INFERNO FESTIVAL AT THE ROCKEFELLER, OSLO NORWAY
MARCH 29TH & 30TH 2002

I had never been to Scandinavia before making the trek to Inferno, so I was quite excited. I arrived in Oslo around 12 noon on the 27th of March. Just in time for the Inferno "pre-parties". I had enough time to shower and unpack and have something to eat, before heading out the door to a very small pub in the heart of Oslo to see CADAVER INC. I am sorry, but I do not remember the venue name. It was very small though. And we were on the guestlist, so no problems getting in. The place was packed. So we made our way to the back of the pub. There I saw Fenriz of Darkthrone and Frost of Satyricon drinking beer and chatting with friends. The girl I stayed with in Norway is Groo Narvestad a well known metal radio DJ in Oslo. She has had her program Ambolt for over 5 years now. She knows most everyone in the scene there, so she introduced me to a lot of important people.

I had sadly never heard of CADAVER, INC before. But was briefly brought up to date by Groo that they have been around a long while going by simply CADAVER before changing it to CADAVER, INC. The band features "Apollyon" on vocals/guitars, whom most will know is also a founding member of AURA NOIR. Right before CADAVER, INC hit the small stage, some guy warned me that I was about to witness the best drummer in all of Norway. So CADAVER, INC began. And you might as well say goodbye to your hearing. These fuckers were loud, fast, tight and brutal as hell! Their brand of death metal, was truly satisfying. And that guy was right. The drummer was fucking insane! Just watching him play made my eyes cross. I have to mention that the place was fucking hotter than Hades. Because it was upstairs at the venue and plus there were so many people there. All I can say about CADAVER, INC is that if they hit your area ever, GO!!! You wont be disappointed. I understand that they are playing some dates in the US in the coming weeks, so look for them. I on the other hand will be buying their latest album "Discipline" as soon as I finish this review. CADAVER, INC were done playing. They played for about 40 minutes.

We walked out of the venue into the cold, brisk air of Oslo (godamn did that feel good…Blizz). We wandered up the street to the prestigious club known only as "Elm Street". This is a place where everyone into metal who lives in the Oslo vicinity goes to hang out. We stayed there until 4:00am and then made our way back to Groo's pad. Mind you, I had been up for 32 hours at that point and was suffering from extreme jet lag. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow. And I slept all day Thursday. When I awoke, I found Groo on the couch. She was not feeling well. She said she was going to stay home that night. She told me that our friend Tom called and was down at Elm Street with some other people that I had not yet met, but whom posted at my metal bulletin board. She said they wanted me to come down. Well, of course I was going to go. I wanted to meet everyone plus I wanted to see the bands playing that night. AURA NOIR/AUDIOPAIN/AMOK were all to play that night.

So I got down to Elm at around 10:00 I think. As I paid the entrance fee I had my hand stamped and was given a limited edition CD from AUDIOPAIN. It was hand numbered. I found my party and met everyone. Grabbed a beer, and went to the table. I set my beer down to get a cigarette out and before I knew it Jens Ryland of Borknagar picked up my beer and tried walking off with it! I was like "Hey!, Jens! That is MY beer" He laughed and put it back down and picked up the one next to it (which was almost empty). He said he was sorry and I said "It's cool dude".

AMOK began around 10:45 I think. They were a three piece and played death/thrash mix. Not bad, but not that good either. Nothing I had not heard before. There was something lacking from their sound, but I couldn’t place my finger on it. Next up was AUDIOPAIN, yet another band I had never heard of. Well, I was quite surprised when they began playing. They were great! Very thrashy and had a good sound! The singer who also played guitar had his mic stand a foot above his head, and his vocals totally killed. I caught myself banging my head more than once during AUDIOPAIN'S set. Look for these guys. I think they are going somewhere.

