Finntroll with Skálmöld @ Underworld, London.

On the 3rd of April, as part of the Europan tour, Finnish band Finntroll played live at The Underworld, after nearly a decade, supported by their far Nordic friends Skálmöld (joining from Iceland). While both bands fall into the metal category, Finntroll has deeper routes into black-metal, mixed with folk, Skálmöld, on the other hand, sounds slightly lighter, bringing more folk/Viking metal into the mix.

The two bands played a great session on the night, with Finntroll executing a good mix of new tracks from their latest album ‘Vredesvävd’, and old ones, starting from the debuting ‘Midnattens Widunder’ and their beloved battle song ‘Trollhammaren’. The audience was fully captured by both bands, despite the language barrier, as they sang along to the lyrics of almost all of the songs.

While those who have been following Fintroll for a while were very familiar with Skálmöld, others joined the new family by welcoming and supporting their opening act.

Both Fintroll and Skálmöld synergy among the members was incredible. Looking at how they interacted with each other and the audience, you could tell the bands enjoyed being on that stage and showed what was like to have a good time!

The energy for the night was kept right up to the roof, as Fintroll brought to The Underworld that much-needed level of ‘good aggression’ with their fast tempo and energised tracks, making the audience scream, jump and call for encores. Overall performance was spot on and I can’t wait for both to play again in London, maybe in a bigger venue as they well deserve the highlight spot.