Amon Amarth, Huntress and Savage Messiah at The 1865 in Southampton

At many concerts, especially metal concerts, there is a often a lot of negativity towards the opening band: why should people arrive at the venue early to see a band that they probably have not heard of? However, anyone who missed Savage Messiah's set should be kicking themselves. Their humble attitude engaged the crowd well and they sounded anything but generic. Lead singer Dave Silver's voice was on top form and he used his unique vocal style to its full potential. Their songs were full of catchy choruses, allowing them to gain new fans who could sing along as if they had followed the band since their formation in 2007. They managed to get the crowd warmed up perfectly with their technical guitar solos and melodic backing vocals.

Female fronted metal band Huntress were next to grace the Southampton stage, but don't let her femininity fool you: lead vocalist Jill Janus can growl deeper than most men. 'Pack your bong with stars and let's smoke the galaxies together' was her motto for the evening, allowing the rowdy crowd to engage with mystical lyrics about goddesses and spirituality. One of the highlights of their set was 'Flesh', a song from the new album which was dedicated to the females in the audience. With hard-hitting riffs and guitar solos it is sure to be a hit once it has been released later this year. Huntress often received mixed reviews from metal fans across the world, however, it is clear from their stellar live performance that they were back with a vengeance: Jill has previously said that she is set to conquer the world, one metalhead at a time. Every song sounded unique, with elements of doom, trash and black metal all fused together, to create something that is unlike anything that you have ever heard before.

Melodic death metal giants Amon Amarth packed out The 1865 to full capacity for their first ever Southampton show, proving that even after over twenty years together they still know how to impress crowds across the world. The Viking-themed musicians wowed the audience with their heavy riffs mixed with even heavier vocals. Lead singer Johan Hegg had an extremely powerful stage presence and he knew exactly how to work the crowd. Their setlist included songs from over seven of their albums, allowing fans young and old to hear their favourite tracks live. Playing hits such as 'Live For The Kill', 'Twilight Of The Thunder God' and 'Death In Fire', they made fans experience what a true Swedish heavy metal show is all about. Amon Amarth's mystical lyrics and fast-paced music style allowed the crowd to fully engage with the theatrical nature of their performance, creating huge mosh pits that covered the entire venue. One of the most impressive things about the band is their dedication to their music: there is no denying that they continue to keep performing live shows because they want to entertain the crowd, not just for the money or the fame. With Johan promising that this will not be their last visit to Southampton, Viking metal fans in the South will be anxiously awaiting their next tour and album release.

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INTERVIEW: Jill Janus from Huntress

On the final night of their UK tour I spoke to Jill Janus, lead singer of Huntress, about her classical music training, dogs and the theme of Huntress' new album!

How has the tour been going so far?
It has been fantastic! What a great bill, and we are just so excited to be on the road with Amon Amarth. Savage Messiah kicks ass too!

What is it like being on the road with them?
Well, you know, it feels like family. We have known Amon Amarth since we toured together on Mayhem Festival in the States back in 2013, so everyone just feels like family and we are very supportive.

Awesome! How does it feel to be playing in Southampton tonight?
You know, I hear it is a real rager! I heard you guys know how to party so you had better freaking bring it!

How do crowds in England compare to crowds in America and other countries around the world?

It really depends on what the cities are like, y'know. They vary from city to city, but metalheads, true metalheads, all over the world are very much the same. They all have the same type of passion and you can see throughout the world, as long as they love heavy metal you know they are going to love true heavy metal.

How would you describe your music to someone who has not heard it before?

We are melodic heavy metal. I'm not easy listening heavy metal, you won't see me in a god damn corset or singing faux-opera, y'know. My background and my training is classical, which is the foundation for my screams. We are melodic, through and through. True, old school heavy metal, we have some of that in there. A little element of doom and thrash and even black metal and some death vocals. But y'know it is also tinged with theatre. Y'know I grew up on theatre, so you are going to see elements of theatrical in there and that is kind of a little bit of a hat-tip to Alice Cooper and King Diamond, and even Rob Halford and Judas Priest.

If you were trained in opera then what made you want to be in a metal band?

I have always wanted to be in metal or rock! I mean from the time I was thirteen years old I was obsessed with Suicidal Tendencies and Danzig and The Misfits and King Diamond. So my mother was the one who really encouraged me to stay true to opera and musical theatre because that is what was just occurring then in the small town I lived in. That is what I was doing and I won a scholarship to go to a school to study opera and performing arts. It has just been a really interesting journey for me. I have always wanted to sing, but now that I created this world for myself and following my purpose. I could not be happier!

What do you think that people should expect from a live show from you?

To be entertained! We are entertainment through and through.

What inspires you to continue writing and keep performing?

Music owns me! Ever since I was a very small child. Like I said, there has never been anything else but music. So that is my purpose and there is nothing else. And especially when Huntress started to gain momentum and we started ascending within the ranks of metal it became very clear that other ambitions would have to be abolished, so I am a slave!

Have you had to deal with much sexism in the music industry or do you believe that the metal community is more accepting?

I don't really pay attention! Again, part of living for your purpose is that you don't really participate in outside opinions. I don't read reviews, I don't ever allow myself to go on the internet to see what the trolls are up to. So I am very, very careful about what other people think. So I really do keep a very strict distance from all of that noise, positive or negative so that it won't affect my path.

What are your favourite and least favourite things about touring?

My least favourite is leaving my dogs at home! If we are touring in America then I can bring them with me, I can bring my little Annie with my Anubis. She is a rescue, well all of my animals are rescues and I am very involved in animal welfare and adoption and I just love critters! And then the best thing is just feeling like you really are achieving your goals in life. It is very rewarding to be here and sometimes you can get wrapped up in this strange loneliness. Every day kind of blends together and you just have to kind of step back and see the big picture and realise that we are really fortunate to be on the road with all the bands that choose us. So it is quite a blessing!

What advice would you give to anyone aspiring to become a musician?

Lessons! Train yourself! Just don't go in blind, especially with vocals if you want to be a metal vocalist. I am asked over and over again how do I do it every night, night after night without losing my voice with the rapid screaming, back into a clean voice, back and forth. It really begins with training so get yourself in some serious vocal lessons and even if you want to be a musician, get guitar lessons! It is just about discipline. You have to be disciplined. You are not going to achieve anything if you are not really focussed. I mean, that is really the main rule for Huntress, it is vital to our existence, is discipline.

What else do you have planned for 2015?

Releasing that next album! Our new record will be out this summer and we are touring, touring, touring! We are writing and we are just having fun. Staying sane! It is really important that I don't go crazy!

Have you finished writing the album?

Yeah, we are recording it. Actually, we are heading back after Amon Amarth just to finish up a few things on it and then it will be handed over to Napalm Records and to the masses.

Does it have a specific theme?

Well, the first three albums for Huntress, if anyone is a Huntress fan, they would know that I talk about this a lot. It is dedicated to the triple goddess. So the first three albums are a bit of a spiritual journey for myself and a trilogy I would say. The first album 'Spell Eater' is in the Maiden phase and the second album 'Starbound Beast' is the Mother phase. So we are moving into the Crone phase and I always say that she is evil and old and horny. So you are going to get that viciousness on this third album with elements of doom and it is the death phase. It is the dying phase, so you will feel that. It is going to be heavy!

Listen to the interview here: https://soundcloud.com/juliaconopo/interview-with-jill-janus-from-huntress

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