Review and pictures by Frode Kilvik and Pål Johansen
Keep Of Kalessin (Norway)
Founded by Satyricon guitarist Obsidian C, Keep Of Kalessin have recently been signed to the Norwegian label, Tabu. Keep of Kalessin is on the verge of releasing their new album, Armada.
Although musically they don’t bring anything new to the scene, they did deliver the goods tonight, with drums like a machine gun and awesome headbanging throughout the set.
Lineup:
- Obsidian C – guitar
- Wizziac – bass
- Thebon – vocals
- Vyl – drums
Set: Approx 30 minutes
SAHG (Norway)
SAHG were last year’s Hole In The Sky most anticipated newcomer, but due to unfortunate events, the band had to pass up the opportunity. This year however, SAHG have released their critically acclaimed debut album, SAHG 1, and got another chance to appear at Hole In The Sky. Featuring members from Audrey Horne and an ex-member from Gorgoroth, SAHG is bound to be a damn good experience.
Carrying the heritage left by Black Sabbath and Pentagram, SAHG is a dark, heavy Stoner Rock band stretching towards Doom. Given a slot later in the evening, when the audience have had their fair share of beer, this would’ve been one of the festival’s definite highlights. However, though SAHG put on an awesome concert, delivering their best and opening their show with amazing pyro effects and sounding as tight as on their album, the crowd just didn’t catch fire. Even when a bomb went off during the first riffs of ”Repent,” the crowd seemed to become more frightened than anything else. Not as planned perhaps, still a pretty neat effect.
Lineup:
- TC KING – bass
- Tor – drums
- Thomas – guitar
- Olav – vocals and guitar
Set: Approx 45 minutes
1349 (Norway)
1349 rose from the ashes of Alvheim in 1997. In early ’99, they recorded the never released promo Chaos Preferred. By then, the band realized they needed another guitarist, and found Archaon, whose speed and technique took their music to a new level of intensity and brutality.
1349 entered the stage and gave everything they had from the first minute. A few minutes into the second song, the fire alarm went off due to the extreme amounts of smoke generated by the smoke machine. As a result, all power was cut from the stage, and they and were left in complete darkness for about 5 minutes before they had to leave the stage. Another 5-10 minutes passed before they got back on, and continued their massive set. Without a doubt, 1349 delivered the most aggressive and blackest concert of all the bands at this year’s Hole In The Sky.
Earlier this evening, the crowd had been a true disappointment -– they’ve been okay, just not at all what you would expect from a Bergen Metal audience. When 1349 kicked their faces in with their extremely aggressive music, it was like flipping a switch, and the crowd went crazy!
Lineup:
- Ravn – vocals
- Tjalve – guitar
- Seidemann – bass
- Archaon – guitar
- Frost – drums (as tonight’s guest)
Set: Approx 1 hour
I (Norway)
With Immortal being disbanded a few years back, the Metal scene suffered a great loss. Not only did they spearhead the rise of brutal and epic Norwegian Metal, but their live shows where second to none.
Despair not, Abbath has assembled his troops and returns with a vengeance. I picks up where Immortal left off, but with a new edge. With classic riffs, monumental choruses, and epic arrangements, their album will make a great impact on the scene, as did their first live gig ever at the Hole In The Sky Bergen Metal Fest VII tonight. No doubt about it.
The expectations for I were sky-high, as their line-up is immensely powerful. With King (ex-Gorgoroth), Ice Dale (Enslaved), and Abbath (formerly Immortal), nobody knew exactly what they would do; still, everybody knew it would be awesome … the amount of people present serves as a proof beyond any doubt. Not to fail, I managed to blow away the crowd completely, by delivering the rawest concert so far this evening. If the crowds went nuts during 1349, they would’ve been locked up after this.
I can be compared to Metal giants Motorhead, though their style is their own at the same time. It’s hard to categorize I, they have elements from Extreme Metal, and still they sound like the definition of Rock ‘n’ Roll!
Line-up:
- Abbath – guitar and vocals
- Ice Dale – guitar
- TC King – bass
- Armagedda – drums
Set: Approx 1 hour
My Dying Bride (UK)
With the EP, Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium and the debut album As The Flowers Withers, My Dying Bride propelled the British Doom scene together with Paradise Lost and Anathema. Since then, these guys have been delivering phenomenal dark and brooding music to the great pleasure of their loyal followers.
The crowd was in a trance as My Dying Bride poured on their Doom in Bergen tonight. Judging from the standing ovations the band received in-between songs, and the deafening cheers as they delivered one hit song after another, the Hole In The Sky audience consisted of many Dying Bride fans. The band kept on bringing the songs their fans wanted, combined with a very theatrical stage performance – mainly by their frontman, Aaron Stainthorpe. Using fake blood and crawling around the stage as in a death crampe; this was indeed a memorable performance.
Lineup:
- Aaron Stainthorpe – vocals
- Ade Jackson – bass
- Andrew Craighan – guitar
- Hamish Glencross – guitar
- Shaun Taylor-Steels – drums
- Sarah Stanton – keyboards
Set: Approx 1 hour 10 minutes
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