CONFERENCE – HOTEL – ARTISTS – TATTOO FAIR – SIDESHOWS
OSLO, NORWAY, 17. – 20. APRIL 2025
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INFERNO METAL FESTIVAL
Oslo, Norway
17. – 20. April 2025
Rockefeller / John Dee / Kniven / Rock In / Vaterland / Brewgata / Vega / Goldie
TICKETS (including ticket fees):
4-day festival pass NOK 3950
One day tickets NOK 1095
Inferno Music Conference NOK 795 Festival + conference NOK 4450
Black Metal Bus Sightseeing NOK 895
Age limit: 18 years.
Bring your ID to avoid disappointment. Tickets available at ticketmaster.no or tickets.infernofestival.net
INFERNO MAGAZINE 2025
Editor: Runar Pettersen
Writers: Jorge Patacas, Roy Kristensen, Gunnar Sauermann, Runar Pettersen and Aleksandra M. Stasiak.
Proof reading: Runar Pettersen, Asgeir Mickelson and Diana Blajan.
Photo: Kenneth Solfjeld, Carl Eek, Diana Blajan, Vesa Ranta, Julian Weigand, Grzegorz Golebiowsk, Anna Fabbri. Design and layout: MultiMono, azgr@online.no
Advertising, distribution, and publishing: Inferno Metal Festival www.infernofestival.net
Unfortunately, this year’s festival planning was deeply affected by the devastating news that our festival director, Jan-Martin Jensen, had been diagnosed with cancer. To say this was a tremendous strain on all of us working on Inferno would be an understatement. Losing Jan-Martin in the end was heartbreaking in every possible way. The sorrow is immeasurable.
Our thoughts go out to his closest family and all those who were dear to him, especially his two children, Andrea and Simon.
But it is not only those closest to him who feel the loss of Jan-Martin. When Hilde Hammer, who worked on the Inferno Music Conference, passed away from cancer, Jan-Martin said: "No one owns grief." That sentiment holds true now. Even those who never had the pleasure of meeting Jan-Martin can feel the sorrow. Through everything he organized and worked on, his presence was felt even by those who had never met him in person.
But now, I want to focus on something more uplifting. Before cancer took hold, Jan-Martin had already booked every band for the festival. We also know that he would want us to create the best possible festival to honour his name in a meaningful way.
We have an incredible lineup featuring some of the best in extreme metal, including Behemoth, Satyricon, 1349, Tiamat, Blood Incantation, Abbath, Rotting Christ, Tsjuder, and many more. In fact, this year’s lineup is the largest we’ve ever had.
This is thanks to the growing number of club stages over the years. On our main stages, we have kept the same number of artists as in previous years, which we prefer, as it allows the audience to experience every performance on the main stages.
Even though this will be an incredibly special and emotional year for us at Inferno, I promise Jan-Martin one thing: we will do our absolute best to make his life’s work an unforgettable experience for everyone attending the festival. He deserves nothing less for everything he has done for us.
Cheers, Runar Pettersen
IN REMEMBRANCE OF IN REMEMBRANCE OF
JAN-MARTIN JENSEN JAN-MARTIN JENSEN
By: Runar Pettersen
INFERNO METAL FESTIVAL’S DIRECTOR, JAN-MARTIN JENSEN, RECENTLY PASSED AWAY AFTER LOSING HIS BATTLE WITH CANCER. WITH HIS PASSING, NORWAY HAS LOST AN ESSENTIAL CONCERT ORGANIZER AND A DRIVING FORCE IN THE COUNTRY’S CULTURAL SCENE.
INFERNO METAL FESTIVAL’S DIRECTOR, JAN-MARTIN JENSEN, RECENTLY PASSED AWAY AFTER LOSING HIS BATTLE WITH CANCER. WITH HIS PASSING, NORWAY HAS LOST AN ESSENTIAL CONCERT ORGANIZER AND A DRIVING FORCE IN THE COUNTRY’S CULTURAL SCENE.
Jan-Martin was not only one of the founders and organizers of Inferno Metal Festival – he had been deeply involved in music since the early 1980s in countless ways.
To understand why Jan-Martin touched so many lives, we must take a look at his story.
Jan-Martin Jensen was born in Bodø in 1963 and was among the first to embrace punk as a musical movement in the city. He became a key figure in the local scene as a concert organizer, book café operator, sound technician, and manager for various local bands. He helped launch the fanzine Gakk and also served on the board of Bodø Rockeklubb.
Later, he moved to Oslo, where he worked as a promoter and sound technician, including at Blitz Youth House. In the 1990s, he co-founded the record and booking company Zone Productions, which released albums and organized concerts and rave parties across the country. Eventually, Jan-Martin helped establish the alternative club Mars, where bands such as Emperor, Tulus, Old Man’s Child, Mayhem, Dimmu Borgir, Morbid Angel, and many more performed.
In 1999, Mars closed its doors, and just a year later, Jan-Martin co-founded Radar Booking, which played a key role in establishing and organizing Inferno Metal Festival, first held in 2001. Inferno became his passion project, something he worked on year-round. He was responsible for booking and always strived to ensure the highest quality at every level.
Jan-Martin was not someone who sought attention for himself. His work was always his focus, and that was what made him proud. I see many people writing that he battled cancer for only a short time, but although time is relative, we must go back to early autumn, when he first told me he had fallen ill. The word he used was "ill," and at the time, I didn’t think much of it.
I believe it was a deliberate choice of words, meant to avoid worrying those around him. It was only a few weeks later that I realized it was more serious, when he told me he was still at Lovisenberg Hospital. Very few people knew at that point that he had become seriously ill.
Jan-Martin was kind, honest, and hardworking to his core – always positive, always an optimist. Even after being diagnosed with cancer, he continued to work with music and ensured the best possible outcome for his concerts and Inferno. He remained optimistic until the very end. When I spoke to him in his final days, he was still making plans for the future, while I felt a lump growing in my throat. He gave hope and light until his last moment.
Jan-Martin was a true gentleman, someone who looked out for those around him. That is why so many people grew to love and appreciate him. Above all, he was an incredibly important figure in Norway’s alternative music scene. If you have ever been passionate about rock, punk, or especially metal, chances are you’ve attended a concert that Jan-Martin organized. Whether he was booking a major show at Oslo Spektrum one day or arranging an intimate gig at Blå the next, he treated every artist and event with the same level of care and respect.
Jan-Martin Jensen will be deeply missed. His passing leaves an immense void. We will always remember him for the incredible person he was and for everything he did for us. There is so much more that could be written about Jan-Martin, and I believe everyone who knew him has their own stories to share. As for me, I know I will be talking about Jan-Martin until the day I disappear myself.
Rest in peace, Jan-Martin.
THURSDAY APRIL 17TH
ROCKEFELLER
DØDHEIMSGARD (NO) 16.15
In the vibrant spirit of collaboration and artistic expression, Dødheimsgard is set to deliver a memorable performance at the esteemed Inferno Festival during Easter 2025. This special show promises to be a remarkable fusion of avant-garde black metal and experimental soundscapes, showcasing DHG’s evolution as a band while honouring their roots. Fans can anticipate an immersive experience, featuring a carefully curated setlist that will highlight an innovative presentation of new and old material.
NECROPHOBIC (SE) 18.00
Necrophobic comes from Sweden and started back in 1989. Since then, the band has released ten albums of top-notch blackened death metal. Necrophobic released their latest album, “In the Twilight Grey,” earlier this year, showing a band that still gives their all. Necrophobic is as uncompromising and aggressive as when they released classic albums like “The Nocturnal Silence,” “The Third Antichrist,” and “Hrimthursum.”
TIAMAT (SE) 19.30
Swedish Tiamat started back in 1989 and has since released ten albums. Tiamat began within the death metal genre but soon became one of the pioneers of Swedish goth metal. This period will be the focus when Tiamat comes to Inferno Metal Festival to perform a special set focusing on “Clouds” from 1992 and “Wildhoney” from 1994. It has now been ten years since Tiamat last played in Norway, so it is high time to have them back.
BATUSHKA (PL) 21.15
Krzysztof Drabikowski's Batushka is a Polish black metal band known for blending atmospheric black metal with liturgical elements from Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Formed in 2015, the band quickly gained attention for their unique fusion of heavy, distorted guitars, blast beats, and haunting chants, which are inspired by traditional Orthodox choir music. Batushka's music creates an immersive and spiritual experience, often dealing with themes of religion, death, and mysticism. Their live performances are theatrical and ritualistic, with the band members wearing robes and iconography, adding a mysterious and solemn aura to their shows.
ABBATH (NO) 23.30
Abbath Doom Occulta needs no introduction for fans of Norwegian black metal. After all, Abbath was the frontman of Immortal, one of Norway’s foremost black metal bands of all time. Now Abbath continues his Return to the Raven Realms tour into 2025, where he will treat fans to an updated setlist
consisting of Immortal classics from his era in the legendary band. In 2024, the tour from this iconic frontman stormed festival stages across Europe with the biggest production in Abbath’s career. Now he enters the next chapter of the successful tour – and Inferno Metal Festival is next.
JOHN DEE
SYN (NO) 17.15
Syn is a relatively new black metal band from Norway. In 2023, Syn released the debut album ”Villfarelse” on Norwegian Terratur Possessions. With nods to bands like Ulver and Forgotten Woods, mixed with the atmosphere of Vemod and the aggression of Gorgoroth, you might get a sense of what Syn is about.
UDÅD (NO) 18.45
From the depths of darkness, Udåd rises to the surface with its old school black metal. Filled with sorrow, pain, and aggression, their music evokes a cold and bleak soundscape. Their debut album was released in March 2024, and now Udåd is ready to take the stage live. Behind the band is Thomas Eriksen, best known from Mork, and once again, the man delivers top-notch quality.
SPECTRAL WOUND (CA) 20.30
Spectral Wound is a black metal band from Canada. The band started in 2015 and has released four albums to date. But already in August, we can add the fifth when ”Songs of Blood and Mire” is released. If the band continues in the same style, we can expect more old-school black metal, where the riffs are sharp as knives and the drums thunder away at a furious pace.
IN
THE WOODS… (NO) 22.30
In the Woods… is a Norwegian avant-garde/ progressive black metal band from Kristiansand, formed in 1992. Originally starting as a death metal band called Green Carnation, they evolved into In the Woods… after lineup changes. Known for their genre-blending sound, they released their debut album Heart of the Ages in 1995, followed by Omnio and Strange in Stereo. The band disbanded in 2000 but reformed in 2014.
GOLDIE
ATTAN (NO) 14.30
Attan is a Norwegian industrial metal band with roots in Northern Norway. The band’s latest album, “End Of,” received rave reviews when it was released in 2018. Their concerts are an experience in themselves, as it feels like being run over by a steamroller. Attan’s sound is so dense and colossal that you could cut it with a knife. Attan is a band that must be experienced live.
SIBIIR (NO) 15.30
Oslo-based Sibiir, formed in 2014, delivers cold Norwegian metal blending hardcore, thrash, and black gaze. Their 2019 sophomore album was nominated for a Spellemann (“Norwegian Grammy”) in the Metal category. The band has just released their new album, “Undergang”, and is now ready to unleash its fury at Inferno Metal Festival for the first time!
VIOLENT MAGIC ORCHESTRA (JP) 22.40
With members named after classic Norwegian black metal bands and a fresh album titled ”Death Rave”, there is little doubt that Violent Magic Orchestra from Japan has little regard for rigid genre boundaries and rule-bound musical approaches. Violent Magic Orchestra shatters the boundaries between club and concert formats in a spectacle that simply MUST be experienced live when they play at the Inferno Metal Festival for the first time.
VATERLAND
YR (NO) 14.00
Yr is a new Oslo based Norwegian black metal consort that released their first EP "Maanelyst" in 2024.
MALUM (NO) 15.00
Malum is a relatively new Norwegian black metal band. Originally formed as a duo in 2020 in Oslo, the band released an EP in 2022 and followed up with their debut album “In Nauseam” the following year. However, it wasn’t until June 2024 that the band played their first concert–now with a full line-up. Now you have the chance to discover what Malum has to offer at Inferno Metal Festival 2025.
BREWGATA
UMA (NO) 15.00
Norwegian Uma consists of two young guys who have already made their mark in bands like Ruun, Filthdigger, and Celestial Scourge. In Uma, they bring you sludgy, hard-hitting music of the heavier kind. The Oslo-based duo was formed during the pandemic in 2020. Earlier this year, the band released their debut album “Repulsive Forms,” which blends death, sludge, grind, doom, black, and several other genres.
TIAMAT
VIoLENT MAGIC ORCHESTRA
FRIDAY
ROCKEFELLER
GAEREA (PT) 16.30
The Portuguese black metal band Gaerea started in 2016. The band’s music can be described as atmospheric and moody yet filled with razor-sharp riffs and aggressive drums. So far, the band has released three albums, with the fourth coming in October on Season of Mist. Gaerea delivers electrifying performances, and we look forward to having the band back at Inferno Metal Festival!