AURA NOIR were confirmed to play Inferno, but backed out almost at the last minute. Negotiations just could not be met. So the band decided to play Elm Street, and keep us die hard thrash fans happy. I love this band. They were awesome live too. Blasphemer's guitar work is amazing. To truly appreciate his playing, one must hear or see AURA NOIR! Apollyon's vocals were sick as usual. I think he is one of the most talented musician's in the scene. He uses 2 different vocal styles between his two bands (CADAVER, INC & AURA NOIR). I believe that the drummer AURA NOIR used that night was the same guy from CADAVER, INC. But I am not 100% certain. The band played for almost 1 hour. Playing instant classic thrash cuts like "Fighting for Hell" , "Conqueror", "Deep Tracts of Hell" and "Swarm of Vultures". It was funny but the place was packed when I first arrived and then after AUDIOPAIN played, it really thinned out. But still, I was thrilled to death as having seen both CADAVER, INC and AURA NOIR before the Inferno fest had officially begun. Plus I was able to hear a great new (new to ME) band AUDIOPAIN! My friends had all left earlier so I was left to watch AURA NOIR by myself. As soon as they were finished I made my way to the taxi's and headed back to Groo's. It was a long two days, and only the beginning. The Inferno fest was the very next day!


FRIDAY 3/29/02:

Since Groo was doing her radio show live backstage on Friday we had to go down to the Rockefeller rather early. After a quick stop at the studio's of NRK-Petre where Groo works, we took a taxi (we took taxi's EVERYWHERE….Blizz) to the Rockefeller venue. We picked up our passes and then wandered around. Actually, everyone was working and I really felt in the way! I was just waiting on my friend Metalion to show up, and then we were off to the corner pub for some serious drinking. The members of Dimmu Borgir were roaming around the venue, which by the looks of things could hold close to 2,000 people. I was told that a handful of tickets were left for Saturday, but Friday was totally SOLD OUT. That's pretty cool, I think! Metalion showed up a little after 2 PM and we made our way to the pub. There we got a serious buzz on. Door's opened at 5 PM at the Rockefeller and the first band went on at 6 PM. So we left the pub at 4:45 and went up to the venue.

There was a line of about 250 metalheads waiting to get in. I guess that we had to stand in line still even though we had passes. But we finally made it inside, grabbed a beer and headed to the main stage to watch NOCTURNAL BREED. Metalion and I were both pumped up to see NOCTURNAL BREED. Metalion had seen them before and told me they ruled live. He was right. They hit the stage like thunder and lightning, and they were LOUD! Guitars are what make this band so killer. Destroyer commanded more headbanging, and said "C'mon there are only 5 people headbanging" (Metalion and I were two of them….Blizz) They played "Evil Dead" and "Tools of the Trade" , "Locomotive Death" among others. But their set list drew heavy off the latest album "Tools of the Trade". The first highlight of NOCTURNAL BREED'S 50 minute set was when Destroyer asked if we wanted to see some "Hooters" and out from each end of the stage pranced 2 gorgeous stripper's. I was pleased as punch because at this point we had made it right to the front of the stage, plus the babe on our side was better looking in my opinion. The girls wormed, squirmed and touched themselves all over as NOCTURNAL BREED's evil beats continued to pummel us. For the last 1/2 of the song, the girls took their tops off and the one on our side had the most killer tits. Just the right size (natural) with small pierced nipples. (Side note: I got a picture of her ass, I am very upset I didn’t get her tits and face….Blizz). The second highlight of the set was when they brought out "Silenoz" or Svein from Dimmu Borgir, with whom Destroyer started NOCTURNAL BREED back in the mid 90's. He had not played live with the band for three years. I got a couple of good shots of him up on stage jamming though, he truly looked like he was having a great time! NOCTURNAL BREED were excellent, and were by far the highlight of the Inferno festival. For ME that is.

Bar run….went backstage grabbed some beers. I met Bard Faust and his girlfriend Linda, and they are both really cool people. I told Faust I wanted to see CARPATHIAN FOREST who were next, and he mentioned that he had heard they did not go over very well live. And other people told me that as well. But I didn’t care, I love CARPATHIAN FOREST and were just happy to see them live. After 3 minutes of solid and evil "intro" music, the dry ice came billowing out both sides of the stage, the band had their backs to the crowd. The intro music stopped , stage lights were on and the band turned around the singer growled something strange in Norwegian, and the show began! HOLY SHIT!! If CARPATHIAN FOREST sucked live at one time, they have leaped milestones. Because what I saw and heard was a fine polished black metal outfit, whom had obviously been preparing for this show for quite sometime. They played songs off the last three albums. "Shining Black Leather", "Carpathian Forest" and "Morbid Fascination of Death were stand out's. CARPATHIAN FOREST were not boring to watch live at all. They were all banging their heads like mad and getting the crowd to chant and go crazy. The crowd loved CARPATHIAN FOREST. I didn’t want them to stop playing, but when they did I made my way to more beer and the rest of my party.

