We stuffed KingGorthaur’s pockets full of beer vouchers and sent him on an airplane across the country to report back from what happened during easter in our capitol of Oslo…
An introduction:
The world famous Inferno Metal Festival is located in the very heart of Oslo, the capital of the black metal country, Norway! Every year when the residents of Oslo flee the city to the mountains for the easter holiday, dark clothed metalheads arrive in masses through the city’s bricklayed streets.
These metalheads have gotten a nickname by Norwegian media, “blackpackers”. The name was given because of Oslo’s and Norway’s rich history and influence on the metal scene, and specificly the black metal ganre that these metalheads have come to experience.
Oslo and it’s local areas are breeding grounds of bands such as Darkthrone, Mayhem, 1349, Tsjuder, and Svarttjern to name a few.
The Inferno Metal Festival brings alot to the table for the fans of the extreme scene, as the festival organize guided bus tours to historical locations such as Euronymous’s apartment, the record store Helvete, and a trip to Holmenkollen Kapell. The latter has been rebuilt on top of the ashes that was left after it was burnt down in 1992, of which Varg Vikernes later was convicted. The guided bus tour is hosted by the local Anders Odden, frontman of Norway’s first death metal band Cadaver and involved in black metal bands such as Satyricon and Order.
With the festivals great reputation and great bands on the lineup, I applied for and was granted a press/photo pass. So I packed my camera, dug up the battlewest from my yard and staked the course to Oslo!
The venues:
The concerts at Inferno are held at the Rockefeller Music Hall and in the associated venue called John Dee. Both venues are in the same building and Rockefeller as the main stage has a mesmerizing 3 levels that the audience can enjoy their favourite bands from. Rockefeller was first opened in 1986 and has been a essential venue for rockers in Oslo since.
All 3 levels of Rockefeller has it’s own bar, and if my counting was correct this venue alone had a total of 6 bars, which is great for beer thirsty metalheads! Throughout the 4 day festival I didn’t have to wait longer than a minute in total in the bar queues.
The other, smaller venue is called John Dee and it’s located in the basement of Rockefeller. There is a small flight of stairs from Rockefeller to get to the John Dee venue. The stage there is quite a bit smaller than the main stage in Rockefeller and the room has signifacnt less audience capacity, but it wasn’t much of a problem for most bands.
The only issue was when very popular bands such as Crypta and Cattle Decapitaion were performing. The venue was then at max capasity and security wouldn’t let more people in. So if there’s a popular band you would like to catch, make sure to go down and secure a spot a bit beforehand!
Day concerts:
For festival goers who purchase the 4 day festival pass, there are so called day concerts. These concerts are spread around on local venues and bars. The concerts started around 14:00 and 15:00 every day, but as a tired festival photographer I only managed to drag my ass to one of these shows. These concerts also have tickets at the door available for those who do not have a full festival pass.
I went to see Automaton at the bar called Brewgata. It was a tiny stage in front of the bar alongside the enterance. I think around 100 people managed to squeeze in together to enjoy the Greek’s stoner doom. I actually went because I thought the local high energy band Autonomie was going to play, but how wrong was I. Instead of Autonomie‘s thrashy metal I was served slow and atmospheric doom. Although I was expecting something entirely different due to the bands similar names, I was still able to enjoy myself.
There was a ton of other great bands I wanted to watch at the day concerts but because of my personal schedule I only went to see this one show. Some of the other bands performing the day concerts included: Signs of the Swarm, 200 Stab Wounds, Forcefed Horsehead, Visegard, Dwaal and Zustand Null, to name some.
Some of this years Highlights:
There were a ton of bands I really enjoy on this years lineup, and some that I dont care too much about. But down below are my thoughts of some of the black metal bands that played this years festival!
Misthyrming:
First of all, Misthyrming is a band close to my black heart. Ever since the debut Söngvar elds og óreiðu was released, I’ve been a fan. I was able to watch them live once before on a much smaller venue at the Karmøygeddon Metal Festival and loved it. So seeing them opening on the big stage at Rockefeller for the last day of the festival was lovely. Misthyrming came on stage with great energy. Their makeup made them look like they came straight from a coal mine to ignite the new day for us at Inferno.
Their beautiful melodic guitar riffs sounded really nice in the venue, something a few other bands sometime struggle with delivering in a live setting.
Comparing the two times I’ve seen them live, I think its safe to say that Misthyrming does deserve their spot on the big stage. However I feel like their music translates alot better in the small and more personal venues where the whole room gets swept away by D.G‘s energetic black metal fury.
Carpathian Forest:
Carpathian Forest was a first time experience for me. The stage was decorated in Norwegian flags, and creepy long-nosed masks were hanging around the set. Nattefrost, the frontman and vocalist of Carpathian Forest has had some rough years with health issues. Despite his history, his vocals were still strong and grim. The band had disturbing pictures rotating on the background screen including photos of Nattefrost on the hospital bed, filled with medical tubes.