BLOOD INCANTATION (US) 18.00
Blood Incantation is an American death metal band that has been active since 2011. The band is known for blending psychedelic elements into their death metal. The band gained a lot of attention when they released ”Hidden History of the Human Race” in 2019 and have since played live extensively. This will be Blood Incantation’s first concert at Inferno Metal Festival.
KYLESA (US) 19.30
American band Kylesa has captivated listeners with its heavy psychedelic sludge metal since 2001. However, in 2015, the band went on hiatus. Now, the band is back and will perform a selection of exclusive concerts in 2025 to celebrate their 25th anniversary, with Inferno Metal Festival hosting their only performance in Scandinavia in 2025. Kylesa, always led by the guitar-vocal duo Laura Pleasants and Phillip Cope, has been a key band in the Georgia metal scene, with their unique sound remaining as relevant as when they started almost 25 years ago.
SEPTICFLESH (GR) 21.15
Septicflesh is a Greek symphonic death metal band, formed in the early 1990s. Their later albums, including The Great Mass (2011) and Codex Omega (2017), showcase their signature blend of symphonic and death metal, pushing boundaries with epic compositions and intricate layers. “Modern Primitive”, their latest album, was released in 2022. We are happy to welcome them back to the festival in 2025.
1349 (NO) 23.30
The Norwegian black metal band 1349 was founded back in 1997 and has maintained a steady course ever since. With pure aggression and brutality in their musical expression, and diabolical drums performed by Frost (Satyricon), 1349 has made a mark on the Norwegian black metal scene. To date, 1349 has released eight albums, three EPs, and a live album. Earlier this year, they released the single ”Ash of Ages,” indicating that 1349 is back in full force with more malevolence. Whatever it may be, you can see it at Inferno Metal Festival 2025!
APRIL 18TH
JOHN DEE
ROSA FAENSKAP (NO) 17.15
Rosa Faenskap is a trio of angry musicians directing their aggression towards homophobes, capitalism, the patriarchy, and fascists. The band released their debut album “Jeg blir til deg” last year on the label Fysisk Format. Musically, Rosa Faenskap blends elements from black metal, post-rock, shoegaze, and hardcore punk.
PONTE DEL DIAVOLO (IT) 18.45
Italian band Ponte del Diavolo hails from Turin and was formed after a jam session in 2020. The band combines a unique sound consisting of doom metal, black metal, and a psychedelic atmosphere. Ponte del Diavolo’s distinctive sound features two bass guitarists, and a female vocalist named Erba del Diavolo, that is something out of the ordinary.
NON EST DEUS (DE) 20.30
Non Est Deus is a German black metal project, formed by the multi-instrumentalist Noise in 2017. The band's music is characterized by its raw and aggressive sound, blending traditional black metal elements with modern influences. Known for its intense atmosphere and uncompromising approach, Non Est Deus has released several albums, each contributing to its growing reputation in the underground black metal scene.
AETERNUS (NO) 22.30
Norwegian Aeternus was founded back in 1993 by vocalist and guitarist Ares in Bergen. The band was one of the pioneers of dark metal, combining black metal with death metal, and hints of classical music as well as folk music. Aeternus has released nine albums to date. The latest is called ”Philosopher” and came out last year. Thus, it is time to bring the band back to Oslo, where they haven’t played since Inferno 2013.
GOLDIE
TOFT (NO) 14.30
With contributions on more than 100 releases and a relentless worldwide touring effort it’s safe to say we’re dealing with a proper legend in the Norwegian Noise Scene. Apart from solo activities Toft is probably best known from Inferno friendly projects like Altaar and Utarm. Just to mention a few.
Minami Deutsch (JP) 15.30
Minami Deutsch is a Krautrock band from Tokyo, formed in 2014. Known for their hypnotic blend of Krautrock, psychedelia, and minimal techno, they gained global attention with their self-titled debut album in 2015. Minami Deutsch has toured extensively across Europe, North America, Australia, and the UK. Now it is time to conquer Inferno Metal Festival!
JOHN CXNNOR (DK) 22.40
Industrial soundscapes are the core of the electronic music project John Cxnnor. Their dystopic music effortlessly combines techno, doom metal and scores from sci-fi movies in a totally unique sound that feels like the soundtrack to the end of the world. Everything is, as the name implies, inspired by Terminator and other classic ’80s movies–with great visual effects, dark beats and interesting guest vocalists added to the mix.
VATERLAND
FERAL NATURE (NO) 14.00
Feral Nature is a hardcore band from Oslo with many influences from extreme metal. The band’s sound is energetic and raw. In November this year, the band’s debut EP Rituals will be released, and the previews so far are promising. So, look forward to getting to know this new band!
KIRKEBRANN (NO) 15.00
The Norwegian black metal band Kirkebrann was founded back in 2004 by vocalist Draug. The band’s debut album, “Når alt dør”, was not released until 2013. Now, Kirkebrann is finally ready with a follow-up album titled “Mot trellenes forfall … ”. As such, Kirkebrann is prepared for a new round and will make a stop at Inferno Metal Festival in 2025.
ROCK IN
SVART LOTUS (NO) 14.00
Svart Lotus is a Norwegian black metal band known for blending traditional black metal with atmospheric and experimental elements. Their music combines raw intensity with dark, melodic soundscapes, creating a distinctive and immersive style. With lyrical themes often centred on existentialism and darkness, Svart Lotus has carved out a unique presence in the Norwegian black metal scene.
BREWGATA
NEL BUIO (IT) 15.00
Nel Buio, meaning "In the Dark" in Italian, is a blackwave project formed in 2023 by Clod "the Ripper" De Rosa (Blasphemer, ex-Septycal Gorge). Blending black metal with 80s darkwave, the lineup includes Neil Grotti and Francesco Vellacifer. Nel Buio's dark, sorrowful sound offers a unique take on black metal, appealing to those who seek more than just fury in their music.
ROCKEFELLER
COVEN (US) 16.30
Coven is an American rock band formed in Chicago in the late 1960s, known for pioneering occult rock with themes of Satanism and witchcraft. The band, led by vocalist Jinx Dawson, gained attention with their 1969 debut album “Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls”, which introduced the "Sign of the Horns" to rock culture. Despite controversy surrounding their occult imagery, Coven's influence extended into the realms of both rock and metal. After years of hiatus, the band reunited to perform in 2017.
CADAVER (NO) 18.00
Over 35 years into their nefarious saga, Cadaver remains one of the most unique and potent forces in contemporary heaviness. Formed in Norway in 1988 and led by founding vocalist/guitarist Anders Odden, they pioneered a strange and terrifying strain of death metal. Their commitment to a subversive ethos set them apart from the vast majority of like-minded bands. In 1999, the band returned under the name Cadaver Inc., releasing Discipline in 2001. After a few years, they reverted to the name Cadaver. Cadaver released the album “Edder & Bile” in 2020, and in 2023 the band released “The Age of the Offended”.
AURA NOIR (NO) 19.30
Norway’s ugliest band, Aura Noir, is back! Back in 1993, the underground metal trends were moving towards polished sounds and overuse of keyboards. A couple of guys in Oslo didn’t like this direction and decided to go the opposite way. Thus, Aura Noir was born. Aura Noir still delivers the ugliest and rawest form of black thrash out there – completely without compromise! With classic records like “Black Thrash Attack,” “The Merciless,” and “Out to Die” under their belt, this can’t go wrong!
ROTTING CHRIST (GR) 21.15
Greek band Rotting Christ is like fine wine that only gets better with age. With a career that dates back to 1984 when the band started under the name Black Church, Rotting Christ has now released a total of fourteen albums. The band’s latest album, “Pro Xristou,” was released earlier this year. Once again, Rotting Christ delivers a masterpiece of an album, consisting of melodic, hypnotic black metal that is unlike any other band. It has now been ten years since Rotting Christ played at Inferno Metal Festival, so it is about time to have them back with us in 2025!
SATYRICON (NO) 23.30
Satyricon has established itself as a national treasure for us in Norway. For more than three decades, the band has delivered fantastic albums and energetic concerts that have cultivated a great fan base around the world. Satyricon has taken a break from concerts for a few years now, but they are back in full force, which means we are excited to welcome them back to Inferno Metal Festival in 2025!
JOHN DEE
SCHWEIN (NO) 17.15
Schwein will be remembered by many as the star of Satyricon’s documentary film “Roadkill Extravaganza – A True Roadmovie.” He has also been part of bands such as Russian Amcar Club, Kaare & Partiet, Ym:stammen, and Schweinhund. His live band includes none other than Steinar Gundersen (Satyricon) on guitar, Anders Hundstad (Satyricon) on keyboard, Stig Amundsen (Order/Glucifer) on bass, and Christian Svendsen (Gothminister/The Cumshots) on drums.
ANGIST (IS) 18.45
Angist is a blackened death metal band from Reykjavik, Iceland. The band was founded by Edda and Gyða back in 2009. After creating a two-track demo the following year, they recorded the EP ”Circle of Suffering” in 2011. After playing several high-profile concerts and festivals in the following years, the band went into hibernation in 2017. Angist has now awakened from their slumber and is working on their debut album. This will be Angist’s first time playing in Norway.
ABYSSIC (NO) 20.30
Abyssic is a Norwegian band that plays a unique form of funeral death-doom, with slight black metal influences. Their signature sound is doomy riffs enhanced by orchestrations and upright bass. It all started with Memnock (ex-Susperia) back in 1997 under the name Abyssic Dreams. In 2012-13, Memnock, and Elvorn (Susperia) revived the band as Abyssic together with some other well known musicians. This will be the band’s first concert at the Inferno Metal Festival.
SETH (FR) 22.30
Seth is a French black metal band that was started in 1995. Since then, the band has released six albums, an EP, and a live album. Already on July 14, we can add a new album to the list, as ”La France des maudits” will be released. The band has only played in Norway once before, and that was back in 2005, also at Inferno Metal Festival. It is a pleasure to have the band back after twenty years.
GOLDIE
NEGATIVE PLANE (US) 22.40
Negative Plane is a black metal band from New York known for its unique fusion of traditional metal, progressive rock, and a chilling atmosphere. The band was formed back in 2001 and has released three albums to date. Negative Plane’s music pushes the boundaries of the genre while maintaining an occult and mysterious aura. The band’s third album, The Pact, was released in 2022. This will be the band’s first performance at Inferno Metal Festival.
VATERLAND
VORBID (NO) 14.00
From their younger days as a thrash metal band, with albums such as “Mind” and the self-titled EP “Vorbid”, the band has since grown to an intersection between progressive rock and metal. With inspiration from bands such as Vektor, Opeth, Genesis and Rush, the band’s music has become anything but predictable. On their latest album “A Swan By the Edge of Mandala”, Vorbid combines the best of the older material with new and exciting turns.
ARV (NO) 15.00
Arv is a post-metal band from Oslo making waves in the local underground scene with their intense live performances and dynamic sound. Combining crushing riffs, harsh screams, and intricate drumming with atmospheric and cinematic passages, they deliver a powerful and immersive experience.
ROCK IN
:BOLVERK: (NO) 14.00
:Bolverk: is a Norwegian extreme metal band formed in 2020, featuring veteran musicians from groups like Images at Twilight, Illnath, Aasmegin, Mork, and Ragnarok. Known for their melodic yet intense sound, Bolverk pushes the limits of extreme metal by blending black and death metal with elements of traditional and folk metal.
KNIVEN
CREST OF DARKNESS (NO) 14.00
The Norwegian black metal band Crest of Darkness was formed in the mid-nineties by Ingar Amlien. The band blends traditional black metal with elements of death metal, thrash, and dark atmospheres, creating a unique and intense sound. Known for its raw aggression, dark themes, and occult influences, Crest of Darkness explores topics such as death, evil, and the supernatural.
IHXHI (NO) 15.15
IHXHI is a fresh post-black metal project hailing from Oslo. With a point of departure originating in the folk music scene in the southern parts of Norway, IHXHI has ventured into the extreme metal realm with its ethereal and intense soundscapes.
BREWGATA
AASAR (IT) 15.00
Aasar is a blackened death metal band from the cold mountains of Trentino, Italy. The Italians play a brutal form of metal but are not afraid to draw inspiration from more modern genres like deathcore. Last year, Aasar released the EP “From Nothing to Nowhere” and has received great praise, building a name for themselves in the underground scene.
SUNDAY APRIL 20TH
ROCKEFELLER
LAMENTARI (DK) 16.30
Lamentari is a Danish symphonic blackened death metal band that started in 2019. The band has previously released three EPs, and this year saw the release of their debut album “Ex Umbra in Lucem.” The album has received excellent reviews and has won over metal fans in Denmark. Now the band is ready to take over the rest of the world, and in Norway, the journey starts at Inferno Metal Festival!
SCHAMMASCH (CH) 18.00
Schammasch is a Swiss avant-garde black metal band formed in 2009. Known for their expansive, atmospheric soundscapes and philosophical themes, they blend black metal with elements of doom, progressive, and ambient music. Schammasch's music is characterized by its complex compositions, dark atmosphere, and intellectual depth, making them a standout in the extreme metal scene.
