Inferno Day 1

I am surprised by how comfortable I am with Oslo now. Thinking back on how for a short while in 2004 I thought everything was going to fall apart at the start of my big trip.

Now I know my way around central Oslo, know where to stay and eat cheaply. Roughly which cafes have soy milk and all the important things.

On my arrival this time I realised the weather was exceptionally good for the time of year so I knew that the best thing to do was to find a sunny cafe and have a beer. Before I could do that I needed to dump my bag and go buy some victuals from the only open shop - a Middle Eastern grocer. Whilst in the grocer I was suprised to find they had fresh Loquats, one of my favourite fruits and a sure indicator that spring is here (or at least in Spain where they were likely from). It was very nice to have real fruit for once, rather than the tired excuses we normally get in Stavanger.

So after soaking up the afternoon rays and a few beers and coffees, whilst passing the time reading I figured it was time to check in at the hostel. There I met a young Aussie guy from Newtown who was pretty much doing what I did 3 years ago, only he was younger and a lot more drunk. I did my best to help a fellow Aussie, but he was really drunk and it was all I could do to get him to the venue and past the security. After that he started talking to another group and I left him be. Later when I got back from the gig, he said he could not remember going to the show or how he got home. Oh well.

Speaking of Inferno, I had a solid and enjoyable night. First up were Norwegian All Stars, a motley mix of individuals from well known Norwegian bands playing old school metal covers. They warmed up the crowd but it wasn't fantastic.

Up next were Trinacria, who consisted of half of Enslaved joining forces with individuals from the experimental electronic scene in Norway. I didn't know what to expect and in the end really enjoyed it.

Unspoken didn't impress with their straight forward death metal.

Next were the band I was probably most keen to see for the evening (and up there with Sigh as the most anticipated of the entire weekend) - Primordial. Based on a somewhat negative live review by my old mate Pedro Azevedo, I wasn't expecting much - however I ended up being very impressed. Sure some of the delicate dual harmonies got a bit lost in the live performance, but the mix overall was solid and the performance was fantastic - especially the way the vocalist Nemtheanga engaged the crowd. His vocals were only just acceptable live, but as a front man he really worked the crowd well. I was surprised at how much the sizable crowd enjoyed the show and they definitely justified their inclusion on the main stage. For me, aside from the actual performance, two things stood out. Firstly I noticed Cato (the drummer from Enslaved) made a point of watching these guys from the side of backstage and secondly, a Greek guy who I had chatted to immediately before Primordial's show came up to me after they had played "The Coffin Ships" and asked what album that track was from as he had to buy it. I know Nemtheanga has long standing friendships with the core members of the Norwegian scene, but it was good to see that Primodial really rock and impress both their long term fans and I'm sure cultivate quite a few more. Their shirts were reasonably priced and featured fantastic Celtic design so I grabebd one. I know that after their tour commitments are over the band are heading ino the studio to record a follow up to The Gathering Wilderness, hoping that they will continue the strong inroads they have made since that album came out 2 years ago.

Paradigma were solid for a band that haven't played live in 7 years, it's a pity their singer comitted suicide 4 years back, as they obviously have a lot of unfulfilled potential. Hopefully now they seem to be moving forwards again whilst paying tribute to the contributions their late singer made.

Watain were great putting on a solid black metal set on the cramped secondary stage. Their vocals were a bit strained, maybe the singer had a cld, but very enjoyable nonetheless. Great costumes and make up as well all added to mke a solid performance.

Suffocation were fantastic musically, but I found the vocalist not engaging, his onstage antics contradicted with his vocals, behaving more like an ape, but grunting out fantastic hardcore tinged death vocals. Being the headliners of the night, their drummer was the only one to have his own rig and he really impressed, actualy musically I really enjoyed them, just found them boring to watch after some really engaging frontmen earlier in the evening.

Oh, I went and grabbed a pizza whilst Zyklon was on, so my only impression was that they sounded great, just musically not my thing.