Me(n)tal-Meltdown presents – Folk Metal in England – A Day at the Warhorns Viking Festival

K. Ann Sulaiman reports to you from the Warhorns Viking Festival in York; a delightful town in the north of England that played host to a string of bands from across Europe for the weekend long Warhorns Viking Festival.

A Taste of What’s to Come

More or less!

Normally I would shy away from posting material that I’ve done for other people to Me(n)tal-Meltdown. However, this seemed as good a time as ever to give a taste of what’s to come next week.

 

I mentioned being in Oslo for four weeks between January and February; part of the task at hand was to gather up material for an individual, five minute radio piece about the topic of our choice. Since it was Oslo and it’s clear to everyone reading this bog where some of my main interests lie, I pocked an issue which had been on my mind for a while – why metal music seems to have more acceptance by the mainstream in Norway, than in the UK where it was born.

 

The feature owes part of its success to chance – before I went to the Inferno kick off party, I met with Lazare’s (Borknagar, Solefald) brother Sindre, who was kind enough to let me record him when our conversation turned to the local scene. He comes as the second voice in the interviews after Lazare, and also brought up an interesting issue that – despite not making the final cut for this piece – I intend to bring up again in future. It was pretty funny to hear!

Voices and Stories project – “Metal Norway”

http://soundcloud.com/radioy/metal-norway

 

When Cultures Collide – Is It All Folk Metal?

I hardly ever write about a topic that I’ve just read about somewhere else… okay, I guess that Baby Metal post contradicts that since I saw it in a post from a friend (to be fair he only linked to the videos and not much else). Either way, it didn’t change the fact that this recent post on Invisible Oranges set off a few questions in my head on the issue of regional influences and folk metal.

Another year, another day?

Today should be a special day of sorts – after all, it’s August 25th, Rob Halford’s birthday. The man whose legacy as one of the Best Voices of Metal, due mainly to his role in one of the Best Bands Ever, has turned 60 years old today. From what I saw and heard back in July, as well as what I know about his other projects which include a Dio tribute album; he has no plans to slow down just yet.

At the same time, it’s forcing me to look again at that little bugbear of mine, mortality. Not just my own, as I turned 25 last week (hence my motives for praising 1986 as a pretty good year), but also that of music – namely metal.

Take FOUR – it’s the Me(n)tal Meltdown!

Without further delay, it’s the FOURTH episode of the Me(n)tal Meltdown show – where you get to hear K. Ann Sulaiman along with De Profundis, Mutant, Sourvein. Primordial and more in just over an hour!

This time, we’ve got a special surprise for you with a blast from the past. Who is it? What is it? Listen in and find out! Also discover the truth about those Amon Amarth action figures…

The Me(n)tal Meltdown show – Take ONE!

At long last, it’s the Me(n)tal-Meltdown show!

Starting this week, Me(n)tal Meltdown is no longer just a blog – it’s a radio show, too! K. Ann Sulaiman (Invisible Oranges, ex-Terrorizer Wretched Spawn) aims to bring together the best of the Metal World in about a half hour time slot every two weeks.

Tune in to discover bands from all over the world, and check out what else goes on in the underground! If you miss this week’s episode, you miss out – not only on Metalucifer, Anathema and Cruachan but also K. Ann herself! You’ll have to excuse her a bit – she’s caught some of that Royal Wedding fever and it shows.

Hear it for yourself and find out!

While we’re trailing the globe

…here’s something I found earlier!

We’re back

here’s something to make it up to you all…

 

 

Don’t forget to catch the documentary – it’ll knock yer socks off!

 

Love;

Ann S.

Warriors of The World (of Metal)

Aside from Conan the Barbarian fare, it stands that Metal as a genre favours medieval Norsemen over most other legendary fighters. Even the Knight of yore doesn’t get as much lyric space as those plundering pirates of the Northern sea! Though if you look away from tales of the Vikings and their lives and escapades, who comes next but the Warrior from the Land of the Rising Sun – the Samurai.

In the spirit of Revisiting the Classics™

It feels like the right time to give credit where it’s due on Me(n)tal-Meltdown; especially since this is the year where the metal world has celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of much-applauded record ‘British Steel’ .

So in honour of the legends whom this blog is indebted to, for its name alone; let us rejoice in denim and leather as we ride off into the sunset on our Harleys…

and share some extreme metal cover versions of classic Priest songs.