NAGLFAR
(SE) 19.30
Naglfar was formed in 1992 in Umeå, Sweden, and is one of the early Swedish black metal bands. Their debut album Vittra is now considered a classic and a milestone in Swedish extreme metal. Since then, Naglfar has released a total of seven albums, all of high quality. Naglfar’s melodic and aggressive form of black metal is often compared to other Swedish acts like Dissection and Sacramentum and fits right in with the tradition of quality metal from our neighbours to the east. We look forward to seeing this fierce band again at Inferno Metal Festival in 2025!
TSJUDER (NO)
21.15
The Norwegian black metal band Tsjuder was founded back in 1993 and has maintained a steady course ever since. Tsjuder released their first demo in 1995 with the intention of creating the rawest form of black metal. At Inferno Metal Festival 2025, Tsjuder will perform a two-part set; after the band concludes a set of their own material, they will perform Bathory material, in which they will be joined by co-founding Bathory bassist Frederick Melander.
BEHEMOTH (PL) 23.30
Polish band Behemoth has had a long career dating back to 1991. Over eleven albums, the band has grown to become a giant in extreme metal and the biggest metal band from Poland. The band’s unique and distinctive music, blending black and death metal with lyrics about history and occultism, has made Behemoth stand out from the crowd. The band hasn’t played at Inferno Metal Festival since 2015, and we are delighted to welcome them back ten years later!
JOHN DEE
THUS (DK) 17.15
Thus is a new melodic death metal band from Denmark. Despite their short lifespan, the young trio has already made a name for themselves far beyond Denmark’s borders. This year, they won the prestigious Wacken Metal Battle against hundreds of other competitors. The band’s death metal is melodic and includes progressive elements but is also groovy and brutal. Don’t miss the next generation of death metal when Thus performs in Norway for the first time.
NATTVERD (NO) 18.45
Nattverd is a Norwegian black metal band initially formed in the 1990s but officially launched in 2014. In 2023, Nattverd released their fourth album, “I Helvetes Forakt”, further solidifying their place in the Norwegian black metal scene. They recently started performing live and will make their first appearance at Inferno in 2025.
BYTHOS (FI) 20.30
Bythos is a Finnish black metal band with members from bands like Behexen, Ajattara, Chamber of Unlight, Deathchain, and Forgotten Horror, just to name a few … the list is long. The band has rarely played live, so the concert at Inferno Metal Festival in 2025 will be a unique chance to see the band.
CELESTE (FR) 22.30
Celeste is a French metal band known for their unique fusion of black metal, sludge, and post-hardcore. Formed in 2005, their music is dark, intense, and emotionally charged, blending crushing heaviness with atmospheric elements. Celeste's sound is marked by dissonant riffs, pounding rhythms, and tortured, aggressive vocals, creating a suffocating and immersive experience.
KNIVEN
HATE ANGEL (NO) 14.00
Hate Angel hails from Oslo and plays blackened thrash metal. The band has been going strong since 2017 and has so far released an EP, “Chosen Ones” in 2019, and an album, “Kill for Passion” in 2021.
DIZMAL (NO) 15.15
Dizmal is set to make an impact at the Inferno Festival with the release of their first album. Emerging from the Norwegian underground, this relatively new band has already caught attention with their dark and primal sound. Their music is a journey through a dystopian soundscape, marked by raw, intense force. With the help of postapocalyptic visions of nuclear winter, psychosis, and a nihilistic worldview, Dizmal evokes the sound of chaos, war, radiation, and the end times.
TSJUDER
BEHEMOTH
VATERLAND
VINGULMORK (NO) 14.00
Vingulmork hails from Norway and plays blackened thrash metal. The band has released two EPs and one album to date. Their latest EP came out in 2019, so we’re hoping for more music soon. In the meantime, you can catch Vingulmork at Inferno Metal Festival!
MESSIER 16 (NO) 15.00
Messier 16 is a progressive metal band from Norway. The band's sound blends progressive metal with influences from Emperor and Ihsahn, and they quickly gained recognition, earning a spot on several "best of" lists for Norwegian releases in 2021. Their latest release, Death Poems (2023), is a concept album that explores the theme of suicide, drawing on real-life letters, with each song representing a different tragic story. Known for their sophisticated compositions and emotional depth, Messier 16 continues to push boundaries in the Norwegian metal scene.
ROCK IN
MAGISTER TEMPLI (NO) 14.00
Magister Templi is a Norwegian heavy metal band formed in 2008, known for their blend of traditional doom and epic heavy metal. Their music draws inspiration from occult themes, mythology, and esoteric traditions, with lyrical content often exploring historical and religious mysticism.
BREWGATA
BISMARCK (NO) 15.00
Bismarck, hailing from Bergen, Norway, has been hailed as one of the heaviest bands on the country’s west coast. Known for their sludgy, crushing riffs and psychedelic journeys, the band first made waves in the Norwegian underground with their debut album “Urkraft” in 2018. Drawing from diverse influences – including stoner doom, 60s and 70s psychedelic rock, Norwegian black metal, and Middle Eastern folk music – Bismarck’s sound shifts between fuzzed-out heaviness and clean, atmospheric drones.
The conference will take place at Clarion Hotel The Hub in Oslo. The full program will be available at nfernomusicconference.com, but a portion of the program can be seen here: In Defense of Valhalla
Join us as we revisit the lecture originally presented by former President of Iceland Guðni Th. Jóhannesson
at the University of Warsaw, March 4. 2020 entitled "Defending Asgard, Independence and Human Rights. The Use of History in Current Affairs". The former President himself will be present as we discuss how hate groups are claiming old Norse symbolism for their causes and using it as beacons of hate. More panellists are to be announced.
Festival Presentations
Gain valuable insights from four emerging and expanding festivals worldwide as they share their strategies for crafting a distinct profile and making impactful artistic decisions to fuel their growth. What decisions drive your festival's success? What unique selling points set you apart, and how do you forge connections with your audience?
Smashing through walls: Metal in the Middle East
Get ready for a killer panel discussion on the diverse heavy metal scene in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The discussion will spotlight the talent and the explosive growth of the metal industry in this region, which is breaking barriers and making waves.
The panel’s lineup, spanning the geographical breadth of the region, will share their stories about the rise of heavy metal in their countries and how the scene is smashing through cultural and social walls.
The discussion will dive into the ever-growing industry connections between the MENA metal scene and the global stage: Major international bands have teared it up in the region, and MENA musicians are making a mark in the world.
This is your chance to get the inside scoop on the MENA metal scene and see how it's shaking up the global metal community. It’s a region of talent and opportunity in spite of ongoing challenges and restrictions. Don't miss out – this discussion is going to be loud, raw, and real!
Drag Music Bingo
You might wonder what music bingo is. Imagine the love child of a music quiz and bingo – that’s your answer! Guess which song the hosts play, find the corresponding number, and cross it off on your ticket until you have 5 in a row.
You’ll get a list of songs, all of them metal, with some even from bands performing at the festival next year. There will be multiple prizes you can win, so let’s put your musical ear to the test!
This bingo will be hosted by drag king Erik Sjon and drag queen Fay Goth, the metal king and queen of Norway!
Read the whole program and buy delegate passes at: www.infernomusicconference.com
B- BATTLES IN THE NORTH
- BATTLES IN THE NORTH
ABBATH ABBATH
THE STAGE IS SET FOR A TRUE BATTLE IN THE NORTH AT OSLO’S ROCKEFELLER VENUE AT THIS YEAR’S HOLY THURSDAY WHEN ABBATH WILL PERFORM HIS HEADLINING DOOM OCCULTA SET. THERE IS MORE THAN MUSIC AT STAKE WHEN AN EPIC TALE OF SHAKESPEAREAN PROPORTIONS PLAYS OUT THAT TOUCHES THE SPIRITUAL DIMENSIONS OF METAL IN GENERAL AND BLACK METAL IN PARTICULAR.
THE STAGE IS SET FOR A TRUE BATTLE IN THE NORTH AT OSLO’S ROCKEFELLER VENUE AT THIS YEAR’S HOLY THURSDAY WHEN ABBATH WILL PERFORM HIS HEADLINING DOOM OCCULTA SET. THERE IS MORE THAN MUSIC AT STAKE WHEN AN EPIC TALE OF SHAKESPEAREAN PROPORTIONS PLAYS OUT THAT TOUCHES THE SPIRITUAL DIMENSIONS OF METAL IN GENERAL AND BLACK METAL IN PARTICULAR.
By: Gunnar Sauermann
y now, most headbangers will be aware that Olve Eikemo aka the artist Abbath is going to perform songs with his current band Abbath and that he wrote as the frontman of and released with his former band Immortal. Yet the name does not appear on the festival poster. Instead, his nome de guerre Abbath Doom Occulta from the first two Immortal albums, Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism (1992) and Pure Holocaust (1993) is being used. As the artist does not wish to comment on this choice, it leaves room for speculation. Another question is whether this is important. The answer is a firm: maybe.
The Rise of Abbath
For those just interested in hearing the old songs performed by the iconic singer himself, it does not matter what the set is called. For some and particularly younger fans it will even be the first time, they get a chance to hear and see this happening. Others that have followed the careers of both, Immortal and Abbath, over more than three decades might have second thoughts. Getting to the heart of the matter requires going back through a few layers of musical history like peeling an onion, which is less dry than it sounds. The band Abbath began when the artist Abbath left, disbanded, or
ended – and already at this point the story gets slightly hazy – his previous band Immortal in 2015.
“I am no longer Immortal”, the huge musician from the harbour city of Bergen on Norway’s west coast said with a twinkling smile and a sigh of regret back in the days, after his founding of the new band was announced. Humour has always been a strong part of Abbath, who has never been shy to crack jokes at his own expense and who also possesses the rare gift of self-irony. Whatever his reasons for abandoning a career and name build over more than two decades, the guitarist and vocalist was determined to create a new one
– and he did. All three full-length albums from the eponymous Abbath (2016) via Outstrider (2019) to the latest achievement Dread Reaver (2022) were well received by critics and fans alike and their songs performed live around the globe at festivals and on tours. As an important part of the Norwegian black metal scene, Abbath has of course already been invited to play at the Inferno Festival twice in 2017 and 2023 – not counting the cancelled events during the pandemic years. His first appearance with Abbath did not get very far and ended after four songs. “Yeah, there were a lot of things going very wrong that day and it was definitely not our finest hour”, Abbath readily admits. “I was very thankful that the festival organiser Jan-Martin Jensen was very kind as to accept my apology and he also gave us a chance to redeem ourselves soon. He was really a gentleman, and I think that we managed to honour his commitment.” Indeed, Abbath delivered a furious show that many accepted as a compensation for the previous non-event. By now, it is no secret that the frontman is at times plagued by the same demons that have already haunted a significant number of other artists in the music business – which shall be all that is said about this topic here. As Abbath is now bound to return to Inferno with songs from a previous chapter of his career, it is time to peel back another layer and to look at Immortal.
The Fall of Immortal
What goes up must come down. There can be no doubt that Immortal were founded together by Olve “Abbath” Eikemo and Harald Nævdal aka Demonaz in 1991. Although the band was clearly a part of the fast-rising Nordic black metal movement, they also kept their distance from all the turmoil that marked the early years of the scene – particularly in Norway. They stayed far away from religious and political issues and even invented their own mythology of ‘Blashyrkh’, which is supposed to be a battle-filled realm of eternal darkness and winter that is haunted by demons and ravens – as well as a metaphor for the area around the duo’s home
city of Bergen. Their first three albums are considered canonical for early Norwegian black metal. When Demonaz began to suffer from chronic tendonitis in his arms, he was forced to resign as a guitarist from the band in 1997. After some hesitation, Abbath continued and started to gradually transition Immortal into the metal mainstream, beginning with the album At the Heart of Winter in 1999. The dark and harsh music that had started out as a strictly underground phenomenon became grudgingly accepted into the general heavy metal world due to its ever-growing popularity. In 1999, Immortal were also invited to also the quickly expanding Wacken Open Air for the first time and again only a year later. Following the popular albums Damned in Black (2000) and Sons of Northern Darkness (2002), Immortal performed for the first time at the Inferno Festival at the third edition in 2003. “We were thrilled to be invited”,
“I WAS VERY THANKFUL THAT THE FESTIVAL ORGANISER JAN-MARTIN JENSEN WAS VERY KIND AS TO ACCEPT MY APOLOGY AND HE ALSO GAVE US A CHANCE TO REDEEM OURSELVES SOON.”
