Midgardsblot is a one-of-a-kind festival held annually in Borre, Norway. The festival area is placed near the Midgard Viking Centre and Viking Burial Mounds. There is a reconstructed Viking hall on the festival grounds, a traditional Blot ceremony, and a Viking village which adds extra folk character to the festival. In addition, during the festival, there is a tattoo convention, lectures related to folklore and history, a Viking ship trip, and signing sessions with selected artists who play at the festival. However, Midgardsblot is not only a festival with great folk and metal line-up but a close-knit community. The motto of the Midgardsblot festival is “Welcome home!” and there is literally a brotherly atmosphere during the event, which makes the experience even better and makes lots of participants come back here every year.
Let’s see what this year’s edition of Midgardsblot has brought us!
DAY 1 – AUGUST 16TH
At the very beginning of the festival’s first day, we witnessed the Blot Ceremony. The ritual is based on Old Norse Blót. Wooden statues of the ancient gods and goddesses were anointed with sacrificial animal blood during the opening. Every Bloter has a chance to ask the gods for blessing, or give thanks. However, it is important to mention that Blot is a non-religious ceremony and everyone can feel welcome in Midgardsblot. The Blot was performed by FOLKET BORTAFOR NORDAVINDEN, a folk music band from Norway. The group has been performing since 2007 and has already released two albums. First “Sagnamadr” after eleven years of existence in 2018, then “Ett Liv Uten Ende” in 2022. The Blot was followed by a performance of Finnish folk metal FINNTROLL. In the middle of the first day, we experienced a phenomenal show by a young Italian solo artist – LILI REFRAIN. She creates music on each instrument live, looping it in real-time during her performance. LILI REFRAIN uses vocals, electric guitars, percussions, and synths. The musician has been active since 2007 and has released one EP and four albums already, the newest “Mana” in April 2022. The concert was outstanding and I am sure that we will hear about her more soon.
Second to last that day, SYLVAINE got on stage. SYLVAINE is another solo project, this time created by Kathrine Shepard. The Norwegian black metal musician from Oslo was the first woman nominated for the best metal album at the Norwegian Grammy Awards. SYLVAINE brings magic by playing songs like “Mørklagt” and “Nova.”
The first day of Midgardsblot ended with a performance of black metal Norwegian legend, KAMPFAR. As usual, KAMPFAR does not disappoint, giving an energetic hour-long performance that thrills the audience. They played songs from various albums, including ”Our Hounds, Our Legion,” “Ophidian,” “Urkraft,” and “Tornekratt,” which were released during their 25-year-old history of the band. Definitely, it was a good ending to the first day of Midgardsblot.
DAY 2 – AUGUST 17TH
We started the second day of Midgardsblot quite late with a performance of SOWULO. SOWULO was formed by multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer Faber Horbach. Their concert at Midgardsblot was both their first concert in Norway and my first opportunity to see them live. The level of professionalism and intensity of their performance was definitely high and without doubt, the band gained new fans. SOWULO has an exciting selection of medieval and contemporary instruments, featuring cello, harp, shamanic percussion, and (my favorite!) gold carnyx which was a wind instrument of the Celts. Instruments mixed perfectly with both throat singing by Faber Horbach and the high vocals of Micky Huijsmans and lyrics in Anglo-Saxon language.
SOWULO’s performance was followed by the Norwegian black metal band, NORDJEVEL. Their performance was very raw and extreme, evoking associations with old-school black metal performances, containing pentagrams, fire, and a large number of studs.
The headliner of the day was ENSLAVED. ENSLAVED started with “Isa,” followed by “Jettegryta,” and “Homebound.” In between songs, the band’s lead singer, Grutle Kjellson, made classic jokes about the audience’s familiarity with the band’s songs. As always it was fun to watch them!
DAY 3 – AUGUST 18TH
The first band for us on the third day of Midgardsblot was SKÁLD. SKÁLD is a band that brings ancient myths and legends back to life in the company of a wide selection of traditional instruments and various vocals. They played among others “Hafgerðingar” and “Ódinn” which fit perfectly to Midgardsblot’s vibe.
