Without further ado, and not to be exclusive, I just didn't want my pics and/or write-up to be lost in the other thread. Anyway, I have a LOT to add to this thread, so please wait until I'm done uploading all the shots & writing up my little tale (should be about 5 total posts). Thank you and I hope you enjoy reading it/looking at the pics as much as I enjoyed fucking rocking my nuts off.
Also, some of the pics really aren't that good. I wasn't willing to fight my way to the front, I was simply more concerned about having a good time and thrashing my head off. So here's my Heathen Crusade weekend, warts & all.
Day 1, Friday, January 20, 2006:
Got to Minnesota with General Zod & JayKeeley at roughly 8 PM CST, hopped a cab and made it to the airport to meet up with Dark One. We weren't there but 5 minutes before I was outside smoking a butt with 2 of the guys from Moonsorrow - Mitja Harvilahti (guitars) and someone who's name I forget, but was filling in for Henri Sorvali (guitars), their primary songwriter - and Kimmy Sjolund (bass) from Thyrfing. As it turned out, Henri had just had a child with his wife and wouldn't fly to the U.S., and this "fill-in" plays many many gigs with the band. He was completely shaven except for a Mongolian-looking small ponytail in the back of his head, and he was hammered. Like, really hammered. Hell, they were all smashed. Only Mr. Fill-In was really yellow-like. So JayKeeley uttered the now famous phrase to me, "He's really quite yellow, isn't he? It looks like he eats babies."
From that point forth he was simply referred to as the Mongolian Baby-Eater.
At any rate, fast-forward through dinner & some beers, we stopped and stocked up with 2 cases and headed upstairs to the 3rd floor (the "band floor") to mingle and have some fun. Well, we partied like fucking rockstars, 'til some people began hitting their beds. Not me.
My UM.com friends, Tomasz & Belgar, finally showed up @ the hotel, and we sat around in the hallway partying with Marko Tarvonen (drums) of Moonsorrow and then I decided to drink a bottle of Jim Beam with Nemtheanga (vocals) of Primordial. Here's some pics of the night's festivities (thanks to Tomasz):
(L to R) Belgar, Gugs, Tomasz
buncha' peeps in the hall, that's Marko seated on the left side, back to the camera
yeah, I'm fucking holding court, that's right
then Nemtheanga showed up to wax poetic on all things political
That was a lot of fucking fun, and the guys from Moonsorrow are genuinely nice. Nemtheanga is scary, but also very fucking cool.
Day 2, the Heathen Crusade, Saturday, January 21, 2006:
After a hearty Perkins' breakfast (the official Heathen Crusade breakfast stop) and a short time wasted, it was off to the festival.
We quickly met up with CT_Thrash, Reign_In_Acai and his buddy Mike from Cali. After getting inside, learning the run of the place and staking out some tables to use as "home base," it was time for some fun. I was in no condition to drink yet, and General Zod wouldn't talk to me for 90 minutes due to my getting hammered with Nemtheanga right outside his hotel room w/o waking him up, LOLLERZ.
Enshrined:
Some local kids from St. Cloud, MN, I don't think a single one of them was over the age of 20. But damn if their melodic mix of black & death metal wasn't the perfect 30 minutes to get the blood pumping. Some pics:
Back to the tables, fuck it, it was time to start drinking. And buying merch. And being 177% of a fanboy during the autograph signing sessions.
(L to R) BlackWaterNymph, CT_Thrash, Mike & Reign In Acai, who was already drunk
I honestly didn't pay much attention to Autumn Eternal, and in retrospect, they were quite forgettable. Not bad per se, just nothing standout. No matter, as I was busy getting every single Thyrfing album signed by every single member of the band, minus Henrik Svegsjo (guitars), who somehow managed to miss every single one, lol.
Coupla' drinks later, and it was time for...
Dumah:
I really fucking enjoyed these guys. Heavy fucking metal riff after riff after riff, not terribly far from a more death metal-like version of Dissection. Vocalist Crow was fucking excellent too, featuring both deep growls & high-pitched screeching (not too far from Dani Filth, which I'm sure bugged a few people, but not me). He was wearing black contacts, which freaked me out, but hey, it's metal dude. Also worth mentioning was the bonecrushing headbanging of the twin Kurth Brothers, Mason (bass) & Chris (guitars). These guys were a lot of fun to watch. Some pics:
To be continued...remember, please don't post yet! Thanks!