– ABBATH
Abbath recalls. “It had already become clear that Jan-Martin had created more than just a black metal festival that attracted international press and fans to Norway. We finally had our own place to meet but also the world came to meet us in Oslo. The whole scene owes him a lot.” Despite the occasional hiatus when Abbath needed a break due to exhaustion, the frontman continued to lift Immortal up to new peaks. In 2009, the Norwegians
released All Shall Fall, which at the time hardly anybody might have suspected to be the final full-length featuring Abbath. The live shows were a triumph. Immortal performed in front of tens of thousands of fans at the Wacken Open Air among other festivals and at Easter 2011, the Bergen bunch hit the Inferno Festival for the third time – with a fiery and stellar show. There can be no doubt that it was Abbath who got Immortal to that point in the eyes of the fans. It also took many people behind the scenes to keep the band train from derailing. Again, it remains unclear what happened next, except that the ‘blood brothers’ Abbath and Demonaz had a falling out. The latter took control of the band and released two albums without the former frontman.
Abbath performs at Rockefeller stage Thursday 17th of April 23.30.
By: Aleksandra Stasiak
N- INFERNO ART EXHIBITS 2025
NICK MORTE NICK MORTE
INFERNO ART EXHIBITION IS RETURNING TO CLARION THE HUB WITH THE NEW LINE UP OF EXHIBITING ARTISTS AND FREE ENTRANCE FOR ALL VISITORS THROUGHOUT THE FESTIVAL. THE EXPOSITION IS OPEN DURING THE INFERNO CONFERENCE HOURS, 11:00-16:00
INFERNO ART EXHIBITION IS RETURNING TO CLARION THE HUB WITH THE NEW LINE UP OF EXHIBITING ARTISTS AND FREE ENTRANCE FOR ALL VISITORS THROUGHOUT THE FESTIVAL. THE EXPOSITION IS OPEN DURING THE INFERNO CONFERENCE HOURS, 11:00-16:00
ick, what can you say about the first exhibition, are you happy with the results of the 2024 edition?
- Personally, I was only able to realise the impact of the exhibition months after the event. I knew that our team did really well, and I was very happy to see the success of the show, but the understanding of the size and importance of it came later, after we were done, and the adrenaline wore off. Looking back at it now, I must say that I am a hell of impressed with the accomplishment.
What should we expect from the new exhibition?
- It will be quite different from last year’s exposition. The new line up of exhibiting artists brings new mediums that widen up the perspective of the exhibition remarkably. The 2025 edition will include animation, textile installation and various mixed media artworks besides traditional mediums. Such as blood. Of course, classical painting and illustration will be presented, as well as photography.
Was it hard to assemble a completely new lineup for 2025?
- The engagement and interest in the exhibition exceeded our expectations. The new line up kind of folded itself into shape organically. The hard part was synchronising everyone’s timing to make it work. Although we would like to make a space for
artists from previous year, we had to prioritise showing new artists with new works. So, soon after the last festival took place, the list was pretty full.
What special treats do you have for metal music fans at the exhibition this year?
- I hope to see both metal fans and art lovers as visitors of the exhibition. The visual component of musical work has always been important, and here it takes the shape of the artwork on its own. It’s very exciting to see Seth Siro Anton from SepticFlesh as one of the exhibiting artists and a special guest. His art is well known to any music fan as he did a great number of album covers for the biggest metal bands. Also, Roger “Nattefrost” of Carpathian Forest will be presenting some of his very personal artworks that have never been shown to the public before. I am sure that these artworks will resonate not only with metal fans, but also with those who have never heard their musical work before.
Can you tell us more about attending artists?
- I am looking forward to introducing the work of Stanislav Krawczyk, known as Stan Dark Art to the Norwegian audience. Stan’s work reflects his struggles with cerebral palsy and pain, and it’s extremely powerful. Also, we’ll witness the return of Anders Røkkum to exhibiting, alongside with Elisa Halvorsen Castillo and Linda K. Røed who are
working on alternative media pieces for this show.
Classical art and illustration will be presented in various mediums and will include works of David Thiérrée, Zein Hestnæs, Elias Forberg and Gunnar Haslund.
Kim Holm will make a special appearance as well, I’m excited about that.
I am also looking forward to showing some of Uncle Allan’s photography at the exhibition.
Can you share the practical information about the exhibition and art?
- Of course! You will find the exhibition at Clarion Hotel The Hub, located on the first floor near the conference hall. To clarify, as there was some confusion last year: the exhibition is open to EVERYONE, not just festival attendees, from 11:00 to 16:00.
Most of the artworks will be available for sale. If you're interested, please don't hesitate to contact us. As always, we will have art stands at the Rockefeller venue as part of the Inferno Tattoo Fair.
To all art enthusiasts looking to purchase unique pieces: make sure to stop by the hotel. And remember – Art is metal, but not beer-proof, put your drink down elsewhere! ;)
Where can we follow the updates?
- Instagram! All the Art and Tattoo Fair updates will be available @infernoartandtattoos.
By: Roy Kristensen
- PUSHED TO THE UTTER LIMITS - PUSHED TO THE UTTER LIMITS
DØDHEIMSGARD DØDHEIMSGARD
DØDHEIMSGARD HAS BEEN DOING THEIR MUSIC FOR 30 YEARS BY NOW. IN THE SAME 30 YEARS THEY HAVE RELEASED A COUPLE OF DEMOS, A SPLIT, AN EP AND SIX ALBUMS. WHILE THEIR TWO FIRST ALBUMS ARE CONSIDERED TO BE BLACK METAL, THE LAST FOUR ALBUMS HAVE TAKEN DIFFERENT PATHS. WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM THEIR RELEASES ALREADY SINCE 1999’S “666 INTERNATIONAL” IS THE UNEXPECTED. AND YOU MAY ALSO WONDER WHY IT TOOK 8 YEARS FROM “SUPERVILLAIN OUTCAST” TO “A UMBRA OMEGA”, WHEN GUITARIST, VOCALIST AND SONGWRITER VICOTNIK WAS SOON TO BE DONE WITH A NEW ALBUM RIGHT AFTER 2007’S “SUPERVILLAIN OUTCAST”? WELL, WE TALK ABOUT THIS AND THAT AND OTHER THINGS WHEN WE HAD A SIT-DOWN IN OSLO AN EVENING IN OCTOBER 2024.
DØDHEIMSGARD HAS BEEN DOING THEIR MUSIC FOR 30 YEARS BY NOW. IN THE SAME 30 YEARS THEY HAVE RELEASED A COUPLE OF DEMOS, A SPLIT, AN EP AND SIX ALBUMS. WHILE THEIR TWO FIRST ALBUMS ARE CONSIDERED TO BE BLACK METAL, THE LAST FOUR ALBUMS HAVE TAKEN DIFFERENT PATHS. WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM THEIR RELEASES ALREADY SINCE 1999’S “666 INTERNATIONAL” IS THE UNEXPECTED. AND YOU MAY ALSO WONDER WHY IT TOOK 8 YEARS FROM “SUPERVILLAIN OUTCAST” TO “A UMBRA OMEGA”, WHEN GUITARIST, VOCALIST AND SONGWRITER VICOTNIK WAS SOON TO BE DONE WITH A NEW ALBUM RIGHT AFTER 2007’S “SUPERVILLAIN OUTCAST”? WELL, WE TALK ABOUT THIS AND THAT AND OTHER THINGS WHEN WE HAD A SIT-DOWN IN OSLO AN EVENING IN OCTOBER 2024.
Well, there are these circumstances.
People don’t like to call these circumstances coincidences, since that mean that there is aim and purpose behind them, right? But when the next album was ready already in 2007, “Supervillain Outcast” doesn’t really hit the target, at least not the way I intended. After the album was done a few years earlier, I continued to write new tracks. While writing I realize that that the songs turn out a bit too similar to each other. I had our vocalist in mind when I made them, and I knew that he liked a certain structure in those songs. So, when he walked out the door, he also opened a new circumstance, to put it like that. I had to kind of restart the whole thing, even though we were quite close to a new album. Or two. Or even three, because I had like 35 tracks ready. So, there’s a “Supervillain II” and “Supervillain III” in there, but those will obviously not happen. But bits and pieces have been used because there are small ounces of gold here and there when you dig deep. It is important that I get goosebumps from the music, simply put. If I don’t get it, I just put it in the bin. When I find gold, I continue with the music from there.
Considering that the songs on the last two albums are quite lengthy and that the albums are
lengthy as well, you haven’t thought about making a few more 40 minutes albums, instead of waiting another eight years every time?
- Well, if we had continued with the vocalist at that time, you never know. But when things changed, the musical approach changed as well. And the way I viewed my music changed. When I made “Supervillain Outcast” I wanted to make an album that would be looked upon as a metal album, and which would be transferred from the album into the live situation without too much hassle. As you know, the songs were quite short and more direct. But as time flied, I began to look at my music from a more artistic point of view and remove the outer aspects of the extreme metal scene.
All your albums are different from each other. As you say, “Supervillain Outcast” was more direct with shorter songs compared to “666 International”, “A Umbra Omega” and 2023’s masterpiece “Black Medium Current”, but in a way I’d say “Supervillain Outcast” is even more different compared to the other three more avant-garde albums.
- I began to think that it wasn’t 100 % the art I felt in my heart and soul. The album got a great response. Of course, some people wanted something else, but it’s always easier to remember the critics that pointed out positive aspects of our music.
You stick to that and let it be your reality. But to make music because I wanted to play on festivals and do loads of tours and whatnot, that wasn’t what I was looking for after all. The motivation perished and doing festivals became unimportant. The outer factors weren’t important anymore! I remember touring with Dimmu Borgir back in 1999. When I see what they have achieved since, how their music is all over the world … I mean, when you’re young and reckless you aim for the stars, don’t you? But after a while you realize that it is very time-consuming, it becomes a job. I mean, I respect them and their choices, but I realized that it wouldn’t work for me. To me it had to be heart over matter, if you see what I mean?
When my wife heard “A Umbra Omega” she said that it sounded like there were five musicians who played on their own floor, even in different houses. To me it sounds more like a house with different rooms, but it is still the same house. I love it. However, the sound on “Black Medium Current” is way more coherent, and there’s a whole feeling to it despite the variation in the expression and all the small details.
From three minutes out in the track “Det Tomme Kalde Mørke”, the music becomes quite calm, yet
there are details going on all the time …
- Sometimes it’s quite difficult to distinguish between what you do and how you do it because you’re so used to just doing things. I try to create a manifestation of something within me, but I don’t always know how to use physical tools to bring that feeling or vision to life. However, when I get those goosebumps, I know I’m on the right track. This isn’t like making spaghetti carbonara, where you just follow the recipe. You know the result because you’ve eaten that dish over and over again. My contribution to black metal is definitely not about repeating the same recipe. In fact, there’s no recipe anymore! I’m searching for something … else.
And eventually you’ve made an album where you’ve put the tracks in order. Thinking of “Black Medium Current”, the album feels quite different the first four track compared to the last five tracks. The album is wilder in the first half before it becomes more linear kind of …
- The process is ongoing because there could be elements in a song that makes it fit more as song three or song six, instead of the second track on the album. There are various reasons why the track list changes until it eventually becomes the final version. “Et smelter” was chosen to open the album simply because it was the first track I made for the album. The lyric manifested the choice. “Et smelter” deals with time and space and all the people that were there back in those days. It was a melting pot for us, the outcasts of society. I didn’t spend much time at Elm Street the last few years, but those years I was there were at times chaotic, there were conflicts. I wouldn’t call it a happy place, but then again black metal wasn’t about happiness. I mean, we pushed each other to the utter limits. We killed each other, we burnt expensive buildings that had a lot of cultural value, even to us. In that sense you can say that the lyric has this tension moment between love and hate! I love my approach to music, but that doesn’t mean that I always like or enjoy it. Many of the songs on “Black Medium Current” consist of different parts, just like “Et smelter”, but this one was the starting point, thus it had to open the album, or the journey if you will. The last song also gave itself. “Requiem Aeternum” is a funeral song. I’ve been thinking about many old things when I made this album, going through my time, to put it like that. If there’s any sign of a concept, it is time. There is no musical link to Mayhem’s “Life Eternal”, but I have picked up a thing or two from that track and mixed it with my own story and the genre’s common story–and sort of use these to paint my own funeral. I also knew that the short track, “Voyager”, would be the middle of the album.
but there were.
“Black Medium Current” is a challenging album, both musically and lyrically. How was it to relieve so much of yourself into the album? In a way you stand there naked in front of your audience …
- It can be scary, but once I chose this form of art, there was no turning back. Art is about creating an expression. As I’ve grown older, I’ve realized there’s no point in hiding behind all these metaphors that once served as a kind of safe haven. This doesn’t mean I don’t consider Kronet til konge an honest album. It is truly honest from my 16-year-old Vicotnik’s point of view. But it wouldn’t be a sincere album if I made it today. So, art is not created in chronological order but rather reflects a developmental process. My inspiration isn’t confined to one genre, even though extreme metal is my main focus. I look at and listen to artists like David Bowie-, Bryan Ferry-, and Nick Cave-artists who live their lives and tell their
Vicotnik and I met at the pub Kniven. And the main reason that we meet is the upcoming Inferno Festival. I have seen Dødheimsgard playing live many times before. Sometimes it has been too far out for me, other times I have been sucked into their wicked universe. In recent years Vicotnik has been doing the vocals live. How has it been to be the focal point?