Nattefrost also brought his son up on stage to perform a cover of the legendary All My Friends Are Dead song by Norwegian punk rock band Turbonegro. This was a tribute to late Hank Von Hell who was the frontman of mentioned band.
My first live experience of Carpathian Forest was great, the tip of their spikes may have started to rust a little but the pointy edge is still sharp!
Vorga:
Vorga is a up and coming black metal band from Germany that I recently got recomended by some members of the Black Metal Promotion community. I quite liked their first full-length album Striving Toward Oblivion that was released in early 2022 and was curious to see them live.
Vorga is a science fiction inspired black metal band and its members use a different style of cropse-paint. Corpse paint is not even a fitting description, as their makeup is more black than white and very Star Wars-y. Anyways… Vorga was set to play the small stage at John Dee, and the the masses of Inferno quickly filled the room.
A big red neon pentagram with a brass deer skull was popping out on the stage when I turned the corner down to the venue. The makeup of the members lit up in the neon light and created a stunning sceanery as their cosmic riffs howled through the room. Their live sound was loud and clear, and their energy and stage presence was refreshing. Vorga is definently a band I would like to see again on stage.
Nordjevel:
Nordjevel was possibly the band I was most excited for at this years Inferno. I’ve been a loyal listener ever since I heard their first album, the self-titled Nordjevel from 2016. This was my first time seeing them live and I had high hopes! I’ve seen stunning concert photography from their previous concerts and was hoping for no less this time.
Nordjevel was playing the main stage in Rockefeller on the festivals first day, at 19:30. Corpse painted Norwegians took to the stage to deliver their black tunes. It was not hard to tell that Nordjevel knew their audience, their setlist was hard and fierce. Ripping riffs, cold growls and thundering blast beats dictated every metalheads head movement while the flames came shooting of the stage.
Pyro is something I dearly love, and a thing I expected from Nordjevel. Especially at a festival with the name Inferno. However, comparing the stage setup with the likes of Midgardsblot Festival last year, Nordjevel‘s Inferno setup could not compare. That is one of the negative sides of a in-doors festival, we would’nt want Rockefeller to end up like Holmenkollen chapel or Fantoft after all.
Tilintetgjort:
Tilintetgjort is a band I discovered through Black Metal Promotion aswell, the album cover of the In Death I Shall Arise release along with their name translates to obliterated is what first caught my eye. I spun the album and was totaly caught up in their music. The avant garde, experimental black metal release was one I really liked and ended up writing a review for.
So naturally, when I saw they got announced for the festival, I was stoked!
Tilintetgjort played the small venue downstairs and filled the room with eager black metallers. The vocalist Svik (Norwegian for betrayal) came on stage dressed in a robe, reminiscent of an omnious munk. The other band members wearing corpsepaint, stood firm on the stage, gazing out onto the audience.
I quickly noticed that these musicians knew how to perform as Svik was constantly moving around and throwing his hands in the air while growling out to the venue. Their riffs were as distinct sounding live as on their recorded output, much to my appreciation!
The audience also seemed to enjoy themselves as much as I did, serving as evidence to the band that they truly delivered the goods tonight.
What makes Inferno stand out? Pros and cons:
It can be difficult deciding what festivals to attend when there are literal tons of metal festivals in this world, and many in Norway alone to chose from. So I will try my best to point out the details and info about Inferno that might make the choice easier for you.
The most important first; the bands:
Inferno’s band portfolio usualy consists of bands within the extreme side of the spectrum. The genres black metal and death metal being the most dominant on the festival flyers. Genres like doom, thrash and folk is also present at the festival but in fewer numbers.
This year, doom bands like Automaton, Konvent and Candlemass played great concerts. We were also treated with folk band Finntroll this year. And for the misfits of the festival poster, we got the side project of Behemoth frontman Nergal, Me and That Man. The atmospheric cello was also played by talented Jo Quail at her concert in John Dee. The God of Hellfire, Arthur Brown and his carnival were also performing!
Some Inferno headliners from the previous 3 years:
Kampfar, Taake, Dimmu Borgir, Gorgoroth (step in for At the Gates), Emperor, Abbath, Watain, Amorphis, Triumph of Death, Venom, and Mayhem!
The band schedule is almost perfection at Inferno. There might be some overlapping of the bands, but there are never two bands playing at the exact same time. There is a 45 minute time between the bands, so in theory if the bands play 40 minute sets, you have 5 minutes to grab a beer and get ready in the next venue.
I did however not take that chance to wait for the last song with most bands, as I wanted to get in place before the next bands started, ahead of the big masses moving across the venues.
