Grand Magus/Primitai/Dendera

Talking Heads, Southampton

Southampton Power Metallers Dendera were already on stage when we arrived. They are shit-hot good, belting out mighty riffs, a-la Iron Maiden and Dio. Outstanding vocals and killer guitars, makes them a band to watch out for.

Dendera 1–2–3–4

Primitai are wild and I mean WILD! They hit the stage like a heavyweight boxer hits a punch bag and took no prisoners. Unleashing riffs galore they blitzed the crowd with a traditional Metal sound reminiscent of Judas Priest at their best. Excellent vocals and wailing guitars underlined by potent drumming and galloping bass. Make sure to put them on your list of bands to see (if you haven’t seen ’em already) in 2013.

Primitai 1–2–3–4–5–6–7

The headliners took to the stage after a short intro tape (Anvil of Crom) finished and thunder into Kingslayer. However it soon becomes apparent that lead guitarist and singer Janne “JB” Christoffersson is not best pleased with his onstage monitor. As they kick in with Sword of the Ocean things apparently weren’t much better for him although it sounded fine from out front. Visibly frustrated he berates the sound guy who managed to twiddle the right buttons and as “I, The Jury” blasts out, JB looked much happier and from that point on the gig stepped up several notches.

Grand Magus 1–2–3–4–5–6–7–8–9–10–11

Grand Magus certainly knows how to write great tunes and they let us know that the songs are best heard loud and live. Bassist Fox strides around the stage with a grin plastered on his face throwing rock poses galore and churning out heavy bass lines with unbounded relish. New addition to the line-up is Ludwig “Ludde” Witt a superb drummer who Iíve been a fan of since seeing him with Firebird. He was unleashed during Like The Oar Strikes The Water (Aran) to clobber us with a just-the-right-length drum solo which had everybody clapping along.

When Valhalla Rising starts up you know the end is near but they duly came out for two more and finished with the excellent Hammer Of The North. I tell ya, Viking doom Metal doesn’t get better than this!

Tracklist
Intro: Anvil of Crom
Kingslayer
Sword of the Ocean
I, The Jury
Ravens Guide Our Way
Silver Into Steel
Starlight Slaughter
Wolf’s Return
Like The Oar Strikes The Water (Aran): Drum Solo
The Hunt
I Am The North
Shadows Knows
Valhalla Rising
Iron Will
Encore: Hammer Of The North

Word and Photosby Dan O’Gara.