- Well, I do notice some mistakes by the band every now and then, ha ha. But this is live music, and it’s not supposed to be perfect every time. Some inevitable mistakes are a part of the ordeal. When I am up there, I try to make every performance unique. If everything is perfect, every performance will just be the same over and over again, so I embrace it when things go to hell. We’re having a laugh; we deal with it and we just go on with the show.
While other vocalists were performing your material while you did guitars, you now do the vocals Does it become even more personal?
“I HOPE THAT PEOPLE WHO’VE SEEN DØDHEIMSGARD PREVIOUSLY WILL GET A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE THAN THEY HAVE SEEN BEFORE, WHILE THOSE WHO DON’T KNOW US WILL SEE US AND THINK THAT THIS WAS SOMETHING ELSE, SOMETHING EXCITING.”
– VICOTNIK ON PLAYING INFERNO
stories through themselves in a nonlinear way. It’s not something they just sing and then move on from. I think they challenge themselves and us, the listeners. Art must challenge!
We have to talk a bit about one more song, namely “Interstellar Nexus”. It’s a track that begins in one spot and ends up on more or less another planet. I don’t know if you’re one of those who write a song in a night or spend months and years to finish a track. But do you have the listeners in mind anymore when you write music?
- In fact, I quit thinking about the listeners some 15 years ago. I will never be a music millionaire, but that’s all fine. I rather focus on what the music means to me and how I can express my art. But you asked about “Interstellar Nexus”, and that’s a different track in the sense that it is the only track on the album that was written in a day or two.
Eh …
- The song came as a result of me having a period of time where I didn’t write any music and had been drinking for quite a while. So, one day I came home after all those days and began to write the music. The lyric and the music came together by itself. It may be difficult to understand what it was that I tried to say, but perhaps it was an outlet, a kind of way out?
In a way I feel that while the first half of the album brings us to various places, the last half takes us down, deeper down.
- “Abyss Perihelion Transit” takes us to the bottom of the pit. The listener couldn’t believe that there were any places even further into the abyss,
All your songs are special, but this one is special in a different way. But that it came as a result of three months drunkenness, I didn’t see that coming.
- You know, I have no rules anymore when it comes to music. I make it, then I try to feel it and if I get those mentioned goosebumps, I can move on.
- When we play live there are many people involved. The lightman, the sound guy, the scene crew and obviously the band. I am aware that this is my music, but previously we had to work as a team, we had to relate to each other and the vocalist at the given time had to interpret my lyrics. It feels like a relief to perform the song in my own way, something that is quite new to me actually. And since the audience is different every time, it becomes a new experience in a new context every night.
Without revealing what you have in mind for the Inferno Festival 2025, you’re getting a bit longer playing time and Dødheimsgard are actually opening the whole festivities.
- I just think we’ll do a few expanded versions of selected songs that are carefully chosen, we’ll bring in some new elements and we plan to tie it together in a visual appealing package. You know, playing next door means that we save money since we don’t have to travel from here to there and back again. We can invest more money in the production of the show. I hope that people who’ve seen Dødheimsgard previously will get a slightly different experience than they have seen before, while those who don’t know us will see us and think that this was something else, something exciting.
Do you have time to check out other bands while being a festival, or is more like an in-and-out job?
- Well, sometimes it’s nice to meet people, and if they have something interesting to offer, I might check out their band. Other times, bands you haven’t seen before play at the same festival, and if you like their music, you might as well take a look. But sure, there are times when I just want to get out of there after we’ve finished our set. You know, as I’m nearing 50, I don’t find it all that fun to party all night long, especially if we’re on a small tour or something. I want to be ready to perform, and that hour on stage is, of course, the most important time when playing live.
Dødheimsgard performs at Rockefeller stage Thursday 17th of April 16.15.
NAFTER MANY YEARS IN RAGNAROK, THE GUITARIST AND SONGWRITER BOLVERK HAS BEEN A PART OF NO LESS THAN FIVE ALBUMS
AFTER MANY YEARS IN RAGNAROK, THE GUITARIST AND SONGWRITER BOLVERK HAS BEEN A PART OF NO LESS THAN FIVE ALBUMS
SINCE HE QUIT, WITH A NEW :BOLVERK: ALBUM COMING SOME TIME IN 2025, I GUESS. WITH UNDER THE OAK, WELCOME TO HELL (VENOM TRIBUTE-BAND) AND :BOLVERK:, I GUESS HE WANTED TO FOCUS ON RIFFS, GREAT SONGS AND METAL AGAIN, NOT CORPSE-PAINT, HAH. BUT SINCE THIS IS FOR THE INFERNO FESTIVAL MAGAZINE, I THINK WE’LL STICK TO :BOLVERK: FOR NOW.
SINCE HE QUIT, WITH A NEW :BOLVERK: ALBUM COMING SOME TIME IN 2025, I GUESS. WITH UNDER THE OAK, WELCOME TO HELL (VENOM TRIBUTE-BAND) AND :BOLVERK:, I GUESS HE WANTED TO FOCUS ON RIFFS, GREAT SONGS AND METAL AGAIN, NOT CORPSE-PAINT, HAH. BUT SINCE THIS IS FOR THE INFERNO FESTIVAL MAGAZINE, I THINK WE’LL STICK TO :BOLVERK: FOR NOW.
:BOLVERK: :BOLVERK:
By: Roy Kristensen
BACK FROM THE DEAD - BACK FROM THE DEAD
ow, a couple of years later, how do you view “Uaar,” your first full-length album released in May 2022?
- I must say, I am still very happy with “Uaar”. I think it is varied, extreme and hopefully also a bit avantgarde in places. Even if most of the songs for “Uaar” and “Svarte Sekunder” is written in the same period of time, I kind of feel that the songs we picked for “Uaar” defined us in a good way, and we are working hard to live up to that. One of the biggest challenges lies in making the arrangements interesting, as well as trying to pull the listener into the music, because sometimes you really need to listen to make sense of it. We hardly make background music. It is melodic at times, but it also challenges your listening skills and people say they discover new stuff even after many listens, which I hope is a sign of some sort of quality. You did a few concerts, and when you got closer to the second album “Svarte Sekunder” you could add more songs to the setlist. Since there’s quite a lot going on in your songs, how do you set up the setlist to make it a flowing happening for both
the audience and the band?
- Well, I wish I could say that we do an in-depth analysis of the set, weighing the melodic songs against the brutal ones, then making a chart to weigh the pros and cons of each song, and finally using a panel of expert metalheads to decide the most intelligent way to perform the set. But alas … What actually happens is that we choose the songs we think are the best, and sometimes the songs other people think are the best – because we don’t realize they’re the best – and then we arrange them in an order that we think both the band and the audience will survive.
Most of our songs are around the six-minute mark, and that’s no coincidence. We find great satisfaction in creating arrangements that keep people engaged for six minutes, but it also means they can be quite challenging to perform live.
I suppose you’ve received some feedback on the said second album “Svarte Sekunder”. Did the foreigners show special interest in the album title, since “Black Seconds” doesn’t say too much, right? I guess people in Norway nodded and wondered if
you were inspired by the author Karin Fossum? - Ha, ha … yeah … I only remembered that book after the album was out. I actually read the beginning of it once, but I don’t like stories about abducted children, so I put it away and forgot all about it. The lyrics are really about the time when I passed out and thought I died. As luck would have it, I really didn’t, but the serenity I experienced when I was out was quite intriguing. No pain … peace and quiet … I was pretty pissed off when I came through, but that was only a passing feeling, of corpse. I thoroughly enjoy my life. Anyway, that was the inspiration for the lyrics, but then they transpired into thoughts about thanatosis and that some animals play dead to save themselves and that maybe people also need a time-out and a wake-up-call from time to time … and so forth … A couple of times I’ve answered that it’s about the seconds on the album that actually are black metal. I could probably rant on about this subject for pages, but as you say Roy, we play a small stage, so better keep the answers short, ha, ha …
For those who don’t know the band yet, let’s not go through your discography since there’s this horrible invention named Internet for that, but rather have a few words on the music and what it is you want to express? In other words, what is it that you want with :BOLVERK:?
- With :BOLVERK: we want to challenge the extreme metal genre, both in the melodic and in the brutal direction. Ideally, we want to be as melodic and harmonic as Solstafir in one end and as brutal and ruthless as Marduk in the other. We work a lot with the contrasts of the music. It’s easy to play slowly and it’s easy to play fast, but when you put the two together you need a good way to move from one to the other, and that is more difficult. This is a work in progress on our part, and even if we are very happy with both “Uaar” and “Svarte Sekunder”, we hope to have improved on our upcoming third album. At the moment, we are working on eight songs, having terminated another few songs. The vinyl will probably have room for six songs and then we keep a song or two as bonus for CD and streaming. We have one last review of the arrangements now, to see if there is stuff, we can add or remove to make it as interesting as possible.
done music since many moons ago, so it’s not like you had this huge development in technique and songwriting I guess, but more how you work to make the songs different from each other, yet keeping the identity you want to archive/obtain?
- Yes, there have been many, many moons, but I still think we learn something and improve as musicians for every new moon. We learn all the time. We become better songwriters, better musicians … sometimes even better people, because we are
inspiration. We are working hard on the new material, as we speak. It is melodic, brutal and a bit crazy and avantgarde … at least we hope it is. The philosophy is the same, but I trust that the quality is higher in every instance. Everything is not finished yet, but we are at that stage where we try to add the last elements now. We also have a goal to write all the lyrics in Norwegian this time, because it’s actually very challenging to write lyrics in Norwegian and we really like challenges.
“IT WILL BE MY FOURTH TIME PLAYING INFERNO ALTOGETHER, WITH THREE DIFFERENT BANDS, AND IT’S NO SECRET THAT I FEEL IT’S A GREAT HONOUR.”
– THOMAS BOLVERK ON PLAYING INFERNO
“Svarte Sekunder” is an album that is more varied than the debut, yet it is within the same frame, to put it like that. How do you view your own development within the band? I mean, you’ve
older and, well, not wiser, because we are as stupid as ever, but probably we have more trust in ourselves in the way that if we think the music is good, then a fair share of other people will think it is good as well. I remember all the old guitar heroes used to say that: “I was on my best in my twenties when I could do this and that”, but I must say I think they are totally wrong. It’s a privilege we have as musicians to improve, learn and evolve even if we are old farts. Also, I think it is very important to have a lot of material to choose from. We always make sure that we have a fair share of darlings to kill, so that the end product is the result of a long elimination process rather than a spur of the moment burst of
Finally in this short round for Inferno Festival magazine, what can we except at Inferno and your gig at the Rock In venue on Saturday 19th of April 2025? To the foreigners reading this, Rock In is an intimate venue where you can actually touch the musicians during the concert …
- I love Rock In and this will actually be the second time I play Inferno on my birthday. Someone will bring cake. I know it. It will be my fourth time playing Inferno altogether, with three different bands, and it’s no secret that I feel it’s a great honour. After they refurbished Rock In, the stage is great, we are close to the audience, the Rock In crew is excellent and we can’t wait to unleash :BOLVERK: on you on what will probably be a beautiful spring day in Oslo. See you there!
:BOLVERK: performs at Rock In stage Saturday 19th of April 14.00.
BLACK METAL BUS SIGHTSEEING BLACK METAL BUS SIGHTSEEING
Join us on a tour of the places that marked the beginning of the legend of Norwegian black metal. Guide: Anders Odden (Cadaver, Celtic Frost, Order).
The myths surrounding the early history of Norwegian black metal are numerous. Countless documentaries, films, and books have tried to uncover what happened in Norway in the early ‘90s. Visiting the locations where these events took place, guided by someone who was there, makes this a truly personal journey.
Through his record store, Helvete, and his band, Mayhem, Øystein Aarseth – better known as Euronymous – became a central figure in the scene. He inspired and promoted early Norwegian metal bands such as Emperor, Darkthrone, Immortal, Burzum, and others. On August 10, 1993, after a year of turmoil in the underground scene of Oslo and Bergen, Euronymous was killed in his apartment by Varg Vikernes, also known as Greven, the notorious leader of Burzum. This event marked the end of an era. The once
obscure black metal scene quickly became infamous, grabbing tabloid headlines in Norway and beyond.
Anders Odden formed his first black metal band, Slaught, in 1986 after attending a Mayhem rehearsal at the age of 14. A pioneer in the underground scene, he was involved in tape trading, organizing concerts, and crafting his own brand of extreme metal. In 1988, he formed Cadaver, releasing the first Norwegian death metal album on Earache Records in 1990. Cadaver shared the stage with bands like Darkthrone, Mayhem, and Old Funeral – groups that would later shape the early Norwegian black metal scene.
This excursion will feature exclusive anecdotes and personal memories from someone who experienced those formative years firsthand.
BLACK METAL BUS SIGHTSEEING
– A FIELD TRIP THROUGH NORWEGIAN BLACK METAL Every day during Inferno.
11:30 Meet up with ticket in the lobby, The Hub, Inferno Festival Hotel.
12:00 Departure from The Hub, Inferno Festival Hotel.
