Inferno Festival Day 3, April 3rd 2015
Photos by Eivind Nakken.
After a hearty breakfast, it’s time to infiltrate Rockefeller Music Hall yet again. Today the show is kicked off by NOLA supergroup Goatwhore, who are just starting their European tour. Despite a somewhat lackluster attendance, singer Ben Falgoust is adamant about getting the hungover crowd moving. The dirty southern mix of deaththrash and filthy black metal is contrasted with squealing guitar solos and riffs that are tailored for headbanging. The band hits a potential roadblock when their session bassist breaks a string (apparently), but the remaining members plow through two entire songs without bass without it making much difference. Between some shameless self-promotion, irreverent banter, and rowdy encouragement of crowd interaction, Falgoust turns the show from merely good into something great. The day has officially started, and we’re already having a blast.
By the time we descend the stairs to John Dee, the place is already bursting at the seams. Although they remain steeped in obscurity, the Ålesund-based Dødsengel are evidently drawing a lot of attention. Clad in red cloaks, and with mainman Kark adorning a Venetian mask, a Dødsengel performance is a ceremonial experience. As the backdrop shows footage of volcanic eruptions, the band takes us on a ritualistic journey to the bowels of hell. Deeply occult hypnotic black metal with a touch of grandiose atmospheres is conjured with ominous sonority. This is the kind of music that could easily have lost some of its appeal in a live setting, tightly stuffed between drunken fans, but Dødsengel and their music have the clout to pull it off.
Upstairs the British doom stalwarts My Dying Bride face a similarly crowded house, and as they open with the classic “Your River”, the now warmed-up audience are more than appreciative. Frontman Aaron Stainthorpe makes an impressive figure, ghostly pale and well-dressed as he croons his dark poetry. The band’s set takes us for a journey back in time, covering their entire career all the way back to their 1991 single “God Is Alone”. A welcome break from the more extreme end of the metal spectrum, My Dying Bride demonstrate why they remain the most popular doom band on the planet.
With the gloomy ruminations of Stainthorpe and crew still sounding out above us, we return to the dark below for another helping of black metal. Representing the Finnish scene at this year’s Inferno Festival, Sargeist play torrential riffs that sends John Dee into a blizzard of hair and fists. Tapping into the icy vein of raw black metal, the band provide a finely tuned archetype of riff-fueled mayhem. The imposing presence of vocalist Hoath Torog (also of Behexen) makes for a grim figurehead for this cult band. It might be almost unbearably hot in the venue, but Sargeist somehow manage to invoke a northern winter.
After just capping off an extensive North American tour with YOB, Enslaved are back home in Norway just in time for Easter. Although they have a new album to promote, In Times represents only a small portion of their headlining show. Touching upon most of their watertight discography, the boys from Bergen are in top shape as usual. The sound in Rockefeller is jaw-dropping, with every note inducing bowel-shaking euphoria, and the band make every moment count. Seemingly in great spirits for their special night, frontman Grutle goofs around between songs and shreds like a Viking god. This holiday may predominantly be centered on Jesus and an egg-laying rabbit, but inside Rockefeller Enslaved are praising the old Gods with a solid helping of progressive metal. It’s a crushing end to another mind-melting day in Oslo.
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