In a little town on the east coast on Iceland, Eistnaflug is a small festival still barely noticed by the larger world. With names like Kvelertak, Behemoth, Enslaved, Rotting Christ, Inquisition and Carcass on the bill this year, the world is beginning to take notice. We make the long trek, passing through all of Iceland as we travel from Reykjavik on the west coast round the island perimeter all the way east. In the town of Neskaupstaður (pop. +-1000), the past 11 years Eistnaflug has been swelling with metal fans, this year by almost threefold. With the midnight sun in Iceland in July, and the festival’s average end at 2 in the morning, walking out of a dark venue into what feels like daylight is estranging. The party then rages on at various after parties and especially the camping. Usually these parties keep going until the local pool opens, which is outdoors, open early and until late and has several hot tubs, an ice tub and a sauna, next to some incredibly fun slides. It is so much part of the festival, several visitors choose not to sleep in their tents, but party until it opens, then nap in its shallow warm bath until the festival starts again at two in the afternoon.

Apart from the beautiful scenery and impressive party attitude, this is primarily an Icelandic music festival. Most of the Icelandic bands write their lyrics in Icelandic, and speak it on stage, which can be somewhat confusing for visitors. However the rugged beauty and isolation, desolation and cold of the landscape, yet the warmth and joy of the 350,000 population of this quirky land seeps into each bands music in such a way, that even native bands we have experienced before like Sólstafir and The Vintage Caravan suddenly are placed into a much wealthier context. It was a very special feeling to stand in a crowd of rapt Icelanders who all sang along with Sólstafir’s masterpiece ‘Fjára.’ The Vintage Caravan show as notable, not because of its intense serene beauty and the locals singing along, but because they decided to have a surprise, appearing dressed and made up as lovely girls on stage, while being aired live on national TV. Well played lads, or, uhm, lasses?

 

The big Icelandic closers of each day are some of the biggest draws for the locals as they relate best to these acclaimed and respected bands. Dimma’s dark soulful pop-infused rock, with a sad smile, yet determined perseverance, Kontinuum’s almost new-wave soundscapes that are perfect for a drive around these beautiful lands, Ham’s funky soul rock music party that got everyone dancing topless, with their powerful “we are Ham, you are Ham!” earning cheering crowds. The big international headliners were an exciting novelty for the Icelanders, whose remote country is rarely visited by these bands. All gave excellent shows, as was expected, though Carcass and Enslaved I’ve both seen giving better performances at times. Behemoth gives an incredibly impressive and professional show, where ever little gesture is precisely thought out to support the music. Even the local police on duty, enjoyed them with the biggest grins I’ve ever seen on men in uniform. Kvelertak is known as an exhilarating live band, the immense energy they exude and the utter joy they instilled in the shouting crowd is something I’ve not seen often before. Their reputation is well founded.

 

Part of the incredible atmosphere of this little fest is how friendly the locals are, offering rides through the icy rain when the so called “East fjord mists” rolled in on the Friday evening, flooding the campground. The festival itself has a very merry DIY feeling, it’s amazing to feel the chaos almost tear things up, yet somehow through creativity and dedication of the organizers everything always goes well and even turns out better than expected. When the campground flooded, the Saturday to Sunday night the venue the festival used to be held at, this year serving as its “off venue” got cleared out for wet and cold campers to sleep in. Another special mention should be made of the ingenious idea to have a special early children’s program on the “pre-party” Wednesday of the festival, where until ten at night children under 16 (and many were well under) are allowed to visit the concert with their parents or guardians there.

The real gems of the festival however were the smaller mostly Icelandic bands that opened the festival days and played in the off venue. Sadly, it took me a long time to discover this second venue where the festival used to be held before, a place with a great atmosphere and built as a proper venue, not the gym hall used for the main event now. And with any festival that has as many bands as Eistnaflug on her bill, you always miss something great. I did. I missed the Icelandic black metal Wolf’s mass “Úlfsmessa”, and heard it was excellent beyond belief. This doesn’t mean I missed out on all the excellent new discoveries or acclaimed underground bands. Among these great shows were Auðn, Icelandic atmospheric black metal, with a gentility that reminds of Alcest, but a much more brutal set of pipes on the vocalist and a much gnarlier feeling in general. The groovy as hell Churchhouse Creepers. Misþyrming was also were involved with the wolf’s mass, and take black metal to a cold, grating upsetting place where it belongs, pushing and stretching it as far as it will go. The deep, slow moving LLNN form Denmark with their apocalyptic end of the world based lyrical material, rips you from reality. Britain’s acclaimed Conan almost shook the main venue out of bounds by sheer heaviness, and inspired much brotherly love between metal heads. Hardcore band Icarus, who managed to take me by surprise me by not having any of the general nuisances that turn me away from the genre as “too teen angsty” but keep the immense energy and destructive power this youthful genre is known for. Lvcifyre (UK) whose brutal and demonical mix of black and death will have your head spinning, with their impressive darkness sucking you in. And aside from all the metal, Eistnaflug also sports some interesting classic Icelandic punk bands, like Dys and the rather excellent Saktmoðigur. Of course there are always let downs. Two bands I’d heard many good things about but just failed to impress me, both Sinmara and Agent Fresco failed to live up to the buzz about them beforehand.

 

In all this I’ve barely had room to mention the silly stunts pulled and costumes worn during the festival, nor the excellent panels held in the Hildibrand hotel. Eistnaflug leaves one excited yet exhausted, and need some time to be reflected on, and being conveniently located on the world map as a stop-over between Europe and North America, all I can do is suggest you go see for yourself. It’s an experience that simply cannot be put into words.

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WORDS AND PHOTOS BY SUSANNE A. MAATHUIS