We arrived quite early at the venue, to browse the different stands at the festival. I bought an Aeternus
shirt, and my friend Anders bought a Mayhem one (really cliché print with an eagle and a pentagram).
We then went downstairs to the smaller stage, called John Dee (the smaller bands played there), to check
out the opening band, Tonka. They were pretty alright, not my kind of music really, but they put on an
OK show, and my head soon started banging along to the music. The vocalist had red warpaint all over his
face and silver-colored chest hair. Yes. They played mostly mid-tempo, heavy, melodic metal, with
some thrashy fast parts and synths thrown in.
Then we went up from the cellar-ish music venue that is John Dee, and back to the main stage - Rockefeller,
to see Aeternus. We managed to get very good places at the very front of the stage. Aeternus put on
a really energetic, technical and tight show, and the crowd seemed to dig it. The show was sold out,
and Rockefeller's capacity is about 1800 (whereas John Dee only takes 450). Aeternus mostly played stuff
from their latest album, A Darker Monument, and the crowd seemed quite familiar with the songs. I banged
my head off and threw the "metal fist" (\m/) during the whole set, and had a brilliant time. I yelled
"Under The Eternal Blackened Sky" in one of the breaks between the songs, and they seemed to obey my wishes,
because they finished off their show with that song. Brilliant stuff.
Their set included songs such as Sword Of The Earth, Soulslayer, Slavestate, Descend To The Underworld,
Ascension Of The Elders and Under The Eternal Blackened Sky. I think they played two more songs, but I
can't remember which.
"Sinners Bleed" is a young death metal band from Germany, who had won a demo contest for young and promising
bands, hence securing themselves a place in this years Inferno Festival. They seemed really nervous when
they got onstage (this was their first huge concert and also the first outside of Germany, I think),
but they received a warm welcome from a packed John Dee, and then went on with their set. I was in the very
front of the stage this time too, and was torn to pieces by their incredible, tight-as-hell death metal
assault. They really surprised the audience with their incredible musicianship and kickass songs. The band
were enjoying themselves a lot onstage, smiling all the time - it seemed as if they were surprised by
the great response they got from the crowd. They even played two additional songs after their set was finished,
because of huge public demand I had never headbanged so frenetically to a show in my entire life, and my
neck was almost hurting after the Sinners Bleed show, but it was well worth it.
We then returned to Rockefeller (where I saw Hellhammer and Blasphemer), to notice that Susperia had already
started playing. Not being a huge fan of Susperia, I settled in the middle of the audience to get a nice overview.
They seemed to be incredibly popular amongst the audience, though, almost everyone in the crowd was singing along
and jumping around. Their sceneshow was quite cool, with fireworks and interesting light effects. Still, I wasn't
too excited, as their music just isn't my cup of tea.
My friend and I went to the bar to get some drinks and something to eat, and then went to secure good places
before the Zyklon gig, right in front of the stage. Their soundcheck was amazing, Trym's double bass inferno
and short but intense drum solo being the highlight. Zyklon really seemed to enjoy themselves while playing,
Samoth's stoneface even cracked up in huge grins now and then. The audience was brilliant as usual, and I
headbanged so hard that I became rather dizzy, and my arms started aching after having thrown my fists in the air
for a good two and a half hours or so (especially during the Sinners Bleed set). Zyklon delivered in style,
being as tight and machine-like as on their albums. Especially Trym was impressive. Their set:
Core Solution
Worm World
Subtle Manipulation
The Prophetic Method
Trancendental War - Battle Between Gods
Psyklon Aeon
Deduced To Overkill
Hammer Revelation
Then - the highlight of the whole festival (at least for me) - Enslaved. Having been one of my favourite bands
for quite some time, I was really excited to see them. We got great places in front of the stage again, and
prepared ourselves for a great show. And did they deliver the goods. The best show of the day by far - tight,
energetic, fast, powerful - everything I'd hoped for. The communication with the crowd was brilliant. They
seemed to love playing for us - this is what they live for, to play in front of extatic fans who love their work.
They dedicated one of their songs to the people who'd come from abroad to this festival (quite a lot of
non-Norwegians had come to the festival, some Dutch girls standing around us headbanged like maniacs and
looked as if they were in trance during the whole Enslaved set.) Another song, Jotunblod, was dedicated to
the late Terje "Valfar" Bakken. Everything was perfect. The new members were very talented, especially the drummer.
There was a great feeling of unity throughout the whole show, people singing along and headbanging with strangers
as if they were old friends. Things like these make me love concerts so much. Enslaved finished off with "Slaget
I Skogen Bortenfor" - one of my top three favourite songs by Enslaved. I'd never dared dreaming of this,
(the song is about 15 minutes long), thus I almost exploded with excitement. I danced, jumped, headbanged throughout
the whole song, and I have no idea where I got the energy from. The audicence more or less exploded too during
this song. After the band had finished playing and the audience was torn to pieces, Grutle (vocalist and bassist)
dived into the crowd and crowdsurfed for a short while. Most of the audience had started running downstairs to
catch Ásmegin's show when he did this, so this was more or less a gesture to the core Enslaved fans who stayed
to sing "Enslaved, Enslaved" (repeat x500) after their set. He hugged a couple of fans, and then went towards me -
and we shaked hands. I shaked hands with Grutle Kjellson. I know this sounds really fanboyish, but it was a great
moment for me, having been a fan of the band and the man for years. We both smiled at each other, knowing that
this was a legendary show that will be remembered for years to come. Setlist:
The Dead Stare
The Voices
Jotunblod
Eld
As Fire Swept Clean The Earth
Mardraum
Ansuz Astral
The Crossing
Slaget I Skogen Bortenfor
We then tried to catch the Ásmegin show, but John Dee was packed to the max, so I only got to see about one minute
of the show before almost being crushed to pieces by the crowd. We then ventured back to Rockefeller, buying
some drinks, and having multiple mental orgasms after this legendary gig. Nothing can ever top this. Ever.
