23 - 26 March 2016, Oslo, Norway

The INFERNO FESTIVAL is definitely one of the biggest and most important gatherings of extreme music fans in Europe. Traditionally held on the easter weekend, the fest has brought many of the most respected names of the Scandinavian and international scene to its various stages for 16 years in a row and thus reached an excellent reputation among extreme Metal enthusiasts. With a supporting program including the Inferno Music Conference, an Expo and several other activities throughout the city, the INFERNO FESTIVAL has long become more than just a bunch of gigs. Located in the beautiful city of Oslo, the festival also invites to a prolonged weekend of sightseeing and holiday, all under the flag of Heavy Metal. 

WEDNESDAY, 23 MARCH 2016

It is a sunny day in Oslo and as the shows do not start before 9 pm this is the perfect opportunity to do some sightseeing and explore the Norwegian capital. The amount of beautiful architecture, both old and new, and stunning scenic views (best discovered on a boat tour through the Oslo Fjord) is amazing. This isn’t a travel blog, but if you haven’t visited Oslo yet, you definitely should.

After exchanging our tickets for wristbands at the official festival hotel (a seemingly quite decent place packed with metalheads) we reach the club „Pokalen“ when DØDSFALL are already half through their set. The place itself is a very homely bar with a stamp-sized stage where the Norwegian duo (that grows to a four-piece when playing live) delivers what could be described as a pretty standard Black Metal show. There’s nothing wrong with corpsepainted old school worshipping at all (in fact that’s the stuff I love) but I don’t see any magic or danger here so I could have lived without seeing those guys tonight.

„Pokalen“ and the neighboring „Vulkan Arena“ are connected through a door so that the shows are in fact held in one venue with two stages, reducing the breaks between two bands literally to zero. „Vulkan Arena“ is considerably larger hall with a much larger stage where PSYCROPTIC start their set right when I enter the room. I’ve been listening to the Aussie’s music quite a lot in the past but lost any real interest in their stuff and the whole Tech-Death scene over the years. However, I’m blown away by PSYCROPTIC’s performance tonight. The musicianship is astonishing, each member of the band is a master of his trade and it’s particularly impressive what an inferno of riffs and leads can be created with only one guitar. Singer Jason Peppiatt knows how to use the size of the stage and to get the crowd going with his extremely energetic and committed performance. I like the older, more twisted songs more than the relatively straightforward stuff from recent years but altogether this is a great show, much better than I expected. Also, the sound is crystal clear and powerful on both stages the whole night. Big compliment to everyone involved.

I didn’t have any opinion on Iceland’s BENEATH before their show so I take a seat at the bar and watch them hammer their brutal Death Metal into their listeners’ faces from the distance. BENEATH create a massive wall of blasts, stomping grooves and guttural growls, technically top-notch (they’re on Unique Leader, what do you expect?) but without any real own identity. Still, this is an impressive gig and the band’s position on tonight’s bill is well-deserved.

Talking of great musicians: Canada’s Tech-Death godfathers GORGUTS are next and deliver a fucking KILLER show. Being the brainchild of singer/guitarist and sole founding member Luc Lemay, the band has been expanding the boundaries of Death Metal for more than 25 years now (though with a hiatus) and tonight Oslo witnesses them raising the bar a bit higher again. GORGUTS play their new, unreleased record as a whole before throwing in some older tracks at the end of the set. It’s absolutely fascinating to see and hear Lemay and his sidekicks engross in the lengthy compositions which oscillate between dreamlike soundscape and furious eruptions, maintaining an ethereal, atmospheric quality even in the most vicious passages. GORGUTS and are one of the very few bands in Death Metal who have managed to create a really unique sound and it’s this sound in which I wander around with marveling eyes for the duration of the show.  The music builds up, collapses, falls apart and gets put together again in new, strange forms all the time at its own, undecipherable pace. Needless to say that the technical level is ridiculously high, Patrice Hamelin’s drumming alone is from a totally different planet. Incredible show!

