EUROPEAN HEATHEN CRUSADE TOUR REPORT PRIMORDIAL / MOONSORROW / MOURNING BELOVETH / GARDENS OF GEHENNA

so heres the first of my daily reports from the heathen crusade tour....

Budapest, Hungary - Wigwam Rock Club

we arrived in budapest more or less as the doors were opening, its always  a hassle to arrive at a venue  a rush, without a soundcheck more or less straight from the plane to the stage and tonight was really no exception but the wigwam is a great venue and it all happens with the minimum of fuss and hassle. tonight we swop with moonsorrow as their second guitar player janne is stranded in vienna and wont arrive til just before we would have gone onstage. in the end everything is positive, the sound on the stage and front of house is excellent, no huge mistakes and even our rehearsals of dark song were not in vain as before we end with sons of the morrigan. its the first time we have ever played dark song since we recorded it back in 98 for journeys end and despite our fears about the awkward alternate tuning but it goes well and the 80 minute seems to finish too soon. having played in the wigwam the previous in front of a really enthusiastic crowd we knew to expect a good reaction but for a wednesday night in the end we have just shy of 250 people so things are off to what we can easily call a flying start...and i most definitely was not as drunk as the last time we played there

it is sad to say that i can say ive been in hungary twice now and not really seen very much of the country but if the strength of the people we have met there over the past year are anything to go by hopefully i can come back someday and see a bit of the country...something i can do in my retirement eh. onward to austria and vienna...which should be interesting seeing as the venue has been moved 4 times. hopefully my entries will improve in  length and artistic vision but the heads a little light today....

Vienna, Austria - Movimento

the omens arent good when we find out that the gig has been moved again for the 4th time on the day of the show itself. apart from that the fact that the venue is more or less a squat with one light and a stage half and inch high. however in fairness to the promoter he could have cancelled the show but pressed on with the venue at the last minute rather then cancel the show knowing he was more then likely onto a loser. and it seems most people were out off travelling to the new venue as it is an hour away from the old venue and most people neither know about the change or can face the few trips on buses to get to the other side of the city. so we get about 80 informed souls who head out to the rather obscure and fallout shelter like movimento. in the end however it turns out to be a good show as the people who are there are really into it and mourning beloveth set the tone really well for a committed show from everyone, and i spend most of the show standing in the crowd.  the after party in the bus turns out to be mostly a homage to bon scott and i retire in the early hours 3 bottles of wine the wiser knowing that singing tomorrow might be a little on the hard side because my head should.

Lichtenfels, Germany - Ragnarok Festival

On paper the Ragnarok festival at least to me looked like about 600 people perhaps 800 so when we arrive and find out there are 2200 pre sales it really is a great surprise and also something of a shock to perhaps realise that perhaps the pagan metal genre or whatever you may like to call it is something of a movement in certain parts of Germany. None of the bands are huge in any respect in fact I doubt if any of them sell over 15 000 copies but here we are looking at nearly 3000 people showing up. Far more then show up for the nuclear blast festivals or tired no mercy festivals of the same death and thrash fodder. It definitely feels good to be part of it although the organization is haphazard to say the least and our front of house Frankie and myself have to take charge of various situations over the day…in the end 2800 people show up and we have a great show, perhaps at least for me the best so far and dark song goes down really well and sounds massive. We are generally at odds with the finntroll worship of the earlier German local bands or romantic folk metal of others and the finnish humpa of korpiklaani so you can say we ruined the party somewhat that much is at least for sure but the reaction is massive so there must be people who want something more then drinking music. We meet up with some old friends and Moonsorrow finish out the evening in style. Getting stronger with every performance

However theres no party to be found, although me and ville are treated to some open air 5 am cooking by some German drunken maniacs…best ravioli I think I’ve ever tasted !.

