The Easter break means many different things to people around the world, but for a select section of the extreme metal community, it has become synonymous with the Inferno Metal Festival and 2024 was no exception. In fact, this was my twelfth time attending and it was one of the most enjoyable.
For four days over the Easter period, the festival takes over the Rockefeller and John Dee complex in the heart of Oslo, with acts alternating between the two stages meaning that it is in theory possible to catch every minute of every band. However, although this is clearly a very important part of the festival, it is only part of it. The festival also runs hiking tours, a black metal bus sightseeing tour, Munch tours, instrument clinics, film screenings, a tattoo fair, an art exhibition, a black metal auction, a metal market and so much more.
There is also the inferno music conference which runs parallel to the festival and this year, as always, had an excellent programme. Aside from the “official’ events, there is also the opportunity to explore Oslo including the obligatory visit to Neseblod and the infamous “Black Metal Wall” (at the site of the original Helvete) as well as the outstanding Katakomben records. During the review I’ll focus on the music as we’d be here for hours if I rambled on about all the other bits, but take it from me, there is plenty to do and you won’t be bored!
The festival pulls a crowd from all over the globe giving the opportunity to catch up with old friends and to make new ones and this is indeed a highlight. To facilitate all of this, the festival “takes over” a downtown luxury hotel and during the weekend, the hotel is decorated with inferno posters, staff wear Inferno “crew” t-shirts and extreme metal plays over the hotel PA and through the outside speakers creating a unique atmosphere, a real haven where extreme metal fans feel at home.
I haven’t really mentioned the music yet, and this is of course central to the festival. As well as the concerts at the festival main stages in Rockefeller and John Dee, there are also matinee concerts at venues around the city giving some tough choices at times, but that’s a good problem to have! On top of all this, the festival is one of the best run festivals that I’ve been to with everything running smoothly and everything having been considered.
Before I get onto the main review, I should mention the warm up night courtesy of Indie Recordings which was held at the Salt complex the night before the main festival and gave the opportunity for Fight the Fight, Halcyon Days, Mørket, Oberst and Jordsjuk to blow away the cobwebs and get the early arrivers in the mood for the festival. All five bands were on great form and put on a great show.
The main festival began on the Thursday and to get things going I made my way to Goldie for some afternoon entertainment where the nightclub was being abused by some battering US death metal. I arrived just as 200 Stab Wounds were taking to the compact stage. Bathed in red neon light, the band dished out a relentless pummelling, stirring up a decent sized pit to anthems such a ‘Itty Bitty Pieces’, reminding us that Inferno is about all sorts of extreme metal not just black metal. After the band had finished, the PA played shameless dance and pop tunes before Signs of the Swarm put an abrupt end to that nonsense with their direct deathcore and before long tracks such as ‘Nameless’ were making the venue shake with their guttural vocals and breakdowns. For some inexplicable reason, the crowd thinned considerably and the response was fairly muted but the hardcore down the front lapped it all up.
This whet my appetite nicely for the festival, so I headed to the main venue and its two stages. Rockefeller is the main stage with a capacity of approximately 1500 and down a flight of stairs is the John Dee stage with a capacity of 400, so while it is possible to watch every band, John Dee does sometimes reach capacity and become “one in, one out”, so it you are keen to see a particular band, it is wise to miss the last few minutes of the band on Rockefeller and get a spot a few minutes early.
Opening the main festival on the Rockefeller stage were Danish doom mongers Konvent, who had impressed a packed John Dee a couple of years ago at the festival.
Opening with ‘Into the Distance’, the band soon pulled the decent sized early crowd into their coven as the venue shook with the heavy tomes of tracks such as ‘Never Rest’. There was minimal crowd interaction, and likewise there was little movement in the crowd as the masses stood under the spell of Konvent.
All too soon, ‘Pipe Dreams’ was rumbling around the venue bringing the magnificent set to an end.
A few minutes later, Denmark’s Nakkeknaekker (which translate to ‘Neck breaker’) took to the John Dee stage and although they are yet to release an album, they crowd loved them and there was quickly a huge pit, and later on a wall of death.
Although the band label themselves as death metal (and I don’t disagree), I could hear a big dose of thrash in what they do, not least in the tempo and energy that exuded from the stage. From the outset, the packed room soaked up the energy and threw it right back at the band who looked to be enjoying themselves.
This set was actually the first night on an extensive tour with Crypta and Plaguemace and I’m sure Nakkeknaekker will win over a lot of new fans on that tour, just as they did in John Dee tonight.
There was a change of mood up in Rockefeller as extreme metal veterans Keep of Kalessin brought their epic melodies to the festival.
The room was packed by this point and I’m sure there were many getting their first live taste of this band, not least as they inexplicably haven’t played at Inferno since 2009.
