THE BLEKKMETAL EVENT – Day one – Bergen – USF Verftet

Bergen is seen by alot of people as the black metal capital of the world, and this "one time only festival" is perfect proof why that is correct. So let’s all thank Jannicke for an absolutely amazing weekend!

It’s impossible to talk about the festival without mentioning the exhibitions. Some amazing and beautiful paintings by alot of different artists, i.e. Kristian "Gaahl" Espedal. For the first time ever , his paintings were shown to the general public, and the paintings absolutely gives an idea to where Espedal’s mindset originates from. Alot of naked nature, with no fancy or glamorus extra material. "Mortal" and "Earthbound" would probably be the best words to describe the paintings.

Enslaved kicked off the concerts with a bang! The band seemed like they were filled with the kind of youthfull energy that most bands their age lost years ago. Very fun to see so so much life on stage. Between the songs, Grutle had his normal, down to earth way of addressing the audience. Alot of funny comments mixed with the introduction of the setlist. Performing only old material, the tune of the evening was Alfablot, which was performed extremely well.

Aeternus had the hard task of following Enslaved, and to their credit, they did a quite ok job. Dark, death metal’esque music, with very raw vocals on top. A bit too monotone for some people, but nontheless a solid performance and a great band to those who are more invested in the old school black/death.

 

Gehenna is a band that generally get less attention than it should. Solid live and good on CD should  equal a bigger fan base. Not that Gehenna is unpopular, but based on their performance, they should have more followers. They had a very high energy level throughout the whole gig, and they never seemed to slow down or lose their feel of the stage. Professional and Strong. The way it should be.

Hades Allmighty showed their audience a good time. They seem professional enough on stage, but the music itself, sadly falls a bit short. The vocals were not especially impressive, and the music comes off as a little generic. However the energy that the band had, showed that they enjoy what they do, and their fans agreed. Not a bad performance, but sadly not very memorable.

Gaahls Wyrd. What more needs to be said about Gaahl’s new project? Music from Trelldom, Gorgoroth and God Seed was a very welcome idea, and the execution was even better. Not alot happens on the stage, but the whole band creates a very intense atmosphere. And a guest appearance by Kvitrafn (Wardruna) is never a bad thing. Definetly the most intriguing band to hit the stage this November evening. A good way to end day 1, no doubt.

 

Pictures from THE BLEKKMETAL EVENT