Brothers Of Metal / Grailknights

O2 Academy, Islington

November 20th 2024

Review an photos by Smudge Smith

Jeez it was cold but that didn’t stop a load of metalheads coming into town to be pillaged by Vikings and saved from the evil clutches of Dr Skull by a band of masked Superheroes.

I had never heard of Grailknights before tonight, but they’ve been going for over 20 years. They are led by singer Sir Optimus Prime and they battle the evil and menacing Dr Skull who has stolen the Holy Grail. They came armed with guitars and drums as well as their light sabres to do battle and win back the grail and they do this by the power of power metal!

After the cheesy intro they tear into ‘Muscle Bound For Glory’ and ‘Cthulu’ before the rollicking ‘Turbo Boost’ and the storming ‘Laser Raptor 3D’. Things get thrashier on ‘Cybone One’ and the utterly awesome ‘Pinball Death Machine’. Then came a moment of pure genius where they metalized a load of superhero theme tunes into a medley. We got ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Tutrtles’, ‘Power Rangers’, ‘Spiderman’ all interlinked by snippets of ‘Raining Blood’ and ‘Breaking The Law’.

To say we were warmed up was an understatement and this gave guitarist Sovereign Storm the chance to give us a his Grailrobic work out. The whole crowd and the bar staff pulled muscular poses and aerobic exercises before they launched into ‘Grail Gym’ where they gave us a glimpse of their training regime. It’s tough being a superhero. Dr Skull made an appearance after ‘Knightfall’ with the grail and the mother of all battles ensued where the band took their light sabres and risked their lives to win back the grail! To celebrate they gave us a rousing ‘We Are The Champions’. Knowing the grail was safe it was time for some ‘Pumping Iron Power’ which was a proper speed metal banger and perfect for a high intensity workout.

This was FUN – serious FUN and the crowd just lapped it up and got involved from the start. Let’s not take away the bands musical prowess because they can really play, and they write some absolute bangers. It might be cheesy but it’s pure escapist fun and I cannot wait to see them again. Don’t leave it 8 years before coming back!

I saw Brothers Of Metal last year at a festival and they were a particular highlight for me. I vividly remember talking to two of the singers (Ylva and Mats) backstage where Mats educated me on Canterbury Cathedral and Ylva and I spoke about anything and everything.

Here to celebrate the release of their incredible new album ‘Fimbulvinter’ they opened with the title track before rattling out ‘Prophecy Of Ragnarok’ and ‘Njord’. Having three singers and three guitarists they make one hell of a noise but there’s tons of melodies in there too. The hefty Mats Nilsson engaged the crowd and for some reason that I missed they chanted ‘Fuck the French’ back to him. ‘Ride Of The Valkyries’ was a power metal joyride before the true metal of ‘Fire, Blood And Steel’ which pisses all over anything Manowar ever did! As I said they have three singers who all offer something different and all three can sing in various styles equally well but in Ylva Eriksson they have a singer that enchants and hypnotises with such sweet melodies none more so than on ‘Nanna’s Fate’ which was pure joy amongst all the macho Viking punch-up metal.

All that retuned on the fierce anthem ‘Powersnake’ and the heavy choral metal of ‘Hel’. ‘Chainbreaker’ was vicious and rapid, and all three singers showed what they can do. Joakim Lindback Eriksson built like a back row forward, good looking and could snap your spine, Ylva is equally tall and athletic elegant and could probably snap your spine then Mats the ‘metal weeble’ who drinks like a fish, roars like a lion and could also snap your spine. These three lead their band of warrior minstrels who wield guitars and are ready for war anytime. They also have some serious ballet moves too as seen on ‘To The Skies And Beyond’. Latest single ‘Sowilo’ was another anthem before we got more ballet on ‘Rattatosk’. Mats gave us a Viking history lesson on ‘Concerning Norns’ before the mighty and majestic ‘Yggdrasil’ brought the curtain down.

They returned with more punch-up metal on the pillaging and raucous ‘Bersrkir’ then the Celtic jig of ‘Defenders Of Valhalla’ had everyone singing and dancing. Final track ‘One’ introduced as the Metallica song but definitely not was another huge Viking war song.

This was one to remember. Talk about FUN! The entire crowd embraced the lunacy and became superheroes/superheroines and Vikings for the night. They drank, they sang, and they all did battle returning as victors. This was entertainment pure and simple where everybody left with huge smiles on their faces. More please and soon.