Heidenfest grew into probably the largest, reoccurring folk metal phenomenon (aside from Paganfest) in Europe. And even while it is an annual event, it’s popularity among metalheads is far from decreasing. The venue 013 in Tilburg (NL) was crammed with fans watching the following bands: Frosttide, Winterstorm, Suidakra, Heidevolk, Equilibrium, Turisas and Ensiferum.

Being the first band on such a tour can turn out to be a bad thing. The Finns from Frosttide did not have that problem today. As soon as the doors opened, the masses entered. So when Frosttide took the stage, the large hall was pretty full already. Their energetic, melodic folk metal and interaction encouraged the crowd to start the party they had been waiting for. They left a positive impression on many. Be sure to check them out if you are a fan of the genre!

Due to interview duties yours truly missed Winterstorm and managed to only see a few songs of Suidakra. Even though this band has been around for years and regularly released albums, the last time they played in The Netherlands was in 2011. As one of the more death metal orientated bands on this tour, the change from folky tunes and epic synths to music that lends itself mainly for headbanging was a welcome one.

Heidevolk was a special guest on the tour today. For some, substitute vocalist Mickeal from Mondvolland might be a new face. He’s been replacing ex-vocalist Joris Boghtdrincker on gigs.The enthusiastic renditions of the Heidevolk songs made the audience estatic. Everybody sang along loudly to almost every song. Including people who should not be singing, because they make your ears bleed. The set list of the band was well balanced between the newer songs as ‘Wapenbroeders’ and ‘Vlammenzee’ and a golden oldie as ‘Furor Teutonicus’. During ‘Vulgaris Magistralis’, even 013 seemed too small to hold this crowd, proving yet again that Heidevolk is one of a kind in The Netherlands.

The band line-up of Equilibrium featured a different face as well. Guitarist René had to stay home and Arkadius from Suidakra took his place. This switch of musicians did not influence Equilibriums gig, they played strongly as ever. Soon after the five-piece group entered the stage, the room soon turned into a warm, sweaty area as the crowd jumped to the often joyful tunes as ‘Unter Der Eiche’ and ‘Unbesiegt’. Even though the band is working on a new album, they released the EP Waldschrein this year as something in between. This EP also contains the track ‘Himmelsrand’, which when the band plays it, always awakens the inner nerd wanting to play ‘Skyrim’ then and there.

The reactions to the new Turisas album differ widely. But judging on the response to the bands performance in 013, it seems like most fans have not abandoned ship. The concert hall was very crowded and the fans seemed to have a good time. No other band equalled the group this evening when it came to the dedication to their live show. The songs were played vigorously, old ones, like ‘A Portage To The Unknown’ or newer tracks, like ‘Stand Up And Fight’. The heavy new track ‘Greek Fire’ stood out in the set list because of the well-timed light and smoke effects, which take you straight into the atmosphere of the song. Together with Heidevolk, the show of Turisas was the most powerful of Heidenfest in Tilburg.

Headliner Ensiferum faced quite a task in living up to the standards set by their fellow countrymen. In some ways, they didn’t. The sound was a problem: it was hard to hear the keyboard, the microphones were not well balanced and drums were dominant in the mix. Despite of this, many people stayed to watch the show, probably because these Finns always seem to give a nice performance. Mainly the last song was a blast. Ensiferum brought out huge Mexican hats and covered Bamboleo, while other bands (all dressed up) joined the stage to end Heidenfest 2013 with one hell of a party.

This years Heidenfest brought us the opportunity to get to know some new bands, and/or enjoy the familiar ones. We can start looking forward to the next edition, or perhaps Paganfest first!

Heidenfest
013 Tilburg, The Netherlands
October 6th, 2013
Laetitia Abbenes
Photos: Susanne Maathuis

Original report can be found here