Inflatable swords, the happiest Metal band in the world, and whirling mosh pits paying tribute to the Viking Gods of War are but three of the ingredients in Ensiferum, Freedom Call and Dragony’s storming takeover of London.
Ensiferum – Freedom Call – Dragony
The Dome – 11 January 2026
Words: Lucy Dunnet
Photography: Adrian Stonley
Dragony
They may be dressed like sexy medieval peasants, but Austrian Power Metal band Dragony serenade London like a band of royal, dragon-slaying warriors. Their fierce cheeriness and impressive vocal dances make for a perfect first course on Ensiferum’s Winter Storm Over Europe Tour.
At the end of 2025, Dragony’s long-time collaborator Maria Nesh joined Siegfried “The Dragonslayer” Samer as co-lead vocalist. Between the two of them, they regale the crowd with tales of the Gods and fantastical hunts, launching from peaceful melodies to battle-charged screams. On one side of the stage, you have Mat Plekhanov wielding his guitar with a dark precision worthy of the hangman attire he wears, and on the other is Chris Auckenthaler, who appears to enter heaven after every thunderous drum beat he thumps out.
No hand is left in a pocket nor a head left unbanged by the time Dragony are done with The Dome.
Freedom Call
Power Metallers Freedom Call have a reputation to live up to as Metal’s happiest band. With the crowd already in high spirits thanks to Dragony’s grin-inducing warm-up set, the Happycore Germans spend the next 45 minutes sticking their tongues out and galavanting across the stage, making it abundantly clear how they gained their reputation in the first place.
Bassist Francesco Ferraro sings his parts of Freedom Call’s answer to Europe’s The Final Countdown, Tears Of Babylon, from underneath a microphone. There are jazz hands, winks, and knowing glances from behind their headbanging riffs that ensure the crowd is every bit as involved in this Power Metal celebration as the band are.
Being described as the superlative of anything comes with its own new set of challenges. How do you keep getting happier if you are already the happiest Metal band? Freedom Call found the answer to this in their newest track, Heavy Metal Happycore, released just four days before the show. Its inclusive, magnificently cheesy chorus belts out, “Heavy Metal is for everyone” – a concept disputed by only the most antagonistic corner of Metal, the gatekeepers, and one that sees almost the whole venue open their lungs.
The Dome makes history by running the first-ever Freedom Call circle pit and the band’s effervescent, rockstar-soaked stage presence combined with their packed set of buzzing mid-tempo bangers means the pace of the night never lets up an inch. When it is time for Freedom Call to leave the stage, it is to a bombardment of giddying whoops and cheers.
Ensiferum
A mosh pit full of Vikings welcomes Ensiferum to London to finally celebrate their 2024 album Winter Storm. Ensiferum have existed in a teasing chasm between happy Melodic Metal and more viciously tinted Folk Metal for over thirty years, making them a beloved favourite of many a Metalhead. So while The Dome isn’t quite packed to the rafters, it heaves with ferocious, dedicated enthusiasm.
Petri Lindroos’ biting screams are like the howling winds in a snowstorm, cautioning danger but promising beauty, while Pekka Montin’s operatic melodies pierce every song with a godly grounding. Founding guitarist Markus Toivonen never breaks character as he rips out riff after riff, and bassist Sami Hinkka alternates between his possessed crowd stares and avalanche-rumbling bass lines. The Ensiferum quintet is completed by drummer Janne Parviainen, who commands and challenges with his pounding beats.
From Winter Storm Vigilantes to Heathen Horde to Andromeda, Ensiferum conjure up visions of wintry fantasies and battle-strewn wastelands, taking the crowd along for every twist and turn. The mosh pit whirls on, only pausing when the Ensiferum trance everyone has been placed under demands army obedience and long bouts of headbanging.
Maria Nesh of Dragony returns to the stage for a melancholic performance of Scars In My Heart, a song that lives in the calm at the eye of the storm. But before the storm can resume, Sami announces that they have exciting news for any brothers or beard-wearing ladies: a new Ensiferum beard product with The Bald Viking. Some serious consideration will now be given to growing a beard or to where else one might apply the product, just to be able to wear more Ensiferum every day.
“Is it made of foam?” Petri growls out as an inflatable sword becomes visible from the back of the venue. The time has come for the anthemic epic In My Sword I Trust, and no sword – metaphorical or inflatable – stays sheathed for this warrior corralling, beast of a song. Two Of Spades concludes the night of unpredictably predictable Ensiferum magnificence, and the brutal pacing, disco breakdowns, and gang chants of “HOO” and “HAA” bludgeon a hole larger than a Viking ship through the crowd, who are determined to finish this Winter party in vigorous style.
