Inferno Magazine 2023

INFERNO METAL FESTIVAL

Oslo, Norway

April 6. – 9. April

Rockefeller / John Dee / Kniven / Rock In / Vaterland / Brewgata / Vega

TICKETS (including ticket fees): 4-day festival pass NOK 2900. One day tickets NOK 925.

Inferno Music Conference NOK 700.

Black Metal Bus Sight-seeing NOK 595.

Indie Recordings Label Night NOK 325. Age limit: 18 years. Bring your ID to avoid disappointment. Tickets available at ticketmaster.no or tickets.infernofestival.net.

INFERNO MAGAZINE 2023

Editor: Runar Pettersen

Writers: Roy Kristensen, Gunnar Sauermann and Runar Pettersen.

Proofreading: Jan-Martin Jensen, Runar Pettersen, and Diana Blajan.

Design and layout: MultiMono, azgr@online.no Advertising, distribution and publishing: Inferno Metal Festival www.infernofestival.net

We are very excited for Inferno Metal Festival 2023 as we got a good program both on stage and other activities. We will of course work on details and add more to the program all the way to the festival – so be sure to follow us on our social media and website for updates! Inferno Festival 2022 had such a great vibe to it as everyone was more than happy to be back on a festival again. All bands delivered amazing concerts and you could see the audience smile at all times. This time we have had an early and very good start preparing the next edition. Making a nice balance between classic giants and the best and most interesting newcomers in the metal scene. A good blend of the genres is also important for a variety program. We are of course most famous for black metal bands which are still making the majority of the bands at the festival. But we also got some great death metal, thrash metal, doom metal and some bands that are hard to fit into only one sub-genre. It doesn't really matter either – the important thing is that it's good music and that the bands do great concerts. With all the craziness going on in the world at least we have some great metal and Inferno Metal Festival to keep the spirit up! See you at Inferno 2023!

Cheers, Runar Pettersen

THURSDAY APRIL 6TH

ROCKEFELLER

NEKROMANTHEON (NO) 16.30

Norwegian thrash metal band Nekromantheon is among Norway’s finest within the genre. The band took the scene by storm when they released the first two albums in 2010 and 2012. Finally in 2021 the band released their third album “Visions of Trismegistos” to great acclaim. This means it’s time to bring the band back to Inferno Metal Festival!

DJEVEL (NO) 18.00

Djevel is a band dedicated to the atmosphere around the early days of classic Norwegian Black Metal – with a raw and unpolished sound, mixed with haunting melodic passages that make their sound unique compared to most of today’s bands in the genre. Djevel has released several of great albums since 2011 and their latest masterpiece “Tanker Som Rir Natten” even won a Norwegian Grammy Award called Spellemannprisen in 2022.

DARK FUNERAL (SE) 19.30

Swedish black metal pioneers Dark Funeral have blazed a path of satanic ritualism and anti-religion that has endured for nearly three decades. The band’s seventh studio album, “We Are the Apocalypse”, was released in 2022 to great acclaim. The album shows a band still as hungry and hellish as when they made classics such as “The Secrets of the Black Arts” in 1996 and “Vobiscum Satanas” in 1998. We are proud to have Dark Funeral back at Inferno to raise some hell!

CANNIBAL CORPSE (US)

21.15

American death metal band Cannibal Corpse needs no introduction for metal fans – they are one of the best-selling death metal bands of all time. Classics albums like “Eaten Back to Life”, “Butchered at Birth”, “Tomb of the Mutilated” and “The Bleeding” are regarded as landmarks in death metal history! The band has continued to make great records all their career and their latest album “Violence Unimagined” shows a band that is still hungry for blood! This will be Cannibal Corpse first time at Inferno Metal Festival, and we can’t wait to see them tear Rockefeller apart!

EMPEROR (NO) 23.30

Emperor is without a doubt one of the most important bands from the Norwegian black metal scene. The band started in 1991 and already the following year they released the now legendary demo tape “Wrath of the Tyrant”. Four amazing albums, “In the Nightside Eclipse”, “Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk”, “IX Equilibrium” and “Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire and Demise”, was released

before the band disbanded in 2001 because they felt they had lived up to everything they wanted to with Emperor. Luckily for us the band has continued to tour on rare occasions to keep the spirit of Emperor alive. This is one of those occasions and we are happy to have them back with us at Inferno Metal Festival 2023! Emperor did their first complete concert after the reunion in 2006 at Inferno – a gig that was made eternal on the live album “Live Inferno” released in 2009. We are counting that the upcoming gig will be just as legendary!

JOHN DEE

1914 (UA) 17.15

Ukrainian blackened death doom metal band 1914 took the metal community by storm when they released their second album, the masterpiece “The Blind Leading the Blind”, in 2018. Their third album, “Where Fear and Weapons Meet” came in 2021 and took the band even further. As their name suggests, 1914, is exclusively themed around World War I. 1914 has never played before in any of the Nordic countries and we are excited to bring the band to Norway for the very first time!

MUTILATED TYRANT (US) 18.45

Mutilated Tyrant is a Native American black metal band from the Navajo Nation. You might have seen this band in the excellent NRK documentary “UXA – Thomas Seltzers Amerika”. We are happy to bring this awesome band to Norway for the very first time!

NERVOSA (BR) 20.30

All female Brazilian thrash metal band Nervosa has released several amazing albums since their start in 2012. Their latest album “Perpetual Chaos” was released in 2021 and is a beast of an album. Their aggressive style of thrash metal is pure fury to all senses, and they really know out to put on a great show. This will be Nervosa’s first time at Inferno Metal Festival!

MORK (NO) 22.30

Mork was created by Thomas Eriksen in the town of Halden in Norway during 2004. Both then and now the band functions as a one-man-band – much like many others within the Black Metalgenre. Since 2014 the band performed live as a full band and has done tours and shows in Europe and North America. Mork has received widespread coverage and acclaim by both underground and mainstream media and are highly respected by scene legends as Nocturno Culto and Fenriz (Darkthrone) and Silenoz (Dimmu Borgir). The latest album, the massive masterpiece “Katedralen”, was released in March 2021.

VATERLAND STORMRULER (US) 13.45

The St. Louis-based two-man project Stormruler combines unrelenting black metal atmosphere and vision from varying metal genres with a brutal, modernized twist of inspiration culled from highfantasy and history. Stormruler released their debut album “Under the Burning Eclipse” in 2019 and now they are back with the second album “Sacred Rites & Black Magick”. With ominous instrumental ambience and incendiary black metal riffs and fury, the album tells harrowing tales of war, death, victory and defeat, and delivers an unmatched, hellscaped auditory experience. This will be Stormruler’s first time in Norway!

INGESTED (UK) 15.00

British death metal band Ingested have been around since 2006. Since then, the band has released six critically acclaimed albums of brutal death metal and deathcore. In 2022 they will return with a brand-new album called “Ashes Lie Still”. The band has only once before been in Norway, so we are happy to have them at Inferno Metal Festival for the very first time!

nekromantheon

EMPEROR

DARK FUNERAL CANNIBAL CORPSE

FRIDAY APRIL 7TH

ROCKEFELLER

HARAKIRI FOR THE SKY (AT) 16.30

Austrian duo Harakiri for the Sky have been taking black metal into new territories ever since their inception in 2011. Their debut album established a sound that was unique and over the years the band has created post-black metal that is as melancholic as it is aggressive. This will be Harakiri for the Sky first time ever in Oslo and at Inferno Metal Festival!

ODIUM (NO) 18.00

Norwegian symphonic black metal band Odium started in 1994. The band released only one album – “The Sad Realm of the Stars” in 1998. The members went on to play in several different bands like Myrkskog, Emperor, Grimfist and Funeral. In 2018 Odium performed at Inferno Metal Festival to celebrate the anniversary of “The Sad Realm Of The Stars”. Now they are back for another great gig!

WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM (US) 19.30

American black metal band Wolves in the Throne Room was formed in 2022 by brothers Aaron and Nathan Weaver. Their first studio album, “Diadem Of 12 Stars” from 2006, was a genre-dissolving classic that created a melancholy and psychedelic atmosphere. You could feel the rainstorms coming at you, smell the wood smoke and experience the wild energies of the Pacific Northwest. By now Wolves in the Throne Room has released seven full-length albums – all of them with their own unique personality. This will be Wolves in the Throne Room first time at Inferno Metal Festival!

GODFLESH (UK) 21.15

Industrial metal band Godflesh was formed in 1982 in Birmingham in England under the moniker Fall of Because. In 1988 the band was renamed Godflesh and the band decided to use a drum machine for percussion and melding heavy metal with industrial music, and later with electronic music and dub, pioneering the genre and making their sound a foundational influence on other industrial metal and post-metal acts. The band has by now released eight albums and a new album is under development. This will be Godflesh first appearance at Inferno Metal Festival!

AMORPHIS

(FI) 23.30

Amorphis started all the way back in 1990 – making them one of the pioneers within the Finnish death metal genre. Amorphis’ music has turned more melodic over the years – spanning over a wide set of genres – including doom death, progressive metal, folk metal, and power metal. The band has many classics under their belt, like “Black Winter Day”, “My Kantele”, “Silver Bride”, “Death of a King”, “The Bee” and their biggest hit “House of

Sleep”. Their latest album “Halo” was released in 2022 to great acclaim. The line-up today includes all original members from 1990 which is amazing for a band spanning for more than 30 years. We look forward to having Amorphis at Inferno Metal Festival for the first time!

JOHN DEE

DORDEDUH (RO) 17.15

Romanian atmospheric black metal band Dordeduh was formed in 2009 when Edmond Karban and Cristian Popescu left Negura Bunget after internal tensions in the band. Dordeduh continues the spirit of their previous band by creating the most mesmerizing, beautiful, and hunting black metal with a touch of Romanian folk music. This will be Dordeduh’s first time at Inferno Metal Festival!

DARVAZA

(IT/NO) 18.45

Italian-Norwegian duo Darvaza serves pure and raw black metal. The two members can also be found in several other acts like Chaos Invocation, Deathrow, Behexen, Beyond Man and Mare. Darvaza has released several EPs before their debut album “Ascending into Perdition” was released in 2022.

LILI REFRAIN (IT) 20.30

Lili Refrain is a musician based in Rome-Italy. Since 2007, she has a solo project in which she uses electric guitar, vocals, percussions, synth, and loops in real time, without using any computer or pre-recorded tracks. Her masterful technique and her refined taste, lead the listener through the maze of an unforgettable act beyond the boundaries of any genre. This will be Lili Refrain first time at Inferno Metal Festival.

MASACRE (CO) 22.30

Colombian death metal band Masacre was founded in 1988 in Medellín, Colombia. We are now talking death metal of the brutal kind that are not made for people with a weak stomach! By now the band has released a huge number of demos, EPs, live-albums and five full-length albums. Masacre still hold their position as Colombia’s finest death metal band and keeps their music as brutal as ever. This will be Masacre’s first time in Norway!

VATERLAND

FÉLETH

(NO) 14.00

Hailing from the Northern-most part of Norway technical death metal quintet Feleth spent their formative years as a band secluded from the rest of Norwegian scene in the small town of Alta, Finnmark. Located way above the arctic circle Alta is covered in winter with freezing temperatures and darkness most of the year, an ideal breathing ground for a metal band if ever there was one.

With the release of their debut album «Depravity» (2020) the world got to see (and hear) what had been breeding in the northern darkness – earning the band a good buzz in the Norwegian underground and following slots at Industry festival By:larm and Norway's largest rock and metal festival, Tons of Rock. On their second effort "Devine Blight» (2022) the band has fine-tuned their brand of high energy brutal riff driven death metal with face melting vocals.

BEATEN TO DEATH (NO) 15.00

Beaten to Death is a grindcore band from Oslo. The band has since their formation in 2010 released five full-length albums where two of them got nominated for best metal album at the Norwegian Grammy award known as Spellemannprisen. Beaten to Death consist of members and ex-members from such bands as She Said Destroy, Grimfist, The Cumshots and Tsjuder. This will be Beaten to Death’s first gig at Inferno Metal Festival.

