Inferno Festival 2024 | March 28th – 31st | Rockefeller Music Hall and other venues, Oslo, Norway | ~$325 USD for 4-day pass, ~$92 USD for single day pass
Following in the footsteps of the great Norwegian anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl and his intrepid crew, The Arts STL is about to embark on its boldest adventure in music journalism yet: covering Inferno Fest, one of the most heralded gatherings of metal fans in all of Europe.
Inferno Fest was founded in 2001 by Jens Ryland, guitarist for the Norwegian black metal band Borknagar. Since its founding, the fest has been held annually in Oslo, the capital city of Norway, during the week of Easter. Norway is widely seen as an epicenter for extreme metal culture, with many founding black metal bands hailing from its two largest cities: Oslo, Norway’s most populous city and its political and economic hub, located near Norway’s southeastern border with Sweden; and Bergen, Norway’s second most populous city, located on its western coast near the North Sea, the oceanic corridor between Norway and the United Kingdom.
The primary venue for Inferno Fest is Rockefeller Music Hall, a midsize venue in downtown Oslo with a capacity of 1,300 attendees. (By comparison, the capacity of the Factory in Chesterfield is 3,300, and the capacity of the Pageant is 2,000.) Originally a public bath house, the building complex that houses Rockefeller was purchased and converted into a concert venue in 1986. The calendar at the Rockefeller is similar to those of the Factory and the Pageant, with the club booking a mixture of internationally touring musicians, comedians, podcasters, and lecturers. Beyond Inferno Fest, notable upcoming shows at the Rockefeller include the Jesus & Mary Chain on April 5th, Danny Brown on May 7th, and Future Islands on May 15th.
Within the same complex housing the Rockefeller is a smaller venue, the John Dee, which has a capacity of around 500. The schedule for Inferno Fest is staggered, with headlining acts playing throughout the evening on the Rockefeller stage, and performances at the John Dee scheduled in-between. There are also pre-shows and post-shows at area clubs every night of the fest (e.g., Kniven Bar, Rock In, Vaterland), smaller venues which function as Oslo’s equivalent to St. Louis fixtures like the Sinkhole and Off Broadway.
The lineup for Inferno Fest typically features a mixture of bands from across the globe. Many of the artists that the phrase “extreme metal” conjures has played Inferno at some point—from yankees (Cannibal Corpse, Obituary, Nile) to Canucks (Gorguts); from Brits (Electric Wizard, My Dying Bride, Napalm Death) to the French (Benighted); from Italians (Fleshgod Apocalypse), to Greeks (Septicflesh, Rotting Christ); from Poles (Decapitated, Behemoth, Vader), to Germans (Obscura, Kreator, Sodom), to the Swiss (Samael, Bölzer). And of course, too many Norwegians (Dimmu Borgir, Arcturus, Mayhem), Finns (Children of Bodom, Oranssi Pazuzu, Amorphis) and Swedes (Opeth, Candlemass, Hypocrisy) to list in a single paragraph! Even St. Louis’ own black metal scene has been represented at Inferno, with Stormruler playing last year’s fest while supporting Cannibal Corpse’s 2023 European tour.
As in past years, the 2024 lineup features artists from a variety of styles of extreme metal, with a natural emphasis on Scandinavian death and black metal. A preeminent Norwegian black metal band will headline each night of this year’s fest: Kampfar, Gorgoroth, Taake, and returning favorite Dimmu Borgir, arguably Oslo’s most famous musical export outside of a-ha. The lineup also features a healthy amount of American death metal acts, including bands like Cattle Decapitation, Cynic, and 200 Stab Wounds. Inferno is also known for booking acts that are arguably not metal at all; for example, British psychedelic rocker Arthur Brown will be playing on the Rockefeller stage on March 29th (“I am the god of hellfire!”).
Of course, Oslo is a city steeped in a rich history far beyond the heavy metal and Viking imagery metalheads often associate Norway with. A few of the many cultural attractions in Oslo include: the Kon-Tiki Museum, which houses the titular craft Thor Heyerdahl, a national hero in Norway, used to sail from Peru to Tahiti in 1947; the Edvard Munch Museum, which displays the works of the world-famous Norwegian artist, including his most renowned painting (The Scream); and the Norwegian Resistance Museum, which documents the country’s heroic struggle against Nazi occupation during the Second World War. Like many cities in Norway, Oslo is surrounded by beautiful forests, mountains, and fjords, making it a popular international destination for hiking and skiing trips.
My fellow Arts STL contributor Zach Johnson and I will be attending and covering all four nights of Inferno Fest, documenting our impressions of both the fest itself and our encounters with Norwegian culture. Zach was an official photographer at last year’s fest as well, and is eager to return to Oslo:
“Inferno was above and beyond what I could’ve hoped for,” said Zach. “It was my first trip to Europe, and Oslo was the perfect place to land with its legendary contributions to extreme metal. The city is lovely, situated by the sea, and centuries of rich cultural history can be felt in the air, streets, and community.” | David Von Nordheim
Thursday, March 28th
Konvent, Keep of Kalessin, Nordjevel, Candlemass, & Kampfar (Rockefeller Stage); Nakkeknaekker, Orm, Crypta, & Cattle Decapitation (John Dee Stage); Vomit Forth, 200 Stab Wounds, and Signs of the Swarm (Goldie); H.P. Doomcraft (Vaterland); Forcefed Horsehad (Brewgata)
Friday, March 29th
Arthur Brown, Vitimas, Carpathian Forest, Solstafir, & Gorgoroth (Rockefeller Stage); Vorga, Umbra Conscientia, Extermination Dismemberment, & Mantar (John Dee Stage); Celestial Scourge & Deception (Vaterland); Visegard (Rock In); Automaton (Brewgata); Deathbarrel (The Hub Bar)
Saturday, March 30th
Saor, Orbit Culture, Me and That Man, Borknagar, Dimmu Borgir (Rockefeller Stage); Tilintetgjort, In Twilight’s Embrace, Jo Quail, & Khold (John Dee Stage); Dwaal & Madder Mortem (Vaterland); Befouled (Rock In); Horrifier & Imbalance (Kniven Bar); Shaving the Werewolf (Brewgata); Deathbarrel (The Hub Bar); Void ov Voices (Vega)
Sunday, April 31st
Misþyrming, Winterfylleth, Cynic, Finntroll, & Taake (Rockefeller Stage); Dödsrit, Phantom Fire, Bell Witch, & Koldbrann (John Dee Stage); Blodkvalt & Selvforakt (Vaterland); Zustand Null (Rock In); Terminal & Inchoation (Kniven Bar); Tusmørke (Brewgata)
