Reykjavík Grapevine - maj 2021, Qupperneq 10

10 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 05— 2021
you’d expect of a guy who corrects
power metal bands on Reddit. It’s
hilarious, and at this, the band
loses it, despite probably having
heard that punchline hundreds of
times before.
But apparently, getting “well
actually”-ied by some know-it-
all on the internet was a forma-
tive experience for the group—or
maybe just a validating one—
and they seem even more jazzed
by this achievement than any
chart position. And don’t worry;
they’ve got an explanation for said
commenter’s confusion.
“‘Kraven the Hunter’ is based on
the multiverse, which is a huge
thing in the comics. See, in comic
books, different dimensions have
numbers assigned to them,” Atli
explains. “Ours is 626, which
doesn’t exist in the comic books.”
“So it’s technically canon,” Bjarni
concludes. Silly commenter.
A LICENSE
FOR FUN
But when asked why they think
their song got such a reaction in
Iceland, the boys pipe down. They
don’t really have an answer. For
them, they’re just a group of power
metal fans that make fun tradi-
tional power metal songs—the fact
that it’s caught on with both the
metal community and the main-
stream rock crowd was surprising.
A shocking turn in a quest they
would have happily continued on
alone.
Atli attributes people’s connection
to Power Paladin to the contrast
they offer. “The mood shifts when
we’re playing with other bands that
maybe play a lot of minor chords,”
he explains. “We’re giddy and
upbeat. Maybe it’s refreshing.”
For Kalli, Power Paladin gives
people a much needed opportunity
to relax, creating a space where they
can revel in their nerdiness unself-
consciously. “It probably takes
them back to that time where they
can enjoy the simpler stuff. Enjoy
nostalgia, without all the worries
about being super [hardcore or
cool] or whatever,” he reveals.
But it’s Bjarni Egill that manages
to put it in the fewest words: “You
have a license to smile,” he says
of their work and power metal in
general. And that’s the truth—you’d
be hard-pressed to find anyone not
having a blast at a Power Paladin
show.
Because if heavy metal is, as Atli
said previously, driven by opposi-
tion, Power Paladin is the absolute
antagonist to everything that’s
happened over the past year and
a half. In contrast to our world,
which in the late-pandemic haze
now seems so dark and unteth-
ered, Power Paladin is uplifting and
hopeful. Their multiverse, full of
ships, stars and a Spider-Monster,
is simple—there’s an evil emperor
queen and a chosen one to defeat
them. Their music is playtime, a
sharp escape from the gritty and
sad vibes that have so dominated
not only mainstream art, but the
news, too. It’s no wonder that a
disheartened public has found such
a beacon in their wholesome music.

In fact, Power Paladin’s recent
show at Gaukurinn was one of the
first to happen after gathering
restrictions were lifted and it was
here that this contrast was seen
in high definition. It was just fun,
with a diverse crowd of fans who
showed up early to guarantee one
of the coveted 50 spots. And when
the intro started—an orchestral
version of the Spiderman theme
song, mind you—people were
unabashedly happy, pumping their
fists and indulging in some epic
escapism together as Atli waved
a sword around (safely) and the
band engaged in some machine-
gun guitar choreography. Not only
could audience members finally
sit with their friends and watch
live music again, but they got to do
that while singing about entering
a magical forbidden forest. It was
like restarting and finding yourself
suddenly at level 70.
Because perhaps coming out of this
pandemic, a license to smile is just
what we need. Perhaps people just
want to have fun.
Perhaps Power Paladin will soon be
the standard.
THE
HATRED
HARPSI-
CHORD
They will continue the fun, they
promise, vowing that everything
the band started on Kraven will be
continued on their upcoming debut
album, which should be out any day
now.
“It’s all carefully written down. You
just have to listen to the album to
understand,” Ingi urges—sarcasti-
cally—when asked if there is any
overarching lore in the album, as
is so common with power metal
bands. “Yes, it will all connect,”
Bjarni Egill smirks. “I mean the
Lord of the Rings took three books!
So in the three albums...” Ingi adds,
trailing off as a chorus of snickers
from the group swallow the conver-
sation.
They do though explain that while
“Kraven the Hunter” is the great-
est hits version of a power metal
single, the album will fulfill all the
other tropes of the genre and more.
There’s a keyboard intro that lasts
minutes, a choir section featuring
more vocal tracks than they’d like
to admit, and even a harpsichord
solo, which was apparently a rather
divisive decision.
As he recalls making “Ride The
Distant Storm,” Bjarni Egill can
hardly hold back the laughter. “Atli
was like, ‘A harpsichord solo would
be a really good idea here!’ and then
Ingi was like, ‘Hell no, it’s not. Let
me show you why it’s a bad idea. So
Ingi wrote it and was like ‘Oh my
god! This is amazing!’”
Paladin seem to love this story.
“Yes, we have a harpsichord writ-
ten out of pure spite,” Ingi admits.
“A hatred-harpsichord solo,” Bjarni
Egill declares.
YOUR
FRIENDLY
NEIGH-
BOURHOOD
PALADIN
But ignoring any hatred-filled
keys, the boys of Power Paladin
are already happy, just grate-
ful for all the opportunities and
support they’ve been given. As they
constantly reiterate—they never
expected any of this.
“Our dream has always been to just
publish an album, something that
we love and get it printed, mostly
for ourselves. That’s all that ever
mattered,” Atli says. “And really,
that was the starting position. And
then extras from that would be to
play some fun gigs in Iceland, some
of the other festivals—that’d be
super awesome.”
“And a heavy metal cruise,” Bjarni
Egill jumps in. “Yes, our first goal
with the band was always to get
famous enough so that we just get
to play on the heavy metal cruises
and nothing else,” Bjarni !ór piles
on. Once again—the jokers.
“We’ll see what the future holds
and just be your friendly neigh-
bourhood Paladin,” Atli smiles,
taking us back to the Spiderman
references. “As long as we are
having fun.”
"It’s the goofi-
ness of the whole
song. It’s power
metal. We sing
it in English. We
just never thought
people in Iceland
would like it."