ROCK IN OMNIA MORITUS (NO) 14.00

Norwegian symphonic doom death monster Omnia Moritus consist of members and ex-members from such bands as Profane Burial, Dystopia Nå!, Khôra, Vitam Aeternam, Funeral, Images At Twilight, Abyssic, Gromth and many more. Omnia Moritur serves interesting chord progressions around the massive riffs with piano, synth effects, mellotrons, and huge orchestrations.

darvaza godflesh

masacre

SATURDAY APRIL 8TH

ROCKEFELLER

VEMOD (NO) 16.30

Vemod from Trondheim made quite an impact when their first, and still only, full length album “Venter På Stormene” was released in 2012. Combining such diverse influences as Ulver, Dead Can Dance, Brian Eno and Paysage d’Hiver, the three musicians pursue a unique musical and aesthetical approach, thus reaching a distinct expression and atmosphere at an early stage of their career. Vemod are now working on a sequel to “Venter På Stormene” and while we wait, we are excited to confirm them for the Inferno Metal Festival 2023.

SAKIS

TOLIS (GR) 18.00

If you are into black metal, there is a huge chance that you already know about Sakis Tolis from the great Greek band Rotting Christ. In 2022 Sakis Tolis released his first solo album – an amazing record called “Among the Fires of Hell”. It sounds black, gothic, and ritualistic. Now Sakis Tolis will come to Norway and Inferno Metal Festival to perform with his solo band for the very first time!

ARCTURUS (NO) 19.30

Arcturus is one the most outstanding, experimental, innovative, and unique bands from the early Norwegian black metal scene in the 90s. The band started in 1990 with members and ex-members from such bands as Mayhem, Mortem, Emperor, Ulver, Ved Buens Ende and many more. Their debut album “Aspera Hiems Symfonia” was groundbreaking for atmospheric black metal. The sequel “La Masquerade Infernale” took it even further of what was possible to do within Norwegian black metal. The mixture of black metal, Italian opera, classical music, symphonic elements, and Edgar Allen Poe was mind blowing for its time and even for the present. Since then, the band has released three more studio albums of high quality. We are happy to have them back at Inferno Metal Festival!

NILE

(US) 21.15

Nile is an American death metal band from Greenville, South Carolina, formed in 1993. The band is known for their dedicated lyrical and musical styles inspired by Egyptology and works of H.P. Lovecraft. The band sometimes categorizes their music as “Ithyphallic Metal”, in reference to its epic Egyptian themes. Since its formation Nile has released nine studio albums – their latest studio album “Vile Nilotic Rites” in 2019. The band has not been in Norway since they played at Inferno Metal Festival in 2016, so it is time to bring them back to our country.

WATAIN (SE)

23.30

Sweden’s Watain started in 1998 and has since then grown into one of the world’s best known and notorious black metal bands. Their infamous live shows have become a worldwide phenomenon.

With their greatly anticipated seventh studio album, Watain continues to arouse and electrify their audience with an unmistakable, adventurous brand of black metal Magic, processed and distilled over the course of a 25-year long history. The album takes the listener one step closer to the innermost heart of a band that despite always being surrounded by rumours and controversy has always strived for the most sincere and genuine expression.

JOHN DEE

DWAAL (NO) 17.15

Norwegian sludge doom metal six-piece band Dwaal was formed in 2014. Their distinct blend of sludge, doom and post-metal is a dense, hypnotic wall of sound that alternates between suffocating heaviness and trance-inducing melancholy. Gloomy riffs, epic atmospheres, and despairing vocals punctuated every so often by minimalistic lo-fi melodies. First time at Inferno Metal Festival!

DOLD VORDE ENS NAVN (NO) 18.45

The guys in the Norwegian black metal band Dold Vorde Ens Navn are no strangers to fans of black metal. We are talking about members and ex-members of such bands as Ulver, Dødheimsgard, Ved Buens Ende, Satyricon, Strid and Nidingr. The band started in 2019 and released the same year their first EP “Gjengangere I Hjertets Mørke”. In 2021 their debut album “Mørkere” was released to great acclaim. The band did not perform any concerts before 2022 and are now ready to conquer Inferno Metal Festival! This will be a gig to remember!

SVALBARD (UK) 20.30

Svalbard are an English post-metal band from Bristol, formed in 2011. They mix several music genres like alternative, post-metal, post-hardcore, black metal, and occasionally post-rock and hardcore. Metal Hammer wrote about the band: “one of the brightest sparks in UK hardcore”. This will be the band’s first appearance at Inferno Metal Festival!

GAEREA (PT) 22.30

Portuguese atmospheric black metal band Gaerea was founded in 2016 and released their first EP the same year. The EP received many praises from the worldwide press. Two full-length albums have been released by now and the third one will be out this year on Season of Mist. This will be Gaerea’s first time at the Inferno Metal Festival!

KNIVEN NADIR (NO)

Norwegian band Nadir is fast paced, melodic and aggressive with deep roots within the black metal genre. Instead of resting on the genre’s past victories, Nadir sets out to explore the fringes with their take on a scene steeped in tradition. With members that all

have put in years and years into the Norwegian metal scene, and a will of fire, Nadir is poised to be at the forefront of a new wave of Norwegian metal.

WAYFARER (US)

Wayfarer is black metal of the American Wild West. The band reflects the history and the myth of a land soaked in blood. Drawing as deep from the annals of extreme metal as from the gothic Americana of Colorado, Wayfarer tells their tale with dust laden riffing, fierce rhythms, harsh bellows, and broken song. This will be Wayfarer first time at Inferno Metal Festival!

VATERLAND BLODHEMN (NO) 14.00

Blodhemn came to life in 2004 – a one-man black metal band from the west coast of Norway formed by Invisus. The first demo raised a lot of eyebrows in the underground scene in 2008, and the critically acclaimed EP “Brenn Alle Bruer” from 2010 made it clear that Invisus and Blodhemn were very serious about what they were doing. Blodhemn became an underground phenomenon, which soon earned a reputation as a stunning live band. Blodhemn continues the tradition of great Norwegian black metal bands like Immortal, Enslaved and Gorgoroth but with their own distinct sound and aggression in the mix. Blodhemn released their fourth album “Sverger Hemn” in 2022 and are now ready to return to Inferno Metal Festival for a second time!

TILINTETGJORT (NO) 15.00

Tilintetgjort is a new Norwegian extreme metal band with members from such bands as Whip, Troll, Urarv, Den Saakaldte and The 3rd Attempt. By now the band has only released one song – but it sounds good – and soon they will release their debut album on Dark Essence Records. We can’t wait!

ROCK IN WELCOME TO HELL (NO) 14.00

Welcome to Hell is a tribute band for the legendary British band Venom. The band was formed in Sarpsborg and has members and ex-members from such bands as Under the Oak, Ragnarok and Images at Twilight. Get ready for some black metal classics to get you started for an early gig at Rock In during Inferno Metal Festival 2023!

BREWGATA KATE PENDRY (UK) 15.00

The Ballad of Little Wolf explores themes such as love, parenthood, sex and death based on Ibsen’s Little Eyolf. Pendry’s experiments with biometric technology and the range of auditory bodily sounds and voice use, combined with Steffensen’s focus on the guitar’s role and expressive possibilities as a tool in conveying meaning-bearing sound are fused together to create a mythical expression. A performance where Pendry and Steffensen present a special palette of expression as musicians and actors.

SUNDAY APRIL 9TH

ROCKEFELLER

URGEHAL (NO) 16.30

Urgehal from Hønefoss in Norway was formed in 1992 by Trondr Nefas and Enzifer. The band released many classics full-length albums, demo tapes and EPs before Trondr Nefas sadly passed away May 12th, 2012. The band decided to finish their last album in honour of Trondr Nefas and to mark the end of Urgehal in 2016. The band was brought back in 2022 in honour of the ten years passing of Nefas to do a few selected gigs to uphold his legacy. We are glad to have them back with us for a very special gig at Inferno Metal Festival 2023.

CROWBAR (US) 18.00

Crowbar is an American sludge metal band from New Orleans, Louisiana, characterized by their extremely slow, low-keyed, heavy, and brooding songs that also contain fast hardcore punk passages Crowbar is considered to be one of the most influential metal bands to come out of the New Orleans metal scene. Their slow, heavy, and brooding style of metal is known to be influential in the sludge metal, doom metal, and stoner metal genres. Crowbar got a great new album out in 2022 and we look forward to having them back at Inferno Metal Festival!

UADA (US) 19.30

From America’s northwest we have black metal band Uada. Since their formation in 2014, Uada’s rise has been meteoric. The band released their debut album, “Devoid of Light” in 2016, and was soon a band to follow! The sequel “Cult Of A Dying Sun” expressed the band’s inimitably thunderous approach to aural darkness. In 2020 the band released their third album called “Djinn”. The band was also supposed to play at Inferno Metal Festival in 2020 – but things did not turn out that way – so we are happy to have them back for next year.

ABBATH (NO) 21.30

When Abbath left the mighty Immortal in 2015 he went on to form a new band under his pseudonym. The legendary frontman did not hesitate and by now the band has released three amazing and powerful albums. Abbath has a long history with Inferno Metal Festival, performing with Immortal in 2003, 2007 and 2011. In 2017 he came to Inferno with the band Abbath but left the stage after four songs. Water under the bridge – a lot has happened since then – and Abbath is back stronger and better than ever. A new album was released in 2022 with some of the best material the man has made to date. We are happy to have Abbath back at Inferno Metal Festival 2023!

ELDER (US) 23.30

Elder is a genre-pushing rock band that melds heavy psychedelic sounds with progressive elements. Formed in a small coastal town in USA

in 2006, the band has reinvented their sound over the course of five albums to grow from a stalwart of the doom scene into one of the most unique voices in the rock underground. The band’s newest album, “Innate Passage”, was released in 2022. Recorded and mixed at Cloud’s Hill Studio in Hamburg, Germany during two sessions over the course of 2021, this new album shows the band’s ever-expanding musical vocabulary and joy for sonic exploration as never before. This will be Elder’s first time at Inferno Metal Festival!

JOHN DEE

AFSKY (DK) 17.15

Danish black metal one-man band Afsky brings melancholy and sorrow to Inferno Metal Festival. The band started in 2015 and has then released two full-length albums: “Sorg” in 2018 and “Ofte Jeg Drømmer Mig Død” in 2020. Looking at the lyrics, the albums translate into “Sorrow” and “I Often Dream My Self Dead”, it might seem more that sad. But there is a beauty in all the depressive music and lyrics of Afsky that you can experience in all its glory when Afsky performs at Inferno for the very first time.

FLESHMEADOW (NO) 18.45

The Oslo-based extreme metal band Fleshmeadow released their debut album “Umbra” in 2016 and got great reviews from critics all over the world. Blending technical death metal and black metal gave the band a unique sound. Their next release, “Daymares” in 2019, clearly showed the strengths that lay within Fleshmeadow. Their music has been described as the bastard child from so different artists as early Gojira to Mayhem to Keep of Kalessin. The band is now currently recording their next release, which will mark the next step of their ambitious evolution.

VREDEHAMMER (NO)

20.30

Vredehammer started as a one-man project in 2009 and released three EPs on a small underground label before their debut album “Vinteroffer” was released in 2014. Vredehammer instantly made themselves known as a force to be reckoned with in the Norwegian metal scene. One album in and the band was already nominated for “metal album of the year” through the Norwegian Grammys. The band quickly grow to become a full touring band with three highly acclaimed fulllength albums in their discography. Since then, Vredehammer have toured Europe as support for bands such as Satyricon and Six Feet Under, as well as together with Keep of Kalessin and Vreid, plus their own European headlining tour. It’s time to bring Vredehammer back to Inferno.

UNLEASHED (SE) 22.30

Unleashed was formed in Stockholm, Sweden in November 1989, and sprang from the ashes of the

pioneer death metal band Nihilist. Unleashed, along with a few more bands founded what is today called the Swedish death metal scene. There have been very few line-up changes throughout the years and the band still consist of the same members from the 90s. The band has kept to the roots and never followed the trends. It’s been twelve years since Unleashed performed at Inferno Metal Festival and Oslo – so we welcome them back with pride!

KNIVEN RUUN (NO)

Ruun is a death metal trio from Hønefoss, Norway, formed in 2017. Ruun released their debut-EP “Atheos” in 2019 and their first full-length album “Impermanence” in 2022. The music is grounded in the brutality of existence and the many trials one can face in life. This will be Ruun’s first time at Inferno Metal Festival!

FILTHDIGGER (NO)

Norwegian Filthdigger bring their filthy old school death metal to Inferno. Brutal lo-fi gory death metal! With members and ex-members from such bands as Ruun, Enter Obscurity and Psykopath the band members are no strangers to the Norwegian underground metal scene.