THE TALK OF THE TOWN THIS AUTUMN HAS BEEN THE AMERICAN BAND BLOOD INCANTATION. THEY HAVE RELEASED A FEW EPS, DEMOS AND A SPLIT WITH COLLEAGUES SPECTRAL VOICE. BUT THEIR MAIN RELEASES ARE THE THREE ALBUMS. GUITARIST AND VOCALIST PAUL RIEDL AND HIS BANDMATES HAVE TWISTED THEIR WAY OF DEATH METAL AND DONE TWISTS AND TURNS THAT HAVE MADE THEM RECEIVE ACCOLADES. WITH 2024S “ABSOLUTE EVERYWHERE” BLOOD INCANTATION HAVE REALLY PUSHED THE BOUNDARIES AND RELEASED AN ALBUM THAT TAKES US ELSEWHERE! IN A FEW MONTHS’ TIME WE WILL EXPERIENCE THEIR APPROACH TO DEATH METAL ON STAGE AT THE INFERNO FESTIVAL. COME EASTER, COME DEATH!
THE TALK OF THE TOWN THIS AUTUMN HAS BEEN THE AMERICAN BAND BLOOD INCANTATION. THEY HAVE RELEASED A FEW EPS, DEMOS AND A SPLIT WITH COLLEAGUES SPECTRAL VOICE. BUT THEIR MAIN RELEASES ARE THE THREE ALBUMS. GUITARIST AND VOCALIST PAUL RIEDL AND HIS BANDMATES HAVE TWISTED THEIR OF DEATH METAL AND DONE TWISTS AND TURNS THAT HAVE MADE THEM RECEIVE ACCOLADES. WITH 2024S “ABSOLUTE EVERYWHERE” INCANTATION HAVE REALLY THE BOUNDARIES RELEASED AN ALBUM THAT TAKES US ELSEWHERE! IN A FEW MONTHS’ TIME WE WILL EXPERIENCE THEIR APPROACH TO DEATH METAL ON STAGE AT THE INFERNO FESTIVAL. COME EASTER, COME DEATH!
he band began back in 2011, and it took you five years to release your debut album “Starspawn”. And now, eight years later, you have come absolute(ly) nowhere, ahem … But more of the latter later. When you released “Starspawn” and especially when it good quite a lot of attention, how did your masterplan then look? Would you be reaching for the stars … ?
- “Starspawn” was a great debut and an effective method for announcing our arrival on the scene. Even though the material on that album was 2-3 years old by the time we recorded it, it was still very fresh, and we were excited to hear our music back through professional studio monitors for the first time. During the studio sessions, there was a palpable air of “This will either change our lives or take 30 years to be truly appreciated” – as had happened to many of our favourite records such as “Focus”, “Obscura”, “Nespithe”, “Dreams Of The Carrion Kind”, “The Cube”, “Transcendence Into The Peripheral”, and on and on. Luckily, it was a near instantaneous success, and life has been quite a whirlwind in the years since its release.
I am curious on when writing your music, knowing that you’ll also perform (most of) it live, do you by chance have the audience in mind, or does that come later? I mean, I guess you must like it yourself, obviously, but it would help that people outside the band also like the music, right?
- We just write the music which compels us towards personal fulfilment, and results in that which we most want to hear in any given context. That’s really the root of the entire thing; we just want to hear music that sounds this way, is arranged in this manner, and is presented in the way in which our aesthetic does so. People liking it or not is simply not part of the process, in any capacity. We write in the traditional method, with one riff after another, not by using computers with Guitar Pro or anything like that, so the live approach is inherently already part of the initial process as we write
predominantly in the rehearsal space. Even though we have synths on all our records, we have been doing them live with samplers, at least until now since Nicklas from Hällas has joined the live lineup for the album release show and first leg of the Absolute ElseTour. But in general, with each new composition our mutual skillsets gradually increase, and we get a little bit better at actualizing our ambitions for the music. So, there is a linear trajectory across all of Blood Incantation’s discography which leads one quite gently from the first demo all the way up through “Absolute Elsewhere”.
“Hidden History Of The Human Race” was more spacey than the debut, and I remember there was a lot of fuzz about the cover. Now, five years later, how do you view your second full-length? It was, if not original, not a run-by-the-mill album. The mid-section of “The Giza Power Plant” does always bring a smile to my mind, being great and very sticky, to put it like that. Was it a difficult album to write? Or do perhaps the choices you have to make count as the most difficult part of making an album? I ask this, because a lot of people want their death metal to be all on 10 all time, while there are many others (like me) who highly appreciate different approaches and turns in your songs, like the said mid-section of “The Giza Power Plant”?
- After the immense success of “Starspawn,” we knew people would be much more judgmental of our second album, simply because it’s always been trendy to hate on an underground band that becomes popular. So, we made sure to hit them as hard as we could at the time, straight out of the gate. Of course, not until after scaring them first by releasing the ambient/progressive instrumental track “Inner Paths (to Outer Space)” as our lead single deliberately confusing people and leaving them unprepared for the subsequent brutality of “Slave Species of the Gods.”
Like the first album, most of the material on “Hidden History of the Human Race” was several years old
by the time we ended up recording it. For example, “The Giza Power Plant” was written and first performed in 2013, and every song had been played live before the album came out. I can say it wasn’t a particularly difficult album to write, but it was very challenging to play physically. Even today, it still contains some of our most intricate material.
Since we were recording everything live as a group onto 2” tape, we had to capture everything in complete takes with no errors. If someone made a mistake 17 minutes into an 18-minute song, everyone had to reset and start over from the beginning. Sure, it would have been easier to fix things in post-production or use punch-ins for some parts, but we’re big believers in synergy and vibe. So, we approached things as meticulously as possible. This often meant playing a song more than 20 times to get it right – quite extreme considering that “Starspawn” was recorded with most songs done in just two to four takes.
During one such session for either “Awakening … ” or “Slave Species …” Isaac blew his legs out and exhausted himself to the point of becoming physically ill. He had to go home for a few days to recover while we shifted gears to guitars or synths for the other tracks. It was really demanding, and to this day, we still curse ourselves for playing some of the parts at the speeds we did, ha! But it’s a great record, and we still stand behind all the songs.
What inspired you to write death metal? I mean, “Starspawn” has a certain Morbid Angel influence, and I guess a few of those earlier death metal primes could be named as well.
- I’m just a guitar player, and I love sick, heavy, intricate, twisted, cosmic, and epic riffs–all of which you can find in great death metal throughout the ages. I’ve always loved death metal, specifically the more ancient and primeval-sounding varietals. My first death metal band was Total Darkness, back in 2009, and Isaac’s first death metal band, Centimani,
formed all the way back in 2006 when he was still in high school. But this music was part of our interests long before we could play it. I was never motivated by the polished, professional-sounding metal which prevailed in the early 2000s; instead, I was a psychedelic crust punk who revelled in obscure basement metal and raw demos from cult bands like Nihilist, Autopsy, diSEMBOWELMENT, Grotesque, Emperor etc. Morbid Angel I got into in 2002, when “Altars Of Madness” was considered totally irrelevant by the mainstream metal scenes. It was the most infernal, raging riff orgy I’d ever heard, and I simply could not get enough. Their red logo pin I put on my leather jacket when I was 15 is still in the same place today, when I am 37. But I couldn’t play anything like that until I was older (in my 20s), so all my original bands from those years were black metal, black/thrash, sludge/doom, drone/doom, funeral doom, noise and so on – much easier stuff regarding guitar playing. I would still listen to faster, more complex music, always dreaming to be able to play something along those lines, and finally in 2009 I wrote my first death metal songs (which you can hear on my YouTube channel), which became Total Darkness. One of the last songs written for that project before it dissolved became “Mephitic Effluvia”, Blood Incantation’s first song a year or two later, once I moved to Colorado and met Isaac.
A“IT’S
it – which was definitely the right decision, even though it tripled his workload and we were definitely on a strict timeline. In fact, we were still putting the final editing touches on it a mere two days before the sold-out film premiere in LA–talk about stressful! Anyway, the original overall concept was a little more intentionally vague, but as the filming progressed so, too, did the plot, becoming a great mixture of Mike and my original ideas, mixed with some input from the guys, of course. It was a lot of early mornings, late nights, extreme heat, and slime.
It is just so great with the opening of “The Message [Tablet I] where the first 45 seconds are so nice and happy before it turns into brutal death metal! I also love the heavy mid-section with the Immolationlicks. I also think I hear some guest vocal on this
which we think is quite special.
A couple of years ago you played in Bergen at Beyond The Gates. A great gig, thoroughly enjoyable. What can we expect here in Norway again when you fire up your tour at Inferno Festival 2025?
- We love Norway, and especially being at Beyond The Gates – it is definitely one of our favourite festivals no matter which band we’re playing in. We’ve been lucky to play BTG twice with Blood Incantation, but Spectral Voice, Stormkeep and Black Curse have all played, too. It’s always an honour to be up there, and we’re very excited to perform the new album in full next time we’re in Norway in Spring 2025. It’s especially meaningful for Jeff and I, because we played Inferno festival in 2012 (with Autopsy, Agalloch, One Tail, One Head, etc) and had a really great time there, and have wanted to go back ever since.
ESPECIALLY MEANINGFUL FOR JEFF AND I, BECAUSE WE PLAYED INFERNO FESTIVAL IN 2012 (WITH AUTOPSY, AGALLOCH, ONE TAIL, ONE HEAD, ETC) AND HAD A REALLY GREAT TIME THERE, AND HAVE WANTED TO GO BACK EVER SINCE.”
- PAUL RIEDL ON PLAYING INFERNO
track by a certain Malte Gericke of the great Necros Christos (R.I.P.).
nd so, it was time to make “Absolute Everywhere”, and album I have listened to a lot this Autumn. Tell us about the video, making it and how you managed to endure, because there’s a lot going on in there?
- The video was quite the undertaking, to be sure, and is easily the largest or most ambitious creative project we’ve ever been a part of after relocating to Berlin to record the album itself. We shot it over four months across three states, with a very tight budget but even more dedicated crew, without whom we could never have brought it to life. Since the songs were going to be split up for streaming services, we originally thought we would have to make three separate music videos, but luckily Michael Ragen (the director) refused to work on any of it unless he could do all of
- Thanks, we enjoy those contrasts as well; we joke that the second transition/catch going from brutal death metal into the ethereal clean blastbeat is perhaps the most stylistically unhinged moment on the album. Malte actually does a few guest vocals on the record: First, in “The Stargate [Tablet III]” he does the large, swelling multi-growl sound collage happening on top of the whirling/needly Defeated Sanity-type blast riff immediately preceding the line “through death, sanctuary”; later in “The Message [Tablet I]” he growls “unfolding prescience”, and in “The Message [Tablet II]” he’s the German voice echoing my singing line about the “soul of time”, speaking “Sehle Der Zeit” the first time and “Macht Euch bereit” the second. In the “All Gates Open: In Search of Absolute Elsewhere” documentary, you can actually see the exact take we ended up using for his classic Necros Christ ough also in “The Message [Tablet I]”,
You’ve played a few festivals and mostly the playing time is shorter than the regular headliner gig. How is it to make a 1.30 hour set into a 50-minute set or something? Without too much soundcheck, I suppose … ?
- Ah, man I would hate to have to play for 1.5 hours, ha ha. Typically, we like to play in that 38-43-minute sweet spot, but for headlining gigs you ought to do 50+. There have been tours when we are playing 70 minutes each night, which is honestly too brutal for me. On package tours, we are usually 1st or 2nd on the bill, so we’ll play between 20-30 minutes and either do several shorter, brutal songs or just one or two super long, psychedelic songs. But for the Absolute ElseTour, we will be presenting the new album in full, with perhaps an extra song or two at the end. Even though we love to play our old songs, those are all the tracks we’ve played for the past ten years, so we are excited to focus on a completely fresh, new set. If anyone reading is not a fan of “Absolute Elsewhere” and was thinking of coming to the shows, don’t worry; we’re less than two years away from the “Starspawn” 10th anniversary, and I’m sure a few festivals or even tours might be in order celebrating that milestone. Until then though, we look forward to seeing you on the Absolute ElseTour.
Blood Incantation performs at Rockefeller stage Friday 18th of April 18.00.
F- KEEPING THE OLD ETHICS ALIVE
- KEEPING THE OLD ETHICS ALIVE
ROTTING CHRIST ROTTING CHRIST
THE GREEK BAND ROTTING CHRIST IS AN INSTITUTION THAT NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION AT THIS POINT. WITH A CAREER THAT DATES BACK TO THE MID-80S AND COUNTLESS CONCERTS AROUND THE WORLD, THEY RETURN TO INFERNO AFTER TEN YEARS. WE HAD THE CHANCE TO TALK TO FRONTMAN SAKIS TOLIS AND DISCUSS THEIR LATEST ALBUM "PRO XRISTOU" (2024), AMONG OTHER THINGS.
