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January 27, 2009
Reporter: Peter
Heathen Crusade 3 - 2008

BANDS AND SHOW TIMES:

Friday - November 14, 2008
7:40 - 8:10:  Grand Demise of
                            Civilization
8:20 - 9:00:  Lunarium
9:10  -9:50:  Ulveheim
10:00-10:20:  Nechochwen
10:30 - 11:20:  Inquisition
11:30 - 12:30:  Ancient Rites

Saturday - November 15, 2008
 4:50 - 5:20:  Under Eden
5:40 - 6:10:  Velinias
6:20 - 6:50:  Chaos Moon
7:00 - 7:40:  Oakhelm
7:50 - 8:10:  Nechochwen
8:30 - 9:10:  Wolven Ancestry
9:30 - 10:10:  Metsatoll
10:10 - 10:30:  Nechochwen
10:30 - 11:10:  Woods of Ypres
11:30 - 12:30:  Moonsorrow
The third annual Heathen Crusade Festival took place on November 14 and 15 at Station 4 in St. Paul, Minnesota.  Even before the festival commenced, there were some trials and tribulations, such as bands having to pull  out  for  various  reasons
NEXT
NEXT

Photo courtesy of Peter
Heathen Crusade 3 Venue: Station 4
While it would be easy to note all of the bands that pulled out prior to the event, such  as   Nomans  Land,   Morrigan,   Thrudvangar,  and  Gernotshagen,  that  did
nothing to discourage me from going to this year’s event.  The first day of the event for some concert-goers was mostly a warm-up deal, as most of the bands that played that Friday were bands that few outside of the loyal following knew about.  Opening the weekend festivities was Minneapolis  band  Grand  Demise  of
Civilization.  While their music wasn’t too much to write home about, they did what most good opening acts are supposed to do: get the crowd excited.  Their brand of black metal resonated fairly well with those who actually made it to Station 4 early. Next to hit the stage was Ohio’s Lunarium.  Just hearing the vocalist, one could easily mistake them for a band from Europe. Their Celtic themes do nothing to dissuade such ideas and their music has a lot of potential to carry the band wherever they want.  Their stage presence was primarily supplied by a guy who, on different occasions, waved a large sword; the figure of death; and a troll that was to be slain during the song “Troll Slayer.”  Lunarium was clearly a show-stealing band, and the fest was barely two bands old.

When one thinks of the country of Mexico in terms of the metal music scene, pagan folk isn’t exactly the first thought that comes to mind. That is exactly  what   Ulveheim   is,   and  they
Lunarium's
Swordsman
and Ancient Rites, almost due to personal issues.  As someone who wasn’t too happy with missing the previous two Heathen Crusade Festivals, I wasn’t about to let this opportunity slip away, even though I could not convince some- one to go with me. After all, Moonsorrow and Metsatöll were going to be there.  Those two bands were reason enough for me to go, but after the festival was finished, there were many more reasons to consider a trip back for the next Heathen Crusade.
The action then shifted to the bar area of Station 4, as the first of three acoustic sets that were to happen over the weekend was about to commence.  Nechochwen played for about twenty minutes and unless you were in the very front, close to the stage area of the bar, you probably missed out on much of the serene set.  Unfortunately, it also had to compete with the sound check on the main stage for the next band, Inquisition.  Speaking of Inquisition, the two man band, on the surface, wouldn’t appear to put on a good set.  In fact, I was a little apprehensive of the band, as while the music on CD was great, I didn’t necessarily care too much for the vocals.  Once the band started their live set, the crowd showed their admiration for the band by going nuts.  The music is just as good live
and they made their performance a memorable one.  While they were relatively unknown to most people in the audience, their set, which included the use of the mouth harp and flute, got people into the music and undoubtedly won some new fans.
as it is on CD, but the vocals seemed to be a little better, although for me, that wasn’t saying a whole lot.  The good news was that the music more than compensated for the vocals, which are unique to say the least.

Photo courtesy of David
Nechochwen
Ulveheim

Photos courtesy of David

Photo courtesy of Peter
a long ways to go before they can get where they want to be.  Next was Velnias, a trio from Illinois that often draws comparisons to Wolves in the Throne Room.  While some of the comparisons are valid, it would be unfair to Velnias to call them a total Wolves in the Throne Room clone, as they have one of the most natural sounds in metal music.  On the strength of their new release Sovereign Nocturnal, the band took the stage with candles and dim lighting providing the ambience for their set.  It didn’t matter whether you actually saw the band or not because if you were anywhere in the venue, their music reached you in ways that few other bands  could.

Dark sounds combined with some organic aesthetics were sure to enter into your soul and take control of  it. Of course,  if  you  saw  the  live  set,   that
Saturday began a little sooner, as there were more bands on the bill.  However, one of those bands was forced to pull out due to a family emergency: Turkey’s Moribund Oblivion.  While that disappointed some people, the show must go on.  Saturday’s festivities were kicked off by local act Under Eden.  While their music was decent, they showed very little in the way of stage presence and the crowd that had already filed in didn’t show much reaction either. The band, it seems, has

Photo courtesy of Peter
Velnias
The last band to hit the stage for the evening was Belgium’s Ancient Rites.  Even before they hit the stage, they had to fight just to stay on the bill due to the following: the drummer had to stay home to be with his wife, who was giving birth; no bass player; and the vocalist was battling a cold.  Despite all that, the band made due with what they had and ended up pre-recording the drum tracks while the vocalist soldiered on and performed with the other band members that could make it.  I only caught the first two songs of the set, as my body wouldn’t hold up long enough for the set, so I went back to the hotel for the evening of after-hours fun.
Ancient Rites
visual just mentioned would be amplified.  As for how the band did, they remained very true to what was on record, as not one note was out of place.

I missed the Chaos Moon set, although from the reports from people who actually saw the set, they didn’t fare too well, largely due to fatigue issues.  Oakhelm was next and I missed the first half of that set.  I got to the area in time to see the rest of the set, and the band more than held their own.  The second Nechochwen acoustic set was next and unlike the first set, there were no sound checks interfering with the performance and the sounds were actually more audible from a farther distance, at least in the bar area.  As with the first set, he provided some serenity to an otherwise wild festival. 

Photo courtesy of Peter
Wolven Ancestry was next with their brand of folk-tinged black metal.  Their set, plus a good stage presence with the wolf headdress among other things, put the crowd on notice that they were a band to be    noticed for the foreseeable future.  Going through songs off of their Wrath of Gaia album, as well as a few other tracks, the band made sure that the crowd knew who they were by the end of their set.  Metsatöll was next, which meant the fun part of the event was about to happen. By fun, I mean people were actually going to dance to the music, as there were a few people who did just that during the band’s perform- ance.  The set began with the bagpipe player playing a solo before the rest of the band joined in.
Heathen Crusade 3

Photo courtesy of David
Inquisition