OSLO DEATHFEST: DAY 1

(Our Oslo-based contributor Chile had the good fortune to attend the latest edition of Oslo Deathfest on November 29-30, and he has given us the following lively report, accompanied by his photos.)

Time does fly on the wings of death. Nowhere more true than on the ice-covered streets of Oslo, where a moment of inattention takes you straight into the abyss or the pavement, whichever comes first. A bit dramatic, but that’s life. Threading slowly and with great care, walking through winter streets alone, he stops and takes a breath with confidence and self control; Friday has finally come to bring us the first day of Oslo Deathfest, the annual fest of unreadable logos.

A full year has already come to pass from the first edition of Oslo Deathfest, which aims to be a regular gathering for both the bands and the fans of that most beautiful genre of gut-wrenching riffs and crushing rhythms, namely death metal. Last year’s first edition was a success in itself and it was only normal to expect that the organisers would build on that by trying to expand the festival.

And they do. Going from nine bands in 2023, mostly of local fare, but still full of strong names, this year’s festival brings us fourteen bands of colourful, international variety from four corners of the Earth spread over the course of two days.

The decision was also made by the organisers to change the venue from last year’s Blå, so this year everything plays out over three stages, one being the upper floor of Vaterland and the other two being Goldie, comprising a bar stage and a club stage below. Conceptually, the Vaterland stage was selected for the two opening acts, after which the party continues a short walk down the road in Goldie with the remaining four on the first day.

 

Venturing to Vaterland first and actually coming on time after work for the opening band was a small victory in itself. The club is part underground metal bar, part pizza place (with their “Hail Pizza – Eat Satan” motto being part of the charm), and having witnessed already a number of great bands there with varying amounts of audience present, I was pleasantly surprised to find the place packed and ready.

Opening the festival was the task of the young, local force on the scene in Norway; Gloombound. With only a demo released so far and a crowdfunded debut album announced for next year, they used up their half-hour slot efficiently with their brand of slow and menacing funereal (de)compositions. Heavily drenched in atmospheric keyboards, somewhat unusual for the genre, straddling from doom to death and back again, they managed to warm up the atmosphere and pique our interest enough to keep them on the radar for when the debut appears.

https://gloomboundband.bandcamp.com/

 

Next up, also a band that stems from the local scene and a bit more experienced, with an album (or a reissued demo, if it pleases you) released in 2022: Impugner. Their approach to death metal is a lot more classic-sounding, harkening back to early Autopsy with the bludgeoning guitars at the forefront slowing down occasionally for that extra feeling of dread.

The imposing presence and a commanding performance by their frontman Bjørnar seems to fill the room even further to the point of bursting out through the windows of the place. They burn through most, if not all, of their album Advent of the Wretched, thus bringing to an end our time in Vaterland and setting us on our way further to Goldie for the rest of the evening.

https://caligarirecords.bandcamp.com/album/advent-of-the-wretched

 

Settling first in the bar stage area of Goldie, which is just that, a bar with a stage, the first band to unleash hell upon us is the British Gorgon Vomit. Having already settled-upon that any band who have vomit in their name must be good, I was happy to see that I was not mistaken yet again.

Led by the energetic performance of their vocalist Black Mane, the band exudes quality and great things to come. They’ve released their debut album Skeng Down Jah earlier this year, so it was only natural to present it as brutally as possible for a maximum auditory experience. Songs like “Corpse Abuse” and “Hellfiyah Warp” are the crushers we like to hear, as they indicate band’s interests varying from the grave to the gates of Hell. All this brought with a unflinching conviction and an attitude of a much experienced group makes them certainly a band to keep an eye on.

https://gorgonvomit.bandcamp.com/

 

Time has come to descend the steps into the club part of Goldie, which is a much bigger place suited for more people and has a much better supply of air. Band merchandise was also on full display and available from the stands in this part of the club.

If there was one band on the Friday lineup that I eagerly waited, it was California’s death dealers in Civerous. As they say, it is possible to simultaneously have a soft spot and a hard-on for the same thing. Their latest album, the monumental Maze Envy, which came out in March on 20 Buck Spin, was more than enough of a draw for the rest of the audience too. Given that the band rarely crosses the ocean to Europe, this was a unique chance to experience some of the best new metal coming out of US.

As expected, they deliver. Their setlist heavily leaned on the aforementioned album, and the songs like “Shrouded in Crystals” or “Geryon (The Plummet)” work perfectly in a live setting. Bombastic, slow-burning fuse of a detonation that awaits, the very pillars of the Earth trembling with the force unleashed, brings the band and the audience in the unison understanding of the mighty riff.

https://20buckspin.bandcamp.com/album/maze-envy

 

Going back up to the bar, we are to witness another Californian band and a partner to Civerous on their short-run European tour, the no-holds-barred force of Crematory Stench. The trio wastes no time and straight out of the gate delivers the razor-sharp riffs in a selection of songs varying from fast to faster. The word slow does not exist down here in these grotesque deformities, time is like a fuse, short and burning fast.

Still waiting on some news of a debut album, the band barrels through their discography of a couple of EPs and demos in full force, getting the animated crowd to move some limbs in a display of undying support to the metal mastery of Crematory Stench. They’re maybe shrouded in the mist of the underground, but they will not descend into obscurity anytime soon.

https://crematorystench.bandcamp.com/music

 

Creeping slowly towards the end of the evening, we’re down to one band remaining in our Friday adventure in death metal. Blood Red Throne were rightly chosen as headliners of the first day, surely based on their extensive discography of eleven albums dating all the way back to 2001 and the lasting popularity with the local crowd (them being a Norwegian band is a big patriotic draw).

Their latest record Nonagon, released earlier this year in January by Soulseller Records, is still very much relevant, so the band used this opportunity to present new songs to the thirsty crowd, but played a good deal of the old favourites.

One thing you can say about them as a band is that they’re dependable as hell to put the fun into the funhouse. The high-energy blend of death metal, groove-laden brutality topped with screams and growls by the versatile and talented Sindre Wathne Johnsen, all feed directly into our lizard brains, making us shed the skin through sweat oozing from every pore in our bodies. Død and Meathook bring down the thunder in their dual-guitar attack, while the tumultuous rhythm section ferociously pumps the beat that will echo in our ears for days to come. 

https://soulsellerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/nonagon

 

A fitting closing act for a day full of good vibrations and all around great fun with death metal and its infinite possibilities. Day One left behind us in the sorrowed tombs of the past, day two awaits us in the shadows of the future arriving soon. We are ready!

More information and relevant updates on the festival can be found on their respective website and social media accounts:

https://www.facebook.com/oslodeathfest/

https://oslodeathfest.carrd.co/