Review: Skálmöld, Seven Spires and Atavistia – Oslo, Norway 21 March 2024

John Dee, Oslo, Norway. 21st March 2024

Three bands are playing on a Thursday evening in Oslo, Norway, and the first band out is Atavistia from Canada. The band plays symphonic death metal with a lot of melody. So far, the band has released three albums – the latest one came out last year. Atavistia doesn’t sound too bad when they take the stage at John Dee, and even though the band starts only half an hour after the doors open, they have some audience with them. It’s far from full yet at the venue, but a couple of rows at the front have filled up. The main issue I have with Atavistia is that they run the symphonic elements on tape. It’s become more and more common, and I like it less and less. When so much music is just played off from the soundboard, a good deal of the live feeling disappears, and it all becomes very static. Eventually, I find myself getting a little bored as well. The songs are so-so, but the band is at least skilled on their instruments. Although it’s not enough to save the concert from mediocrity.

Seven Spires comes from the USA, and they also play symphonic metal. Unfortunately, this band also runs the symphonic elements via tape, instead of having a live keyboardist. Seven Spires has released three albums previously, and their next album is coming out in June this year. It sounds a bit thinner from Seven Spires than from Atavistia, as they only have one guitarist. But in return, they have one ace up their sleeve, and her name is Adrienne Cowan. Here we have a powerhouse of a vocalist, who is skilled both in singing and on stage. Seven Spires is not Cowan’s only band; she is involved with and has previously been involved in quite a few collaborations. Among the most well-known are Avantasia and Eluveitie. Seven Spires doesn’t deliver so well that I run home to listen to more of them after the show, the songs are not quite there, to say the least. But thanks to Adrienne Cowan, this is a good concert, and fans of the band have every reason to be satisfied.

Iceland has made a mark in metal in the last decade, and the Viking folk metal band Skálmöld is one of the better ones. The band started back in 2009 and still has all six members from the start within the band. They have three guitarists, among other things. What strikes me when I see them this evening is that everyone in the band sings. And I’m not talking about backing vocals. They have their own parts in songs where they do lead vocals. For example, on “Miðgarðsormur,” keyboardist Gunnar Ben has the lead vocals, while on the eleven-minute-long “Ullur,” drummer Jón Geir Jóhannsson stands up to take over the vocals. The latter song is from last year’s “Ýdalir,” from which the majority of tonight’s songs are also drawn. A solid and great album, so it’s just can’t complain. Skálmöld is also good at energizing the audience, and despite a language that is not easy to sing along with for us Norwegians, it still becomes a sing-along on many songs. When the band brings out a snow machine, actually foam, you really get the feeling of Norse Iceland. Well, I also get a bit of an Ibiza feeling. But what a concert, and there is little doubt that Skálmöld is a band that will grow bigger over the years. Skálmöld has played many times in Norway, but next time they deserve Rockefeller. So we’ll just have to see if enough people discover the band by then.