Arnhem, Netherlands - Goudvishal

The news that Arnhem is sold out and has been for 2 weeks and people have been calling all day is more positive news but the fact that sold out means more or less 220 people or so and perhaps it would have been more prudent to move the show to a bigger venue is a slightly bitter pill. However sold out is sold out. No diary which mentions the goudvishal can be complete without mentioning the death trap that is the stairs here, which at about a 75 degree angle are easily the most dangerous stairs I’ve ever seen and although I’m told no one has killed themselves I’m sure its only a matter of time. Thankfully no drunk Irishmen manage to die tonight either. The show is great and we play about 90 minutes which is our longest set so far. Again finding a party even on a Saturday night in a smaller Dutch town is hard and everything closes apparently at 2 am and that leaves us after packing the gear a good 20 mins to play with. The venue staff also go insane cleaning maniacally almost as soon as the show finishes. I take over doing dj for a few hours and a few whiskeys but to no avail, we cant quite raise the atmosphere to match the show….

Eindhoven, Netherlands - Dynamo Club

I remember being in the old Dynamo club back in 1999 and thinking it was a cool place and packed with people but things have slightly changed since then, the Dynamo festival most Irish people made the pilgrimage to in the mid to late 90s died and was replaced in peoples hearts by Wacken and it seems the Metal community moved on to other things and other places. The new Dynamo club is an impressive building for sure but doesn’t really seem to have the heart the old one did. Sunday shows in Holland are usually relaxed affairs and today proves no different, not quite enough people to create a decent atmosphere but enough to be more then respectable. 130 in the end. However the antics of the Eindhoven public prove far more entertaining as they shout, scream, dance, puke, fight and generally cause restrained Dutch mayhem as PSV Eindhoven won the league the day before and there is a huge street party. Today is the first day however my throat starts to really feel the pressure of singing some of the new songs and I have a feeling with the constant hot and cold air in the upstairs bunks that I am going to have more hassle for the rest of the tour over it.

Hamburg, Germany - The Ballroom

The two shows coming were in theory the most worrying as regards crowds and expectations. Monday and Tuesday on any tour are the really rough days and many a band has played to 25 people on a rainy Monday in Hamburg. In fact it happened to Macabre only the week before. However the Headbangers Ballroom has been good to us over the years and we played there on the Viking Clash mini tour back in 2000 with  Thyrfing as our first ever German club show. However in the end my worries are confounded and a really strong and enthusiastic crowd of about 130 strong gives all the bands total support and it seems Mourning Beloveth are winning over the pagan metal fans every day. Pagan doom anyone ?...My voice is suffering though and the combination of drinking, not sleeping well, cold and hot air on the bus and everyone smoking is taking its toll. I also forget that never before have we headlined other then a few shows with Callenish Circle back in 2003 in the lowlands and singing for sometimes 90 minutes a night is harder then I thought it would be. However the rabid enthusiasm of the crowd carries the show and the day will go down as a victory for the Heathen Crusade.  

Berlin, Germany - Kato

We played in Berlin with Rotting Christ and Enthroned back in 2003 it would be fair to say we owned that day and despite the bad reputation Berlin has for turn outs we have only positive impressions of the city. And the show after that with Ancient Rites was an absolute inferno, perhaps the hottest I think I’ve ever felt on stage so we really weren’t sure what to expect from the Kato which is more a punk and hardcore venue. However the staff are cool and our front of house guy Frankie seems more then capable of turning any sound system into gold, he really has the sonic midas touch so the couple of people who emailed me giving out about the venue and the sound really need not have worried. The same can be said for our worries about the Tuesday night Berlin crowd as we get more then 150 in the door and they again give every band on the bill strong and very vocal support. Our show again turns out to be a long one but my voice holds up reasonably well all things considered. Dark Song is sounding massive and people really seem to be appreciating the dynamics in the middle of the show where we are playing it. An attempt at going out in Berlin again ends in tired dejection as the drinking and smoking and carrying on as we say in the motherland is taking its toll on everyone. People starting to retreat into corners and find their own space as on all tours after a few days living in close quarters with people you didn’t know too well previously. Cabin fever I guess you call it…

Ludwigsburg, Germany - Rockfabrik 

Last time we came to Ludwigsburg it was on the Generation Armageddon tour and that was mostly remembered for the huge drunken football match afterwards were we soundly trounced the Greeks (hehe), this time however we are in the smaller room upstairs and not the huge room downstairs which would take about 800 people. My usual mid week worries again don’t transpire as again we have 150 people getting really behind the bands. Gardens of Gehenna are having a hard time opening some of the shows but we’ve all been there as the opening band and its never easy but tonight the crowd seem more appreciative of their efforts. Mourning Beloveth as last night are slowly but surely getting the heads nodding and the feet tapping, converting the pagan metal crowd. Tonights show is also all the more impressive for the fact that usually in Ludwigsburg there are lots of press and label people who usually stand at the back with the arms folded. However the Heathen Crusade is again the victor, bands playing together who actually stand for something and mean something and stand opposed to the scene at large in thrall to bands who sing and stand for absolutely nothing, and the fact that we are pulling per night more then many of those bands who get more press and column inches seems like a vindication of sorts for what we are trying to achieve here. We are already talking about the Heathen Crusade part II ?....