ROCK IN OCTOHAWK (NO)

Newcomers Octohawk from Norway came with a strong stoner metal band vibe on their debut full-length “Animist” released in 2021. Most of the members are not as fresh faced as they may seem like the core of the band functioned under the title Mammüth for many years. With an image change as well as a sound change in 2020 four of the five members would continue on as Octohawk. Check this band out when they perform at Inferno Metal Festival 2023!

BREWGATA

OTTONE PESANTE (IT) 15.00

Ottone Pesante is an Italian trio playing on trumpet, trombone, and drums, with a unique and inimitable sound, Ottone Pesante is most likely the first brass metal band in the world. They have success in different musical scenes because they destroyed a lot of boundaries between genres.

crowbar

THE DAY BEFORE THE DAY BEFORE

VATERLAND

Vaterland kicks off Inferno Metal Festival with a couple of awesome artists.

This Gift is a Curse

This Gift is a Curse vomit forth a steady stream of pitch-black venomous hate. The Swedes passionately demonstrate that black metal remains fertile ground for new sounds. Combining elements of hardcore and sludge with influences from occult black metal as well as drone.

Bizarrekult

Walking the line between the atmosphere known from the post variations of the genre and traditional Norwegian black metal Bizarrekult offers a fresh and heartfelt slab of raw and emotionally intelligent metal. The band earned very good feedback from international press for their debut album «Vi Overlevde» (2021) and has since singed with Seasons Of Mist for their sophomore release "Den Tapte Krigen» (2023). At this exclusive Vaterland Inferno Club night show Bizarrekult will play a set that would include tracks from both albums, including first time live premiere for some of the songs.

AS USUAL THERE WILL BE EVENTS ALSO THE DAY BEFORE INFERNO METAL FESTIVAL. THIS YEAR YOU CAN FIND SOME VERY COOL GIGS AT SALT, BLÅ AND VATERLAND.

USUAL THERE WILL BE EVENTS THE DAY BEFORE METAL FESTIVAL. THIS YEAR CAN FIND SOME VERY COOL GIGS AT SALT, BLÅ AND VATERLAND.

FREE ENTRANCE FOR THOSE WITH A FOUR-DAY PASS.

FREE ENTRANCE FOR THOSE WITH FOUR-DAY PASS.

INDIE RECORDINGS LABEL NIGHT AT SALT

Indie Recordings will in good tradition get the party started with their own label night. This year the happening will take place at Salt.

In Vain

More than 10 years after their grand debut and four monumental albums later, the pioneers of progressive metal In Vain remain sovereign emperors of the prog-metal underground. Since its inception, the band has developed its own trademark sound through extensive exploration and seamless combination of musical genres. Their sound blends unique, innovative, and catchy compositions, executed with top notch musicianship in all ranks.

Vorbid

Vorbid is a young, fresh, and incredibly energetic metal band from Arendal, Norway. The bands’ critically acclaimed releases have landed them tours with Norwegian underground heavy weights such as Aura Noir, Obliteration and Einherjer. In 2022 Vorbid returned with even more technically challenging and intriguing music, with their second full length album A Swan By the Edge of Mandala, stepping up the game and proving themselves worthy of a place at the prog metal table.

Eradikated

Eradikated is a young, raw, and toxically compelling thrash metal band from Sweden, influenced by legends such as Exodus, Slayer, and the early Metallica. After hundreds of live shows and releasing the two studio albums “Still Screaming” and “Voices and Visions” the band reached a new peak in the summer of 2019, playing in front of thousands of metalheads at Sweden Rock Festival, receiving a 9 out of 10 in Sweden Rock Magazine.

BLÅ

This year the old factory location next to Akerselva will have a few bands.

Imperial Triumphant

Imperial Triumphant is an American experimental metal band formed in 2005 in New York City. Imperial Triumphant embodies the sounds of New York. The chaos, the menagerie, the perils and majesty of this enormous city. They portray this great juxtaposition between high society luxury coexisting with absolute filth and urban decay.

John Wiese

John Wiese is an American noise musician and visual artist based in Los Angeles, California. Wiese has released much of his material on his own Helicopter label.

vorbid

bizarrekult

imperial triumphant

Photo: Alex77monochrome

Photo: Alex Krauss

- THE FINNISH WAY - THE FINNISH WAY

AMORPHIS AMORPHIS

Before exploring this question any further, it should be noted that the general argument made in 2020 when Amorphis were scheduled to play at Inferno for the first time still stands: Although the festival was established because of and has grown out of the Norwegian black metal scene, which has always remained at its heart and at the centre of attention, it has always featured bands from other styles of hard music as well.

A good starting point in the search for an answer to the headliner issue is to take a closer look at the band’s origin. Back in the late 80s, thrash metal had burned much of its early creative fuel and started to stagnate. At the same death metal was on the ascent. After fermenting and brewing in the underground for years, while spreading around the globe through tape-trading circles and demos, the genre stepped firmly into the spotlight. Five ground-breaking and style-defining albums were released in a period of just two years: Death led the pack with the crushing “Leprosy” in 1988. Obituary followed with the vocal-chord shredding “Slowly We Rot” in 1989 and in the same year Morbid Angel erected their “Altars of Madness”. The year 1990 saw Cannibal Corpse releasing their brutal debut “Eaten back to Life” and Atheist adding complexity to the scene with “Piece of Time”. Naturally many other bands also tried to hop onto the moving train and others felt inspired to follow this raging stampede of death.

At the beginning of the 90s, it looked for a moment as if death metal might overtake thrash

FINALLY, AMORPHIS ARE ABOUT TO HEADLINE THE INFERNO FESTIVAL ON GOOD FRIDAY 2023. THE FINNS ARE NICELY SANDWICHED IN BETWEEN NORWEGIAN BLACK METAL RULERS EMPEROR TAKING THE LEAD ON THURSDAY AND THE YOUNGER SWEDISH CONTENDERS

FINALLY, AMORPHIS ARE ABOUT TO HEADLINE THE INFERNO FESTIVAL ON GOOD FRIDAY 2023. THE FINNS ARE NICELY SANDWICHED IN BETWEEN NORWEGIAN BLACK RULERS EMPEROR TAKING LEAD ON THURSDAY AND THE YOUNGER SWEDISH CONTENDERS

WATAIN. SO HOW DID A BAND THAT STARTED AS A DEATH METAL ACT AND LATER TURNED INTO A MELODIC AND SOMEWHAT MORE PROGRESSIVE ENTITY EARN THAT POSITION AT OSLO’S MUSICALLY DARKEST ANNUAL GATHERING?

WATAIN. SO HOW DID A BAND THAT STARTED AS A DEATH METAL ACT AND LATER TURNED INTO A MELODIC AND SOMEWHAT MORE PROGRESSIVE ENTITY EARN THAT POSITION AT OSLO’S MUSICALLY DARKEST ANNUAL GATHERING?

By: Gunnar Sauermann

in popularity – and then it didn’t. While US death metal with its heart beating hard in Florida remained popular ever since, it never reached stadium-filling proportions or headlining status at the very big festivals. Something else happened in the early 90s. In the North of Europe and particularly in Sweden, bands dropped out of the usual death metal cycle of constantly trying to sound harder, louder, more technical, and then repeat.

Instead of following this trend, acts from Stockholm such as Unleashed, Grave, and Dismember as well as At the Gates from Gothenburg started surfacing with album starting in 1991. These ‘Sons of Abba’ added catchy melodies to their downtuned guitars that would over time lead to a more popular and mass compatible style of death metal. Their Norwegian neighbours begged to differ. A young band called Darkthrone released a death metal album entitled “Soulside Journey” in 1991, which did not really catch. In the same year, another young musician, Øystein Aarseth aka Euronymous, from an obscure band called Mayhem opened a shop called Helvete in Oslo. They had self-released the dirty sounding EP “Deathcrush” already in 1987, but at the time few had cared. Still, this EP set the course because Norwegian metal went on a darker tangent and partly in expressed opposition to the development

of death metal. This aversion is quite clearly expressed in the logo of Euronymous own label Deathlike Silence Productions, which features an image of Scott Burns inside a prohibition sign. The American producer is famous for his massive contribution to the sound of US death metal and involved in most of the classic recordings of the genre. Well, the rest of Mayhem’s story and that of the Norwegian scene at the time has long become black metal history.

Sweden’s other neighbour to the east was mostly unknown territory during the 80s. Finland’s rise towards establishing the Nordic country as one of Europe’s top metal locations and probably the only one where hard music is considered as part a of the mainstream began with death metal – from an international perspective. The first ones to have an album out were Sentenced with “Shadows of the Past” in 1991 from Oulu, the northernmost city of the European Union. Bass-player and later also singer Taneli Jarva also played in Impaled Nazarene, who established the country’s black metal branch with the “Goat Perversion” EP in 1992.

While Sentenced’s musically impressive career ended in alcohol induced tragedy in 2005, another Finnish band from Helsinki that had also started

out as one of the country’s early death metal acts continued to carry the torch: When Amorphis hit the scene with their 1992 debut full-length “The Karelian Isthmus”, they started out on two labels that were already major players among their independent peers: Relapse in the US and Nuclear Blast in Europe. The reason for these signings was probably the obvious quality of Amorphis’ demo material. There was something different about these Finns right from the beginning.

“Whenever I think of our first two albums, I realise that I still have great sympathy for both and particularly for the first”, guitarist and main songwriter Esa Holopainen muses. “We were such a happy bunch and so enthusiastic back then. And we can in all modesty claim to have brought some new elements to death metal – although they did not seem compatible at first glance.”

The new elements that Holopainen is referring too are mainly traits that may be called “typically Finnish” in hindsight. The melodic approach on “The Karelian Isthmus” closely resembles that of their Swedish counterparts. Yet there was something else, which is already present on the debut, but which Amorphis expressed more clearly and detailed on their sophomore album “Tales from the Thousand Lakes”. It came out in 1994 – the same year in which Emperor released their debut album and Mayhem that defining manifest of Norwegian black metal entitled “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas”.

Musically, “Tales from the Thousand Lakes” somehow manages to sound “Finnish” in a way that would later reflect in the music of compatriots

– ESA HOLOPAINEN

including such stylistically diverse bands as Finntroll, Children of Bodom, Wintersun, and even Nightwish among many others. The roots for this sound reach deep into the traditional music of the Nordic country.

“We were of course largely inspired by death metal”, the Finnish musician states the obvious, “but there was also an element of traditional music that has always been with us from the start. We did not take it directly from folk bands and what is nowadays called folk metal did not even exist at the time. Our inspiration was rather derived from Finnish rock and prog bands from the 70s that we all liked.”

Amorphis had found one of their trademark characteristics as traditional influences have always remained a part of their constantly evolving sound. The prog-side of the band manifested in all clarity through the keyboards on that growled hit “Black Winter Day” on “Tales from the Thousand Lakes”, which gained the band many new followers at the time and live remains a favourite of all audiences.

“Our eyes were opened by ‘Tales from the Thousand Lakes’ and many doors for us as well”, Holopainen adds. “Those were glorious times. Everything was new and we even made it across the Atlantic where we toured with our friends from Entombed.”

“Tales from the Thousand Lakes” also brought a lyrical trademark of Amorphis to the forefront, where it has remained ever since. It was largely inspired by the Finnish national epic, the “Kalevala”. This collection of orally transmitted traditions from their country's past was gathered and re-invented by the physician and philologist Elias Lönnrot (1802-1884). The “Kalevala” has had a similar defining cultural impact in the founding of the national state of Finland as the “re-discovery” of the Eddas and Sagas in Iceland.

“Again, it was our interest in Finnish prog that also led us to lyrically explore the Kalevala on our first albums”, the guitarist continues. “We did not plan it, but somehow this topic has always stuck with us until today. The greatest achievement of Amorphis to me has always been to fit lyrics that

were inspired by texts going back to ancient times fit seamlessly together with music that was born in the industrial steel towns of England.”

In a way, this development ran parallel to acts like Enslaved, who were using Norse myth in their lyrics even before their debut album ‘Vikingligr Veldi’ appeared. Both bands do not simply recite medieval or later texts but frame them in a metaphorical contemporary context. They even managed to spark a renewed interest in these old tales within the metal community.

Although there were no strong ties between the metal scenes of Norway and Finland – or in the case of Impaled Nazarene even animosity at first, there has always been contact. “The oldest and probably weirdest memory regarding playing in Norway comes from our guitarist Tomi Koivusaari”, Holopainen smiles. “He was a member of Abhorrence at the time, and they had been invited to perform with Mayhem. All I can say is that this was a very strange experience judging from Tomi’s stories.”

