This year, we were able to make it to the magical and amazing Midgardsblot in Borre, Norway. For this year’s edition, we had amazing headliners like MAYHEM, GAAHL’S WYRD, EIVOR, HYPOCRISY, LILI REFRAIN, FAUN, MORK, SIGH, TSJUDER, BENEDICTION, and many more! This year had a little bit more black metal music, so we were delighted with the amazing performances both on the outside stages and inside the beautiful Gildehallen.
From all around the world, every year, people gathered in the magical burial mounds of Borre for this event, described by many as their best time of the year. People were excited to share their time and anecdotes at Camp Utgard in front of the fjord, warming up their bodies to the tunes of the drums at the bonfire, or simply by sharing the Viking experience in Folkvangr. It is the Viking market inside the festival area, where time goes back to a simpler era, where you can have a lot of fun hearing Viking sagas, sharing some meat with friends next to the bonfire, and admiring the beautiful crafts of the sellers from all around.
Additionally, there was an amazing tattoo fair located in the Thon Hotel, in the center of Borre: NORSE TATTOO CON, where you could get tattoos from very acclaimed world-class tattoo artists. Each one had an amazingly unique style, and they would weave into your skin—either by hand-poked traditions or by machine—beautiful Norse-inspired tattoos, so you could take on your skin a piece of Midgardsblot with you forever.
At the start of the festival every year, a Blot Ceremony is held. Without any religious or nationality orientation attached to this ceremony, you could dedicate the blot to yourself without feeling judged by anyone, as they welcomed everyone. The community was amazing at showing care for everyone, no matter where you came from or what you believed in. This year in particular, even three little babies were being celebrated in the blot at the very beginning. It is an amazing key part of the festival that many await with a feeling of “I’m back here to celebrate with my friends from all over the globe!” With drums and dancers around the fire, people took a small break to express gratitude. This year in particular, we had the amazing painter from Bergen, Norway, Kim Diaz Holm, who captured the blot ceremony in blood and painting.
After the blot ceremony concluded, the music started! This year we had a very iconic band, VOLUSPA, which initiated the music performances of the evening. With their amazing, purely crafted songs for this community, they played “MIDGARDSBLOT,” “Heathen Heart,” and many other hits that they knew the blotters loved. After a beautiful performance by the Viking queen, we moved to the amazing Viking party hall, Gildehallen, to witness JOHNNY HEXX, singing along with Gustav Holberg and putting on a beautiful, emotive show with lots of trance drumming.
We also had the pleasure of seeing TEMPEL, a black metal band that sounded remarkable, and we really enjoyed the darker mood that was set after their show, as the evening went on with more metal and amazing performers for the first full day of black metal this year. This festival modus operandi was very appreciated by a lot of fans. After a very energizing show, there came an amazing discovery of another Norwegian black metal band, KIRKEBRANN, with excellent sound and energy on stage.
We then moved back to the Valhalla Stage to enjoy the amazing GAAHL’S WYRD with their ethereal black metal performance. People enjoyed this show a lot; there was a mosh pit and corpse paint all around the Valhalla Stage. The crowd sang along to their songs, including “Ghosts Invited,” “Carving the Voices,” and “Høyt opp i dypet.” A cover from Gaahl‘s other former band, TRELLDOM, finished their set, as they played the GORGOROTH song “Prosperity and Beauty.”
After an amazing black metal performance, we moved forward, this time in Gildehallen, to see a very fun and unexpected show, Liminal by NEBALA, led by Jonas Lorentzen and Ghilli Pratti. This was truly a new and refreshing experience and very fun for all of us in the crowd. Ghilli is a multi-instrumentalist, and he showed us a variety of instruments on stage, enchanting the crowd, and with the amazing singing by Jonas, it was truly a magical and refreshing moment for all of us. Moving forward, they invited drummer Buscar Nombre, who joined and blended amazingly with them. After that, the band invited everyone to sing along. It was like a battle of voices inside the Gildehallen, but truly a very fun moment—connecting with the band and the crowd, contributing to the live performance.
After this amazing connection of a show with NEBALA, we moved to one of the last shows of the night, and this time we enjoyed the amazing singer EIVØR PALDSDOTTIR from the Faroe Islands. Her voice was magical and delightful, setting a relaxing and enchanting vibe in the audience. Reaching amazing tones, Eivør’s performance included some of her most recent songs like “Jarðartrá,” “Enn,” and “Upp Úr Øskuni,” but also the amazing classics “Í Tokuni,” “Trøllabundin,” “Salt,” and “Falling Free.” We are looking forward to seeing her performances in Finland soon! With this amazing performance, we closed the night and went to the bonfire.
Here’s our gallery for the first day!
Utgard Camp
Blot Ceremony
Voluspa
Johnny Hexx
Tempel
Kirkebrann
Gaahl’s Wyrd
Liminal By Nebala
Eivor
Text & photos by Lola Valkyrie