It’s a strange experience to see HETROERTZEN perform their occult Black Metal ritual on the tiny stage of the „Pokalen“ but it gives me the opportunity to watch the band from the front row within arm’s length as you’d expect to see your friend’s shitty punk band at a youth center. The band’s performance doesn’t suffer at all from the narrow space, the intimate atmosphere even enhances the experience for me. With great dignity and sense of purpose, HETROERTZEN build a maelstrom of enthralling riffs and melodies, bringing the compositions from their already stellar albums to new, evil life tonight in Oslo. The intensity of the whole band’s performance is astonishing and totally captures me in a different world for the playing time of a full hour. Another superb performance and though I don’t think there’s much room for virtuosity in Black Metal: The extremely versatile drumming has to be mentioned. 

Towards the end of HETROERTZEN’s set, the room empties significantly as EXODUS start playing next door. I stay to the last note so the Bay Area legends are already a few songs into their set when I arrive. It’s strange to see them without Gary Holt (who’s playing in some Slayer cover band at the moment) but his replacement Kragen Lum does a good job and the rest of the band is beyond reproach anyway. Zetro is pumping up the energy level constantly, and with songs like „A lesson in violence“ or „The toxic waltz“ you can’t go wrong, right? Plus: Lee Altus’ stage presence and playing draw all the attention that Zetro doesn’t absorb, the man’s soloing and rhythm guitar work is incredible! 

When EXODUS are finished just minutes before 2 am, the afterparty (with Ole of Terratur Possessions fame handling DJ duties) has already started but I starting my walk back home (right through the graveyard, yeeha!). See you tomorrow, INFERNO!

THURSDAY, 24 MARCH 2016

A new day’s dawn in Oslo. The sun has been successfully repelled by yesterday’s blasphemies and it’s getting notably colder in Norge’s capital. Perfect conditions to check out the city’s notorious record stores „Katakomben“ and the legendary „Neseblod Records“. Especially the latter place is amazing, a museum of all things Black Metal, so stuffed with records, shirts, books and memorabilia that it’s close to impossible to turn around or even file through the records in order to find something to buy. Anyway, if there’s a place that breathes the blood-scented air of Norwegian Black Metal’s history, this is it.

Tonight’s shows are held at two directly neighboring venues again, the „Rockefeller Music Hall“ and the „John Dee Live Club & Bar.“ 

First on my personal bill tonight are Poland’s Death Metal stalwarts VADER. Watching them take over the Inferno stage from the second balcony of the „Rockefeller“ is a nice sight. There’s hardly a more constantly touring band in this genre than VADER and you can sense that routine in every second of their show. The band is tight as an angel’s rectum and the sound is close to perfect - still i can’t get rid of the impression that Peter and his backing band seem a little tired. Maybe it’s just me.

After checking out the venue including the Metal Market and the Inferno Tattoo Fair i head to the „John Dee“ to catch a few songs from SCARRED. The Luxembourg-based band plays something that would have been called modern Death Metal 10 years ago - groovy, fairly technical and absolutely boring to my ears. The much too loud, bass-laden sound doesn’t help either.

Time for everyone’s favorite Panzerdivision: MARDUK are next and as always, their performance is a lesson in how to do Black Metal the right way in every regard. Morgan Hakansson and his varying sidekicks have made an astonishing way from their Death Metal-influenced beginnings through several incarnations and phases just to stand proud as the most prominent, credible and relevant survivors from Black Metal’s second wave today. On stage, MARDUK are an unstoppable force, commanded by Morgan and fronted by Mortuus, easily one of the best frontmen of the scene today. The setlist contains songs from all eras of the band’s 26 year history, all conveying that specific Black Metal feeling that can’t be put into words. Majestic yet decrepit, bitter yet proud, arrogant yet desperate. All hail MARDUK, burn my coffin!

