1349 – Oslo – Vulkan

A coincidence – or not – of numbers made it that 1349’s Hellfire album celebrated its 10 years anniversary the same year as one could count 666 years since the Black Plague has reached Norway. The occasion was celebrated with a ‘pestturné’ (plaguetour) concerts, out of which the last one was held on October 30th at Vulkan Arena, in Oslo. We were offered even more than a concert. Professor emeritus Ole Jørgen Benedictow, who is specialized in Middle Ages history and plague subject, has already published several books on the matter and joined the tour so that before every show he would hold a short seminar about the Black Death, by the title ‘Ars Moriendi- En 666-årsmarkering av svartedauen’. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to hear more than two three sentences due the fact that there was much talking in the back and not all of the words were making their way through. Luckily, it seemed like the whole thing was filmed so I hope one will have the chance to watch and learn from the professor a bit later.

On the small stage of Pokalen (Vulkan’s little brother), Koldbrann played their opening act, before everyone went upstairs for the main concert. It was their only concert in Norway this year and they presented new material that were well received by the eager fans. I’ve never got to see Koldbrann in a good sound setting (either too far from the stage, too close or just a bad sound venue) so I cannot make many comments on the music itself. But their stage show has always been an give it all experience, with no compromises, no matter whether they barely fit the stage or they have space to move around. It is a well known and loved band among the Norwegian underground movement and they totally deserve the attention.

Upstairs, at Vulkan, everything was set for the Hellfire experience. The stage props made everything look massive, especially the center piece – the huge horned head with burning eyes, reminding of the album cover. The concert was recorded – or at least its sound, since the photopit was not packed with photographers at this event, hosting instead a couple of microphones and making it safer for everyone during the use of the pyro effects. Indeed, the show wouldn’t have made the same kind of sense without pyro, so they chose to use occasional fire bursts that went towards the roof and vanished rather quick. I never thought I’d see pyro at Vulkan, but there it went.

For me 1349 was my first encounter with a black metal concert, back at Wacken 2007 or so. I was kinda worried before the concert, not knowing what to expect from the crowd, if they’d go mad, if I’d get knocked down and all. And then I was rather stunned when I saw the band (read the spikes) appearing on stage. The massiveness-effect on me was huge. Up to now I’ve seen many other concerts of the genre, with bigger or smaller spikes and other stage props. But I admit it still felt rather impressive when the guys took over the stage and started blasting without much introduction. They performed the album in its entirety, an album that conquered by its speed, darkness and aggressiveness and these were the main ingredients of the show, a show that should prove the band is totally back in business, for those who might have thought it otherwise. The drummachine known as Frost supported a well rehearsed black metal machinery who is actually nice to watch as they do involve themselves in the live show and not just stare at the guitars for the entire evening. Ravn is leading the show pretty well, capturing the crowd and growing the levels of energy shared back and forth with the audience. It must have been much appreciated when he stepped down from the stage and walks on the fences to shake hands of the people in front. That is a nice way to reward your fans.

After 1349 finished singing, we relocated down to Pokalen and after some chats with various people, a bell ringer announced that Tusmørke concert is about to begin. It turned out it was actually the singer of the band, a band that also prepared a special live show in their dark psychedelic folk style. They prepared a roughly 30 minutes piece about the black death, with projections and special music, while they were supported by Øystein Bech Gadmar who performed on middle ages instruments such as hurdy-gurdy, flute goblin and even recited in latin. The dances and moves of everyone in the band were a tad special and very entertaining for the crowd. It was insanely hot in the venue though so I slowly made my way towards the exit and left before the concert ended. but I can only hope that the recorded parts would soon be available to the public.

The irony of the evening made it that while I was witnessing the pyro effects accompanying Hellfire and the rest of the songs, a big tragedy took place in Bucharest, Romania at another metal concert. A birthday cake like firework sent its sparkles towards a big pole isolated with very cheap material, that ignited very fast and burned within seconds. And then the roof caught fire and soon after fell down on those still trapped inside. It was surreal to be reading these news on the bus, on my way back and think of the other photographers and known or even unknown people who went through that hell, out of which 29 haven’t made it alive and 180 have been hurt, many of which are struggling to stay with us. Even writing this review didn’t come easy, but the main idea for writing this kind of ending is to beg all organizers and club owners in Norway to take the fire safety very very seriously and, like I heard from bands with insane pyro shows, don’t even start a single lighter if you are not convinced the place is 100% safe. Any life is way more precious than that. Stay safe!