During the 90s, Amorphis did not get to see much of Norway – sadly as Holopainen notes. “Most of the times, we only made it to Oslo but since 2005 our visits have happened more often, and we also got to play in Bergen and Trondheim”, he remarks. “We have always felt very welcome in Oslo, and we have just been there on the tour for out latest album ‘Halo’.”

Luckily for the Oslo crowd, Amorphis are already making plans for a different setlist. “We have been booked for the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise in February”, Holopainen finishes the conversation. “That means we will have to perform twice on the ship. We don’t want to be boring and play the same songs twice. We like a good challenge, and the Inferno Festival will benefit from it too.”

Looking back in time, it becomes clear that Amorphis have played an important role in the evolution of the darker side of metal. They very much deserve their position as one of the headliners of the Inferno Festival. For those, who continue to doubt that obvious fact: just check them out.

Amorphis performs at Rockefeller stage Friday 7th of April 23.30.

“WE HAVE ALWAYS FELT VERY WELCOME IN OSLO, AND WE HAVE JUST BEEN THERE ON THE TOUR FOR OUT LATEST ALBUM ‘HALO’.”

FRIDAY 7, SATURDAY 8, AND SUNDAY 9. APRIL 2023

Oslo is the city where Edvard Munch grew up and started out as an artist. This is also the place where he spent the last decades of his life. Today, Oslo houses the largest part of Munch’s artistic production, including his best-known masterpieces. Join our 2-hour Munch tour and get to know one of the greatest artists of modern times!

The tour starts at The Hub at 11.00. After a brief introduction to Edvard Munch and his art, we will take a short walk to the new Munch Museum. The guided tour will take you through the exhibitions Edvard Munch Infinite and Edvard Munch Monumental: these collection exhibitions invite you to explore the world of Edvard Munch, to experience famous motifs such as The Scream, Madonna, Vampire, The Sun, as well as other major works.

The guided tour will end at 13.00, at the roof terrace on the 12th floor, with a unique view of the city. If you want to spend some more time at the Munch Museum, you have access to all the other exhibitions: Edvard Munch Shadows (a ground-breaking interactive museum experience of Munch’s private residence

Ekely, showing also the things Munch owned and used in his everyday life), Up Close (this exhibition uncovers the extraordinary breadth of Munch’s woodcuts, from his earliest attempts to the last woodcut he ever printed), and The Shape of Freedom (visitors will have the chance to see some of the best known artists and works in the field of abstract expressionism and its European counterpart, art informel.

Viewers can see artworks by Sam Francis, Helen Frankenthaler, Lee Krasner, Joan Mitchell, Ernst Wilhelm Nay, Barnett Newman, Jackson Pollock, Georges Mathieu, Mark Rothko, Hedda Sterne and Clyfford Still, among others. In a variety of different ways, these paintings display a unique sense of the moment, which the exhibition seeks to help the public to experience.

The tour takes place from 11:00 to 13:00. Price: NOK 295 per person including entrance to the Munch Museum (Your ticket is valid until closing time) + Ticketmaster fee per person. Pre-booking via Ticketmaster, for maximum 8 people. For more information, please contact Tour Leader Silvia C. Leine at Northway AS: e-mail silvia@uniquetours.no or phone + 47 456 03 756.

Photo: Nasjonalmuseet,

THE STENCH

OF DEATH - THE STENCH OF DEATH

DJEVEL DJEVEL

Before Djevel and at the beginning of Djevel, Ciekals had Ljå and NettleCarrier. But this is obviously going to be about Djevel, and a lot of dead songs. So, of course, we’ll start with ”Dødssanger”. What was it that you wanted with Djevel and how was ”Dødssanger” received at the time when few, if anybody, played black metal with a strong aura of 90s Norwegian black metal?

- Djevel was started up because I had begun to work on the second album for Ljå. In this period, I moved to Oslo, and it became very apparent to me that it was not going to work. It was as simple as that. I finished writing the album and had the album title ready. I informed the others but was not exactly met with standing applause. One of them didn’t like the album title at all and the others were generally lukewarm about the whole thing, so we just agreed that Ljå was over for me and that I went on, on my own. We actually did end it by texting, of all things. The last song I wrote on “Till Avsky For Livet” is called “Gjort til Djevel”, and that was it. Djevel was supposed to be a solo project, but there’s no getting away from the fact that I couldn’t play the drums, so I had to bring someone with me to the session. I was introduced to Hjelvik through a mutual friend. Hjelvik was really just

going to sing on a song, “Djevelheim”, but ended up doing the first four full lengths.

“Norske Ritualer”, the fourth full-length, is dedicated to Norwegian Black Metal in its original form.

- It has to be clean and atmospheric, Norwegian, and furious (not blast beat furious). So, if my kids ask me what Norwegian black metal is, I’ll answer, “take a part of the moon, a bit of a fir tree and then snow up in a black boiler. Finally, you put a bible on top. You place this boiler in a church. Set fire to the church and let it burn down. What’s left in the boiler at the end is Norwegian Black Metal.” This is figuratively the essence of black metal for me. As a human being, I’m happy with progression and development, but not within black metal. Back in 92-93 we had a kind of dedicated elitist mindset.

Ciekals comes back to the dedication that was mentioned.

- I listen more to electronica, classical and pop than I do to black metal. But I don’t include such things in my image of black metal. Black metal means incredibly much to me and it had definitely been a central part in defining me as a person. When it comes to black metal, I’ve stayed in the mindset we had in 92-93, and it’s a mindset that

you can’t take with you into a normal healthy development as a person, at least not from my point of view. I’ve chosen to keep the black metal feeling and mindset, but leave it when it doesn’t fit, rather than taking it into everyday life in a halfway way – then you water it out and turn it into a weak version. Some will probably call it hypocritical, but then I wish them luck because you don’t manage a balanced, enriching life if you are black metal, as it was in 1994, 24 hours a day, when you were young without responsibility and could allow yourself to live a pure black metal life. I think you have to continue to rejuvenate it when you can and bring it out when it can breathe, not otherwise. I chose very early on to focus on education and to build a platform in life where black metal would never be a basis for intellect and development. It goes without saying that you end up doing something completely different from what black metal is meant to be. This is not peculiar to black metal; it applies to all subcultures. That’s how it started and has continued for me. It starts differently for many others, of course, something that is partly about when you are born. You have those who have “Death Cult Armageddon” as their gateway to black metal and that should be

THIS ARTICLE IS BASED ON TWO CONVERSATIONS. I TALKED WITH CIEKALS IN THE SPRING OF 2021 AND KVITRIM IN AUTUMN 2022. DJEVEL WILL PLAY AT INFERNO FESTIVAL 2023 AND HAVING ESPECIALLY THE TWO LAST ALBUMS IN MIND, THIS IS ONE PERFORMANCE I WON’T MISS FOR THE END OF THE WORLD.

THIS ARTICLE IS BASED ON TWO CONVERSATIONS. I TALKED WITH CIEKALS IN THE SPRING OF 2021 AND KVITRIM IN AUTUMN 2022. DJEVEL WILL PLAY AT INFERNO FESTIVAL 2023 AND HAVING ESPECIALLY THE TWO LAST ALBUMS IN MIND, THIS IS ONE PERFORMANCE I WON’T MISS FOR THE END OF THE WORLD.

By: Roy Kristensen

respected, even if it doesn’t mean that I have to like it. It just gives a completely different starting point and foundation.

What is it about Norway that is so dear, when everything is really just a big coincidence and we just happened to be born here in the cold north? I have an impression, when I read texts, that Djevel does not go hand in hand with the spirit of Christianity, nor any other religion, so there is really no point in any of this we call life, is there?

- I have had many questions about this, about Norway. For me, Norwegian black metal is so clearly compatible with Norway. The boring, personal answer is that I hike a lot in the mountains and fields, I spend a lot of time in the nature. There is a lot of atmosphere, and there are the stories of devil worship and superstition that are major inspiration for me and the lyrics I write. We can call what I write Norwegian rituals. Norway is a very beautiful country. I can imagine a guy from India standing on top of Guru Shikhar or on the banks of the river Ganges and thinking it’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. We tend to take our cue from where we were born and perhaps most of all from where we have grown up. It’s in our blood. “Norwegian Rituals” is a tribute to historical Norway, especially that which existed before Christianity came to our land. I can see that Christianity brought along a lot of culture, but also a lot of negative culture. It is no more than 326 years since they burned the last “witch” at the stake here. But Christianity also contributed to a lot of culture being forgotten. Let me also say that I am a stubborn … there are many who point to Islam and believe that Islam is the new enemy. I would say that in Norway Christianity, and religion in general, is still a big problem. In 2020 more than four billion crowns [ca. 400.000 Euros] in state aid was distributed to the Norwegian Church. And the state also gave a lot of money to other religious societies. When the number of members of the Norwegian Church goes down, which it has done constantly, the aid per head becomes higher. And the support for each member of the other faith communities then becomes corresponding, which means that they receive more support. “Norwegian Rituals” celebrates the part I think is nice about Norway. A basic undertone, or should we say overtone … in Djevel is that I still think Christians are relatively sick in the head, like I thought back in 1993. It’s probably fine for those who find solace in Christianity or that it helps to save someone from drug addiction, but I still think in an overall perspective that it destroys much more than it gains. It’s not as if I get up in the morning and get annoyed by this, but you think about it. And when I think about it, I think it’s a bit strange that black metal is so big in Norway, where Christianity is after all not as dominant as it is in many other countries. But paganism is still very close to us. You have a lot of countries in South America, Chile, Brazil and so on, where Christianity is so strong. In Norway we can, after all, choose not to have anything to do with Christianity. We have the

paganism that lies within us, without needing to bring Viking ships onto the scene and become completely Amon Amarth. There is a heritage there that we have to take care of.

On the last two albums, Kvitrim has done the vocals and the bass. He has also performed live with Djevel. I would say Djevel’s music is quite introvert, so, where does he get the energy needed to play live in front of an audience?

- I have never got any energy from the audience. I am quite introvert and the energy that comes from me comes from withing me, if you see what I mean? To communicate with others cost me a lot and it drains me of my own energy, even when the setting is ok. I think it demands even more from when I am on stage and have to work

shall stand. You can’t have people and bands who claim to be true standing there unchallenged. It’s important that you can smell the stench of death, so to speak.

Djevel has released their new album, “Naa skrider natten sort” when you read this article. This is Kvitrim’s second Djevel album. I do look at the music from the outside, but what do you think is the album’s strength(s) looking at it from the inside?

– KVITRIM ABOUT INFERNO METAL FESTIVAL

hard to bring forth my energy.

So, there’s no help in us standing there upfront and shouting “hey hey hey”?

- Well, it would only make me more pissed, I guess, so in that sense …

Djevel is not really the “hey hey hey” band, in contradiction to in example Satyricon and Dimmu Borgir?

- You’re right, yet at the same time there’s a bit more aggression in Djevel’s music compared to bands I have played live with previously. Not “hey hey hey” of course, but … if it had been Mare, it would never have worked. It’s a totally different universe, to put it like that.

I guess it goes without saying that we won’t see Mare at Inferno, something Kvitrim confirms.

I even wonder if Djevel is suitable for the main stage at Inferno? They did however open the final day of Inferno in 2018, the 1st of April …

- Vemod suits well for Rockefeller since there’s more air in our music. I’m not sure if Djevel is suitable for a big venue? That’s more for a smaller venue, I guess.

Rockefeller is perhaps the limit for Djevel, but both Kvitrim and I think the band’s music is more suitable for John Dee. However, they played at Rockefeller in 2018 and will play at Rockefeller in 2023 as well. I, for one, am curious about how the newer, longer tracks will work in that less intimate venue compared to John Dee. But do you look forward to doing such a concert, or is it more just a struggle?

- Well, that depends. I have been better to point out what I want to do and what I think is interesting. Then I actually manage to look forward. Inferno is kind of special, being of a certain size and with loads of circus activities, to put it like that. So, I guess it’s time to show people where the closet

- Comparing it to the previous album, I think the new one is a continuation of the atmosphere, yet it is different. The album is more dynamic and varied, though it’s not more uneven than “Tanker som rir natten”. The album is rather lengthy (ca. 60 minutes), but still, I don’t feel that it is that lengthy. Perhaps “Tanker …” is more dreamlike, while the new album is more present, kind of … At the same time the intense parts are just as intense, if not even more. But the album does follow the same blue thread, to put it like that. When I got the demos, I didn’t have a clear view of how it was going to be in the end. But the pieces fell into place the more I worked with the material. It felt really great to send the material back to the others with my parts because it became insanely good.

