I arrived just in time to catch the last song of Summoner's Circle's set, with the crowd already massing for the oncoming storm. After a few beers, I was more than ready for Wolfheart to take the the stage and I was off to the pit. While it took a few songs to get the everybody fully going, the energy exerted by the band was too much to resist and after a few minutes the bodies were flying. One of my favourite moments of the set (and the night) was a special "metal faced head nod of approval" from Lauri Silvonen on bass after going ballistic in the pit and throwing him the horns during Breakwater. After the chaos of Wolfheart, metalheads enjoyed a bit of a change of pace with Swallow the Sun set to take the stage. I just recently became a fan of this band, checking out their latest album and bunch of their back catalogue after that. I really enjoyed Swallow the Sun's set with their mix of slow doomy chugs and cutting guitars working well with their mysterious hooded stage presence. "New Moon" leading into "Stone Wings" was a highlight of this set for me, with the ominous guitar tones slicing deep and delivered perfectly by the band.
Swallow the Sun are a bit difficult to mosh to, but it was probably for the best as Children of Bodom's imminent presence had completely packed the Phoenix as the Hatecrew deathrolled in. Bodom opened up with "Are you Dead Yet?", which set the crowd off on a furious stupor that lasted the duration of the set. I'm kicking myself for waiting this long to see Bodom again; the energy that Alexi and the gang give off during their set is top notch and you can see how much they enjoy enticing the crowd with their melodic madness. I was pleasantly surprised with the diverse set list. With their latest album just a month old, they still played a wicked mix of old classics like "Sixpounder", "Angel's Don't Kill", and "Bodom Beach Terror" amongst my favourite new songs like "This Road", and "I Worship Chaos". But the best was saved for last with the band closing with a killer encore of two of my favourite songs from the early days playing "Hate Me!" leading into "Downfall". Check out some photos and videos from the night below! As always cheers to the bands and all the crazy metalheads I clashed with in the pit! Metal Yeti
That was good fun, I haven’t been to a Bodom show in years! /,,/ #Metal 🤘💀🔥 pic.twitter.com/zuhq7Ny0A5
— Heavy Metal Yeti (@HeavyMetalYetii) March 17, 2019
Children of Bodom
Swallow the Sun
Wolfheart
