Review
Skálmöld, Metsatöll & Atavistia
When we arrived at the parking area, a line of fans was already waiting to enter the Pont Rouge venue in Monthey to see the three bands of the evening, and of course Skálmöld. I’m with our photographer Kevin. We were motivated and ready for this event. The hall had been made smaller for the occasion, so that the concert could be more intimate. Many fans are wearing their favorite Skálmöld band t-shirts. There are young people in the venue, but also older fans who aren’t afraid to face a good amount of decibels.
The lights went down before turning back to background music. The band Atavistia arrived on stage and started with full blast. Atavistia this Canadian-based melodic death metal band founded by Canadian musician Mattias Sippola in 2017. It did not take long till the metalheads started to bang their heads. Our dear long-haired musicians continued to give everything they had and also the drummer, who could be seen with a big smiley face. Shortly before the end, you could see the crowd going wild, headbangs everywhere. We were beginning to enjoy the show. Atavistia’s last song got off to a slow start, then picked up speed with an insane rhythm, ending with a round of applause from the audience. It was time for a break, and people were happy with the first part and headed off to the bar for refreshments.
Metsatöll kicked off the second half of the evening. This band plays Estonian folk metal. They’re known for mixing elements of Estonian folk music with heavy metal. It was just wonderful. They had no trouble getting the people to move. Personally, I’m a big fan of this band, whose different, original style really gets under the skin. Afterwards, one of the singers brought out his bagpipes and kept going, putting us in a great mood. Metsatöll are popular in Estonia and other European countries, and we understood this tonight, as we were treated with a quality concert that did not leave us indifferent. After a few songs, they spoke to us in Estonian, and everyone responded as if they’d understood something. Then it went back to playing even louder, and the whole room started dancing (as it should with such a performance), hands went up and everyone applauded. We had the impression of being with an Indian tribute, as they began to sing like Indians around a fire. And that was already the end of this 2nd concert.
After around 30 minutes of stage preparation, it’s Skálmöld’s trun. They are a folk metal band from Iceland. The music is characterized by elements of melodic metal, folk and traditional Icelandic music. They arrived quietly on stage. But this tranquility didn’t last very long. We started off with the song “Ýdalir”, a lot of madness. This band, straight from Iceland, took us on a journey through Nordic mythology, evident in their lyrics and costumes. Everyone started screaming and raising their arms. The guitarists played some sick solos, it was almost impossible not to headbang. They moved directly into another song, which pleased the crowd and got everyone screaming. A drum solo began, followed by the melodic voices of the singers. Like a Skálmöld choir, the crowd began to sing along, and it was a wonderful moment.
Later, everyone was jumping up and down to the beat of the drums. Just as the concert seemed to be coming to an end, the band started up again. It was then that the whole crowd became part of the evening. The first gentle pogo kicked off, but it didn’t last more than a couple of minutes. Near the end of the show, everyone was impressed to see a snowblower sending tiny snowflakes at us during a song.
At the end of a wonderful evening spent at Monthey’s Pont Rouge. We were happy of discovering, listening and photographing these bands, each with their own style. The performance was incredible.
Many thanks to Pont Rouge for the last-minute accreditation!
Report Writing by Nat
Translation and pictures by @csk_lens (Instagram)
