My quest to meet Mr. V...

[Marklund]

Two weeks ago when we where at Old Williams there was a bunch of happy austrians who approached me when i left the place for the night. They had been to a Vintersorg gig in Vienna back in 2002 and they recognized me. I guess they was a bit disapointed when i told them that mr V had been sitting there all night without them noticing it. Hehehe. I suppose they didn't recognize him with the "new" hairdo and all

 

[lefay82]

Two weeks ago when we where at Old Williams there was a bunch of happy austrians who approached me when i left the place for the night. They had been to a Vintersorg gig in Vienna back in 2002 and they recognized me. I guess they was a bit disapointed when i told them that mr V had been sitting there all night without them noticing it. Hehehe. I suppose they didn't recognize him with the "new" hairdo and all

ahahah unbelievable

 

[Svarthjärtad]

Wow. I do that a lot as well. But as for Mr. V, I think I'd reconize him straight away.

 

[Qu Appelle]

Wow. I do that a lot as well. But as for Mr. V, I think I'd reconize him straight away.

Yeah - he's a skinny white guy with short brown hair and blue eyes. Pretty distinctive

 

[Johan15]

Erik
I too live in northern Illinois, closer to Chicago. I will meet MR. V someday, if it's the last thing i do. I have a friend who lives in Stockholm, so hopefully when i go to Sweden sometime soon I may make a trek up north.

 

[Alteredmindeath]

good luck, and may the force be with you.

 

[Erik Erna]

Erik
I too live in northern Illinois, closer to Chicago. I will meet MR. V someday, if it's the last thing i do. I have a friend who lives in Stockholm, so hopefully when i go to Sweden sometime soon I may make a trek up north.

If you do, stuff me in one of your suitcases. The airline will never have to know.

 

[Johan15]

Yeah but then I'll pay for overweight baggage
haha

 

[NovembersDirge]

Erik
I too live in northern Illinois, closer to Chicago. I will meet MR. V someday, if it's the last thing i do. I have a friend who lives in Stockholm, so hopefully when i go to Sweden sometime soon I may make a trek up north.

Huh, whereabouts are you guys from? I lived in Wausau, WI and then Madison for a couple years (and then I came to Umeå, Sweden, where I've been for two years and now we're moving to Uppsala). Though, I only went to Metalfest twice. I went in 2000 when Katatonia, Opeth, Enslaved, Children of Bodom, Noctuary, King Diamond and Mayhem (there are more, too) played. And then I missed 2001, but managed to make it again in 2002 but it wasn't nearly as good. That was the year that Arch Enemy, Hate Eternal and Nile headlined it. ...there was another year, too, I think, the one that Amon Amarth, Einherjer and others played it.. Anyway, Metalfest became a joke shortly thereafter. No one was willing to work with the organizer after having dealt with him once.

 

[XxNecroNegroxX]

I live in the caribbean country of Belize; which is pretty much far from everything. I too, one day, plan to visit Europe, and Sweden is at the top of my list. Who knows, maybe I run into Mr. V while 'aimlessly' roaming Skellefteå.

 

[Erik Erna]

Huh, whereabouts are you guys from? I lived in Wausau, WI and then Madison for a couple years (and then I came to Umeå, Sweden, where I've been for two years and now we're moving to Uppsala). Though, I only went to Metalfest twice. I went in 2000 when Katatonia, Opeth, Enslaved, Children of Bodom, Noctuary, King Diamond and Mayhem (there are more, too) played. And then I missed 2001, but managed to make it again in 2002 but it wasn't nearly as good. That was the year that Arch Enemy, Hate Eternal and Nile headlined it. ...there was another year, too, I think, the one that Amon Amarth, Einherjer and others played it.. Anyway, Metalfest became a joke shortly thereafter. No one was willing to work with the organizer after having dealt with him once.

Well, I live in Harvard, Illinois which is about a 90 minute drive south of Madison. Give or take 40 minutes off of I-90 in Janesville.

 

[Johan15]

I'm from Arlington Heights
I've been to the Harvard train station once haha

 

[Johan15]

Huh, whereabouts are you guys from? I lived in Wausau, WI and then Madison for a couple years (and then I came to Umeå, Sweden, where I've been for two years and now we're moving to Uppsala). Though, I only went to Metalfest twice. I went in 2000 when Katatonia, Opeth, Enslaved, Children of Bodom, Noctuary, King Diamond and Mayhem (there are more, too) played. And then I missed 2001, but managed to make it again in 2002 but it wasn't nearly as good. That was the year that Arch Enemy, Hate Eternal and Nile headlined it. ...there was another year, too, I think, the one that Amon Amarth, Einherjer and others played it.. Anyway, Metalfest became a joke shortly thereafter. No one was willing to work with the organizer after having dealt with him once.

Metalfest 2000 was one hell of a lineup. How do you like living in Sweden compared to the US?

