Live Review: Heimfall Metallkraft 2026

After learning about Heimfall through the fantastic promotion of Ulvhedner, my wife and I decided to head up north again for a festival. This time Heimfall instead of Karmoygeddon where we are basically regulars at this point. The decision to come here was pretty straight forward as some of our faavourites played and we took the opportunity to meet some friends again after a long time. The best part was that the festival lasted for two days this year not just one, so join me in walking you through the experience.

Friday

Kili:

Well for us Friday started with a 2 and half hour boat ride from Stavanger to the beautiful Sauda and we made it in time for Dinner at the Venue. As both my wife and I were also working at the festival , we got our roles and tasks assigned and headed to see the first show which was the Ungdomsband. That was basically 2 songs of every local Band (Ulvhedner,Blodørn, Bråtsverk and the children band) which was crazy. On the last song of Bråtsverk a 14 year old girl joined and delivered one hell of a cover of Sepulturas Roots Bloody Roots. It was simply amazing.

Next up on the list was Bråtsverk who play a mix of Doom Metal / Rock and Death Metal. Being the local Metal Clubs Band, The audience was amazing and everyone was cheering them on and enjoyed the show.

After Bråtsverk it was Blodørns turn and as said in my review of their latest Album, they crushed the show. Walking out to candles on stage and delivering a sonic annihilation that was probably still heard in Stavanger.

Then it was time for the band i looked forward to seeing most - Avertia. Knowing the band for roughly 10 years already after Kristoffer, their vocalist sent me the debut Album on Instagram. Since then he became my best friend and flew to my wedding so me and my wife were looking forward to it as you could guess by now. What should I tell you, I never sang that much along to a band and felt it more. The whole show was simply amazing, the music, Kristoffer's stage antics and the reaction of the audience. All that made me come to the conclusion that Avertia was the Headliner for Friday,...sorry Hypermass.

The last Band was Hypermass,which i personally missed as i was occupied backstage and went home a bit earlier for a calm evening with Bjornar from Ulvhedner which turned into an after party until 4 in the morning.

Vetle:
I watched Hypermass alone with my camera as seen above my colleague Kilian abandoned me... Alone in the dark photopit i stood with lens aloft, Hypermass brought high energy, bright smiles and technical riffs to deafen the crowd that had gathered for the headlining act. This was my first time hearing Hypermass after missing them at Karmøygeddon some time prior. Their music is not something I would put on by myself but worked wonders in a live setting!

Saturday

For the second and final day I came a bit tired and bad people would say a bit hungover from the previous day. Nonetheless the first band to play was Mahten who played their first ever show that evening. They played an interesting mix of alternativ rock/grunge and regular metal. Being this was their first gig, I would say they delivered.

Utflod, the second band this day was really overwhelming in a good way. Being a female fronted Hardcore Punk / Grindcore band, the audience simply went crazy. One moshpit after the other, jumping, dancing and partying and the best part? My wife in the middle of all of that. She definetly found her new favourite band with Utflod.

Then came the second band i was really looking forward to seeing, Jordsjuk. After calling their debut Album , Album of the year for myself i was really expecting them to delivere an awesome show and they did not dissapoint. Fast and aggressive Black Metal for 45 minutes while Mannevond, their vocalist, screamed into your face was really eccstasic.

Directly after that, some omnious woodworkers and farmers appeared out of the woods and on to the stage. The local Matadores Ulvhedner. For roughly 50 min they accompined the audience through a journey of their cataloge and let everyone experience a melodic form of Black Metal they call Fjosmetall. A show without any second guessing or bad feelings, simply pure greatness in the form of farmers with beer in their backpacks. Looking forward to seeing them for a 3rd time when i get the chance.

Kili:

Then came Metal Militia, Norway's best Metallica cover band. As headliner was Takras but we could not see both of them as we were pretty occupied Backstage with making new connections and friends as this was also the last evening for us before starting the journey back to Austria.

Vetle:
Metal Militia was my final act for the night, sadly skipping the local party band Takras to instead start my 2 hour long drive on the narrow coast-road through Sauda's fjords home. Metal Militia is sharing two band members with Jordsjuk, both on the string instruments. They play Metallica covers and sound absolutely fantastic, maintaining the energy that Metallica once also portrayed both on record and live.

Conclusion

If you have the chance, join us all next year for a local festival that you will not forget so fast. Definetly worth checking out and come experience the tightly knit community of Sauda for yourself. Cheers !

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