Easter Saturday presented a difficult choice with some great bands playing matinee shows including Madder Mortem, Imbalance and Horrifier but there was also the black metal auction. Keeping with my own tradition, I ordered a white beer and pulled up a seat for the auction managing to bag myself a couple of rarities before heading down to Rockefeller for the main portion of the festival.
Scotland’s Saor were the opening act of the day, and their Caledonian metal was lapped up by an appreciative crowd. The atmospheric black metal was augmented by female vocals and what I believe to have been Uilleann pipes and a tin whistle (but I’m no expert) bringing a true Celtic air to the music.
Rockefeller was soon full of the atmosphere of the desolate highlands, one minute sublime melody and the next a dense barrage of black metal with an evocative and captivating performance that won over all of those in the room. They wasted no time with frills or chatter, allowing the music to speak for itself as their epic anthems unfurled themselves around the venue.
I’ve seen them quite a few times over the years, and this was without doubt the best I have ever seen them. I shall endeavour to cross paths again soon.
Relative newcomers Tilintetgjort had the pleasure of opening John Dee for the day with their Norwegian avant-garde black metal. Opening with ‘Kvikksølvdrømmer’, the band were imposing, not least due to the menacing hooded vocalist who stalked the front of the stage.
Don’t let the phrase avant-garde cause any confusion though, this was a full on black metal racket and the packed early crowd loved it.
All too soon the set was coming to a close with ‘Vinter og høst’, but I suspect Tilintetgjort are now on a lot more people’s radar than before the set, including mine.
Although Sweden’s Orbit Culture have been around since 2013, they seem to have had a massive surge in popularity in the last year or two, at least in the UK, so I was looking forward to catching them live for the first time. Taking to a stage lit with neon strip lights, the band wasted no time and soon the entire room was moving to their melodic death metal, at times reminiscent of their compatriots In Flames or Soilwork.
However, this does not tell the whole tale as Orbit Culture bring a modern feel to the genre with a hint of industrial hidden within, as clean and harsh vocals joust in perfect partnership. I found myself comparing the vocalist to an ‘….And Justice For All’ era James Hetfield in terms of his mannerisms and stage presence, which is intended as a compliment!
The band are clearly consummate professionals and this was a very polished performance. If there is such a thing as arena death metal, this is it, and it would not surprise me in the slightest to see this band catapulting to much larger venues before long.
In contrast to the polished, almost commercial Orbit Culture, Poland’s In Twilight’s Embrace were up next in John Dee. Playing in virtual darkness and with a strong smell of incense pervading the room, they opened aggressively with ‘Lifeblood’ (if I recall correctly).
Although this was a direct aural assault, there was also a malevolent melody evident within the raw black metal and there was a sinister atmosphere in the room as the barely visible shadowy figures delivered their nihilistic sermons. Fantastic stuff!
Although the next band Me and That Man might be new to Inferno, the main-man Adam “Nergal” Darski, better known for his role with Behemoth, most definitely is not, and his presence ensured that a big crowd had gathered for the bluesy, dark folk-rock. Opening track ‘My Church is Black’ sounded huge as it filled the room, as did the follow up track ‘Nightride’.
The band are no strangers to guest artists, with several big names having join the band previously and tonight was no exception as Jørgen Munkeby from Shining (Norway) joined the band on saxophone for ‘Run with the Devil’ and later on Sivert Høyem also joined them.
This was completely different for Inferno, but also fitted perfectly and was a memorable show.
Continuing the theme of being a little different for Inferno, Jo Quail was up next in John Dee and the room was packed for the cello virtuoso. Despite not playing ‘metal’ as such, her music has its own organic intensity and it should not be underestimated just how powerful her performances are, and this show in John Dee was no exception.
Looping beats and melodies from her cello, Jo built ever increasingly complex and evocative pieces, which had the audience transfixed as the glorious compositions ‘White Salt Stag’ and ‘Rex Infractus’ flew past early on sounding more powerful than ever.
I had wondered how a beer fuelled extreme metal crowd might react to Jo’s more refined offerings, and it was humbling to see the crowd listen in respectful silence, with loud cheers between the tracks. I think it’s fair to say that Jo has been adopted by the Norwegian metal crowd!
Borknagar performed at the very first Inferno festival back in 2001, and are just as relevant today as they were back then, taking to the stage in front of a packed venue. New track ‘Nordic Anthem’ got things going and although the sound was initially a little messy this was quickly fixed and all too soon the bands sublime melodies were cascading around Rockefeller.
Not surprisingly, ‘Voices’ got a huge singalong as the crowd were pulled under the Norwegians’ spell. The set mixed old and new tracks including ‘Dauden’ from the debut album which was great to hear, and the contrast of the harsher and more melodic material worked well, as did the juxtaposition of the harsh and clean vocals.
All too soon, the set came to a close with ‘Winter Thrice’, but this was not the last we would see of ICS Vortex.
Taking things down a darker path, Khold were the closing band downstairs in John Dee and another packed crowd greeted them. Playing in their distinctive corpse paint, the band opened with the catchy ‘Vanviddfaren’ from the latest album.
Their music is raw black metal, but it is also really catchy and groovy. Having said that, there is also a malevolent undercurrent to the music, which is furthered by all of the lyrics being in Norwegian.
‘Hunder År Gammal’ sounded particularly powerful midset as things gathered momentum heading to the climax of the set with ‘Phantom’ and ‘Skogens Øye’.
Perhaps the most anticipated set of the whole festival was Dimmu Borgir, celebrating their 30th anniversary at the festival, and there was even Dimmu Borgir beer on sale! The venue was absolutely at capacity and moving around became almost impossible.
As the curtains opened and the lights went down, an intro tape played ‘Det nye riket’, which led into the band opening with ‘Raabjørn Speiler Draugheimens Skodde’ from the band’s debut album. ‘Spellbound (by the Devil)’ and ‘Entrance’ have never sounded better and the set was quickly shaping up to be something special that will be talked about for a long time to come.
This was cemented when ‘The Insight and the Catharsis’ saw previous members ICS Vortex, Tjodalv and Mustis join the band on stage for a moment that will go down in history.
We stayed with early material with ‘Stormblåst’ and ‘Dødsferd’ which sounded absolutely massive and I thought to myself that the band were sounding like a black metal band again rather than a symphonic metal band, and it was a privilege to be there experiencing this.
The set then took a turn towards more recent material before the main portion of the set was closed with ‘Dimmu Borgir’. There was a three song encore which culminated in a particularly powerful rendition of the inevitable ‘Mourning Palace’.
Tracks from ‘For All Tid’, ‘Stormblåst’ and ‘Enthrone Darkness Triumphant’ and having seen the special anniversary set with previous members joining the band made this a truly memorable event rather than just a gig and I headed out into the Oslo night very happy.
Andy Pountney
@shot_in_the_dark_photography2
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