The two first tracks have piano, or is it keyboard? Kvitrim points at the piano standing there in the same room we’re having our conversation.

- It is that piano, yes. We did spend quite some time to figure out the order of the tracks. We wanted them to fit into one LP, and that was not easy since the album is like 60 minutes. We’re definitely pushing the envelope here.

When I spoke to Cieklas, I suggested that the two shorter songs could be on a 7” EP. But that would’ve made the new album too similar to “Tanker …” I guess. Kvitrim agrees.

- The opening track of the album would perhaps fit more on the B-side? It’s quite calm and it takes some time before the track gets going. “Naar taaken tetner” is not the typical opener, and it’s a very conscious choice by Ciekals. He said that he didn’t want to give anything to the listeners who want a quick fix, which is quite the opposite of how albums normally open. Just take a look at Spotify, where the first track always gets the most plays. People do not have the necessary patience to listen to the whole albums anymore! The first track on the album is kind of like a single, if you see what I mean. This 13-minute-long track is anything but a single! Many of our songs have three parts. You have the first part, and the middle section with piano or acoustic guitars or something before the final part is more like epic closure. You mentioned the piano, and that’s perhaps a bit more coincidental. The demo had the piano part, only done by keyboards. I’m not so fond of the piano sound played by synth, so I suggested that I just dubbed this part only adding a few minor things.

Djevel performs at Rockefeller stage Thursday 6. April 18.00.

“THEN I ACTUALLY MANAGE TO LOOK FORWARD. INFERNO IS KIND OF SPECIAL, BEING OF A CERTAIN SIZE AND WITH LOADS OF CIRCUS ACTIVITIES, TO PUT IT LIKE THAT.”

Bad Vibes

Sonic Emotions of Norwegian Black Metal

29 March–16 September 2023

Check out the complete series of Slayer Mag fanzines including original cut-and-paste pages by Jon “Metalion” Kristiansen, enjoy a unique listening experience of multi-track recordings of classics by Mayhem and Enslaved from Grieghallen Studios, a personal letter from Pelle ”Dead” Ohlin to “Metalion”, plus lots of material from the deep and dark storage rooms of the National Library of Norway. Don’t miss this exhibition! Guided tours throughout the Inferno festival and free entrance.

By:

MORK MORK

songs? I mean, they are, after all, in Norwegian …

- Many people in the crowd were mouthing the words back at me, so they have been listening and even reading the words, it seems. Special feeling, for sure. And I did hear song titles being shouted, which obviously can be a hard task in itself, in any other country outside Norway. I’m impressed.

Adding songs from “Katedralen” to your setlist probably make you feel fresher, yet I guess you have to play a couple of older tracks more or less all the time, right? Is it more and more difficult to kill your darlings when you must include some two-three-four new tracks in the setlist?

NORWEGIAN MORK HAVE PLAYED AT INFERNO A COUPLE OF TIMES BEFORE. I THINK THE THIRD TIME WILL BE JUST AS GREAT, WITH THOMAS ERIKSEN AND CO. SPREADING THEIR NORWEGIAN HERITAGE TO PEOPLE ALL OVER THE GLOBE. OR AT LEAST THOSE WHO’VE CHOSEN TO MAKE OSLO NOTEWORTHY ALSO DURING EASTER 2023. MORK HAVE RELEASED A FEW ALBUMS AND WHILE YOU READ THIS YOU CAN LISTEN TO THE NEW TRACK FROM THE PEACEVILLE COMPILATION RELEASED IN NOVEMBER 2022. AND THERE’S A NEW ALBUM IN DUE COURSE, RELEASED BEFORE THE INFERNO FESTIVAL 2023.

MORK HAVE PLAYED INFERNO A COUPLE OF TIMES BEFORE. I THINK THE THIRD TIME WILL BE JUST AS GREAT, WITH THOMAS AND CO. THEIR NORWEGIAN HERITAGE TO PEOPLE ALL THE GLOBE. AT LEAST THOSE WHO’VE CHOSEN TO MAKE OSLO NOTEWORTHY ALSO DURING EASTER 2023. MORK HAVE RELEASED A FEW ALBUMS AND WHILE YOU READ THIS YOU CAN LISTEN TO THE NEW TRACK FROM THE PEACEVILLE COMPILATION RELEASED IN NOVEMBER 2022. AND THERE’S A NEW ALBUM IN DUE COURSE, RELEASED BEFORE THE INFERNO FESTIVAL 2023.

When we spoke the last time, you had been to the US of A, played in Las Vegas and you were just on the verge to release “Katedralen”. So, how did people react to the kind of title track, “De fortapte sjelers katedral”, which is quite different when it comes to Mork?

- The truth is that we never performed the title track live. So how a live audience would react, is uncertain. However, I am not sure if I ever heard any remarks in particular towards the track itself, other than the reviews I got to see over time. The album as a whole received a pretty high praise and it seemed to work very well as a package, with the 9 minutes+ epos being the icing on the so-called cake. Being a fan of classic rock and metal, I have always known that I am able and willing to write a long composition like that. It becomes more of a story and a journey than a normal song. Like drawing or painting freehand

and just let the strokes happen and see where it takes you. I am really happy with the outcome, and I feel it represents everything that was the original “concept” earlier envisioned for the title itself. As a teaser I can tell you that an epos like this will be included on the upcoming album as well.

So, Mork released an EP “Den Svevende Festning” recently, but you’ve also been touring in South America. So, tell us how that tour went! Is the audience as wild as we’ve been told?

- Finally, we made it over to South and Latin America. We did happen to play in front of some quite energetic and thankful crowds over there, which elevated the shows measurably. Great being able to visit these countries and passionate people within. A bit of corruption and hassle along the way, but the shows and experiences made up for all of that.

Did you notice if they know the lyrics of Mork’s

- Yes and no. We do tend to keep the tracks that we feel works best live in our minds. I am obviously proud of all my works, but some tracks are of course better than others. Though the choices get harder as the years pass by and new albums comes along. The last two tours we’ve done, we have made a new setlist for each night, which helps circulating the songs a bit. By experience we have also learned that a song has a completely different effect live most of the time than on an album.

“Den Svevende Festning” consists of a couple of new tracks, some live tracks and a different take on “Født til å herske”. So, what made you make this EP now? And I guess Fredriksten Festning means a lot to you. Tell me what it means to you and also to the city Halden.

- As I mentioned in the release statement, an EP has become a sort of traditional for Mork by now, in between the albums. It’s a cool way to do something a bit looser and include different stuff. This time around there were two unreleased tracks left over from “Katedralen”, a remix of a track and some live tracks from a show we did at Sentrum Scene in Oslo back in 2021. The title track works quite well on its own and makes a good theme for the EP itself. As I have grown up and spent all of my life in Halden, both the city and the fortress are a part of my existence. As most tourists can attest to, the full view of the

- IT'S A MORK ALBUM AND I CAN'T WAIT TO UNVEIL IT - IT'S A MORK ALBUM AND I CAN'T WAIT TO UNVEIL IT

Roy Kristensen

fortress has a quite massive impact when seen for the first time. It is quite literally a floating fortress that hovers above the city below. The actual fortress has a huge part in Norwegian history, and the Swedish king was shot dead up there during times of war back in the 17th century. The incident is even mentioned in Norway’s national anthem, where they mentioned the old name of Halden which was Fredrikshald. To me though, the song and imagery is about strength and resistance.

Some people claim that music comes alive when the songs are performed live on stage. Personally, I like both albums and live performances. When do you think that your music comes alive? And how is it to perform for instance “Dype Røtter” yet again, time after time?

- Like mentioned earlier, I do believe songs in recording and on stage are two different experiences. For instance, if you ever would get to see Darkthrone perform «Transylvanian Hunger» live onstage, it would never be the same as listening to the actual album recording. There’s something holy or unholy regarding black metal studio recordings, as you know, which really isn’t meant for the stage. However, when we perform the Mork songs, they become more energetic and we really do feel it streaming in our fingertips, if not within our entire bodies. Regarding the repetition of older songs that’s in the set, we obviously drive with autopilot in a way. Though, I try to make it a new experience each time, at least mentally. There’s always someone in the crowd who sees and hears it for the first time.

In a few months you’re going to play at Inferno Festival. You played there back in 2016 and in 2019, when you stepped in for another band. How do you remember those gigs? I guess they were at John Dee if memory serves me right …

- Both shows were held at John Dee, that is correct. First time was obviously a big deal for us. I remember standing behind the stage curtains dealing with technical issues, which really got the stress levels up even more. But when the intro was rolling and they finally pulled the curtains, the room was packed. I was told that there was a long line of people out the door and up the stairs as well. That was not expected and gave us a real boost for sure. To be able to return a few years later and experience the precise same thing was great. The second time we even got to time the release of the then fourth album «Det Svarte Juv» in time for the festival, which brought with it some happenings throughout the Easter weekend.

I don’t know if you have any gigs or tours in line before Easter 2023, but what is Mork up to in the coming months before April 2023? I know there’s a new album coming as well as one track on a sampler released in December …

- No shows until inferno as of today unless something comes up. Yes, when I was asked to

appear on the «The Dark Side Of The Sacred Star» compilation vinyl, I was really honoured. Mork is in really good company on that one. Funnily enough, the track that appears on the release is one of the new songs that did not end up on the new album that’s to be released next year. So,

an exclusive track for sure.

Since the album will be released in spring 2023, I assume you’ll put a song or three into the setlist, meaning that you have to kill some more darlings. Without revealing too much, what can you tell us about the new album? Any special development or is it Mork as we know you?

- The new album will be out in time for the Inferno weekend. So, there will be new material in the setlist. Without telling too much, I can say that it’s a continuation of the previous material, yet different. As I have said earlier, Mork is evolving or at least always a product of the particular time of creating. There is no formula or mould that I use, other than the fact that it’s Mork. I don’t listen to

other black metal bands and become inspired or use what’s happening in the world of music as a guideline. I stay out of all of that, and at the end of the day, that’s how I manage to produce the purest and most honest art. Not to be pompous, but personally I have some of my best work thus far on this new album. A couple of years back I recorded what I see as my most beautiful piece of music. For a long time, I didn’t dare to add any lyrics to it, in fear of taking away rather than complimenting it. However, at a different time while spending the night in a secluded village in one of the many beautiful Norwegian fjords, I wrote down some words that turned out being one of my better pieces. It was written as an independent poem, regarding passing away and about the impact before and after death. One day it struck me that I could combine the two, the poem and the instrumental piece. The result is one of the strongest Mork songs to date, and it is obviously included on the new album. It’s atmospheric, melodic, raw, brutal, rocking, sad and beautiful … It’s a Mork album and I can’t wait to unveil it for all the listeners.

Mork performs at John Dee stage Thursday 6. April 22.30.

“BUT WHEN THE INTRO WAS ROLLING AND THEY FINALLY PULLED THE CURTAINS, THE ROOM WAS PACKED.”

– THOMAS ERIKSEN ABOUT INFERNO FESTIVAL

TATTOO FAIR TATTOO FAIR

SHOW BEEN A PART INFERNO FESTIVAL FOR AND WE ANNOUNCE THAT 2023 WON’T AN EXCEPTION. “DOZEN CHOSEN” BE TAKING OF AWARD-WINNING BE TO VISUALIZE IN FORM OF BEAUTIFUL, TATTOOS.

Micky Benavides

Micky Benavides is originally from Chile, specialized in black tattoos such as tribal, neo tribal, geometry, also with vast Tibetan and Hindu influence in his style.

Instagram: micky_benavides

Clod the Ripper Tattooer from Italy that specialized in realistic, horror, metal, lettering, and freehand artistic drawing. Over 20 years of experience worldwide. Singer-bassist in the blackened death metal band Blasphemer.

Facebook: ClodtheRipperTATTOO

Instagram: clod_the_ripper_tattoo

Benjamin Moss

Benjamin has been tattooing for 25 years, specializing in both realism and darker imagery. Originally from Detroit where he began tattooing, he later moved to Seattle and opened the iconic studio Apocalypse Tattoo. Eventually Benjamin relocated Apocalypse Tattoo to Berlin, with its dark flavour, collection of skulls, oddities and antique decor it is truly a tattoo studio to be experienced!

