 2008 albums of the year and Eluveitie rocked my world at PaganFest 2008. If I go to this year's edition, it will be primarily to see these guys again.
  
• Primodial: I think The Gathering Wilderness was meant to sound like music communing with wild nature: lots of slow moving lines that owed a lot to drones. The problem was, they never really went anywhere, never conjured up any strong images, and were sharing time with such an uninspiring vocalist that the whole project was just boring.
  
• Moonsorrow: I've already sung Verisäkeet's praises, but suffice it to say that if Primordial are a group of hacks, Moonsorrow are the real deal. I've never wanted to run away and live in a hut in the Scandinavian wilderness more in my life.
  
• Blackguard: Another Round (their last release as Profugus Mortis) is ok, but it's a bit of a mish-mash of stereotypes: a dash of folk metal here, one of Jordan Ruddess's keyboard sounds there, stir it all up and try to ignore the lack of depth. After Moonsorrow, these guys just don't seem to stand up.
  
• Swashbuckle: All I've heard so far is "drunk pirate metal from New Jersey." I'm a little scared to listen to anything, because I'm torn: I either like the concept in the same way I like, say, Gama Bomb and I don't want them to suck, or I absolutely hate the concept and don't care one way or another. It's tough being a music fan sometimes.
  

Paganfest 2009

FUCK. YES. This makes my night:



Via Metal Sucks