INFERNO FESTIVAL 11 – Day three – Rockefeller & John Dee

Good Friday should be anything but that, as far as our Rock & Roll behaviour is concerned. That day, so holy and so divine when our good Lord revelled in that party spirit the beginning of the weekend brings and proclaimed that Friday is indeed a Good Friday for the party to begin. Inferno is into it’s third day now and the lines are beginning to show, people are moving slowly and even beginning to wear sunglasses indoors – a crime so heinous that not even two days without sleep can justify it. Still there is work to be done….to the mountain………………………………

TEMPLE OF BAAL
http://www.myspace.com/templeofbaal

(Andreas Paulsen) Lots of people gathered for this concert in front of the John Dee stage, and probably got what they came for. On their records these guys have a lot of groove and good riffs, and solos that really support the music, I hoped to be bashed good, but it just did not happen. Maybe their sound was not intense enough, I dont know. We have heared this too many times before, just not doing it for me. 

DJERV
http://www.myspace.com/djervmusic

(Roy Kristensen) Every band that wants to, or already has, gone somewhere, thinking of success, needs a front person with the energy, vitality and voice to justify such an aim, or success if you will. Djerv opening the main stage on Friday, has such a front figure. Agnete Kjølsrud, (ex-Animal Alpha) is ever present, since her friends in the band are more like Djerv’s staff, if you see what I mean. Of course, with the music there would be no Djerv. But in some sick way of thinking, Agnete could actually be doing the gig with the music on playback, that’s how good she is on stage. She doesn’t stand still one single second while on stage. And it’s entertaining, refreshing and utterly cool. Despite that the venue is less than half-packed; those indoors seemed to have a jolly good time. The music is perhaps a bit too monotonous, though there are some great songs out there. In fact, I couldn’t avoid thinking that the music is too simple for Agnete’s performance… At the same time I guess complicated music that fit her voice more, would perhaps drown behind the visual aspect of what Agnete is doing. Yes, she’s performing witchcraft. The sound was good, something that’s a bit surprising knowing that Rockefeller can let us down, and that Djerv was first band onstage this Friday evening.

ASTAROTH
http://www.myspace.com/astaroth

I’m sorry, but it seems like we all missed this gig.

SOILENT GREEN
http://www.myspace.com/soilentgreen

(Andreas Paulsen) Grind, sludge, cowpunk, extreme metal, you name it, Soilent Green embrace a heep of categories with flare and conviction. If Pantera still existed, these guys would have been the most fitting warmup act in my mind. Southern heavymetal groove mixed with death metal and grind parts, can you ask for more really?
I get that good feeling that I get from Pantera, their sound (hailing from Luisiana) have a lot in common with the cowboys from hell, only more caotic and grind based, but the southern groove is prevailent all through the set.
Im very happy that the Inferno festival branch out and include bands like this, taking their responsiility as an advocate for extreme metal seriously! Skål!

TODAY IS THE DAY
http://www.myspace.com/todayistheday

(Paul Kearns) Steve Austin has long been revered in a small circle as being a figurehead and innovator. There was a time in the late 1990’s when Today Is The Day seemed as if they were going to defy the odds and follow Neurosis to the outskirts of acceptance. It didn’t happen and the word on the street was that their 1999 album «In The Eyes Of God» didn’t really make that supernova jump that people had hoped for. Sadly Mr. Austin is probably most known as the man who, more or less, groomed Mastodon before they broke through. Their Inferno show was refreshing in that it was something slightly different but whether they failed to capture the audience or if the audience just failed to be captured by them it ended up never really getting out of first gear. Not bad but had hoped for more.

ATHEIST
http://www.myspace.com/kellysatheistwebsite

(Andreas Paulsen) I was really looking forward to see Atheist live. I have never personally listened much to Atheist, but after their last record "Jupiter" they absolutely got my attention. I was lucky enough to do an interview with Shaefer and their new guitarist some hours before the show, and that made it even more interresting to watch them play. Both were super nice guys, very much appreciating the attention they are getting from their fans, being able to tour the world after all these years away from the stage. The concert was somewhat compromised by guitar problems, leaving the drummer and bassist jamming for ten minutes, and I wonder why a band the size of Atheist do not bring backup guitars on tour in case stuff like this happens… Looking past the obvious blooper the band delivered a smoking show after all, old songs and new alike. Fans of the older records got "An Incarnation´s Dream" and new got "Second to Sun", so I believe everyone got what could be expected from a 45 min set.

AVA INFERI
http://www.myspace.com/avainferi

(Paul Kearns) Mmmm. Upon descent to John Dee Ava Inferi have begun and that all important factor of the vocals are raising some alarm bells. They are just not hitting the spot. This does improve but the damage is done, simply because when the voice straddles that wasteland of the vulnerable, it is a thin line between working to great effect or….just the opposite.

Ava Inferi explore territory I could very well dig immensely however, I am reminded of latter day My Dying Bride and for me that spells music that is just detached from that core element of expression with absolute substance. It feels more like ploughing barren fields – the actions and the moves are there but there is just nothing to satisfy when all is said and done. Shame.

IMMORTAL
http://www.myspace.com/immortalofficial

(Stefan Raduta) Immortal – what’s there to be said that hasn’t been said before about them? While "Pure Holocaust" and "Battles in the North" (for me at least) remain two quintessential black metal albums, I don’t think anyone can deny that today Immortal is an entertaining act that really has nothing to do with black metal anymore. Let’s be honest, it’s not the early 90’s anymore and many things have changed in Norway. And while some bands (Emperor  for example) decided to not give into the financial temptation and quit while at the top of their games, others keep going, finally reaping on what they sowed over 15 years ago. Immortal have become the best at it, and it’s amazing to see how much people are still drawn to them today. Actually today they’re probably more popular that they’ve ever been, and if you look closely, they’re headlining/playing the biggest European festivals right now. Honestly, good for them! They deserve it. I do have a problem with the fact that they sell something that’s not really there, but hey, looking at the crowd’s enthusiasm, most people don’t care that what was once a serious thing now is show business. The show in Oslo was by far the best Immortal performance ever. Incredible intensity, the public went nuts with every song, great lightshow and even pyro! I’ve seen them both in New York City and Los Angeles, but never like in Oslo. Truly an entertaining event, and next to Aura Noir the best set at this year’s Inferno for sure!!

EXHUMED
http://www.myspace.com/exhumed

(Rune Grande) They had a brand new drummer and it was almost 7 years since last time U.S. death metal band Exhumed stood on a stage, but there was absolutely nothing that indicated this when they launched a hell of a death metal concert out of the ordinary, and that after Immortal, the anticipated highlight of the evening had finished their concert. The sound was on the perfect level, high and the clean as hell. The guys on stage were in party mood, the people in the audience were in pit mood and the whole venue was one big area with both controlled and uncontrolled chaos. There were many who left Rockefeller after Immortal, and they missed a great concert, but that’s their loss. I will live long from the memories of this concert. Slaughtercult.

www.infernofestival.net
www.rockefeller.no