Facebook: BenjaminMossTattoo

Instagram: benjaminmosstattoo

Sefi Blood

Sefi Blood works at the Nigromancia tattoo studio in Valencia, Spain. Her styles are realism, darkness, and her own style of stealth that she accompanies with a small ritual. If you like the macabre, the gore and the occult, she's your tattoo artist.

Facebook: sefiblood. Instagram: sefiblood_tattoo

Sara Iuso

Sara Iuso is an Italian tattoo artist who has now been tattooing for around 12 years. Her style is a mix of linework, blackwork and black and grey including occult imagery and floral-illustrative designs. In 2019 Sara moved to Berlin, where she is currently an integral member of the team at the 20-year-old iconic tattoo studio Apocalypse Tattoo.

Facebook: sara.iuso.tattooartist. Instagram: sarahb0109

Jannicke Wiese-Hansen

Jannicke has been tattooing for 28 years and specialized in Norse and Viking in a wood carved texture. She is also known for her artwork and logos for metal bands such as Immortal, Burzum and Enslaved to mention a few.

Instagram: jannickewiesehansen

Carmen PG

Carmen is originally from Madrid but have lived for the last ten years in Bergen. She has worked in the tattoo industry for 17 years and she is also one of the main brains behind Bergen Tattoo Convention. She is specialized in black-work, botanical pieces, medieval engraving, and old looking pieces.

Instagram: blekknroll

Maria Viirros

Maria Viirros specializes in freehand abstractions and illustrative custom designs. With a background of 11 years as a professional visual artist and tattooing for 3 years. Maria works with both blackwork and colour and is also open for booking experimental projects. In addition to joining the tattoo fair, she will also bring original artworks to

Inferno. Originally from Finland, Maria currently works at Classic Custom Tattoo in Oslo, Norway.

Instagram: viirros

Henrik Wiman

Henrik Wehrwulf Wiman, 18 years in business. Likes to do dark, mystic and mythologic motifs in any style.

Instagram: teutonink

Barbora Sharuzen

Barbora was born in 1986 in Slovakia. She was always passionate about art and eventually she started drawing and painting herself. In 2008 she started learning tattooing and after moving to London in 2010, she debuted professionally as a tattooer.

Instagram: sharuzen_tattoo

Mark Weatherhead

Mark specialises in black and grey dark and gothic realism/surrealism, bringing his own style to both large scale projects and small banger pieces. With a traditional academic background in fine art, digital art and photography Mark moved his focus into tattooing.

Instagram: markweatherhead_tattooartist

Wulfbaron

Hailing from London England, and raised in New Zealand, Wulfbaron creates imagery combining elements from both a primal and civilised context. With swords to convey the nobility through history of various cultures, and the primal brutal reality of death and destruction in the skulls and various other images created, to combine two dualities of the sides of humanity.

Instagram: wulbaron

Christian Cribbe

Christian Lindholm has been tattooing for twenty years and like to do evil colour stuff and black and grey.

Instagram: cribbe667

Madeleine Fleming

Madeleine Fleming is a tattooer and illustrator based in New York. Much of her surreal blackwork style features dark fine line textural, dripping, flowing and surreal imagery – highly contrasted psychedelic human eyes and shiny 3D twisted objects are her specialty.

Instagram: madamartyr

THE TATTOO SHOW HAS BEEN A PART OF INFERNO METAL FESTIVAL FOR YEARS, AND WE ARE HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THAT 2023 WON’T BE AN EXCEPTION. THE FAMOUS “DOZEN OF CHOSEN” ARTISTS WILL BE TAKING A STAND ON THE LEFT WING OF OUR MAIN VENUE, ROCKEFELLER MUSIC HALL. THIS YEAR’S LINE-UP WON’T DISAPPOINT: THE STRONG GROUP OF INTERNATIONAL AWARD-WINNING ARTISTS WILL BE HAPPY TO VISUALIZE YOUR CREATIVE IDEAS IN A FORM OF SAFE, BEAUTIFUL, CUSTOM-MADE TATTOOS.

Photo: Nina Red

- THE FULL WATAIN EXPERIENCE

WATAIN WATAIN

THIRD TIME IS THE CHARM, THEY SAY. I DON’T THINK CHARMING IS THE WORD I WOULD USE TO DESCRIBE WATAIN. TO ME THE SWEDISH BAND IS ONE FULL OF MEANING,

AND NOW THAT THEY’RE GOING TO PERFORM THEIR ART FOR THE THIRD TIME AT INFERNO FESTIVAL, IT’LL GIVE EASTER EVEN MORE MEANING. TH IS ARTICLE IS BASED

ON TWO CONVERSATIONS WITH E., ONE IN SPRING AND ONE IN AUTUMN. WE TALK ABOUT WATAIN, THE NEW ALBUM AND OBVIOUSLY PLAYING LIVE!

THIRD TIME IS THE CHARM, THEY SAY. I DON’T THINK CHARMING IS THE WORD I WOULD USE TO DESCRIBE WATAIN. TO ME THE SWEDISH BAND IS ONE FULL OF MEANING, AND NOW THAT THEY’RE GOING TO PERFORM THEIR ART FOR THE THIRD TIME AT INFERNO FESTIVAL, IT’LL GIVE EASTER EVEN MORE MEANING. TH IS ARTICLE IS BASED ON TWO CONVERSATIONS WITH E., ONE IN SPRING AND ONE IN AUTUMN. WE TALK ABOUT WATAIN, THE NEW ALBUM AND OBVIOUSLY PLAYING LIVE!

By: Roy Kristensen

When Watain released their new album in late April, E. had been through tons of interviews. And, they had to cancel an American tour in March.

- I must admit that I have no fucking idea of what I was thinking that I would have time to do all the stuff that I do now, while also being away for a month. It makes no sense to me now. Basically, it's like this; we're working on quite a few things leading up to the album release. We're going to publish the final single that will also have a video. There’s a lot of work and the technique is mostly analogue, so it demands a lot of us. Everything is made by hand. I'd say it's pretty old school. I got hold of a team who is truly into the whole apparatus. They have all kinds of machines they will use during the recording. Apart from this, building the stage takes most of the time. If we manage to keep up the pace, we're going to be finished just in time for our first concert in May. It's not like we're out of business despite missing the tour.

So, perhaps it was for the best? E. doesn't really think so …

- Nah, the first week was very frustrating. We had put so much time and effort into this tour, we hadn't been to the States for many years. Damn, I have a hard time formulating these words. But there's one thing with Watain when such things happen. We've always tried to look at this kind of opposition and obstacles on our way as kind of rewarding. We take pride in overcoming such things instead of laying on the ground being a crybaby. We have this kind of war that we had to go into, so that's what we did now. But yeah, it is what it is and it's frustrating to know that Mayhem is still doing the tour and knowing that it would've been a great package and all. I've been in touch with them and they're doing great, having their dream tour of their life. People bought ticket to see both of us, so I guess both Mayhem and the audience go all in when the situation turned out like it did.

So, what about Watain and the upcoming concerts?

- First, we'll do is a festival in Holland in late May. We didn't really book so many festivals this summer because we wanted to put our focus in going on tour in September with Abbath and Tribulation. That will be our main start! But it will be good to do these few festivals before that, to feel the sensation and get a bit back in order. We'll open the new chapter in our ceremonial way, with the new stage setup. The main problem now is that we would need a new tank to transport everything, because the setup is very heavy. There's a lot of steel! We have a great feeling about this, and it's definitely the most ambitious thing we've built for our stage thus far.

Watain played at Rockefeller in Oslo on the 6th of October. The concert at Rockefeller was simply brilliant and it made me think that Easter 2023 is too far away. But more on Inferno later.

The last time we spoke was in connection with "The Wild Hunt". How do you view this album now 8-9 years later? Did people get beyond the fact that you did a couple of tracks with clean vocals? "They Road On" was different and a bold take …

- Well, unfortunately I have a bit of that feeling. When I talk to people about the album, it doesn't take long before they bring up "They Road On". I mean, it's fine, but in hindsight I should've expected that. It is the song that gets most attention and judging by Spotify it is the track from that album that has most plays. If I had known, I'm not sure we would’ve put the track on the album. But the thing is that I actually listened to a demo version of that song yesterday when I was in the car going through some older material for my own sake.

If there's any album that has material that truly transports me back to a certain time and place, it's that album. I don't know why, but I think …

I invested emotionally into that album in another way than previously. I opened up and didn't give a fuck … I just wanted us to write a huge album and kind of drown in it. This is how I view it when

I look back at it. It was a big thing for all of us to do that album. Of course, every album is a big thing, but it was an intentionally bigger thing, if that makes sense. I think you can hear it. I can hear it still and I think we didn't miss on that point; I think we made a pretty big album. It was a generous album to the listeners because we didn't hold back anything, and I don't think we fucked up either. There's rich material on "The Wild Hunt". It's a different album to look back on compared to the other ones, that's for sure.

The four albums prior to "The Wild Hunt" were more like step by step in the same direction while Watain's fifth was more like open up a door and seeing all the different paths in front of you. Yet every path would be a path of Watain, to put it like that.

- Yeah, I see what you mean. I don't think we thought about this at all when we did the album. What we did with "The Wild Hunt" was to seek musical wilderness. Wilderness is a word that often comes to me when I think of the album, and that was also a main inspiration when we did it. Seeing how things went on, where we found ourselves when we wrote the following album, it was definitely like you say. We had put ourselves in a situation where we could do whatever the fuck we wanted! Who doesn't want to go there as an artist?

I guess Tore (Necromorbus Studio) doesn't have a hidden button which says, "the sound of Watain", and you just plug in and press record? You have to find each record's own sound, to put it like that. E. laughs.

- You know, he's always scratching his head during our recordings. We've talked a lot about this, and he says that he never knows what he's doing until we're close to the end of the session. It's weird, but on every album, we've had extreme dialogues about what the fuck we're going to do. We agree on certain points, but how shall we work with these points and what we're doing here? We also talk a lot about what it should not be, what the result should not be. We listen to

many albums that sound shit in the studio, and we work our way away from that. I’m happy to work with Tore. He's a strange motherfucker, that guy, he's an enigma. He knows he can't fuck up with Watain and he works like he has a knife at his throat! Apparently, it works.

How much time did you spend recording the new album?

- We went into the studio; we spent two days to decorate the studio which is located in a church that Tore bought. Then we drew a pentagram on the floor that was like six meters in diameter, we positioned ourselves in each of the five points since there are five of us in the band now, we plugged in and started to rehearse the songs in that setting. We had already rehearsed a lot since we were going to record the album live, but we rehearsed for a week in the church to get used to the situation, so to speak. Then we pressed record, and we recorded the songs in like two weeks in total.

The obvious point with the album title is of course fast, aggressive track and slower, more profound tracks. But knowing you, there is (probably) more than what meets the ear. Could you elaborate a bit about "The Agony & Ecstasy Of Watain", the title and why it ended up like this?

- Well, it started with the word ecstasy. That's been in my mind in connection with Watain for a very long time. We also had the track "Ecstasies in Night Infinite" already done. But you know me, I'm a sucker for big, epic titles. C'mon, "Trident Wolf

Eclipse", "Lawless Darkness", "The Wild Hunt", I guess that's just my language when it comes to album titles. I love big titles like "The Passion Of The Christ", which is the greatest title that I know of. I also like "The Possession Of Emily Rose", "The Ecstasy Of Saint Teresa" and titles that refers to an actual entity. Then I began to toy around with this idea and what if for example Sodom had released an album called "The Agony & Ecstasy Of Sodom"? Or, you know, "The Agony & Ecstasy Of Morbid Angel"? That would've been albums that I would really like to hear. What would they mean by those titles? I would be interested in a

the twofoldedness of Watain and the band name is divided into two sections, wat and ain. Wat is Thai for temple, and ain which is Hebrew for the primordial nothingness that existed before existence. I wanted to have this twofoldedness in the title. Agony and ecstasy can represent the emotional duality of sorts. Maybe agony is the existential darkness of humankind, the struggle and suffering of existence, while ecstasy on the other hand is this euphoric state of transcendence, if you will. Both are like emotional anomalies, they're like altered states of consciousness. They're not normal states of consciousness, they're extreme in that sense. They are brought on by intense experience, some sort of trauma maybe, or a climax. They belong to each spectre of emotions in Watain, they are opposites, you know? I boil it down to that maybe agony is the blood and ecstasy is the fire of Watain.

