The first week of autumn in South America made the weather in the city of Rio de Janeiro really good…warm, but not a Hell on Earth. With this excellent weather, the city, after years of rumours and frustrated possibilities, welcomed the legendary Norwegian band BORKNAGAR to Brazil, for two shows: one at São Paulo (on 03/22/2017), and the one we are speaking about now.

 

The venue had a great public, but it wasn't as full as it could have been. Maybe some fans still didn't understand how their presence in the show is truly important. The band started their set on time as well, with no delays.

If one word can describe what the public saw and heard in that night is "perfection."

Yes, because the sextet is a perfect band on the stage (even in a small one as this from Teatro Odisséia). The attitude, the communication, and the technique are still the ones you can hear on the album, but with that catchy energy from an excellent live show.

 

Øystein G. Brun and Jéns F. Ryland form a perfect guitar duo, and both of them have a great attitude, with the complex arrangements of the band played perfectly, as the melodic lines are intact in comparison of what we hear on the albums. ICS Vortex is a fine bass player and singer, and his communication with the public is really great, and there were moments when he took the lead vocals, as on "Universal" and "Colossus". Lars "Lazare" Nedland is really great, because even busy doing excellent keyboard parts and great vocals he has a fine attitude on stage as well, something extremely rare in terms of keyboardists. The drummer Baard Kolstad is a fine musician, playing with excellent technique, never losing the tempos, but he must have lead in his hands, because he hits the drum kit with an extreme force. Obviously, Athera is an excellent vocalist, with an excellent attitude on the stage, being kind to the fans, and his voice (both on harsh or clean tunes) fits perfectly on BORKNAGAR's songs. Please, never see him as a replacement for Vintersorg (that couldn't do the South American tour), because in terms of talent and voice, both are excellent in the same ways.

 

But as well, consider these six individual talents playing as a solid band. Yes, such a band exists and is called BORKNAGAR! They played songs from almost all their albums, three of them coming from the latest album ("Winter Thrice"), but the focus was on the earlier material.

When the band got on the stage, the public on the venue started to hail them, and the show began with the excellent and charming "The Rhymes of the Mountain" (to hear this amazing song with the fine contrasts between the voices of Lars, Vortex and Athera was something epic), followed by "Epochalypse" and the old hymn "Oceans Rise". But the more the band gave, the more the public wanted from them, so "Ad Noctum" (a great moment of Øystein on guitars) and "Universal" came to satisfy their hunger for BORKNAGAR's song. During "Universal", Athera took the guitars and left the vocals to Vortex, and in some moments, even Jéns sang some parts, a true and great experience. In some moments, showing himself a great gentleman, Athera spoke gently about Vintersorg, asking the public to applaud the absent vocalist. They went back to the past and played "Dauden" from their first album, and closed the show with "The Dawn of the End".

 

Was it the end of the show?

No, they came back, and unleashed another one of their greatest classics, "Colossus", that made the audience sing with them, and closed the show with "Winter Thrice". After some minutes of rest, the band came to spend some time with their fans, autographing CDs, taking pics and all. This was a fine moment of the band, in which they show that even having a great name and used to large festivals in Europe, they are still humble and respect their fans.

 

Setlist:

1. The Rhymes of the Mountain
2. Epochalypse
3. Oceans Rise
(Outro playback)
4. Cold Runs the River
5. Ad Noctum
6. Universal
7. The Eye of Oden
8. Frostrite
9. Icon Dreams
10. Ruins of the Future
11. Dauden
12. The Dawn of the End

Encore:

13. Colossus
14. Winter Thrice

I'd like to thank No Class Agency for bringing the band to Rio de Janeiro and for kindly make this review possible; to Talent Nation Agency, who brought the band to the South American tour, and for the kindness of Carolina Valdes Escanilla that gently allowed me to use her pics of the show.