The day had been warm and bright straight up to the point of Borknagar’s arrival at Metaldays, where they were greeted with a downpour of near biblical proportions!
As this was very near the time of their pre-concert signing session, a line of die-hard fans had already gathered outside the signing tent – I say die-hard because standing around and waiting for a band in the present weather is not something just anyone would do.
Only slightly delayed, the band, minus one Simen ‘ICS Vortex’ Hestnæs but plus one Pål ‘Athera’ Mathiesen (who was standing in for Andreas ‘Vintersorg’ Hedlund on main vocals), waddled in wearing stylish and matching pink rain-coats and promptly told the guards to drop the line system so that everyone could come into the tent and out of the weather. This act of kindness towards their fans was then followed by a stress-free signing session which included a lot of talking, signing (of course) and fan photography – Borknagar seemed to be up for anything, and if the fans were too shy to get close they immediately invited them into their embrace.

“How are you guys?! (loudly shouted response) That’s good enough for me!”
- ICS Vortex (bass, vocals)

Fast forward a few hours, and the time had come for the Borknagar concert to begin.
It was still raining, although not nearly as bad as before, and in front of the stage was a pretty large although loosely packed crowd. I have to admit that I wasn’t at all sure as to what to expect from the audiences’ side for this show – even though it pleased me personally a great deal that Borknagar had been handed as good a spot as they had, the truth of the matter is that they have for a very long time not been an especially active touring band, and coupling that with the fact that they probably don’t have the same broad appeal of a more easily accessible band, I wasn’t sure if the masses would show up.
Given the state of things, I was pleased to see that far more people than I had expected had in fact shown up, and while waiting for the final preparations of the show, Vortex came on stage and sang a few lines of the Emil Från Lönneberga (a Swedish children’s tale/TV series) song for us to a nice response from those who got it.

After this, an audio clip marked the real beginning of the show, during which the band poured on stage and promptly set the tone with The Genuine Pulse. Despite a few starter problems with the sound – Athera’s vocals were missing through a quarter or so of the song – the same warm and embracing energy that had been present at the signing session was detected here, and it had an immediate effect on the crowd. I was standing next to a guy from the Netherlands who said that he had never heard of Borknagar before, but that he fell instantly in love and had to check them further out when he got home – I wholeheartedly agreed that he should.
Up on the stage, the band was going at it with a foot on the monitor, a smile on the face and head banging – they were more active than I remember them from the 2009 shows I saw, which is probably due to the fact that they’re getting more comfortable in the live-role again. This was of course very becoming, and helped lift the experience to even greater heights.

Technically, things were certainly working out for the band as well. After the initial trouble was corrected, the soundscape was actually impressing for a festival show.
The bands’ playing was impeccable as far as I noticed, and the combination and interchanging of Vortex’s, Athera’s and Lars Are ‘Lazare’ Nedland’s vocals were amazing to say the least! Being led to Borknagar by Vintersorg in the first place, I had regretted the fact that he wasn’t going to perform with the band leading up to the show, but during the concert the thought never crossed my mind as Athera proved to be a fully capable stand in both vocally and performance ways. The fact that Vortex had rejoined the group in between this and the last time I saw them, and was now powerfully delivering his new and old performances alike, was just sweet candy to my ears! If anything, it could have been cool to hear more of Lazare, preferably in Fleshflower or one of his other songs, but maybe that will have its time on the next tour?
Wunderkind isn’t a term I use often, in fact I don’t think I have ever written it before, but I can find no better description to fit the also new and young genius that is Baard Kolstad – Dave Kinkade certainly did a great job during his time with the band, but Kolstad easily fits the Borky drum-stool just as well if not better. I’m not qualified to judge on the finer technical details, although there seemed to be plenty of them, but the lively performance that this guy combined with the delivery was captivating! He even had his own time to shine in a drum solo following Dauden, and while giving a varied and energetic show, he also had the good sense not to drag it out for too long even though I’m certain he’d be capable of keeping it up all night if need be. The drumming that is, minds out of the gutter kids!

Remember me saying that I wasn’t sure what to expect from the crowd, and being positively surprised with the loosely packed audience that had gathered?
Well, it didn’t take long for this to change. During the first and second song, more and more people were filling in, and shortly the place was well packed from front to end, showing that Metaldays had done a wise decision in the placing of the band. Given the nature of the music, the crowd wasn’t very wild at any point – a handful of crowd surfers sailed by, but apart from that a bit of headbanging was as good as it got, physically.
Mostly though, people were swaying a bit along to the music, and either enjoyed it in silence or sang along to the lyrics. There was no denying a great atmosphere though, and the lack of physical participation was weighed up in the loud shouts of appreciation between songs. My newfound Dutch friend and I took turns in headbanging and reassuring each other how great this was, as good a way as any to enjoy the show.
When the time came to take a bow, the shouts from the crowd were even louder, and plenty of hands reached for the drum sticks and the guitar picks that the band parted ways with. Vortex was in a hurry to leave the stage, but the rest didn’t seem to mind taking an extra bow or two, and posing for photos before also leaving the Metaldays stage for this year.

And with that, the highest anticipated show on my list for this festival came to an end. A very fulfilling show it was, where Frostrite was the brightest highlight of a show that in itself was a highlight from beginning to end. All I can hope for is that this newfound interest in live-shows will continue to grow, so that we might see the band at a festival or on a tour in a not too distant future again.

Setlist:

The Genuine Pulse
Oceans Rise
Epochalypse
Ruins Of The Future
Ad Noctum
The Eye Of Oden
Dauden
Solo (Kolstad)
Frostrite
Universal
Embers
The Dawn Of The End
Colossus
Ved Steingard