Originally posted in: http://valkyrianmusic.com/2012/08/07/vagos-open-air-2012-1st-day/

» Hailing from the same country, along came another kind of Vikings. The kind that plays “avant-garde progressive metal” and dresses up in cassocks and steampunk gimmicks.

I’ve heard a lot about how Arcturus were no good live. Now I saw it for myself. I know avant-garde equals unconventional, and dissonant is a key adjective among this genre. But ICS Vortex’s out-of-tune voice was clearly a lack of skill, not a deliberate act. And it seems he was changing the lyrics, letting out hysterical shrills in the middle, as if he didn’t know what to sing next – or so a fan told me. I don’t know their work well enough to state such a thing, but the person who told me does and I believe him.

There was a technical problem at some point, I think with a guitar, and Vortex said that maybe he should tell a joke while they were waiting. But then he admitted he didn’t know any jokes, that maybe they should call Enslaved’s drummer on stage as he knew some jokes. Can’t tell if he meant it or was just being sarcastic.

“Ad Absurdum”, “Deception Genesis” and “Shipwrecked Frontier Pioneer” were some of the songs performed that night, which was the first Arcturus ever played in Portugal, both before and after the 2011 reunion. I don’t think they caused a big impression in the majority of the presents, though. «

www.myspace.com/arcturusnorway