Live Event: Brothers of Metal, Electric Brixton, London, September 11th 2022

Out of all the genres of rock and metal, I’ve always had the biggest problem with Power Metal. Long time listeners of 80’s Picturehouse might remember I cannot stick Manowar for example. I’ve always found them to be absolute cringe-lords to be honest, but I know I shouldn’t tar the entire sub genre with the same brush.

 

So it’s pretty safe to say I’m not exactly what you would call the “target audience” for Brothers of Metal. Hailing from Falun, Sweden, Brothers of Metal are an 8 piece band (that’s not a typo – three guitarists, three vocalists, a drummer and a bass player) are VIKINGS. As you can see from the photo from the show, actual honest to goodness VIKINGS. And songs with titles like “Prophecy of Ragnarok” and “Ride of the Valkyries” you can tell they mean it.

 

So I headed to Electric in Brixton with a bit of trepidation, and arrived in time to see Finnish band Arion warm up the crowd nicely with their melodic power metal (that is the description I’d use to describe it anyway). After their set I took a closer position amongst the crowd – some of whom brought rubber and plastic swords with them!

 

I needn’t have worried about Brothers of Metal – they were an absolute blast. Yeah they are all dressed as Vikings but their music is incredibly catchy and most importantly of all they don’t take themselves too seriously. Opening song “The Death of the God of Light” set the tone early and they smashed through a great 8 song set – including a highlight in “The Mead Song”, where anyone having a beer in the crowd was encouraged to have a swig every time the word “Mead” was uttered in the chorus – needless to say no one kept up!

 

The only downside was the 40 minute set absolutely FLEW past – I’d have loved to have seen them play longer. Hopefully they’ll be back on our shores again soon, and if they are go check them out – plastic swords optional.

 

Review by Thom with press access kindly supplied by BJF Media.