This month saw the Munich leg of ELUVEITIE's tour through 14 European countries with several sold-out shows along the way. And with this momentous gig falling on a Friday night, it was the perfect excuse to cast aside your worries and just party as only Folk Metallers can.

Starting off the night was SKÁLMÖLD, a Viking/Folk metal band from Iceland. By this time, the venue was already jam-packed, despite the fact that there was still a very long queue of people outside, waiting to get in, so SKÁLMÖLD already had an attentive and sizeable audience by the time they stepped on stage. Amid a tidal wave of vocals stemming from near every member of the band SKÁLMÖLD delivered a blistering set, much of which revolved around their third album "Með vættum" released earlier this year. Having three guitarists in addition to keyboards and five vocalists, SKÁLMÖLD's sound can be described as nothing short of apocalyptic, striking forth with all the fervour of the Ragnarök. This performance very soon had the crowd in the full swing of things, transforming the venue into a sea of raised horns and chanting metalheads, with eager-faced fans glowing in anticipation for the valiant battle that was yet to come.
 

Setlist:
1. Árás
2. Gleipnir
3. Að hausti
4. Fenrisúlfur
5. Með fuglum
6. Narfi
7. Kvaðning

Taking the penultimate spot was ARKONA, the renowned Russian Pagan/Folk Metal band. Starting off with the stage bathed in a thick, roiling green fog, ARKONA did a superb job of stirring up the mystique before really mustering a party spirit; it's a near super-human feat to watch Marsha cavorting all over the stage without starting to feel an itch in your own feet. To quote a good friend of mine, it is impossible to watch such a great Folk Metal band such as ARKONA and not want to tap or jump along to the music, no matter your mood or your particular music tastes. Touring Europe lately with their recently released seventh album "Yav", ARKONA had several songs off of this album hidden up their sleeves, in addition to older crowd favourites such as "Goi, Rode, Goi!". During the song "Serbia", the auditory aspects harmonised perfectly with the visuals, setting the stage awash with red, blue, and white lights, mirroring the colours contained in the Serbian flag, showing a level of attention to detail which just gives us yet another reason why ARKONA are such an amazing band to see live. And indeed, the disappointment at the end of ARKONA's performance was almost palpable, with many fans wishing it could go on longer.
 

Setlist:
1. Yav
2. Goi, Rode, Goi!
3. Serbia
4. Zakliatie
5. Na Strazhe Novikh Let
6. Slav'sja, Rus'!
7. Pamiat
8. Stenka na Stenku
9. Yarilo

Finally, it was time for ELUVEITIE, the renowned Folk Metal band from Switzerland. Incorporating a plethora of musicians, with many of the band members playing multiple instruments, ELUVEITIE has a veritable mammoth stage presence, dwarfing even the largest of stages. With massive upraised backdrops depicting the album artwork off of the "Origins" album framing the band members ELUVEITIE delivered a performance of near sensory overload. Having also released an album this year, namely their sixth full-length album "Origins", ELUVEITIE had an epically long setlist planned, featuring almost a score of both their older and newer songs, even going so far as to give the crowd some options in the matter. Giving the audience the choice of whether they wanted to hear "The Call of the Mountains" in either English or the Swiss/German dialect, the crowd unsurprisingly near unanimously voted for the latter, "De Ruef vo de Bärge". Despite the very long setlist, the night seemed to fly by in a blur of light and music, and was seemingly over in the blink of an eye. Bringing in Vladimir from ARKONA as a guest bagpipist for the final song of the night, "Inis Mona", this song was much fuller, and with the crowd chanting the words along, this made for a resounding end to the evening.
 

Setlist:
1. King
2. Nil
3. From Darkness
4. Carry the Torch
5. Thousandfold
6. AnDro
7. Sucellos
8. De Ruef vo de Bärge
9. Omnos
10. The Nameless
11. Kingdom Come Undone
12. Inception
13. The Silver Sister
14. Vianna
15. A Rose for Epona
16. Quoth the Raven
17. Havoc
18. Helvetios
19. Inis Mona