After this heart-warming experience I leave the venue for some church-burning business but return just in time for the Norwegian masters of drug-infested cosmic chaos, MYSTICUM. The legendary Industrial Black Metal pioneers have been lost in a black hole of psychoactive substances and unnamed perversities for almost twenty years before they returned with „Planet Satan“ - and what they brought back to earth is unknown to the human mind. Following an unnerving 8-minute droning intro, MYSTICUM take the audience on an LSD space trip to hell unlike everything I have witnessed in more than 20 years of visiting shows. The stage looks like a space ship with musicians standing on three high pedestals which are, just like the backdrop, covered with LED’s presenting hallucinatory black and white visuals at a mind-blowing pace. Cerastes looks like the devil himself without any facepaint or robe, the sound is overwhelmingly cold, inhuman and massive and after a while, time and space become blurred in a vortex of noise, stroboscopic lights and outright insanity. The pictures above can only give a slight idea of the madness that was MYSTICUM tonight. 

Dazed by what I just saw and heard I head back home. INFERNO 2016 has been a blast already and there’s still two days to come. Stay tuned.

FRIDAY, 25 MARCH 2016

Another day in Oslo and still so much to explore. Today’s program: A visit to the Viking Ship Museum, which holds three original ships from that era that were discovered in a burial hill and the Historic Museum, presenting exhibits from different episodes of the past. Even some egypt sarcophages and mummies are there to set the mood for today’s headliner.

I enter the „Rockefeller“ at about 8 pm just to find a piece of home abroad: Ruhrpott Thrash legends SODOM are on stage and remind the Inferno crowd of the fact that they are one of Black Metals most important forefathers. Sure, they’ve come a long way from their youthful beginnings and there’s not much left of „Onkel“ Tom Angelripper’s sinister aura these days. Still, ultra primitive classics like „Blasphemer“ or „Sodomy and Lust“ never get old and it’s great fun to watch those guys play. Oslo - Ausgebombt!

Afterwards I head to the smaller „John Dee“ to catch one of the rare occasions to see Iceland’s WORMLUST perform their psychedelically tinged Black Metal live. And what a hell of a ride that is! Showing nothing but absolute devotion to their art, the four men take the audience to their own, hostile yet strangely compelling world. Oscillating between chaotic and dissonant Black Metal and all kinds of strange, amorphous ambient passages, the music feels like having the shit beaten out of yourself while tripping on some real bad acid. Stellar performance, easily one of the best gigs of the whole festival for sure. 

Back at the „Rockefeller“ i climb the stairs to the balcony to see SUFFOCATION fucking KILL IT! The New York Death Metal veterans are still unmatched on the field of stomping, blasting, technical  brutality and if you wonder where your fucking shitty Deathcore band stole ALL their ideas: This is the real deal. As usual, the band doesn’t have their iconic singer Frank Mullen with them, but Disgorge drummer Ricky Myers does a more than solid job in replacing him. Derek Boyer will always be the coolest looking bass player of the planet, just watching him play with his instrument hanging at his knees is worth the entrance fee. SUFFOCATION play a career-spanning set of hits and there’s not one weak second in the 60 minutes show. Again, the sound quality is ridiculously good, most bands would kill to have such a crisp but massive sound on their albums. Inferno is getting better and better.

Back at the „John Dee“, I watch Swedish Black Metallers CRAFT from the distance and have to admit I’m a little surprised. The band has improved significantly since I last saw them live at the Kings Of Black Metal festival. Instead of a chaotic, random bunch of guys, CRAFT present themselves in a more homogenous fashion, the whole performance seems a little streamlined in comparison to one year ago. Nonetheless, the raw, straightforward Black Metal is far from essential in my ears and the musicians seem a little bored from what they are doing now and then -  which is exactly how I feel as well.

I almost immediately fell in love with NILE when „Amongst the catacombs of nephren-ka“ came out back in 1998 due to their distinctive sound and aesthetic concept. I’ve been following the band an buying their records ever since, still enjoying what they do but couldn't help but feel like they’ve been doing the same thing over and over again for years now. Anyway, live shows are a totally different beast and what NILE present at the Inferno stage tonight should silence every critic including myself. Dallas Toler-Wade has grown into a charismatic frontman who guides the band and the audience through 90 minutes of NILE’s absolutely unique sounding Death Metal. The guitar work of Toler-Wade and mastermind Karl Sanders is simply unbelievable, George Kollias  has got at least four arms and it’s refreshing to see such a long running, established band perform with such enthusiasm and fun of playing. These guys are smiling and joking all the time while still maintaining an aura of absolute sovereignty, as monolithic and indestructible as the pyramids themselves. 

