The Finnish Metal Tour 2011 | Finntroll-March 2011

Once again, Finntroll! Last time I saw them was last year, so it was great seeing them live again. Last time I wasn’t allowed to bring in my Nikon, though, because that’s when Jaxx started crackin’ down on professional cameras and photo passes, etc. I ended up using them with my friend’s point-and-shoot. You can check out those pictures in my blog as well. Check out Finntroll if you haven’t already at their official site and/or their Myspace site!

Regarding photography: The lighting in the beginning was a bit lousy, but started to pick up at the end (you can tell by the progression of quality in my pictures, etc.) The smoke machine was still kicking, though, so I did some intense contrast editing to get rid of most of it. As such, I didn’t get to take pictures of the drummer or keyboardinst I hope you like them regardless! I think I took some awesome shots

Finntroll is:
Mathias “Vreth” Lillmåns – Vocals
Mikael “Routa” Karlbom – Guitar
Samuli “Skrymer” Ponsimaa
Sami “Tundra” Uusitalo – Bass
Henri “Trollhorn” Sorvali – Keyboards, Guitar
Samu “Beast Dominator” Ruotsalainen – Drums
Aleksi Virta – Keyboards

Thank you to Outerloop for the photo pass!

…Trollhammaren…-G.G. \m/

The Finnish Metal Tour 2011 | Ensiferum-March 2011

I FINALLY get to see Ensiferum from Finland . Last year when they were touring around this area, I had swine flu so I couldn’t go. Anyway, I’ve been waiting for them to come around again, though I would have LOVED to see them with Turisas: a band I’ve yet to see! I’m not as familiar with Ensiferum’s music as I am with, say, Turisas or Finntroll; but these guys were pretty rad and they put on a helluva show. Check them out at their official site and/or Myspace site.

Regarding the photography: It was difficult to get decent shots because of the smoke machine (a photographer’s worst nightmare), but the lighting was awesome! Props to Jaxx for once! I did quite a bit of contrast editing to get rid of some of the smoke, so here ya go. Let me know what you think As usual, I took these with my baby, Napoleon, a Nikon D3000.

Ensiferum is:
Petri Lindroos – Harsh Vocals, Guitar
Markus Toivonen – Guitar, Clean Vocals, Backing Vocals
Sami Hinkka – Bass, Clean Vocals, Backing Vocals
Emmi Silvennoinen – Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Janne Parviainen – Drums

Thanks to Outerloop for the photo pass!

…from afar…-G.G. \m/

The Finnish Metal Tour 2011 | Barren Earth-March 2011

BARREN EARTH!! To put it simply, this is a Finnish supergroup consisting of members from amazing bands: Amorphis, Moonsorrow, Swallow the Sun, and Kreator! I’ve been waiting for these guys to come to the states since the summer of 2010 when I first heard their song “Flicker” on Music Choice’s Metal Channel. I’ve been listening to their new EP titled Curse of the Red River and their demo called Twilight. Definitely check them out at their official site and/or their Myspace page.

Naturally, if you like doom metal (i.e. pretty much the bands they’re coming from) you’ll definitely like Barren Earth. Beautiful melodies and badass heavy metal. That’s all ya need…It’s great to hear Sami on vocals, too. Not something you hear quite often, honestly.

So regarding photography, I have no idea why Jaxx decided to do a crappy job with the lighting. I spend a good part of the show just messing with the settings until I felt comfortable with them. They really need to get crackin’ on their lighting though, especially for “opening” bands! As such, some of the pictures are blurry and weird looking, so I tried to edit them in a way that looked artistic, etc. I wish I could have taken pictures of Sami!! But he was on the other side…I’m so used to him playing on the left side onstage with Kreator…but oh well. Unfortunately, I could not take any decent pictures of the keyboardist or drummer…as usual. Anyway, I took these with my baby Napeleon: Nikon D3000. Please enjoy and let me know what you think

Barren Earth is:
Mikko Kotamäki – Vocals
Olli-Pekka Laine – Bass
Kasper Mårtenson -Keyboards
Janne Perttilä – Guitar
Marko Tarvonen – Drums
Sami Yli-Sirniö – Guitar (ahhh…Sami ^.^)

Thank you to Outerloop for the photo pass!

…”Where they go death always follows…” -G.G. \m/