THE GRAVEYARD GIG 2026 – review
- Posted on 22-09-2026
Full photo galleries available here:
Photos and text: Andrea Chirulescu
It’s not often you get to attend a ‘revived’ festival, such as the Graveyard Gig in Notodden (Norway), a festival which was first held in 1990 in this town in Telemark county and now, 30+ years later, the concept has been revived by Mikael Siouzios, owner of Telerock pub and a metal musician himself. This initiative deserves lots of applause and support, and it sounds as if the crowd is already growing in numbers at this second edition held in 2026. Meaning that there’s a real need for more local metal events and maybe smaller scale ones, where you get to both see bands and be social, without having to sacrifice any of them. Nor your bodily needs. And since I now prioritize the one stage, one-two days festivals, The Graveyard Gig was an ideal choice for a lovely mid September weekend.
Telerock is really suitable for what such a festival has to offer – the area upstairs is quite spacious, allowing people to sit and relax, play some pool, listen to the DJs’ playlists, interact with the artists or hang outside for a dose of – more or less – fresh air. And then the actual concert area in the basement and could well fit all the attendees. Also upstairs there was good space for a merch area and an art display section, hosting French artist David Thiérrée and his fantastic art pieces. But all in all it’s small enough to allow for an easy way to just chat with anyone and know all the faces a few hours after you arrive. The kind of ‘you’re home here’ atmosphere.
What I personally didn’t notice until a few weeks prior to the event was that there was an opening event on Friday, named Cérémonie Infernale, which only showcased two acts: The legendary Norwegians STIGMA DIABOLICUM – doing their comeback after 36 years and local youngsters in KRAPYL who replaced Year of The Goat on very very short notice. Luckily, the shows were set to start relatively late in the evening, so I had good time to make it to Notodden from Oslo area after usual work hours. And get myself the whole live performance of Stigma Diabolicum, who have re-united after so many years to perform live material from the early demos of Stigma Diabolicum and Thorns. They are now featuring original members Marius Vold and Harald Eilertsen and have figured out a really fantastic way to bring back to life their proto black metal from Grymyrk and Trøndertun demos. The chosen pilgrim-black outfits, with long robes and tall hats, adds an extra pinch of something diabolic on the stage. While some are probably only looking for a sound similar to the old-style tapes of the 90s, I’m glad to have witnessed their songs in a more arranged and stage-ready fashion, even if this doesn’t add any level of coziness to this evil music. The band has some more upcoming shows for the next year, so the fans of early Norwegian black metal tunes get more chances to catch them live. Well worth the experience!
When the young kids in KRAPYL took the stage, I told myself I’d be around for a couple of songs and then try to go to bed as I was super tired. However, few seconds into their show, I couldn’t stop saying ‘wow, this is beyond cool’ and decided to stay for the whole gig. The trio’s live performance was nothing short of extraordinary, for artists of such young ages. They have full control over the stage, incredible presence and deliver with the greatest of energies. Their mix of extreme metal and rock’n’roll is super refreshing and everyone around me seemed to share the positive impression of this gig. It’s really nice to find out about young live talents like these kids and hopefully there’ll be a lot of such live performances to watch in the future. They are already planned to perform in Oslo area in the near future, so go get your tickets!
Another promising young act was the opening act for Saturday – when the actual Graveyard Gig took place – ANGEL. The band is headlined by Ihsahn’s son and has started performing in 2025, but has already been on the stages of several big festivals in Norway. And not because of the parental legacy. But mainly because Angell and his bandmates are very professional kids and deliver a high quality show with a fascinating execution of their progressive blackened death metal mixed with all sorts of melodic and atmospheric parts. The compositions are not on the simple side of music scales and seeing them delivered by such young performers makes it somehow more impressive. Angell has also found a good level of aggression to put into the way he interprets the music and I believe he already qualifies as a strong band-lead, soon worthy to headline on various festival stages.
