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Articles : Inferno Metal Festival 2015 @ Oslo, Norway – Day 2

By on May 9, 2015

Images: Imanuel d’Anjou
Words: Prarthana Venunathan

The best thing about most European festivals especially Inferno is that it doesn’t just stop with one day of ear-drum obliterating madness. No. It’s four days. For any metal head, those four days are like a pilgrimage within the city centre, taking in the atmosphere of the country where black metal was born. I kid you not, it was a sea of black in the middle of Oslo at the swanky Hotel Royal Christiania in celebration of Black Easter and Inferno Metal Festival’s 15th installment and the metallic festivities continued on for the second day of Inferno.

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Execration

Day 2 for me, began with the mighty Execration from Norway. Playing a heavy, rather old-school style of death metal, there were plenty of choppy riffs and blasts being pounded out to kick start the night in the most brutal manner possible. Their brand of metal was mind-numbingly addictive to say the least – eerie grooves, fast, headbangable tempos, just straight up blood-curdling  stuff that will make your brain rattle. It’s no wonder these guys won a Norwegian Grammy last year!  It got easier on the legs this time around because we didn’t have to scour the countryside for all the venues. heading back down to John Dee to see my brown boys Inner Sanctum, I got there just in time because 2 minutes in and that place was packed! Having lived in India for eons , I’ve never actually seen these guys play live  and to think I caught them halfway around the world and with a crowd like that? It was definitely something else. Needless to say, they killed it, belting out both some older tunes as well as songs from their soon to be released album ‘Legions Awake‘ . Groove-laden, heavy and playing at relentless speeds,  these guys had the crowd’s attention right from the start of their set, the vocalist engaging in friendly banter every now and then. At the end of their set, the packed John Dee shouted deafening cheers of admiration for what was definitely an amazing performance!

By the time my legs took me back up to Rockerfeller the hall was packed to see the Greek symphonic Gods Septicflesh who I happened to see last year in May along with Fleshgod Apocalypse on their Australian tour, in support of their bloody brilliant new album ‘Titan‘. I was like a little girl on Christmas day when they came on stage one by one and Seth stood majestically in front of the crowd, quite literally like a statue. In all my excitement, I managed to get stuck; bang in the middle of the venue, in the company of some very large and rather enthusiastic drunk Norwegians. Not only were we all eagerly awaiting symphonic heaviness to fill the air, the excitement to see Krimh in his new role was real. There is no doubt that Spiros is probably one of the most majestic frontmen ever ( even if he is contractually obliged to keep his chin up) he had the crowd at his mercy, demanding the masses to ‘destroy’ whenever he got the chance.  The setlist was a good one and included some favourites from the new album like ‘Order of Dracul‘ and ‘Dogma‘ as well as older tracks ( went apeshit during ‘Communion‘ and ‘The Vampire From Nazareth‘). Sotiris and Christos Antoniou were beasting their respective guitars It was a powerful performance from the Athenians as expected yet I couldn’t help be mind-blown yet again at how brutally elegant they are. At the end of the set, Spiros proudly introduced Krimh to the crowd and the response was nothing short of deafening. No surprise there – the man is a drumming machine.

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Septicflesh

I managed to catch the end of Antichrist’s set and from what I heard they were pretty good – a very intense and aggressive thrash band with heaps of black metal influences; a little generic perhaps.  But 1349 were up next and holy shit did they heat up the Rockerfeller stage. They seemed to be the perfect contenders for pyromania along with Behemoth. The band was like an unstoppable force, with an unbelievable energy and stage presence , the first few rows being but a blur of flailing arms legs and of course heaps of hair. Playing tracks like ‘Exorcism’, ‘Golem’ and ‘Slaves’  from their latest record ‘Massive Cauldron of Chaos’, these Norwegians quite literally proved that that is exactly what they create on stage.

Galloping back down to John Dee for Ensiferum’s set, out came the faces with war paint, the folk dancing began and things got pretty exciting. Having seen these Finns only a few days earlier along with Insomnium and Omnium Gatherum, they’re definitely one of the most entertaining live bands. Netta fits in perfectly with the guys playing her accordion with so much style, making these hilariously animated faces while she’s at it. Sami Hinkka paraded around in his manly kilt getting a few laughs out of the crowd, getting everyone psyched out of their wits while playing lots of new songs from ‘One Man Army‘.

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I left after a few songs though so I could go stand guard of my spot at the barrier (almost 45 minutes) ensuring  that I had a full view of the next band; one that was the main reason I had decided to attend Inferno.

The haunting intro of ‘Blow Your Trumpets, Gabriel‘ crept through the air a little past midnight marking the beginning of what promised to be the show of a lifetime.The moment you see the stage set-up; Orion and Seth standing guard like Gargoyles in the most beastly manner, ‘Inferno’ death staring into the distance and not to mention the sheer anticipation for Adam Darski to come on stage – it’s unlike anything else you’ll ever experience. How was Behemoth’s set you might ask? Well for those of you who have seen them live, you’d understand but for those who haven’t it was nothing short of evil and electrifying, a severe understatement because I will never find the right words to describe them. I’ve come across many people who find Behemoth’s theatrics a bit of a turn-off but to me, it’s a bloody art form. And by bloody, I’m being very literal –  somewhere during ‘Messe Noire’, all three Polishmen took it upon themselves to bless Oslo by spitting ‘blood’ onto the now insane crowd – I had the pleasure of looking like I came out of battle.  The setlist was nothing short of a treasure chest full of valuable, hard-hitting and extreme, typically Behemoth tunes, the boys keeping things real with tracks from all over their discography including ‘Conquer All’, ‘ Christians to the Lions’, ‘Slaves Shall Serve’, ‘At The Left Hand Ov God’ and one of my all time favourites ‘Chant for Eschaton 2000‘.

Behemoth are famous for their pyromaniacal behaviour on stage but this time around, it truly was like the depths of hell. The fire was so in sync with the music, it added to the aura that this band naturally has. Nergal was absolutely vicious on stage and rightly so, the man is living proof of giving death the proverbial finger.  Albeit an acquired taste, once you understand the music and ways of the band, you will get lost in the absolute majesty, and genius that is Behemoth. What a night!

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Ensiferum

About

Prarthana is a vegan, Indo-Aussie, heavy music addict, fluent in sarcasm and metal. Traveling is an obsession as she enjoys taking in the history of various countries and following her favorite bands. She's either eating, teaching grammar or learning an instrument, when not occupied with windmilling in the faces of other humans.