31-03-2024 Inferno festival

Opening tonight is Misþyrming, an Icelandic Black Metal formation which surprised us with the release of “Algleymi” in 2018. The band was taking a lot from that release here tonight to put into their set and that was a nice thing to observe. The band lays in the beauty of darkness and has a rather intense way of performing. The guys were digging really into their sound and sometimes seem to forget an audience was even there. It was them in their zone and the outsiders who watched it. It was pleasant to watch, no comments on that, but the interaction was not there and it seems that some people did not feel to connected to it. A pity, for musicwise they certainly were one of the highlights.

Dödsrit is a Swedish/Dutch formation combining Black with Crust, making it a heavy start in the John Dee. The band has been around since 2017 and just dropped their fourth studio album called “Nocturnal Will” about a week for this show, so the band is eager to show their audience their new material. They didn’t let much time go to waste and were diving straight into a chaotic crust sound that brought the place in motion. The early birds in the venue seem to appreciate the band’s directness. Some of that energy got reverted back to them and thus this formation seem to be a good opener for the John Dee.

After that it was time for Winterfylleth. Now we have seen the band a couple times before so we know we had to expect a bit of a static show, so we were not surprised to see exactly that happen. Time to look at the music the British formation brings. Some folkish influences lay on the basis of their music. Their latest album dates back to 2020 but they have provided a live album after that. The main thing about this band is them putting a lot of attention to the details. A small riff here and there that jumps out, an interesting way of putting words to their songs, it is all quite subtle but always well thought. Takes a bit of an investment of the viewer, to stick around and capture these moments and it seems like Inferno has the right audience for that here today, the band was well-received.

Phantom Fire is a band that combines Black with Speed Metal. Most recent is their 2023 album “Eminente Lucifer Libertad” and this seems to be their second full length. We have not been able to see much of their show beyond the tracks we photographed but they seem to have some fans along today.

The heaviness of Cynic was filling the Rockefeller at this point. The band has released their latest album in 2021 and with their progressive touch the guys are letting the audience have a time of discovery. The band throws in a lot of elements that keeps the audience attention with them for a long time. Performance wise they are a bit more static, but if you compare that with Winterfylleth who was on this stage before them it is easier to get into. The band celebrated the anniversary of the album “Focus” which dates back more than 30 years now last year and did as tour this month. The band does not have too many releases seeing the amount of years they are active, but it is nice to see them on the road with the material they have.

Bell Witch slowed us down a bit with their Funeral Doom. Duo has an interesting setup where they are facing each other and we can watch from the side. Now we have seen that before during this year Inferno and for these kinda bands that appears to work well. Now most of the band’s release appear to be one or two tracks. 1,5 hour for their latest and since their set was not scheduled to be this long it would be interesting to see what the guys did with that. Naturally they have some transitions in their music that forms a break anyway so they are able to make it optimal for their performance. Yet, we had to leave a bit before the last minute was there. Interesting band, making their set such a hybrid piece of music that flows as it comes so to say.

Last time we saw Finntroll must have been Tuska where they entertained an entire field of people, lots of them wearing the troll ears, today we did not see much of that but it seems like the Finns have dedicated fans around here as well. We saw a lot of motion going on. Some moshing, some crowd surfing, ok, quite some crowd surfing and a lot of cheerfulness in a way we had not seen before here today. Whether the guys were going for their latest material or have that “Trollhammaren” chanted (20 years old… yeah!), the guys brought a lot of joy. It proves one thing, once again. The Finntroll guys keep people entertained no matter what environment they are in. Sure, it has been a while since their latest album got released. So hopefully they come up with something new to enjoy, because then there are more reasons for bookers to get themselves a party with Trolls.

Koldbrann has been making waves around Europe but interestingly there has not been a record out for over a decade. A single last year apparently made a good impression for they are on the headline of this small stage tonight. The band seems very comfortable on the stage, in a level we have not seen with many here today so that serves us well. A confident performance really adds to the experience here. Their sound is dark and aggressive and thus we liked that their show radiates that well. Seems like a lot of people have been eager to see the band play as the place is insanely packed. And while we enjoyed half of the show we did decide to leave them before the show is over as then someone else would be able to see some of it and we re making ways to the main stage before it is too crowded there.

Taake was headlining and closing the festival this year. The formation has been active on and off through the years but almost 30 years on the clock since the formation. The last album, “Et hav av avstand”, came out last year. Some of the older material was gaining the attention of the audience right in the beginning but when some newer material is played you can see that Taake’s sound is quite consistent through the years. Hoest walks onto the stage looking like some anti-hero with a cape. All sides of the stage are covered as he paces back and forth aggressively. The popular “Nordbundet” is welcomes with a lot of appreciation and that is the moment we see some crowd surfers starting to come by. Not as many as with Finntroll but surely people were having a good time. And at the end of the show it becomes clear that Taake has their audience on hands. The response is good and Taake shows that a good show does not always need a lot of special effects to be great.