Inferno Day 2

Day 2 started in a gentle fashion, regaled in overpriced soy latte, the first time I've bothered to order soy in months.

Ended up having coffee with a cute Romanian girl who is staying in the same hostel room as me; she has consistently looked lost alone and confused - she seemed nice, and in talking to her as well as others staying in our room I have pieced together the story behind this. She and her Romanian boyfriend live in Brussels and they came up for a holiday, but he was not let into Norway, I'm not sure if he was arrested or just turned back. I'm not going to jump to conclusions, but considering how normally lax Norwegian customs are, this guy must either have a bad rap sheet or the Norwegians got a tip off. The girl though is very confused, she has her boyfriend's mobile, so he has no way to contact her if he's been sent back to Belgium or let go by the Norwegian police.

Saw some early bands, but missed the very first act Ravencult - an old school Greek black metal act. Enjoyed Red Harvest, they are a solid band, and had a really sizable crowd for so early in the evening, especially as they were a last minute replacement for a band who cancelled.

The next two acts were nothing special - Ground Zero System and God Dethroned. Neither did anything for me. So i skipped out and got some food getting back to catch the last song or so from Rotten Sound - who were a little more interesting, but I was focused on getting a prime spot for the later evening's entertainment.

Up next were Sigh, and after seeing them play for barely 40 minutes, I've decided that these guys are one of the few acts that I would fly halfway around the world to see play a full set. I've been a big fan of Sigh for years now, but held out little hope of seeing them live ever. I should have had faith in the deep appreciation of this band by those with influence in the Norwegian metal scene, this is the second time Sigh have been invited to travel from Japan to play Inferno. I'm hoping it won't be the last.

I didn't knew they had a female member, and that she played saxaphone. Nor did I realise that she was also co-vocalist and could growl really well. Mikannibal as she calls herself is a very recent addition to the band, but one that allows this previously mostly studio bound band to perform live a lot more. I thought the whole presentation was fantastic, Mirai (the primary songwriter and main vocalist) was stage centre, wearing a Monks habit and alternated between keys and vocals. Mikannibal roamed the stage like a wild beast really bringing out the best with both her sax and vox. The other three members belted out solid riffs, I was a bit disappointed the guitarist didn't really strut the stage as befit the uniquely killer licks he crafted.

Legion of the Dammned didn't impress at all.

Moonspell put on a good show and played a couple of tracks from their first album, which is the only one of theirs I like. The crowd loved them, particularly when they did Vampiria, which, whilst I preferred the other two tracks they played off Wolfheart.

Hecate Enthroned were okay, and not the Cradle of Filth rip-offs that I expected.

The finale of the evening finally arrived and I had to jostle for a decent spot for the first time in the festival, as this was the moment that everyone was anticpating the return of Immortal after a few years of retirement.

Abbath looked a little skinnier than when I saw him perform with I about 9 months ago. Apollyon was solid on bass and Horgh was masterful as ever on the skins.

Abbath seemed a lot more comfortable with the guitar than he had been 9 months back, he seemed to have been reahearsing steadily as his old confidence was back, unlike with I where Arve Icedale stole the show licks wise.

Playing the frontman well, Abbath joked with the crowd, stopping songs partway through to improvise or simply strut to stage centre and unfurl his pointy tounge and scowl at the crowd.

They played a good mixture of material, but definitely it was more biased towards the post Demonaz albums, which dissapointed some fans I talked to after the show.

Abbath also had some intermittent guitar problems, with I think his effects rack. His shin spikes also threatened to fall off once or twice, prompting some rapid adjustments off stage between songs. All this just served to ground and humanise a band that have rightfully been elevated to near god status in their absence.

In a show that was both minimalist and at times flamboyent, Immortal played for nearly one and a half hours, ignoring the published closing time and kept belting out great tracks for an unexpected extra 15 minutes.

There were some pyrotechnics and firebreathing, but nothing on the scale of spectacle that 1349 delivers, instead the focus was where its should be on three musicans belting out some of the most solid enjoyable Black Metal ever crafted.