We stay up half the night drinking whiskey and Jager with Hasche the owner of the Rockfabrik and one time drummer of Running Wild as he tells us stories of touring with Motley Crue and 80s indulgence. We all seem to take this to heart and keep drinking and partying til the very early hours. Some of us embarrassing ourselves at Frankfurt airport as we say farewell to Ciaran as he heads home and hello to Ger from Mael Mordha who is coming out to help us for the last few shows… 

Bad Salzungen, Germany - Kallewerk 

My voice is fucked…being a naughty boy the night before has really taken its toll and I have no Black Metal voice whatsoever left and the harsh singing on tracks like The Golden Spiral and Song of the Tomb are painful tonight. Even the high notes on The Coffin Ships are beyond me and I really feel like I’ve let people down who have paid good money and travelled to see the show. However everyone around me seems to be dying of a cold so perhaps there’s more to this then meets the eye and its actually a combination of a cold and singing that’s fucking my chords. What definitely doesn’t help is the fog of tobacco smoke in the venue tonight which is heavy and thick in the air, in fact it nearly makes me retch on more then one occasion tonight. Couple all this with the fact that the crowd seem lifeless and listless despite the fact there are near to 200 of them and I can easily call this the worst show on the tour as far as performance and atmosphere go, but we give it what we can and I think people can still come away with a positive impression of the Heathen Crusade . However its hard in a hall that would take 500 people to create atmosphere when people are spaced out. Every action causes a reaction and you need people in tight together to create that ripple effect. Tonight for whatever reason doesn’t kick off and feels like something of an anti climax after the previous riotous shows but you always get night like this. Tomorrow Belgium and the Biebob…heres hoping my voice comes back !!!!

Vosselar, Belgium - Biebob 

After comparing notes with myself about Bad Salzungen and Ludwigsburg i realised my throat was probably as bad for both of them (well nearly) but

the crowd and a few drinks more or less inspired me to forget about it and plough on ahead regardless and it worked in ludgwigsburg. bad salzungen it definitely didnt but perhaps I simply worried too much. The power of postive thought. So although I leave the party raging behind me on the bus and attempt to get an early night I wake up in Belgium still feeling like someones been scraping my vocal chords with a wire brush. The Biebob has one of the coolest metal shops just a stones thrown down the road so i forget about my throat searching for old saxon and y n t vinyls. mission accomplished !!!. The Eagle has landed. Talking to the staff at the shop it seems that there really is something of a pagan or folk metal revival or uprising might be a better word as they tell me throughout their shops in the benelux apart from in flames and lacuna coil people are buying pagan/folk metal far more then regular black or death metal. Being in Flanders as we are and in what is a particularily nationalistic part of Europe the staff seem to link the state of Europe and the slow awakening of peoples consciences to more cultural issues as being refelected in their metal purchases. It may indeed be true or it may indeed be simply the new trend within metal or wishful thinking but surely its better for bands to be singing about something with some substance and people  reflecting on the subject matter then the usual heavy metal escapism and fantasy. The fact that most of the bands who call themselves pagan or folk metal deal in romance and a different kind of fantasy is something else entirely and precisely where Primordial fits into the cannon I'm not sure. However I'm left with a positive feeling about things and the fact that there seems to be some kind of groundswell movement going on here and the outpouring of emotions from people I've seen on the tour so far in front of me have been something I'm sure bands who sing about zombies, drinking beer or old nick simply dont get. Anyway I digress (as usual...) tonight turns out to be a killer show, perhaps the best of the tour or at least up there with Ragnarok, Berlin and Hamburg. The crowd is really strong for a friday night considering Anthrax is tomorrow and No Mercy is on sunday. Perhaps the bottle of cheap wannabe Jagermeister I procured from Lidl the day before I drank onstage gave me rose or should I say murky green tinted spectacles but we were on fire tonight and everyone knows it....