It would be strange if you called it "Agony & Ecstasy" only.

title that refers to something outside of a band instead of a title that reveals exactly what is on the album. In the end I think it becomes a very personal and bold title for a band to use, and I will say a bit about the two words ecstasy and agony. They can be regarded as the twofoldedness of Watain. You know, the logo of Watain is…, I only drew half of the logo. The W and the A and half of the T, and then I mirrored it and then it became the logo. These two halves meet at the cross in the centre. So, there's always been this symmetry,

- Exactly. I mean, I wasn't sure about how the title would come across, but the more I've lived with it, the more content I have become. It is very representative in many ways about what this album is about, in terms of honesty as well.

I would've been, I mean, I think it would've been out of place if it only dealt with the fast and slower tracks, to put it like that.

- Yeah, exactly, but it's funny how you put it because for me the agony side of the music would probably be the slower and darker parts, while the ecstasy side would be the fiery, fast,

“WHAT WE LIKE WITH FESTIVALS LIKE INFERNO IS THAT PEOPLE GET A CHANCE TO COMPARE US TO MANY OTHER BANDS. I LIKE THAT AND SEE THAT AS A PRETTY COOL CHALLENGE.”

- E. ABOUT INFERNO FESTIVAL

and rampant parts. This is something I love about this title; it's kind of brute, but it still opens up for interpretations on a quite wide scale.

My favourite track is "Before The Cataclysm", which is like a train moving slowly, yet not possible to stop, despite the short, calm middle section. It is also the track that brings my memory the most back to "Lawless Darkness". When you write a track, like this, do you always think about what the track needs, no matter if it can be compared to this or that, or is reminiscent of another track or album? Are eventual similarities just a part of the game since you have written seven albums by now?

- It is a part of the game, yes. As we've talked about earlier, I have realized that I have my musical language and I'm quite proud of that. I don’t see it being stolen or photocopied by others, at least not in a very striking way. I'm happy that Watain have these things that become like … hopefully not repetitive but showing signs that you're listening to the band and that you can draw direct lines in between the songs. I must add that I try to look at things at a larger scale and I want to go for things that I feel strongly for, that means something, that doesn't just sound cool. I wish that bands could just do that because that's how you ought to write music. You take the things that you feel strongly for, that makes you sweat a little bit when you have the guitar in your hand, when you start to feel that something is really happening here. You shouldn't do it any other way because it won't be any good. You should always stick to the things that make you feel strong, regardless of whether it sounds a bit similar to other things you've done or not. That's beside the point, since the point is to make something that really feels powerful to yourself.

When I meet up with E. in Oslo, 6th of October, they are preparing themselves for the concert later that date. And as said, it turned out to be another fantastic meeting with Watain’s music. E. also found time to dedicate one track to Metalion, something I know he highly appreciated. Watain also did “Before The Cataclysm” from the new album as well as many other from their strong discography. But how has the tour been, now that you’re reaching the final dates with three more gigs including Oslo tonight?

- Well, at first, I thought it would be hard to get into the touring thing again, because it is a pretty rough situation for mind and body, and you do these things almost every night. It tends to fuck you up a little bit, you know? I’ve been proven wrong. It’s been …, I don’t know if it is the right word, but it’s been quite good to be back again. It’s not like we haven’t done anything those three years off touring. We’ve been writing a lot of music; we’ve rehearsed a lot and we recorded the album. It’s been fantastic to play live again, and I think we’re in a good place now. Everyone in the band is in tune and has a very similar intent and approach.

On this tour you’re doing now, there are four different bands. I read somewhere that this is a co-headling tour?

- Yes, it is on paper, but we’ve played last. This is due to the production, because we have quite a lot of things on stage, so it’s just way easier for us to do it like this.

You said something about building a new stage when we spoke last spring. So, what did you have to do when you came to the smaller venues?

- At some places you have to be a bit creative, yes. We have a fantastic crew, and together we manage to make it work. In general, the stage set was made for venues of the size of Rockefeller, with some 1000-1500 capacity. We did this set on festivals during the summer, but now that we’ve played indoor venues, we feel that it has come to its place. We’ve been able to absorb these ideas into the live context, living with them for quite some time. It has been very powerful to do these

non-stop since we recorded the album. The first thing we did after we got the final mix was to go into the rehearsal room again and perform the whole album.

I’m glad you’ve “Before The Cataclysm” in the setlist. I would imagine it being the toughest song for you to play live. But when I drove into town I listened to the new album and a song like “The Howling” may seem like a simpler track, but there are small changes almost all the time.

- “Before The Cataclysm” is a complex track and there are parts that are stretched out, making it a perfect live song. It’s the song that we’ve been talking about the most as a band, after it was finished. You have the changes in the song, the various moods, and it’s a song that we play quite late in the set, which I think fits perfectly. It’s great to have a song like this that shakes the ground in a way, and it’s also one that is mentally and physically interesting to do as a performer. I usually let out all steam already during the first song, and after that I have to find another power source to tap into something else. One way of doing that is really to perform songs that are really meaningful to you. At least that’s how I make it work.

-

concerts. Doing them for so many nights, being up there, being a part of it – it has been more and more meaningful.

This may be a stupid question, but do you feel that the new album is coming more into place doing this tour? I think you play four or five songs from it …

- Yeah, four or five, depending on the setlist. We change it a bit every night. The simple answer to your question is yes. I really like having the songs coming to life, both the new as well as older songs. It’s cool to experience how the details, the twists, and turns, develop, and become a part of us.

Do you think people notice this, or is more something you notice in the band?

- Well, if people have listened a lot to the albums and really pay attention when we play live. I know that I would approach music I love this way. We do play music that is quite detailed, and people would notice if a detail was missing or tweaked a little bit. We do work with our music from the original ideas we have, but during the process we do twist and turn and may end up somewhere else than we originally intended. I think it’s a reward as a listener as well as a performer, to listen, to feel the music and to pay extra attention to the details.

E. told me last spring that they recorded the album as a band, so in that sense I don’t think the songs would be that different tonight compared to the album versions.

- I think this new material has a more direct line between the studio recordings and what happens on stage because of the way we recorded it, in that live setting. We’ve been playing the songs

Watain do “Devil’s Blood” and the even older track “Angelrape” during this tour. And the band is soon 25 years old. Now, does a song like “Devil’s Blood”, from 2003’s “Casus Luciferi”, feel pretty much the same as a newer song when you perform the during the same concert?

- I feel deeply for that as well as a lot of the older songs we’ve done. I guess I can still relate strongly to the original idea of this song, and I feel that we are able to master it and tap into the song more easily now that we know this song quite well. It is a privilege to write music that is emotional, and energy based, if you see what I mean? There’s this atmosphere, and it is also a quite easy song to get into, you know? If someone puts on “Morbid Visions” by Sepultura, I’m not going to not react. I’m going to feel that song. The same goes for …, or even more when it comes to material you’ve written yourself, a song that you had a quite clear idea about. It is one of the rewards doing Watain, to be able to perform something that actually means something to you, performing material you can’t really be emotionless about. It’s impossible for me to do our songs halfway!

Watain will play at Inferno Festival 2023. But before that they have played at the Abyss Festival in the beginning of November, and they will do a South American tour before the end of the year. It’s still half a year to the festival in Norway, but will it look pretty much the same as now, if you have even begun to think about it?

- You never know, but it will definitely not be the same set as we do tonight. What we like with festivals like Inferno is that people get a chance to compare us to many other bands. I like that and

“I REMEMBER WE ENJOYED THAT PRETTY MUCH AND I ALSO REMEMBER THAT WE MADE A POINT OUT OF PLAYING AT OUR FIRST NORWEGIAN FESTIVAL AS A SWEDISH BLACK METAL BAND.”

E. ABOUT PLAYING INFERNO FESTIVAL THE FIRST TIME

see that as a pretty cool challenge. And perhaps a few people watch us and think “aha, now I get it”. So, with that in mind we’re going to do a performance that is as much Watain as possible, with everything that means. We’re going to make sure that people that haven’t seen Watain before will get the chance to have the full experience. I love playing with Watain in Norway, and perhaps also remind people a bit about how things used to be done back in time and how things can be done if you really want it to.

Have you ever done this popular thing where bands play the whole album?

- We did a short 7-dates tour with Mayhem where they did the whole “De Mysteriis …” and we did the whole of “Casus Luciferi”. That was back in 2017, and it was a cool experience. We also did a 7”-inch bootleg split with Mayhem, with one live song from each band. I like the idea, though I don’t think I would do a full tour like that. I mean, I would much rather see Destruction do all of “Infernal Overkill” than a set spanning over several decades. I haven’t heard their last few albums, but I would go any day to see them doing that album, yes.

In 2007 you played at Inferno, at John Dee, while in 2014 you did your ceremony at the main stage. Do you remember anything from the first

gig? I remember a few people reacted on the smell, since they weren’t prepared.

- It was great. If I remember correctly, it was at the ending of the Celtic Frost tour we did. We had been on tour for four weeks when we played at Inferno. We were in a good/bad shape. I remember we enjoyed that pretty much and I also remember that we made a point out of playing at our first Norwegian festival as a Swedish black metal band. It was right after “Sworn To The Dark” was released, and just a few months after Jon passed away. It was intense times.

When we spoke last time, we didn’t talk about the lyrics and I’m not sure if I really want to either. Some things are better left … But you did a trackby-track with Sweden Rock?

- Yeah, and I think I ended up talking more about the concepts than the music. I guess I could write a book about them, though. I think the lyrics are as essential as they could get, and sometimes it’s great to describe what they are about.

When I heard “Before The Cataclysm” and read the lyrics I thought about life and death and Watain and I got this question in my head that I had to ask you. Do you do Watain because you have to, or is it perhaps because you want to leave a mark?

- I think about leaving a mark every now and

then as a public performer. But I think it has to do be … meaningful. I don’t know if leaving a mark is the thing here, but how do people leave a mark? It is because they do something meaningful! And that is important to me. We don’t have that much time, and I know people who aren’t here anymore, but who definitely did leave a mark by doing incredible things, you know? I don’t see why we wouldn’t do the same. I’m not here to fuck around, you know?

I also thought about meeting certain people again, meeting those who are worthy.

- It is a special lyric. It is a kind of free form of writing. It is not based on a specific set of approach death, it’s a quite loose poem, I would say. And it’s about death and the afterlife, and perhaps a lot about what’s going in between.

It is named “Before The Cataclysm”, not after…

- Yes, but before can also mean that you’re standing before something! You’re in front of the moment when you face it. It is a special song, and it’s very cool to perform it live and every single word in that lyric I enjoy singing out loud. It makes me think of great things and it’s very easy to get into.

Watain performs at John Dee stage Saturday 8. April 23.30.

AS A PART OF INFERNO METAL FESTIVAL, NORWAY'S BIGGEST METAL FEST, THE INFERNO MUSIC CONFERENCE GATHERS THE NORWEGIAN METAL SCENE TO MEET UP WITH METAL MUSIC PROFESSIONALS AND MEDIA FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD.

As a part of Inferno Metal Festival, Norway's biggest metal fest, the Inferno Music Conference gathers the Norwegian metal scene to meet up with metal music professionals and media from all over the world.

Join us for panels, Q&As, live interviews, instrument clinics, networking, and more. When the darkness falls, and the night comes you can enjoy Inferno Metal Festival with top-of-the-line extreme metal from well-established headliners to new upcoming bands.

In 2022 there were 243 delegates from 35 different countries attending, which makes it the largest metal music conference in the world! Inferno Music Conference is a unique offering for anyone who works with metal and who wants to find international partners.

The power of a live concept: Bringing theatre to the metal stage

We have all seen colossal concert productions focusing on theatrical concepts. It might seem obvious that this dramatically impacts the audience, lifting the experience to another level. However still, most artists don't use this or tap into it subtly.

We want to explore the benefits of creating a musical universe and a story playing out theatrically, live, and on albums. The story might capture the audience, make the musical experience more immersive, and in the end, increase revenue.

Audience

Flow: Creating the perfect open-air festival area layout

A successful festival is more than just creating a great line-up. Giving the audience paths so they can move around the festival quickly and easily makes a great impression on the experience at the festival. Directing the flow through a sales funnel to increase revenue for vendors, or not? Logistics and placement of necessary facilities without obstructing other areas. There are many solutions and views on the subject. Let's talk about open-air festivals!

The second wave: The influence of Masacre (CO)

During the early days of Black Metal, the music was chaotic and destructive. Many bands took it upon themselves to do everything in their power to deviate from all other genres. The music was a riot against conformity, religion, and structure. They were depicting the chaos of young minds.

