Sólstafir, Oranssi Pazuzu and Helga at Sala Copérnico, Madrid – 30th November 2024

It’s easy to say that “there are no interesting metal bands today.” Whoever swears by that statement won’t step away from their comfort zone, and that’s exactly what metal as a genre strives to do.

I was not a fan nor was I too familiar with the bands. Not being a slob, I did try to listen to their most recent and popular works throughout the day. My incentive for going was “so many people in Madrid like Oranssi Pazuzu, they must be outstanding or have something interesting to offer”, and it was a bit striking to my ignorant metalhead mind that the headliner was Sólstafir instead. HELGA I had never heard about but I also gave them a listen. At about 5 pm, I was pumped and prepped, reading about Nordic mythology, Niflheim, Iceland, and other subjects that made me want to cover myself in snow and rhythmically chant the Prose Edda.

The gates were to open at 6 pm. I got ahold of my friend who was excited to watch Oranssi Pazuzu. It’s funny, there’s this stream of people I come across that love these types of noisy and seemingly structure-ridden music, and I just can’t label myself a “fan”. Nevertheless, I’m truly open to the experience, even more so if it’s a live performance.

After catching up and some back and forth about life and other topics we got our wrists stamped and huddled to a spot inside the venue. HELGA was in the middle of their set. An austere but mystical air filled the room. A decent bunch of people, but more than what I saw last time in that same room; there was a clear interest in the night’s acts. Settled in, we picked up on the ambiance created by the musicians. It was enchanting, dream-like, and spectral. Helga Gabriel, the band’s leader, and namesake, brought the audience to a mesmerizing state, dominating the airwaves with a beautiful, yet aggressive style, transitioning from a northern maiden’s song to the screeches of a dancing specter of nightmares. Guitar-driven dialogues and interesting rhythms supported the whole show. I like the tribal setting some bands have started to adopt for their concerts or “rituals” as some dub them, bringing music to that primal state of mind. Like HELGA, another example is Lunavieja, from Málaga, who employ similar soundscapes focusing on atmospheric, primitive sound, sustained by melodic riffs and doom-metal cadences. HELGA was more progressive in comparison, with complex rhythms and melodies that caught you off-guard.

In the final portion of the performance, the band dialed up the aggression, letting out Opeth-y vibes throughout. Although it was an interesting and elevating experience, the live tracking was clearly present; it took a bit of the mystique from the performance. I understand that bands already have a lot on their minds when performing, and live tracking can reduce the chance of error and being strict with time windows, but that’s a hazardous game that not many acts can master. This is HELGA’s first European tour, and from my perspective, the gig was a success.

 

The performance ended, so my friend and I went out for a walk. We talked a bit about ongoing endeavors, and came across a library focusing on terror and suspense genres; there’s certainly an audience for somber and dark art in the Spanish capital. About half an hour later we went back in and settled ourselves in the back of the pit, and as if they were waiting for us, the sinister, incessant synth from Bioalkemisti started playing in a stage void of light. The band members took their places and started the onslaught. Oranssi Pazuzu’s lead vocalist Juho “Jun-His” Vanhanen belted out demonic screams and instantly entranced the audience, supported by synth-warlock Ville “Evil” Leppilahti.

Despite their intense performance, I must admit that the sound quality was subpar. The Sala Copérnico, similar to other venues in Madrid, has the curse of a low ceiling and plenty of structural pockets where reflections can make live show mixing extremely difficult, particularly when tons of reverb are involved.

Listening to the album Muuntautuja as I write this, I can now discern the subtleties in the arrangements heard the night before, particularly the guitars and secondary vocals. Oranssi Pazuzu is a loud band, with many different timbres and textures. You need a sound system that fits the band’s prowess and creativity to make this music justice. All that said, achieving a flawless stage sound on tour is a Herculean task, with many different venues and only so much time to set up the show. As a member of the audience, it’s hard to know what went wrong, we only see results, and it’s easy to be an armchair critic. Regardless, it’s always disappointing to see a band whose music you admire, only to be squashed into a wall of oomph by the live show circumstances. Nowadays I never leave home without my earplugs, and here they saved my hearing holes from synth-based obliteration. At certain times I took them off to check if I was missing frequencies, but it was simply either too damn loud or we picked a bad spot. Evil’s vocals weren’t audible either, only in the final 20 minutes.