THE GREEK BAND ROTTING CHRIST IS AN INSTITUTION THAT NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION AT THIS POINT. WITH A CAREER THAT DATES BACK TO THE MID-80S AND COUNTLESS CONCERTS AROUND THE WORLD, THEY RETURN TO INFERNO AFTER TEN YEARS. WE HAD THE CHANCE TO TALK TO FRONTMAN SAKIS TOLIS AND DISCUSS THEIR LATEST ALBUM "PRO XRISTOU" (2024), AMONG OTHER THINGS.
By: Jorge Patacas
irst of all, congratulations on yet another great album, "Pro Xristou". This one is more melodic, mid-tempo and definitely very epic, and in my opinion, it largely succeeds in taking the listener on a journey to a different time in history through both the music and lyrics, which is not easy to achieve. Was this your goal with this album or what was your mindset?
- We have actually released fifteen albums. It's a pain in the ass. I mean, it's a nightmare for me to keep on evolving, to keep trying to do something different. As Rotting Christ, we have played many styles. Of course, we keep this black vocal thing. But after 35 years, I wanted to try something else again. Of course, it's metal. It's epic, as you said. But it's more mid-tempo. Many people in the beginning said they were expecting something extreme. But now it seems that after one year they like the album a lot and it seems that it's one of the best-selling albums so far. It is more epic than ever and somehow we
wanted to try something different. Of course, you know, cannot be extremely different. It's almost impossible. I mean, if you have recorded 200 songs in your life, it's impossible to escape from your destiny. On the other hand, I think that this is a good quality album. It's not something very new, but on the other hand, it's Rotting Christ and it's good. That was my goal, to enjoy and not to change the world.
"Pro Xristou" certainly has influences from 90's albums like "Triarchy of Lost Lovers", "A Dead Poem" or even "Sleep of the Angels", but more epic and with a modern-day production …
- Exactly.
Do you think the lyrics and the concept would have been affected if the album didn't sound this way?
- Yes, I wanted to write some epic lyrics in order to keep a balance with the music. The lyrics are always a very important thing to me. I always give my best; I want them to fit well with the music. Because music is a very important thing in my life.
And I have spent countless time with it. I'm 52 now and I've realized that I've spent half of my life trying to find riffs and trying to think lyrics and write new music, and for me it's a very important thing. So, I'm very proud when someone tells me "Sakis, your music helped me". That's my goal and that gives me power to go on.
Last time we talked, you were working on the new album. It's been out for some months now. How long did you work on "Pro Xristou"?
- The composition, pre-production, and recording took at least six months. You know, there are always influences from everywhere I go. I'm not so much the party guy anymore – the guy who always goes to clubs, blah blah. When I travel abroad, I try to explore the civilizations there and let them influence me so I can keep writing music. It's not easy, but I give it my best and hope to touch someone else's soul. This is my goal. The album concept is inspired by ancient
pagan wisdom. What values and ethics from that time do you think the world needs today?
- The world needs to be more humanistic. I think that we lost the touch with the nature and with ourselves. I mean, we are getting more and more digital. We're getting so digital that it's almost impossible, especially for the new generations, to communicate. It's a new world, I don't criticize it, because if I was born here, at this time period, I would do the same. On the other hand, with our music, with our attitude, we try to pass this ethics to the new generations, but also the old generation that is very conservative and is very adapted into the new capitalist system, like everything is about money, everything is about glory, about numbers.
We try to keep this old ethics, because this ethics keep the human beings more human beings. I would like to die like a human being and not like an algorithm. I don't want to sound like my grandfather or my father, but you know, humanity lives in a very critical and very weird time period. I mean, we've passed from analogue to digital. Everything is digital. This is a very big thing for humanity.
Compared to the past, now we change very rapidly, and we should be very careful. The robots will come up, and believe me, that this will be a reality.
You've released several albums through Season of Mist now, so it seems that you're very satisfied. What would you say is the best part of working with them?
- You know something? It's not the biggest label, but our voice sounds there. And also, I know everyone in person, so I feel like it's a family. So, if I have an idea, I can talk to them. That's something that's very precious to me. We have offers from other labels too, but we keep on working with Season of Mist because we've been working with them for almost 20 years now.
And, if I know someone, it's really difficult for me to change.
Take us back to the early scene in Greece, what was it like in terms of media and promotion (fanzines, etc.)? Did the local bands support each other at the time?
- Of course. Yes. Our email was the postal office. Our YouTube was the tape trading. We've grown up in a really different analogue world, which was, from how I remember now, really romantic. It was romantic, it was soulful, it was real. Of course, there were also assholes back then, but you know something? The human beings were different. We were more romantic. We had legends, we believed in an idea. So, all of this created a very strong scene. The people that lived that period, I would say that they have a very strong foundation as persons, so they know exactly how the whole thing works. So, they don't complain that much. We have passion also. I see new bands that want to be famous in one year or something. What the fuck guys? We have 35 years on the road. You
“THIS FESTIVAL IS ONE OF THE BEST INDOOR FESTIVALS WORLDWIDE. OR MAYBE THE BEST. IT'S NOT ONLY ABOUT MUSIC, IT'S ABOUT CULTURE.”
- SAKIS TOLIS ABOUT INFERNO
must gain your fanbase. It's not everything about numbers and so on. Anyway, I'm very proud that I grew up in a really analogue and primitive generation that created what we are calling black metal. I'm a part of it and I'm very proud.
It wouldn't have been the same if it wasn't for all of that … - Exactly!
In the early days you experimented with grindcore and then switched to a more black metaloriented sound, what happened in the period between 1987 and 1991 to make this change?
- I listened to Venom, Celtic Frost and Bathory, and my mind changed completely. That's all. As simple as that.
There's this book about Rotting Christ where Dayal Patterson did a lot of interviews with the band. How was the experience for you, and what do you think about the result? You had to go through a lot of memories …
- I never had the goal of writing a book. Dayal came up and asked me if I wanted to do something like that, and I said why not? Maybe I have something to say to the people out there. So, after a lot of interviews, a lot of questions, he came up with a book that I believe represents Rotting Christ. Of course, there are so many other stories that are hidden. Maybe someday I would be glad to write down more stories because the decade of the 90s was the decade that happened the worst things ever, but we had no cameras, no digital files, nothing. So, everything is a legend. Maybe someday I will try to write some things about how life was before we went into this digital world. You've been playing music for over 35 years now and you know very well that touring isn't for everyone, especially a band like Rotting Christ that is on tour all the time. What would you say is essential for a tour to work as expected?
- It's a very hard thing to do. These years have been very good years for all the bands, from what I see, after two years of silence. But doing a tour is not an easy thing like it used to be back in the days. Not everything was that professional back in the days. We had a good time. We spent a lot of time doing vacations. Now it's impossible. Just imagine that we have done two shows in the same day, one in Europe and one in the USA. We played in Denmark and the same day we played in Texas. What I mean is that everything is very complex now, very stressful. Nobody wants to lose money, even the promoters, everything. And so, touring nowadays is not an easy thing. But there is a lot of respect. Sometimes I wonder why I'm still doing this after 35 years and not staying home with my kids. On the other hand, I realize that I'm doing something really good. Some people are happy. At the end of the day, I'm like "Ok Sakis, what you did made sense". Otherwise, if I didn't have the response from the fans, things would be really different.
So you can say that that's what motivates you the most …
- Yes, of course!
Would you say that touring today is more or less challenging than in the past?
- In the past it was challenging, but it was more fun. But now everything is on papers, everything is very stressful nowadays.
Rotting Christ is a band that has performed almost everywhere and you probably have a lot of stories from the road. Is there any place in particular where you didn't know what to expect and surprised you?
- No, no. More or less I know what to expect. Now after many, many years of experience, I know what to expect, for instance, if I play South America, if I play North America, if I play Europe. Especially at the end of the show, when everything is done, what I really like is the communication I have with the fans. Sometimes I see happy people out there. And that makes me really happy. Especially this year. The thing that surprised me the most is that people after our show were really happy which means that we do something good. That means what we are doing makes sense.
Is there any place that you've never played that you would like to come and play and get to know the culture of the country?
- In some countries our name is abandoned, in Malaysia for instance, we tried to play there twice and it was cancelled. We want to play in countries like Iran, for instance, we don't have any problem to play there because I know there are many metalheads. And Rotting Christ in general, don't give a shit about the political situation. We just play for the fans, for the metal fans, and we say fuck off to the rest of the political things. So, that's why Rotting Christ have played all around the world, from Sri Lanka, to India, to South America, to Asia, to Philippines, everywhere. Rotting Christ have played everywhere, and will keep on playing anywhere where there are metalheads. And of course, we will try to open some new markets if possible, like some countries that are governed by really strict governments.
Do you remember the first time you played in Norway? What are your memories?
- That was back in the nineties. We played with Moonspell and Samael in '97. Good times. Always good times. We have visited Norway many times since those days, I had and still have many friends there. I was a part of this second generation of the black metal movement. So Norway is a special place for me.
In 2023 you performed at Inferno as a solo artist. This time you will return to the festival with Rotting Christ after ten years. What do you think it's special about playing at Inferno?
- This festival is one of the best indoor festivals worldwide. Or maybe the best. It's not only about music, it's about culture. And that makes this festival special. I know the guys who organize it, they are very honest and we are very proud to be part of Inferno 2025. I hope the guys keep doing this festival and spreading the idea of how things work. I just look forward to being there.
Are you going to focus on the new album in your performance at Inferno or what criteria will you use for the setlist?
- A little bit of everything. Impossible to focus on the latest album. Even if I wanted, it's impossible.
You have a lot of albums, a lot of songs, do you have any special criteria when choosing the songs?
- Setlist is a nightmare.
I can imagine … (laughs)
- Yes. It's a nightmare. We have to choose 10 songs, sometimes 12 songs out of 200. That means that some people will not be happy. But at the end of the day, we are happy and they are happy, because we believe in the songs and make them sound like Rotting Christ. That's very important.
Is there any song you can't imagine being left out of the setlist?
- "Non Serviam". It's very hard to leave "Non Serviam" out of the setlist. It's a part of our ideology, so we always keep it.
Last but not least, what would you say are the principles and values that best represent Rotting Christ?
- Be true to your own spirit. We will always walk on the ground and make music and share our music. Because only if you share, you get back. So, as long as we exist, we will be true to our own spirit, and be part of what we call metal scene.
TATTOO FAIR TATTOO FAIR
TATTOO FAIR HAS BEEN A PART OF METAL FESTIVAL YEARS, AND WE ARE HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THAT 2025 WON’T BE AN EXCEPTION. THE FAMOUS “DOZEN OF CHOSEN” ARTISTS WILL BE TAKING A STAND ON LEFT OF OUR MAIN VENUE, ROCKEFELLER HALL. THIS YEAR’S LINE-UP WON’T DISAPPOINT: THE STRONG GROUP OF INTERNATIONAL AWARD-WINNING ARTISTS WILL BE HAPPY TO VISUALIZE YOUR CREATIVE IDEAS IN A FORM OF SAFE, BEAUTIFUL, CUSTOM-MADE TATTOOS.
THE TATTOO FAIR HAS BEEN A PART OF INFERNO METAL FESTIVAL FOR YEARS, AND WE ARE HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THAT 2025 WON’T BE AN EXCEPTION. THE FAMOUS “DOZEN OF CHOSEN” ARTISTS WILL BE TAKING A STAND ON THE LEFT WING OF OUR MAIN VENUE, ROCKEFELLER MUSIC HALL. THIS YEAR’S LINE-UP WON’T DISAPPOINT: THE STRONG GROUP OF INTERNATIONAL AWARD-WINNING ARTISTS WILL BE HAPPY TO VISUALIZE YOUR CREATIVE IDEAS IN A FORM OF SAFE, BEAUTIFUL, CUSTOM-MADE TATTOOS.
Dustin Burt
Specializing in dark ornament tattoos through the Black and Grey tattoo technique, Dustin Burt has developed a style of his own. With a degree from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and over twenty-two years of tattooing experience, Dustin Burt strives to continually develop as an artist while providing the highest calibre of artwork to his clients. IG: dustinburtart
Alex Impaler
Alex Impaler has been tattooing for about 4 years and together with his fiancée Ida Morbida he founded Morbid Impalement Tattoo Studio 2 years ago. His preferred style is black n grey, dark semirealism, and Nordic style tattoos. Besides tattooing Alex is a renowned musician within the Swedish extreme metal scene with about 20 years of touring. Additionally, he will perform at this year’s Inferno with Naglfar at Rockefeller on Sunday. IG: impaler_ink
Clod the Ripper
Clod the Ripper, born Claudio De Rosa in Milan, Italy (class of '81), is a “serial-tattooer” known for his horror-themed designs, lettering, metalinspired artwork, and freehand artistic drawings. Active since 1999 in Italy and abroad, he starred in two seasons of Milano City Tattoo on DMAX. He has judged top international tattoo conventions, including those in London and Milan. As the organizer of MetalItalia Ink – the first Italian event combining live bands and tattoos – his work has been featured in major industry magazines worldwide.