Oslo based black metallers NACHASH were formed in 2011 and since then have found their own way of mixing and embracing raw elements of thrash, black, doom or death metal. They are well received by the audience and continue to build up the powerful infernal atmosphere worthy of what is called The Graveyard Gig. I didn’t get to stay for too long in their set as there was a desperate need for food at that time so I picked them as ‘sacrifice’ band. Got to return just as PHANTOM FIRE started. Always a pleasure to watch these Bergen based musicians, as they have (at least bassist/vocalist and guitarist) performed together in other projects whose live performance I found very enjoyable. This time they took it to the dirtier side of extreme and dark with a touch of heavy metal. And one of them wore a leopard-print shirt! The music is more approachable and pleasant in its ‘good ol’ metal’ kind of attitude performed by skilled musicians who highly enjoy being on stage.
Once this set ended, everyone gathered upstairs for a special moment in the history of Telerock but maybe also of Notodden. Read about it here https://eternal-terror.com/2026/09/20/telerock-celebrates-ihsahns-legacy-in-notodden/
JORDSJUK has become a well recognised name on the Norwegian metal stage by now, as they have recently won a Spellemann (local Grammy award) and their 2025 debut full-length release “Naglet til livet” is still being talked about. With a replacement on guitars and bass, the Oslo based black metallers still delivered an intense performance led by an always fantastic Mannevond on vocals and rage. Some thrashier parts, some faster ones, lots of technicalities and all in all a high class performance from Jordsjuk.
2026 brought a new vocalist for DOLD VORDE ENS NAVN – Simon Peter Hovind – and lifted the acts live presence through the way his massive presence captivates and takes over the stage. The band is a mini constellation with artists from legendary Norwegian acts like Ulver, DHG and Ved Buens Ende and no wonder their music manages to find an interesting way to blend atmospheric black metal with a lot of unexpected parts and elements. There’s melodies, there’s riffs, there’s haunting vocals and I remember how little sense it made the first time I watched this act live. It didn’t become much more clearer by now, so I still have them on my ‘to listen to’ list and try to better understand what this is all about.
Up next we got treated to some fast, dirty and evil thrash metal made in Kolbotn by the guys in NEKROMANTHEON whose incredible speed and skills of execution have raised a lot of curious brows for those who watched them live for the first time. I always enjoy the kick of adrenaline brought by their concerts, and even if this one seemed to have struggled a bit with the sound and some broken guitar chords, it still got me completely awake and ready to face 3 more days of festival. Self proclaimed as Norway’s nastiest thrash act, they don’t shy away from delivering up to this name and providing some true chaotic neck breaking soundtracks.
Even if I knew this was the next band’s only concert in Norway for this year, I couldn’t get into the right mood to fully watch ENTHRONED‘s show. The unholy black metal ritual performed by the Belgians was barely recorded by my tired brain so I only have a photo gallery that will remind me of it. The day had already been long and filled with great music and awesome people, so I ended up saving my energy for the headliner, namely Norwegian extreme progressive metal act IHSAHN. Vegard Tveitan performed together with long-term drummer, Tobias Andersen, and guitarist Øystein Landsverk, but it was the first time I saw Ole Vistnes on bass duty. But most important, for the song Celestial Violence, Ihsahn has invited his kids, Ariadne and Angell, to perform with him. Angell took over the drumkit and Ariadne performed the vocal parts that were originally recorded by her uncle Einar Solberg. I believe that the small audience gathered there that evening have witnessed a really special musical moment and I’m sure the emotions were high for both parents and kids. However, everyone delivered with amazing professionalism and nobody could hide their big smiles at the end of the song. The setlist continued with more tunes from Ihsahn’s discography, including his tribute to the local district, Telemark – during which he also praised the graphical artist David Thiérré. And I’m actually glad to witness Ihsahn not performing the usual Emperor songs, as I got to discover how interesting some of his other material sounds live. Especially “Lend me the eyes of the millenia”. As a side note, another small bit to be remembered for a long time is how Nocturno Culto (who was invited to DJ together with Mork’s Thomas Eriksen) attended Ihsahn’s concert in the audience. Something only such a special and personal event can offer.
While Ihsahn’s set surely felt too short, the whole Graveyard Gig 2026 was a good sized event and very very successful afternoon. Hats off for the professional crowd who took care of the great sound, lights and overall functionality of the whole venue and bar. Despite the dark and gloomy music, everyone was in the greatest of moods and all faces were constantly smiling, and that’s probably the biggest indicator of the success of the event. We wish Mikael and Telerock lots of luck for the upcoming editions of the Graveyard Gig and we know they will soon announce the lineup for 2027. But you can already purchase your tickets \m/