The accomodation:
With Inferno always beeing held during the Norwegian easter holidays, there are several options available through renting via Airbnb and other sites. This is because as I mentioned earlier, most locals has vaccated the city, seeking refuge in the mountains, enjoying soaking up the easter sun while skiing.
Clarion Hotel, The Hub: The official festival hotel is the Hub. Special deals are given to attending metalheads at the hotel if you order before a certain date in wait for the festival, usualy around 1 month. A choice I went with for my stay. The hotel beeing only a 5 minute walk at max from the venue is a huge plus side of staying there. But the hotel also has something airbnb’s usualy don’t offer; a lovely fucking breakfast! The best friend for hungover metalheads is the lavish trays of food to pick from at the hotel restaurant in the early hours before things kicks off again in the afternoon.
This all sounds great, but is it all running as a well oiled machine at the hotel?
One major con for me was the late check-in; there are no check-in available before 15:00. As I arrived in Oslo thursday morning at 11 am, I was hoping to check in earlier and get a power nap in before the concerts started, however when first band Vomit Forth played in the bar Goldie, I was still sitting in the hotel lobby awaiting access to my room.
Now, the hotel does have an option to leave your luggage in a storage until your room is available. You can then go and enjoy live music and check in later in the day, but who wants to break away from the festival during the shows to do that?
The other con is the prices in the Hub bar… It has to be mentioned that I require gluten free beverages due to celiac disease, and the only beer option with this in mind was a 0,33 liter local beer to the price of 170 NOK. That’s equivalent to 16 dollars or 14,5 euro!
Atleast I could enjoy my expensive beer while artists like Nergal, Attila and Konvent roaming around the lobby!
The Inferno Music Conference:
This so another event held at the hotel. If you haven’t heard of the conference before, in short it’s the largest gathering for people who share metal music as their work and livelihood. At this conference people associated with magazines, writers, journalists and other festival arrangers can come and connect with eachother. The conference also hosts talks where the partaking speakers talk about their heartfelt subjects.
Some of this years speakers included Dayal Patterson (Cult Never Dies) and Harald Fossberg doing “Black metal in writing”, as they are authors of several books on the topic.
“Podcasts Killed the Radiostar” was another theme on the program with the speakers Shayan (Trivax, Ibli Manifestasions podcast), father and son of the youtube channel A&P reacts, Pedro and Antonio Almedia, Frank Godla (Metal Injection) and Jackie Smith (Into the Necrosphere).
Read more about the Inferno Music Conference: Here!
Inferno Art and Ink:
For all days of the festivals there was a big room in the first floor of the hotel decorated with the artworks of a few selected artists. A few random names for you to get an idea of them are Kim Diaz Holm, Martin Mentzoni, Trine Grimm, and Zbigniew M.Bielak.
For you guys who like to lay under the needle, there were several great tattoo artists who had a whole section of Rockefeller set up to do ink! Artists such as the Morbid Impaler couple, Carmen PG (Blekk N Roll), Sefi Blood, and Carlos Black Shadows was some of my lucky mentions there.
More info of artists and pictures of their work can be found at their official Instagram account: Here!
Art and Ink website links can be found here: Inferno Art Inferno Tattoo
Gallery:
In conclusion:
To wrap up this review I would conclude that Inferno does live somewhat up to the rumours and hype that swirls around it. Four days and nights, fully endulged in metal from the accomodation, music and most importantly the amazing metalheads. I say amazing, because I truly mean it.
The only things dragging the experience down ever so slightly is that it’s taking place during the easter holiday, meaning stores and food options are scarce, making the few options available, and the festival as a whole, more expensive.
I traveled by myself for this festival and didn’t know what to expect. But when I was returning home, I felt enriched by new friendships, be it the security guard who always chit chatted, my fellow photographers in the pit, or the attending public who reached out and asked “Who is your favourite band tonight”. Those are the kind of conversations where metal magic occurs.
Despite some lacking information of the whereabouts of the festivals infrastructure, such as the availability of the food stands on the balcony (4th floor Rockefeller) and the photographers lounge (thank you Terje for telling me!), Inferno proved itself to be a great gathering of like minded people.
The festival and it’s variety on offer is a is worthy of bucket list inclusion for any lifelong fan of the Norwegian black metal scene, as well as any metalhead with a taste towards the extreme.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself at Inferno, and I would love to come back to this festival another time.
Links
Official website: Inferno Metal Festival
Official instagram: Inferno Festival Norway
Official facebook: Inferno Facebook
Black Metal Zine photo’s by Vetle Aksdal (KingGorthaur) and can also be found on our Instagram!
For official festival photography, check their social media platforms!
Have you been to this festival? Please let us know in the comments below what you think, and join our discord, where we discuss all things black metal! Make sure to follow our Facebook page, Black Metal Zine to receive notifications when we publish articles. Also check out our Instagram at @blackmetal.zine for concert pictures and more!