Shit, was that already the third day? Fuck it, see you tomorrow!

SATURDAY, 26 MARCH 2016

It all must end today! But before the shows start tonight, Oslo has still a lot to offer for the interested visitor. Today I’m checking out the Astrup Fearnley Museum, which holds an extraordinary collection of modern art as well as a pretty mind-blowing exhibition from the infamous Matthew Barney, mainly circling about the enormous body of work he has created in his Cremaster Cycle and Drawing Restraint projects. Lots of interesting stuff and a lot to think about on the way home certainly. 

From the highest intellectual spheres of sophisticated contemporary art, downwards we go to the deepest abyss of filthy, instinct-driven satanic Metal insanity: NIFELHEIM desecrate the Inferno stage and rape all things holy and pure in a storm of ferocious Black Thrash mayhem. You just gotta love these guys for what they are: A nails and leather-covered bunch of maniacs that doesn't give a shit about anything. Having an infant's coffin as stage decoration is not really what you would call tasteful modesty, right? The playing is far from tight, everything is just raw, dirty and mean, but hey: This is what it's all about. Sacrifice to the lord of darkness!

Afterwards at the "John Dee", you can witness a relatively short, but intense perfomance by THAW. Combining extreme sounds from Black Metal, Industrial, Doom, Drone and Noise, the black dressed gentlemen create a sound devoid of all life and hope. Massive, punishing riffs beat you to the ground without mercy before the next blasting attack hacks you to pieces. Not bad at all but I miss some own identity and songs. But maybe this is just  too 'post' for me.

The contrast couldn't be bigger to MOONSORROW's epic, folky and Keyboard-heavy sound yet both bands have one thing in common: They don’t really appeal to me. Don’t stone me (or in fact: yes, do) but MOONSORROW’s slow- to mid-paced, melancholic hymns do absolutely nothing for me. I know they are highly respected and sure this is a flawless show but it's just miles away from everything I am looking for in Metal. 

So after two songs (read: 20 minutes) I leave the hall to return only to watch MAYHEM close this year’s Inferno Festival. I won’t join the debate about whether or not the current incarnation of Norway’s most notorious band deserves to have the words „The True“ written above their logo or not cause one thing’s for sure: Hellhammer, Necrobutcher and Attila have more right to rule over MAYHEM’s legacy than you so go fuck yourself!

When the curtain opens and the band enters the stage I can’t trust my eyes: This isn’t Attila, it’s Maniac fronting the band and fittingly they perform a bunch of songs from „A grand declaration of war“ before they all disappear, the backdrop is changed and MAYHEM reappear with Attila on vocals. For the next 30 or so minutes everything concentrates on the legendary frontman who delivers his usual but nonetheless fascinating  performance including the well-known singing to a skull and all kinds of weird movements and grimaces. Needless to say his vocals are incredible as always, chants, screams, haunting sounds, you know him. What follows afterwards is a trip to the past at least I wasn’t expecting: Maniac reappears for some pre-debut material, plays with a few cows heads and throws one of them into the crowd. Afterwards he welcomes original drummer Manheim on stage to play a song with them before he passes the mic to Messiah to make the nostalgic experience complete. When MAYHEM leave the stage, everyone knows they’ve experienced something special tonight. It may not have the original necro spirit from the past, but it was a worthy finale for 2016’s Inferno festival for sure.

It’s over and tomorrow I’m gonna fly back home. Inferno Festival 2016 was one hell of a ride and I’m sure Oslo will see me again. Thanks to everyone responsible for the outstanding organization and selection of bands. See you soon, Inferno!

Vernichtungsschmerz