But the musical direction was not a local occurrence in Norway alone. There was communication and demo tape trading between Norway, Colombia, and many other countries. In this interview, we will hear the story from the Colombian side. One of the oldest black Metal bands from Medellin, Masacre, will be doing an in-depth talk with Harald Fossberg and Kjetil Manheim, one of the original members of Mayhem.

Platforms and Social Media Consumption

Many platforms have been predicted to be the leading media to reach the masses. Our presence online is continually growing. Trends come and go. Is it necessary to keep up with the never-ending change to achieve viral success? Or is it beneficial to set a steady course and do your own thing?

Greener Touring II: merchandise

Touring more sustainably has been the aim for many bands on the road. Yet, distributing merchandise and other branded items is a more significant challenge for all of us, also for events and festivals. How can we promote ourselves in the greenest way possible? And what would we need to achieve this?

Fan commitment within digital music consumption

The metal fan, the stereotypical record-buyer at the merch stands and ready for a talk with the band, is willing to invest in a quality record with grade-A artwork. However, with the developments in distributing digital music, are we achieving the same fan commitment? How do we reach the people in a more personal matter and create the same fan relationships?

Open air festivals about climate change

Being outside in a 20th century summer season will bring challenges in all possible ways. Climate change is definitely out there. Protect yourself against the sun, but also against heavy run and following mud. How do open air festivals deal with maybe 3 or sometimes 4 seasons of weather in a single 4-day edition of a heavy metal festival?

Indoor Festivals – the new tendency?

Indoor festivals. A new trend, or not? What's the buzz? And is it even worthwhile? What are the pros and cons? We now even see fall- and winter tours built around the new upcoming indoor festivals so definitely worth discussing.

For more information visit infernomusicconference.com

METAL

NATIONAL LIBRARY BLACK METAL EXHIBITION

EXHIBITION ABOUT NORWEGIAN BLACK METAL AT THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF NORWAY

In April 2023, the National Library in Oslo, opens a new exhibition investigating the dark and chaotic feelings of Norwegian black metal. Drawing from the library’s rich collection, the exhibition references ancient Norwegian cultural history and shows black metal as a music form with a distinct artistic expression The exhibition conveys how Norwegian black metal has had an impact far beyond Norwegian borders with a vast number of international followers.

The National Library of Norway invites fans and other lovers of music and cultural history to dig deep and explore Norwegian black metal as a music genre and a cultural phenomenon.

There will be guided tours in the exhibition during the Inferno festival.

For the average music fan, the story of Norwegian Black Metal is in essence something about murder, suicide and church burning. Between 1991 and 1993 many of the most important events in this dark chapter in Norwegian music history took place in Oslo and we have put together a field trip to the sights that takes you back in time.

This field trip has exclusive anecdotes and personal memories of the early life of the scene from someone who was there.

Tickets Thursday 6. April: SOLD OUT!

Tickets Friday 7. April: SOLD OUT!

Tickets Saturday 8. April: ONLY FOR IMC DELEGATES!

Tickets Sunday 9. April: NOK 595

BLACK METAL BUS SIGHTSEEING – A FIELD TRIP THROUGH OSLO

12:00Departure The Hub, Inferno Festival hotel.

12:30 Holmenkollen Kapell, re-done after church-fire 23rd of August 1992.

13:30 Visit to the crime scene of Varg vs Euronymous 1993.

14:00 Visit to NESEBLOD RECORDS the site of “HELVETE” 1991-1993.

15:00 Visit to Nasjonalbiblioteket – Black Metal Exhibition.

16:00 Return to the Hub, Inferno Festival hotel.

Photo: Nasjonalbiblioteket

RADIORAKEL

KATE PENDRY KATE PENDRY

KATE PENDRY HAS WORKED EXTENSIVELY WITH CLASSICAL ACTING TECHNIQUES, TECHNOLOGY AND EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES BASED IN BHUTO AND GROTOWKSI. WITH A BROAD MIMETIC REPERTOIRE, SHE CONTINUES TO FIND NEW INTERSECTIONS OF ARTISTIC EXPRESSION WHERE THE EXPERIENCED ACTRESS CAN EXPAND THE RANGE OF COMMUNICATIVE PROWESS.

KATE PENDRY HAS WORKED EXTENSIVELY WITH CLASSICAL ACTING TECHNIQUES, TECHNOLOGY AND EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES BASED IN BHUTO AND GROTOWKSI. WITH A BROAD MIMETIC REPERTOIRE, SHE CONTINUES TO FIND NEW INTERSECTIONS OF ARTISTIC EXPRESSION WHERE THE EXPERIENCED ACTRESS CAN EXPAND THE RANGE OF COMMUNICATIVE PROWESS.

Known as an artist who uses the theatrical to comment on contemporary society’s disharmonies, Pendry’s collaboration with composer Steffensen has seen successful works such as Ode To A Mad King (about the inauguration of Donald Trump) marry ‘unperformable’ topics with accessible musical expression (full big band format), taking the narratives into an unpredictable space that audiences seem able to connect to.

In The Ballad of Little Wolf, Pendry and Steffensen explore the limits of their ranges as musician and actress. Pendry’s current explorations with biometric technology and the range of ‘sound’ the body is capable of, coupled with Steffensen’s focus on the theatrical, real-time performativity of composition and musicianship, combine to create a mythopoeic space, where with just two performers the room can be transformed by the sonic shadows they create.

Little Wolf is a combination of scripted and improvised music and text. Pendry’s recent collaboration with the Lemur ensemble allowed her to develop a considerable vocabulary of vocal expression, where the actress’s voice becomes another instrument in the ensemble – far removed from ‘singing’, yet still connected to text.

Steffensen recently explored the twilight world of Dagny Juel’s history in Odille Heftye Blehr’s production Madonna Prosjektet, where he played, and played as Edvard Munch providing a filmic soundtrack to the dramatic narrative unfolding on stage.

With Little Wolf, Pendry and Steffensen unite the diversity of their artistic expressions in this concert sprechen-sang, bringing together musicianship and theatricality to create a performance that seeks to nudge the boundaries of the artists’ respective disciplines.

THE NEW OFFICIAL RADIO CHANNEL FOR INFERNO METAL FESTIVAL WILL BE RADIORAKEL ON FM 99.3.

THE NEW OFFICIAL RADIO CHANNEL FOR INFERNO METAL FESTIVAL WILL BE RADIORAKEL ON FM 99.3.

WE ARE HAPPY TO COOPERATE WITH THE GREAT PEOPLE AT RADIORAKEL FOR INFERNO 2023.

WE ARE HAPPY TO COOPERATE WITH THE GREAT PEOPLE AT RADIORAKEL FOR INFERNO 2023.

RadiOrakel is the world’s oldest feminist women’s radio, and has since 1982 produced experimental journalism, innovative comedy, and investigative radio; all with a queer angle that has made the broadcasts a unique radio experience. Currently located at Blitz, the channel has a unique insight into what stirs in the Norwegian underground. The music profile covers most of what is tough and cool – from the strangest punk voices to hard-hitting country!

Tune in to radiOrakel at FM 99.3 or at their own website at radiorakel.no.

Photo: Jonas Jeramiassen Tomter

Vettakollen hike

Be more like Fenriz (both the wolf and the artist) and go hiking in the Oslo wilderness. Join those special trips for the Inferno audience with Oslo Hiking Tours.

Be more like Fenriz (both the wolf and the artist) and go hiking in the Oslo wilderness. Join those special trips for the Inferno audience with Oslo Hiking Tours.

Lysakerelven

The wildlife forest hike

You will see the best views of the Oslo fjord from Frognerseteren and from the top of Vettakollen mountain. Unforgettable memories guaranteed! 81 euro.

Explore the waterfalls, rapids, and rich birdlife along the beautiful Lysaker river. We'll take you on a walk along the river in the green neighbourhood of Oslo. 68 euro.

For more information go to www.oslohiking.no.

Would you like to experience the hike in the real Norwegian forest? Let's go to Skjennungstoppen and Oslomarka with Oslo Hiking! 126 euro.

At Inferno, the Mjøderiet will be present and have mead tastings – here you can make an intimate acquaintance with mead's long history, styles, flavours and, not least, meet the mead makers themselves. Mjøderiet will make a special and limited batch of their finest brew for the Inferno audience. This mead will only be available only for sale at the Inferno Metal Festival 2023!

eathbarrel were spawned in a Norwegian prison back in 2012. Naturally we’re talking about outlaw country music here. The real thing so to speak. Deathbarrel is a moving, living, fornicating, hard drinking foot stomping shindig of a band, feasting on harsh winters, harsher women, and lethal amounts of bourbon. With its dark and eerie vibe, pitch black humour and kerosine breath, Deathbarrel slithers its way through damp swamps, cold mountains, grey courtrooms and sweaty bayous and fjords! Deathbarrel is the truth. And more than often truth will put you behind bars and ultimately, upon release, it will also set you free.

The Inferno Music Conference will take place at the hotel in the daytime Thursday and Friday. There will be pre- and after-parties in the Hub Bar with Inferno DJs, artist interviews, the famous Black Metal Auction hosted by Tore Bratseth and more! For guests staying at the hotel, it will be Oslo’s best hotel breakfast until 11:00 (you don’t want to miss it) and free access to swimming pool and sauna. The Hub boasts Oslo’s best location, right in the city centre, next to Oslo Central Station and the Airport Express Train – and only about a five minutes’ walk from the venues Rockefeller & John Dee, SALT, Kniven, Vaterland, Brewgata, Vega and Rock In. No expensive taxi rides!

The special Inferno discount price is valid in the period 2nd to 10th April. Extend your stay and experience Oslo! During the festival period the hotel offers rooms at the rates listed along with the room types below:

Standard Double Room

Our standard double rooms (19-22 sqm) have everything you might need during your stay and more! The rooms either have a queen size double bed (160cm) or two single beds (105cm), as well as carefully chosen, modern décor. Enjoy hightech equipment and smart solutions in your room and all throughout the hotel! Some of the rooms have a desk. The hotel is ideally situated in the centre of Oslo, and some of the rooms also offer great views of the city! All the rooms have a modern and spacious bathroom with a hairdryer, and a shower or bathtub. Please note that it is not possible to request extra beds in these rooms.

1 person: 895 NOK

2 people: 1095 NOK / 547,50 NOK a person

Superior Double Room

Our superior double rooms (24-29 sqm) are nice and spacious with lots of smart solutions! The fabulous interior design provides a wonderfully cosy atmosphere in these rooms. The rooms either have a queen size double bed (160cm) or two single beds (105cm), as well as carefully chosen, modern décor. Some of the rooms have a desk and chair, while others have a comfortable armchair. All the rooms have a bright and spacious bathroom with either a bath or shower, and a hairdryer.

1 person: 1160 NOK

2 people: 1360 NOK / 680 NOK a person

3 people: 1660 NOK / 553,33 NOK a person

Deluxe Double Room

Our wonderfully spacious deluxe double rooms (30-40 sqm) have everything you might need and more! All the rooms feature a queen size double bed (160cm) with large pillows for added comfort and we can provide an extra bed if required. Our deluxe double rooms feature high-tech equipment including smart TVs with a streaming function and a convenient workspace with desk or a lounge area. All the rooms have bathroom with a hairdryer, bathrobes, slippers, and shower or bathtub. Some of the rooms have a balcony or terrace. How do you like the sound of a freshly brewed cup of coffee as you gaze out across the Oslo skyline?

1 person: 1580 NOK

2 people: 1780 NOK / 890 NOK a person

3 people: 2080 NOK / 693.33 NOK a person

Family Room

Max. 4 people. Family rooms are spacious with plenty of room for a double bed and a sofa bed for either one or two people. The room is equipped with a coffee machine, minibar, hairdryer, luxurious down duvet, pillow, 55” smart TV with media streaming, iron and ironing board, and free Wi-Fi. This room is suitable for up to 4 people, or for 1-2 people seeking extra spacious accommodation. Please note that the furnishings and layout of the rooms may vary from the photo.

1-4 people: 2580 NOK

THE INFERNO FAMILY: ARTISTS AND FANS, MEDIA AND MUSIC INDUSTRY WILL GATHER AT THE OFFICIAL FESTIVAL HOTEL CLARION HOTEL THE HUB FOR HAPPENINGS, PARTYING, AND A GOOD NIGHT OF SLEEP.