Also, some of the pics really aren't that good. I wasn't willing to fight my way to the front, I was simply more concerned about having a good time and thrashing my head off. So here's my Heathen Crusade weekend, warts & all.
Day 1, Friday, January 20, 2006:
Got to Minnesota with General Zod & JayKeeley at roughly 8 PM CST, hopped a cab and made it to the airport to meet up with Dark One. We weren't there but 5 minutes before I was outside smoking a butt with 2 of the guys from Moonsorrow - Mitja Harvilahti (guitars) and someone who's name I forget, but was filling in for Henri Sorvali (guitars), their primary songwriter - and Kimmy Sjolund (bass) from Thyrfing. As it turned out, Henri had just had a child with his wife and wouldn't fly to the U.S., and this "fill-in" plays many many gigs with the band. He was completely shaven except for a Mongolian-looking small ponytail in the back of his head, and he was hammered. Like, really hammered. Hell, they were all smashed. Only Mr. Fill-In was really yellow-like. So JayKeeley uttered the now famous phrase to me, "He's really quite yellow, isn't he? It looks like he eats babies."
From that point forth he was simply referred to as the Mongolian Baby-Eater.
At any rate, fast-forward through dinner & some beers, we stopped and stocked up with 2 cases and headed upstairs to the 3rd floor (the "band floor") to mingle and have some fun. Well, we partied like fucking rockstars, 'til some people began hitting their beds. Not me.
My UM.com friends, Tomasz & Belgar, finally showed up @ the hotel, and we sat around in the hallway partying with Marko Tarvonen (drums) of Moonsorrow and then I decided to drink a bottle of Jim Beam with Nemtheanga (vocals) of Primordial. Here's some pics of the night's festivities (thanks to Tomasz):
(L to R) Belgar, Gugs, Tomasz
buncha' peeps in the hall, that's Marko seated on the left side, back to the camera
yeah, I'm fucking holding court, that's right
then Nemtheanga showed up to wax poetic on all things political
That was a lot of fucking fun, and the guys from Moonsorrow are genuinely nice. Nemtheanga is scary, but also very fucking cool.
Day 2, the Heathen Crusade, Saturday, January 21, 2006:
After a hearty Perkins' breakfast (the official Heathen Crusade breakfast stop) and a short time wasted, it was off to the festival.
We quickly met up with CT_Thrash, Reign_In_Acai and his buddy Mike from Cali. After getting inside, learning the run of the place and staking out some tables to use as "home base," it was time for some fun. I was in no condition to drink yet, and General Zod wouldn't talk to me for 90 minutes due to my getting hammered with Nemtheanga right outside his hotel room w/o waking him up, LOLLERZ.
Enshrined:
Some local kids from St. Cloud, MN, I don't think a single one of them was over the age of 20. But damn if their melodic mix of black & death metal wasn't the perfect 30 minutes to get the blood pumping. Some pics:
Back to the tables, fuck it, it was time to start drinking. And buying merch. And being 177% of a fanboy during the autograph signing sessions.
(L to R) BlackWaterNymph, CT_Thrash, Mike & Reign In Acai, who was already drunk
I honestly didn't pay much attention to Autumn Eternal, and in retrospect, they were quite forgettable. Not bad per se, just nothing standout. No matter, as I was busy getting every single Thyrfing album signed by every single member of the band, minus Henrik Svegsjo (guitars), who somehow managed to miss every single one, lol.
Coupla' drinks later, and it was time for...
Dumah:
I really fucking enjoyed these guys. Heavy fucking metal riff after riff after riff, not terribly far from a more death metal-like version of Dissection. Vocalist Crow was fucking excellent too, featuring both deep growls & high-pitched screeching (not too far from Dani Filth, which I'm sure bugged a few people, but not me). He was wearing black contacts, which freaked me out, but hey, it's metal dude. Also worth mentioning was the bonecrushing headbanging of the twin Kurth Brothers, Mason (bass) & Chris (guitars). These guys were a lot of fun to watch. Some pics:
To be continued...remember, please don't post yet! Thanks!