 

[NovembersDirge]

I love Sweden for a lot of reasons, actually. Though, honestly, it doesn't feel like you're somewhere "foreign" when you're from Wisconsin. (I don't know about Illinois, you damn flatlanders!) Basically, I feel like I'm in the north woods all the time. But, it's a little if like Wisconsin was it's own country, right? I mean, it's mostly white folks who don't talk to each other on the street, need alcohol to socialize and (up here) like snowmobiles, hunting and skiing. They even have a ton of American shows on TV and stuff (I don't actually watch TV much, I just know it because everyone assumes I do and then tries to talk to me about their favorite shows). It's kind of surreal, really. But it's great.

That said, I've been living up North (well, not all the way north, but Umeå is the biggest city in Norrland) for two years and now my sambo and I are moving south.. So we'll see how I like it down there. I have to get used to a different dialect... that oughtta be exciting.

 

[Qu Appelle]

Well, I live in Harvard, Illinois which is about a 90 minute drive south of Madison. Give or take 40 minutes off of I-90 in Janesville.

Hee.

Born in Milwaukee, and lived in Madison until 10 years ago - then moved to Seattle. But I still have friends and relatives there.

And welcome back XxNecroNegroxX! I was wondering where you disappeared to!

 

[XxNecroNegroxX]

And welcome back XxNecroNegroxX! I was wondering where you disappeared to!

Thank you my friend. Been trying to survive in this prototype hell called Belize.

 

[Blind Guardian]

I love Sweden for a lot of reasons, actually. Though, honestly, it doesn't feel like you're somewhere "foreign" when you're from Wisconsin. (I don't know about Illinois, you damn flatlanders!) Basically, I feel like I'm in the north woods all the time. But, it's a little if like Wisconsin was it's own country, right? I mean, it's mostly white folks who don't talk to each other on the street, need alcohol to socialize and (up here) like snowmobiles, hunting and skiing. They even have a ton of American shows on TV and stuff (I don't actually watch TV much, I just know it because everyone assumes I do and then tries to talk to me about their favorite shows). It's kind of surreal, really. But it's great.

Were you surprised by how few people actually like metal when you first came? That seems to be a common misunderstaning internationally, like you'll hear Judas Priest on the radio or something.

 

[NovembersDirge]

Were you surprised by how few people actually like metal when you first came? That seems to be a common misunderstaning internationally, like you'll hear Judas Priest on the radio or something.

To some extent, but on the other hand there are successful metal pubs here and stuff, which is more than you can say where I'm from. I mean, I'm always surprised at how many long-haired, leather jacket clad dudes I see wandering around the streets of Umeå. Plus, I see Andreas from Naglfar EVERYWHERE... Seriously, I don't know if he just likes to hang out downtown or something, but honestly.. he's everywhere.

But yeah, I was disappointed with scene here. Especially since Umeå has so many bands that are internationally known (Naglfar, Meshuggah, Refused, Cult of Luna, Khoma, Bewitched, Bone Gnawer, Hate Ammo, Nocturnal Rites, Persuader, Zonaria), but it's like there's no scene. Part of it is, I think, that half of these bands have the same members.. so it's a little misleading at times. But yeah, I'm also surprised by how few bands actually fucking tour here. I mean, I guess some bands do of course. And Umeå has House of Metal every year, which is a good festival. But, I often see tour listings that completely skip Sweden altogether. Like, Amorphis, for example, they play 3,000 fucking shows in Finland, but they can't cross the gulf to play a show in Stockholm? So yeah, the scene is a little disappointing...

 

[Blind Guardian]

Yeah, and yet Umeå is kind of the "capital of the alternative world" in Sweden, so it doesn't really get better outside of Umeå either. House Of Metal is a cool thing though, I've been there the last two years.

 

[NovembersDirge]

Yeah, and yet Umeå is kind of the "capital of the alternative world" in Sweden, so it doesn't really get better outside of Umeå either. House Of Metal is a cool thing though, I've been there the last two years.

Yeah, that's depressing. We just moved down to Uppsala now, so I'm feeling even more sad about this all because it doesn't seem like there's much of a scene here at all. I have yet to see a metal CD store or hear of a club or anything that plays metal. I've seen a few long-haired guys, but not as many as were in Umeå. House of Metal is pretty bad ass, actually.

I drove through Övik for the first time, btw. I think we stopped there to piss and buy some coffee about a half an hour after the bars closed on a Friday night. Ha! Höga kusten is fucking amazingly beautiful, man. We missed a lot of it 'cause it was dark, but once the sun started coming up it was definitely a sight to behold. Of course, it sucked to drive through.. We were driving a tiny car, dragging a släpp that was way too big for it.. some of those hills got so steep that we were going about 50 km/h up them.. Beautiful area, but I wouldn't have wanted to get stranded there.