| Trollfest | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Oslo, Norway |
| Genres | Folk metal, black metal |
| Years active | 2003 - present |
| Labels | NoiseArt Records |
| Website | http://www.trollfest.com/ |
| Members | |
| Trollmannen (vocals) Mr. Seidel (guitars) Per Spelemann(guitars/backing vocals) Psychotroll (bass/backing vocals) Trollbank (drums) Manskow (accordion/banjo/backing vocals) Drekkadag (saxophone) |
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Trollfest (sometimes written TrollfesT) are a Norwegian folk metal band.
The band released their first full-length album, Willkommen Folk Tell Drekka Fest, on the Solistitium Records label on March 15, 2005. The album name translates roughly to "Welcome Folk To The Drinking Feast" in English. Their second album, Brakebein (2006), was released by Omvina on May 24, 2006. The band performed at the 2007 Barther Metal Openair festival in Germany, which was their first ever live appearance; in 2008 they played at the pagan metal Ragnarök Festival.[1]
Most of Trollfest's lyrics are written in the fictional Trollspråk, which is a mixture of Norwegian and German.
With a line up that includes musicians from bands as varied as URGEHAL, PANTHEON I, UNTIME, MELCH, HALLUCINATIONS, POWERSWORD and SARKOM, TROLLFEST’s members bring with them not only a wealth of experience and the skill to make use of instruments like the accordion, the banjo and the saxophone, but also a sense of diversity that allows the band to create a sound that is distinctly its own. Whilst “True Norwegian Balkan Metal” goes some way towards describing the TROLLFEST sound - hinting as it does at the extreme end of metal, with a good pinch of local traditional folk - it doesn’t really go the whole way towards capturing the sense of fun and sheer exuberance with which the band tackles everything it does, whether it involves playing in the studio or performing live.
Formed in 2004, in Oslo, Norway, when a bunch of musicians became bored with the selection of party music that was available to them, and, helped along by the consumption of large quantities of alcohol, the soon-to-be members of TrollfesT decided to take matters into their own hands. One website and six songs later, a German label, which at the time was called Solistium, recognised the potential in the madness and got in touch. With the immortal words “what the heck, let’s give it a go” TrollfesT agreed to a deal and started writing new material. By 2005 “Willkommen Folk tell Drekka Fest!!” hit the streets. And life as we know it was never the same again.
Containing a selection of sounds and comments, many of which you would not necessarily come across if you only frequented polite parties, “Willkommen…” displayed some unique qualities that caught people’s attention and consequently sold rather a lot of copies, so a deal for a second album was signed and in 2006 the story of Brakebein the Troll was released. “Brakebein” (not a bad choice for a title really given its subject matter), appeared in two versions - one that included a cartoon illustrating Brakebein’s voyage, and the other that included the lyrics.
During the first years, TrollfesT never actually played live, but nevertheless the two albums succeeded in making the band a sought after addition to festivals, and the first foray beyond the planning stage occurred in 2007 as one of the headlining bands at the Ninth Barther Metal Open Air Festival. TrollfesT then went on to headline and play various festivals and concerts around Europe during 2007/08 including the Ragnarök and Riedfest festivals.
January 2009 saw the release of TrollfesT’s third studio album “Villanden”. A much-anticipated underground album according to feedback from the fans, “Villanden” was quickly acknowledged as one of the craziest albums to have been released in a very long time, mixing, as it did, European Balkan music with extreme metal, and spread rapidly through the viral networks like YouTube, MySpace and Facebook.
2011 saw TrollfesT sign with NoiseArt Records for the release of the new album “En Kvest For Den Hellige Gral” which is due to hit the streets in April, and with Rock The Nation for world-wide booking. With a tour and Festival appearances already set, the Trolls are up and running towards the future.