Then I heard AETURNUS starting to play. I went out to watch a few songs. I probably watched 1/2 their set. They were pretty good. But after seeing NOCTURNAL BREED and then CARPATHIAN FOREST, I think topping that would be a hard thing to do. Also, I was/am unfamiliar with AETURNUS. They sounded dark, doomy and evil though. I left during their set to quench my thirst some more. Schmoozed with more important people in the Norwegian metal scene and then it's back to the mainstage to see Poland's BEHEMOTH. I was very excited to see BEHEMOTH, since I missed them at Wacken 2001. And I will always kick myself for missing them there. Seeing their Inferno set made me regret it even more. I don’t know how to sum it up really, but I can tell you that BEHEMOTH were punishing beyond belief. Loud, aggressive and faster than a bullet, the band destroyed eardrums and wrecked necks with a set list that drew mostly from "Pandemonic Incantation"," Satanica" and the latest "Thelema 6". The drummer is amazing and the vocalist was in top form that evening. BEHEMOTH were very much another highlight of the festival for me.

A good long wait was what went on after BEHEMOTH as the crew had to make final preparation for the headliner's of the evening DIMMU BORGIR. The stage area was packed to the brim. I made my way in the far back of the venue near the back bar and bathrooms where I could see without a problem. DIMMU at their homecoming show came blazing onto the stage after lengthy "intro" music. They played most off "Puritanical" like the title track, "Kings of the Carnival Creation", and "The Maelstrom Mephisto" and also off "Spiritual Black Dimensions", "Reptile" and "The Insight and the Catharsis". Other songs played included "Tormentor of Christian Souls", and the encore was obvious "Mourning Palace". Shagrath got the crowd to pump their fists and chant "Hey, Hey, Hey" in unison. It sounded pretty cool actually. Somehow to me, it seemed that Simen's clean vocals were lacking this evening. I have seen DIMMU 6 times previously and his vocals are always very good. But this night he seemed just a bit off key. But it was hardly noticeable. DIMMU BORGIR are an excellent live band and there is no denying that fact. They played for 84 minutes and went through 14 songs. This was the longest set I had ever seen them do before. They closed Friday's festivities in true Norwegian black metal fashion. What a fucking killer night.


Saturday 3/30/02:


Friday's festivities were very brutal indeed. I actually slept until 3 PM on Saturday. In fact, we got down to the venue at just about 6 PM. The place was hardly as full as it was the previous evening. But I got there just in time to grab a rejuvenating beer and head to the main stage to see death metal merchants BLOOD RED THRONE. I had heard good things about this band, but had never heard them before. I was surprised at how good they were actually. They do have the Tampa Death sound down to a "T". At times reminding me of early Deicide. I found BLOOD RED THRONE quite enjoyable indeed. They did have technical difficulties during a song, so they played it over again. The band is very energetic on stage. Whipping their heads in a fury while pounding on their instruments. BLOOD RED THRONE is a band to check out. I will be buying their material after seeing them live, that is for sure!

