Dances with trolls
My initial experience of Finntroll was at the Tuska metal festival this summer. The intensive and passionate gig sparked my interest. What is this? I need more of this!
And I got what I wanted at Saturday’s Metelli club. After a fine performance by Amorphis the dark, bearded and long-haired club audience loitered around the ice hall in anticipation. Quater to two Finntroll was on stage, being the last artist of the evening.
Heavy is considered as a rather masculine form of music, but from the vantage point of an outsider to the scene, it’s possible to observe almost amusing feminity and rather touching pompous and operaic elements. Or what do the men wearing make up, dresses and long hair represent? Luckily Vreth, the vocalist of Finntroll, makes use of these elements in a skillful fashion. Having been blessed with a remarkably handsome outlook, he offers a wonderful feast for the eye, being shrouded only in a long black leather skirt and bracelets.
Finntroll seems to sport a good degree of humour and self-irony, which is rather rare in the heavy scene. With influences from scandinavic folk songs, the music leads the audience to a mystical forgotten world, where man dwells on the marches of Scandinavia and ancient forests, encountering goblins, trolls and forest maidens. The band seemed to enjoy playing fast as well as more serene parts, where the vocalist was able to demonstrate his skills in reciting poems.
An amusing fact worth mentioning is the fennoswedish background of the band. The lyrics, sung in swedish, weren’t too clear as they were growled, but the content was far away from the valley of Moomins, duck ponds and sailing songs. Swedish as a language of choice creates an excellent connection to the world of scandinavic fairy tales and tradition of folk music.
As a newcomer to heavy music, I’ve had to make the unorthodox observation which connects heavy and finnish schlager. Both are to be enjoyed in a live setting, in their own environment, if you wish to understand the most deepest meaning of the music. My warm recommendations about Finntroll to all other beginners. If more experienced members of metal militia are to believe, the gateway theory is true.
Text: Salla Brunou
Pictures: Mikael Ropponen