After SKÁLD, festival attendees had an opportunity to see VEVAKI on the smaller stage. VEVAKI is a neo-folk project from Iceland that mixes the contemporary sound of traditional instruments. Their show was maybe as spectacular to see as SKÁLD’s concert, but definitely, their sound made me consider them one of my greatest discoveries of this year Midgardsblot’s line-up.
After short breaks from the concert that included a signing session with MARI BOINE, we went to see BLACKBRAID on the Kaupangr stage. BLACKBRAID was formed in February 2022 and is a mix of black metal music with Native American themes. BLACKBRAID went viral in the metal community after putting his first single “Barefoot Ghost Dance on Blood Soaked Soil” on the internet. His first and second long-play are equally popular and receive excellent reviews from the press. Therefore, BLACKBRAID’s performance was highly anticipated by the Norwegian audience, for whom it was the first opportunity to see BLACKBRAID live. They played four songs from both “Blackbraid I” and “Blackbraid II,” and their set list included songs such as “As the Creek Flows Softly By,” “The River of Time Flows Through Me,” “The Spirit Returns,” and “The Wolf That Guides the Hunters Hand.” The performance of the American project made the audience go nuts and I immediately knew that nothing could beat their performance that day.
The third day of the festival ended with a 1-hour-long set of probably the best-known band from the Faroe Islands, TYR, on the main stage with the fully packed Valhalla arena. TYR presented a perfect combination of metal music with elements of folk sound and lyrics filled with stories about Nordic mythical heroes.
DAY 4 – AUGUST 19TH
We started the day with a performance by Norwegian-Sámi singer, MARI BOINE. She combines traditional Sámi joik with folk-rock while showing the Sami culture in a wonderful way. MARI BOINE played songs like “Idjagieđas,” and talked about how nature is crucial, and people should take care of it because without nature, we wouldn’t exist.
After MARI BOINE came the time for some black metal. Swedish melodic black metal band, NAGLFAR, performed on the Kaupangr stage bringing extreme atmosphere on the last day of the Midgadrsblot Festival.
The next one for us was the black metal duo, TSJUDER. Even though I hadn’t listened to them too often before the festival, I have to admit that their performance on Midgardsblot was excellent and for a few days now their newest album “Helvegr” has still been playing on my rotation. Short after TSJUDER, on the Kaupangr stage MORTIIS began his set. Although MORTIIS’s music is one of a kind and enjoyable to listen to, after half a set of MORTIIS, we went to see the Norwegian underground death metal trio, RUUN, which played on the stage in Viking Hall, Gildehallen. Although I had the opportunity to see only 20 minutes of their performance, I must admit that the band is very good technically. I definitely want to see their entire set whenever they play next near me.
The last band on the main stage this year was MY DYING BRIDE. Despite the rainy weather, thousands of people gathered to see their show. Although their music doesn’t have much in common with folk or black metal (which definitely dominated Midgardsblot’s line-up), you could see the excitement on people’s faces (and the band’s logos on T-shirts) in the front rows, for whom MY DYING BRIDE was the main reason to attend the last day of this year’s festival. MY DYING BRIDE played both songs from the older albums, like “Turn Loose the Swans,” “Your River,” and a song from the newest album, “Your Broken Shore.” Since this was my first live experience with them, I have to say that their performance was surprisingly good, both with the atmosphere they created on stage and the playing technique. It was really nice to hear them and see them live.
At the very end of Midgardsblot, we were honored to witness a midnight seid-rave – ASTRALSEID with guests: KJELL BRAATEN, RUNAHILD, and BENNY BRAATEN. The whole performance took place in Gildenhallen. Heavy rain outside during the show added a real Norwegian atmosphere. The group ASTRALSEID will take you out of this world with ethereal vocals, booming rhythms, and deep drones. It’s music purely inspired by humans and nature. This was a real journey inside our core. ASTRALSEID closed Midgardsblot Festival in the best way imaginable.
Text by Aleksandra Arciszewska
Photos by Aleksandra Majak