Osnabruck - Germany - Tor III

We actually played in Osnabruck in some strange Egytpian themed venue 3 years previous with Rotting Christ and Enthroned to about 40 people on a wet Tuesday night so again it was heartening to see perhaps 4 times as many people tonight as then but the venue has a lot to be desired. No working lights or backstage or shower. However again it turns out to be a really powerful and positive show with people again giving totally of themselves in front of the stage for all the bands. Jim Beam helps me forget my shredded vocal chords and Franky again does a great job on the sound. More importantly we realise somehow we havent managed to go to one bar or head out anywhere after any shows other then sit on the bus. Either its been the wrong night or the wrong area so I decide we are going to rectify this and we head off in taxis to Hyde Park which is a name most Metal fans know from myth, from the back of shirts or from reading Metal Hammer in the 80s looking at the venues bands were playing you never thought you would ever see. Its Goth or new romantic night according to the promoter, great I've always had a weak spot for goth girls. Upon arriving we realise it sure as hell aint Goth night and people are dancing to mid 90s brit pop and slightly "dangerous" mtv lite apple pie rebellion fodder. Nevermind...we get the whiskeys or jagers or vodkas in or whatever and try and get as hammered as possible. Sadly for me it doesnt happen as badly as some other Finns I can mention. Mitja take a bow for his hilarious Frankenstein dancing and falling on his face and generally scaring whoever he went hear on the dancfloor. We all strike out with the local femal contingent even when I send in David Beckham lookalike Jukka (Moonsorrows sound guy) in as my bird dog in a drunken good guy/bad guy routine. ???...hmmm, perhaps its the swastika I have drawn on my forehead ?...(no I didnt before I get emails about it !!!) or perhaps the fact we all smell like monkeys because there were no showers. There has to be some reason right ?...hmm anyway. Another triumph for the Heathen Crusade, and another hangover coming. Drunken Heavy Metal Monkeys Uber Alles !!! 

Leipzig, Germany - Hellraiser 

Again no hangover ?...must be that pact I made with the queer fella (the devil not elton john) back in my black metal youth. We've been to the Hellraiser a few times. Had complete indifference in 2000 with Thyrfing, a packed show with Immortal in 2000 again and a great show with Rotting Christ and Enthroned in 2003. This is not quite the rip roaring show we had hoped to end on. The crowd is strong, 200 plus but the sound onstage is abysmal and boomy and really takes from any enjoyment of the show with the sound reverberating back at us from the back of the hall. Note to owners...put up some insulation at the back of the hall. Everything is running too late for a Sunday and by the end of our set some people have filtered off into the night. We retire with a punishing To Enter Pagan which seems fitting although it all seems like an anti climax. Last days of a tour always are as people are tired, wasted and have to head off to various different places to return home. Tonight is no exception.

We have an early flight which proves to be something of a Marks Brothers style farce but we still manage to get back in one piece.

So back home crawling the walls with nothing to do and the worst of come downs....realising another few weeks would have been perfect !!! 

The Heathen Crusade was a resounding success...it struck a positive note in all of us and for Primordial and our first headlining tour our fears were more then assuaged and the feeling that something is stirring above the underground is very much a reality.... 

Thanks and Mighty Hails to:

Moonsorrow for being part of the Crusade...itll happen again soon...dont know where dont know when !, Mourning Beloveth the new saviours of Pagan Viking Doom, Gardens of Gehenna for letting us use and abuse their gear and opening up and never complaining once !. thanks, Franky Gurdy our FOH for doing a great job, Michael our insane bus driver, David Jukka Beckham for being too good looking, Young Kris Kubsch for doing merch and going to bed early !!!!...and for spawning the Crusade, Sin of Kain for opening and providing the first two nights, Mark for the posters and artwork, Jorg and Sina from Dragon for helping putting things together, All the local staff and promoters who helped things run smoothly, and all the Metal Heathens who showed up to make the Heathen Crusade Mark I a success and repaying our faith !!!

 Nemtheanga