Written by Jan F. Lindsø in 2007
Photo: Jan F. Lindsø
The fact that I was working a full week, going to drive five hours over the mountains, and attend to a metal festival the same day, I decided to thank no to the accreditation. There was no chance I could get there in time, but stubborn as I am, I was going to support this festival and see some of the announced bands.
One fun part about Sogndal is how paranoid some of the people there are speaking of partying people. If you want to do a booking at a camping site you may risk that the clerk asks you WHAT you are doing there, and WHO you are going with. I'm not used to that kind of paranoia, but when I arrive at Støy festival I kinda get an idea why; beer is flying through the air and drunk and noisy “sogninga” are all over the place. Sogndal is really something of its own, but that's what I think is charming about the place.
 When arriving the already crowded venue late on Friday, MISTUR was going to attend the stage to perform their “sognametal”. This was one of the bands which I was looking forward to and one of the reasons why I went to this festival. They started their show with the amazing song “Natt ved Kyndilstjern” (originally known as the old folk-tune “Fløytelåt” by Geirr Tveitt). And with three guitars this song worked out perfectly as an intro. Mistur also played the song “Skoddefjellet” which is my favourite song from their demo. They also played some new song, and even a cover of “Inno A Satana” by Emperor. I must say that Mistur delivered a nice gig, despite that it was their first. I must also admit that, as an old Windir fan, it was a pleasure to see Strom(ex-Windir) back on stage again.
The next band was the new Norwegian stoner band WARSHIP. Their vocalist and guitarist Lars Lønning is probably most known for his more or less non-serious role as one of the clowns in Black Debbath. But this time it is supposed to be serious. Unfortunately I think that everything that is serious about this man already is wiped away permanently. And what is all the joking about metal fans? He obviously thought that Støy is a metal festival, even though that's not even near the truth. I think Støy seems like a festival without borders of genres, so maybe even Lars Lønning could be a little more open-minded? All in all it didn't seem like he enjoyed playing there, and only wanted to get off the stage. And luckily they also did, after their long and boring performance.
A completely different chapter is THE CUMSHOTS (don't try to search for this band on the net). They are probably most famous for their crazy vocalist Kristoffer Schau. I have actually always prejudiced the band because Schau is a well-known person from Norwegian television and radio. But now, after seeing this gig, all my prejudices are completely gone. The Cumshots really acted like a professional band, and I think they really have something going with their new material. Like for example the song “I drink alone” is born to become a hit!
The next day I arrived after BÅÅÅV had entered the stage. As I’ve read on the internet, this band is a local one. I also think that the band is more famous for their image and lyrics than their music. The music is quite simple punk, but supplied with humoristic lyrics, that seems to have it roots from local and internal humour. Therefore I’m not sure if this is the types of band that will suit a festival like this, but on the other hand it’s also pretty cool to see local bands and what they are doing. But to be honest I wasn’t exactly thrilled by their performance, even though they performed a nice flute concert in their set.
 AUDIOPAIN was probably the band I was looking most forward to see. Last time I saw them was at the Inferno Festival in 2003. And as last time I saw them, they still perform their thrash metal in a splendid way! There is no doubt that Audiopain was one of the best bands at the festival, and I think that the overall of the audience agree in this. The Norwegian thrash metal scene really has something to be proud of in Audiopain!
What is strange is that Audiopain wasn’t headlining the last day of Støy, but JEROAN DRIVE from Bergen. This was stressy, noisy and completely out of control. Frenetic post-harcore is definitely not my cup of tea, and I only wanted to put my fingers in my ears and scream the loudest I could. Instead I let Jeroan Drive completely ruin everything Audiopain built up of satisfaction. What a big mistake…
All in all the festival was really good arranged, with a great variety of bands and subgenres of metal and rock. The crew of Støy also did a good job, and I will definitely do my best to visit Støy 2008!
|
|