Enough whining about the sound. All the band members were fully immersed in their performance. There was not a dull moment and Jun-His conveyed a macabre presence any time he took his spot as lead agitator. Even though I’m more of a “verse and chorus” guy, I can see the band’s appeal and how there’s a space to be filled by their seemingly erratic but coherent and hard-hitting musings. They make me think of listening to a Saucerful of Secrets-era Pink Floyd if they had gone down a rabbit hole, one made in the coldest, darkest ice of the Finnish lakes. Then, immersed and senseless, you realize there was no rabbit, but an Elder God whose name you can only pronounce in shivers.

We headed to the bar to pick an overpriced beer as we separated ourselves from the excited audience. I saw plenty of Sólstafir shirts about; I had no idea they could have such a following in Madrid. We decided not to go out to keep our spots, but we could tell that a significant portion of the audience was there just to see Pazuzu.

After a quick bathroom break, a clip from a movie started playing. In a Nordic setting, a farmhand shoots arrows toward a man wearing a robe and a Viking helmet, without horns but with the characteristic face cover and eye slits. The robe was stamped with broken sun crosses, easily mistaken for swastikas. The arrows kept hitting the mysterious man as he descended a hill and ominous but uplifting music played. As he got hit, he removed each arrow in a show of defiance, until coming face to face with his aggressor. Then, the band started playing.

As I mentioned, I hadn’t heard much of the three bands so I was completely open to whatever was presented. In the case of Sólstafir, I was happily greeted with a style very similar to that of a band I thoroughly enjoy, Baroness, completely unaware of the Icelandic troupe’s blacker sound from their early years. From the set, I could distinguish Fjara, one of their most popular songs. Aðalbjörn “Addi” Tryggvason proved to be a fantastic band leader, with a powerful presence, fitting jokes, and a lovable demeanor, coming over to the audience to sing and meet the fans in the later stages of the set.

The whole band was on point. I came to appreciate something achieved by all three bands, carving their style within metal, being different, and providing a sense of depth and complexity that’s only earned through experience and creativity. I dare to say that Sólstafir is pushing Nordic-borne metal, or even rock, in a unique direction, consequent with many bands and styles coming out of those regions. Pazuzu and HELGA do this too, but I’m a sucker for Sólstafir’s current style, heavy, palatable, and it just makes you want to go and learn Icelandic so you can sing along their uplifting tunes and learn about the culture.

The evening was, like my friend said in the earlier hours “something different”. We’ve been diligently going to metal concerts in Madrid as of late, the most recent being a grind/punk rumble, so the air and sounds felt on Copérnico last night were a healthy dose of different kinds of metal. The concerts reminded me of just how diverse this facet of music is, and how impactful it can be to see others enjoy subgenres that may not be our favorites, as I had to take in the second and best half of Sólstafir alone since my buddy wasn’t so entranced and was yearning for the long road home ahead of him. In that second half, the band played heavier tunes and when Addi came over, it was just where I stood. I felt the urge to take a picture. Instead, I admired his presence and lived the moment. I liked his belt buckle, with Nordic motifs. What a showman, giving it all and not missing a single note of his demanding vocal style. The band ended their set to roaring applause.

I jotted down some more notes and then headed towards the exit when I saw Helga Gabriel standing near the merch booth. Without a doubt, although both shyly and excitedly, I caught her attention and exclaimed “You’re awesome!”, to which she replied with a smile, quite a contrast with her ominous and powerful on-stage persona. I took my leave with a nice feeling of enjoying an alternate version of the type of music I so dearly enjoy, eager to write about it and share the experience.