Not to get too personal, but 3 days of heavy drinking in Norway had caught up with the old "beast". My legs were like jello. I was getting "cramps" in my legs and my sides. I opted to take a seat in the backstage lounge for VINTERSORG, as they had a huge screen on the wall that showed the band playing. Plus you could hear the music pretty good. I had seen VINTERSORG before at Wacken. They totally kill live. And from what I could see and hear, Inferno was no exception. They played songs off the last two albums primarily. And I am kicking myself for not dragging my ass out to watch them. My friend Tyr (whom I finally got to meet after their set) was playing bass with them too. But I had to gather my strength to watch LOCK UP. I had seen them at Wacken 2000 but they suffered from poor sound. This was not the case here thankfully, as LOCK UP shredded! The new re-vamped band were fresh, fast, brutal and to the fucking point! Old school death/thrash at it's finest. They added a second guitarist who no one seemed to know. But LOCK UP played a 40 minutes set, performing 2 songs from the Pleasure Paved Sewers album (which killed with Lindberg on vocals). And then played a good chunk of the new album (which I do not have yet….Blizz). They even did two covers. An Impaled Nazarene song and the classic Terrorizer track "Corporation Pull-In". The latter causing me to go fucking crazy! It was just plain fucking KILLER to see old metal vet's like Shane Embury and Jesse Pintado tear it up with Nick Barker and Tomas Lindberg.. Having Lindberg at the helm makes this band 1000% better. Let's hope for a US tour.

After a brief break, They had a fashion show on the main stage by the "Wolf's Lair" company. I didn’t watch much of it. They had some Viking clothes and swords and shields. Stuff like that. Then it was time to present the "Inferno 2002" award. The award is a symbol of an individual who has done so much for the scene, supporting it in every way and causing it to stay strong. The award was presented to Fenriz of Darkthrone fame. But he mentioned that the award should have gone to the infamous "Metalion" (yay, my friend…and whom I voted for…Blizz). After the award presentation I went to the backstage bar and was sitting around a table with Zamoth, Bard Faust, and Metalion. Fenriz came back with his award and broke the glass on the front and took out the slip of paper and handed it to Metalion! A true moment in metal history and I was there to witness it. At that point I was introduced to Fenriz. He is a very funny and friendly guy. I showed him my Darkthrone patch on my vest and he said "Shit, I don’t have one of those, I don’t know where people are getting them" and I said "Ebay my friend".

Next band on the bill were AGRESSOR from France. Another band I had not heard yet, I met the band at Elm ST two nights prior and also backstage at Inferno. I really wanted to see them. I loved AGRESSOR. They had a perfect mix of death/black that got my blood pumping. Well about 1/2 way through their set, I remembered that FROST the drummer for Satyricon's band 1349 were set to go on at the 2nd stage "John Dee". I had not even made it to the 2nd stage the whole weekend. As I walked towards that area, I also stumbled across 8 vendor booths. I was pissed off, because I had loads of money in my bank but had almost run out of Norwegian Kroner's.. I saw a lot of shit I wanted back there. So anyway as I approached the stairs to access the small stage. I noticed a large group of people talking to Security. It seems that the capacity of the "John Dee" stage was full. It only holds 350 and there were over 400 people crammed in there. This is the part where I get very pissed off and head for the beer and shots. As I walked back, AGRESSOR were finishing up their set. So I stayed until they were done, giving them the handclapping above my head/goat horns salute deal. I will be getting the AGRESSOR material too by the way. I just love hearing bands that I have never heard before!

After grabbing my final beer of the evening I made my way to the mainstage to watch the headliners of Saturday night. WITCHERY from Sweden. I had seen them play twice before. But I love this band. It is always a pleasure to see them live. Because they have very good energy live and to truly appreciate them, one has to see them live. Their set drew from all three albums and even their EP (Witchburner). "Reaper" , "Unholy Wars", "Restless & Dead" , "Omens" were just a few of the songs they did. WICHERY played for almost 65 minutes. And they had a good crowd. I was glad to see some of the die-hard metalheads like myself stuck around for them. They were the perfect band to close the festival.

The show is over. The Rockefeller is trashed. The place is littered with empty beer cups and cigarette butts. This was the 2nd annual Inferno festival. From what I understand, this year went over better than last year. So everyone is hoping that they can afford to bring this back for a 3rd year. I got to see first hand how much work goes into putting something like this together. And it was really nice to see all the people who pulled together and worked their asses off to make the festival go over without a major problem. The only thing I have to bitch about is that the beer was served in plastic cups and tasted like pure shit. But in America that is how beer is served at a show, so I don’t know why I am complaining. But the European beer has to be in a glass to be truly appreciated. Oh, and next year maybe have some food vendors?!! It might sober up some of us.

Until next year,

Cheers & Strong Beers!!

Scott "Blizz" Cameron
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Rating: 10 /10