Iotunn

Amager Bio, Copenhagen - 2017

Text: Tobias Nilsson Photo: Lunah Lauridsen

As Arcturus came to visit Denmark, Denmark delivered its own support band. This was done in the form of Iotunn, a band I must admit I had no prior knowledge of.
Then again, they have as far as I can find, only released an EP so far, The Wizard Falls from 2016.

“Thanks for showing up to see Iotunn this early!”
- Benjamin Jensen (vocals/bass)


After a nice and calm intro the band took the stage – Benjamin Jensen on bass and vocals, Bjørn Wind Andersen on drums, and Jens Nicolai Gräs and Jesper Gräs on guitars. We weren't actually introduced at the time, but there was no question that the two guitarists were related, possibly even twins from the looks of it.
Not knowing the band prior to this, I of course had no idea what type of music they'd be playing, other than it most likely was metal related in some way. My first thought, without knowing exactly what I should call the genre at the time, was that I couldn't think of a more fitting support band however, and that was certainly positive. The music grabbed me instantly, and even though the sound of it was quite low at the frontline, Jensen delivered some very good vocals as well. He mixed cleans and grims, and sounded well delivering both.
If you go online, you'll see words like epic, progressive, and power describing their style, and no, Iotunn doesn't exactly sound like Arcturus. That's not what I meant when I thought of them as the perfect support. What I meant was that Iotunn, like the headliner of the night, had a quite specific and personal sound, and I must admit that I haven't heard anything quite like this from Denmark before. I'm glad they were here though, and I had a definite feeling that I wanted to check more of their music out as soon as possible.

There was also a performance to consider though. This was a live show after all.
And you know what? Here too, Iotunn quickly proved their worth! The string trio at the front used the stage excellently, running from side to side, even further out than there was actual audience to cover them!
They also knew how to be effective about their time, so when a quick tuning was required about halfway through, the one Gräs brother who wasn't tuning delivered a speedy and show-off type solo. Admittedly not all of the tapping was perfect, but the feeling was in it, and delivered well.
Through all of this, Iotunn also had a great contact with the crowd. Admittedly, I got the feeling that many in the crowd so far, were family and friends of the band, but so what? The band was having fun, the crowd was having fun, and I was having fun. And I'm neither family nor friend with any of them.
If anything, I could have desired Jensen, or one of the others, to take the time to talk a bit more. Being as it were, a very fresh and new band, it would be a good idea to introduce us to the members, and also to some or all of the songs. Something that we could bring home, and help with further looking into the band.

Well, those are my two cents anyway. I really liked Iotunn this night, I liked what they brought to the table even as a completely unforeseen act, and I like the fact that they had the crowd headbanging already by song two, and that they were acting as though they were a headlining act all in their own rights. That's pretty darned good, all things considered.

Iotunn

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