Another band, Illnath, had first been announced as the warm-up for Iron Fire this night, but for unknown reasons they had to cancel and stepping up to take their place was none other than Forcentury.
Forcentury have recently released their debut album Vanguard, and they were eager to show off their material for a hungry metal audience.
In a way, the bands style was much more fitting for the evening as well, so I guess things worked out for the better.

Sadly, the crowd wasn’t very big yet when they entered the stage, and most of the assembled people were hanging back and sipping their beverages during the first couple of songs. More and more did show up, but it never got really crazy on the floor… except for one guy who seemed to have left all control with his jacket in the wardrobe. He was wildly flailing about and swinging his arms and hair in a way which almost made any other crowd participation redundant!
Still, up on the stage things weren’t going idly by; with singer Johnn ‘Thunder’ Tordenro and guitarist Marc Masters in the front and keyboardist Anders Palsgård visiting momentarily as he donned his keytar, Forcentury treated us to a very lively performance. Only Jens-Christian ‘JaCK’ (guitar) and Forcentury’s new permanent bassist Kristian ‘Iver’ Iversen took it a bit easier; JaCK did come alive at one moment during Bottom Line Zombies while the guitars weren’t playing, and it was great to see his enthusiasm, but it would be even greater if he could transfer the same intensity to when he uses his instrument as well.
On that note, things didn’t always just stay up on the stage either; during one song (I fail to remember which one) both Masters and Thunder left the stage, and as Masters shredded away on his guitar with the aid of the audience, Thunder climbed one of the tables whereupon he danced and sang his heart out with the cheering crowd surrounding him.

Tordenro showed a bit of subtle humour while speaking between songs; like the time he commented that the song Rise Of The Machines was on every single one of the bands albums!
After this one, they chose to present a completely new song to us as well, The Reductionist, which at first listen seemed to be very much in vein with the rest of the bands material.

This concert will probably not go down in history in any way, but it was entertaining and worked well within the framework it was set. A solid gig without anything spectacular.

Setlist:

Land Of Mirrors
Son Of Poseidon
Valhalla’s Call
Rise Of The Machines
The Reductionist
Bottom Line Zombies
Speculator
The Abyss
Through The Eyes Of Thunder