LIVE REVIEW: SPINEFEAST AT SEA 2009, JANUARY 28 & 29, 2009

When Finnish metal label Spinefarm invited Revolver to attend its annual Spinefeast at Sea festival, we couldn’t say no. In addition to our coverage in the May issue of Revolver, below is Associate Editor Kory Grow’s review of the festival. Over the next couple of days, we’ll post his decidedly un-pagan list of superlatives from the event and interviews with Spinefeast performers Rotten Sound and Moonsorrow.

Rotten Sound Perform at Spinefeast at Sea 2009

The Baltic Princess cruise ship can carry roughly three quarters of the passengers who boarded the Titanic. Unlike on that fateful journey, though, the would-be mariners who held tickets for Spinefeast at Sea 2009—Finnish record label Spinefarm’s annual showcase, held on the Baltic Princess this year—can be thankful none of the eight metal bands providing the entertainment had to play their blast beats as the ship sank.

Traveling roundtrip from Helsinki, Finland, to Tallinn, Estonia’s harbor (the cruise didn’t dock) over two days in late January, the captive black-T-shirtted audience was lucky enough to have a diverse group of mostly Finnish bands to command its headbanging. With outside temperatures in the low 20s, the likes of pagan metallers Moonsorrow, grindcore group Rotten Sound, and suicide rockers Entwine, among others, provided warm respite from the frosty climate outside.

Performing in a cabaret, each set was distinctly surreal. After a “sea captain” and a man in a moose suit introduced each band (in Finnish, natch), the performances were no holds barred. From Moonsorrow’s blood-doused costumes to Rotten Sound’s epileptic convulsions to Estonian folk-metal ensemble Metsatöll’s tasteful late-night bagpiping (which lasted close to 3 AM), each band played a show that could carry some appeal to everyone.

Complementing the variety of bands, the moshpit denizens varied for each artist. The fairer sex, for instance, really, really liked Entwine’s dreadlocked frontman, Mika Tauriainen, while sweaty shirtless men comprised the surprisingly small turnout for Rotten Sound, and yet the dance floor was never empty. Even on the second day, the tepid rays of sunlight pouring into the theater couldn’t discourage fans from showing up to watch Finnish power-metal bands Celesty and Kiuas close out the fest, hangovers be damned.

What made this voyage special, though, weren’t the bands themselves, but the relationship and understanding the bands and audience shared. With artists sharing laughs with concertgoers from the stage, it felt like a community. Sure, there was a barricade, but there were no other borders between fans and musicians. And judging from the bands’ interaction with the audience, you got the impression they felt like kings of the world.