Earlier this week, Mat was kind enough to publish his review of Moonsorrow + Swallow the Sun + Finntroll (aka. The Finnish Metal Tour) live in Montreal, CA.  Now thanks to the guys in Moonsorrow and Swallow the Sun, you can see for yourself a little bit of the action, as well as some behind the scene footage from the road.  After tonight’s show in Vancouver, the tour will have only eight stops before they hop on a plane and get their sweet Finnish asses back to the motherland.  So, read Mat's review, check out the remaining dates after the jump and if you so desire, secure your tickets before it’s too late.  

*A small disclaimer: you will probably be tempted to turn your speakers all the way up at the beginning of the video because these dudes are pretty soft spoken, but resist the urge. It gets really loud during the performance footage and I'm pretty sure one of my tweeters is blown.  Now you can’t say I didn't warn you.*

Date:  Saturday April 10th 2010
Place:  Club Soda in Montreal
Tour name:  Finnish Metal
Bands (in order of play):  Swallow the Sun + Moonsorrow + Finntroll
(The tour was supposed to feature Survivor Zero as an opening act but they weren’t in Montreal).

The show started with Swallow the Sun—a band I’ve only recently discovered.  Swallow the Sun plays a melodic doom/death metal genre that suits them quite well.  The signer, Mikko Kotamäki, used his clean vocals as well as his growls during the whole show, complimenting each song.  The sound was excellent, I haven’t seen many opening bands with as good a show and was stunned by the quality.  I didn’t have any expectations going to this show, but Swallow the Sun really amazed me with the calibre of their live music.  

They mainly played from their latest album, featuring songs such as ‘New Moon’ and ‘These Woods Breathe Evil’.  They also included a few other songs from their previous records.  During the performance, you could feel the crowd following the dark ambiance of their songs.  The only downside of this band is they look like trees on stage.  I wish they were more energetic and would move more, but still, it fits with their music being somewhat slow and dark.  They finished the show with the song ‘Swallow’, which was executed impressively live.  They gave us a surprise at the end, saying they’ll be back in September.   READ ON...

If you haven't picked up a copy of Finntroll’s latest album, ‘Nifelvind’ do so immediately.  In the mean time, watch this video for the first single, ‘Under Bergets Rot’:

Pretty spiffy right?  You know what this video has?  Originality.  You know what that video did not have?  Just about every cliche in metal videos I have come to despise.  Let me lay it our for you.

There is no: 

• band playing in a warehouse
• band playing in a forest
• creepy/weird/slightly attractive girl with blood on her hands/feet
• black & white concert footage
• trolls 
   

Really, this video is probably the most original I have seen on the metal front in some time, so because of the aforementioned reasons, I declare this video Deathscript tested, Deathscript approved.

FINNTROLL - Solsagan (NEW VIDEO)

FINNTROLL [NEW VIDEO ONLINE] | MySpace Music Videos

It's Friday afternoon, I woke up late and I have a wedding to attend tomorrow. So, needless to say I am not approaching today's articles with very much piss or vinegar. That however, should not eclipse Finntroll's spotlight, who with a new album due later this year, also released a video today for 'Solsagan'. 'Solsagan' will be the second song on the bands sixth full-length album, 'Nifelvind' to be released February on Century Media. The video is pretty standard stuff (I can't remember a time when I haven't added that phrase to a video description), girl in woods, band in woods, singing, creepiness... I'm still a fan though, like pizza, videos are good when and how ever.  

On February 22nd, Finntroll will release their sixth studio album, "Nifelvind" in Europe, then on March ninth in the US. You can check out the song, "Under Bergets Rot" from "Nifelvind" streaming on their MySpace page HERE. I am ashamed to say that I am not as familiar with Finntroll as I probably ought to be. I don't know why really, I enjoy plenty of folk, but for whatever reason Finntroll became that band that you perpetually tell yourself to check out, but you never do. However I did listen to the new song a few times, and although I had nothing to compare it to, I really, really enjoyed 'Under Bergets Rot'. Starting early February, Finntroll will take to the road with Eluveitie in support of "Nifelvind" hitting cities all through Europe and the US. Check back for dates that we will update soon.

Finsterforst From: Germany   Discography: “Weltenkraft” (2007), “…zum Tode hin” (2009)   Finsterforst, meaning “Dark Forrest”, is a epic folk metal band formed in 2004. In December 2006 Worldchaos Production signed Finsterforst to their label and released the bands first LP. Finsterforst is:   Marco Schomas- vocals Simon Schillinger- guitar David Schuldis- guitar Tobias Weinreich-bass Cornelius Heck- drums Sebastian Scherrer- keyboards Johannes Joseph- accordian   Finsterforst showed great promise from the start of their career as, posed to be the ‘next great folk metal band’. 2009’s “…zum Tode hin” was a highly anticipated by the horde of folk-fanatics I know, and did not disappoint. Clocking in at over an hour, “…zum Tode hin” is a five track melodic, folky, mash up, masterpiece. I don’t know what else to tell you- go buy their discography.  For fans of: Wolfchant, KromleK, and Finntroll.   Links: www.myspace.com/finsterforst