IG: clod_the_ripper_tattoo
Mark Weatherhead
Founder of One for Sorrow Tattoo Parlour UK. With a traditional academic background in fine art, digital art and photography Mark moved his focus into tattooing. Mark has worked in leading tattoo studios in Germany, he has travelled extensively in Europe working conventions and Guest Spots for many years. Mark has established his flagship studio in his hometown. Mark specialises in black and grey trashy gothic surrealism, bringing his own style to both large scale projects and smaller pieces.
IG: markweatherhead_tattooartist
Carlos Aguilar
Carlos Aguilar, born in the profane territories of southern Chile, is the owner of Black Shadows Tattoos. For 26 years, he has been deeply involved in the world of extreme metal music. Black Shadows Tattoos is not only dedicated to the art of tattooing but also incorporates creativity into dark arts, such as producing music videos for bands like Lock Up, Trident, Order of Isaz, and Dark Funeral. IG: blackshadowtattoos
Sefi Blood
A tattoo artist with over 15 years of experience, Sefi specializes in dark art, drawing inspiration from black metal, horror movies, occultism, and the world of dark art. Based in Spain, she also creates ritual tattoos with personalized symbolism, designed to connect with the essence of her clients. In addition to tattooing, Sefi is the vocalist of a black metal band, blending her love for the extreme into every aspect of her craft.
IG: sefiblood_tattoo
Jannicke Wiese-Hansen
Jannicke Wiese-Hansen, of Nidhogg Tattoo in Bergen, Norway, is excited to return to Inferno this year! With 30 years of experience in tattooing, she is best known for her Nordic wood-carved style, inspired by Norse history and stave church ornamentation. She is also renowned for her logo designs and cover artwork in the Norwegian black metal scene, having collaborated with bands like Immortal, Enslaved, Burzum, Orcustus, and Ancient, to name a few. Last year, she co-organized the black metal exhibition Bad Vibes at the National Library.
IG: jannickewiesehansen
Fabio Branco
Fabio Branco, a legendary tattoo artist renowned for his realistic and hyper-realistic work, will be at this year’s Inferno Festival. Originally from Portugal and now based in Valence, France, Fabio is known for tattooing members of iconic bands like Marduk, Belphegor, Venom Inc., 1349, Aura Noir, Vltimas, and Enthroned, among others. Fabio looks forward to welcoming you and offering top-quality services.
IG: fabio_branco_tatouage
Micky Benavides
Micky Benavides is a Chilean tattooer, based in Oslo, Norway. Micky specializes in black tattoos such as tribal, neo-tribal, and geometry with vast Tibetan and Hindu influences in his style.
IG: micky_benavides
Ida Morbida
Ida Morbida started her career as a tattoo artist roughly 10 years ago. Since then, she has refined her style and made a name for herself thanks to her dark motives in black and grey. Together with her fiancé Alex "Impaler" Friberg, she founded "Morbid Impalement" Tattoo Studio and resides in Umeå, Northern Sweden.
IG: idamorbida_tattoo
Sara Iuso
Sara Iuso is an Italian tattoo artist with 14 years of experience, specializing in linework, blackwork, and black-and-grey designs that blend occult imagery and floral illustration. Starting her career in southern Italy, Sara moved to London to refine her skills and style. Since 2019, she has been part of Berlin’s iconic Apocalypse Tattoo, where she has found the perfect space for her dark and creative vision.
IG: sarahb0109 FB: sara.iuso.tattooartist
Benjamin Moss
Benjamin Moss, originally from Detroit, USA, has been tattooing for 28 years. After founding Apocalypse Tattoo in Seattle in 2000, he relocated the studio to Berlin, Germany. His award-winning work, specializing in black-and-grey dark imagery and realism, blends surreal 3D compositions with body-fitting designs.
Carmen PG (Blekknroll) is a heavy metal maniac and tattoo artist based in Bergen, and a resident artist at Nidhogg Tattoo. Her creations are rooted in blackwork, incorporating old-style elements, medieval themes, and botanical and floral designs. Custom tattoos, medieval torture-inspired art, and band tattoos are always welcome.
IG: blekknroll
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF EDVARD MUNCH IN OSLO IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF EDVARD MUNCH IN OSLO
FRIDAY 18 AND
SUNDAY 20 APRIL 2025
Oslo is the city where Edvard Munch grew up and started out as an artist. This is also the place where he spent the last decades of his life. Today, Oslo houses the largest part of Munch’s artistic production, including his bestknown masterpieces. Join our Munch tours and get to know one of the greatest artists of modern times!
Friday 18. April
The tour starts at The Hub at 11.00, with a short introduction to Edvard Munch’s life and art. We will take the tram to the Ekeberg Sculpture Park on the hillside of Oslo, enjoying the view on central Oslo and the Munch Museum. A short walk through the park will bring us to the vantage point where Munch got the inspiration to paint The Scream. We will take the tram back to the city centre and walk over to the Munch Museum. The guided tour will take you through the exhibitions Edvard Munch Infinite and Edvard Munch Monumental: these collection exhibitions invite you to explore the world of Edvard Munch. The guided tour will end approx. at 15.00, at the roof terrace on the 12th floor, with a
Did you know that one of Norway’s best ski resorts is just a short metro ride away from the Inferno Festival hotel? For the 2025 edition of Inferno, we’ve secured some fantastic discounted prices on the slopes for all Inferno ticket holders.
Skimore Oslo Tryvann features 11 lifts, 18 runs, a drop height of 381 metres, a Big Air area with a superpipe, three terrain parks, and a 13-foot halfpipe. The ski and snowboard facility has something for everyone: easy trails in the beginner area, a separate slopestyle line, and wide trails that are perfect for carving.
Skimore Oslo also has its own ski school offering courses and private lessons, as well as an excellent rental service, ski shop, and workshop. You can rent everything from alpine and cross-country skis
to ski clothing if you don’t have your own. The prepping machine in the store is environmentally friendly, using infrared heat radiation. The facility also features several dining options, including a brand-new café.
Inferno Prices
(Show your wristband in the shop)
• Skipass: 400 NOK
• Rental of skis/snowboard/shoes/sticks/helmet: 400 NOK
• Cross-country skis/shoes/sticks: 280 NOK (free to use the cross-country slopes)
• Trousers/jackets: 100 NOK per item or 175 NOK for both
www.skimore.no
unique view of the city. If you want to spend some more time at the Munch Museum, you have access to all the other exhibitions until closing time. NOK 480 per person + Ticketmaster fee per person. The price includes entrance to the Munch Museum and two tram tickets. Pre-booking via Ticketmaster, for maximum 8 people.
Sunday 20. ApriL
The tour starts at The Hub at 11.00, with a short introduction to Edvard Munch’s life and art. We will walk for approx. one hour through the city centre to Munch-places such as the Grand Café on the parade street Karl Johan, to Pilestredet 30, where Munch spent seven years of his childhood, to the University of Oslo’s downtown campus and the Aula, with the huge decorations of The Sun, The History and Alma Mater, to the National Museum. The guided tour starts in the iconic Munch-room. The tour will end at 14.30 in the National Museum, but you have access to all the other exhibitions until closing time. NOK 450 per person + Ticketmaster fee per person. The price includes entrance to the National Museum. Pre-booking via Ticketmaster, for maximum 8 people.
BEST VIEW OF THE OSLOFJORD BEST VIEW OF THE OSLOFJORD
Have you ever dreamed of walking through a winter wonderland? Do you want to experience the most beautiful view of Norway's capital city?
Join us for a winter hike through the snowy forest high above the fjord – with spikes! Our trip starts in the reception of Clarion The Hub. From there, we’ll board the Frognerseteren metro line, enjoying a scenic ride through the stunning winter landscape, with panoramic views unfolding as we leave the city behind. When we reach the Frognerseteren station, we will be greeted by our first panoramic view of the city and fjord. If you think this view is great, just wait until we get to
our destination–the summit of Vettakollen mountain, from where you’ll look down over Oslo and the vast Oslofjord, an awe-inspiring sight that will take your breath away. Our hike will wind through the serene winter forest and past small frozen ponds that are inhabited by the mystical creature named Huldra. Our first stop is a charming small Norwegian cabin called Fuglemyrhytta – a perfect spot to pause, relax and take in the views. Here, your guide will share the importance of these cabins in Norwegian culture. From here our adventure will continue through the snow laden forest to the most spectacular spot of our journey – the summit of Vettakollen mountain offering
breathtaking views of the city and the Oslofjord. Take in the crisp winter air and don't forget to capture the moment with a photo to remember this special experience. Here we will enjoy a break while learning about the beautiful area we are looking down upon. This is the essence of Norwegian life: a moment of "hygge," shared with good company in the heart of nature. After enjoying the view, we will go down to the metro station and finish our trip at Clarion The Hub.
www.wheninnorway.no/ tour/winter-oslofjord-view
Come and join us on a snowshoe adventure that is suitable for people of all ability levels! Explore the stunning winter landscapes of Oslomarka with snowshoes on your feet. We always try to keep our snowshoe adventures in small groups, so you'll have a more personal and cozy experience. Our trip starts in the reception of Clarion The Hub. We will hop aboard the Frognerseteren metro line taking a scenic train ride with breathtaking views of the surrounding landscape. No need to worry if you’ve never tried snowshoeing
before – this tour is designed for everyone. Our expert guides will provide all the instructions you need, ensuring you feel safe and comfortable throughout the tour. As we walk through the snowy forests, you'll feel the crunch of the snow beneath you and breathe in the fresh, chilly air. It's like stepping into a magical winter wonderland! We will be with you every step of the way, showing you the best spots and sharing interesting facts about the Norwegian winter traditions and animals that call this place home. Keep an eye out
for deer, foxes, and other wildlife as we make our way through the forest. After experiencing the beauty of the winter forest, we will make our way back to the metro station and finish our trip at Clarion The Hub, where our journey began.
As usually we all will gather at the official festival hotel Clarion Hotel The Hub for happenings, partying and a good night of sleep. The Inferno Music Conference will take place at the hotel in the daytime. The Hub boasts Oslo’s best location, right in the city centre, next to Oslo Central Station and the Airport Express Train – and only about a five to ten minutes’ walk to all the venues. No expensive taxi rides!
The special Inferno discount price is valid in the period April 13th to 22nd 2025. Extend your stay and experience Oslo!
Standard Double Room
Our standard double rooms (19-22 sqm) have everything you might need during your stay and more! The rooms either have a queen size double bed (160 cm) or two single beds (105 cm), as well as carefully chosen, modern décor. Please note that it is not possible to request extra beds in these rooms.
1 person: 1005 NOK
2 people: 1234 NOK / 617 NOK a person
Standard Double Room With View
Our standard rooms with a view are located on the hotel's top floors (floors 9-15). The rooms (min. 19sqm) have one double bed (160 cm), as well as a spacious bathroom with a shower, a hairdryer and Rituals toiletries. All our standard rooms feature modern technology and innovative solutions, something that is a key feature of the entire hotel.
1 person: 1605 NOK
2 people: 1834 NOK / 917 NOK a person
Superior Double Room
Our superior double rooms (24-29 sqm) are nice and spacious with lots of smart solutions! The fabulous interior design provides a wonderfully cosy atmosphere in these rooms. The rooms either have a queen size double bed (160 cm) or two single beds (105 cm), as well as carefully chosen, modern décor.
1 person: 1605 NOK
2 people: 1834 NOK / 917 NOK a person
Deluxe Double Room
Our wonderfully spacious deluxe double rooms (30-40 sqm) have everything you might need and more! All the rooms feature a queen size double bed (160 cm) with large pillows for added comfort and we can provide an extra bed if required. Our deluxe double rooms feature high-tech equipment including smart TVs with a streaming function and a convenient workspace with desk or a lounge area.
1 person: 1905 NOK
2 people: 2134 NOK / 1067 NOK a person
Family Room
Max. 4 people. Family rooms are spacious with plenty of room for a double bed and a sofa bed for either one or two people. The room is equipped with a coffee machine, minibar, hairdryer, luxurious down duvet, pillow, 55” smart TV with media
CLARION HOTEL THE HUB
CLARION HOTEL THE HUB
INFERNO HOTEL INFERNO HOTEL
streaming, iron and ironing board, and free WiFi. This room is suitable for up to 4 people, or for 1-2 people seeking extra spacious accommodation. 1-4 people: from 2205 NOK
Suite
The suites offer wonderfully spacious accommodation with a separate bedroom for a truly luxurious stay! Our suites (from 46 sqm) feature elegant décor and unique furnishings. Each room has a king size double bed (160 cm) and a bathroom with a shower, hairdryer, Rituals toiletries, bathrobes and slippers. Amenities include a coffee machine, minibar, 55” smart TV with media streaming, and ironing facilities. 1-2 people: 6005 NOK
Facilities on all rooms: Free full breakfast, Free Wi-Fi, Mini bar
Note: These prices will increase from March 17th.
Go to www.nordicchoicehotels.com/ hotell/?search=inferno-no (see QR code below) to order and make sure the discount/booking code INFERNO is enabled to get the correct festival prices.
