Reykjavík Grapevine - 12.08.2011, Qupperneq 36

Eistnaflug is a three day festival. You can read
our extensive coverage of the final two days
online at www.grapevine.is
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 12 — 2011
Situated in the Central Bank´s main building in Kalkofnsvegur 1, Reykjavík.
Open Mon.-Fri. 13:30-15:30. Free admittance.
Numismatic Museum
The Central Bank and National Museum of Iceland jointly operate
a numismatic collection that consists of Icelandic notes and coins,
foreign money from earlier times, especially if mentioned in Icelan-
dic sources, and more recent currency from Iceland’s main trading
partner countries. A selection from the numismatic collection is on
display in showcases on the ground floor of the Central Bank’s main
building. Open from 14:00 – 17:00 on Culture Night.
Music | Eistnaflug - Day 1
The annual sweaty moshfest that
is the Eistnaflug metal festival de-
scended upon the tiny Eastfjords
village of Neskaupstaður like a
bearded raven of the Apocalypse.
As Eistnaflug features more mol-
ten metal and noise than a dozen
volcano eruptions, we sent our
most rugged reporters to cover
the event. What follows is their ac-
count of three days of metal, hard-
core, punk and... an Alice In Chains
cover band.
Thursday dawned upon us with intense
cold. Last year was chilly, this year felt
as if God himself scooped up Nes-
kaupstaður and shoved it into the back
of his freezer. Surveying the campsite
as everyone nursed their hangovers,
everyone seemed in need of fireworks
and searing metal heat.

FOREVER ALONE!
Shame it didn’t really kick off with festi-
val openers Dánarbeð. A bunch of kids
from Akureyri, they played what one
friend described as “the sound you get
when you try to recreate a demo of a
Swedish death metal band from 1992.”
They were a bit all over the place. The
drumming struggled to keep up with
the pace, the singer’s guitar solos were
rudimentary, and there wasn’t much
stage presence to speak of. It felt like
the start of a long day.
Thankfully my spirit was heightened
with the arrival of Manslaughter and
some decent moshing to bring out my
inner bastard. Or rather lonely bastard,
as once again I find myself forming a
moshpit of one. And this is a shame
as Manslaughter were shockingly fast,
brimming with violent energy and, sur-
prisingly, very funny. Also, their song
‘Eistnaflugslagið’ sums what’s so great
about the festival in under 2 minutes.
Unfortunately, due to my exertions,
and the fact that this reviewer has a
BMI of a pork scratching, I suffer a bad
wardrobe malfunction and spent all of
Hamferð’s set in a bar across the road
while I sewed up my shorts.

TANGY MANFAT, FETID ZOMBIES
After a beer and a couple of shots I
ventured back to take in the perfor-
mance from Dimma, but I really wished
I hadn’t. Their ‘90s hard alt-rock sound
was bland enough, but their stage
presence was the most preposterous
I’ve seen from an Icelandic rock band
since... well, ever! Like the ‘serious’
band from the film ‘School Of Rock,’
their cock rock antics were so full-on
I could feel the tangy manfat from their
mighty metal wangers at the back of
my throat. They made Magni Ásgeirs-
son look like Black Flag.
My psyche is soothed a little when
I come in to see what Carpe Noctem
were up to. Despite being slightly non-
plussed with their take on black metal,
it was certainly 100% better than what
preceded it. They all looked like fetid
zombies with smudged corpsepaint
and great big spikes coming out of
their arms. Hmmm, perhaps things are
finally starting to look up.
Having seen Innvortis a few times, I
can understand why people like them
(especially those pogoing in the crowd
that they commanded), but their folk
tinged punk doesn’t do it for me.
Atrum are next up. Their sound is
harsh, intense and probably the tight-
est of the local death/black metal
bands this evening. And the lead singer
with his lovely Adam Ant corpsepaint
and pouty lips looked rather cute and
handsome.
ALICE IN CHAINS TRIBUTE BAND?
Alice In Chains Tribute Band were up
next. Admittedly these guys had been
cast as the whipping boys of this year’s
festival (‘Why?’ was the word that of-
ten followed their name), and truth
be told, I’m not a big AIC fan either,
so I watched their rendition of ‘Them
Bones’ and went straight to the bar. But
imagine my surprise when I came back
30 minutes later to find not only were
they still playing, they had a big crowd
and everyone was singing along! God-
damn these metal fans are fickle. But I
doff my cap to AICTB, they were going
for it big guns and their sheer, bloody-
minded presence won the crowd over.
After all the slightly downer moodi-
ness, we need some proper fashioned
bopping and who better for the pur-
pose than S.H. Draumur? There he
was, Dr. Gunni along with bandmates
Steini and Birgir wringing every ounce
of energy from their post-punk sound.
And there we were jumping up and
down at the front like total fools.
I grab a spot by the mixing desk to
take in the set from Sólstafir. And my
giddy aunt, they were absolutely mind-
blowing awesome. After their so-so
performance at last year’s Eistnaflug,
this year saw a completely different ap-
proach and attitude. I daresay those of
us lucky enough to witness the night’s
show were seeing a bands chrysalis
moment as they transcended from lo-
cal metal legends to international rock
gods. Playing a mix of new material
and stuff from their ‘Köld’ album, each
track felt pounding and supercharged,
and they went back to their classic
blood red light show after last year’s
white arc lights and dry ice debacle. It
was truly music to lose yourself in. By
far the best band of the night.
I, like many other people, ventured
outside straight afterwards to drink
and go “woah, dude” and “man, that
was immense!” In fact so many people
left after Sólstafir that Secrets Of The
Moon ended up playing to a venue that
was only two thirds full. And to be fair
to SOTM, they gave it a really good go
with their rumbling take on death met-
al. But alas everyone’s thoughts were
still on the previous act and getting to-
tally wasted.
Full Metal Racket!
Moonshine! Elf abuse! Nipples! Fifteen hour road trips! Eistnaf lug 2011 had it all!
THURSDAY
Who played: Dánarbeð, Man-
slaughter, Hamferð, Dimma, Carpe
Noctem, Innvortis, Atrum, Alice in
Chains Tribute Band, S.H. Draumur,
Sólstafir, Secrets of the Moon
36
BOB CLUNESS
GUðNý LÁRA THORARENSEN
Thorcars
U S E D C A R R E N T A L
c h e a p e r
w w w . t h o r c a r s . c o m
phone + 354 869 6133