What’s this? A bunch of blood-drenched men walk onto the stage? Why, it’s only Moonsorrow from Finland of course!

Moonsorrow was another first for me here at Brutal Assault, a festival which has given more of these first time experiences with bands than I can remember, and so I was a bit curious how and if these bloody pagans would stand out from the crowd.
Well, to begin with, they had attracted quite a crowd, but even though they were great in numbers there was only a little action going on, and only in the very first few rows…
Still, this didn’t discourage the Finns from entering with great, big smiles on their grim, bloody faces before letting loose the Finnish winter war. Yes, the band, contrary to the audience who was looking at them, proved that they were one lively bunch to behold. Especially guitarist Mitja Harvilahti was good at running all over the stage, as well as delivering some killer posing, where as the other string-benders were a bit calmer while still delivering an energetic performance.

The biggest problems with the show could be boiled down to
a) Moonsorrow (just as many others who played on the Jägermeister Stage) had a pretty shabby soundmix, making both guitars sound very weak and low where I was standing, and
b) it was just not gripping.
Even though the band-members were doing their share up on the stage, and even though I tried to, I just couldn’t get on the same wavelength or whatchamacallit as the band, and I left feeling rather empty and untouched as the Finns finished their set off. More than this was obviously needed to leave a lasting memory…