Earlier in the evening, I saw Amon Amarth frontman Johan Hegg, getting ready behind the scenes. No pacing, no nerves, just the calmest man in the building, a pleasant giant at peace with the world with a Guinness in hand. Then the lights went down, “Gjallarhorn” sounded through the Gasometer, and right after it the Allfather himself walked out under a red spotlight. The zen stayed backstage.
The Swedish Viking metal veterans brought The Allfather Awakens Tour to Vienna on 3 November, with Soilwork and Orbit Culture opening and a new album of the same name to back it up. I’ve had “The Allfather Awakens” in my ears all day, and I’ll be completely honest: it’s stronger than their last two records, 2022’s “The Great Heathen Army” included. The set also made room for “We Rule The Waves”, the single that reminded us they are, in fact, Vikings. My history with this band goes back to Belgrade in 2009, when they played on my birthday (I never asked if they knew; I prefer to believe they did). But it was a show in Bulgaria in 2016 that completely changed my relationship with them, and it’s still one of the best concerts of my life.
From the photo pit, the challenge was obvious by the end of the first song. This production, with its runic arch, twin dragon heads and walls of pyro, was built for arenas, and on the Gasometer stage it had to tuck its elbows in. I spent the whole night finding air around it, so the photos wouldn’t feel as cramped as the stage did. The fire had no such problem. When “Death in Fire” kicked in, the flames shot up, the crowd surfing started, and for a few minutes nobody cared how many square meters the band had to work with. Somewhere backstage, I like to think, that Guinness was still waiting for Johan.
