The last day at Blastfest 2016 had an equally impressive line up as the other days. All Norwegian bands, and with a good variety in styles. Personally I wasn’t as active as the other days, but I covered the three last bands on the big stage, Red Harvest, Green Carnation and the one I had been looking most forward to, Abbath (picture above).
Friday at Blastfest started out with the same wet weather as the day before. Fortunately it wasn’t raining when I went over to the venue, but the rain came back with a vengeance when I went home after the last band. Hard wind and pouring rain isn’t exactly my kind of weather, so a taxi got me safe back to the hotel. But inside at USF Verftet it was hot and dark with fifteen bands eager to play their songs and fans from all over the world waiting to hear them. (Photo above: Ravn from 1349)
After Hole In The Sky in Bergen quit in 2012, the new Blastfest festival started in 2014. I attended the festival in 2015, and came back for three days of extreme metal this year. This year the lineup is 100% Norwegian metal, but that doesn’t hinder metal heads from all over the world come to Bergen.Someone told me that 43 nations are present, which shows that metal rock has penetrated the world. (Picture above: Gorgoroth)
Polish blackened death metal band Behemoth was the headliner of the first day of the Steinkjer Festival in Norway. They followed the popular Norwegian band D.D.E. on stage, and you should think that was a bad choice.- But Behemoth showed why they are considered one of the world’s leading metal bands, and played a dark and extreme set.
Shortly after founding member of Celtic Frost, Thomas Gabriel Fischer had left Celtic Frost in 2008, he announced his new project, Triptykon. The band has released a full length CD and an EP since then, and Thursday night they played the Inferno Festival.
Norway has many black metal bands, and 1349 is one of the best and also well known. When Aborted had to cancel their gig at the Inferno festival, 1349 stepped in. They did a great job at the Rockefeller Music Hall Thursday nught. Here are some pictures from the concert.
The club night at this year’s Inferno Festival had many interesting and exciting bands. I stayed at John Dee, where Nekromantheon and Dunderbeist played.
Here are some pictures of Dunderbeist, the 7 headed “thieves band” from Hedmark, Norway.
Friday March 30th my exhibition, Norwegian Metal – In Concert opened at Galleri MAP in Oslo. Here are some pictures from the opening. All pictures are courtesy of Aleksander Dye and the Inferno Festival. The exhibition is open until April 22nd.
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