Of course, there is a black metal base to what they do, but this is so much more with majestic melodies sitting within the blastbeats and scathing vocals. Whereas some extreme metal leaves you feel battered, this somehow felt as though it was embracing you and it was glorious.
‘Dark Divinity’ came early on, but it was perhaps ‘Katharsis’ later which was my highlight of the set.
John Dee was once again packed, this time for Denmark’s Orm. I had been very impressed by these at last year’s Midgardsblot festival and so was looking forward to seeing them again, and they didn’t disappoint!
Bathed in icy blue light, appearing simply as silhouettes, the band unloaded their epic black metal upon the crowd. One minute the music was battering but the next it would morph into majestic, sweeping melodies and it was impossible not to be pulled under its hypnotic spell.
At times this was simply black metal, at others it was epic or atmospheric and there were also progressive elements at play, but the key thing is that all of these came perfectly together to create something special.
With three albums under their belts, and stunning live shows like this, it is a mystery why they aren’t much bigger than they are!
There was no time to recover, as Nordjevel were about to take to the Rockefeller stage. They are another band who never disappoint live, and Rockefeller was now full in anticipation of what was to follow.
Opening with ‘The Shadows of Morbid Hunger’, the band were feral from the outset as they stomped around the stage with Doedsadmiral in particular looking a little unhinged!
Corpse paint, spikes and plenty of pyros added to the sinister atmosphere and by the time a rabid ‘Fenriir’ was unleashed the crowd were throwing themselves around enthusiastically.
‘Sunset Glow’ brought the ferocious set to a close with the band being treated as though they were headliners by the lively crowd, and rightly so! Surely one day Nordjevel will be headlining here.
Keeping up the intensity downstairs were Brazil’s Crypta. As expected, the room was packed to capacity and the crowd were chanting for the band before they came on, which is unusual at Inferno.
Opening with ‘The Other Side of Anger’ and ‘Poisonous Apathy’ set the bar for the set and their energetic death metal.
There wasn’t much room for a pit, but the die hards tried their best and there was even crowd surfing which is rare in the tight confines of John Dee.
The band happily interacted with the crowd as they delivered one high energy track after another, culminating in ‘From the Ashes’. I’ll be catching Crypta again later in the year and can’t wait!
There was a complete change of pace in Rockefeller for the legendary Candlemass and their Epic Doom Metal (see what I did there) which brought some class to proceedings.
Of course, this was much slower, more plodding than the last few bands, but it was no less heavy, bringing its own version of intensity. It was very melodic but also had a glorious density to the sound that completely filled the venue.
Although tracks such as ‘Crystal Ball’ and ‘A Sorcerer’s Pledge’ are now nearly 40 years old, they are timeless, sounding as relevant today as ever. Once again, the venue was at capacity and rightly so as this was a truly memorable set from some of the founding fathers of the doom metal genre.
I don’t usually enjoy doom metal, but sets such as this, and Konvent earlier in the evening, are converting me to the cause!
The pace picked up again in John Dee for Cattle Decapitation and their high velocity death grind. Inferno was a stop on their current tour in support of ‘Terrasite’ and promised a band at the peak of their live performances.
The atmosphere was electric in the venue (which was at capacity well before the band came on) and after an intro, ‘Terrasitic Adaptation’ pummelled the baying crowd before vocalist Travis Ryan asked the photographers to leave the narrow photo pit as he felt they were ‘killing the vibe”.
‘Scourge of the Offspring’ and ‘Dead Set on Suicide’ soon restored ‘the vibe’ and the energy was unrelenting until closing track ‘Kingdom of Tyrants’ came to a close.
Another band who had been treated as a headliner by the dedicated crowd, and surely next time they come to the festival, they will be on the main stage.
It fell to Kampfar to bring the day to a close, and to say this was highly anticipated would be a huge understatement, not least because this was to be a 30th anniversary show.
Kampfar are not as direct as some extreme metal bands but they are by no means any less intense. From the outset, their set brought a sinister malevolence to Rockefeller but there was also a celebratory atmosphere with Dolk bantering with the crowd between tracks.
Having said that, while playing the band, and Dolk in particular, brought an intensity that saw them completely dominating the room. The set saw lantern bearers, pyros, black smoke, a chalice and of course Norwegian flags adding a visual element, augmenting the music.
The set covered a large portion of their history but perhaps my highlight was ‘Lyktemenn’ which came mid set, although it is worth mentioning how good material from the latest album ’Til KloversTakt’ sounded live.
This was a fitting celebration of the band’s 30th anniversary, but rather than simply being nostalgia, this is a band sounding more powerful and more relevant today than ever.
Andy Pountney
@shot_in_the_dark_photography2
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